LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — An arrest report is revealing more about what led up to a woman's death and the arrest of her husband for murder earlier this week.
- Content warning: This report contains allegations of domestic abuse that some readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.
On Tuesday morning, just after 3 a.m., Roelmer Sanchez-Garrido called 911 to report his wife, Vanesa Rodriguez-Valdes, was not breathing. When medical personnel arrived, an arrest report states they found her lying on the bedroom floor with a sheet covering her face and body. When they removed the sheet, paramedics saw bruises on her face and neck, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the arrest report, medical personnel called Las Vegas police because the death "did not appear natural."
Police arrived and asked Sanchez-Garrido if he found Rodriguez-Valdes on the floor. The arrest report states Sanchez-Garrido told officers that he had an argument about Rodriguez-Valdes wanting to take their two-year-old daughter and return to Cuba. That's when Sanchez-Garrido was placed under arrest.
Officers interviewed several neighbors who said the couple had been married for three years, and this was not a new argument.
One neighbor told detectives that the couple worked for her and her husband. She told police that on Monday, Rodriguez-Valdes asked her to hold on to her and her daughter's passports, "because she did not want to lose them or give Roelmer access to them." Police were told the couple had planned to move back to Cuba in March and already had a furnished place to move into. However, "Roelmer changed his mind and decided they needed to stay longer in the United States to make more money."
The week before, the arrest report states Rodriguez-Valdes secretly recorded Sanchez-Garrido and later shared the messages with her neighbor through WhatsApp. The neighbor told officers Rodriguez-Valdes "decided to end her relationship with Roelmer and wanted to share the messages in case she needed them as evidence." The arrest report states that in the messages, the couple could be heard arguing about ending their relationship and living in separate rooms until they returned to Cuba.
In an interview with police, the arrest report states Sanchez-Garrido told detectives they left Cuba for political reasons but had been struggling in America. He said Rodriguez-Valdes wanted to return to Cuba with their daughter, but he was concerned he would no longer see his daughter because he couldn't go back "for political reasons," according to the report.
He also told detectives that his wife would argue with him "for the joy of it," and they had pushed each other in past arguments.
Sanchez-Garrido told detectives he and his wife were arguing about Cuba again on the night she died, the arrest report states. Police say he admitted to grabbing his wife by the throat, and that she had stopped breathing. As soon as she hit the ground, Sanchez-Garrido claimed he started attempting CPR, but was unsuccessful. According to the report, Sanchez-Garrido claimed he wanted to go find a police officer and tun himself in, but he couldn't leave his daughter.
Sanchez-Garrido also told officers he "regretted what he had done and would have to live with it for the rest of his life," detectives wrote in their report.
He is facing an open murder charge and is currently at the Clark County Detention Center. Court records show he is scheduled to make his initial appearance in court on Monday morning.
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