St. Joseph County prosecutors say they’ve charged a man with murdering his wife 19 years ago.
Prosecutor Ken Cotter on Tuesday announced that a grand jury earlier this month indicted Lucio Lerma Sr. in the murder of 33-year-old Delia Lerma in December 2007. The indictment had been sealed until police were able to arrest Lerma on Monday.
Cotter said his office has informed Delia’s family of the arrest. In a statement, he said, “We would like to commend the investigators from the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit who originally investigated her death in December of 2007 as well as the South Bend Police Department’s Cold Case Unit for their work in bringing forth enough evidence to present this to the Grand Jury.
Delia was found in her van. She bled to death after being stabbed twice in the stomach.
Cotter released no factual information about the case Tuesday but it was featured on a November episode of the Oxygen channel show Cold Justice. On the show, witnesses said Delia had been having an affair with Lerma’s brother.
