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Short filmTranscript
00:00:00I'm Kate Snow, and this is Dateline Secrets Uncovered.
00:00:11I heard a shot. Pow.
00:00:13There's a guy running with a mask right in front of me.
00:00:16Dallas, 911, emergency.
00:00:18There was a call of a female in a parking garage.
00:00:21They believed that she was shot.
00:00:23The car door was open, and I saw her just laying up.
00:00:26And she wasn't moving. No, not at all.
00:00:28It was devastating.
00:00:30I didn't see how that could even be possible.
00:00:33People like Kendra don't get shot.
00:00:35They're like, who is this person that just executed my sister?
00:00:40On the night that we released the still photo, he told me,
00:00:44I think this is my ex-girlfriend.
00:00:47She was a master manipulator.
00:00:50The amount of people involved in this crime shocked me.
00:00:55These aren't sane individuals that can commit a murder
00:00:59and then make a heart out of the blood money.
00:01:03How much money was it?
00:01:04$500.
00:01:05To kill somebody?
00:01:07To kill somebody.
00:01:08Hello and welcome to Dateline Secrets Uncovered.
00:01:19Pediatric dentist Kendra Hatcher was beloved by friends and patients alike.
00:01:25Then, just before a Labor Day getaway, she was gunned down in a parking garage.
00:01:30But who would do this to her and why?
00:01:33Following a twisted trail of clues, investigators discovered Kendra was the target of an elaborate plot and someone with a secret grudge.
00:01:43Here's Keith Morrison with 10 Minutes to Sunset.
00:01:46At the end of a lazy day, as summer shifted into September and a sinking sun through long dark shadows across the center of Dallas,
00:01:59a young man named Husham Saad had just spent his day off at home in his father's place,
00:02:06this gleaming apartment building called Gables Park 17.
00:02:11No work, no nothing, so it was just hanging around at the house all day.
00:02:16And from here to 16-year-old eyes, the world around looked fine indeed.
00:02:22Dallas Uptown.
00:02:24Hip, young, professional, safe.
00:02:28That's a pretty nice building, huh?
00:02:30Mm-hmm. I would agree with you on that one.
00:02:32Just then, 10 minutes to sunset, a white Camry made its way into the neighborhood, young woman at the wheel.
00:02:39She slowed down, turned in at the entrance to her parking garage, Gables Park 17.
00:02:45At precisely the moment Husham and a friend were riding down the elevator.
00:02:50So we go downstairs, you know, once we get downstairs, we open up the doors.
00:02:55And froze.
00:02:58You could hear just screaming.
00:03:00Screaming?
00:03:01Just straight up screaming.
00:03:02Followed, said Husham, by the bark of some kind of gun.
00:03:08Was it obvious that was gunshots?
00:03:10Yeah, I knew that like right away, right away, right when they did it.
00:03:13It was, I was like, really?
00:03:15And then tire screeches.
00:03:17Adrenaline pumping, Husham raced for his car, pulled out his phone.
00:03:21911.
00:03:22Hi, someone just got shot in the parking lot of the Gables Park 17.
00:03:27All I heard was screaming and then a loud pop, and then I saw her laying on the floor.
00:03:32And then slamming door and screeching tires.
00:03:36I saw a black Cherokee ride out, and when I passed them in the garage, they had like these masks on and they took it off.
00:03:42Could you tell if they were men or women in the car?
00:03:45I think a man, like I'm pretty sure a man, like he looked like a...
00:03:49Did he look like he was black, white, or Hispanic?
00:03:52He was, he was white.
00:03:54They had tinted windows, I couldn't see exactly who they were.
00:03:57Didn't see anybody in it?
00:03:58No, I saw two people.
00:04:00Police arrived.
00:04:02This is their body cam video.
00:04:04They got cameras that come in and out of this place?
00:04:06Yeah, they're checking on it right now.
00:04:07Okay.
00:04:08The victim was on the first floor level behind a row of cars.
00:04:11They're down there.
00:04:12Okay.
00:04:13She was lying on the coal, gray concrete of the starkly lit garage.
00:04:17Young, dark hair, dressed in what looked like doctor scrubs.
00:04:23There's one homicide detective for the entire city tonight.
00:04:26The man he was referring to was Dallas PD detective Eric Barnes.
00:04:30He got the call at home.
00:04:32I had just taken a bite of supper when the phone rang.
00:04:35It was one of those things, take a bite of your food, put it back down, give everybody
00:04:39a hug and a kiss, and I'm back in the car jumping into detective mode.
00:04:43Detective Barnes made his way to the uptown building and immediately wondered how the killer
00:04:49got into that garage.
00:04:51This activity didn't happen out on the street like random boom, boom, boom.
00:04:55Because somebody went inside to make this happen.
00:04:57Yes.
00:04:58This parking garage is designed for residents or visitors of the apartment complex.
00:05:02Uh-huh.
00:05:03So it's gated and shielded from the outside street and the outside community.
00:05:07The young woman had been shot at close range in the head, like a pro might do it.
00:05:14Except...
00:05:15One of her car doors was open and there was a magazine to a firearm laying next to her
00:05:22body.
00:05:23That's pretty unusual in a shooting, isn't it?
00:05:24It is.
00:05:25Somebody got out of there too fast and left something behind?
00:05:28Yes.
00:05:29I assumed that possibly it was a robbery and during the exit the robber got a little anxious
00:05:34and released the magazine.
00:05:36What was missing that made it look like a robbery?
00:05:38The victim's purse was taken.
00:05:40As Detective Barnes was getting a good look around, the duty prosecutor showed up, Justin
00:05:46Lord.
00:05:47I started thinking, well, this is an odd place for a robbery to take place behind a secure
00:05:52gate in a parking garage.
00:05:53It was almost looked like a mob hit or something.
00:05:56It looked like an execution.
00:05:58And then they figured out who she was and it made no sense at all.
00:06:04We ran the license plate of the vehicle that the victim was laying next to, came back
00:06:09to Kendra Hatcher.
00:06:11Kendra Hatcher was a pediatric dentist in the Dallas area and she lived in the apartment
00:06:16building.
00:06:1735-year-old Kendra K. Hatcher, they discovered, was popular, accomplished, respected.
00:06:25She had a reputation for doing volunteer work with poor children.
00:06:29Why would anyone want to kill her?
00:06:32She was going on vacation the very next day.
00:06:35How did you find that out?
00:06:37Well, we spoke with her boyfriend.
00:06:40Kendra's boyfriend was a doctor, a dermatologist, Ricky Patiagua.
00:06:45He told Detective Barnes he'd just been in her apartment, texting her.
00:06:50Left for a while, then came back, showed up after the shooting.
00:06:54He was waiting for her to arrive and he actually went to a taco shop in the area while he was
00:07:00waiting on Kendra to text him back.
00:07:02When Ricky returned to the apartment complex, he was stopped from going inside by the doorman.
00:07:08Detectives met him and broke the news.
00:07:11Ricky seemed genuinely upset, distraught, said Detective Barnes.
00:07:17But he'd been close by, very close to the murder of his girlfriend.
00:07:23Did that seem curious to you?
00:07:25There was nothing that I wanted to rule out in the beginning.
00:07:28Including also, of course, that Jeep Hashem saw speeding away out of the parking garage.
00:07:34Who was in it?
00:07:36Who made a kind-hearted pediatric dentist a target for murder?
00:07:43Coming up...
00:07:45People like Kendra don't get shot.
00:07:47I didn't see how that could even be possible.
00:07:50Police pressing for any leads.
00:07:53If I knew anybody who could do this, possibly somebody from her past.
00:07:57Did you have any ideas at all?
00:07:58I had no idea at all.
00:08:00When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:08:03In a parking garage in an upscale Dallas apartment building,
00:08:17crime scene investigators surrounded the prostrate body.
00:08:21Kendra K. Hatcher, pediatric dentist, an all-around good person.
00:08:27Authorities say the 35-year-old dentist was gunned down...
00:08:30Already the news was flashing around the country.
00:08:33Kendra's brother, Neil, was in California on business when the call came.
00:08:39The call came in around 10.30 Pacific.
00:08:42I didn't sleep that night.
00:08:44And the ride home was long and tearful.
00:08:48Ride home to...
00:08:50Vegas, five hours.
00:08:53In Maryland, Kendra's friend, Dr. Tammy Pantano,
00:08:56was with a patient when she was called to the phone.
00:08:59They'd been fast friends, almost like sisters, these two,
00:09:02since their days in dental school.
00:09:08Of all the bad news you might have received,
00:09:11that would probably be the last thing they'd think of.
00:09:13I picked up my phone and I just kept pressing her name
00:09:16and pressing her name and hearing the voicemail over and over again.
00:09:20Just praying for her to pick up that this was some kind of horrible mistake.
00:09:29It wasn't.
00:09:31I didn't see how that could even be possible.
00:09:34Like, people like Kendra don't get shot.
00:09:37They don't...
00:09:38They're not murdered.
00:09:40It was devastating.
00:09:42A Dallas friend, Kim Bond, heard some bad thing had happened,
00:09:47raced to Kendra's apartment and found out there that she was dead.
00:09:53I didn't know what to think or what to do.
00:09:58All I could do was sit on the floor and cry.
00:10:02Kendra's life had seemed so good.
00:10:06Her career as a pediatric dentist,
00:10:09her promising new relationship with a handsome young doctor,
00:10:13a city she'd fallen in love with.
00:10:16If you knew Kendra, Dallas would have been her scene.
00:10:20She liked the city life.
00:10:21Yep.
00:10:22And what a good change from being rural.
00:10:26Rural and happy in a big active family just outside a little town
00:10:32called Pleasant Plains, Illinois.
