Almost 12 years after her death, the ex-boyfriend of a pregnant Virginia mother pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Thursday, according to the Loudoun County commonwealth’s attorney.
Bethany Anne Decker was 21-years-old and five months pregnant at the time of her disappearance on Jan. 29, 2011.
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Decker was living with her boyfriend, Ronald Roldan, who pleaded guilty in her murder.
At the time of her murder, Decker was estranged from her husband.
She was last seen with Roldan at her apartment in Ashburn before her disappearance. Though Decker’s body was never found, Roldan was indicted on a charge of second-degree murder in December 2020.
Three years after Becker’s disappeared, Roldan shot his new girlfriend in the face and later plead guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and felony assault inflicting serious bodily injury.
It happened while they lived together in North Carolina. The woman, Vickey Willoughby, lost an eye in the shooting and told WTOP at the time that Roldan warned her he could “make people disappear.”
In 2021, his lawyers asked the judge to preclude Loudoun County jurors from hearing about the shooting and from hearing about reports that Roldan physically abused Decker. That request was denied.
Last March, Roldan’s request for bond was denied. Circuit Court Judge Douglas Fleming Jr. said that releasing him on bond would be a potential threat to the community.
Roldan is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 21, 2023.
WTOP’s Neal Augenstein contributed to this report.
