NBC Dateline: Did Wendy Trapaga's husband Michel Escoto kill her?

In 2014, Michel Escoto was found guilty in the 2002 murder case of his wife, Wendy Trapaga. The brutally beaten-up body of his newlywed wife of four days was discovered by authorities near a warehouse situated in the North Miami-Dade neighborhood.

Dateline's upcoming episode will air on Friday, July 15, narrating the story of Wendy Trapaga's tragic murder — with her husband at its center.

A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder of his wife about a dozen years after the incident originally occurred. Escoto reportedly bludgeoned the 21-year-old using a tire iron and also had an accomplice, his ex-girlfriend Yolanda Cerrillo, to assist him in successfully executing the murder plot.

The intention was to claim a $1 million life insurance under Trapaga's name. The latter confessed to it during the 2014 trial, which led to Escoto's ultimate conviction.

Here's more on the trial of Michel Escoto for the 2002 murder of his wife, Wendy Trapaga.

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Michel Escoto represented himself during Wendy Trapaga's 2014 murder trial

Michel Escoto was tried in court for the murder of his wife of just four days, Wendy Trapaga, over a decade after the 2002 incident. He was arrested in 2005 as per reports, after a failed attempt to retrieve the insurance money.

The prosecution argued that Escoto committed a "crime of greed" by killing Trapaga in order to cash in on the million-dollar life insurance policy.

The accused represented himself in court during the trial with an insignificant amount of legal experience and background. The trial was followed by moments of ridicule as the prosecution frequently objected to his arguments. He also maintained his innocence throughout the trial and even after the final verdict.

Reports state that Escoto called the trial witnesses liars and even tried to intimidate one of them.

Yolanda Cerillo, Michel Escoto's ex-girlfriend, even testified in court that he intended to drug his wife before drowning her in a jacuzzi. He made every effort to make her death appear to be an accident. But his murder plot came trampling down when Trapaga apparently woke up underwater and started to fight back.

Cerillo's testimony also revealed that Escoto reportedly took a nearly unconscious Trapaga to the warehouse area, where he allegedly bludgeoned her to death with a tire iron before asphyxiating her.

The ex-girlfriend claimed to have been waiting nearby in her vehicle when the murder occurred. She later confessed to seeing Escoto throw the murder weapon into Biscayne Bay, where it was subsequently discovered.

The victim's sister, Rita Stephan, reportedly made a statement in court, saying:

"I had hoped for the death sentence for you, but now I find myself wanting you to live -- to be miserable, to live every day of your life being used as the toilet of other inmates every waking hour for the rest of your life, knowing that you are alone in the depths of hell on this earth and will proceed to go further until the day you drop dead."

She added:

"This life is not the end for you. You will keep paying long after your body is six feet under."

Michel Escoto, then-42-years-old, was sentenced to life in prison without any possibility of parole after a jury deliberated for two and a half hours to come up with a "guilty" verdict.

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The Dateline episode will air on July 15, 2022, at 10 pm ET on NBC.