Oceanside Man Convicted of Murder for Killing Girlfriend and Stashing Her Body Under Bed

An Oceanside man who killed his 21-year-old girlfriend during an argument over her new boyfriend, then stashed her body under a bed in a converted garage they were renting, was convicted today of first-degree murder.

Arturo Salazar, 25, was convicted June 2013 death of Edith Andrea Garcia, the mother of their two young children.

Salazar faces 26 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced Aug. 26 by Vista Superior Court Judge Robert Kearney.

According to court testimony, Salazar and Garcia had broken up weeks before her death and she had started dating someone else.

About noon on June 13, 2013, officers went to the couple's residence in the 300 block of Leeward Court to check on the victim's welfare at the request of family members who hadn't been able to contact her, Oceanside police said.

Salazar answered the door and said he didn't know Garcia's whereabouts. Officers searched the premises and found her body hidden from view in an area being used as a makeshift bedroom, police said. Garcia's throat had been slit.

Detectives questioned Salazar, who eventually told them he had killed Garcia during an argument about infidelity the day before.

A woman who lived in the two-story home testified that she was awakened about 2 a.m. on June 12 by the sounds of a woman screaming for help.