Lydia Echevarría

Lydia Echevarría (born October 14, 1931) is a controversial Puerto Rican actress. She was convicted of masterminding the murder of her husband Luis Vigoreaux and spent 13 years in jail.

Echevarría married Luis Vigoreaux, producer of such 1960s and 70s WAPA-TV television shows as "Pa'rriba Papi Pa'rriba" and "Sube Nene Sube", on February 10, 1960. She co-hosted the shows with him and together, they became one of Puerto Rico's most famous couples. Vigoreaux and Echevarría had two daughters, Vanessa Vigoreaux and Glendaly Vigoreaux. Glendaly Vigoreaux, the couple's eldest daughter, committed suicide in her Arizona residence on July 15, 2008.

In 1982, Luis Vigoreaux allegedly began an affair with model Nydia Castillo, and in 1983, he was found burnt to death inside his car. Almost immediately, a large part of the public started pointing fingers at different people, and in 1984, Echevarría was formally accused of her husband's death. Her trial was one of the most sensational in Puerto Rican history, with a media circus atmosphere because of the celebrity status of the couple.

In 1986, she was found guilty and sentenced to 208 years in a women's prison in Vega Alta, P.R. However, her health deteriorated and in 1999, Governor Pedro Rosselló allowed her to leave jail to live at home under a curfew. Since then she has appeared in plays and some TV shows, on the condition that she be home by 8 p.m. every night.

ee also

*List of famous Puerto Ricans