DA: Man found guilty of murdering wife after birthday celebration in Lemoore

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A man was found guilty of murdering his wife, a mother of four, whom people said he married for immigration purposes, hours after celebrating her birthday at a Lemoore casino, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office said.

According to court documents, 44-year-old Francisco Javier Valdivia was found guilty of murdering his wife, Cecilia Bravo Cabrera, after taking her out to celebrate her birthday in 2016.

Friends and family said the pair married in 2008 for immigration purposes. Valdivia’s other relationship was with 46-year-old Rosalina Lopez, with whom he shared four children and lived with in Goshen.

Over time, however, Valdivia and Cabrera became close. The DA’s office said he started paying her bills and rent in Farmersville. At one point, he even threatened to kill her if she were to leave him or begin a relationship with another man.

Late in the evening of June 8, 2016, Valdivia picked Cabrera up to celebrate her birthday at the Tachi Palace in Lemoore. The pair left the casino just after midnight.

Just before 5 a.m. the next morning, the Tulare County Fire Department was called to extinguish a car engulfed in flames in Traver. The car was Cabrera’s.

Since that day, Cabrera has never been found.

Investigators found that calls to Cabrera had been erased from Valdivia’s phone, and in an early interview with Valdivia, detectives noticed scratches on his arm.

He claimed that he watched Cabrera drive off and spent the rest of the night at his home. However, the DA’s office said that cell phone location data showed this was a lie. The data also revealed that his phone was in the vicinity of Cabrera’s car between 4 and 5 a.m. that morning.

Valdivia and Lopez were arrested in connection with Cabrera’s death in 2016, according to the DA. Lopez pleaded no contest to being an accessory after the fact in December 2020 and was sentenced to three years in county jail.

Valdivia was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and felony arson on Wednesday. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 25.