Prosecutors say a New Jersey man charged in the death of his estranged wife has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge.

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Oscar Prior-Ramirez of Eatontown faces at least 30 years in prison if he's convicted on the charge handed up Wednesday by a Monmouth County grand jury. He remains jailed on $1.5 million bail.

He's charged in the death of Viridiana Beltran-Gomez, a 26-year-old Red Bank resident who went missing last May. Her body was found about six weeks later, buried near the Garden State Parkway in Aberdeen.

The couple was married for three years and had two young sons. Investigators believe Beltran-Gomez died the day after she was last seen leaving her job at a Red Bank restaurant.

An autopsy found she died from homicidal asphyxia.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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