Scottish woman dismembered in 'heinous' Los Angeles murder, husband charged: Prosecutors
June Renteria, 37, was found dead earlier this month.
A Los Angeles man is now in custody after he allegedly murdered and dismembered his 37-year-old wife, an aspiring defense attorney from Scotland, after getting in an argument about her weight, according to her family and court documents.
June Renteria, also known as June Bunyan, was found dead on Sept. 11 after she was allegedly killed by her husband, 25-year-old Jonathan Renteria, who admitted to the crime in a handwritten letter, according to a criminal complaint obtained by ABC News on Friday. Prosecutors are calling the murder "particularly heinous and egregious."
"My wife, June Renteria, is deceased in her apartment. I kill her. I am truly sorry," the handwritten note read, according to court documents.
After being released from a local hospital, Jonathan Renteria was transported to a police station where he "provided a recorded interview" and admitted to killing her, prosecutors said.
Back on Sept. 11 at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time, the suspect was found "inside a hotel room in Ventura County lying in a bathtub bleeding from a puncture wound to his forearm," prosecutors said. The handwritten confession was also found in the hotel room, with a Hollywood address written on the back, prosecutors said.
After the discovery of the Hollywood address, officials were "dispatched to an apartment for a welfare check," where they "immediately" discovered a "foul odor," prosecutors said.
Inside the apartment, June Renteria was located "in a state of decomposition with her arms and legs severed."
On Sept. 5 -- nearly a week before the 37-year-old was found dead -- her husband is seen in surveillance footage "leaving through the front gate" with the couple's one-month-old child, according to prosecutors.
Two hours later, Jonathan Renteria is seen in the footage "walking toward the rear of the apartment building holding garbage bags."
During his interview with police, the suspect admitted that he was having an argument with his wife "about her failure to lose weight following her pregnancy," prosecutors said.
June Renteria then "began packing her belongings and told him she was leaving and would never let him see his daughter again," according to court documents.
That was when her husband placed her "in a rear-naked chokehold he had learned in Jiu Jitsu" and killed her, prosecutors said. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed that the victim died of "traumatic neck injuries."
Jonathan Renteria then told police he dropped his child off at his parent's home and returned to the apartment to "begin remembering her body so that he could hide it."
In an email he wrote to his father following the murder, the suspect wrote: "The only thing I could do in the moment was choke her. And I did. I held it for as long as I could until my arms gave out. I was horrified at myself. Right after this I took a lot of drugs to get through it," according to prosecutors.
Arielle Miller, the couple's neighbor, told officials that the suspect was "verbally abusive" toward the victim and that he had "posted many things on social media demonstrating this pattern," prosecutors said.
When Miller found out June Renteria had been killed, she told ABC News her first reaction was, "I knew it."
Miller told ABC News her neighbor's death was a "tragic case of domestic violence."
The victim's family described the 37-year-old as someone with a "vibrant personality" and "deeply compassionate heart," according to the family's GoFundMe. June Renteria had earned her law degree and moved to the United States to "pursue her dream of becoming a defense attorney," her family said.
Jonathan Renteria was arrested on Sept. 11 and was charged with murder and the mutilation of human remains. His bail was set to $4,000,000, according to his booking information.
His arraignment was scheduled to occur on Sept. 15, but it was not immediately clear whether he has offered a plea in the case.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 18, according to his booking information. It is unclear whether Jonathan Renteria has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.