PA Real LifeA man has revealed how he faked his own death to prove his wife had hired a hitman to kill him during a contentious divorce.
Ramon Sosa teamed up with detectives in 2015 to prove Maria ‘Lulu’ Sosa was offering £1,500 to have him killed.
The 50-year-old from Houston was forced to ‘sleep with the enemy’ after hatching a plan to expose Lulu and put her behind bars.
PA Real LifeSpeaking to The Sun, Ramon said:
Those moments when I first heard that Lulu wanted to have me killed were surreal.
The words kind of hung in the air for a split second and when I began to process the message, the words fell into my brain one by one.
From that point on, so many thoughts began crossing my mind! It’s as if my synapses were on rapid fire! And then there was doubt, of course. I didn’t want to believe it at first.
He continued:
After the reality it set in I became angry, sad and confused; a whole mix of emotions, each fighting the other to be the dominant feeling.
And then it hit me that I still had to live under the same roof with the person planning to have me murdered.
Yes, I slept with the enemy and with one eye open, all while trying to act as ‘normal’ as possible so Lulu would continue with her plan. Keep in mind, that was the only way we could catch her in the act.
Lulu’s plan first came to light when she approached a man called Gustavo, to see if he could organise the hit, unbeknown he was friends with Ramon.
That’s when Gustavo and Ramon joined forces. Gustavo wore a microphone during his next meeting with Lulu and taped the conversation, before handing the evidence to Houston police.
Unfortunately, the tape alone wasn’t enough, so police suggested Ramon pretend to be dead so they could take a photograph to show Lulu.
With the support of the FBI, Texas Rangers painted bloody makeup on Ramon, so it looked as though he had been shot through the temple.
Describing the harrowing faux-death shot, Ramon said:
It was chilling. Utterly and indescribably chilling.
That picture, to this day, reflects one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life. The thought of me lying in a shallow grave in my underwear with a bullet hole through my temple is mind boggling.
All of this drama to prove to Lulu, my beloved, that I was dead. One will never be able to wrap their mind around that kind of madness!
I still remember what I was thinking while I was posing for that picture, my kids and my parents; what they were going to think whenever they saw the gruesome images.
My daughter Mia still has a hard time looking at that picture. She knows that it’s staged but it reminds her that it could have really happened if Lulu had gotten her way.
An undercover police officer posing as the hitman later met Lulu in a carpark, where he showed her the pictures.
PA Real LifeRamon said:
Lulu [was] laughing when the undercover officer showed her the picture. She had the nerve to ask him if I was really dead or if I was going to get up.
Police then arrested Lulu and she pleaded guilty to solicitation of murder at the District Court in Conroe, Texas. She was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in October 2016.
Ramon has revealed he now feels lucky to be alive, explaining:
I never, ever for one moment thought that Lulu would want to kill me. Our divorce was very difficult and contentious, but at no time did murder of any kind cross my mind.
In hindsight I can tell you that she not only wanted to have me murdered, but she had been planning to destroy the life I worked so hard to build for some time.
After I received all the evidence that the authorities had collected from Lulu, I can honestly say that l am very lucky to still be alive.
Lulu was the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. Little did I know.
PA Real LifeThree years later, Ramon says he’s focusing on dedicating his life on being a public speaker on behalf of domestic abuse victims.
He’s now released a book telling his story:
My hope is that my book helps every man and woman that [may] find themselves in an abusive relationship, to find the courage to speak up and seek help.
Whether it is physical, mental or emotional abuse… please get help, immediately.
I was fortunate to live through an abusive relationship. Lulu tried for months to destroy my life. When all her plans didn’t work she decided to have me killed. I have dedicated my life to being a public speaker advocating on behalf of victims of domestic abuse.
Men are more reluctant to come forward and report domestic abuse to authorities because of shame, fear, and the stigma attached to men who admit they have been beaten or berated.
That’s why I’m using every platform available to me to spread my message to all the men that are victims of domestic abuse.
You are not alone.
Male Survivors Partnership is available to support adult male survivors of sexual abuse and rape. You can contact the organisation on its website or on its helpline – 0808 800 5005.
Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.