Snapped is investigating the murder of Adrian Zapata by his wife, Olga Vasquez-Collazos, and her lover, Roberto Rafael Saavedra Gallardo, in Westminster, California.
On May 22, 2014, 58-year-old Zapata was in his apartment, sleeping in on his day off, when he was stabbed in the neck and bludgeoned with a blunt object in the back of his head.
The killer, who later turned out to be Saavedra Gallardo, had been given a key to the apartment by Vasquez-Collazos while she took her two children to school. Saavedra Gallardo then trashed the apartment in the hope of making the scene look like a robbery.
Vasquez-Collazos came home and pretended to discover the body. She had a neighbor contact the police and then played the role of a grieving widow.
Saavedra Gallardo and Vasquez-Collazos had previously dated each other in their native Peru. However, the latter had then met and been swept off her feet by Zapata, leading to their marriage.
Zapata was originally from Peru but had been living in California for many years. He had a condo in Peru and visited the country often. He eventually persuaded Vasquez-Collazos to join him with her children in Westminster.
However, in March 2014, Saavedra Gallardo came to the US on a tourist visa and reconnected with Vasquez-Collazos. The pair began an extra-marital affair and soon started plotting to kill Zapata.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelOlga Vasquez-Collazos and Roberto Saavedra Gallardo plotted to kill Adrian Zapata for his money and condo
The murderous couple hoped to fool the police into thinking Zapata was killed in a robbery so they could then claim money from his life insurance and take his condo in Peru.
Unfortunately for the killers, the investigators were suspicious that this was a robbery because nothing had been stolen.
The detectives became suspicious of Vasquez-Collazos and Saavedra Gallardo when they spotted the pair together in the weeks after Zapata’s murder.
The cops found lingerie and condoms in Zapata’s car, so they wondered if he’d been having an affair. However, when they tested the items for DNA, they found Saavedra Gallardo’s DNA, so they concluded he had planted the items to discredit Zapata.
Roberto Saavedra Gallardo and Olga Vasquez-Collazos sentenced for Adrian Zapata murder
It took until July 2021 before Vasquez-Collazos was finally convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She escaped a conviction for a special circumstances allegation of murder for financial gain, meaning she avoided a mandatory life sentence. She was sentenced to 25 years to life.
In July 2023, Saavedra Gallardo was convicted of first-degree murder with a special circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
At the sentencing, Zapata’s son Renzo Zapata said Saavedra Gallardo was a “monster who had no regard for a human life.”
He added, “He took my dad’s life in the most cowardly way possible and has showed no remorse for his actions.”
Snapped airs Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen.