California Man Gets 15 Years to Life for Killing Wife After Miscarriage

A Sacramento, California man has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the 2017 murder of his wife, which authorities say came after she suffered a miscarriage. According to The Sacramento Bee, 30-year-old Michael Abeyta pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year after 23-year-old Trang Tran's scattered and heavily decomposed remains were found by hikers. Officials say Abeyta and Tran met while attending Central Florida University. Tran was in the U.S. on a student visa, and the two got married under the belief that Tran was pregnant with Abeyta's child. After Abeyta learned that Tran had miscarried, however, the District Attorney's office said their “marriage deteriorated and ultimately led to Tran’s murder by Abeyta” on Oct. 11, 2017. Abeyta was arrested in Feb. 2018 after an undercover officer saw him abandoning a vehicle with Tran’s passport inside near where her remains were discovered.

Tran's parents reportedly traveled to Vietnam to see Abeyta's sentencing this week. “It is beyond tragic that this young woman came to our country for an education, and fell in love and married a monster who rather than divorce her, decided to kill her and dump her body to decay in the woods,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Jeff Wilson said in a statement.