00:10:37The school we went to was a small farm school
00:10:39and Kendra would sit there with a pillow and rock,
00:10:42watch she'd study and she'd study.
00:10:44Hmm.
00:10:46All the time.
00:10:48Except when she was cheerleading,
00:10:51and playing volleyball,
00:10:53and going on missions to build churches,
00:10:56and volunteering for all kinds of things.
00:10:59How'd she find time to do all that stuff?
00:11:01I don't know.
00:11:02She did it.
00:11:03She managed it.
00:11:04I couldn't.
00:11:05She was on a different level when it came to just being awesome.
00:11:10And she wanted to be a dentist.
00:11:13Kendra was such a happy person.
00:11:17So much life.
00:11:19You couldn't even be in the same room with Kendra when she laughed
00:11:22and not laugh yourself because it was so contagious.
00:11:28During school breaks, Kendra went to Ecuador to perform dental work for the poor.
00:11:34She interned in a practice that helped poor kids in Kentucky.
00:11:39That's what really kind of hit home, her desire to work on kids.
00:11:44Which is just what she was doing in her adopted city, Dallas.
00:11:48She loved what she did.
00:11:50She was great with kids.
00:11:52And that takes a special kind of patience that not everybody has.
00:11:56So it does.
00:11:58Her nieces and nephews certainly knew that.
00:12:00At just nine, Neil's daughter Josie braved the first all-by-herself flight of her life
00:12:06to spend a week in Dallas with her Aunt KK.
00:12:10I was like, I don't know if I want to go.
00:12:12And I was like, no.
00:12:13I want to see Aunt KK.
00:12:15Aunt KK, Kendra K.
00:12:17What did you guys do together that trip?
00:12:19We immediately got ice cream.
00:12:22We got our nails, dude.
00:12:24And went shopping a lot.
00:12:27What was that like, spending that weekend with her?
00:12:30Very, very fun.
00:12:32We went to Legoland and we went to the pool every single night and got snacks.
00:12:39And she met Kendra's boyfriend, Ricky.
00:12:43What were your impressions of him, Ricky?
00:12:46He was very, very nice.
00:12:48And he was quiet.
00:12:50They cuddled a lot.
00:12:51Like, they would watch movies.
00:12:52Yeah.
00:12:53And they'd always be next to each other.
00:12:55As they were supposed to be the night of the murder.
00:12:59Instead, Ricky and Kendra's friend, Kim, were listening to Detective Barnes ask his questions.
00:13:06If I knew anybody who could do this, possibly somebody from her past, or someone she's dated.
00:13:13Did you have any ideas at all?
00:13:15I had no idea at all.
00:13:16Did he tell you anything else?
00:13:17He didn't give me a lot of details, because I think they were still collecting evidence
00:13:22at the crime scene.
00:13:24Including the one piece of evidence Barnes needed right away.
00:13:28Do they got cameras that come in and out of this place?
00:13:30Yeah, they're checking on it right now.
00:13:31Okay.
00:13:32Surveillance tapes.
00:13:33He had them next day.
00:13:34And there it was.
00:13:36His first real lead.
00:13:38I think it was a black Jeep Cherokee.
00:13:40Sure enough.
00:13:41A Jeep Cherokee speeding out of the garage around 7.45 p.m.
00:13:45Hashim had said he saw two men inside, both wearing masks.
00:13:50But a grainy still photo from the video showed something else.
00:13:54The driver was a woman.
00:13:57A woman?
00:13:58A woman?
00:14:02It's an unexpected discovery.
00:14:04And another twist is on the way when the owner of the Jeep comes forward.
00:14:10Coming up.
00:14:11We want to help you guys out and get to the bottom of it.
00:14:14Did he have any idea why his car might be involved in a crime like that?
00:14:18He told me he loaned his vehicle to his friend Brenda Delgado.
00:14:22A murder investigation about to go in a whole new direction.
00:14:27When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:14:30The day after the cold-blooded murder of Kendra Hatcher, Dallas police detective Eric Barnes took stock.
00:14:46He had one big lead.
00:14:48That was the video from the garage showing a Jeep Cherokee leaving the crime scene.
00:14:53But he had nothing else.
00:14:55Motive? Unknown.
00:14:57Driver of the Jeep? Unknown.
00:14:59And the shooter who apparently dropped a magazine of bullets near Kendra's body?
00:15:04Not a clue.
00:15:07We weren't able to actually recover any prints off of it.
00:15:10So we're back to square one again.
00:15:12Square one meant going frame by frame through the video captured by multiple cameras in the garage.
00:15:18One of them showed how that Jeep got in.
00:15:21They waited for a resident to come.
00:15:24To gain access and they followed him into the parking garage.
00:15:28Another security camera captured the hazy image of an unknown person approaching Kendra's car.
00:15:35Male? Female?
00:15:36It was hard to tell at the time.
00:15:38It was just a dark colored silhouette.
00:15:40Then you see the black Jeep reverse out of the parking space.
00:15:45And the silhouette runs back to the black vehicle in a hurry.
00:15:49Gets in and they take off.
00:15:50Gets in and they take off.
00:15:51The closest thing the detective had to an image of a suspect was an unidentified woman driving a Jeep.
00:15:58So we felt like in order to get the public's help and getting either the vehicle identified or the driver identified,
00:16:04we needed the media to help us out by getting these still shots out to the community.
00:16:08Miss Hatcher parks her car.
00:16:09So Dallas police called a press conference.
00:16:12If they've seen this vehicle, we'd like them to call 911, report it to Dallas police.
00:16:16If all police could do, really.
00:16:18That and then wait and hope that in a city of millions of vehicles, somebody recognized this one.
00:16:25Fat chance.
00:16:27But then?
00:16:28Someone did.
00:16:29This someone.
00:16:30He told them his name was Luis Ortiz.
00:16:33And that he was a mechanic, owned his own shop, and that he recognized the Jeep.
00:16:42Recognized it because that Jeep was his.
00:16:48I just want to help you guys get to the bottom of it.
00:16:52Were you surprised?
00:16:53I was a little surprised.
00:16:54I didn't really know what was his motivation for coming in and didn't know if he was involved.
00:17:00You didn't kill this young lady, right?
00:17:01No, sir.
00:17:02I have no reason to.
00:17:04Okay.
00:17:05But if he didn't kill Kendra, if he wasn't involved, what was his Jeep doing in that parking garage?
00:17:12As to that, said Luis, he was as much in the dark as the detective was.
00:17:17Said the evening it happened, in fact, the very moment it happened, he was sitting at a restaurant,
00:17:22miles away, having dinner with a friend.
00:17:25And his Jeep?
00:17:27Did he have any idea why his car might be involved in a crime like that?
00:17:31What he told me was he loaned his vehicle to his friend Brenda Delgado.
00:17:37Brenda Delgado, said Luis, was a longtime family friend, good person, professional, trustworthy.
00:17:44She was also the person he was having dinner with.
00:17:47That's why I'm very upset at Brenda.
00:17:49Luis said he didn't know whether Brenda lost it or lent it or what,
00:17:54but he was sure, having seen that photo, that the car fleeing the crime scene was his.
00:17:59He knew that he needed to come in and talk to help clear his name.
00:18:02Did you take him off your suspect list once he was finished talking to you?
00:18:07No.
00:18:08No.
00:18:09But he certainly did need to talk to this Brenda Delgado.
00:18:13So they called her.
00:18:14I said, I appreciate you coming out.
00:18:16She came.
00:18:17No complaints.
00:18:18Of course, I'm working on murder investigation.
00:18:19Yes.
00:18:20Your name came up in the investigation.
00:18:21So I wanted to sit down and talk with you.
00:18:23Yeah, yeah.
00:18:24The detective told Brenda what Luis said about the Jeep.
00:18:27They said that you dropped your car off at his shop and that you borrowed a vehicle of his.
00:18:33No, it wasn't me.
00:18:34It was Crystal.
00:18:35What?
00:18:36Luis must have been confused, said Brenda.
00:18:39No, it was her friend Crystal Cortez who borrowed Luis's Jeep.
00:18:44It wasn't her at all.
00:18:45She'd known Crystal just a month or so, said Brenda.
00:18:49She seemed a bit of a lost soul.
00:18:51Single mother, struggling to make it, but nice.
00:18:55So, said Brenda, she took the girl under her wing and, yes, Crystal borrowed the car.
00:19:02What kind of car did she borrow?
00:19:03It was that car.
00:19:04Crystal borrowed that car.
00:19:05Oh.
00:19:06Okay.
00:19:07Weird.
00:19:08Was it confusion?
00:19:09A mix up?
00:19:10Or was somebody lying?
00:19:12The detective asked Brenda, call Crystal.
00:19:15Ask her to come down to the police station.
00:19:18And not long after, here she was.
00:19:21My name is Detective Barnes.
00:19:22Thank you for coming down to talk to you.
00:19:23No problem.
00:19:24No problem.
00:19:25Helpfully, Brenda was still there.
00:19:29Luis, too.
00:19:30So, now there were three people in three different interview rooms with three different stories.
00:19:36We don't normally get that lucky, but that night I was fortunate to be able to go and Brenda said this and then go to Crystal. Crystal said this.
00:19:44I'm coming right back.
00:19:46Literally walk back and forth between the two interview rooms.
00:19:49About six to eight feet apart.
00:19:51Barnes knew Brenda could not have shot Kendra in that parking lot.
00:19:56Because at that very time, she and Luis were having dinner.
00:20:00But Crystal?
00:20:01Her story made the detective sit up in his chair.
00:20:04Yes, she said she did have Luis's Jeep.
00:20:08In fact, she said she had her six-year-old little boy in the car with her, asleep in the back seat.
