A Raymondville man will spend 25 years in prison. He killed his husband. Bernabe Vanegas Jr. is 40 years old. He pleaded guilty this past Thursday. A Willacy County court gave him the sentence, court records show.
His husband was 70-year-old Emmanuel Alexander Lagpacan. Police found him dead on January 27, 2025. He was found at Amigos Del Valle. That is a senior housing complex in Raymondville. Vanegas will get credit for time he already spent in jail.
The case took about a year and a half to close. Willacy County prosecutors filed the capital murder charge back in February 2025. The guilty plea and sentencing came this past week, in August 2026.
Raymondville police went to Amigos Del Valle that day. They found signs of foul play. Detectives said Lagpacan died from seven stab wounds. Police named Vanegas as the suspect. They arrested him soon after.
Vanegas had his first court date on February 7, 2025. He faced a capital murder charge. A judge set his bond at 1 million dollars. That is a very high bond. It shows the court took the case seriously.
Capital murder is the most serious murder charge in Texas. A conviction usually means life in prison with no parole. In some cases, it can even mean the death penalty. Regular murder charges work differently. They can bring 5 years up to 99 years, or life.
Police never said what led to the killing. Detective Juan Trevino led the case for Raymondville police. He gave early facts to reporters. Cops would not share a motive while the case was open.
Lawyers on both sides worked for months. Court records show Vanegas pleaded guilty in the end. He got a 25-year prison term. That is far less than the life term tied to capital murder. The gap points to a plea deal. The exact terms are not in records seen for this story.
Amigos Del Valle is a well-known nonprofit group. It works across the Rio Grande Valley. The group runs senior housing and meal programs. It serves older people in several South Texas counties. Willacy County is one of them. Lagpacan lived at the Raymondville home where he died.
Willacy County is one of the smallest counties in South Texas. Big criminal cases like this one are rare there. A capital murder charge brings extra checks from the DA's office. It also takes more time to build before trial or a plea deal.
News outlets across South Texas first wrote about the arrest in February 2025. Vanegas was still awaiting trial then. This week's sentencing closes the case. It started with a body found at a senior complex. It ended with a guilty plea about a year and a half later.
For now, the case is closed. Vanegas is headed to a Texas state prison. He gets credit for time already served in the Willacy County jail. Reports on the case do not name the judge. They also do not spell out the exact charge Vanegas pleaded to.
Raymondville sits in Willacy County, north of the Rio Grande Valley's bigger cities. It is one of the smaller towns in the region. Cases like this one do not come through the local courts very often.
Domestic violence can happen in any relationship. Anyone dealing with it can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The number is 1-800-799-7233. Help is free. It is there day or night, in English and Spanish.
El Tejano will share more on this case if new details become public.
