Warning: Details in this story may be graphic. Reader discretion is advised.
A man who killed his girlfriend in Hartford this weekend drove her to the police department and showed officers photos of her body, according to an arrest warrant obtained by NBC Connecticut.
Police said 52-year-old Pedro Grajalez, of Hartford, went to the police station at 3:22 p.m. Sunday, approached officers at the front desk and said he had just stabbed his girlfriend and she was in a vehicle parked in front of the police department.
The warrant states that police officers found 57-year-old Nilda Rivera, of New Britain, unresponsive with numerous stab wounds. Authorities said Rivera was stabbed more than 25 times all over her body, in areas including her chest, head, face and arms.
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Police said Rivera was found in the front seat on Grajalez's car covered in blood. A knife was found in the car's center console.
Officers treated her until EMS arrived and Rivera was taken to St. Francis Hospital, where she died, police said. The incident happened on Murphy Road.
According to the warrant, Grajalez and Rivera had been dating since July 2022. He recently found out that she was having an affair.
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Grajalez had been planning to kill his girlfriend for several days, and he admitted to the crime during questioning, the warrant reads.
He told officers that he hid the knife in his pants pocket and drove her to McDonalds to get food. After they ate, Grajalez drove her to a secluded parking lot and started to stab her. He told officers that he waited for Rivera to die before driving to the police department, according to the warrant.
It was later revealed that Grajalez sent a picture of his girlfriend with stab wounds to her "new boyfriend," the warrant says.
Grajalez blames the murder on his girlfriend's affair and said the other guy made threats to his mother and Rivera gave him his mom's address, according to authorities.
Grajalez was charged with the murder. Bond was initially set at $1.5 million and was raised to $3 million. This was the city's sixth homicide this year.
He is due back in court on May. 15.
