“Not guilty”: an American woman was sentenced for leaving her lover to die in a suitcase during a game of hide and seek

An American woman has been found guilty of second-degree murder of her boyfriend after she allegedly left him zipped up in a suitcase to die in 2020, The Guardian reports.

Sarah Boone, 42, zipped her boyfriend Jorges Torres Jr. into a suitcase during a game of hide and seek, resulting in Torres’ death from asphyxiation. Boone told the Orange County Sheriff’s Office that she and her boyfriend played the game after drinking alcohol in February 2020.

Boone said her boyfriend, Torres, voluntarily climbed into the suitcase and, as they joked, she zipped it up.

Boone later alleged that Torres had abused her in the past. She decided to talk to him while he was locked in the suitcase to express her feelings, USA Today reports.

The situation became serious when they began arguing and believed that Torres would hurt her if he came out of the suitcase; she left him there only to find him dead the next morning.

Video found on Boone’s phone shows her laughing and hitting his suitcase with a baseball bat as he tries to escape. The video was played in the courtroom and showed Boone’s boyfriend repeatedly saying he couldn’t breathe while she laughed.

“That’s what you do when you choke me” and “It’s your fault” were some of her responses as he continued to call for help.

Torres’ autopsy report revealed several injuries, including scratches on his back and neck, bruises to his shoulder, skull and forehead from blunt force trauma, and a cut near his split lip, according to The Guardian.

The verdict came on Friday, four years after the incident, in a trial that lasted 10 days. Boone pleaded not guilty, insisting she believed he could have gotten out of the suitcase.

Boone’s attorney said they were very disappointed with the verdict and that she was “shocked” by the verdict, CNN affiliate WESH reported.

Boone faces life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in early December, USA Today reports.

(With participation of agencies)