Fidel Lopez, the Sunrise man who made national headlines last month for disemboweling his girlfriend, pleaded not guilty in a Broward courtroom on Monday morning. According to the Sun Sentinel, Lopez, 24, has been assigned a new attorney after his original lawyer withdrew himself from the case.
Lopez was arrested on September 20 after Sunrise Police say they found him in his apartment after he himself called 911 just after 3:30 a.m.
According to investigators, Lopez told them he had murdered his girlfriend after she called out her ex-husband's name during sex. Lopez referred to himself as a monster as he gave details of the gruesome manner in which he took his girlfriend, 31-year-old Maria Nemeth, which included inserting a broken bottle and an iron "elbow deep" into her.
Investigators say they found the apartment splattered with blood and holes that had been punched into the walls. Inside the closet, where Lopez said he had been having sex with Nemeth, police found "several chunks of bloody tissue on the floor," according to the arrest report.
Lopez told police that he and Nemeth had been drinking tequila and then began having what he called "rough sex." According to the arrest report, Lopez claimed that Nemeth had asked him to insert a beer bottle and his fist into her vagina and that she had enjoyed it. He then explained that the woman went into the bathroom to vomit and that he later found her in the bathroom having difficulty breathing. That's when he called 911, he told police at the time.
But soon after, Lopez told police that during sex in the apartment closet, Nemeth had called out her ex-husband's name twice, enraging Lopez.
In his rage, Lopez broke items throughout the apartment and shattered a sliding glass door. He punched holes into the wall and went over to Nemeth who, the report says, was unconscious in the closet. That's when Lopez "began to insert several items into (her)." Lopez told police he had stuck his arm inside Nemeth's vagina and anus "all the way up to his elbow" and began ripping internal tissue out of her, including "intestinal matter."
According to several reports at the time, Lopez's neighbors told police they heard loud screaming and fighting from his apartment.
The arrest report goes on to say Lopez carried Nemeth's body into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face, but she never regained consciousness. Police say Lopez washed his hands and went outside to smoke a cigarette. He then panicked and began to try to cover the blood and body tissue that had been found in the closet floor.
Police say Lopez admitted it was then he found that Nemeth was not breathing and called 911. By the time police arrived at the apartment, Nemeth was dead.
Lopez was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and ordered held without bond.
On Monday, following his not-guilty plea, Judge Lisa Porter scheduled Lopez to return to court on December 10.
Fidel Lopez Arrest Report.pdf by Chris Joseph
