Manuel Omar Burciaga Perea, 39, has pleaded guilty to killing his estranged girlfriend, Spanish-language radio host Gabriela Sifuentes Castilla, known to listeners as Gaby Ramos, nearly five years after he shot her to death inside her sister's Taylorsville home. Sifuentes Castilla, 38, was a well-known voice in Utah's Hispanic community, hosting a program on La Man Picosita, KMRI 1550 AM.
Sifuentes Castilla was shot and killed at the Taylorsville home on October 17, 2021, according to KSL.com. Charging documents and police reports reviewed by Court TV show she was shot seven times in the head, chest, and arm at her sister's home near 2300 West and 5200 South.
Per preliminary-hearing testimony cited in the KSL report, Burciaga confronted Sifuentes at her apartment before the shooting, then left and returned about 15 minutes later, firing a gun into a room where her sister, Rocio Sifuentes, was present. Rocio Sifuentes testified, according to the same account, that Burciaga pointed the gun at her before turning it on her sister. She told authorities she found her sister covered in blood, and Sifuentes Castilla's young daughter could hear the gunfire from elsewhere in the home.
An International Manhunt Followed the Shooting
Charges against Burciaga were filed in November 2021, but he had already fled to his hometown in Chihuahua, Mexico, following the shooting, touching off a 13-month international manhunt before Mexican federal and state authorities arrested him on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2022, according to Gephardt Daily. The case required coordination among the Taylorsville City Police Department, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Mexican State Attorney General's Office, the outlet reported.
Burciaga was detained for six months in a federal holding facility in Mexico City before being extradited back to Utah on May 27, 2023, and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, according to CBS News. His initial hearing in Utah occurred in June 2023. Prior to the plea agreement, he faced formal charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, and domestic violence in the presence of a child, per the same CBS News report.
Plea Deal Reduces Charges, Draws Family Objection
Burciaga ultimately pleaded guilty to murder, domestic violence in the presence of a child, and reckless endangerment, according to KSL.com. The plea deal reduced his primary charge from aggravated murder to murder, replaced the aggravated assault count with reckless endangerment, and dismissed the aggravated burglary and aggravated assault charges outright, the outlet reported. A jury trial had been scheduled for October 2026, the same account notes, before the agreement resolved the case first.
Deputy Salt Lake County Attorney Karissa McKinney said the plea provided meaningful accountability and finality without materially diminishing the seriousness of the defendant's conduct, per the KSL.com report. Prosecutors said the plea secured convictions accounting for both Ramos' killing and the danger posed to others in the home, and that it eliminated the uncertainty of a trial outcome. Prosecutors believe the agreement preserves justice while minimizing the risks of trial, according to the same reporting — noting a jury trial would have required Ramos' young daughter and other family members to testify, forcing the child to relive what prosecutors described as the most traumatic event of her life.
Not everyone in the family agrees. Rocio Sifuentes, who witnessed the killing and testified that Burciaga pointed the gun at her, does not support the plea deal, according to KSL.com. Multiple family members reportedly want to speak at the sentencing hearing, which prosecutors have scheduled for December 10, 2026. Prosecutors are standing by the agreement despite the family's objections, the outlet reported.
What Burciaga Faces Under Utah Law
Murder is a first-degree felony in Utah, and under Utah Code § 76-5-203, a conviction carries an indeterminate prison sentence of 15 years to life, according to the Utah State Legislature. Domestic violence in the presence of a child was among the charges. Reckless endangerment is a class A misdemeanor carrying up to 364 days in county jail, according to Askar Defense. The applicable murder sentence is an indeterminate 15 years to life.
Part of a Larger Pattern in Utah
Sifuentes Castilla's killing fits into a troubling statewide pattern. Recent domestic-violence-related killings in Salt Lake County have drawn attention to the issue, according to KSL News. Statewide, FBI and state violent death reporting data analyzed by The Guardian found domestic violence was Utah's leading cause of homicide between July 2023 and January 2025, accounting for 37% of all killings statewide.
Utah also recorded 1,929 reported incidents of domestic violence committed in the presence of a child during 2020–2021, according to state health data compiled by the Utah State University Women & Leadership Project. Sifuentes Castilla's own daughter, who could hear the gunfire that killed her mother, was among the children affected by the violence.
