Who was Sonia Rios and how did she die? Dateline: Unforgettable to explore Lomita Black Widow case

Sonia Rios, dubbed the Black Widow of Lomita, was an immigrant from the Philippines and a suspect in both her husbands' murders, which occurred about 20 years apart. Rios allegedly orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot in 1987 to get her first husband, Earl Bourdeau, killed. She allegedly did the same in 2006, over two decades later, with her second husband, Larry Risken.

Unfortunately, before the mystery could be solved, Sonia was shot to death in her suburban home in Lomita, California, in 2007. While her death may have been solved, her involvement in Bourdeau and Risken's murders remains a big question even today. Authorities and victims' families claimed she had her husbands murdered to acquire both of their insurance money.

On Tuesday, Oxygen's Dateline: Unforgettable is scheduled to revisit the deaths of Sonia Rios' husbands and her involvement in their deaths as the alleged mastermind. The episode titled The Black Widow of Lomita airs on October 4, 2022, at 8 pm ET. The synopsis of the episode reads:

"A California woman's two former husbands are mysteriously murdered nearly 20 years apart; Keith Morrison reflects on the case that sent him halfway across the world on a hunt for answers."

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What happened to Sonia Rios after her second husband's death?

Sonia Rios immigrated to the US in 1960s after getting married to Earl Bourdeau, a young Marine who met her during his visit to the Philippines. The couple were married for 21 years but their marriage came to an unexpected end when Earl was fatally shot in August 1987. He was visiting Sonia's relatives in the Philippines when he was shot.

A few years later, in 1990, she married Navy Commander Larry Risken and the couple moved to Lomita, where she owned a thriving beauty salon. However, in April 2006, sixteen years after Sonia and Larry's marriage, he went to the Philippines upon her request to attend to a family matter. That's when he was shot under mysterious circumstances that were eerily similar to the death of her former husband.

Sonia was dubbed the Lomita Black Widow due to the similarities between the murders of both of her husbands. However, it seemed she was also being attacked sometime around the anniversary of her second husband's death. She barely survived an attack when an unidentified person openly fired a shot at her through her salon window. However, she wasn't as lucky the second time.

Rios was found dead, laying in a pool of her own blood at her Lomita home. Further examination revealed that she died of a single, fatal gunshot wound to the back of her head. Her son, John Bourdeau, found her body on April 27, 2007. Authorities claimed that there were no signs of forced entry or robbery at the scene.

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Who was arrested in Sonia Rios murder case?

A number of people were suspected in the death of Sonia Rios, including the families of her former husbands and her own son, John Bourdeau. However, investigators ultimately found a man who had reportedly attempted to threaten her via call. He was identified as Fernando Fernando Romero, a Navy sailor from San Bernardino County.

Romero was connected to the case via a close friend of Eric Delacruz, Sonia's grand-nephew. Eric and Fernando were both on leave when Sonia was murdered, and their call logs revealed multiple conversations between them on the day of her death. All of the calls were traced to a location close to her Lomita home. Eric even asked for his stake in his grandaunt's will just four days after her death.

All circumstantial evidence suggested that the two were behind Sonia Rios' murder. They were detained in April 2009 and charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and ultimately found guilty and sentenced for those crimes in February 2011. They were each sentenced to 26 years to life in jail for Rios' murder.

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Dateline: Unforgettable airs on Oxygen this Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at 8 pm ET.