Man testifies he strangled trans woman during violent argument

Jose Mendoza Espinoza told jurors Friday he killed Sherlyn Marjorie by kneeling on her throat in 2023 after the transgender woman demanded $5,000, then struck and choked him during an angry sexual encounter.

Closing arguments are expected to begin Monday in Mendoza Espinoza’s first-degree murder trial, following five days of testimony in 2nd Judicial District Court before Judge Emeterio Rudolfo.

Mendoza Espinoza, 30, told jurors that he killed Marjorie, 35, after she attempted to extort money and physically attacked Mendoza Espinoza after he refused to pay her.

Testifying in his own defense, Mendoza Espinoza admitted that he fatally choked Marjorie with his knee as the two fought and argued on Sept. 17, 2023.

Marjorie had demanded $5,000 and threatened to send sexually explicit photos and videos to Mendoza Espinoza’s wife if he didn’t pay the money.

“When I told her I didn’t have the money, she got aggressive,” he testified.

The two began arguing in Mendoza Espinoza’s Dodge Journey parked at the trailer park where he lived with his wife and sons near Interstate 40 and Atrisco Vista SW. The killing occurred in the parking lot of the trailer park after the two had sex, he said.

“She was choking me and I was trying to get her off of me,” he testified. “I think I hit her in the face.”

Mendoza Espinoza told jurors he “blacked out” at some point during the fight. When he regained consciousness, his knee was on Marjorie’s neck, and she was no longer breathing, he said.

Prosecutors contend that Mendoza Espinoza intentionally killed Marjorie and later made efforts to conceal the crime by hiding her body in a drainage tunnel.

Mendoza Espinoza said he had previously paid Marjorie cash payments ranging from $500 to $1,000 to prevent his wife and two sons from learning about his sexual relationship with the transgender woman.

“I didn’t want to lose my wife,” he testified. “I didn’t want to lose my kids.”

Mendoza Espinoza’s attorney, Matthias Swonger, told jurors this week that Marjorie was a transgender woman and Mendoza was a bisexual man who had sexual relationships with both men and women outside his marriage. The two had a sexual relationship for several years, he said.

Marjorie was last seen by friends the day before the alleged killing. Her friends and family members found her body 10 days later in a drainage tunnel under Central at 136th SW in far west Albuquerque.

The group began searching for Marjorie after finding her vehicle near a Love’s Travel Stop off Interstate 40 and Atrisco Vista SW.

Jurors this week viewed autopsy photos showing that Marjorie’s hands and feet were bound and her head was wrapped with tape that would have prevented her from breathing.

A forensic pathologist testified that Marjorie died of asphyxiation, either as a result of strangulation or from the tape covering her mouth and nose.

Mendoza Espinoza’s testimony and earlier statements by his attorney suggest that he will ask jurors to acquit him of first-degree murder and instead convict him on a lesser charge.

The grand jury indictment charges Mendoza Espinoza with first-degree murder but provides jurors with the option of convicting him of second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter. He also faces six counts of tampering with evidence.