00:20:14And...
00:20:15I did go in the parking lot.
00:20:17But not to commit murder, said Crystal.
00:20:20Oh, no.
00:20:21She and her son were just lucky to get out of there alive.
00:20:26Coming up...
00:20:28A tale of terror.
00:20:30Heard a shot.
00:20:31Pow!
00:20:32I have my son in the back.
00:20:33There's a guy running with a mask right in front of me.
00:20:35He stops.
00:20:36He looks dead at me.
00:20:37I'm just shaking, literally, at this point.
00:20:39And then, miles away, police find another car and another clue.
00:20:45Titan worked his way down on the center console.
00:20:48And at that point, he gave me a positive alert, which is, he sits.
00:20:51When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:21:02Welcome back to Dateline Secrets Uncovered.
00:21:04I'm Kate Snow.
00:21:06Detectives investigating Kendra Hatcher's murder had identified the driver of that black Jeep seen fleeing the scene.
00:21:14Her name was Crystal Cortez, a single mom who told investigators she was in the parking garage, but insisted she did not kill Kendra.
00:21:24Now, Crystal was about to share a secret, one that would lead police to a big discovery.
00:21:31Back to Keith Morrison with 10 Minutes to Sunset.
00:21:35Crystal Cortez sat with Detective Barnes in a Dallas police interview room and told a terrifying story.
00:21:42She had borrowed Louise's car so she could take her son to a park not far from Gables Park 17.
00:21:49And yes, she admitted, as a non-resident, she sneaked the Jeep into the garage, intending to leave it there while she and her boy walked to the park.
00:21:57And then she heard the unmistakable sound.
00:22:01I heard a shot. Pow!
00:22:03I have my son in the back.
00:22:04So I said, no, you know what, let me get out.
00:22:07I'm coming out.
00:22:09There's a guy running with a mask right in front of me.
00:22:12He stops, he looks dead at me, and I'm just like, horrid.
00:22:15I'm just shaking, literally, at this point.
00:22:18Crystal said the man was holding a gun and a purse.
00:22:21She said she sped out to get away.
00:22:25Detective Barnes stopped her.
00:22:27I know that what you're telling me is not true.
00:22:30Knew it because he had that video.
00:22:33Showed the Jeep had parked and someone got out.
00:22:37So then Crystal, sitting cross-legged in her chair and getting animated, admitted she'd fudged a little.
00:22:44Said the incident was really even more terrifying for her and her little boy.
00:22:48The man pointed a gun at her.
00:22:51Jumped in the car.
00:22:52Carjacked him.
00:22:53He didn't put the gun to my head, okay?
00:22:55I'm sorry.
00:22:56He did.
00:22:57Okay.
00:22:58I'm fearful for my life.
00:22:59Who put it to you?
00:23:00I don't know his name.
00:23:01I don't know nothing about him.
00:23:02I don't know anything.
00:23:03You can check my...
00:23:05I can take a polygraph.
00:23:06I'm willing to, honestly.
00:23:07Okay.
00:23:08Crystal said the man told her to drive to the back of the parking lot where he got out and robbed and shot a woman.
00:23:15And then forced Crystal to drive a few miles away where he jumped out and disappeared.
00:23:20Why didn't you call 911?
00:23:22Because I didn't know it was on the news until yesterday that I found out.
00:23:27I mean, you knew somebody got shot?
00:23:29I'm scared for my life.
00:23:31Barnes told her he didn't buy that either.
00:23:33She spent hours in here, in this cold, accusing little interview room.
00:23:38And bit by bit, Crystal Cortez inched toward the truth.
00:23:42Finally, confessed.
00:23:45Sort of.
00:23:46She wasn't carjacked.
00:23:49And her son wasn't even in the car.
00:23:51No, she was there to rob somebody.
00:23:54With a guy.
00:23:56He was just going to go in and take her first.
00:23:58That was all he was going to do.
00:24:00When you asked the guy, why did he shoot her?
00:24:01What did he say?
00:24:03She was being stubborn and didn't want to give me a purse.
00:24:06He said, well, you better not say anything because I'm going to kill you and your son.
00:24:10And now she just wanted to go home to her little boy.
00:24:13Didn't understand that her mothering days were over.
00:24:17Crystal was arrested and charged with capital murder.
00:24:22And the guy, the gunman?
00:24:24Crystal didn't have much to say about him beyond being African American, skinny, with dreadlocks.
00:24:30And she offered a name.
00:24:32She said Lamar.
00:24:34She said Lamar.
00:24:35So what did you do with that?
00:24:37We just kept hitting the details.
00:24:39Tell me what Lamar looked like.
00:24:40Where does Lamar live at?
00:24:41What does Lamar drive?
00:24:43She said she didn't know his last name or where he lived.
00:24:46But she helped a police artist come up with a sketch of this Lamar.
00:24:51This is kind of a no stress deal.
00:24:52You know, we're going to draw a picture.
00:24:54So here's what Barnes had.
00:24:56A drawing.
00:24:57A name, whether real or not.
00:24:59And whatever Crystal's phone records might tell him.
00:25:02Oh, and one more thing.
00:25:05She knew his car.
00:25:06A blue Chrysler Sebring.
00:25:09By now, Dallas police had called in the FBI
00:25:13and asked agents to trace a cell phone number Crystal had used to call this Lamar.
00:25:19Special Agent Jason Ibrahim.
00:25:22We obtained a federal tracking warrant.
00:25:24Just so happens, the day Crystal revealed the information about the car,
00:25:28FBI agents had followed that phone, Lamar's phone,
00:25:32to this Dallas apartment complex.
00:25:35Where?
00:25:36What do you know?
00:25:38There was a blue Sebring sitting in the parking lot.
00:25:41So they watched the car.
00:25:43And a man approached.
00:25:45The man Crystal described could be...
00:25:47Bingo.
00:25:49His name wasn't Lamar, by the way.
00:25:51It was Love, of all things.
00:25:54Christopher Love.
00:25:55You see some crazy.
00:25:56Not long after, Mr. Love was sitting with Detective Barnes.
00:26:00Apparently, unfazed.
00:26:03Did you lead with...
00:26:04We've got you here on a murder rap, so tell us everything?
00:26:07No, I didn't.
00:26:08I started off very slow and just building rapport.
00:26:11He was very detached.
00:26:13Playing Mr. Cool.
00:26:14Playing Mr. Cool.
00:26:16So, a little small talk.
00:26:18Bit of this and that.
00:26:19Here's the thing, man.
00:26:20And then the detective got down to business.
00:26:23Asked Love straight after, was he involved in Kendra's murder?
00:26:27I know I didn't murder nobody.
00:26:29There's not no white Dennis.
00:26:31Lot was in this room for many hours.
00:26:33He didn't break.
00:26:35And though they searched his apartment and that blue Sebring high and low,
00:26:39they could not find a gun.
00:26:42So Barnes was stuck.
00:26:44And then, odd thing.
00:26:46The day the Sebring was in the police impound lot, pure coincidence, an ATF special agent named Dan Cossey paid a visit to demonstrate the unique talents of his dog.
00:26:59This is canine Titan.
00:27:01He is a Labrador retriever.
00:27:03Titan, said Cossey, is a walking explosives detector.
00:27:08And, yes, good at finding hidden guns.
00:27:12After the demonstration, I was approached by a couple homicide detectives.
00:27:15He said, could you assist us with a search warrant?
00:27:18To show what he did next, Agent Cossey gave us a demonstration.
00:27:21He hid a training device in this car, one that mimics the smell of gunpowder, and gave Titan the command.
00:27:28That's a good boy.
00:27:29Show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me.
00:27:34Sure enough, Titan found it.
00:27:37And on that day with detectives...
00:27:39I gave him the command to search.
00:27:41Titan jumped into the Sebring, and in a matter of seconds...
00:27:44Titan worked his way down to the ashtray area on the center console.
00:27:49And at that point, he gave me a positive alert, which is, he sits.
00:27:53The detectives would go where Titan's nose had pointed.
00:27:56After all, it was their case, and Cossey and Titan had to go.
00:28:00As I'm driving away, I see one of the detectives running after me, yelling at me that my dog had found a gun.
00:28:07Deep under the dashboard, squirreled away under layers of metal and plastic,
00:28:12was a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic.
00:28:16Ballistics would match it to the gun used to kill Kendra.
00:28:20Stars aligned.
00:28:21Divine intervention.
00:28:23At that moment, Love was still with Detective Barnes in a cold police interview room wrapped in a pink blanket.
00:28:30Rather than confront Love right away, Barnes ordered lunch.
00:28:35And then, just in time to give him indigestion...
00:28:38We did a search one on your car.
00:28:39He broke the news.
00:28:40And we found a gun in your car.
00:28:42Mm.
00:28:43Oh yeah, I found a gun in my car.
00:28:45Under the center console?
00:28:48Mm-hmm.
00:28:50This gun right here.
00:28:54You ever seen that gun before?
00:28:58Yeah.
00:28:59You have?
00:29:00Whose gun is that?
00:29:01This man.
00:29:02And then, Love's story changed.
00:29:07At first, he denied knowing Crystal.
00:29:12Now, he used her to explain where he got the gun.
00:29:17Tell you the truth, I bought that gun from that girl.
00:29:22From what girl?
00:29:23Crystal.
00:29:24He bought it from Crystal.
00:29:26Mm-hmm.
00:29:27But he didn't use it to shoot Kendra, he said.
00:29:31No, that was Crystal.
00:29:33Mutual finger-pointing.
00:29:35But Love wasn't going anywhere, either.
00:29:38He, too, was charged with capital murder.
00:29:42Which left one huge mystery to solve.
00:29:48And that led him back to Kendra's boyfriend, Ricky.
