![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_kget_bakersfield_articles_632\/4761db4be98869d8217a39ef188215b1.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nBAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 A Bakersfield man has pleaded no contest to killing his wife’s cousin after a drunken argument and dumping her body in an almond orchard north of Superior Road and Stockdale Highway.<\/p>\n
Jaime Regalado-Avalos, 45, on Thursday pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and faces 15 years to life in prison. A sentencing hearing is set for July 13.<\/p>\n
His wife, Noralina Vasquez-Hernandez, pleaded no contest in 2024 to an accessory charge. She admitted to using bleach and other cleaning materials to wipe down their apartment on Normandy Drive after the killing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Noralina Vasquez-Hernandez, file image<\/p>\n
The body of Claudia Morales Vazquez, 33, was discovered the morning of April 26, 2024, and the couple were arrested that afternoon in Lebec as they headed to Mexico.<\/p>\n
They first claimed they kicked out Vazquez \u2014 she’d been staying with them on Normandy Drive \u2014 and drove her to a Greyhound station.<\/p>\n
Pressed by investigators, Vasquez-Hernandez changed her story. She said they’d been drinking and her husband became upset when her cousin started asking personal questions.<\/p>\n
She told investigators Regalado-Avalos broke her cousin’s phone then ordered her to go to her bedroom and lock the door while he remained with Vazquez.<\/p>\n
Soon after, Vasquez-Hernandez said, she heard what sounded like someone gasping for air.<\/p>\n
“Vasquez-Hernandez said she opened the door and saw (Vazquez) on the ground, on her back,” an investigator wrote in court documents. “Regalado-Avalos was standing over her with his right foot pushing down on the left side of (Vazquez’s) neck.”<\/p>\n
Vasquez-Hernandez said she removed her husband’s foot, but he grabbed a knife and ordered her back into the bedroom. She said she didn’t interfere further. Later, Regalado-Avalos carried Vasquez from the apartment, she said.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n