A man from Colorado was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering his Filipino ex-wife.
On Feb. 21, Dane Kallungi, 39, was found guilty of first-degree murder of his ex-wife, Jepsy Amaga, 26, and for tampering with a deceased human body.
Amaga was reported missing by friends and family in March 2019. To date, police have not been able to locate her alive, nor have her remains been found.
The Colorado Springs Police Department Homicide/Assault Unit launched an investigation into Amaga’s disappearance on April 4, 2019.
Kallungi, who was believed to have killed his wife and buried her body in a remote area of Teller County, fled to New Mexico two years later.
In June 2021, he was arrested in New Mexico and extradited back to Colorado to stand trial for Amaga’s murder.
According to court documents, Kallungi allegedly confessed to strangling his wife during a fight.
In court, prosecutors played a video recording of Kallungi’s interrogation, where he is reportedly heard stating that it was not his intention to kill Amaga.
“I did not mean to kill her, I just wanted her to stop cursing at me,” he reportedly said on tape. “I saw her suffering, I did not know what to do at first … it’s eating me up for sure.”
According to Amaga’s mother Margie, her daughter met Kallungi on an online dating site before moving to Colorado to marry him.
In January 2019, the couple’s divorce was finalized.
Margie said the last day she spoke with her daughter was on March 20, 2019.
“I just want to know if she’s still alive or dead,” Margie previously told 11 News. “I don’t know where she is, why she’s gone.”
While Philippine Honorary Consul in Colorado Donna Lavigne expressed relief regarding the recent verdict, she noted that Amaga’s case is not an isolated one.
“I get a lot of calls from young Filipina women that have issues like domestic violence, something like that and these ladies, or these young women are mostly…
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