Man ties concrete block around ex-wife’s neck, throws her off a bridge

A 36-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his estranged wife by tying a concrete block around her neck and throwing her off a bridge.

Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Arellano admitted murdering 28-year-old Elizabeth Pule to a US Court and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

According to the Mirror UK, Arellano and Pule were childhood sweethearts. They reportedly met at Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School in Fort Worth, Texas, and after they graduated they went on to marry.

The couple remained in Fort Worth and had three sons and a daughter now aged seven, 10, 12 and 14.

But by 2016 Elizabeth knew their marriage was over, the Mirror reports.

Elizabeth, a medical assistant who was a regular churchgoer, told Rodolfo that she wanted a divorce and moved in with her parents.

Just a week after they separated, Elizabeth went out with colleagues after work on 15 April 2016.

She texted a friend to let her know she had made it home safely but the message was sent in her car outside the house and she never made it inside.

Her worried mum, Juanita, reported her daughter missing after finding her abandoned car outside.

The key was still in the ignition and her handbag and mobile on the passenger seat.

As police begun to hunt for her body, fishermen reported hearing screams at around 3 am and seeing someone falling from the motorway into Lake Worth.

After a search of the lake, her body was eventually found and she was wearing her maroon medical scrubs.

Tied around her neck was a rope attached to an eight-and-a-half stone block of concrete that still held a fence post.

Investigators initially thought her death was suicide with the weight used to make sure it was a fatal jump.

But a post-mortem examination revealed she had been murdered and the concrete used to weigh her down.

Suspicion soon began to fall on Rodolfo and detectives discovered he had torn down a fence for a friend months earlier which had wooden posts anchored in concrete.

Concrete parts were found in Rodolfo’s yard and in the back of his pick-up truck which matched the kind used to weigh Elizabeth down.

He told police he was at home at the time of the incident but CCTV showed his truck near the home of Elizabeth’s parents.

He messaged her when she was out at work to ask her when she would be leaving for the day.

Rodolfo was charged with murder and initially strongly denied the accusation.

But with the possibility of facing the death penalty, he made a deal with the prosecution.

He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and capital murder in return for a life sentence without the chance of parole.

During sentencing, Elizabeth’s sister Alejandra told the court about the impact her murder had on her kids.

“I had to tell them that their dad, the person who should have been their protector, killed their mom,” she said.

“You are a monster. I hate you and I will never forgive you.