Shraman Mitra
When 911 operators in San Pedro, California, received an anxious phone call on August 2004, first responders arrived at the caller’s location to find Luis Larios dead inside his own house. Interestingly, the incident was initially explained as an accident, but evidence soon pointed out otherwise, and the police treated it as a homicide. Investigation Discovery’s ‘Deadly Women: Unspeakable Acts’ chronicles the gruesome murder and follows the investigation that brought the perpetrator to justice.
How Did Luis Larios Die?
At the time of his murder, Luis Larios was just 59-years-old and resided in San Pedro with his wife. Neighbors described the pair as a typical American family, and people who knew Luis mentioned how he was always ready to help others in need. Known as a generous and kindhearted individual, Luis was quite popular in the community, and people praised his jovial and friendly nature.
Besides, Luis also seemed very much in love with his wife, and there was nothing to indicate a horrific tragedy. When first responders reached the Larios residence on August 22, 2004, they found Luis lying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs with a scissor in his right eye. From the looks of it, he seemed to have suffered blunt force trauma to the back of his head and had already passed away before medical help could reach him.
Later, an autopsy determined that Luis was hit with a heavy blunt object in the back of his head before being stabbed in the eye to death. Initially, the police wondered if the victim could have accidentally slipped from the top of the stairs and stabbed himself with a pair of scissors. However, this explanation seemed extremely unlikely, and once investigators noticed traces of adhesive and tape on Luis’ body, they considered it a homicide and began an investigation into the incident.
Who Killed Luis Larios?
When the police initially arrived at the Larios residence, they learned that Luis’ wife, Nancy Larios, was the one who called 911. When questioned, Nancy mentioned that she and her husband had been drinking brandy and listening to music all evening until she decided to retire for the night. She claimed she was fast asleep when she heard a loud bang downstairs, and while coming down to investigate, she found her husband dead on the stairs with a pair of scissors in his right eye.
Nancy was also the first one to suggest that the death might have been an accident, and she insisted she tried to resuscitate Luis before calling 911. While Nancy’s statement seemed quite far-fetched from the beginning, she began changing it further once authorities noticed the tape marks on the victim’s body. According to the wife, Luis had a habit of picking at his beard, which she hated, and hence she claimed to tape his hand to a chair while they enjoyed their brandy.
This alone raised suspicions, and the police considered Nancy to be the primary suspect. When looking into the events of the night, authorities discovered that immediately after finding Luis’ body, Nancy did not inform 911 but instead called a priest, asking him to administer her husband’s last rites. Besides, a search of the crime scene indicated that someone had tried to clean up the blood and other forensic evidence before first responders could arrive on the scene.
While such discoveries made Nancy look extremely guilty, the police investigated further and learned how she had taken complete control of the couple’s finances shortly before Luis’ murder. In fact, not only did Nancy take charge of the $90,000 dollars her husband inherited from his father, but she also had complete authority over his life insurance policies. On top of that, a few of the couple’s acquaintances mentioned that Nancy and Luis’ marriage were in a rocky place as the former did not trust her husband.
Armed with such evidence, law enforcement officers obtained a search warrant for Nancy’s house and went through the entire residence, looking for any clues that might help them put an end to the case. Surprisingly, when looking through the upstairs bedroom, officers found blood splatters all over the walls, which seemed incriminating as Nancy had previously stated that her husband slipped down the stairs. This proved to be the final nail in the coffin, and officers were finally able to arrest Nancy Larios for her role in Luis’ murder.
Nancy Larios Remains Behind Bars Today
When presented in court, Nancy pled not guilty and insisted on her innocence. However, the jury believed otherwise and eventually convicted her of first-degree murder. As a result, the judge sentenced Nancy to life in prison without parole plus one year in 2005, and she remains behind bars at the California Institution for Women in Chino, California.
Read More: Cooper Mills Harris Murder: How Did He Die? Who Killed Him?
