On September 16, 2023, 35-year-old trans woman and drag performer Cherylyn Marjorie completed a performance in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and went missing shortly thereafter. Family members reported her missing to the Albuquerque Police Department when she failed to respond to calls and messages. On September 24, 2023, her white vehicle was found abandoned at a travel stop off Route 66. On September 26, 2023, searchers located her body inside an Albuquerque drainage tunnel, bound at the hands, feet, and head with red duct tape. Investigation and surveillance footage led detectives to 29-year-old Josée Mendoza Espinosa, who lived less than a mile from the body dump site. During an interrogation on October 11, 2023, Espinosa initially provided conflicting stories about meeting Cherylyn after finding her on Tinder, eventually admitting that he killed her after an argument over alleged extortion and financial pressure. Espinosa was subsequently tried, convicted on February 10, 2025, of first-degree murder and four counts of tampering with evidence, and sentenced to life imprisonment plus 12 years.
Country: United States
State/Province: New Mexico, United States
City/Region: Albuquerque
Incident Type: Murder
Relationship Status: Extramarital relationship
Relationship Duration: Approximately 2 years
Incident Date: Sept. 17, 2023
Relationship Origins:
Relationship Stages:
Contributing Factors:
Red Flags:
Motives:
Relationship Outcomes:
How the relationship or connection began.
Approximately 2 years
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
Reported red flags or early concern points.
Contributing factors and possible motives from the available sources.
2023-09-17
Recorded relationship or case outcome.
English labels are shown first. Original-language titles are preserved for source verification.
Tangled Web Interrogations · Original language: English
Gay Man Kills To Hide Homosexuality from Wife
Infidelity
The relationship involved a married offender maintaining a secret extramarital connection with a transgender woman met on Tinder. When financial demands and threats of exposure created intense interpersonal pressure, the offender resorted to violence to eliminate the perceived threat to his marriage and undocumented legal status.
The investigation utilized surveillance camera recovery, digital evidence analysis, search warrants, and interrogation tactics. Investigators recovered red duct tape matching the binding material from Espinosa's work vehicle and home. Espinosa was convicted of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in February 2025, receiving a life sentence plus 12 years.
Espinosa initially claimed he only met Cherylyn in his Dodge Journey and left her unharmed. He later claimed blackout amnesia regarding the exact mechanics of her death, contrasting with surveillance footage showing him driving her vehicle and forensic evidence establishing asphyxiation via red duct tape.
On September 17, 2023, Espinosa met Cherylyn, who reportedly demanded money under threat of exposing their affair to his wife. During a confrontation, Espinosa incapacitated her by kneeling on her throat, bound her head, hands, and feet with red construction duct tape, concealed her body in a drainage tunnel, wiped his WhatsApp communication logs, and abandoned her car at a travel stop.
High risk characterized by acute panic, fear of exposure, illegal immigration status, financial strain, secret extramarital sexual behavior, and destructive impulsive aggression when threatened with blackmail.
Secret extramarital affairs combined with extortion threats and severe personal stressors can escalate rapidly into lethal violence, particularly when an offender fears systemic exposure due to family, social, or legal vulnerabilities.
Espinosa was involved in secret communications on WhatsApp, hiding financial loans from his wife, and maintaining hidden dating profiles.
Surveillance footage placed Espinosa near Cherylyn's vehicle and trailer complex, and distinct red duct tape found at his home matched the material used to bind the victim.
Red duct tape, surveillance camera footage, wiped phone activity, and Espinosa's admissions during interrogation.
Cherylyn's family reported her missing after she stopped responding to messages; Espinosa provided detailed statements during interrogation explaining his financial distress and fear of exposure.
Follow-up trial proceedings in February 2025 revealed that Espinosa claimed self-defense and extortion at trial, but the jury convicted him of first-degree murder.
The exact timeline of financial exchanges and whether extortion occurred as described by Espinosa remain partially dependent on his uncorroborated interrogation statements.