Left: Jared Dicus (Waller County Jail). Right: Anggy Diaz (Facebook)
A Texas judge sentenced a 23-year-old man to 40 years in prison for killing and decapitating his newlywed wife, according to prosecutors.
Jared James Dicus pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, 21-year-old Anggy Diaz, in January 2023. According to the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, Discus’ parents called 911 around 4:35 p.m. Jan. 11, 2023, to report a possible death on their property in a small cabin behind their home in the 200 block of Oak Hollow Blvd. near Magnolia, which is about 60 miles northwest of downtown Houston. Deputies found Diaz dead and decapitated. There was blood throughout the cabin where Dicus and Diaz had been living, deputies said.
Cops took Dicus into custody and he admitted to detectives that he had murdered his new wife. Authorities never publicly divulged a motive for the murder, though deputies said they had responded to the home before for domestic violence-related calls.
Sean G. Whittmore, Waller County Criminal District Attorney, said there were potential mental health issues raised during the pretrial phase of the case. However, a psychiatrist deemed Dicus competent to stand trial. As part of the plea deal, Dicus will not be allowed to appeal the verdict or bring up an insanity defense, according to Whitmore.
Diaz’s family was OK with the plea, Whitmore said. Dicus will not be eligible for parole until 2043.
“Waller County does not tolerate domestic violence. Heinous crimes like this one will not go unanswered, we will seek justice for the victims of domestic violence and send a message to the perpetrators that here, we fight for our victims,” Whitmore said in a statement on Wednesday.
Dicus on his Facebook posted a wedding photo of him and Diaz in October 2022, just over two months before he killed her. Diaz’s friends and co-workers remembered her vibrant personality.
“Very bright girl, full of energy, never negative,” Diaz’s boss Veronica Jimenez told Houston NBC affiliate KPRC. “She had so many goals in life.”
Irvin Orellana, Diaz’s uncle who used to be her legal guardian, said in a GoFundMe page his niece was “the light to our family.”
“Always with a smile, and cheerful personality. The absence of her from our lives will be felt forever,” he wrote.
The funds raised helped transport her body back to her native Nicaragua.
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