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Homicide

Man who killed wife and wounded Dallas cops was violent sex offender

Sergio Sanchez was released early after serving half his 25-year sentence

Associated Press
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DALLAS (AP) – A man who killed his wife and wounded two Dallas officers before taking his own life had been convicted twice of sexual assault, authorities said Friday.

Sergio Sanchez, 57, had "an extensive violent criminal history" and didn't want to return to prison after he shot and killed his 31-year-old wife, April Lachelle Sanchez, on Thursday, Police Chief Eddie García told reporters.

A Dallas police officer investigates a crime scene at a home on the 5300 block of Bonita Ave., where earlier in the day two other officers were shot responding to an emergency call in Dallas, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

A Dallas police officer investigates a crime scene at a home on the 5300 block of Bonita Ave., where earlier in the day two other officers were shot responding to an emergency call in Dallas, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Sanchez served 12 years of a 25-year prison sentence for the 1983 aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping and robbery of a 32-year-old woman.

He was released in July 1996 under a policy that required inmates to be released once their time served and time earned for good behavior equaled the duration of their sentence, The Dallas Morning News reported.

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Three months after his release, Sanchez abducted and raped a 15-year-old girl who was walking to school, Garcia said.

After Sanchez pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child in 1998 and was sentenced to five years in prison, the police chief at the time, Ben Click, said the case highlighted the need for harsher punishments for certain crimes.

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Sanchez called 911 Thursday to report that he had killed his wife after an argument, authorities said. Another person called to say Sanchez planned to shoot at responding officers.

"All signs prove that it looks like it was an ambush," García said.

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Two officers were shot in the lower leg and were in stable condition at Baylor University Medical Center, Garcia said. Sanchez killed himself and police didn't fire any shots during a standoff with him, the chief said.