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Santos Lebron De Los Santos was convicted this week of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday, March 8, the Middlesex District Attorney said.
Los Santos was accused of setting his wife, Celeste Marte Lebron, age 49, ablaze on March 31, 2021, just after 10:30 p.m. at their Varnum Street home in Lowell, the prosecutor said.
Neighbors saw flames shooting from the home and rushed over to help, but Los Santos tried to stop them and push his wife back inside their apartment, the prosecutor said.
Lebron told the neighbor that her husband had followed her into the bathroom and accused her of cheating before throwing gasoline on her and setting it afire, the prosecutor said.
When paramedics arrived, they found Lebron had burns across 90 percent of her body. She "endured weeks of painful treatment" before dying on April 20, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement.
Los Santos tried to hide the cause of the fire by taking the gas can out and putting it beneath tools in his truck. Investigators said he gave "widely conflicting" stories about what happened that night.
Police later determined he was the only person in the home with his wife at the time of the fire.
“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.“ said District Attorney Ryan. "... With this verdict, the jury placed responsibility squarely on the defendant for the horror that he inflicted on Ms. Lebron."
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