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Man Fakes Own Murder After Police Discover His Estranged Wife Hired Hitman to Kill Him
Ramon Sosa's friend overheard a plot by his estranged wife, Lulu, to murder him and get all his assets before their divorce was finalized.
Police snapped photos of a dead man, discovered in a shallow grave in rural Montgomery County, Texas, north of Houston, on July 21, 2015 about 5 p.m. The man was wearing only his underwear, with his hands bound behind his back, with a single gunshot to the head.
There was just one issue — he wasn’t dead, and the entire thing was staged.
“He was having to pretend to be dead to save his own life,” said Jason Martinez, a former Montgomery County Constable’s Sergeant, to Snapped.
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The elaborate set-up in an all-new Snapped, airing Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen, was just part of a plan to trick Ramon Sosa’s soon-to-be-ex-wife, Maria de Lourdes “Lulu” Sosa, as police suspected her of trying to hire a hit man to kill her estranged husband.
Lulu Sosa and Ramon Sosa's Marriage, Explained
Ramon, a retired pro boxer, met Lulu at a nightclub before marrying her in 2009. In 2010, the couple opened Woodlands Boxing and Fitness together, as Ramon continued his career with FedEx.
But by 2015, Lulu Sosa had filed for divorce.
“We were OK the first three years, and then the third year, that’s when I saw little cracks started in our relationship,” Ramon told Snapped. “Seemed like the more money we made, the more arguments we got into. I was working a lot, literally all day. She started getting really jealous about my kids. I felt like now she had a nice home, she had money — her whole attitude changed. She just wasn’t the same person.”
Lulu Sosa Looks for a Hitman
In the summer of 2015, Ramon Sosa’s friend, Mundo, overheard a conversation between Lulu and her daughter at the couple’s family-owned gym, where Lulu told her daughter she wished Ramon was dead. Lulu knew Mundo had previously been involved in a gang and asked for his help to find a hitman.
“Lulu was looking for someone to kill her husband,” Martinez said. “She was a little vague in what she was asking for — she said she wanted him to ‘disappear.’”
Afraid for his friend, Mundo decided to play along and made up a name, telling Lulu he knew someone named “Paco” who could do the job.
“He was very close with Ramon,” said prosecutor Kelly Blackburn to Snapped. “He was concerned something was going to happen. And so that’s why he got involved.”
Mundo immediately told Ramon about the conversation.
“I was so upset,” Ramon said. “I mean, there was so much rage, and I couldn’t believe it — I thought he was joking…He said, ‘I seen that look in people’s eyes when they want to kill somebody and she has that look.’”
The two decided to have Mundo keep up the charade with Lulu, to try and get more evidence and information to take to police. Ramon even bought a burner phone so he could text Mundo as if he was “Paco,” to show to Lulu.
“She had no idea the whole time the hit man was me,” Sosa said. “I was playing my own hit man.”
Police Become Involved in the Sosa Case
On July 15, 2015, Ramon Sosa and Mundo went to the Montgomery Co. Constable’s Office and shared what they knew. They provided recorded audio conversations between Mundo and Lulu, as well as $100 they said Lulu gave Mundo as a down payment for the hit on Ramon.
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“If he dies, I will have the life insurance,” Lulu said in Spanish in audio recordings Mundo played for police. “I will have his pension payments for the rest of my life. My life will be set. He worked so hard for his retirement. And now I am going to work hard for my retirement. This is my retirement, Mundo. His life is my retirement.”
In the same audio recordings for police, Lulu told Mundo she needed Ramon to be dead on or before July 22, when their divorce would be finalized, otherwise Ramon’s children would receive his inheritance instead of her.
“I was in constant fear,” Ramon said. “It was horrible living day to day knowing that somebody wants to kill you. And you don’t know when or where. Or how.”
Armed with this information, police decided to do an undercover operation and record more conversations on camera this time.
“They agreed on $1,000 cash, the title to Ramon’s truck once the job was done, and she was going to give ‘Paco’ some of Ramon’s jewelry to compensate him further,” Martinez said. “I was pretty taken aback. That let me know that we’re dealing with a truly evil woman.”
But police and prosecutors were still missing one critical piece of the case.
“When you’re talking about a solicitation of capital murder case, you want to be able to show a jury or judge what the suspect will do when they see the person that they wanted dead, actually dead,” Blackburn said. “So, it’s not uncommon to, during the investigation, to try and stage the murder.”
Out in the middle of nowhere, on July 21, 2015, investigators used make-up to place a fake bullet hole on Ramon Sosa’s head, and took pictures of him with their cell phones as if they were a hitman getting proof.
After the staged photos, police put Ramon up in a hotel for hiding until they could make an arrest.
Lulu Sosa Is Arrested
On July 22, 2015, an undercover officer posing as “Paco” met up with Lulu on camera to show her the proof.
“Probably the most chilling part of this entire case was her immediate response to the photo,” Martinez said. “And it was her smile.”
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Lulu Sosa was arrested on a solicitation of capital murder charge at the family boxing gym on July 23.
“I just immediately started bawling my eyes out,” Mia Martinez, Ramon Sosa’s daughter, told Snapped. “I was crying, I remember, I was just so angry because how could somebody want to kill my father. You know, let alone his wife?”
The Sosas' divorce was finalized, and everything went to Ramon.
On October 11, 2016, Lulu took a plea deal for 20 years in prison.
“I remember her when they brought her in, the sounds of the chains, her walking, and I felt saddened to see this lady — how she ended up,” Ramon Sosa said. “I forgave her, and it was as if I had released all that anger. And I was at peace again. She never looked at me the whole time. And they just took her away. And that’s the last time I saw her.”
Lulu Sosa is projected to be released from prison in October 2023.
“I know there’s a day that’s going to come in the near future when Lulu is released from prison,” Ramon Sosa said. “I hope she betters her life. I hope that people can see my story and can learn something from it. And I hope that it helps them.”
Watch new episodes of Snapped on Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen, and on the Oxygen app.
