Ramon | Featured on ABC's Betrayal: Secrets and Lies

Summary

Betrayal Season 5 — "Ramon"

iHeartPodcasts | Glass Podcasts
Date: May 11, 2026
Host: Andrea Gunning
Featured Guest: Ramon Sosa
Episode Theme:
This episode recounts the harrowing true-life story of Ramon Sosa, a respected boxing coach, devoted father, and community mentor whose wife, Lulu, plotted his murder in order to take his assets and rewrite both their destinies. Through Ramon's own words and reflections, the episode explores the shocking betrayal, the dynamics of their marriage and business, the criminal plot, law enforcement's dramatic intervention, and the emotional aftermath—including how men’s experiences of domestic abuse are often overlooked. The story also highlights the myth of the "perfect victim" and the societal biases surrounding believes in cases of spousal betrayal.

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Main Sections

1. Ramon's Roots & Building a New Life (04:47–19:18)

• Background and Family:

  • Ramon grew up in Puerto Rico in a tight-knit family, idolizing his father, a professional wrestler (05:19–05:32).
  • He found his passion for boxing as a child:

    "I started boxing about seven years old in Puerto Rico. That was my life. School, boxing home, school, boxing home. That was it." (05:42)

• Young Adulthood:

  • Moved to Houston, turned pro as a teenager, had three kids with his first wife, and started a nonprofit after-school boxing program for at-risk youth (06:48–08:06).

• Mentoring and Friendship with Mundo:

  • Mundo, a former gang member, volunteers with Ramon and becomes a close friend and "right hand man," later playing a crucial role in saving Ramon's life (08:25–09:46).

    "He mentored so many kids in the gym to not go through the same thing that he went through." (09:04)

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2. Meeting Lulu and Building a Family & Business (10:17–23:41)

• Meeting Lulu:

  • They meet at a Houston dance club; she catches his eye and makes the first move (10:32–11:40).

    "She said, yeah, I did that on purpose. I wanted to get to know you." (11:58)

• Their Connection:

  • Shared backgrounds, support in each other's ambitions, and family acceptance (12:04–13:45).

• Marriage and Red Flags:

  • Quick courthouse wedding, warm early years, but cryptic warning from Lulu’s mother on their wedding night:

    "Her mother walks up to me and then she just whispers in my ear, now she's your trouble and walks away." (15:19)

• Joint Ambitions:

  • Lulu encourages Ramon's dream of opening a boxing gym, borrows and maxes out credit to fund it, and manages the books (19:30–20:06).

    "She was borrowing money from family and also she maxed out all these credit cards..." (19:40)

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3. Cracks in the Marriage and Discovery of Betrayal (22:16–34:39)

• Strain & Control:

  • As business booms, stress increases. Lulu grows controlling—keeping Ramon's children at distance, spending excessively, and being evasive with business finances (22:29–23:41).

• Citizenship and Emotional Distance:

  • Lulu secretly earns US citizenship and celebrates without Ramon (24:02–24:37).

    “And you don't have the respect to ask me if I want to go to the celebration.” (24:37)

• Request for Divorce and Demands:

  • She files for divorce, demanding the house and business, deepening the conflict (25:59–26:12).

• Mundo’s Revelation of Murder Plot:

  • Mundo overhears Lulu discussing hiring a hitman and confirms her intent through secret recordings (26:50–29:42).

    "You guys need to be careful what you’re saying because you never know who’s listening." (27:22)

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4. The Staged Murder and Law Enforcement Intervention (34:39–43:10)

• Building the Case:

  • Police are skeptical at first but then work with Ramon and Mundo to gather evidence through sting meetings and recordings (29:52–31:08).

• Lulu's Motive:

  • She wants Ramon dead before the divorce to secure the money and assets (31:49).

    "If he dies before the divorce is finalized, she gets everything." (31:49)

• Devastating Discovery:

  • Recordings reveal Lulu had plotted his murder years earlier on a family trip to Mexico—she wanted his life insurance and savings (33:04–33:56).

    “She told Mundo that she was planning to kill Ramon on that trip.” (33:41)

• Undercover Operation:

  • Mundo and an undercover officer pose as hitmen. Lulu pays a $200 down payment and offers Ramon's belongings and jewelry as further compensation (36:11–37:37).

• Staging the Crime Scene:

  • Police create fake “death” photos of Ramon in a grave to convince Lulu the hit succeeded (39:18–40:56):

    “They take me in a blacked out SUV to this location where they had already dug out this shallow grave. ...The only thing that I could remember was the sound of the 35 millimeter as it went around me, just clicking, taking pictures of me.” (03:58; 40:07, repeated for emphasis)

• Lulu's Arrest:

  • Lulu celebrates on seeing the photos, thinking she's "hit the lotto"; she’s arrested for solicitation of capital murder (41:25–42:01).

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5. Emotional Fallout, Justice, and Reflection (43:10–end)

• Aftermath and Grief:

  • Ramon’s parents believe he is dead, leading to a devastating reunion (43:10–44:24):

    “My mother screaming and crying. What kind of cry? You hear funerals when somebody passes.” (43:10)

    "That is going to be the picture that will always be on my was my dad holding my mom’s hand, telling her it's going to be okay." (44:36)

• Ongoing Fear and Anger:

  • Lulu’s arrest fails to dispel Ramon's anxiety; he keeps loaded guns nearby out of fear of further plots (45:02–45:33).

