Jury convicts Winters man of killing his wife: "
From Hudson Sangree:
Yolo County jurors on Tuesday convicted a Winters man of killing his wife, though her body has never been found.
Felipe Cruz Hernandez, 39, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Leticia Barrales Ramos, 28, who disappeared April 12.
The couple's 10-year-old daughter, who prosecutors said may have been asleep in the next room when her mother was killed, testified during the trial.
After weeks of hearing evidence, jurors deliberated for a short time Friday and again Tuesday before announcing in the afternoon that they had reached a unanimous verdict.
Blood stains in the couple's apartment that were genetically matched to Barrales Ramos convinced them she had died and that her husband had killed her, jurors said.
But without a body or a murder weapon, they said, they were unable to determine whether the killing had been premeditated.
'We struggled with the actual event, how it might have taken place,' said jury foreman Mike Sullivan. 'But there was a small window of opportunity, and it only pointed to one person.'
The verdict brought to a close a case that shook the small town of Winters, which had not had a killing in a dozen years.
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