Estranged husband charged in triple murder

WEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Detectives said the estranged husband of a woman who was found slain alongside her two young daughters has been formally charged with murder.

Police said Tuesday they arrested 28-year-old Alberto Sierra and charged him with first degree murder and two counts of sexual assault.

A post-memorandum confession was part of the evidence used to charge Sierra for the deaths of his wife, Gladys, and her two young daughters Julia and Daniela Padrino. "We did obtain a full confession where he explained exactly how the day's events occurred," said Miami-Dade Police Lt. Rosanna Cordero-Stutz. "This was obviously the strongest evidence."

Police said, on Nov. 10, Alberto and Gladys Del Carmen Sierra went shopping at the Mall of the Americas on West Flagler, just two days shy of Daniela's fifth birthday. "Albert and Gladys had gone shopping with the girls, and at some point during that afternoon, they had gotten into an argument," said Cordero-Stutz. "He produced a knife, and he forced her to go back to the residence."

According to Miami-Dade Police, the four arrived at the home on Northwest Fourth Street and 73rd Avenue. "He locked the daughters, the two young girls in one bedroom and then locked himself and Gladys in another bedroom," said Cordero-Stutz. "At that time, he then asphyxiated her with a plastic bag and then proceed to rape her, post-mortem."

Police said Alberto Sierra also sexually assaulted 6-year-old Julia Padrino after suffocating her. Investigators said he suffocated Daniela Padrino in her sleep. "There was a lot of physical evidence that was recovered on the scene, we can't go into specifics as to exactly what it was or where it was because that's going to be placed together with the information we've gathered from his confession," said Cordero-Stutz.

Police said Glady's 6-year-old son was safe with his grandmother. The girls' biological father had fought for custody of the two kids, stating that Alberto and Gladys Sierra had a violent past, but the court ruled against his request. 

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