SOUTH MIAMI, Fla. — Derek Medina appeared to live much of his life online.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound South Miami resident posted photos and videos of himself kick boxing, sailing, meeting celebrities and wearing a Miami Heat championship ring. In one Facebook photo, he mugged for the camera holding a knife and a gun.
There was also what he called his “emotional” side: One of the six e-books the 31-year-old wrote and promoted on his website discussed the importance of communication to a good marriage.
On Thursday, Medina’s Web-based persona took a nefarious turn: First he apparently posted a message on his page in which he confessed to killing his 26-year-old wife, Jennifer Alfonso.
Then a gruesome photo appeared on the page: a woman wearing black leotards slumped over on the floor with blood on her face and arm, her knees bent and her legs bent back behind her.
“Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys, miss you guys takecare Facebook people you will see me in the news,” said one post.
Hours later, Facebook officials had taken down the page and Medina had turned himself in to police.
He appeared via video Friday before Miami Judge Maria Elena Verde, who ordered him held without bond on a first-degree murder charge. He is being represented by the public defender’s office. A lawyer from the office told him to not discuss the case with anyone.
Neither Medina nor Alfonso had criminal records prior to her death. Their relationship appeared rocky, however. Public records show they first married in January 2010, divorced in February 2012, then remarried three months later.
Medina seemed to share some of these experiences in a 41-page e-book titled “How I Saved Someone’s Life and Marriage and Family Problems Thru Communication,” which recounts the marriage of a man and a woman who divorced, then remarried — and in between times had frightening encounters with aliens and ghosts.
