‘Survivor’ producer sentenced in Mexico for wife’s death, family says

A former “Survivor” producer was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in a Mexican prison in connection with the 2010 death of his wife.

A Mexican judge handed down a guilty verdict and issued the sentence for Bruce Beresford-Redman, according to his mother, Juanita Beresford-Redman.

His wife, Monica Burgos Beresford-Redman, was found in a sewer at a resort hotel in Cancun where the couple was vacationing with their two young children in April 2010. She had suffered a blow to the head and died of asphyxia by suffocation.

Beresford-Redman was extradited to Mexico in 2012 and initially charged with aggravated homicide. As of Thursday, his lawyer was still working to determine if he was convicted of that charge, his mother said.

The uncertainty stems from the discrepancy between the minimum sentence of an aggravated homicide charge -- between 20 to 30 years -- and the 12-year sentence issued Thursday, his mother said.

After learning of the verdict, an attorney representing the family of Monica Burgos Beresford-Redman issued a statement that said, in part:

“Not a day goes by that we don’t miss her terribly and nothing will bring her back, but we can finally say that she has received the justice she deserved.”

The family of Bruce Beresford-Redman also issued a statement, one that denounced the judge’s decision: “Whatever lies behind this ruling, it is based on neither facts nor evidence.

“This is a disservice to Monica’s memory; this is not the justice she and Bruce still deserve and that we continue to demand.”

For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno.