Judge weighs evidence of past violence in Valley homicide case

Robert Chaplin is accused of fatally shooting Estela Rivera Vazquez in the couple’s Rostraver home.

By RICH CHOLODOFSKY
TribLive

Prosecutors say a Westmoreland County jury should hear evidence that a man charged with the murder of his live-in girlfriend last year in Rostraver has a history of violence against women.

A former girlfriend testified during a pretrial hearing Wednesday that Robert Chaplin assaulted her and threatened her at gunpoint during a domestic violence incident. That incident occurred nearly a decade before Chaplin was charged with the Feb. 5, 2025, fatal shooting of 35-year-old Estela Rivera Vazquez in the couple’s home.

Chaplin, 35, of South Carolina, is awaiting trial on one count of criminal homicide in connection with Vazquez’s death. Police contend the homicide was related to domestic violence and unsubstantiated claims of infidelity. Chaplin has maintained the shooting was an accident.

“This was exactly the same as what happened to this other person. This evidence shows this was not an accident,” said Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Ranger.

Police contend Vazquez was shot in the chest while in the basement of the couple’s home they shared with her three children and died from her injuries. Chaplin appeared intoxicated and agitated when he was found by police outside the home, according to court records.

Vazquez’s sister, Uri Vazquez DeFuente, testified she and her younger sister entered the United States from Guatemala in early 2024 and began working at Quality Pasta, a food processing plant in Charleroi. DeFuente said she and her sister worked with Chaplin there.

DeFuente, testifying with the help of a Spanish translator, said Chaplin was violent and displayed aggressive behavior toward her sister, who served as his manager on the job.

“He didn’t allow her to talk to me,” DeFuente said.

Prosecutors contend the relationship between Chaplin and Vazquez played out in a similar fashion to one from a decade earlier in Michigan.

Marissa Stempian said she met Chaplin in September 2015, started dating and moved in with him a month later. Their relationship turned violent and resulted in his being criminally charged and jailed in Michigan on charges of assault.

“The problems started at the very beginning. He’d drink a fifth (of alcohol) each night and he’d always accuse me of cheating,” Stempian testified. She described an incident in which she said Chaplin was drunk, accused her of cheating then pointed a shotgun at her head and threatened to kill her and their unborn child. In another incident, she said she was choked and assaulted by Chaplin.

Ranger argued jurors should hear testimony from both women about Chaplin’s violent past at his trial, which is scheduled to begin in May.

Defense attorney Emily Smarto said Chaplin’s past is not relevant to the shooting last year in Rostraver.

Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger said he will make a ruling after reviewing written legal arguments from the lawyers.