Crime & Safety

Eatontown Man Admits To Strangling, Killing Estranged Wife

The Eatontown admitted to strangling his wife and burying her in a shallow grave in 2011.

By Christopher Sheldon

An Eatontown man plead guilty on Tuesday to aggravated manslaughter in connection with the 2011 killing of his former wife.

Oscar Prior Ramirez, 33, admitted to strangling his ex-wife, Viridiana Beltran-Gomez, 26, of Red Bank, after an argument on May 12, 2011 and then concealing her body in a wooded area before purchasing a shovel, tarp and concrete to bury her in a shallow grave off the Garden State Parkway.

Prior-Ramirez is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 7, 2014, before Superior Court Judge Richard W. English. According to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni, his will recommend that Prior-Ramirez receive a term of 27 years in a New Jersey state prison, subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA). NERA requires a defendant serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for parole. Gramiccioni said the plea agreement was reached after consultation with, and with the approval of, the victim’s family.

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Gomez was reported missing on May 13, 2011 and a joint investigation was launched by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Red Bank and Eatontown. She was last seen on the previous night leaving her job at the Siena Grill, located at 141 Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank, but had not had contact with family or friends since that time.

Information and evidence obtained during the investigation showed that Prior-Ramirez was responsible for her death, and investigators began searching shoulder portions of Parkway before finding her body on June 25, 2011 in the area of mile marker 119 in Aberdeen.

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Gomez and Ramirez had had two young sons during the time they were married.

Ramirez has been in custody at Monmouth County Jail since his arrest on June 25, 2011. He is being held on $1.5 million bail as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Reisner.


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