ADRIAN — A man from Toledo, Ohio, has been sentenced to 10-30 years in prison by the Lenawee County Circuit Court after pleading guilty in August 2024 to second-degree murder.
Michael Sepulveda, 51, admitted responsibility in the 1997 cold-case homicide of an unidentified victim and agreed to testify against his brother in exchange for a lesser charge.
Sepulveda and his brother, Richardo, were charged with the homicide in January 2023 by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Richardo was found guilty of multiple felonies in April.
“I am grateful for the tireless efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies and prosecutors in my office for securing this sentence,” Nessel said. “My department remains committed to delivering justice for crime victims and holding violent offenders accountable, no matter how long it takes.”
In November 1997, authorities were dispatched to a cornfield in Blissfield Township for a discovery of human remains. The body was missing the head and both hands, court records show, and officers observed saw striations on the ends of the bones.
Authorities believe the homicide was connected to international drug trafficking activities. The victim has never been identified, but is thought to have been a drug cartel courier named Roberto from Texas.
In his testimony, Michael said the two met the courier at the Music Box, knocked him out with a rubber mallet and drove him in Richardo’s van to rural Lenawee County near Blissfield to kill him.
According to Michael, once there, the courier came-to and struggled with Michael, who stabbed him three times in the right side with a pocket knife. The courier ran from the van, but Richardo chased him down and stomped on his head while wearing hiking boots, as Michael joined in by pistol whipping him with a .22-caliber handgun.
With the victim’s face smashed to mush, the testimony continued, the brothers stripped his clothes and took his wallet. They drove back to Toledo, discarding the courier’s clothes and their clothes, except for their underwear, in a dumpster and tossing the wallet, mallet and pistol into the Maumee River from the High Level Bridge. They went to Lozano’s house to put on sweats and get another change of clothes, got the hacksaw, bought shovels and bleach or drain cleaner, returned to the body and cut off the head and hands, placing them in a garbage bag.
After dousing the body and surrounding area with the bleach or drain cleaner, Michael said, they returned to Toledo, dumping the body parts in Tenmile Creek near a chemical plant and the sweats in another dumpster.
Richardo, 53, of Cincinnati, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, assault with intent to maim, conspiracy to commit assault with intent to maim, tampering with evidence and conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence. He was acquitted of first-degree, premeditated murder. He is scheduled for sentencing June 13.
Authorities continue their investigation in an attempt to identify the victim. He’s believed to be a 32-year-old Hispanic male from Texas. Anyone with information is asked to contact Michigan State Police Detective Sergeant Larry Rothman at 313-407-9379.
— Contact reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @cmurrayhdn.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: First of two men charged in 1997 homicide in Blissfield Township sentenced
Reporting by Corey J. Murray, The Daily Telegram / The Daily Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