    “I had so much bottled up anger inside of me.” (45:33)

• Healing & Forgiveness:

  • Lulu takes a plea, serves over 8 years in prison, but Ramon’s catharsis arrives when, at her sentencing, he forgives her rather than unleashes his anger (46:17–46:54):

    "I forgave this lady. And once I did that, it was as if all that anger just was gone. Like all that air went out of the balloon and I was able to breathe..." (46:54)

• Recovery and Moving Forward:

  • Sells the house and gym, starts a new relationship, maintains friendship with Mundo (47:31–47:54).

• Sharing His Story:

  • Ramon writes a memoir ("I Walked On My Own Grave") and aspires to perform a one-man play, hoping to raise awareness around male victims of domestic abuse (48:04–48:36).

    "I'm not an actor, I'm not a professional speaker, but when you speak from the heart, it means something." (48:20)

• Perspective on Domestic Abuse:

  "My hope is that my story helps men and women that are caught in difficult situations in their marriage not go through what I went through because I was a victim of domestic abuse. ... Men should be getting the same type of help." (49:04)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On the surreal plot:

  "They take me in a blacked out SUV to this location where they had already dug out this shallow grave...I looked like I was a little bit swollen. They put more blood on me and they even threw dirt on me, which I thought it was so degrading and closed my eyes. The only thing that I could remember was the sound of the 35 millimeter as it went around me, just clicking, taking pictures of me." - Ramon Sosa (03:58, 40:07)

• On the impact of betrayal:

  "You taking me away from my kids, my mother, my father. That hurt me a lot." - Ramon Sosa (42:10)

• On the myth of the perfect victim:

  "It's hard for people to understand that, wait a second, you're a boxer and you're this and you're that. So I advocate, you know, for men that are victims of domestic abuse to never give up, get help." - Ramon Sosa (49:04)

• The warning at the wedding:

  "Her mother walks up to me and then she just whispers in my ear, now she's your trouble and walks away." (15:19)

• On forgiveness:

  "I forgave this lady...it was as if all that anger just was gone. Like all that air went out of the balloon and I was able to breathe and you know, it's just. Life was beginning to be more normal now." (46:54)

---

Key Timestamps

• Ramon's deep family roots and boxing journey: 05:19–08:17
• Meeting Lulu and whirlwind romance: 10:17–13:45
• Warning from Lulu's mother at wedding: 15:19
• Business partnership and cracks begin: 19:30–23:41
• Lulu’s citizenship and emotional rift: 24:02–25:54
• Mundo uncovers murder plot: 26:50–27:22
• Police sting and staged "murder": 34:39–40:56
• Lulu's arrest and family trauma: 41:25–44:24
• Aftermath, healing, and new life: 45:33–49:04

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Tone and Language

• The tone is gravely earnest, dramatic, and personal, alternating between Andrea’s careful narration and Ramon's candid, often emotional storytelling.
• The episode explicitly challenges assumptions about gender and victimhood, employing both empathetic and direct language.
• Ramon's storytelling is vivid, open, and often raw—reflecting both the trauma and healing of his journey.

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Summary

This episode of Betrayal offers an unflinching look into a marriage that devolved into a life-or-death struggle. Through Ramon's firsthand account—and the supportive but probing guidance of host Andrea Gunning—the episode explores themes of trust, resilience, and the lived reality of domestic abuse that doesn’t fit preconceived notions. The compelling narrative, punctuated by shocking details (the feigned murder scene, the celebratory betrayal, law enforcement's intense response), ultimately offers hope and a call to empathy—reminding listeners that anyone, regardless of gender or background, can fall victim to betrayal and that sharing these stories can lead to healing for others as well.

Transcript

[Andrea Gunning]

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[Andrea Gunning]

Hi, it's Andrea and we are re releasing some of our past weekly episodes. And there's a good reason why. For the Last year, I have been working with ABC on turning some of your favorite episodes of Betrayal Weekly into a TV show. The show is called Betrayal, Secrets and Lies, and it airs every Sunday at 10pm on ABC. When Ramon shared his story on Betrayal Weekly, it felt different. Not just because of what he went through, but because of who was telling it. At the time, we weren't hearing many men speak openly about betrayal. And for a lot of men, there's this unspoken pressure to stay quiet, to move on, to not name the hurt. Ramon chose to do the opposite. He chose to speak up, to be honest, to be vulnerable about something deeply personal. And that choice had a ripple effect. After his episode aired, more men wrote in, more stories came forward because for the first time, they saw themselves in someone else's experience. Ramon helped create that space. And what makes his story even more powerful is what he had built. A life rooted in purpose. Mentoring young boxers, creating community, finding love. Until someone from his past walked back in and everything unraveled. What happened to Ramon is heartbreaking, but the impact of him speaking out, it's bigger than just one story. So please check out Betrayal, Secrets and Lies on ABC and Hulu to see Ramon and where his story takes place. Enjoy the episode.

[Ramon Sosa]

They take me in a blacked out SUV to this location where they had already dug out this shallow grave. When I get there, they tell me, okay, I need you to strip down to your underwear. They show me how to pose with my hands bound behind my back and I looked like I was a little bit swollen. They put more blood on me and they even threw dirt on me, which I thought it was so degrading and closed my eyes. The only thing that I could remember was the sound of the 35 millimeter as it went around me, just clicking, taking pictures of me.

[Andrea Gunning]

I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, A show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything. Ramon Sosa's story is one of those stranger than fiction kind of tales. It's a betrayal that threatens everything, including Ramon's life. Ramon grew up in Puerto Rico, the only son in a traditional and tight knit family. Ramon idolized his father, father who was a professional wrestler, like the kind you

[Ramon Sosa]

see on WWE and wwf. And I used to see him on TV all the time in Puerto Rico. He was big, muscular and had this aura about him when he walked into the room

[Andrea Gunning]

as a kid. Ramon tagged along with his dad to the gym and it was there where he fell in love with what he calls the real thing. Boxing.

