Bell Gardens mayor, wife who killed him led turbulent lives

BELL GARDENS, Calif. (KABC) -- The secret life of slain Bell Gardens councilmember Daniel Crespo is exposed as exhibits reviewed by a grand jury are unsealed.

Eyewitness News has exclusively obtained documents, recordings and photos.

Crespo's wife, Lyvette is now behind bars for shooting the former mayor and probation officer during a struggle which also involved their 18-year-old son.

The evidence presents a vivid picture of a dysfunctional marriage which lasted 27 years despite vicious fights and multiple affairs by Daniel Crespo.

The records are all the more startling because he recorded confrontations on his cell phone.

In one recorded on Feb. 28, 2014 the couple talks about beating each other. (profanity deleted)

Lyvette: "... the day you hit me in the face."

Daniel: "What are you talking about? You are the one who attacked."

Lyvette: "I forgave you in a (expletive) heartbeat. I (expletive) forgave you in a (expletive) heartbeat."

Daniel: "You attacked me and you are good at it."

Lyvette wrote in her diary about a "huge fight" the night she found him with a mistress at a "man cave" he maintained at another address.

Daniel was recording intimate moments with his girlfriend when they were interrupted by a banging on the door, breaking glass and an infuriated Lyvette.

At one point, Crespo ordered the mistress to leave.

"Find those keys...because she can go get the gun. I don't want no problems with that," Daniel said.

Lyvette keyed the mistress's car. She wrote that hours later, "even after all this Danny made love to me."

The Crespos' relationship was under the microscope as investigators tried to determine whether Lyvette engineered a situation which would give her reason to shoot her husband.

But her son, Daniel Crespo Jr. said the shooting was in defense of herself and him. He suffered a cut to his eye and a punch from his father sent him reeling down a flight of stairs.

"My father almost killed me," he said. "A punch like that falling down the staircase? I could have broken my neck."

The exhibits reveal a low point in the marriage - photos of Daniel and his mistress in a Las Vegas commitment ceremony, the mistress in a wedding dress.

He came home to Lyvette wearing a ring.

Still, neither spouse sought a divorce.

On Sept. 29, 2014 photos show Crespo with his mistress in Catalina.

The next day the couple had their final fight.

Evidence photos show the 9 mm handgun and where it had been stored in the couple's bedroom.

Both spouses were licensed and trained gun owners.

Lyvette Crespo pleaded guilty to manslaughter. She began serving her 90-day sentence last week.

As a condition of her plea bargain she will be on probation for 5 years and is required to attend anger management classes.