{"id":460193,"date":"2026-09-11T05:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T05:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460193\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T05:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T05:30:21","slug":"kern-county-man-convicted-of-first-degree-murder-in-killing-of-wifes-boyfriend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460193\/","title":{"rendered":"Kern County man convicted of first-degree murder in killing of wife\u2019s boyfriend"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 A Kern County man faces up to 50 years to life in prison after being convicted of murdering his wife\u2019s boyfriend nearly a year ago.<\/p>\n

The Kern County District Attorney\u2019s Office said on September 4, 2026, a jury found Nahaman Mauricio Bucato guilty of first-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a firearm resulting in death.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Suspect charged with murder after deadly shooting on Philippine Street in Taft<\/a><\/p>\n

The DA\u2019s office said on September 15, 2025, at around 3:30 a.m., Bucato armed himself with a Glock 19 pistol and told his son not to worry about where he was going and to not chase after him.<\/p>\n

Bucato set out on foot for the mile walk to Benjamin Bernal\u2019s home. According to the DA\u2019s office, Bernal had been dating Bucanto\u2019s wife for several months. Bernal and Bucanto\u2019s wife were asleep at Bernal\u2019s home when Bucanto forced open the front door and shot Bernal twice before executing him with a third shot to the back.<\/p>\n

According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the shooting happened in the 200 block of Philippine Street in Taft.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Man killed in Taft shooting identified by Kern County coroner<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the DA\u2019s office, after murdering Bernal, Bucato called 911 and reported the killing. He remained on scene until deputies arrived and took him into custody.<\/p>\n

Bucato had been aware of his wife\u2019s relationship with Bernal for several months. On the night of the murder, Bucato sent taunting text messages to both Bernal and his wife, making clear that he was aware that they were together.<\/p>\n

\"{p}The<\/p>\n

The Kern County District Attorney\u2019s Office said on September 4, 2026, a jury found Nahaman Mauricio Bucato guilty of first-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a firearm resulting in death. PHOTO: Kern County DA<\/p>\n

District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer stated, \u201cFar from the emotionally overwhelmed spouse who acts rashly upon learning of infidelity, Bucato engaged in a cold, calculated decision to kill, and was rightfully found guilty of first degree murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bucato\u2019s sentencing is set for October 6, 2026, where he faces a sentence of up to 50 years to life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 A Kern County man faces up to 50 years to life in prison after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-460193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}