Background: Russo Road in Fort Pierce, Fla., where the body of Tania Wise was found in 2018 (Google Maps). Insets (left to right): Jose Soto-Escalera and Tania Wise (St. Lucie County Sheriff”s Office).
A married Florida man accused of giving his pregnant lover $500 for an abortion, then killing her weeks before she was due to give birth, is set to go on trial.
Jose Soto-Escalera, 48, is facing two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, seven years after the body of 23-year-old Tania Wise was found on the side of a country road on Aug. 24, 2018.
As the investigation progressed, investigators learned some details about communications between Soto-Escalera and Wise in the months leading up to the alleged murder.
According to an arrest report reviewed by Law&Crime, police said that Wise had told Soto-Escalera that she was pregnant with his child and “needed money for an abortion.” The arrest report also stated that Wise warned that if she did not receive the money from Soto-Escalera, she would tell his wife.
A witness who was with Wise when she called Soto-Escalera and told him she was pregnant with his child and needed money for an abortion spoke to detectives, police said.
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After Soto-Escalera had agreed to pay for the abortion and Wise hung up the phone, she told the witness that “if she used Jose’s wife against him, she could get anything she wanted.” According to the affidavit, Soto-Escalera’s wife did not know that he and Wise were having a sexual relationship.
Soto-Escalera and Wise met up later that day, and the defendant allegedly gave Wise $500 for an abortion. But according to a witness who spoke to police, Wise did not get the abortion and gave the money to someone else.
Another witness told police that three days before Wise’s body was discovered, they spoke with Soto-Escalera, who was “mad because Wise ‘played him'” when she did not use the money to get an abortion. Soto-Escalera also allegedly asked the witness about finding a “dirty gun.”
In an interview with police after Wise’s body was found, Soto-Escalera allegedly said that he had never had sex with Wise, but admitted that she stripped for him. During his interview, he agreed to a DNA test and allowed his cellphone to be searched.
When the DNA test came back, police confirmed that Soto-Escalera was the father of Wise’s unborn baby boy. Wise’s family had named the baby Josiah.
Cellphone data showed Soto-Escalera and Wise called each other several times on Aug. 23, the night before her body was found, police said. His cellphone had allegedly pinged at the location where Wise’s body was found the following day.
Soto-Escalera’s cellphone records also revealed what prosecutors believe were incriminating Google searches hours before Wise’s body was found, including searches for “dead body in woods” and “wooded area dead body,” police said. The defendant also clicked on four related links from those searches, authorities added.
Local CW affiliate WTVX reported that prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Soto-Escalera. His trial began with jury selection on Wednesday.
