‘I’m guilty’: Florida man confesses to 2012 triple murder of wife and two stepdaughters, reveals disturbing details

A Florida man pleaded guilty Friday, August 7, 2026, to the 2012 murders of his wife and her two young daughters, admitting in a Miami courtroom that he killed them more than a decade ago. Alberto Sierra, 42, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including first-degree murder, burglary, kidnapping and abuse of a human corpse, according to multiple outlets.

Gladys Machado, 29, and her daughters, Julia Padron, 8, and Daniela Padron, 4, were killed on November 10, 2012. According to the Miami Herald, their bodies were discovered by a neighbor three days later inside a bedroom closet in their Flagami home on the 7300 block of Northwest Fourth Street after the neighbor became concerned about a foul odor coming from the residence.

According to investigators, Sierra stabbed Machado inside her car before driving her and her two daughters to their home, where he suffocated the girls. Prosecutors said DNA evidence also showed that Sierra sexually assaulted the bodies of Machado and Julia after killing them, according to the Miami Herald. Machado’s then-6-year-old son was unharmed because he was with a relative at the time.


The outlet also reported that Machado and Sierra had a history of domestic violence and had split up shortly before the killings. Machado, a mother of three, moved in with her grandmother in Homestead, while Sierra stayed with his mother at her townhome in Kendall.

Sierra’s guilty pleas came after he initially told investigators that he stabbed 29-year-old Machado and suffocated her daughters, 8-year-old Julia Padron and 4-year-old Daniela Padron, in 2012, CBS News reported.

When Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marissa Tinkler-Mendez asked if he was prepared to proceed, Sierra replied, “It’s been 14 years, so,” as quoted by CBS News. When prompted for his plea, he answered simply, “I’m guilty.”

The bodies were found after a neighbor became concerned about a foul odor coming from the residence. A jury is expected to decide later in August whether Sierra will be sentenced to life in prison or death.