[Ramon Sosa]

I started boxing about seven years old in Puerto Rico. That was my life. School, boxing home, school, boxing home. That was. It takes a lot of discipline in boxing if you want to do it right. That's what it taught me.

[Andrea Gunning]

And all of that discipline started to pay off for Ramon. He fought in hundreds of amateur matches as a teenager and he was winning a lot.

[Ramon Sosa]

A lot of the trainers that worked with me, they said that I had a lot of natural talent. And people started saying, man, you're going to be good when you grow up. For my size, I hit very hard.

[Andrea Gunning]

He's careful to point out that even though he was a champion in the ring, he never fought outside of it. He felt like it was his responsibility as an athlete to maintain a strong sense of right and wrong.

[Ramon Sosa]

I don't fight in the street. Boxing is a skill and when you get in that ring, it's like a chess match.

[Andrea Gunning]

He dreamed of going pro and taking care of his family. The Sosas moved from Puerto Rico to Houston, Texas when Ramon was a teenager. After sweeping the amateur leagues, Ramon went pro.

[Ramon Sosa]

My father actually had to sign my contract to turn pro because I was underage.

[Andrea Gunning]

He was a professional boxer for a few years before he eventually settled into a new career coaching and training young boxers in the US but when it

[Ramon Sosa]

turns into a business and you see like, everybody wants to make money from you, everybody wants a piece of the pie. It was tough and it started getting to me.

[Andrea Gunning]

In his early 20s, he fell in love and got married. He and his first wife had three kids.

[Ramon Sosa]

I mean, praise to all the mothers that stay at home with their kids because you know what, that is a tough, tough job. It's a full time job.

[Andrea Gunning]

Raising three kids together strained their relationship. They moved to Houston to be closer to Ramon's parents. That's where he still lives today. But even with his parents help, Ramon and his first wife knew that they weren't a match. They needed to separate.

[Ramon Sosa]

It did not work out. Even though we couldn't work it out, we did the best that we could for our kids. And to this day, you know, now we have grandkids together. So I respect her, she respects me.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon missed being a full time dad. With more free time on his hands, he decided to start a nonprofit, an after school boxing program for at risk youth.

[Ramon Sosa]

I would pick him up after school, take him to the gym, they would get a snack, homework help, and then box. And then we also talked about life situations.

[Andrea Gunning]

He loved being involved with the community and helping kids who needed a positive influence in Their lives. That's how he met a close friend.

[Ramon Sosa]

His name is Mundo. That's not his real name. That's the name that he went by.

[Andrea Gunning]

As a teenager, Mundo had been involved with a gang and went to prison. Now that he was out, he was turning his life around looking for a purpose. He always loved boxing. He saw a sign about the after school program and he asked Ramon if he could volunteer.

[Ramon Sosa]

And he said, ah, can I start today? I said, start today? He said, right off the bat, he said, yeah, I want to start today. So he went to his truck, got some workout clothes, and he went running with my kids.

[Andrea Gunning]

Mundo kept coming back day after day. And Ramon liked how he related to the kids. He was honest with them about the bad choices he'd made.

[Ramon Sosa]

He had all these tattoos with his gang name on his back. He never, hardly ever took off his shirt because he didn't want people to see that kind of stuff and the kids to see that kind of stuff. And that's what I liked about him, that he mentored so many kids in the gym to not go through the same thing that he went through.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon and Mundo became close friends. They ran the after school program together. And Mundo even started working alongside Ramon at his day job training professional boxers.

[Ramon Sosa]

He became kind of like my right hand man. And I would tell people when he went to the boxing tournaments and shows with me there, this is my other son, you know, this is my third son. And he became really, really close to me and he called me Pops as I was like a father figure to him.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon and Mundo worked side by side training professionals and then running the after school program. It went on like this for years. That was until Mundo got married and had a kid of his own and Ramon moved to the other side of the city. Eventually, the two slowly fell out of touch. Ramon was now seven years out from his divorce and he wanted to find someone to share his life with. That's when a friend told him about a new dance club in Houston.

[Ramon Sosa]

He goes, you know, they play that salsa, meringue, you know, that kind of stuff that you like. You might want to go check it out. I hear there's a lot of beautiful ladies there too.

[Andrea Gunning]

It was a Saturday night and a weekend where Ramon didn't have his kids. So he decided to go check it out.

[Ramon Sosa]

I mean, it was packed, it was going on, you know, and music was the kind of music that I liked. And the dance floor was packed. There she was.

[Andrea Gunning]

He was mesmerized by this one woman on the dance floor.

[Ramon Sosa]

So I kept looking at this lady on the dance where she danced very, very well. And I might think you're like, wow, she looks Colombian or from the Caribbean, the way she's dancing. She was wearing a tight mini black dress. It looked like it was painted on her beautiful olive skin. She had long black hair. Next thing I know, I see her walking towards me and I said, okay, I'm trying to be cool about it. And she steps on my toe. She had high heels on and it must have been three inch heels. And I'm like, oh, my goodness. I just went down. I had a beer, I just went down. And she starts telling me in Spanish, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Are you okay? And let me tell you, all I could do is just look up, extend my hand and say, would you dance with me? And she said, of course I'd dance with you. And that's when it all started.

[Andrea Gunning]

Her name was Lulu.

