Texas Couple Wrongfully Arrested For Murder, Spent Christmas In Jail

A Texas couple was wrongfully arrested on murder charges and spent the holidays behind bars. WFAA reported that police woke the couple up just before 6 a.m. on December 19th.

Police had a warrant for Rubi Esparza, 33, and her husband Basilio Tovar, 50, for the murder of one of the couple's acquaintances.

According to a police statement, detectives "had probable cause the suspects were involved in the murder."

Esparza said, "I was crying. I kept thinking about my kids, my husband, and I'm like murder, like, this is crazy."

The couple's attorney, Chris Mulder, began getting tips after their arrest about the identity of the potential suspect. Once he gathered it up, he drove to the police headquarters on the 22nd of December. The detective was on vacation, forcing the couple to spend Christmas in jail.

Mulder said, "When they finally looked at it, it was convincing enough where they cut these folks loose within a day."

"Upon further investigation, it was determined they did not commit the crime. We can confirm the paperwork has been filed for the charges to be dropped," the police statement said.

Esparza ended up losing her accounting job. Police also seized the couple's truck and phones, which they have yet to get back. Tovar said that the detective called and apologized for the mistake.

Esparza said, "Nobody should go through this."