HIS GIRLFRIEND BROKE UP WITH HIM. THEN HE KILLED HER FATHER.

A Las Vegas man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the brutal killing of his ex-girlfriend’s father.

On Aug. 20, Chief District Court Judge Tierra Jones sentenced 28-year-old Carlos Bernardo Cabrera to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the stabbing death of 53-year-old Carlos Varela. To avoid the death penalty, Cabrera pleaded guilty to murder, residential burglary, first-degree kidnapping, three counts of sex assault, and one count of coercion.

In June 2021, around 3 am, the Las Vegas Police Department responded to a home near Christy Lane and Lake Mead Boulevard after reports of a home invasion. Upon arrival, police officers arrested Cabrera and found Varela’s body in the bedroom with multiple stab wounds.

According to Hoodline, the defendant told investigators he had broken into the home through an open window in the kitchen. However, while creeping through the hallway, the victim was alerted by the creaking floorboards. Then, Cabrera rushed into the bedroom and stabbed Varela multiple times. Soon, the defendant heard sirens approaching the home when he grabbed the victim’s daughter and his ex-girlfriend, Mariana Varela, at knifepoint and threatened to kill her.

However, Mariana convinced Cabrera to let her go outside to distract the police officers. As a result, officers apprehended the defendant at the back of the house as he attempted to flee.

During the sentencing hearing, Cabrera’s lawyer, Chief Deputy Public Defender Robert O’Brien, argued for a lesser sentence of life with the possibility of parole. O’Brien told the judge that the defendant suffered from autism and had difficulties adjusting to changes when Mariana broke up with him. Furthermore, he claimed the defendant had suffered abuse from his former stepfather and that his client had no criminal record.

Cabrera also apologized to the court and the victim’s family.

“What I’ve done was despicable and I know that I can’t do anything to change it. I can’t change the past as much as I want to. I never thought I would be capable of doing such a thing. I just lashed out,” said Cabrera reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Instead, the judge gave him the maximum sentence and stated the crime committed was absolutely unthinkable.