[Ramon Sosa]

Her real name is Maria de Lourdes. She went by Lulu.

[Andrea Gunning]

They had an instant connection. After that night on the dance floor, Ramon and Lulu started going on dates. And she admitted she hadn't stepped on Ramon's toe by accident.

[Ramon Sosa]

She said, yeah, I did that on purpose. I wanted to get to know you.

[Andrea Gunning]

And that's exactly what they did.

[Ramon Sosa]

We had a lot in common. She told me that she was divorced, mother of two, had recently moved to Texas or Mexico City for a better life for herself and her kids.

[Andrea Gunning]

After a few dates, Ramon explained to Lulu that his career as a boxing coach was very demanding. It meant working late nights and traveling to tournaments on the weekends. He knew it was the kind of schedule that could make dating difficult, if not impossible. But it didn't scare Lulu off. She was supportive of his career and she wanted to help him succeed.

[Ramon Sosa]

She started going to those tournaments with me, sit there the whole time, supporting me, helping me with the kids, and I like that about her.

[Andrea Gunning]

Just like Ramon, Lulu was a hard worker.

[Ramon Sosa]

The way she was making ends meet to try to take care of her family was working underground. She would clean houses.

[Andrea Gunning]

Lulu was determined to become a U.S. citizen. In addition to cleaning houses and raising her kids, she went to night school to improve her English.

[Ramon Sosa]

And I would help her too. You know, talking to her in English when I could. She was telling, just talk to me more in English because I wanted to learn English.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon was impressed. They both had young kids from their previous marriages. After about six months of dating, they started getting to know each other's families.

[Ramon Sosa]

There was family gatherings on her Side and my side. Ludy was always there helping out, cleaning, helping, you know, with the food. She was always very helpful with everybody. And my mother and family, they liked her. They saw how she treated me and they saw that I had been alone for seven years now. And they kind of saw something in her that, you know, she might be the one.

[Andrea Gunning]

Having his mother's approval sealed the deal for Ramon. One night in 2009, after a year and a half together, I went on

[Ramon Sosa]

one knee and I proposed to her. Fisher said yes, of course. And then she started crying and crying and I said, what's going on? Are you okay? And all she kept saying was that after all she went through with her ex husband, she thought it would ever happen again. And she saw it in me, that I was a good man and she just couldn't believe that I asked marry her.

[Andrea Gunning]

During their engagement, Lulu doted on him.

[Ramon Sosa]

Oh my goodness. There was times where I would have a drink and I wasn't even halfway done and she would go, give me another one. Guys were like, man, how do you find a woman like that? Man? She's beautiful and she treats you like a king. You know, kind of like make you stick your chest out a little bit too, like, wow, that's my lady. You know, that kind of stuff.

[Andrea Gunning]

The couple had a quick engagement. It was a second marriage for both of them. So they opted for a simple courthouse ceremony with a backyard reception.

[Ramon Sosa]

It was at my sister's household, matter of fact. She wanted to give me that as a present. She had a big celebration for my marriage. A lot of family and friends were there. Her family, her mother and her sister and brother in law. They were all there.

[Andrea Gunning]

In the middle of the reception, surrounded by family, music and food. Something strange happened that Ramon will never forget. Lulu's mother approached him and she had a stern look on her face.

[Ramon Sosa]

Her mother walks up to me and then she just whispers in my ear, now she's your trouble and walks away. I mean, wow, that's the first red flag was that there right at our wedding night.

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[Ramon Sosa]

That's what she wanted. And so I was, okay, well that's what you want. And I was happy for her because she was just tired of cleaning houses. And she said, I just wanted to get a regular job and be here legally.

[Andrea Gunning]

It was a mountain of paperwork, the first big hurdle the couple faced together,

[Ramon Sosa]

and it's that cheap. And we did it. We went over there to the immigration attorney and I signed all the papers. All seemed like it was like about 300 pages. That's a lot of responsibility that you take when you sponsor a person to be in this country legally.

[Andrea Gunning]

With Lulu's immigration paperwork underway, they started their new life together.

[Ramon Sosa]

The first years of our marriage, what you call the honeymoon years, were wonderful. I was still very involved in boxing. I had my non profit. She supported that also. She cared a lot about me. She cared that I was a father figure to her son and her daughter.

[Andrea Gunning]

Early on in their marriage, Ramon told Lulu about his career dreams. He wanted to open his own boxing gym in Houston, a place where he could coach and train the city's best boxers. But he knew this dream was a few years away. He didn't have the money for all the upfront costs.

[Ramon Sosa]

I told her how much it was going to cost and she goes, I can get that for you. And I said, what are you talking about?

[Andrea Gunning]

Lulu was determined to help Ramon's dream come true.

[Ramon Sosa]

She was borrowing money from family and also she maxed out all these credit cards that she had. And that's how we were able to open up our first gym and buy all the equipment.

[Andrea Gunning]

The plan was dubious, but it worked and he was grateful for it. The gym quickly became a full time job for both Ramon and Lulu. He did the head coaching and training and she handled the business side of things.

[Ramon Sosa]

She told me that back in Mexico City she used to work for Ford and she was an executive secretary and she knew how to keep the books and she was good at it. So I was very happy that I had somebody that, because, I mean, I'm not good at that part. I'm good at training people, I'm good at teaching them how to fight and box.

[Andrea Gunning]

And he was. His gym became the place for elite boxers to, to sharpen their skills. And it was growing quickly.

[Ramon Sosa]

The business took off. It took off and it took off quick. My day started at four in the morning and I was till nine in the evening working Saturdays too. And I mean, I was literally exhausted every day. But that's the price you pay when you own a business.

