An Orange County man has been found guilty of stabbing his girlfriend to death and murdering his two young sons back in 2012. The girlfriend’s body was stabbed 48 times, police said.
On Wednesday, Shazer Fernando Limas, 42, from Orange was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his girlfriend, Arlet Hernandez Conteras, 31, and their two sons, 16-month-old Fernando Hernandez Limas and 2-month-old Emanuel Hernandez Limas.
Limas was convicted on what would’ve been his son Fernando’s 12th birthday, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Contreras’ body was found dumped in a gutter in Los Angeles County after she had been stabbed 48 times, authorities said. The two children’s bodies were never found.
On April 12, 2012, Contreras brought her two sons to Limas’ apartment in Orange. After an argument between the couple, Contreras left the apartment but returned later that same day.
Sometime between April 13-14, Limas stabbed Contreras to death and murdered their two sons, officials determined.
On April 14, Limas called his new girlfriend to explain that he injured his hands during a fight while out with friends.
Over the next 10 days, “Limas let the bodies of Conteras and the boys rot in a balcony closet while he continued to go to dance clubs, rented limos, and even had friends over to his apartment,” said the DA’s office.
He bleached out the blood stains on his carpet and moved furniture around to cover up the stains, court documents said.
Ten days later on April 24, Limas placed Contreras’ body in a large chest and placed it in a U-Haul truck along with the bodies of their two sons.
Contreras’ body was eventually dumped in an industrial area in Los Angeles County. Limas continued driving for another 100 miles during which authorities believe the children’s bodies were dumped.
Authorities found Contreras’ body the next day while the boys’ bodies have not been found.
Limas broke his apartment lease a few days later while the manager reported a “suspicious smell, blood spatter on walls and pools of blood under the bleached carpet.”
When authorities tracked Limas down, he led officers on a high-speed chase along the 405 and 5 freeways before he was eventually caught.
“He killed his entire family and threw them away like trash,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Arlet and little Fernando and Emmanuel did not deserve to have their lives so violently snuffed out by someone who cared only about himself and was willing to kill everyone and anyone who got in his way, including his own sons.”
Limas faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 3, 2023.