00:29:52It was perhaps the key to it all.
00:29:57Coming up.
00:29:58Boyfriends, as you and I know, are frequently exactly the person you want to look at as a potential person of interest.
00:30:05That's correct.
00:30:06And this one seemed reluctant to turn over his cell phone.
00:30:09I mean, honestly, I don't know what the right thing for me to do is right now.
00:30:13When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:30:26In a complex murder investigation, progress comes in fits and starts.
00:30:30Detective Eric Barnes had started out with just a surveillance camera photo of a woman in a Jeep.
00:30:36The Jeep's owner, Luis Ortiz, had been cleared.
00:30:39Now he had two people in custody.
00:30:41Crystal Cortez and Christopher Love.
00:30:43Both charged with capital murder.
00:30:45But Detective Barnes knew perfectly well these two were not the whole story.
00:30:49They had no connection to Kendra.
00:30:52They had to be working for somebody.
00:30:55Who?
00:30:56Why?
00:30:57I was looking for anything that could have possibly connected me to a motive.
00:31:04So Detective Barnes doubled back to someone who was actually at Kendra's apartment complex the night of the murder.
00:31:11Her boyfriend, Dr. Ricky Paniagua.
00:31:14Boyfriends, as you and I know, are frequently exactly the person you want to look at as a potential person of interest, right?
00:31:21That's correct.
00:31:22From the beginning, when the detective met Ricky, the doctor's grief and distress seemed very genuine.
00:31:29But the detective wanted to clarify what he was doing when Kendra was murdered.
00:31:36Kendra's brother Neil asked him that question point blank that very night.
00:31:40He yelled at Ricky.
00:31:41I was being accusatory.
00:31:43They were on the phone.
00:31:45Hours after his sister was killed, Neil was beside himself.
00:31:48So what did you accuse him of?
00:31:50I said a lot of things.
00:31:52But my main premise was, if you had anything involved with this, I was on a war path.
00:32:00Ricky persuaded Neil that he was innocent.
00:32:04But later, when Detective Barnes got his turn to ask the question, right away, it got awkward.
00:32:11Am I being recorded right now?
00:32:13Yes.
00:32:14Okay.
00:32:15You should have asked that up front.
00:32:16I didn't realize that.
00:32:17And then he asked Ricky for his phone.
00:32:19And Ricky seemed reluctant.
00:32:22It does pique my curiosity at what it is that you don't want to disclose.
00:32:26No, I know.
00:32:27And that's why I'm like, I mean, I don't know what the, I mean, honestly, I don't know what the right thing for me to do is right now.
00:32:33Okay.
00:32:34I'm not saying no at all.
00:32:35He wanted to cooperate, he said.
00:32:37But friends and family were advising him to get legal advice.
00:32:40Barnes told him what the options were.
00:32:43There's two ways that I can go about retrieving a phone.
00:32:46One is through your consent.
00:32:47Two is with a search warrant.
00:32:49So then I am a suspect then?
00:32:51No.
00:32:52You don't have to be a suspect in order for me to write a search warrant.
00:32:55Ricky agreed to hand it over.
00:32:57This has been so difficult on every level of manageable.
00:33:02I don't want to hold up anything.
00:33:05He told Barnes there was sensitive information on that phone about patients and that's why he hesitated.
00:33:12Made sense.
00:33:14Anyway, Barnes was also hearing from people who knew Ricky and were sure he had nothing to do with the murder.
00:33:21He is such a kind soul and he did not deserve to be mixed up in this.
00:33:31Ricky and Kendra had met online just four short months before the murder.
00:33:36The first date almost didn't happen.
00:33:39She wanted to cancel.
00:33:40Nervous?
00:33:41Not nervous, just because she had other terrible dates from online.
00:33:46Oh, okay.
00:33:47And I was like, just go and see how it goes.
00:33:49The worst case is it's another failed date.
00:33:53So she went?
00:33:54She went.
00:33:55And then she came back and she was laughing because he ordered chocolate chip pancakes.
00:34:01And she thought it was weird that a guy ordered that on a first date.
00:34:06But it worked out.
00:34:09It certainly did.
00:34:11A sort of love you might get once in a lifetime if you're lucky.
00:34:15Photos of them together looked like they'd been a couple for years, not months.
00:34:19In one, Kendra was wearing a sweatshirt that read, I'm with Dreamy.
00:34:24I'm sure it was intentional that she wore that sweatshirt with him.
00:34:28Kendra told French she was going to leave Dallas and move to California with Ricky where he'd found a job as a dermatologist.
00:34:35He complimented Kendra very well.
00:34:38He has this kindness about him and she immediately fell for Ricky and fell hard.
00:34:44The next step for the two seemed a foregone conclusion.
00:34:48I was like, you really think that you're going to be getting married here?
00:34:53And she was like, well, don't go getting a bridesmaid's dress.
00:34:56But that's where that's where we're looking.
00:34:59And even started a wedding fund.
00:35:01They would have had the happily ever after that that everyone wants.
00:35:06One that Ricky would never have.
00:35:09And here with Detective Barnes, as he talked about Kendra, Ricky's professional reserve abandoned him.
00:35:16Because of how similar we were.
00:35:19From a professional standpoint, from a spiritual standpoint.
00:35:23I mean from just so many levels.
00:35:32And then Ricky grappled with guilt about another woman.
00:35:39Two weeks ago, I would have said, no, I mean she's a, you know, she's a good friend.
00:35:44You know, honestly, I wouldn't have thought that, I would never, I would have not thought that she would be key.
00:35:53She?
00:35:54The key to what exactly?
00:35:57Coming up, a big clue to the why of this murder.
00:36:03Well, now you got your motive.
00:36:05Yes, it's starting to come together.
00:36:07When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:36:10The investigation of the murder of Dr. Kendra Hatcher was a process of inclusion, and just as important, exclusion of possible suspects.
00:36:28Detective Barnes had no doubt Crystal Cortez and Christopher Love were included.
00:36:34But Kendra's boyfriend, Dr. Ricky Paniagua?
00:36:38There was nothing that led his direction as being a suspect.
00:36:41Nothing that pointed to him as having any involvement.
00:36:45It all came down to one urgent question.
00:36:48Why?
00:36:49Why kill Dr. Kendra Hatcher?
00:36:52The two in custody had no reason, no motive.
00:36:56Beyond some kind of payment, possibly.
00:36:59So Barnes knew someone else must have wanted her dead.
00:37:03But who?
00:37:05You never know where you're going to find that smoking gun.
00:37:09Curious thing.
00:37:11After the murder, Ricky got a phone call from an old friend.
00:37:16He let her know that, hey, my girlfriend has been killed.
00:37:19I'm going through a lot right now.
00:37:21Then, a little while later, Ricky was watching the evening news.
00:37:24He saw that press conference and the photo of the Jeep with the woman driving.
00:37:29Could it be?
00:37:31He called Detective Barnes.
00:37:33He told me that, hey, I think this is Brenda Delgado, my ex-girlfriend, in this still photo.
00:37:40Brenda Delgado?
00:37:42She was his ex-girlfriend?
00:37:44It just looked like her, said Ricky.
00:37:47Thing was, she was the old friend he'd just been talking to on the phone, telling her about the murder.
00:37:54And then that photo.
00:37:56But...
00:37:57In times of stress, the mind plays tricks.
00:38:00He was wrong.
00:38:02That was not Brenda in the surveillance video.
00:38:05It was Crystal.
00:38:07And nothing in Brenda's background seemed to suggest she would be involved in a murder.
00:38:12What did you find out about her?
00:38:14I found out that she was in dental hygienist school.
00:38:17Unlike Kendra, who grew up in small town Pleasant Plains, Brenda had grown out poor in a rough part of Dallas, known as Pleasant Grove.
00:38:28She was a child of immigrants, making something of herself.
00:38:32At the time of the murder, Brenda was on the verge of becoming a certified dental hygienist.
00:38:37Friends from dental hygiene school, like Teresa Contreras, remember meeting Brenda when the two were new students together.
00:38:44They'd been asked to give presentations to introduce themselves to the class.
00:38:47What stood out to you about her presentation?
00:38:50Well, she kind of straight out the bat introduced us to Ricky.
00:38:54Dr. Ricky Paniagua.
00:38:56She kind of, to me, felt like she was showing off,
00:38:59Oh, look, I have a boyfriend that's a dermatologist and we're going to get married.
00:39:03She showed off a promise ring.
00:39:05But at some point, Brenda began to struggle in her classes and failed one, putting her behind.
00:39:11It was right when Ricky had broken it off.
00:39:15She kind of told me, you know, he's dating someone else, but it's not a big deal.
00:39:19In fact, Ricky had stayed in touch with her.
00:39:22They had friends after they broke up.
00:39:24Good friends, he thought.
00:39:26She had a very tough time after her breakup with Ricardo.
00:39:30How long did they go out together?
00:39:31A couple of years.
00:39:32They lived together for a while.
00:39:35She helped him while he was going through school.
00:39:38They had a very, very close relationship.
00:39:41So she was investing in him because she thought this was her man for life.
00:39:45Yes. Yes, she did.
00:39:46Well, now you got your motive.
00:39:48Yes, it's starting to come together.
00:39:50But remember, the night Kendra was murdered, Brenda was out to dinner with her friend Luis.
00:39:56In fact, when Barnes asked about her alibi, she had a receipt ready.
00:40:01Pulled it out right away.
00:40:03It was at the top of her purse and it was in pretty pristine condition.
00:40:08Not a lot of folds or wrinkles in it.
00:40:10Oh, I have an alibi.
00:40:11Here it is.
00:40:12There you go.
00:40:13But then there was still the issue of the Jeep.
00:40:18Luis said he loaned it to Brenda, not Crystal.
00:40:21Meaning, meaning something.
00:40:25Barnes tried to get some more information from the two people who were in the Jeep to see if they would implicate Brenda.
00:40:31Bundled up in a pink blanket in the cold interview room, Christopher Love climbed up tight.
00:40:37When did you meet Brenda?
00:40:39I ain't never met Brenda.
00:40:40So he kept after love for hours.
00:40:43And sure enough, eventually, love leaked.
00:40:47He said Brenda promised him a big payoff.
00:40:50To rob Kendra, not kill her, just take her purse.
00:40:54Brenda sought him out, he said, and convinced him she was.
00:40:58Look at this, not a dental hygienist, but a cocaine cowgirl.
00:41:03A member of a Mexican drug cartel.
00:41:06She told you she was running a cartel.
00:41:08She said she would get you whatever you want.
00:41:10Yeah.
00:41:11Barnes was hearing Love aspired to be a big time drug dealer.
00:41:14But Brenda was no cartel member.
00:41:17She wasn't even quite a dental hygienist yet.
00:41:21So naturally, Detective Barnes confronted Brenda.
00:41:25And straight out denial.
00:41:28I have no motive.
00:41:30I have no motive.
00:41:31You have plenty of motive.
00:41:32Motive is what drives something.
00:41:34What drives you?
00:41:36Sometimes it's hate.
00:41:38Sometimes it's love.
00:41:40Sometimes it's greed.
00:41:42In this situation, I don't think it was greed.
00:41:46I think it was hate.
00:41:48And no pink blanket would comfort a freezing cold Brenda
00:41:52as Barnes tried to find her soft spot.
00:41:55Maybe he didn't want a dental hygienist anymore.
00:41:57Maybe he wanted a dentist.
00:41:59But for whatever reason, you weren't good enough for him.
00:42:02And I said, that's a hard pill to swallow.
00:42:05It is very hard to swallow.
00:42:07For you to be able to look in the mirror and say,
00:42:09what is it that she has that I don't have?
00:42:11I mean, I don't have any feelings like you were saying.
00:42:16I really don't have any.
00:42:18Like, I didn't even know who the girl was.
00:42:20No, said Brenda.
00:42:21That's not true.
00:42:22It wasn't her.
00:42:23It must have been Crystal.
00:42:25It was time for Barnes to talk to Crystal again.
00:42:29Coming up, revelations of a plot way bigger than anyone knew.
00:42:35It's pretty disturbing to me that people knew about this
00:42:39and made no effort to stop it.
00:42:42When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:42:54Welcome back to Dateline Secrets Uncovered.
00:42:57I'm Kate Snow.
00:42:58No matter how hard police pressed, Brenda Delgado insisted she had no motive to want Kendra Hatcher dead.
00:43:06As for the alleged murder plot, suspected shooter Christopher Love admitted only that Brenda hired him to rob Kendra, not kill her.
00:43:16But remember, Love had a getaway driver and she was about to spill a deadly secret.
00:43:22Back to Keith Morrison with 10 Minutes to Sunset.
00:43:26Eric Barnes had seen just about everything in his years with the Dallas police.
00:43:33After interviewing Brenda Delgado, all his experience told him she orchestrated the murder of Kendra Hatcher.
00:43:40But Brenda denied it, insisting it must have been the driver, Crystal Cortez.
00:43:45So Barnes decided he'd see what Crystal had to say about that.
00:43:49I finally confronted her with, Brenda told me you were involved.
00:43:54Mm-hmm.
00:43:56And that was a breaking point for her where she actually admitted that, you know, she went there for Brenda.
00:44:01Brenda pretty much set everything up.
00:44:03I had to feel pretty good to get that.
00:44:05Yes, I did.
00:44:07So now the alleged shooter and the getaway driver had both fingered Brenda.
00:44:14But they weren't exactly salt of the earth's reliable accusers.
00:44:18So...
00:44:19We didn't have the evidence that we needed to charge her.
00:44:23Even so, he was convinced Brenda was behind it all.
00:44:27As for her ex-boyfriend Ricky, well now the scales had fallen from his eyes.
00:44:33Ricky was very blunt.
00:44:35There's no doubt in my mind that Brenda did that.
00:44:37Right.
00:44:38I have zero doubt about that.
00:44:39Right.
00:44:40But unlike Crystal Cortez, Brenda hadn't broken in the interview room.
00:44:45I have no motive.
00:44:46I have no motive.
00:44:47Without something more, some more solid evidence, Barnes felt he couldn't arrest her for Kendra's murder.
00:44:54We determined that it just wasn't the right time to charge her with murder.
00:44:58A mistake?
00:45:01Or a legal necessity?
00:45:04Either way, the result was the same.
00:45:06Because after she walked out of the police station, Brenda did what every homicide detective dreads.
00:45:11Brenda left the country.
00:45:13How soon?
00:45:14I believe a day or two after the interview, she was...
00:45:19Squirt.
00:45:20She's gone.
00:45:21Gone.
00:45:22What did you think when you heard that?
00:45:23I can't say that I was extremely surprised by it.
00:45:26She had a very good indication that we were on to her and we weren't buying the fact that she didn't have anything to do with it.
00:45:31Kind of like an admission of guilt, though, isn't it?
00:45:33It is.
00:45:34It is.
00:45:35It just kind of strengthened that resolve that you can run, but you can't hide.
00:45:41Despite her absence, the investigation continued.
00:45:43And Brenda Delgado was formally indicted for murder seven weeks after Kendra was killed.
00:45:49Investigators say this woman, Brenda Delgado, hired Love to kill Hatcher.
00:45:54A warrant is out for her arrest.
00:45:56She is a fugitive wanted at this point for capital murder.
00:46:01So where could she be?
00:46:03Again, Dallas police called in the FBI, Special Agent Jason Ibrahim.
00:46:08Her father indicated to the Dallas Police Department that she got on a bus and fled to Mexico.
00:46:13Mexico, where she had a big extended family all over the country.
00:46:24And pretty soon it was obvious she wasn't staying in any one place for very long.
00:46:28We would receive information about kind of where she was at or where she had been, but we always seemed to be a few cities behind.
00:46:35It had to be frustrating, I think.
00:46:37It is.
00:46:38It's frustrating.
00:46:39And then they heard about a sighting.
00:46:42A woman who certainly looked like Brenda in Mexico City.
00:46:47For one, she seemed to be staying put.
00:46:50This individual would come out periodically to hang laundry or take out the trash, but was always wearing a hat, sunglasses, a hooded sweatshirt.
00:47:02And at the time, the weather wasn't such that you would be wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
00:47:07So it was very suspicious.
00:47:09And then, when she tipped off, quite suddenly...
00:47:14She just disappeared.
00:47:16Where did she get the money to do this?
00:47:18We believe her family members were sending money via Western Union.
00:47:23So back in Dallas, Detective Barnes worked on the family, tried to get them to cooperate.
00:47:29But...
00:47:30They had a hard time accepting that she could do something like this.
00:47:34Did they put themselves in a position where you contemplated charging them?
00:47:38Yes, we did.
00:47:41But they held off.
00:47:43Allowing the money to keep flowing gave Special Agent Ibrahim a trail to follow.
00:47:48We were more interested in trying to track the money to the town where she was staying at the time.
00:47:55So, months went by.
00:47:58I didn't know if she would be brought to justice here since she led to a different country.
00:48:06Kendra's brother Neil had lost hope.
00:48:09Did you think they'd ever catch her?
00:48:11No.
00:48:13And then, seven months after Brenda fled, the FBI elected to pull out the big gun.
00:48:20Today we are announcing the addition of capital murder suspect Brenda Delgado to the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives list.
00:48:27Brenda became only the ninth woman ever on that list.
00:48:34It wasn't long after we had a press conference and announced that she was on the list and that there was a reward for her being caught that we began getting tips.
00:48:44Ah, yes.
00:48:45The reward.
00:48:46One hundred thousand dollars for information leading to her capture.
00:48:51That's when I was like, well, that's quite a large sum of money.
00:48:55Oh, it got someone's attention all right.
00:49:00Things started happening then.
00:49:02Coming up, an agreement could bring Brenda home.
00:49:09I was making contact through the family to try to get her back.
00:49:13It was arranged that she was to have walked across the bridge at Laredo, Texas.
00:49:18But yet again, things don't go as planned.
00:49:21I never really believed that she was just going to willingly say, here I am, come get me.
00:49:27Your whole deal blew up, the whole deal blew up.
00:49:30When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:49:42Amazing what an appearance on the FBI's most wanted list will accomplish.
00:49:47That, and a little added pressure from Dallas Police Detective Eric Barnes on a family that seemed determined to keep Brenda Delgado out of the arms of the law.
00:49:56How close did you come to actually arresting members of the family?
00:49:59Well, we actually were in the planning stages of drafting up the proper paperwork.
00:50:05And that was when things began to happen.
00:50:08For one thing, defense attorney George Milner joined the story.
00:50:13I made contact with the DA's office, they got the FBI in, we had these late night conference calls.
00:50:19To negotiate Brenda voluntarily coming out of hiding and returning to Texas.
00:50:26I was making contact through the family to try to get her back.
00:50:30It was arranged that she was to have walked across the bridge at Laredo, Texas.
00:50:35That would look better for her.
00:50:36Well, that was the motive I had.
00:50:38They're going to say she flew to Mexico and use that against her.
00:50:42I want to be able to say, and here's video of her voluntarily coming right back to Texas.
00:50:49But I'd also, I'd told the family, I said, I can't represent her if she's on the run.
00:50:53I mean, she's going to have to come back.
