Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of violence and murder. Readers’ discretion is advised.
In February 2020, Washington man Alejandro Rojas murdered his mistress, Dioneth Lopez, after she traveled to Seattle to meet him. Authorities found the latter’s body in the Olympic National Forest, where the crime occurred. He later claimed that Lopez attacked him first with a knife, after which he grabbed a tequila bottle and hit her on the head. Investigators used surveillance footage, among other evidence, to implicate Rojas in the crime.
According to Oxygen, Rojas was prosecuted in federal court since the crime occurred in federal land. In December 2021, he pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge. The following May, Rojas received a 16-plus years prison sentence and is currently serving time in federal prison.
ID’s See No Evil chronicles Dioneth Lopez’s murder by Alejandro Rojas. The episode titled “Nowhere Girl” airs on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET. A synopsis reads, “In 2020, 21-year-old Dioneth Lopez goes missing while on a trip to visit friends; her body turns up in the woodlands of Washington State; she is treated as a Jane Doe until detectives find surveillance footage that pieces together her final hour.”
Why did Alejandro Rojas murder Dioneth Lopez? Murder motive explained
The United States Attorney’s Office report stated that Dioneth Lopez traveled from California to Seattle to meet Alejandro Rojas on February 10, 2020. The two were in a secret relationship at the time, given that the latter already had a wife and a family.
According to People Magazine, Rojas picked up Lopez at the airport on February 10. The couple then slept overnight in the former’s red 1999 Chevy Silverado pickup truck outside the Longhouse Market in Sequim. After this, they drove to the Olympic National Forest.
However, when Lopez failed to get in touch with her friends and family, they grew concerned and asked Rojas about her whereabouts. The Washington man reportedly gave them conflicting information. Eventually, one of her friends filed a missing person report.
On February 14, Clallam County sheriff’s deputies found Dioneth Lopez’s body in the Olympic National Forest. The Seattle Times stated that the 21-year-old’s cause of death was multiple blunt and sharp force injuries. At the crime scene, deputies also found a broken and bloody tequila bottle, box cutter, and knife near the body.
Law enforcement officials then used surveillance footage from a Sequim convenience store to identify Lopez with Alejandro Rojas. They were also able to track both their cell phones back to Rojas’ home.
As all suspicion fell on Alejandro Rojas, officers interviewed him on February 19. He initially told them that he drove Dioneth Lopez to Sequim and that she was going on a hike with friends. The then-23-year-old said he left her at the park and also made contrasting statements about his relationship with the victim. However, Rojas eventually admitted to authorities that she had no hiking plans, as reported by People Magazine.
In a shocking turn of events, Rojas “acknowledged that he and [Lopez] had been having a ‘thing’ for about two years.” He then confessed to the crime but alleged that Lopez threatened to kill his wife and child. The suspect claimed that “they went to the wooded area in the national forest where [Lopez] threatened to kill his wife and child.”
According to Rojas’ story, Lopez attempted to stab him first with a knife. That’s when he grabbed a tequila bottle from his truck and hit her on the head. Rojas claimed he then drove away but alleged that she was still breathing when he left.
Reportedly, Alejandro Rojas’ case went to federal court since it occurred in the Olympic National Forest, which is federal land. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in December 2021, and on May 16, 2022, he received a 200-month prison sentence. He currently remains in a federal facility.
See No Evil’s episode on Dioneth Lopez’s beating death airs on ID on January 17, 2024.
