DALLAS - A 77-year-old Dallas man is charged with murdering his wife because he thought she was cheating on him, according to police documents.
Dallas police arrested Francisco Rodriguez Amaya on Tuesday night after being called to his home in the 1900 block of Riverway Drive, which is near Samuell High School.
Officers found the victim, 69-year-old Veronica Lopez, dead at the scene.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the husband was the one who called 911.
He told police he and Lopez had been married for 47 years but that lately, she’d been acting strange.
"Suspect Rodriguez Amaya stated that he believed the complainant was cheating on him due to his belief that her behavior had changed and after he found messages on her cellphone," the affidavit says.
Although Lopez denied cheating, her husband took her phone.
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He told police he got several new messages on her phone while he was at work on Tuesday.
Rodrigues Amaya said he left work early to confront his wife, and she again denied cheating.
That’s when police said he shot his wife in the chest.
"Suspect Rodriguez Amaya stated that he got his firearm and shot the complainant, but he believed that it did not work, so he threw her on the bed and began to strangle her," the affidavit says.
Police recovered the weapon in a dresser drawer.
Rodriguez Amaya was booked into the Dallas County jail and charged with murder. His bond has not yet been set.