A man was found guilty of murder for setting his wife on fire at their home in Lowell in 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison, prosecutors said Friday.
Santos Lebron De Los Santos will not have the possibility of parole for killing his wife, Celeste Marte-Lebron. Family members were in the courtroom when a Middlesex Superior Court jury returned the verdict on Monday, according to The Lowell Sun.
Mate-Lebron died April 20, 2021, weeks after she was hospitalized with serious burns caused when Lebron De Los Santos set her on fire at their home on Varnum Street. She told a neighbor who'd helped her out of the building, which was also on fire, that her husband had done it and accused her of cheating on her.
Prosecutors said De Los Santos had a long history of abusing Marte-Lebron.
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If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
De Los Santos was accused of pouring a can of gasoline on his wife while she was in the bathrub and igniting it. He allegedly later came up with several explanations for the fire, including blaming it on an electrical problem with a bathroom light.
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A passerby called 911 when she saw fire inside the building, prosecutors have said.
District Attorney Marian Ryan released a statement Friday describing the brutality of Lebron De Los Santos' behavor:
Celeste Marte Lebron was a victim of Santos Lebron De Los Santos' controlling behavior. In the past, using threats and violence, he isolated his wife and threatened even more violence if she reported his actions to the police. This pattern ultimately escalated to the point where, while his wife was in her bathtub, the defendant attacked her, poured gasoline on her and set her on fire. Literally on fire, Ms. Lebron managed to get herself out of the tub and out of the apartment to seek help. Yet, the defendant was not finished controlling her. As a neighbor frantically tried to help Ms. Lebron, who was suffering from horrific burns, the defendant tried to prohibit that man’s helping and pushed to get her back inside the apartment where he had attempted to incinerate her. Fighting for her life, Ms. Lebron endured weeks of painful treatment for those excruciating injuries before finally succumbing. After her death, the defendant told several different versions of how the fire started, alternately attempting to pass his actions off as a joke, a scare tactic, or a faulty electrical issue in an attempt to evade accountability. With this verdict, the jury placed responsibility squarely on the defendant for the horror that he inflicted on Ms. Lebron.
