Man sentenced to life in prison for strangling, killing wife in 2019

Published on April 14, 2023

Weld County DA Seal

GREELEY, Colo. (Weld County D.A.) – A Fort Lupton man will spend the rest of his natural life in prison after he was found guilty this week of murdering his wife in 2019.

On Wednesday, a jury convicted Joseph Allan Garza of one count of first-degree murder and one count of stalking.

On November 19, 2019, the defendant called police and reported that his wife was unresponsive in their Fort Lupton home. When officers arrived, they found the victim with a cord wrapped around her neck.

Garza initially claimed the victim committed suicide. However, during the course of the two week-long jury trial, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Pirraglia and Deputy District Attorney Chandler Croom proved beyond a reasonable doubt to jurors that the defendant committed first-degree murder.

The defendant was also convicted of stalking the victim at her place of employment in the months leading up to her murder in 2019.

Following the guilty verdict, Weld County Judge Meghan Saleebey sentenced the defendant to life in the Colorado Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole.

In addition, he was also sentenced to four years in DOC for the stalking charge. 

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