00:50:55But Detective Barnes had very little faith Brenda would actually walk across that bridge.
00:51:01I never really believed that she was just going to willingly say, here I am, come get me.
00:51:08And then FBI Special Agent Ibrahim got a tip and it looked good.
00:51:14The FBI alerted their Mexican counterparts who moved in.
00:51:18They apprehended her in very short order.
00:51:23Kendra's brother Neil was on an airplane, just landed, got a text.
00:51:30And I don't know who the lady was next to me.
00:51:34But I asked her for a hug.
00:51:36I needed that.
00:51:38I was pretty elated.
00:51:41Brenda's attorney, not so much.
00:51:44Your whole deal blew up?
00:51:45The whole deal blew up.
00:51:47Instead, Brenda sat in a Mexican jail.
00:51:52Mexico will not extradite anyone facing a possible death penalty.
00:51:57So, prosecutors chose not to seek it.
00:52:01And six months after her capture, Brenda was returned to Dallas to await trial for murder.
00:52:07NBC station KXAS was there waiting for her.
00:52:11Brenda Delgado had nothing to say as FBI agents walked her into the Dallas County Jail.
00:52:16But before any trials could start, prosecutors Justin Lord, Glenn Fitzmartin, and team leader Kevin Brooks tried to persuade Crystal Cortez to plead guilty and testify against Brenda and Christopher Love.
00:52:31Not so easy.
00:52:33We sat down with her once.
00:52:36It was obvious she wasn't being truthful with us.
00:52:40So they waited, let her think.
00:52:43Perhaps she considered her potential sentence.
00:52:46She was eligible for the death penalty, but...
00:52:49And then?
00:52:50About a month before Christopher Love's trial, she finally owned up and gave us everything that we needed.
00:52:56Crystal pleaded guilty and flipped, avoiding the death penalty.
00:53:01The state now had someone who knew it all.
00:53:04Brenda's plot to kill Kendra, the planning and stalking and the execution to do with Christopher Love.
00:53:11So, when Love's trial began in October 2018, prosecutor Kevin Brooks told the jury...
00:53:18At their very first meeting, Brenda asked Christopher Love if he'd be willing to kill Kendra Hatcher.
00:53:25And without any hesitation, he says yes, in exchange for a combination of drugs and money.
00:53:34Photos of Kendra, hung next to the witness box, kept a silent watch on the proceedings.
00:53:41Crystal Cortez, the state's star witness, told the jury what Love did.
00:53:47He gets the pistol and he exits the vehicle.
00:53:50And I hear Kendra scream, help, help, help me.
00:53:55And then I hear the shots fired.
00:53:57Titan initially jumped up in the vehicle...
00:53:59Then prosecutors called that ATF agent, whose dog, Titan, sniffed out the gun in Love's car.
00:54:06And a forensics expert who matched the gun to the murder.
00:54:10And speaking of that gun, literally, was Christopher Love himself.
00:54:19The jury heard a recording of a phone call he made to his girlfriend from jail.
00:54:24Too late, indeed.
00:54:37To the prosecutors, it amounted to a confession.
00:54:40They hoped the jury would see it that way.
00:54:43And that they would also see what the real-life consequences of murder can be.
00:54:48I'm sorry.
00:54:50This was Kendra's mother, Bonnie, telling the jury how she heard from Kendra's sister.
00:54:56She said, Mom, it's Kendra.
00:55:01And I said, no, no, not Kendra.
00:55:07And they said she was shot.
00:55:13And I'm like, what?
00:55:14What do you mean she shot?
00:55:16I just ran outside and screamed.
00:55:21It took the jury three hours.
00:55:24We, the jury, unanimously find the defendant guilty of capital murder as charged in the indictment.
00:55:29Love would get the death penalty.
00:55:34Now, the alleged mastermind, Brenda Delgado, her turn in the dock.
00:55:40And that would be quite a story, indeed.
00:55:45Coming up, would a jury believe that Brenda had convinced a pair of near strangers to commit murder?
00:55:53The fact that these three came together in such a short amount of time, in such a violent way, reasonable people, have a hard time, I think, putting that all together.
00:56:02When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:56:14Prosecutors had successfully convicted the man who shot Dr. Kendra Hatcher.
00:56:19But Brenda Delgado, the alleged mastermind, her case was much more circumstantial.
00:56:25The state had no physical evidence linking her to the murder.
00:56:29And she had an alibi.
00:56:32And they'd have to get a jury to believe that Brenda, a dental hygienist to be with no criminal history, recruited two people she barely knew to commit murder.
00:56:44The fact that these three came together in such a short amount of time, in such a violent way, reasonable people, have a hard time, I think, putting that all together.
00:56:54In June 2019, Kendra's family and friends were back to relive each awful detail for a second time in this Dallas County courtroom.
00:57:07Once you get over one, then it seems like there's another one to do.
00:57:10So getting the trials behind us was an important part for us to move on.
00:57:17For her friends, too.
00:57:19Tammy Pantano and Kim Bond were there every day.
00:57:23Why was it important to be there?
00:57:25To make sure that we got justice for Kendra.
00:57:28And your being there would help?
00:57:30More support for her family and vice versa.
00:57:35Her family has been very supportive of me.
00:57:38The Brenda Delgado who entered the courtroom, dark business suit, glasses, did not look at all like the stylish young woman she once was.
00:57:48Any concern that a jury would look at her and say, oh, she was not capable of that sort of thing?
00:57:53I thought that after they heard the details, there's no amount of makeup that you can put on to cover up that monster.
00:58:01The details which added up to a story about an obsession.
00:58:07How obsessed was she with this guy?
00:58:09I mean, how?
00:58:10Completely.
00:58:11Completely obsessed.
00:58:13And the guy was simply oblivious.
00:58:18My name is Dr. Ricardo Paniagua.
00:58:20But now, he would testify through undeniable grief and guilt.
00:58:27I have no doubt that he's carrying a lot of guilt.
00:58:31And he probably will, I imagine, the rest of his life.
00:58:34You know, Kendra's dead because of someone that he, at one point in time, was in a very close relationship.
00:58:41As he testified, Ricky avoided looking at Brenda.
00:58:45While she appeared laser-focused on him.
00:58:49How long did you say that y'all did?
00:58:51Approximately two and a half years.
00:58:54Did it turn into a somewhat serious relationship?
00:58:57Yes, sir.
00:58:58Then, after they broke up, Brenda had a way of just showing up.
00:59:04Like when Ricky enrolled in salsa class.
00:59:08Apparently, her efforts succeeded.
00:59:10Then, after class, we started to practice.
00:59:13And that kind of reintroduced each other into our lives.
00:59:19And eventually, we decided to give the relationship another try.
00:59:25They got back together for a while, before breaking up for good.
00:59:29A couple of months before Ricky met Kendra.
00:59:32But they stayed, friend, said Ricky.
00:59:35He helped Brenda financially.
00:59:37He even let her stay on his phone plan.
00:59:39In his mind, he was trying to maintain a platonic relationship.
00:59:43Even though we're not in a relationship anymore, we can be friends.
00:59:46No idea, said the prosecutors.
00:59:49But she was watching him.
00:59:51Stalking him.
00:59:52Even on the jogging trail.
00:59:54She'd just appear.
00:59:56At the time, I thought it was just coincidence.
01:00:00Coincidence?
01:00:01No.
01:00:02Brenda was actually tracking Ricky.
01:00:05Using the Find My iPhone app.
01:00:08Always knew just where he was.
01:00:11Remember, he'd kept her on his phone plan.
01:00:14Also on her phone, this photo of Ricky and Kendra together.
01:00:20He was stalking him online.
01:00:22Had access to his email, his passwords.
01:00:26Tracking his Facebook account.
01:00:28And during all the time he was dating Kendra, Brenda still had, and apparently used, a key to Ricky's apartment.
01:00:37She would know when he's not at the apartment.
01:00:40We believe that's when she's showing up, gathering information.
01:00:44Kind of creepy.
01:00:45Yeah.
01:00:46Ricky had no idea.
01:00:49He was focused on Kendra.
01:00:52And he shared the good news with Brenda, his friend.
01:00:57I sent an email to Brenda specifying that I was in a relationship that was going very good.
01:01:07Which was about the worst thing Brenda could hear.
01:01:10I think that's when the ball started really rolling that things had to happen to get rid of Kendra Hatcher.
01:01:16With Kendra in his life now, Ricky asked Brenda to remove her stuff from his apartment.
01:01:23And he dropped her from his phone plan.
01:01:27That was August 31st.
01:01:29Two days later, Kendra was dead.
01:01:34Luis Ortiz told the jury he loaned Brenda his Jeep.
01:01:38But he had no idea what it was being used for until he saw it on the TV news and confronted Brenda.
01:01:44Who asked him straight out to become part of a cover-up.
01:01:48It's best for you to just hide it and probably paint it a different color if you want to help you pay for that paint job.
01:01:55Instead, Luis called the police.
01:01:57And the plan began to unravel.
01:01:59So, just one terrible idea that went further that Brenda may have intended?
01:02:05No, not at all, said the prosecutors.
01:02:08Brenda tried to recruit others, too.
01:02:11Like this guy.
01:02:12A friend of hers.
01:02:13What did she ask you that you could get?
01:02:16For a gun.
01:02:19A handgun, yes.
01:02:20And this acquaintance from high school.
01:02:23What did she ask you?
01:02:24Funny anybody that can just hurt someone.
01:02:28She even asked a cousin to use this baseball bat.
01:02:33Introduced as evidence.
01:02:34What specifically were you supposed to do with that baseball bat?
01:02:38She wanted me to hit her.
01:02:41Another was Brenda's friend who lived with her just before the murder.
01:02:47This plot was the most bizarre.
