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Joel Leyva was murdered in March 2010, in the city of Albuquerque, sending the community into shock. He was a family man of 52 years, who had been murdered by Angela Sanford, a woman whom he had known briefly.
Events that led to his death unfolded during what was initially meant to be a Wiccan celebration. Sanford invited Joel Leyva to share the Beltane festivities with her but things became very deadly after Leyva reportedly stabbed her companion many times using the ceremonial dagger.
The case of Angela Sanford appears on episode 5 of Snapped season 35, which is airing on Oxygen on February 2, 2025. Here's the official synopsis of the episode:
"When a woman survives an alleged assault in the New Mexico desert and her purported attacker is found stabbed to death, investigators must get to the bottom of a bizarre murder plot driven by one suspect's obsession with the occult."
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Five key points summarize the murder of Joel Leyva
1) The meeting and invitation
According to CBS News, Joel Leyva was a family man and a devout Christian who lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the local racetrack, he met Angela Sanford, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed Wiccan.
Their friendship blossomed into a relationship after Sanford invited Joel Leyva to celebrate Beltane, the Wiccan festival of spring's arrival, with her. Sanford apparently led Joel Leyva to a secluded spot in the Sandia Mountains, promising this spiritual celebration.
2) The fateful encounter
According to ABC News, on 24 March 2010, Joel Leyva had gone to the designated place for the Beltane ritual. Instead of a tranquil congregation, he was met with bloodshed. Sanford is said to have stabbed Leyva around 13 times with a ceremonial dagger she insisted was part of her Wiccan ritual.
According to ABC News, the coroner's report has also shown that Joel Leyva endured multiple stab wounds to his head and torso, contrary to Sanford's later statements claiming that she only stabbed him thrice.
3) Claims of self-defence
According to CBS News, after the murder, Angela Sanford claimed to be in the defense of herself. According to her, Joel Leyva had bound her using the rope belt she had, then threatened her with the dagger before she succeeded in reversing the situation by killing him.
According to ABC News, as per Sanford's statement to police, she had taken some drinks with Leyva before he attacked her. She said that she pretended to be interested in him just to win his confidence and unshackle herself. The police dismissed this version.
4) Sanford's story was full of contradictions
According to ABC News, after several investigations were carried out, several contradictions and inconsistencies in Sanford's story arose. According to eyewitnesses, she came up to them in her underwear, saying she had been r*ped, but no one said they heard her scream, and neither was there any other form of struggle during the attack.
According to CBS News, the police found Sanford's clothes folded neatly beside Leyva's body, contrary to her version of events that she had been attacked. A local Wiccan practitioner also testified against Sanford, claiming that she was not supposed to be celebrating Beltane during that time of year, since it usually occurs at the end of April or early May.
5) Arrest and conviction
According to ABC News, Angela Sanford was arrested and charged with murder in the second degree based on the death of Leyva. She appeared in court, pleading not guilty, and was put in jail with a bail worth $500,000. According to Corrections1, she maintained that it was a self-defense case, but the prosecution classified it as a case of premeditated murder.
In December 2011, after thorough legal procedures, she was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison—15 years for Leyva's murder and an additional five years for aggravating factors relevant to the crime. During sentencing, it came into the open that Sanford had written Leyva's phone number alongside the word "sacrifice" in her cell phone.
For more details on the case, watch Snapped on Oxygen on February 2, 2025.
