Felipe Lopez fought back and screamed for help in vain for 30 minutes while he was being killed by his estranged wife’s new boyfriend, prosecutors say.
It took less time than that after the murder for Felipe Lopez’s wife, Francesca Lopez, to begin draining his bank account, according to court filings. Francesca’s boyfriend, Ismael Alvarez, told her that her husband was dead a little before 2 a.m. on Jan. 31, 2022; by 2:20 a.m., they were at a 7-Eleven ATM withdrawing Felipe’s funds.
Now, Alvarez has been convicted of murder and sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison, while his girlfriend’s fate remains in limbo. Francesca Lopez, 47, is being prosecuted separately, with her trial slated to begin in September. In the meantime, she remains jailed without bail, records show.
But Alvarez’s trial and March 21 sentencing have revealed new details of the sordid plot to kill Felipe Lopez, whose last name is also listed as Lopez-Custodio in court filings. Authorities had already revealed that Francesca Lopez came to her husband’s Concord apartment nine days after the murder, after a group of friends said they were concerned for his well-being, then allegedly feigned surprise when his decomposing body was found on a couch.
Now, prosecutors have revealed how they believe Francesca Lopez and Alvarez planned the murder, with Francesca Lopez allegedly convincing her boyfriend to kill a man he had never met. Authorities believe she felt entitled to government assistance funds that she “insisted” Felipe Lopez was hoarding for himself, and that Alvarez planned to buy a car with his share of the proceeds.
Prosecutors say the two went on a dinner date the night of Jan. 30, then drove to Felipe Lopez’s home on Jacqueline Way that morning. Francesca Lopez pointed out her husband’s apartment, then waited in their car as Alvarez used a “crude weapon” to beat Felipe Lopez before strangling him with a cord, prosecutors said in court filings.
Alvarez would later confess to police and provide these details, according to court records.
“(Alvarez) estimated that it took him a half an hour to kill Mr. Lopez-Custodio,” Deputy District Attorney Kevin Bell wrote in a sentencing memo. “Mr. Lopez-Custodio tried to plead for help but nobody could hear him. Mr. Lopez-Custodio fought for his life. He literally scratched and clawed as best he could. We know that because (Alvarez’s) DNA was later found on the fingernails of Mr. Lopez Custodio’s right hand.”
By 2:21 a.m., the two were at an ATM where Francesca Lopez withdrew an unspecified amount of cash from her now-dead husband’s account, authorities in court filings. They returned to the apartment complex roughly five minutes later and threw the murder weapon in a dumpster, prosecutors said.
Alvarez’s lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Tim Ahearn, argued for a sentence that would have given Alvarez an earlier shot at parole. He said in a sentencing memo that Alvarez had endured a harsh upbringing, suffering at the hands of an abusive father after being raised with 11 siblings in a one-room mud hut in a “very poor” Mexican village.
“His family mainly survived on food that they were able to grow and livestock which they were able to raise,” Ahearn wrote. “Mr. Alvarez had very minimal schooling and never even learned Spanish. He grew up speaking only Tojobal, a Mayan dialect.”
He came to the United States by himself, at age 15, and by 17 was working in Concord as a construction worker and landscaper, Ahearn wrote. He then reportedly began using drugs and alcohol, which only worsened with time.
Alvarez will be eligible for parole in 2048, according to prison records.