RADIO HOST’S EX-GIRLFRIEND WAS SHOT SEVEN TIMES — THEN HE FLED TO MEXICO. FIVE YEARS LATER, HE FINALLY PLEADED GUILTY

Five years after popular Utah radio host Gabriela “Gaby Ramos” Sifuentes Castilla was killed, the man prosecutors said fled to Mexico after the shooting has admitted his role in her death.

For nearly five years, the case of beloved Spanish-language radio host Gabriela Sifuentes Castilla remained tied to a dramatic international manhunt.

Now, the long-running case has reached a major turning point.

On Thursday, September 10, Manuel Omar Burciaga Perea, 39, pleaded guilty to murder in connection with the 2021 killing of his former fiancée, known professionally as “Gaby Ramos.”

A NIGHT THAT ENDED IN TRAGEDY

The killing happened in the early morning hours of October 17, 2021, at the home of Gabriela’s sister in Taylorsville, Utah.

According to prosecutors and court records, Burciaga had been with Gabriela earlier that night at a party.

Investigators alleged that he became enraged after seeing Gabriela dancing with another man.

An argument followed.

Burciaga later returned to the home, where Gabriela was fatally shot seven times, according to authorities.

Gabriela’s sister, Rocio Sifuentes, was inside the home and witnessed the terrifying confrontation.

During the shooting, Burciaga also fired into the room where Rocio was, while Gabriela’s young daughter was in another room and could hear what was happening.

SHE WAS “GABY RAMOS” TO THOUSANDS

Gabriela was more than a victim in a criminal case.

To Utah’s Hispanic community, she was known as Gaby Ramos, a popular personality on the Spanish-language station La Más Picosita, KMRI.

Her voice had become familiar to listeners across the community.

Her life, however, was abruptly cut short at just 38 years old.

Her family has spent years living with the consequences of that morning.

HE FLED TO MEXICO

After Gabriela’s killing, Burciaga fled the United States and returned to his hometown in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Authorities spent more than a year searching for him.

He was eventually apprehended in Mexico in November 2022, before being extradited to the United States.

He arrived back in Utah in May 2023 and remained in custody while the case moved through the courts.

The case was ultimately scheduled for trial this fall.

But instead of facing a jury, Burciaga accepted a plea agreement.

A PLEA DEAL CHANGES THE CASE

Burciaga pleaded guilty to murder, domestic violence in the presence of a child and reckless endangerment.

Under the agreement, prosecutors reduced his original aggravated-murder charge to murder and dismissed additional charges, including aggravated burglary.

Deputy Salt Lake County Attorney Karissa McKinney defended the agreement, saying it provided accountability while avoiding the uncertainty of a trial.

Prosecutors also said the agreement spared Gabriela’s young daughter from having to testify about one of the most traumatic experiences of her life.

But not everyone in Gabriela’s family agreed.

Her sister Rocio, who witnessed the killing, ultimately said she did not support the plea deal.

FIVE YEARS LATER, THERE IS AN ANSWER

The guilty plea brings an end to a case that stretched across two countries and nearly five years.

But for Gabriela’s family, the legal conclusion cannot erase what happened.

She was a daughter, sister and mother — and a familiar voice to listeners who knew her as Gaby Ramos.

Burciaga is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2026.

For Gabriela’s loved ones, that hearing will mark another major moment in a case that began with one devastating night in October 2021 — and ended with a confession nearly five years later.