Apollo H. Cardenas was 45 years old when he killed his wife, Youngsook Lee, 29, in November 1996.
MAPLE SHADE -- A man who killed his wife in 1996 after flying into a rage over suspicions she was having an affair lost an appeal Wednesday that argued he did not receive a fair trial in 2014.
Apollo H. Cardenas was 45 years old when he killed his wife, Youngsook Lee, 29, in November 1996.
Cardenas fled to Ecuador shortly after the crime, but Burlington County investigators built a case against him and charged him in early 1997, not long after Lee's bloody, decomposing body was found in their Maple Shade apartment.
Detectives found ax stained with blood and matted hair in a closet.
Cardenas remained a fugitive for about 16 years, until he stepped off a plane from Ecuador in Miami in 2013 and a federal officer apprehended him plane-side after finding the New Jersey homicide warrant for his arrest.
Cardenas was convicted of murder at trial in 2014 and sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
He testified on the stand that he suspected his wife, who worked as a waitress, was having an affair, and when she muttered another name while she slept, he awoke to leave their apartment.
Then his wife awoke and he went into a "hard rage" as she screamed/ Cardenas testified he wanted to intimidate his wife with the ax, but lost control and snapped.
Lee suffered a massive head trauma and one of the blows cut her jugular vein.
In an appeal, Cardenas' lawyers argued three points they say tainted his trial.
They include that the trial court's exclusion of Cardenas' pre-killing statements he made to his sister about his wife infidelities, and the inclusion of testimony about Lee's fear of her husband both denied him a fair trial.
He also argued the court improperly denied his request - at the trial's outset - to dismiss his public defender and hire a private attorney.
The court examined the arguments against case law and found no plain error and dismissed each point.
Cardenas, now 64, is incarcerated in New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. His parole eligibility date is in April 2043.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.