Man pleads guilty to stabbing girlfriend to death after Loop 101 car crash

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Now to a major twist in a death penalty murder case. Fernando Acosta faced the possibility of being put to death for stabbing his girlfriend over 80 times.

[00:00:09]>> week he struck a deal with county prosecutors. Sean Rice joins us now with a look back at this case. And Sean, this is a crime that happened over 7 years ago, but the video, to watch this, it's just horrible.

[00:00:22]>> It is. It's a crime that happened a long time ago, and this is a day this week that happened that I no doubt the victim's family members have waited a long time for. Murder cases like this one where the death penalty is sought can of course take multiple years to prosecute and get to a trial date. Even so, it certainly came as a surprise this week when prosecutors took the death penalty completely off the table for Fernando Acosta, leading him to plead guilty to murder.

[00:00:49]>> It was a March morning people driving on the Loop 101 in Peoria will never forget.

[00:00:54]>> You had numerous people who pulled over to the side of the road and acted as heroes, getting out of their cars, yelling at this maniac who was stabbing this victim relentlessly.

[00:01:09]>> Witness video shows Acosta outside of his crashed white sedan, his girlfriend Martha Thai, a mom of three children in the passenger seat. He is seen repeatedly stabbing Martha Thai even as people are stopping on the side of the highway trying to intervene.

[00:01:25]>> One of the guys is like, "Get down now.

[00:01:28]Now get down." But he was not getting down at all. He was continuously stabbing the lady.

[00:01:32]>> Gustavo Munoz, one of 10 people who tried to stop Acosta's rampage. Criminal defense attorney Josh Colesrud read the court documents for this case.

[00:01:42]>> One of the witnesses even brought a gun out and shot multiple rounds into the ground trying to stop this guy from murdering the victim. And eventually they were able to pull him off of her and and get the knife out of his hand.

[00:01:58]>> Acosta was charged with first-degree murder and prosecutors filed their intent to seek the death penalty in his case. The case then drug on for years through the COVID pandemic and motions to continue his trial filed by both the prosecution and the defense over several years. Then this week, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office took the death penalty completely off the table offering him a plea agreement that has Acosta pleading guilty to murder in exchange for a life in prison sentence without the possibility of parole.

[00:02:29]>> Your first feeling is one of relief. You know, finally this case is over with. Uh but it's bittersweet as well because, you know, this case has been going for 7 years with, you know, the idea that it was going to be a death penalty case.

[00:02:45]And, you know, why is it not a death penalty case anymore? You know, what happened over the last 7 years that made prosecutors change their minds?

[00:02:56]>> When we asked Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell's office why they offered a plea deal in a death penalty case, we were told they could not comment on any plea deal until after sentencing.

[00:03:07]>> That's something that the victims in this case deserve to know. It's also something that the community deserves to know. And in order for us to have closure and frankly to have trust in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

[00:03:24]>> Of course, even with that plea deal, life in prison, no parole, safe to say Acosta's not going to see the light of day anytime soon. His sentencing date is scheduled for July 13th. You may be asking yourself, why did this case take 7 years and never go to trial? That is something we are digging deeper into exactly why prosecutors changed their mind on the death penalty in a case that is as violent as this one, Mark. We'll send it back to you.