(SANDUSKY) – The Sanilac County Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed the siblings convicted in the death of their cousin were sentenced to prison Wednesday.
Leobardo Torres-Castillo, 22 and Francisca Vargas-Castillo, 34 pleaded guilty in May to felony charges in connection with the death of their cousin 42-year-old Bricia Flores-Rivera. The three were living and working in Michigan illegally.
A possible motive in the killing has not been not determined, but investigators say it appeared the three were living in the same trailer in the 3900 block of Aitken Road in Flynn Township, when a fight ensued. At some point, police say someone retrieved a knife from the kitchen and Flores-Rivera was stabbed to death.
Her body was later found in a culvert in Buel Township southeast of Peck, about 20 miles from the scene where the murder happened.
Vargas-Castillo pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder, while her brother pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
Vargas-Castillo will spend between 20 and 40 years in prison on the murder charge, and Torres-Castillo was sentenced to three to 10 years. Both were sentenced to 13 months to 10 years on the tampering charges and 330 days for the concealing a death charge.
They were credited 298 days served for each term.
