A man accused of killing his pregnant wife in Denver told police that he was “possibly brainwashed,” according to his arrest affidavit.
Herman Antonio Sisneros, 41, called 911 at 11:38 a.m. Sunday, according to the affidavit. He told dispatchers that he needed help, but refused to explain until officers arrived.
A Supported Team Assisted Response, or STAR, vehicle with two mental health clinicians was dispatched to the home in the 1500 block of South Xavier Street. The clinician told dispatchers shortly before 2 p.m. that the caller’s wife was dead in the backyard and that Sisneros refused to let them check on her, police wrote in the affidavit.
Sisneros told the clinicians that there were children in the house whom he had given medication to, and that “he had to do what he did to protect the world,” the affidavit stated. The clinicians were able to check on the children, who did not appear injured, according to the document.
When Denver officers responded to the house, they found the woman, 39-year-old Angelica Sisneros, dead with a wound to her abdomen, police said. She was eight months pregnant, according to the affidavit.
Investigators noticed flies around the woman’s mouth and a “bad smell,” leading officers to believe she had been there for some time, according to the affidavit.
Officers had responded to the house the day before for a domestic disturbance, after which Herman Sisneros left alone, neighbors told police, according to the affidavit. When he returned home that evening, a neighbor noticed there were blood droplets in the front yard near where the car was parked, and possibly a trail of blood toward the home’s back fence, according to the affidavit.
Several children younger than 10 years old were taken from the home, police said in the affidavit.
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The children told officers that Herman Sisneros had physically and verbally abused their mother, Angelica, police said. One child said the mother had told the children the night before that Herman Sisneros was going to kill her, and another said that “dad hit mom in the stomach with a toy.”
It’s unknown whether Angelica Sisneros was shot or injured with another object. The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of her death.
Herman Sisneros told police that he met his wife while in prison and that they had been married for about 10 years, the affidavit stated.
“He said that he felt she was unfaithful,” police stated in the affidavit. “He felt she was trying to get the police to kill him.”
As of Thursday afternoon, Herman Sisneros remained in custody at Denver’s Downtown Detention Center. He faces felony charges of first-degree murder and unlawful termination of a pregnancy and four misdemeanor counts of negligent child abuse, court records show.
He is next scheduled to appear in court on Friday for an advisement hearing, according to court records.
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