Noman man sentenced in connection with death of sister, hiding body for years

NORMAN — A man accused of joining his wife in the killing of his sister and hiding her decomposing body for years was sentenced Monday to life in prison.

Considering “the awful nature” of the crime, Cleveland County District Court Judge Thad Balkman imposed the life sentence on Octavio Sanchez, 37, adding, as well, a five-year sentence for the unlawful removal of a dead body.

Monday marked the three-year anniversary of authorities finding the remains of Margarita “Maggie” Sandoval — whom prosecutors said had an intellectual disability — in a container inside the basement of a rental house.

Sanchez’s wife, Desiree Sanchez, 29, was sentenced to life in prison last year after a jury found her guilty of first-degree murder and the unlawful removal of a dead body.

The Sanchezes were accused of killing Sandoval in 2018, shortly after she moved in with them. They also were accused of hiding her body for years and spending her monthly Social Security disability payments on themselves.

Investigators found Sandoval’s decomposing body in a 3 X 4-foot container “heavily wrapped in high density plastic, packing tape, and rope” stored under the stairs of the basement, according to court documents.

An officer who cut into the plastic detected an odor “that they could identify with a decomposing human corpse.”

Prosecutors alleged that Sandoval was killed between Feb. 17 and April 18, 2018.

Sanchez and his wife believed murder victim haunted them

Sandoval’s death grew more disturbing when investigators uncovered social media messages between Octavio and Desiree Sanchez.

In 2018, Desiree Sanchez wrote her husband on Facebook that his dead sister was haunting them because she knows "what I did."

On Facebook in May 2018, Octavio Sanchez wrote: "I'm being haunted by this trash.

"You know I don't believe in paranormal things but ... she is trying to attack me and not just in my sleep. ... I got up to get phone to call you, and I couldn't move. I was sitting on bed and she was holding me down."

"Trust me," Desiree Sanchez responded. "She does it to me every night. ... You have to ask for protection from evil."

The husband then wrote: "I couldn't move and looking probably crazy punching the thin air."

She knows "what I did," the wife responded, adding "im not there and shes taking it out on you."

Desiree Sanchez did not testify at her trial. Her defense was that her husband was to blame.

Jurors gave her a life sentence and a $10,000 fine as punishment for murder. She will not be eligible for parole under current law until she is in her 60s.

Jurors chose five years and a $5,000 fine as punishment for hiding the body.

She was previously sentenced to three years in federal prison for collecting the victim's Social Security disability checks and pandemic stimulus checks.

Octavio Sanchez was sentenced to four years in prison. They were ordered to pay $34,112 in restitution.

He also was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison over a gun found in 2021 in a trash can at his house during the murder investigation.

He was prohibited from having a gun because of a felony conviction in Arkansas.

Octavio Sanchez allegedly said ‘I had to finish it’

Prosecutors said Sandoval was unable to function without constant care.

Police believe the couple kept her wrapped body at their apartment and then at their house in Norman before it was moved to a friend's basement.

The friend, Miguel Munoz, confessed he helped the couple put the body in his basement in June 2019, a Norman police detective wrote in a court affidavit.

He said "Octavio stated he and his wife, Desiree, killed a child molester," according to the court affidavit. He said the husband told him "Desiree started it and I had to finish it."

Munoz, 45, was charged with accessory to first-degree murder. Prosecutors amended the charge to unlawful removal of a dead body. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in state prison with credit for time served.

Margarita Sandoval was a ‘little girl’ put in a box

After his arrest, Octavio Sanchez made written statements about the case.

In one statement filed in federal court, he wrote that he hit his sister twice in the face to get her away from a child.

"I didn't think I hit her hard enough to kill her, but she hit her head on the TV stand," he wrote. "Desiree didn't help or know anything."

His initial charges included first-degree murder, which prosecutors amended to manslaughter.

In January, Sanchez entered a plea of no contest to the charges of manslaughter and the unlawful removal of a dead body.

He later asked the court to withdraw the plea, citing confusion over fully understanding his case, which he blamed on anti-depressant medication.

Characterizing the motion as “pleaers’ remorse,” Balkman upheld Sanchez’s no contest plea before sentencing him Monday in a Cleveland County courtroom.

Handcuffed, Sanchez appeared in a green Cleveland County jail jumpsuit.

His former court-appointed defense attorney, Al Hoch, told the court he and Sanchez went over his case in detail prior to Sanchez’ no contest plea, and that his former client “seemed to fully understand what was going on.”

Saying the Sanchez couple have two young children, Octavio Sanchez’s current court-appointed defense attorney, James Berry, asked the court for a lesser sentence with “some hope” he could reconnect with them.

Sanchez sat quietly while two of his sisters read victim impact statements.

The sisters described Sandoval as a young person full of unconditional love who enjoyed singing, dancing and making people laugh.

One of the sisters, Taylor Hearon, told Balkman that because of her intellectual disability, Sandoval was more like a 10-year-old girl than a young woman.

“He put a little girl in that box,” Hearon said.

Sanchez took the witness stand and apologized for the crimes, saying he didn’t notify police because he feared his family would be taken from him.

“I just made a small error, then I made drastic errors,” he said.

First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Austin read messages from Sanchez that repeatedly referred to Sandoval as “the trash.”

She told the court Sanchez and his wife constantly used candles and fragrant sprays to cover the odor of Sandoval’s decomposing body.

“He sentenced Maggie to life in that box, so he should have to serve the same,” Austin said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Norman Oklahoma man sentenced for killing sister, hiding body for years