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Two days before Christmas in 2012, Jaime Melgar, a married father-of-one from Houston, was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death inside the closet of the home he shared with his wife of 32 years, Sandra "Sandy" Melgar. She was found tied up and screaming for help in another closet. Jaime reportedly died of blunt force trauma and at least 31 stab wounds.
Authorities refused to believe Sandra, who claimed that she could not remember the events from that night, stating that she had a history of seizures. Over a year later, she was charged with murder and, in 2017, was found guilty by a jury based on circumstantial evidence. Her conviction remains controversial and disputed to date.
Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will revisit the disheartening murder of Jaime Melgar in an episode titled Unspeakable, which re-airs on Oxygen this Thursday, December 22, 2022, at 8 pm ET.
The synopsis for the episode states:
"Sandra and Jamie Melgar are high school sweethearts who are celebrating their 32nd anniversary, but the intimate evening turns deadly; to crack the case, investigators must uncover the secrets of an illusion that is worthy of the great Houdini."
IT specialist Jaime Melgar and his wife Sandra were celebrating on the night of the murder
Born in Guatemala, Jaime Melgar immigrated to the United States at the age of three and settled in Houston with his family, where he eventually met Sandra "Sandy" and fell in love with her in high school. A few years after graduating from high school, the two got married and gave birth to their only daughter Lizz. Jaime started his career as an IT specialist, and Sandy became a nurse.
Jaime and Sandy went on a celebratory dinner on December 22, 2012, and allegedly became the victims of a home invasion in their Houston, Texas, home late that night. After returning from dinner, the couple was spending time in the jacuzzi when Jaime went to check on their dogs barking in the backyard. Sandy claimed she remained soaked in the jacuzzi before heading to her walk-in closet.
On December 23, when Jaime's brother Herman Melgar and other family members arrived at their house for the couple's 32nd wedding anniversary dinner and knocked on the door, they got no response. Herman then entered the house through the open garage door and heard someone crying and calling for help from inside the bedroom.
Sandy was found lying face down, tied up with her arms behind the back, ankles bound, inside the closet in the master bath of the bedroom. The closet door was blocked from the outside using a chair. Meanwhile, Jaime Melgar's naked, bloody body was found in another closet. He had 31 stab wounds, many cuts to his body, and sustained beatings to his head and face.
Jaime Melgar suffered 31 stab wounds and blunt force trauma in an attack that appeared to be a home invasion
Melgar sustained over 50 wounds and injuries from stabs, cuts, and blunt force. He was severely battered in the face and head and received 31 cuts and knife wounds, which seriously injured his skull, brain, and facial bones. It was alleged that Melgar and his attacker engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle before he was killed in the closet.
Authorities claimed that the house was ransacked - drawers were open, jewelry boxes were plundered, and a wallet and purse were flipped over on the bed. A white shirt and kitchen knife (the murder weapon) were discovered in the Jacuzzi tub close to the master bathroom, where the wife was found.
But Sandy had problems remembering what had happened that evening and insisted that she never heard or saw her husband getting attacked. She allegedly lost consciousness after being hit in the head and claimed that she may have suffered an epileptic seizure. Authorities voiced concerns about her account, claiming she couldn't have been unaware of her husband being murdered.
She was charged with Jaime Melgar's murder and was found guilty years later in 2017 after the prosecution portrayed her as a wife who wanted to get out of the marriage, which their devotion to Jehovah's Witnesses did not allow. She could have faced the possibility of being shunned and, therefore, chose to murder her husband and stage the scene to make it seem like a home invasion.
Learn more about Jaime Melgar's murder case on Dateline: Secrets Uncovered this Thursday, December 22, only on Oxygen.
