Dateline Amber Belkin Murder: Killer Geovany Rivera Sentence To Life Prison

Publish date: 2024-05-20

The Amber Belken murder is examined in the Dateline episode “Everything She Knew.”

In San Antonio, Texas, a 25-year-old woman named Amber Belken oversaw an EB Games store. The tiny young lady’s body was discovered in the store’s storeroom on January 29, 2007.

She had been choked with a bag during a robbery at the shop. Geovany Rivera, a former employee of EB Games who worked for Belken, committed the murder and fled to Mexico to evade capture. The U.S. Marshal’s “15 Most Wanted” list of wanted fugitives included him.

Rivera was captured by Mexican police and turned up to U.S. Marshals in Texas one year later. Rivera, 25, entered a plea deal in 2010 to avoid the death penalty and accept a life term in jail.

Dateline Amber Belkin Murder: What Happened To Her?

The 25-year-old manager of an EB Games video game store Amber Belken was murdered, and her case is the subject of the Dateline episode “Everything She Knew.“

Another manager who had been summoned in to check on her and the store after the first manager’s delay in opening the gaming shop discovered her in the back of the establishment. He discovered her suffocating in a sack. The culprit in Amber’s murder was not apprehended for over a year.

Geovany Rivera attempted to recruit a buddy to assist him in robbing Amber’s store the morning of her death, but there was insufficient proof to connect Geovany to the crime. Finally, investigators matched a hair recovered around Amber’s body with Geovany’s DNA.

Killer Geovany Rivera Sentence To Life Prison

Geovany Rivera, a former San Antonio video game business employee who killed the manager during a heist, received a life sentence.

After the murder in January 2007, Geovany Rivera escaped to Mexico before being apprehended the following year.

Under a plea deal, Rivera admitted to the murder. He received his punishment on Tuesday for the murder of 25-year-old Amber Belken. In 30 years, Rivera will be able to apply for parole.

Terry McDonald, the defense counsel, asserts that Rivera never intended to murder anyone and that he needed the cash to pay his family’s rent and buy food.

The prosecutors were forced to abandon the death penalty because Geovany Rivera had to be extradited from Mexico. Rivera continued to bargain for a guilty plea, which reduced his charges from capital murder to murder.

What Were The Intentions Behind The Murder?

After being apprehended, Geovany’s attorney claimed that his client had merely intended to loot on the morning of Amber’s death to cover his family’s living expenses. The issue was that Amber knew who he was.

Geovany Rivera was given a life sentence for killing Amber in 2010, and Amber’s father reportedly informed him that Amber was their soul. 

Leticia Rodriguez, an acquaintance of Amber’s, expressed her delight at his escape from the death penalty. She remarked that she’s delighted he’s serving every day.

The gaming website Kotaku stated that when Rivera was arrested in 2008, this particular instance led to one of the greatest rewards in San Antonio’s history, $100,000, of which $95,000 was provided by EB Games.

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