Fourth Court of Appeals affirms Joel Pellot’s conviction

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - The Webb County District Attorney’s Office announced that the Fourth Court of Appeals has affirmed Joel Pellot’s sentence on Wednesday, March 19.

Pellot had previously appealed his convictions for murder and tampering with evidence, but the court upheld the original ruling.

His case dates back to September 22, 2020, when first responders received a 1:32 a.m. emergency call from Pellot, stating that his wife was unresponsive and possibly dead.

Investigators later determined that Pellot tampered with the scene, deleted digital evidence, and destroyed physical evidence. Additionally, an autopsy and toxicology report confirmed that Maria Munoz, Pellot’s wife, had been poisoned with multiple drugs.

Following a nine-day trial in 2023, jurors returned a guilty verdict, sentencing Pellot to:

• Life in prison for murder
• 10 years for tampering with evidence
• A $10,000 fine

Since the trial, he has appealed his conviction, raising three points: insufficient evidence to prove intent to commit murder, the trial court’s error in denying his motion to suppress, and the trial court’s refusal to include a lesser-included offense in the jury charge.

With the appellate court’s ruling, Pellot’s conviction and sentencing remain in place.

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