A jury found Victor Manuel Madrigal guilty of the malice murder of Melida Guerrero, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime. The trial court merged the aggravated assault and aggravated battery counts into the malice murder, entered judgments of conviction on the remaining guilty verdicts, and sentenced Madrigal to life imprisonment for the murder and a consecutive five-year term for the weapons charge. A motion for new trial was denied, and Madrigal appeals. 1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that the victim was Madrigal’s former girlfriend who threatened to call the police on a certain Monday if he did not return money which he had taken from her bank account. On the weekend prior to the date specified by the victim, Madrigal became angry with her, searched for her, and eventually used two knives to stab her repeatedly and fatally in her car. His fingerprint was found on the car, and knives which were identical to one in the car were found in his apartment. Immediately after the stabbing, Madrigal had cuts on his right hand and wrist, and he fled to Mexico. Three and one-half years later, he arrived in Canada on a flight from Mexico, was detained based upon an outstanding arrest warrant, and admitted that he stabbed the victim a few times, but claimed self-defense. The evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find Madrigal guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Smith v. State , 284 Ga. 304, 305 1 667 SE2d 65 2008.
2. During an interview after Madrigal’s detention, a Canadian officer stated that you need to tell me what is going on here because what you have told me so far does not really make sense. There may be evidence that links you to this crime and that is probably why there is a warrant for your arrest. Misrepresenting yourself and withholding information is only going to make things worse for you. I suggest you tell me everything that happened because you are only damaging your credibility by continuing to be less than forthcoming with your answers about this particular event. Madrigal contends that the officer’s statement that “withholding information” would “make things worse for you” was a threat constituting a hope of benefit and fear of injury in violation of OCGA § 24-3-50 and, therefore, that the trial court erred by refusing to suppress the subsequent statements made by Madrigal.
