Samantha Wohlford, a YouTuber who had dreams of becoming an actor, claimed to be a victim after her husband, Ernie Ibarra, a tattoo artist, was murdered.
She called her mother, Rosie, in a state of distress on February 20, 2015, saying that she had been tied up and gagged by intruders, and that Ibarra was kidnapped after he was brutally attacked during the home invasion involving three masked men in the middle of the night.
However, during a police interview, Wohlford slipped up, which led to investigators realizing that she was actually the mastermind behind the crime.
Before investigators discovered Wohlford’s role in the killing, the Titus County Sheriff’s Office authorities in Texas rushed to Wohlford’s house.
Investigators looked into three men who they believed were responsible in some way – Jose Ponse, Johnathan Sanford, and Octavious Rhymes.
However, Ponse and Sanford gave details about the incident and revealed that Wohlford and Rhymes were involved in the killing.
Wohlford and Ibarra’s marriage was tumultuous, and the latter was allegedly abusive to his wife, who filed a complaint against him.
Ibarra’s family denied the allegations.
When Wohlford was brought in for questioning, she tried to point the blame on Johnathan Sanford, claiming that she met him at the hospital while visiting a friend and that he was offended when she told him about her husband’s alleged abusive behaviour.
Sanford was arrested along with his brother Jose Antonio Ponse, and the two were charged with aggravated kidnapping.
After initially planning to spare Ibarra’s life by planting meth in his car before calling the police, they decided it would be easier to murder him.
Wohlford lent a car for the men to use for their murder plan. Ibarra’s body was discovered in the remote woods of Sand Crossing in Camp County. He was shot dead.
During an interrogation with police, investigators questioned how Wohlford was able to call her mum while bound and why she decided not to phone 911 first.
She claimed she could only dial with her face so couldn’t call 911. Detective Ingram asked, “Well, how did you dial your mother with your face?” When she replied that she simply pressed the first number that came up, the detectives weren’t buying it.
Ponse and Sanford received 50-year jail terms. Rhymes was given 93 years in prison, and Wohlford was sentenced to 99 years.
The case highlights how sometimes even the most convincing stories can unravel, and how police detectives use their training and experience to piece together the facts.
Wohlford’s case is a chilling reminder that people can sometimes be motivated by greed, revenge, or other sinister reasons to carry out heinous crimes.
In this case, Wohlford’s desire to get rid of her abusive husband led her to plot his murder, which ultimately destroyed her own life as well.
As the saying goes, “crime doesn’t pay,” and Wohlford’s fate is a stark example of this. Her attempt to frame innocent men for the murder failed, and she was sentenced to spend almost a century behind bars.
Her dreams of becoming an actor, and her life as a mother to her five children, were all shattered because of her actions. This tragic story serves as a cautionary tale to others who might be considering carrying out similar acts of violence or deceit.
