What did Pedro Grajalez do? Suspect arrested after stabbing girlfriend to death

On April 16, Pedro Grajalez, a 52-year-old man from Connecticut, was arrested and charged with one count of murder for stabbing his 57-year-old girlfriend, Nilda Rivera, to death. At around 3:22 p.m. on Sunday, Grajalez arrived at the police station to confess to the murder, NBC Connecticut reported.

Pedro Grajalez also showed officers a picture of Rivera with multiple stab wounds on his cell phone. He further admitted to planning Rivera's murder for several days and blamed it on her affair. Following his confession, police immediately detained Grajalez and found the victim in the front passenger seat of his vehicle, which he had parked directly outside Hartford police headquarters.

Rivera appeared unresponsive and had multiple stab wounds throughout her torso and head. Emergency Medical Services personnel arrived at the scene and transported Rivera to St. Francis Hospital, where she succumbed to her wounds and was pronounced dead shortly after.

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Pedro Grajalez stabbed the victim 25 times in multiple places: Reports

The victim was found unresponsive with numerous stab wounds. Doctors who treated Rivera stated that she sustained more than 25 stab wounds all over her body, including her chest, head, face, and arms.

Investigating officers reported that Pedro Grajalez's front passenger seat, dashboard, and floor were covered with large amounts of a red, blood-like substance. Authorities established the parking lot of the Hartford police headquarters and Grajalez's vehicle as crime scenes. They also recovered a bloody knife from the vehicle's center console, Law&Crime reported.

During his questioning, Grajalez said he waited for Rivera to die before driving to the Hartford Police Department to report the incident. He allegedly said that he discovered Rivera having an affair with another man and intentionally killed her.

On the day of the murder, he hid the knife in his pocket, bought his wife food from McDonald's, and parked in the lot of a secluded local business located in the 200 block of Murphy Road, where he repeatedly stabbed her.

After stabbing Rivera multiple times, Pedro Grajalez reportedly clicked on a picture of her dead body and sent it to the man he referred to as the "new boyfriend."

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Rivera's children remember their mother, say she "didn't deserve to die"

The victim, Nilda Rivera's family, is mourning her loss after she was brutally murdered in Hartford, Connecticut.

Her daughters, Daniella Valle and Crystal Casanova, remember her as a loving mother, grandmother, and friend. Rivera's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Pedro Grajalez, whom she met on social media, has been charged with her murder.

Valle and Casanova have also started a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs of Rivera's funeral expenses.

Speaking to FOX61, Casanova said:

"Gajralez was very jealous. He would look at her phone and delete stuff and go on her social media and delete people."

Valle added:

"He cried to me. He talked about how he would never hurt my mother. But that’s exactly what he did."

Pedro Grajalez has blamed the murder on Rivera's affair and claimed that her "new boyfriend" made threats to his mother and that Rivera gave him his mom's address.

A $3 million bond, which was initially set at $1.5 million, is being held on bail for Pedro Grajalez. As of right now, he will appear in court on May 15.