CALDWELL, Idaho — Two years after his capture in Mexico, Erasmo Diaz Alcala is facing up to 30 years in an Idaho prison for what authorities called a domestic violence murder.
Diaz Alcala, now 59 years old, was the target of a manhunt that began in June 2015, after the Canyon County Sheriff's Office said he shot his wife, Amparo Godinez Sanchez, at their home on Red Top Road in Wilder. The search ended in June 2021, when U.S. Marshals and Mexican Federales found Diaz Alcala in Mexico. He was extradited and brought back to Idaho five months later.
In a hearing Thursday morning, Canyon County District Judge Matthew Roker sentenced Diaz Alcala to a total of 30 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after he serves 15 years. The court is crediting him the 596 days he has served in jail since he was brought back to Idaho in November 2021.
"I certainly wish the sentence handed down today better reflected the depravity of the crime that was committed," Canyon County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Douglas Robertson said in a news release from the prosecutor's office.
Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole. Diaz's defense attorney asked for a 15-year sentence, with a fixed prison term of 10 years.
Diaz Alcala pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder on Jan. 30. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors asked the court to dismiss charges of non-support of a child and injury to a child, as well as a sentencing enhancement for use of a deadly weapon. He is a Mexican national, and may face deportation from the U.S. and be prevented from ever obtaining legal status in the country if he leaves prison alive.
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