PRESS RELEASE

July 25, 2011

For more information, contact:           John J. McCarthy, (240) 777-7390

                                                            Seth Zucker, Communications Director, (240) 777-7345

 MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FIRST DEGREE MURDER IN DOMESTIC HOMICIDE

            John J. McCarthy, State’s Attorney for Montgomery County, announced that Bernardo Flores-Olvera, 33, of Silver Spring, Maryland pled guilty to First Degree Murder today in front of the Honorable  Marielsa Bernard, Circuit Court, Montgomery County, Maryland. Sentencing is scheduled for October 7, 2011, in front of Judge Bernard. There is no cap on executed incarceration as part of the plea.

            On February 8, 2011, at approximately 11:58 p.m., the defendant called Montgomery County Police to report that he had killed his wife. After being taken into custody, the defendant provided the keys to his apartment, located at 1018 Quebec Terrace, in Silver Spring, where police found the victim, Elizabeth Velez Vasquez, dead in one of the bedrooms.  Upon questioning, the defendant told the police that he had gotten into an argument with his wife because he suspected she was being unfaithful. As the argument escalated, the defendant sent their nine year old child to another apartment. The couple’s 2 year old and 3 month old children were still in the apartment. The defendant then confronted the victim in the kitchen, where he picked up a kitchen knife from the butcher block.  The victim then ran out of the kitchen and into a bedroom. The defendant then followed her into the bedroom and after their argument escalated, began to stab her with the knife. Florez-Olvera told police he killed his wife because she told him she did not love him anymore. The couple’s two youngest children were in the apartment at the time of the murder. An autopsy showed that the victim had been stabbed or cut 79 times, including 5 stabbing wounds and 74 cutting wounds.

            “The defendant has accepted responsibility for this brutal killing” McCarthy said “Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victim’s friends and family.”

In making today’s announcement, McCarthy thanked Assistant State’s Attorneys Karla Smith and Donna Fenton for their prosecution of the case.  McCarthy also praised the Montgomery County Police Department for their investigation of the case.