U.S. authorities said a Nevada man was convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Reservation nearly three years ago. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.
Michael Burciaga, 36, was sentenced Monday, prosecutors said. He was convicted by a federal jury in June of first-degree murder on tribal land, as well as domestic assault by a habitual offender and violation of the Unborn Children Protection Act.
The 37-year-old victim was only identified by his initials, AD
Prosecutors said the woman’s children witnessed the horrific stabbing attack in December 2020.
Burciaga confessed to the murder when he returned to the crime scene hours later after injuring himself, according to authorities.
Burciaga stabbed his girlfriend several times with at least two knives at their home in Nixon, northeast of Reno, prosecutors said.
The victim’s 15-year-old daughter was one of three children who were in the home during the attack and called police to report that her mother’s boyfriend had stabbed her.
According to the FBI, Burciaga returned to the home while Pyramid Lake tribal police were investigating, telling them, “I know what happened and I know what I did.”