[Andrea Gunning]

Within a year, he had already paid Lulu back and they were starting to make real money.

[Ramon Sosa]

I just kept saying to myself, like, wow, this is what I wanted. I mean, I didn't become a world champion, I didn't go to the Olympics, but I'm still doing something with boxing and at the same time I'm making money. And we were financially doing very, very well. We were to the point where we ended up buying a big house, cars, vacations. So everything was good. And to me, life was good.

[Andrea Gunning]

One day, Ramon got an unexpected visitor at the gym. His old friend Mundo.

[Ramon Sosa]

And I'm like, mundo. And I swear it was like we picked up right where we had left Off.

[Andrea Gunning]

Mundo asked to come work with Ramon again, but Lulu wasn't so sure about him. She didn't like his look or his criminal background.

[Ramon Sosa]

She told me, I don't know about having somebody like that around our business know, she saw the tattoos. I had to be honest with her that, you know, told his background everything that happened to him. And, you know, he had been released from prison back in the day, being shot at, gang member. But he cleaned his life. He wanted to live a different life. But then when Mundo started coming around, helping me and helping with the gym and helping the weekend so we could have days off, when she saw the benefits in him, then she said, oh, okay, well, maybe we can use them.

[Andrea Gunning]

So Mundo started working nights and weekends at the gym. It was a relief. The Sosos really needed the help. They were beginning to struggle at home with the pressure of parenting and managing their business.

[Ramon Sosa]

So at home, raising the family was getting difficult. And Lulu would take the issues that she had with her kids out on me. So, yeah, the family dynamic, we were seeing cracks.

[Andrea Gunning]

After the first three years of marriage, Ramon started noticing that Lulu was changing too. She was becoming more demanding.

[Ramon Sosa]

She didn't want my kids to come around. She didn't want my family. Even my family started coming to my house because they saw how she changed, how she wasn't the same person, the very nice lady that they had met when I first met her.

[Andrea Gunning]

Lulu was getting controlling about how Ramon's spent money while she was spending more than ever.

[Ramon Sosa]

She would go shopping and come back from the mall with all these bags. I said, what are you doing?

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon's concern was amplified when he discovered

[Ramon Sosa]

I started noticing that the books were not adding up to the number of people members we had in the gym. And every time I would bring up that situation, I said, hey, what's going on here? This is not adding up the bottom line. And she would always say, oh, don't worry about it. And I was upset.

[Andrea Gunning]

So he hired someone else to take over the books. One night, Ramon came home from the gym to find that Lulu was hosting a party at the house, a party he hadn't heard about. There were balloons and a cake. Lulu's entire family was there.

[Ramon Sosa]

And I can tell that she had been drinking because she was just learning a little bit. And she had a bottle of wine in one hand and a cup in the other. And she said, say hello to your new American wife. And I'm like, what are you talking about?

[Andrea Gunning]

Lulu had applied for citizenship, and she was approved. Earlier that day, she'd gone to her naturalization ceremony and officially became a US Citizen. But she hadn't mentioned it to Ramon, her husband and the sponsor of her visa.

[Ramon Sosa]

And I said, wait a second. You're here legally in this country because of me. Your kids are here legally because of me, and you don't have the respect to ask me, like, if I want to go to the celebration. It got to the point where I asked her point blank, like, did you marry me just to be here legally with your family, the money, the American lifestyle? And she came back with, look at me, I'm beautiful. Look at my body. I can get any man I want and men that have a lot more money than you. But no, I chose you. I want to be with you, and I love you.

[Andrea Gunning]

He wanted to believe her, but he was still disturbed by her choices, not to mention her controlling behavior, not wanting his kids around, her spending the discrepancies in the books. And now she hadn't even invited him to her citizenship ceremony.

[Ramon Sosa]

And I said, no, this is not cool. I don't like the way this marriage is going.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon pulled away emotionally and physically. He knew something was wrong, but he was too busy with his gym to take immediate action and file for divorce. In the meantime, the couple started sleeping in separate bedrooms.

[Ramon Sosa]

We were still married, but living separate lives, basically in the same house.

[Andrea Gunning]

He didn't expect Lulu to be the one to file for divorce. But one day she came to him with the papers, and she had a bold request. She wanted to keep the house and the business.

[Ramon Sosa]

I said, no, I don't think so. I said, we're going to go half. Everything is going to split down the middle. You go your way, I go my way. But all the money and time that I have invested in this marriage and everything that we have. No. I said, no, this is my house. So I told her, we can work it out or we can go to court. And that's when I got my attorney, and we're going to fight it out.

[Andrea Gunning]

He had been through a divorce before, and although the first one was difficult, it had been fair and respectful. But this divorce was about to take a devastating turn.

[Ramon Sosa]

I remember I was driving, and Mundo calls me.

[Andrea Gunning]

Mundo explained that the night before, he'd been closing the gym when he overheard Lulu talking about hiring a hitman.

[Ramon Sosa]

And, you know, Mundo being funny, and we would joke around before all the time. I said, mundo, you know, quit joking around, man. You know what we're going through. This is not cool to be joking like that. You say, no, no, no, Pops, I seen that look in people's eyes when they want to kill somebody. And she has that look.

[Andrea Gunning]

Mundo approached Lulu to ask about what he overheard.

