Man charged in wife's dismemberment

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HOUSTON, April 10 (UPI) -- Houston police charged an El Salvadoran man with murder Tuesday, believing he choked his wife, dismembered her and burned her body for an alleged affair.

Isabel Alvarado, 39, had been missing since March 30 and her husband Carlos Antonio Alvarado, 45, initially told police he had nothing to do with it, the Houston Chronicle reported.

"When [police] investigated, they discovered there had been domestic violence in the past," Assistant Harris County District Attorney Bill Exley told the newspaper.

Alvarado allegedly changed his story and admitted he believed his wife, the mother of their four children, had been unfaithful.

"The statement that he gave was that, apparently, he found her with another man at some point," Exley said.

Police said they believe Alvarado burned his wife's body on his aunt's property in Fort Bend County -- he had told his aunt he was burning the carcass of an animal he hit with his car.

District Judge Jim Wallace ordered Alvarado held without bond, the Chronicle said.