Request to move body leads to arrest in Pasadena murder case

The disclosure of a man's unusual request for help moving a body cracked the cold case of a woman found dead last New Year's Day in Pasadena.

Edlyn Villegas Munoz, a 36-year-old mother of seven, had been celebrating at a Spencer Highway nightclub on Dec. 31, 2011, and disappeared as she walked home. Her body was discovered on Jan. 1, 2012, beneath a bridge in the 100 block of Queens Road.

The case remained unsolved for a year, but made headlines again three weeks ago on the anniversary of the death.

The person who was solicited to assist in moving the corpse turned down the request, but mentioned it months later to others. A third-party tipster shared the information with authorities on Jan. 3, giving police a solid lead in the beating death.

Admits hitting victim

On Wednesday, Pasadena Police Department officials announced the arrest of Francisco J. Machado Lopez, 27, who is charged with murder. He had been charged last May with the sexual assault of a teen girl, a case unrelated to the killing, but could not be located at that time, Pasadena police Assistant Chief Bud Corbett said during a news conference at police headquarters.

Lopez was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals on Jan. 11 in New Jersey. He waived extradition and is in transit to Harris County.

In an interview with Pasadena police detectives, Lopez admitted hitting Villegas Munoz, but denied killing her, Corbett said. Lopez also told investigators that they had sexual contact.

"He conveyed that it was consensual," Corbett said. "We don't have any reason to believe that was the case."

'She's not coming back'

The two didn't have a relationship, but knew each other, the assistant chief added.

"He spotted her on Perez Road as she walked past the apartment project where he was residing at the time. And then, he followed her a ways and confronted her and then walked a little ways beyond that with her and then accosted her in the vicinity of the bridge," Corbett said. "His explanation does not include any knowledge that she was deceased at the time that he left her. He said she was not, but he did acknowledge having struck her."

Wearing a black T-shirt bearing her daughter's photograph, Maria Cortez spoke to reporters in Spanish and hesitated at times to avoid breaking down. Cortez explained how her grandchildren spent their first Christmas without their mother: They visited a memorial relatives erected at the place where the body was found. The children - now 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 15 and 18 - are living with their father, who also continues to struggle with the loss.

"Caught or not, she's not coming back," the victim's sister, Mahday Villegas, said.