01:02:49First, she wanted Ricky in a coma with a bat.
01:02:54Also, for Kendra Hatcher, an injection needle to put it in the back of her neck.
01:03:03She just wanted to eliminate Kendra Hatcher or even both of them.
01:03:08The roommate, like the others, said no, they wouldn't do it.
01:03:12But none of them went to the police.
01:03:15It's pretty disturbing to me that people knew about this and made no effort to stop it.
01:03:22All the while, Brenda was stalking her victim, watching her.
01:03:27Even as Kendra, carefree and unaware, entertained her niece Josie during her July visit.
01:03:34If that little girl had been there a little bit later, that could have been bad.
01:03:39Yes, I think the plan was already in motion at that point.
01:03:42So whoever was there would have been a victim as well.
01:03:46And then along came Crystal.
01:03:49A single, unemployed mom who only had known Brenda for a month.
01:03:54Poor, troubled, easily manipulated.
01:03:57Brenda is a master manipulator.
01:03:59What I got from her relationship with several people throughout this story
01:04:03is that she was able to figure out what is it that this person is seeking.
01:04:08Yeah.
01:04:09Are they seeking friendship?
01:04:11Right.
01:04:12Are they seeking financial gain?
01:04:14Are they in a bad position?
01:04:15They need a car.
01:04:16And she was able to play on those needs in a way that would benefit her.
01:04:20And that's what she did.
01:04:21Now, here in court, Crystal, in exchange for a deal avoiding the death penalty, promised
01:04:26to reveal everything.
01:04:28But truth so apparent can quickly collapse, exposed as a self-serving lie.
01:04:36Would Crystal tell the truth?
01:04:38Would the jury believe her?
01:04:42Coming up, Crystal details a string of head-snapping schemes for killing Kendra.
01:04:49From drugs.
01:04:50One was to inject her with heroin.
01:04:52Another one was to inject her with a sedative.
01:04:55To weapon shopping online.
01:04:57I made a phone call to this person on social media.
01:05:01And I asked if they had a silencer for Forty Smith & Weston.
01:05:05Would jurors buy any of it?
01:05:08When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
01:05:12Welcome back.
01:05:19Prosecutors in Brenda Delgado's murder trial painted her as an obsessed ex-girlfriend determined
01:05:26to kill her romantic rival.
01:05:29Several people testified Brenda approached them for help with her deadly plot before turning
01:05:34to Christopher Love and Crystal Cortez.
01:05:37Now, Crystal was about to take the stand and give a chilling account of Kendra Hatcher's
01:05:43final moments.
01:05:45Back to Keith Morrison with Ten Minutes to Sunset.
01:05:50Here she was, wearing a green jumpsuit and the pallor of the county jail.
01:05:55The star witness against Brenda Delgado.
01:05:58Can you please state your name?
01:06:00Crystal Cortez.
01:06:01It had taken some doing to get here.
01:06:04Before she pleaded guilty, Crystal had tried out a whole catalog of full out lies.
01:06:10Half lies, salted with a little truth.
01:06:13Excuses, prevarications.
01:06:15But now, the terms of her plea agreement were very clear.
01:06:19Tell the whole truth and nothing but or face unpleasant consequences.
01:06:25Prosecutor Glenn Fitzmartin would ask the questions.
01:06:28Are you guilty of the capital murder of Kendra Hatcher?
01:06:30Yes, I am.
01:06:31Is Christopher Love guilty of the murder of Kendra Hatcher?
01:06:33Yes, he is.
01:06:34Is Brenda Delgado guilty of the murder of Kendra Hatcher?
01:06:36Yes, she is.
01:06:38Cold and detached, Crystal talked about the motive.
01:06:43A motive as old as time.
01:06:45Why did she want to get rid of Kendra Hatcher?
01:06:47Because she was envious of her.
01:06:50It was never a robbery plant gone awry.
01:06:53She said she knew from the beginning this was going to be a murder.
01:06:58She and Brenda discussed methods.
01:07:00One was to inject her with heroin.
01:07:03Another one was to inject her with a sedative.
01:07:06And the other was to kill her with a gun.
01:07:10Initially, Crystal herself agreed to do the murder.
01:07:13But the two thought it better to get help.
01:07:16At a neighborhood gathering, they found that person, Christopher Love, and enlisted him on the spot.
01:07:23And what was Christopher Love supposed to get out of him?
01:07:27He was supposed to get drugs and money out of him.
01:07:30So with the plan in motion, Love got a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun to be used in the murder.
01:07:37Crystal set out to add to it.
01:07:40I made a phone call to this person on social media and I asked if they had a silencer for a .40 Smith & Wesson.
01:07:48To confirm her story, prosecutors played an odd clip of video found on Brenda's cell phone.
01:07:55It seemed accidental this recording.
01:07:57Brenda's driving.
01:07:58Her passenger, Crystal, is describing the silencer she wants.
01:08:04No, a silencer for a .40.
01:08:07So I believe that as she's driving, she's trying to take a picture of this sunset.
01:08:11And at the same time, Crystal is next to her on the phone, talking to this unknown individual about buying a silencer for this gun.
01:08:20Crystal said they ultimately decided against the silencer.
01:08:24They'd been stalking Kendra already, following her to and from work, figuring out how to get into her luxury apartment's garage.
01:08:31When another vehicle who had a parking pass would come in, we would go in.
01:08:36They worked on Brenda's firm deadline, said Crystal.
01:08:40Kendra would have to die before Labor Day.
01:08:44Brenda had hacked into Ricky's phone and knew they were going away.
01:08:49When they returned, they were to visit Kendra's family, so Ricky could meet them for the first time.
01:08:54So you all knew that they were planning on taking a trip to Mexico on September 3rd?
01:08:59Yes, Labor Day weekend.
01:09:01They would murder Kendra in her apartment parking garage when she arrived home from work.
01:09:06They decided Love would be the shooter.
01:09:09Crystal would drive.
01:09:11Because he didn't know Dallas very well, and I did.
01:09:15Then, the morning of September 2nd, Crystal said she and Brenda went to Louisa's shop to borrow the Jeep.
01:09:22Then she dropped Brenda off at a library.
01:09:25She'd be seen, study, part of her alibi.
01:09:28Later that afternoon, Crystal and Christopher Love parked near Kendra's dental office.
01:09:35As soon as she leaves, we follow her, but we lose her in traffic.
01:09:40So we beat her to the apartment complex where she stayed.
01:09:45With Love crouched down in the back seat of the Jeep, Crystal followed a resident's car into the garage, parked the Jeep, and then they waited.
01:09:53Ms. Kendra comes in, and she parks Caddy Corner to where we park.
01:09:57And Christopher Love gets off the vehicle through the driver's side in the back.
01:10:02And he approaches Kendra, and I didn't see him kill her, but I heard the shots fired.
01:10:10I backed out, and when I backed out, he ran into the Jeep with Kendra's belongings.
01:10:18And remember that infamous picture from the surveillance camera?
01:10:21Is that you and that driver's?
01:10:23Yes.
01:10:24And here in this grainy video, said the prosecutors, that's Crystal driving up to Louisa's place to return the Jeep.
01:10:32And Brenda arrived, and they looked at the coach purse they'd stolen from Kendra.
01:10:38The day after the murder, said Crystal, she and Brenda paid off Christopher Love in cocaine and weed and cash.
01:10:45Crystal got a payoff too.
01:10:47Five hundred dollars.
01:10:49She curled the bills and made a heart shape and took a picture.
01:10:55Then, selfie time with Brenda.
01:10:58They'd gotten away with it, hadn't they?
01:11:01And the day after that, they were called downtown by Detective Barnes.
01:11:06Did you tell them the truth?
01:11:07No.
01:11:08Did you lie?
01:11:09Yes.
01:11:10But now, said Crystal, now she was telling the truth.
01:11:15She'd lied before to protect Brenda, she said.
01:11:18Brenda, who she'd known for one month.
01:11:21I felt like if I didn't show my true friendship to her, she would just walk away and just throw me under the rug like everybody else did.
01:11:31So was she telling the truth now?
01:11:34It wouldn't be so easy for Crystal when the defense got its turn.
01:11:38In fact, it had some surprises in store to try to prove she was still lying.
01:11:44Crystal's testimony is the foundation for the prosecution's case, but the defense is about to come out swinging.
01:11:52Coming up, a plan to expose Crystal's duplicity during the trial.
01:11:58She lied about her own cell phone.
01:12:00Of course, she doesn't know that we've got that.
01:12:02You caught her in a lie.
01:12:03Caught her in a lie.
01:12:04When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
01:12:14If you asked defense attorney George Milner how you could tell if Crystal Cortez was lying, he'd probably use the old joke.
01:12:24If her lips were moving.
01:12:26His defense was an offense.
01:12:28Attack, attack, attack.
01:12:30The state's star witness.
01:12:33She lies when it matters.
01:12:35She lies when it doesn't matter.
01:12:37I'm not going to say when it doesn't matter.
01:12:39And he had a point.
01:12:40Crystal lied again and again.
01:12:43Milner's argument was one of those lies finally clicked.
01:12:48But the truth, suggested Milner, was that Crystal and Christopher Love and they alone, for reasons of their own, murdered Kendra Hatcher.
01:12:57Dr. Hatcher is dead and she shouldn't be.
01:13:00But she is not dead because of Brenda Delgado.
01:13:03She is dead because Crystal Cortez saw an opportunity to rob.
01:13:09And then the robbery went bad and Dr. Hatcher ended up dead.
01:13:14True, he agreed, the state story about a homicidally jealous ex was compelling, but it was circumstantial.
01:13:23And it depended on the word of a known liar.