[Ramon Sosa]

And he walked up to her and said, you guys need to be careful what you're saying because you never know who's listening. And he said, are you guys talking about Ram Mo? And said, yeah. You know, said, do you want him gone? You want to disappear? And Mundo did the pistol sign with his hand. He said, you want him gone like this, like, you know? And she said, yeah, I'm tired of him. I wish he was gone. Disappear? Yeah, like that. I just want him gone out of my life. And Mundo said, tell you what. You know, I got some people that can do a job. You.

[Andrea Gunning]

Mundo told Lulu he could help, that he knew someone who could do the hit. Instead of calling up a connection, he went straight to his good friend Ramon.

[Ramon Sosa]

I was upset. I was so upset. I mean, I had to pull over. I had so much rage. I didn't know what to do. That was like, man, what I do. So I called the police. So he said, no, here's the deal. I talked to her, and I'm gonna start meeting with her, and I'm gonna record everything on my phone and see how far she's willing to go. And then what I want you to do is take all these recordings to the police and see what they wanted to do.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon was skeptical that this plan would work, and taking Mundo at his word meant Lulu was dangerous. So right after that phone call, he decided to go to the police.

[Ramon Sosa]

And I told him the situation, what happened, and he responded with, you know what? You guys are going through a divorce. Women and men sometimes say things when they're upset, even that they want to kill their wives or their husbands. But this is just saying it out of anger. There's really not a lot of evidence to do anything with that.

[Andrea Gunning]

He wasn't sure if Mundo's plan to use secret recordings would be admissible or even legal. It sounded kind of like entrapment. So he asked the detectives about it.

[Ramon Sosa]

I told him black what we were doing. I said, look. And he said, you guys keep getting more evidence. And I said, okay, apparently, that is legal. So that's what we did.

[Andrea Gunning]

So they moved forward with the plan. Mundo would meet with Lulu in private places like cars to see if she was actually serious about hiring a hitman. And all the while, he was secretly recording on his phone. For this to work, she'd have to believe that mundo was in 100%. But why would she trust Mundo One of Ramon's best friends. Ramon has a simple answer.

[Ramon Sosa]

Lulu's so desperate in everything that's going on, divorce is not going her way. Her life is slowly crumbling.

[Andrea Gunning]

The most difficult part of their plan was that Ramon would have to play dumb and spend a few more days sleeping under the same roof as Lulu, pretending that he didn't know what what she was planning. Ramon remembers turning into his driveway that day, something he'd done a thousand times before. And he always felt comfort and relief when he got home. But now it was all so eerie. His house a would be crime scene and him an unsuspecting murder victim.

[Ramon Sosa]

Even though we're sleeping in separate rooms, I had to go home and see this lady and look at this lady, knowing that she wanted to have me killed.

[Andrea Gunning]

He barely said a word to her that night. He locked his bedroom door. He tried to sleep, but he was wide awake with thoughts racing. People say things they don't mean during a divorce all the time. Could she just be fuming? Or could she actually go through with it? The next day, Ramon got his answer. It turns out Lulu was in a hurry. She wanted to take Mundo up on his offer right away.

[Ramon Sosa]

Lulu wanted me dead before our divorce was finalized because she said to Mundo, look, if. If he dies after our divorce is finalized, my kids get everything. But if he dies before the divorce is finalized, she gets everything. And our divorce was going to be finalized in about a month, so she wanted me dead as soon as possible.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon had spent seven years with Lulu. For most of that time, he genuinely adored her. He wanted to give her that second chance at a loving partnership, and he dreamed of seeing her succeed alongside of him. Instead, she was throwing it all away. And Ramon heard everything captured on tape.

[Ramon Sosa]

I couldn't believe what I was hearing from Lulu. She's telling Mundo how she's practicing how she's going to cry when the police calls her after they kill me. And she's literally making crying sounds and she starts laughing after that.

[Andrea Gunning]

In one of the first recorded conversations, Lulu dropped a bombshell.

[Ramon Sosa]

Lulu was planning to have me killed two years prior to our divorce. I was like, what? And Mundo said, yeah, have it on one of the recordings. And I listened to it and I said, I can't believe what I'm listening to.

[Andrea Gunning]

Two years earlier, they'd taken a family vacation to Mexico City. Ramon thought their relationship was in a good place.

[Ramon Sosa]

And she was so happy to show me Mexico City and go to the Pyramids. She had a whole itinerary for everything. We're supposed to do in Mexico City.

[Andrea Gunning]

She told Mundo that she was planning, planning to kill Ramon on that trip. Lulu wanted his savings, his business and his life insurance. She was conspiring to commit the crime with a friend back in Mexico.

[Ramon Sosa]

And the plan was, yeah, bring him over here, we'll disappear. People disappear here all the time. What we can do is have you guys held for ransom, and then they're going to let you go, and then we're going to disappear him. And then Mundo asked Lulu, so how come you didn't go through with it? And Lulu said, well, I didn't have the heart to do it then, but now I do.

[Andrea Gunning]

This chilled him to the bone. He didn't recognize this woman. He'd never heard his wife speak like this before. The coldness in her voice, her laughter.

[Ramon Sosa]

It never crossed my mind that Lou had this cold blooded heart. Through our good times and our marriage, I never would have ever thought in a million years this person had that kind of mind to do this kind of stuff.

[Andrea Gunning]

He became genuinely terrified for his life. Ramon left the house and stayed with his parents who lived across town. In the meantime, Mundo asked Lulu if she wanted him to reach out to one of his guys if she was ready, and she said she was. So Mundo called his contacts.

[Ramon Sosa]

He called one of them, John Boy, and the other one, Paco.

[Andrea Gunning]

If those sound like characters from a crummy action movie, it's because they are.

