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He Was Mad That His Best Friend Caused His Girlfriend To Leave. When The Friend Returned Home, The Killer Was Waiting.

sarasota
Source: MEGA; Sarasota County Sheriff's Office

May 12 2022, Published 1:51 p.m. ET

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A man was upset at his best friend for causing his girlfriend to break up with him. So, he went to the friend’s house, waited, and then committed murder.

Now, the killer will never walk free again.

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A Florida judge recently sentenced Juan Esparza to two life sentences in prison for killing Joel Sanchez. Esparza was convicted of first-degree murder and armed burglary, according to MySunCoast News. He was also convicted of possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and received 15 and 5 years on those charges, respectively.

On Oct. 19, 2019, police in Sarasota, Florida, responded to a home around 10 a.m. for a possible suicide, according to MySunCoast News. When officers arrived, they found Sanchez dead on the floor with a gunshot wound.

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Esparza initially told police that he saw Sanchez commit suicide on a video chat, according to WFLA.

But police did not find a gun in the home.

Investigators determined that Esparza was angry with Sanchez, who was described as his best friend, for causing his girlfriend to leave him, according to WFLA.

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Esparza then went to Sanchez’s house with a gun, broke in when nobody was home and waited for the victim to return, according to WFLA. Esparza recorded a video taunting Sanchez and sent it to his girlfriend, MySunCoast news reported.

When Sanchez got home, Esparza shot and killed him and staged it to look like a suicide, according to WFLA.

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The victim’s brother told police that he woke up the next morning to see Esparza sent him a text around 1 a.m. that said Esparza was video chatting with Sanchez when the victim shot himself, MySunCoast noted.

However, that turned out to be a lie and police found the murder weapon days later.

Now, the killer will only be waiting in his jail cell for the rest of his life.

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