01:13:26The only absolute direct proof that Brenda had anything to do with it was Crystal Cortez.
01:13:35Here's how it went with Crystal on the witness stand.
01:13:39As you get hopelessly caught in a one lie, you start telling another one, correct?
01:13:46Sometimes.
01:13:48When I was being interviewed because I didn't know what to say and what not to say.
01:13:52You certainly knew you weren't telling the truth.
01:13:55Correct?
01:13:56Correct.
01:13:57Then Milner got into specifics.
01:14:00You specifically told Detective Barnes that you never went into that garage.
01:14:07Yes, it's true that I told him that.
01:14:10And that was a lie, wasn't it?
01:14:13Yes, it was.
01:14:14And that whopper about being carjacked?
01:14:17Did you look Detective Barnes right in the eyes and say, I was scared for my life and for my son's life?
01:14:26Yes, I did.
01:14:27She lied about the shooter's name too.
01:14:30It certainly wasn't Lamar.
01:14:33She even looked at a photo lineup and what, picked the wrong guy?
01:14:38Yes.
01:14:39Supposedly picking the shooter who she knew and had been with.
01:14:44Right.
01:14:45But was actually to pick somebody else altogether.
01:14:47Right.
01:14:48Thus accusing him of a capital felony.
01:14:51Oh, she knew.
01:14:53Of course she knew.
01:14:54Because, Milner argued, she enlisted him.
01:14:58Not Brenda.
01:14:59There was no direct communication of any sort.
01:15:03From Brenda's cell phone, there was never a text.
01:15:07There was never a call or anything directly to Christopher Love.
01:15:12And remember, Crystal had said Brenda told her she was connected to a Mexican drug cartel.
01:15:17If she has even the most remote connection to the cartel, I never heard of it.
01:15:23Anyway, all that planning she and Brenda supposedly did, yet they never discussed what to tell police if they got caught?
01:15:32I didn't have a backup plan and she told me she was going to Mexico.
01:15:36Not true, said Milner.
01:15:39There was no backup plan and no plot with Brenda.
01:15:43Instead, he argued, Crystal and Love planned to rob Kendra and when it went bad, they knew the focus would be on Brenda.
01:15:51If anything ever happened to Dr. Hatcher, it ain't you who's going to get blamed.
01:15:58Brenda Delgado is the one they're going to look at because she wants to still be with Ricky.
01:16:04True?
01:16:06I would say yeah.
01:16:08For Crystal Cortez.
01:16:10And finally, Milner produced his own cell phone expert saying he could prove Crystal was still lying here in court.
01:16:18The expert combed through the cell records for the phone Crystal turned over to detectives when they questioned her two days after the murder.
01:16:27Are you able to determine whether Crystal Cortez gave them the physical phone that she was using on the day of this murder?
01:16:41It was a different phone.
01:16:42She lied about her own cell phone.
01:16:45Of course, she doesn't know that we've got that and that we have our own expert to show that her story is a lie.
01:16:51You caught her in a lie.
01:16:52Caught her in a lie.
01:16:54And even with that, said Milner, she got a deal that took the death penalty off the table and gave her a chance at parole someday.
01:17:04It gives the motivation for her to say anything to get herself out of the mess that she is in.
01:17:13Brenda Delgado, the woman actually on trial, inclined to testify.
01:17:19And with that, the defense rested.
01:17:22So, was Brenda really such a mastermind?
01:17:27Or was she an innocent woman?
01:17:29Up to the jury now.
01:17:32Coming up.
01:17:35The shooter, I thought that was pretty much in the bag.
01:17:39Brenda's was a little more worrisome in my mind because of the extreme lengths he went to cover up her tracks.
01:17:46Kendra's family and investigators on pins and needles.
01:17:50I would put that prosecution team up against anybody else in the country.
01:17:54But you never know about a jury.
01:17:55You don't.
01:17:56When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
01:18:02Over the course of two trials, you could see the pain and exhaustion on the faces of Kendra Hatcher's family.
01:18:16Now it was to end.
01:18:18With the jury's verdict in Brenda Delgado's trial.
01:18:21Regardless of the outcome, there would be no justice for them.
01:18:26Kendra was gone.
01:18:28This was the only justice they could hope for.
01:18:31Envy is Brenda Delgado's deadly sin.
01:18:35Envy makes you want to destroy that other thing.
01:18:40That's what was in the heart of Brenda Delgado.
01:18:43When you come back with your message to that woman, the message needs to be, lady, you're never going home.
01:18:53She's lying to you.
01:18:55But it would be a poor message for justice, said defense attorney George Milner, to rely on a liar like Crystal to convict Brenda.
01:19:04She is still lying to you today.
01:19:07And her story is still evolving almost four years after the murder of Dr. Hatcher.
01:19:14The evidence here shows that there is clear, reasonable doubt.
01:19:18And under our law, that means not guilty.
01:19:21It was just before 11 when the jury went out.
01:19:25Members of the jury, we stand in recess until you reach the unanimous verdict.
01:19:28All rise.
01:19:30Kendra Hatcher's family steeled themselves for the wait.
01:19:34It had taken only three hours to reach a verdict for Christopher Love.
01:19:38Kendra's brother, Neil, thought this would take much longer.
01:19:43What made you think that?
01:19:44The shooter, I thought that was pretty much in the bag.
01:19:49Brenda was a little more worrisome in my mind because of the extreme lengths he went to cover up her tracks.
01:19:56At the end of his long investigation, Detective Barnes, prepared to wait, tried to be optimistic.
01:20:03I would put that prosecution team up against anybody else in the country.
01:20:08But you never know about a jury.
01:20:09You don't.
01:20:10Jurors would be sending out for lunch soon.
01:20:13Kendra's family may not have had the stomach for it.
01:20:17Spectators began drifting away.
01:20:20Attorneys were still chatting in the courtroom.
01:20:23When a light came on from the jury room.
01:20:25A signal.
01:20:26A question?
01:20:28It wasn't.
01:20:29And then all of a sudden, the prosecution team came in and said there's a verdict.
01:20:35It had been, what, 18, 19 minutes?
01:20:39I've been in homicide for seven years and that's the fastest time that I've had so far.
01:20:46Kendra's family and friends rushed back to their seats.
01:20:53Shoulder to shoulder, they steadied themselves.
01:20:59We, the jury, unanimously find the defendant guilty of capital murder as charged in the indictment.
01:21:04Guilty.
01:21:05From Brenda Delgado, no reaction at all.
01:21:09On the opposite end of the courtroom, a flood of emotion from Kendra's family.
01:21:14Later, Kendra's brother Neil met some of the jurors.
01:21:17The conversation wasn't anything about the case.
01:21:20It was compassion.
01:21:23How did they show that?
01:21:24Hugs.
01:21:25They all have a special place in all of our hearts.
01:21:33Defense attorney George Milner was left with one conclusion.
01:21:37It is nothing short of a wholesale rejection of your case.
01:21:41I mean, 18 minutes.
01:21:43The jury had spoken.
01:21:45Now it was time for Kendra's family.
01:21:48Her mother, Bonnie.
01:21:50You, Brenda Delgado, have earned your spot on this earth behind cold steel bars
01:22:00for the rest of your miserable, pathetic life.
01:22:07And if justice could have handed you a death sentence, make no mistake,
01:22:16I would have been there front and center.
01:22:20Brenda Delgado, please stand.
01:22:25With the death penalty off the table, Brenda was sentenced to the maximum,
01:22:29life in prison without the possibility of parole for capital murder.
01:22:34For her cooperation, Crystal Cortez was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the lesser charge of murder,
01:22:41but eligible for parole after serving just half of that.
01:22:45Kendra's brother Neil addressed her.
01:22:47I think what you did was incredibly stupid.
01:22:49I do want to tell you that I appreciate your testimony.
01:22:54I can't say I forgive you, but maybe over time that's something that I could do.
01:23:00Forgive maybe.
01:23:02Forget never.
01:23:04Certainly, Tammy Pantano, that great friend from dental school, will not.
01:23:13It didn't bring me the peace that I was hoping for.
01:23:17And I don't know how I'll ever get that.
01:23:20I'm glad that I was there with Kendra's family, and it gave me a chance to get to know Ricky.
01:23:27And so, those are things that I felt were healing for me.
01:23:32And Ricky?
01:23:35People heard a lot about him and Kendra.
01:23:38How they were destined for marriage.
01:23:40Probably children.
01:23:42Things that will never be now.
01:23:44I know I'm hurting.
01:23:46I can only imagine he's hurting more.
01:23:50With all he's been through, we weren't terribly surprised that Ricky declined our interview request.
01:23:56But he did share this from Kendra.
01:24:00A quote she'd sent him during those four short, heady months they had.
01:24:05And then my soul saw you, and it kind of went,
01:24:09Oh, there you are.
01:24:11I've been looking for you.
01:24:13And there she was.
01:24:16And now?
01:24:17It's bittersweet.
01:24:19The memories are good, but then the fact that
01:24:21there won't be any more of those memories is hard.
01:24:27Hard for Kendra's brother, too.
01:24:30People like her don't come around very often.
01:24:33And it's a shame that she isn't here.
01:24:38Because she had a lot to do.
01:24:40A lot more to do.
01:24:42But ask Neil's daughter Josie about her Aunt KK.
01:24:51Not here in person, true.
01:24:54But doing a lot, even now.
01:24:57Have you tried to be like her somehow to keep her memory alive?
01:25:03I mean, I felt like I was already kind of like her in some way.
01:25:08What do you mean by that?
01:25:10By always, always trying to have a smile.
01:25:14Just like Aunt KK.
01:25:22That's all for this edition of Dateline Secrets Uncovered.
01:25:26I'm Kate Snow.
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