Heidi Paz, also known as Heidi Paz Hernandez, was the girlfriend of Cesar Roman, the subject of the Netflix documentary series “Cooking Up Murder.”
Firefighters found her body in a suitcase at an abandoned warehouse in Madrid’s Usera neighborhood. Let’s explore more about her parents.
Highlights
- Heidi Paz struggled with her own life as a single mother of two children at 20.
- In 2013, she and her mother, Gloria Frances Bulnes, moved to Madrid, Spain, in search of a better future.
- Gloria keeps her daughter’s memories alive by raising awareness and speaking out against domestic violence.
Heidi Paz’s cause of demise wasn’t determined. It was believed to be a result of violence from Roman, who took her life in 2018 in Madrid, where they both lived.
Cesar Roman, once known as the King of Cachopo, gained fame in Madrid after launching a small chain of restaurants specializing in cachopo.
His success was short-lived. Two years after launching his restaurants, he faced bankruptcy and disappeared from public life.
Moreover, his girlfriend, Heidi Paz, went missing around the same time. Her remains were later found, and Roman was arrested in connection with her murder.
He took Paz’s life after she began questioning their relationship. He fled to Madrid, assumed another identity, and tried to start anew.
Later, Roman was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 15 years and five months in prison for the murder of Heidi Paz.
Netflix’s true crime documentary series Cooking Up Murder: Uncovering the Story of the Cesar Roman focuses on his story.
Gloria Frances Bulnes Kept Her Daughter’s Memory Alive
Heidi Paz’s mother arrived in Madrid, Spain, at the Provincial Court of Madrid trial with her lawyer, Alexis Socias, on May 12, 2021.
She testified that Roman had mistreated her daughter and was very jealous during the time that they were together.
"El rey del cachopo" confesó el crimen y pidió perdón a la familia de la vÃctima en una carta desde la cárcel. La docuserie de Netflix sobre el caso se estrena este viernes 10 de mayo.https://t.co/w42UBC90G8
— Diario El Heraldo (@diarioelheraldo) May 8, 2024
Gloria relocated to Madrid with her youngest daughter, Heidi Paz, for a better future in 2013.
She brought Paz for her further studies and then went down the right path. At 20, Paz was a single mother of two children who was struggling with her own life.
Gloria expressed,
Madrid is very beautiful. It opened many doors for me. Doors that in other countries would be harder to open. You know, like having a job or eventually getting legal resident documents.
But everything changed for Heidi Paz when she got into a toxic relationship with Cesar Roman, nearly two decades older than her.
Gloria never liked Roman and thought he was never good enough for her daughter. After she met him, Paz wasn’t the same girl she used to be.
Although Gloria is glad that Roman is behind bars, she can never get over the loss of her daughter. She keeps her daughter’s memories alive by raising awareness and speaking out against domestic violence.
Furthermore, she says at the end of the Cooking Up Murder documentary,
I wanna tell young women who are living in the same kind of situation or a similar one, don’t stay quiet. Please speak up. If not to their mother, to their neighbor. To one of their friends. To a sister or brother, but speak to someone. Because silence only leads to what happened to my daughter – d**th.
Additional Information
- Cesar Roman is still serving his sentence at the Alcalá Meco Prison outside Madrid.
- He must compensate Paz’s children over €140,000 and her mother with € 100,000.
- He confessed for the first time to Paz’s demise in a new letter released by Spanish TV channel Telecinco in April 2024.
