A man who was found guilty of killing a woman who disappeared in 2018 has now learned his punishment, according to FOX 26. The Houston-area case ended with a guilty verdict and a life sentence, closing years of uncertainty for the victim's family.
The woman, identified as Maria Rodriguez, vanished in 2018. Her co-workers received suspicious texts from her phone, first claiming that she would be late, and then a message saying that she was being chased by three men. Her family reported her missing.
Suspicion fell on her boyfriend, Eric Arsenault, who denied any involvement. Investigators, however, built a case against him, and prosecutors said cell phone records showed that the pair had been together on the day that Maria disappeared.
According to prosecutors, surveillance video allegedly captured Arsenault abandoning Maria's truck on the street and then going to a local Home Depot, where he bought a chainsaw and trash bags. Those images became part of the case against him.
Arsenault was charged with murder in 2019 but was not arrested until 2023. The case eventually went to trial, where a jury convicted him of murder in less than three hours, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
The conviction is being described as a rare one because Maria's remains have still never been found, making it a so-called no body case. Prosecutors said the trial let them show how dangerous the defendant had been for decades, while laying out his criminal history.
After the verdict and sentencing, the Harris County District Attorney and Maria's sister spoke, saying they had finally gotten justice for her. Her sister said that while the outcome could not bring Maria home, it meant she now knew the family had secured the justice she deserved.