[Ramon Sosa]

Told me that he saw Blood In, Blood out, and those are the two characters right from that movie.

[Andrea Gunning]

But Lulu bought it. So Mundo texted Paco, who was actually Ramon, using a burner phone.

[Ramon Sosa]

Then I said, well, Mundo, I'm not a street guy, so he's already teaching me how to talk or text in that gang lingo to pass as a criminal. Basically, he's meeting with Lulu and the first thing I do, I text Mundo, say, hey, the boss lady ready to do this? We need $200 for the toy.

[Andrea Gunning]

Mundo explained that the hit would cost $12,000, but the guys would need $200 up front for the gun.

[Ramon Sosa]

She went to our bank. We still had an account together. She went to our account, got the $200 out of our savings, which is basically my money too, and gives Mundo $200.

[Andrea Gunning]

As soon as the money changed hands, they had enough to go to the police. The moment was both a relief and a horrible betrayal. And with this evidence, the police were finally ready to move on Ramon's case. They took it very seriously.

[Ramon Sosa]

They had to get all these different agencies together and come up with a Plan. State troopers, the sheriff's department, FBI, they got real quick.

[Andrea Gunning]

Law enforcement wanted to collect evidence of their own. They decided to see if Lulu would make a down payment for the hit and if she would exchange the money with one of these fictitious hitmen in person.

[Ramon Sosa]

The state police brought their own undercover police officer to play as one of the hitmans to start meeting with Lulu in person. I mean, this guy, if you saw him in the street, he thought that he was really a gang member hitman. You know, he put everything to the te. He had all the tats. He knew how to talk. He had a mean look like you would be scared of him.

[Andrea Gunning]

Lulu met him in a car, which of course was an undercover police car full of cameras. She said she didn't have the cash to pay him just yet, but she

[Ramon Sosa]

brought my own jewelry as a down payment for my own murder. Bracelets, watches, just some stuff that I have left behind at the house. And she gave that to him as a down payment. And then she also had the nerve to tell him, look, and he also wears this really nice watch. And if he has it on, you can keep that too, because it's worth something. And then after he dies, I'll give you the rest of the money. And he said, okay, we'll take care of business.

[Grainger Advertiser]

Now,

[Andrea Gunning]

that night, the police asked Ramon to come to the station right away.

[Ramon Sosa]

And I said, what about Mungo? He's not coming. I said, no, we just need to talk to you. When I arrive at the station, go to the special room that we always met. And when I get in, and I started noticing, like, hey, wait a second. There's a lot more people in this room than before. The FBI guy was there, the state police detective, the DA or assistant DA was there. So it was a packed room. And they start telling me, say, okay, Ramona, we feel that we have enough evidence to arrest Lulu right now. But here's the deal. You guys own a business here. Locally, she's a mother. She's never been in trouble. And we need to make this a slammed on case. And I'm afraid that if we go to a jury trial, we might have one of the jurors feel sorry for her and just want to make sure it's a slam dunk case. So we have decided to stage your death and show her your picture.

[Andrea Gunning]

And then record sounded over the top. He'd never heard anything like it. And to be honest, neither have I. The police told Ramon that they'd need him for three days, so he quickly went home and packed A bag. He was advised not to tell anyone where he was going. Not Mundo, not his parents, not his kids. He returned to the police station the next morning and was surprised when the police started doing special effects makeup to make it look like he'd been shot in the head. The police even had a reference image, a photo of a real murder victim whose body had been dumped in the desert.

[Ramon Sosa]

They take me in a blacked out SUV to this location where they had already dug out this shallow grave. And when I get there, the detective tells me, okay, we need you to strip down to your underwear. They showed me how to pose with my hands bound behind my back. And I looked like I was a little bit swollen. They put more blood on me and they even threw dirt on me, which I thought it was so degrading, and closed my eyes. And the only thing that I could remember the most from that scene was the sound of the 35 millimeter as it went around me, just clicking, taking pictures of me. And then the Detective said, okay, Mr. Schozow, we're done here. Put your clothes on. And they took me away to a hotel.

[Andrea Gunning]

He sat in the hotel room for two days, not able to contact anyone, just waiting for the police to arrest Lulu.

[Ramon Sosa]

I couldn't sleep. All I did was pace back and forth, thinking about all the different situation. What if it doesn't happen? Why does she doesn't fall for it? What are my kids going to think when they see this? My parents, everybody. I mean all. I mean, so many things going through my head.

[Andrea Gunning]

Meanwhile, back in Houston,

[Ramon Sosa]

the undercover police officer was in the car with Lulu. And he shows Lulu the picture of me in the shallow grave. So next thing she does, she starts racing up, her hands up like doing the. Racing the roof. Like she's laughing, like, yeah, I'm about to get paid. I hit the lotto and then walks out of the car, closes the door, no idea whatsoever. The whole time she was talking to an undercover police officer, Lulu was arrested

[Andrea Gunning]

right there for solicitation of first degree capital murder. After the arrest was made, the police called Ramon's hotel room to let him know.

[Ramon Sosa]

I literally sat on the edge of that bed and tears started coming down, tears of anger, tears of sadness. Not because I was still in love with this person, but she didn't think about me being a son, me being a father, you know, a friend, a brother, all those. She didn't think about none of that. You taking me away from my kids, my mother, my father. That hurt me a lot.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon says the worst part of this entire betrayal was what happened next. He hadn't been able to talk to his family for three days and explain where he was going or what was going on. He's the kind of son who calls his mom nearly every day. He knew she'd be panicked. So as soon as he could, he dialed his parents house.

