Miramar man gets life in prison in murder of estranged wife
Cid Torrez, who was convicted in July of murdering his estranged wife even though her body was never found, was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison.
Torrez, 44, was originally due to be sentenced in October, but Broward Circuit Judge Lisa Porter postponed the hearing when he made statements invoking a “witch hunt” connected with President Donald Trump.
That statement postponed sentencing so that psychologists could determine whether Torrez was competent to proceed. After months of discussions and hearings, Porter held a final hearing Tuesday afternoon.
She sentenced Torrez to the maximum possible prison term even after hearing from a psychologist who said Torrez suffers from a mental health disorder and would benefit from treat-
ment. Prosecutors noted that the disorder’s symptoms only manifested themselves after Torrez was convicted.
Vilet Torrez was last seen on a surveillance video entering the parking area of her townhome in Miramar, where Torrez was waiting with their children.
She had been on a date the night before, and Cid Torrez had planned to take the children on a trip to an Orlando theme park, according to trial testimony. But that trip never happened, their daughter testified. Instead, Cid Torrez took the children to the movies and back to their mother’s home.
Prosecutors think he killed his estranged wife in a jealous rage when she got home. Torrez’s lawyer, Richard Della Fera, argued it is possible Vilet Torrez is still alive — her body was never found. Prosecutors argued that Torrez dumped her body in the Everglades. The jury believed the prosecutors.
Lead prosecutor Lanie Bandell said Torrez’s bizarre statements invoking Trump were designed to manipulate the hearing and draw further attention to himself while delaying the inevitable sentencing.
“Cid Torrez is a manipulator,” she said. “He’s trying to get the attention of the media. He made a spectacle of this courtroom. All this comes up only after his guilty verdict.”
Torrez did not speak at Tuesday’s hearing. Neither did his daughter or former father-in-law, who both condemned him during the first sentencing hearing in October.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” his daughter, also named Vilet, said then. “I’m agnostic, but I can tell you now, you are going to go to hell. Thanks for everything, dad.”
In addition to the life sentence, Porter ordered Torrez be imprisoned for five years each on four other offenses related to electronically stalking his estranged wife before the murder. Those sentences will run consecutively, Porter said.
Consecutive sentences on top of a life sentence have no practical effect unless the life sentence is overturned on appeal.