SoCal woman slit boyfriend’s throat and buried his corpse in ‘makeshift tomb’ after he complained about dinner

A Southern California woman received a 15-year prison sentence last week after being convicted of killing her boyfriend and concealing his body in a “makeshift tomb” following a dispute over her cooking.

In November, a San Bernardino jury found Trista Spicer, 43, guilty of second-degree murder for the October 2014 killing of her boyfriend, Eric Mercado, 42, at their home, according to police and court records.

During her trial, Spicer admitted to hitting Mercado multiple times on the head with a cast iron skillet after he criticized the meal she prepared, reported The San Bernardino Sun.

She also confessed to stabbing Mercado in the neck with a kitchen knife.

Spicer enlisted a friend to assist in wrapping Mercado’s body in a deflated air mattress. They hid it under a concrete staircase in her backyard. She later asked a homeless acquaintance to build a brick wall over the area to entomb the body, as she stated in court.

Mercado’s family reported him missing in 2014, but his whereabouts remained unknown until nearly eight years later. Spicer revealed to her boyfriend at the time that she needed to relocate Mercado’s body because her family intended to sell the house, according to the Sun.

On August 23, 2022, police executed a search warrant at Spicer’s home based on a tip from her then-boyfriend, leading to the discovery of the body.

“During the search warrant service, investigators noticed what appeared to be a makeshift tomb on the property,” stated the San Bernardino Police. “Investigators entered the tomb and found human remains.”

In court, Spicer claimed that Mercado had continuously abused her, a claim his family denied.

Speaking at the sentencing, Mercado’s sister, Mahira Torres, described Spicer as “evil,” according to The Sun.

“You took my brother’s life, and you shattered ours,” Torres remarked.

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Torres expressed how the unresolved disappearance of her brother for eight years devastated their family.

“As time went by, life just got harder and harder to live for me, as well as my family — the thought of not knowing what happened … not knowing if he’s alive or dead, or suffering waiting to get saved — that really broke me,” Torres said, as per The Sun.

“My family went eight years trying to get answers, and it seemed like everybody knew about it except his close family,” she added.

Torres described Mercado as a loving father and an individual of integrity who inspired her to pursue her dreams, The Sun reported.

“I will always feel thankful and blessed for the love I received from my brother,” Torres said. “He taught me to go after anything in life with a fearless mindset.”

The San Bernardino Sheriff had custody of Spicer before her transfer to the California state prison, according to court records.