He killed an Idaho woman and fled the country. Here’s what happened at his sentencing

WILDER (Idaho Statesman) — A man who killed his partner in Wilder eight years ago — in front of their children — and then led police on a six-year international manhunt was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday, with only 15 years fixed.

Erasmo Diaz, 59, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in January. At his hours-long sentencing hearing in 3rd District Court in Caldwell, relatives of Diaz’s partner, Amparo Godinez Sanchez, gave emotional impact statements, cried and wore T-shirts that read, “Justice for Amparo.”

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Prosecutors asked Judge Matthew Roker for a life sentence, with public defenders requesting 15 years, arguing that Diaz acted in self-defense and did not plan the killing. Roker handed down a sentence in which Diaz could be eligible for parole after 15 years.

On June 11, 2015, Diaz fatally shot Godinez Sanchez, 39, in front of their children at their Wilder home. He then fled to Mexico. The U.S. Marshals Service and Mexico Federal Police captured him in 2021, and he was extradited back to Canyon County.

Daughter Laura Diaz told the Idaho Statesman after the hearing that she did not consider the sentence to be a fulfillment of justice. True justice, she said, would mean liberation from violence and her family not having to be in court over this killing to begin with.