[Ramon Sosa]

My father answers the phone and my dad never answers the phone. My dad is not a phone person. He says, what's wrong? Where you at? And I can hear the cracking in his voice. In the background, I hear my mother screaming and crying. What kind of cry? You hear funerals when somebody passes.

[Andrea Gunning]

His parents had just heard the news of Lulu's arrest, but they didn't know it was a setup. The only thing they knew was that they hadn't heard from Ramon and that his wife had just been arrested for soliciting his murder.

[Ramon Sosa]

And I try to drive as fast as possible trying to get to her. And when I get there, my dad opens the door and my dad's eyes were bloodshot. I've never seen my dad cry, ever. He just hugged me and I went straight to my mother. She was laying on the couches. She can't catch her breath and I'm just crying. I said, mom, calm down. I'm okay. I mean, I'm okay, you know. I tried to explain to her that I was going to be okay, but she still couldn't catch a breath. She was basically hyperventilating, you know, because she was so anxious.

[Andrea Gunning]

This is the moment that still haunts Ramon. Seeing his own mom grieve his death. It's something few people ever see and it's extremely difficult to process.

[Ramon Sosa]

You know, I'm her only son and they'll forget. That is going to be the picture that will always be on my was my dad holding my mom's hand, telling her it's going to be okay.

[Andrea Gunning]

Even though Lulu was being held on a million dollar bail, Ramon couldn't shake this fear that she'd somehow find him.

[Ramon Sosa]

I didn't know if Lulu had a plan B or C. So I was sleeping with a loaded shotgun next to my bed. Then I had another loaded gun on the counter of my kitchen, which was a 40 millimeter. Then I had a 9 millimeter loaded in my vehicle at all times, ready to go.

[Andrea Gunning]

In the year following Lulu's arrest, he didn't leave the house unless he had to. Over time, all of that fear turned to anger.

[Ramon Sosa]

I had so much bottled up anger inside of me. My family, my kids, my mother, all that anger I had it bottled up inside of me. Anybody that has gone through something so traumatic like have went through, you can't live with that much anger. I couldn't continue to live the way I was living with that anger with loaded guns around me all the time. I was a ticking bomb. British. I was afraid of myself.

[Andrea Gunning]

After 15 months in jail, Lulu pleaded down to second degree solicitation of capital murder. Ramon channeled his anger into writing a victim impact statement to deliver at her sentencing hearing.

[Ramon Sosa]

I mean, I was going to let her have it verbally. Of all the pain and anger that she had caused me and my family. When they let me talk, it was packed. A lot of people were there from the press. I get up, I took a deep breath. I forgave this lady.

[Andrea Gunning]

This was about him. It wasn't about making Lulu feel better or letting her off the hook. It was about making this moment into a ceremony for himself, a ceremony to release all, all the anger he'd been carrying.

[Ramon Sosa]

And once I did that, it was as if all that anger just was gone. Like all that air went out of the balloon and I was able to breathe and you know, it's just. Life was beginning to be more normal now.

[Andrea Gunning]

Lulu was sentenced to 20 years, but ended up serving eight and a half. She was released in November of 2023 and she'll serve another 12 years on parole.

[Ramon Sosa]

She's under very, very strict rules with the Texas State Parole Board. She messes up, she's going right back in.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon decided to move on from the spaces they shared, which meant selling the house and the gym.

[Ramon Sosa]

It was just way too many memories. I just needed to move on.

[Andrea Gunning]

As for Mundo, they're still friends today. He doesn't think about Lulu every day like he used to. It's in part because I'm in love again.

[Ramon Sosa]

Yes, yes. She's been wonderful to me. She's Puerto Rican too. I say that because we have a lot in common when it comes to our cultures.

[Andrea Gunning]

Ramon is determined to turn his betrayal into a positive force. He wrote a memoir about his experience. Experience. It's called I Walked on My Own Grave. And he wants to tell his story on stage as a one man play.

[Ramon Sosa]

I'm not an actor, I'm not a professional speaker, but when you speak from the heart, it means something. And I thank God. I like to do that, tell my story on stage, the real deal. Everything that happened, part of his healing

[Andrea Gunning]

process has been understanding that, that there's a term for what Lulu did to him, the terror he lived with for years afterwards. It's domestic abuse. Even though his story has so many twists and turns, that's what it boils down to. His own spouse tried to have him killed. As you know, we end all of our weekly episodes with the same question. Why did you want to tell your story?

[Ramon Sosa]

My hope is that my story helps men and women that are caught in difficult situations in their marriage not go through what I went through because I was a victim of domestic abuse. And it's hard for people to understand that, wait a second, you're a boxer and you're this and you're that. So I advocate, you know, for men that are victims of domestic abuse to never give up, get help. I mean, just like women, men should be getting the same type of help.

[Andrea Gunning]

On the next episode of Betrayal, who

[Mood.com Advertiser]

wants to file a police report against their father?

[Andrea Gunning]

You know, I didn't want to put my dad in jail. I really didn't. Like, I didn't want to be the kind of person who did that. If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team or want to tell us your Betrayal story, email [e-mail] that's betrayalpodmail.com Also, please be sure to follow us lasspodcasts on Instagram for all Betrayal content, news and updates. We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show was executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison, hosted and produced by Me, Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Monique Laborde. Also produced by Ben Federman. Associate producers are Kristin Melchiori and Caitlin Golden. Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Krenchek. Audio editing and mixing by Matt D' Alvecchio and Nico Aruka. Betrayal's theme composed by Oliver Baines Music Library, provided by My Music and for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.