'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
After they put out a fire in Pueblo, Colorado, on July 27, 2015, they found the badly bludgeoned and burnt body of Susan Hernandez. The body of the 77-year-old was found in the basement of her house after her daughter called 911 when she saw smoke coming out of the house. Police said that Susan had died of blunt-force trauma to the head and that her body had been set on fire deliberately.
Upon testing DNA evidence found under the 77-year-old's fingernails, authorities linked it to five males from the family before implicating her grandson Anthony Sena. Anthony was caught after his daughter said that she saw blood on him after he returned from Susan's house on the day of the murder. Sena was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2016.
An upcoming episode of ID's The Murder Tapes is scheduled to chronicle Susan Hernandez's brutal murder. The episode titled Blunt Force Trauma will air on the channel this Thursday, June 8, at 7 pm ET.
The synopsis of the episode reads:
"A woman of faith, Susan Hernandez, is the last person police would expect to find murdered in her basement; searching for suspects, detectives turn over every stone in the hunt for Susan's killer, with a result that shakes the town to its core."
Susan Hernandez had a "large hole" in the back of her head from being repeatedly struck by her killer
Susan Hernandez was a churchgoer, who lived with her dog in Pueblo, Colorado, after the death of her husband of 59 years. She had seven grown children and lived a slow, peaceful, and quiet life with one of her daughters Vanessa living right across the street from her house.
Her other daughter, Katrina, lived about 45 minutes away but was constantly in touch with her mother. However, on the morning of July 29, 2015, when Katrina, who spoke to her mother every day, couldn't get in touch with her. She said that her mother hadn't been sleeping well and was worried about her roof and had hired her grandson, Vanessa's son, Anthony Sena to fix it.
When Katrina was unable to get a hold of her mother, she drove to Susan's house and found smoke billowing out of the basement. She called 911 and reported the fire and what seemed like a break-in since the front door was unlocked.
First responders, who arrived at the crime scene soon after the call, put out the fire in the basement and found Susan Hernandez's badly burned and beaten body. There were signs of forced entry in the house as it appeared like the front door was kicked open, but they noticed that nothing was taken from inside the house.
Detectives found that the victim had sustained blunt force trauma to the head and was bludgeoned to death before her body was set on fire by the killer to get rid of any physical evidence.
According to True Crime Daily, Pueblo Police Detective Raymond Purvis who was assigned the case, stated that Susan "had a large hole to the back of her head." The detective said that it was caused by being "struck multiple times" and that the blood splatter at the scene corroborated this theory.
Susan Hernandez's grandson killed her over money and the roof repair job that never got done
Susan Hernandez's family members underwent questioning when detectives discovered her cash box which potentially had a large amount of money was missing from the house. At that point, they believed that the motive behind the crime could have possibly been a burglary.
While conducting interviews, they noticed her grandson, Anthony Sena, who was supposed to fix her roof acting strange. Anthony told detectives that he last saw his grandmother the day before the murder. He claimed Susan had written him two checks to buy supplies for the repair job and that he bought the materials, but couldn't remember where he got them from.
As per reports, Anthony's version of the events seemed inconsistent, and his behavior turned strange. With growing suspicions, detectives relied on surveillance footage to trace the victim's final moments on July 28. They learned that she had visited a local store at around half past noon or noon. This suggested that she was alive at the time and might have been killed around 2:30 or 3 which was when she stopped answering anyone's calls.
Detectives suspected that Susan was killed on July 28 and that her body was set on fire the following day. They found DNA evidence from under her fingernails which was linked to five male members of the family with Anthony at the top of the list. Eventually, he was placed at the location where the victim's purse and other belongings were found using phone records.
There were plenty of leads implicating Anthony Sena in his grandmother Susan Hernandez's murder. However, the most shocking one was when his daughter claimed to have seen blood on his year the day detectives believed the victim was killed. They believed that he murdered her over money and the roof job that he never worked on.
Four months later, Anthony was arrested and charged with murder. He was later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Learn more about the case on ID's The Murder Tapes on Thursday, June 8, 2023, at 7 pm ET.
