Murder

Man Sentenced in Killing of Ex-Coworker Found Encased in Cement

A Southern California man found guilty of gunning down an ex-coworker with a shotgun, then hiding the body by encasing it in cement and burying it underneath a shower was sentenced Monday to 50 years to life in state prison, prosecutors said.

Juan Alberto Galvez, 49, of Santa Fe Springs was convicted of one count of first-degree murder on Oct. 23 in the slaying of 38-year-old Guillermo Díaz, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

The two men had worked together at a skylight manufacturing business in Santa Fe Springs. Evidence presented at the trial showed Galvez had been fired and grew resentful because Diaz remained on the job, said Ricardo Santiago, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.

On Dec. 23, 2012, Galvez used a shotgun to commit the murder, then encased the body in concrete and buried it underneath a makeshift shower he built at an auto repair shop where he worked within the same industrial park area, prosecutors said.

"He basically entombed him under this area of the auto repair shop. He threw cement to bury him,"  Santiago said. "Statements made by the defendant to a witness led the witness to call police and that ultimately led police to search the area and they ended up finding the victim."

The jury also found Galvez guilty of misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine.

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