- 2 days ago
A Gwinnett County man is found strangled and shot in his truck. Detectives track the killer into a neighborhood where he seems to vanish into thin air.
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00:05this program documents actual homicide investigations criminal charges are
00:10often dropped or reduced and all suspects shown are presumed innocent unless proven guilty
00:28when that county police talk and i assist you hi yes i'm calling from the paid and code hra
00:34and we had a truck yesterday was parked in our entry this is no parking and it's been sitting
00:42there for 24 hours so we wanted to call it in okay and can i get the description of the
00:48vehicle
00:49it's a white chelsea severado can i get the address please we're at payton hold free all right ma'am
01:05how can we help you
01:08good evening
01:09i'm calling to report to my husband that since the morning he went to work and he didn't come back
01:18and he didn't answer his phone or anything and he didn't go to his job either
01:23what's the name of his husband guadalupe garcĂa rodrĂguez
01:29what's the name of his husband guadalupe garcĂa
01:46532 to radio i'm 10 7 on the car on the one out for this morning
02:07the radio looks like an individual in the car in the passenger seat
02:12you don't really have a decent visual on him i'm going to try and wake him up
02:24i'm not responding to the mounting on the window
02:31door was unlocked it's like mail it's going to be laying in the passenger seat upside down head
02:38towards the ground uh vertical but it'll be uh obvious 48
02:58for homicide detectives their chance of solving a murderer
03:02is cut in half if they don't get a lead within the first 48 hours
03:24okay
03:25morning morning
03:28truck has been here since seven o'clock monday morning okay
03:33got the guy tuesday afternoon the family reports him missing
03:37wife last seen him about 6 a.m monday morning right
03:41what's today when thing a couple days
03:44and his address is not too far from here okay
03:52guadalupe garcĂa rodrĂguez
03:5739 year old guadalupe garcĂa rodrĂguez was born and raised in oaxaca mexico and moved to georgia 12
04:04years ago the youngest of eight he worked for a local tree service and lived with his wife of 10
04:10years
04:11and their two young children in a mobile home park two miles from where his truck was found
04:31so you have him
04:34he's under this jacket laying in a pool of blood one project causing his leg
04:42guadalupe was shot twice once in his right thigh
04:48and once in the chest when i crawl over him to look down i don't see a gun right
04:57you have one shell casing there
05:00right there you have that one nine millimeter casings you got a defect right here there's blood
05:14you see that he's got an entry wound in his right leg which there's a defect in the center console
05:22going from the passenger side going to the driver's side so he was in the driver's seat when he got
05:26shot in the leg
05:29guy was in the passenger seat shot him in the leg and then dragged him over to the passenger side
05:35i think the guy pushed him down there and then covered him with the jacket
05:39i could put it over him that gets sealed yeah that's what it looks like
05:48you ready
05:55right please
05:59this looks like a laceration possibly pistol whipped
06:04he's got a comb wrapped around his neck
06:07like a phone charger looks like it might be tied on one side
06:12so they choked him out
06:17he's got a wallet he's got cash in it it looks like
06:24no cell phone in the truck not that i saw no
06:28somebody wanted this guy dead why that's the question
06:48you
06:48yes you might have a witness down here she said she reported it as a 1-8
06:56the woman who called in the truck as a suspicious vehicle arrives on scene
07:01okay we'll talk to her good morning good morning hey my name's corporal blackburn i work with the
07:08goodnet county police department um can i ask you a couple questions uh you want to stand over here
07:13where the lights are not blinding us could you call to report the vehicle on the side of the road
07:18yes monday morning i was on my way to work around 7 15 i was coming out i saw his
07:27truck
07:28and i was like why is he parked here because it's in a no parking right
07:33going out and saw a short spanish car get out the truck he was on the drive side and then
07:38he
07:39opened up the back door and got a bag right close the door and start walking down the street
07:45he was walking towards the entrance right to make a look and i was like is he leaving this car
07:50i saw him
07:51walking across the street in front of me and he walked across the auto center he was in their driveway
07:59and he walked up on lawrenceville highway going southbound okay when i came home monday night i saw
08:07the truck was still there so i said okay i'll call make sure it is not stolen or anything so
08:12that's when
08:13i called the police right i'm scared or something i think you already know the answer to that
08:22on monday did you ever hear a gunshot no no no any commotion no no uh short hispanic man do
08:34you
08:34remember what color shirt he was wearing it was like black with some gray in it black and gray okay
08:38it was sleeveless okay um i can't remember his pants or nothing but i know he had like a short
08:44haircut
08:45okay could you put an age on the guy at all well you look like he was probably like 30s
08:50all right um
08:52i have your number there's no reason for you to hang around if i have any additional questions i'll call
08:56you all right thank you man the latest observed somebody walking away from the truck that might be the
09:06suspect i mean hopefully we can get some good video from across the street yeah yeah
09:14do you want to walk over and look at that business and see if there's cameras in that parking lot
09:18just
09:18so we know
09:28we did a quick canvas uh there's a business across the street that has three surveillance cameras that
09:33are facing paving drive and uh going down marksville highway we have a bunch of residential houses on the
09:40street so we'll come back out in the morning we'll uh try to make contact with these people and try
09:44to
09:44get video footage of the suspect walking away
09:50right now you need to get in contact with her wife who did you pick up where did you go
09:56didn't know where he was going that morning
10:01okay okay i'm gonna talk to her drive street six minute drive
10:10ready
10:23all right let's do this
10:32la policia de guinnett county
10:50we gave her the death notification she really had much information to provide us uh the victim
10:56wasn't into drugs wasn't into gambling came home every night
11:02and she said the victim had a backpack with his work stuff witness described the the person that
11:09she observed walking away from the truck with a backpack but also uh she did have a video from
11:16monday morning from the next door neighbors a suspicious person leaning up against a tree
11:23and i was around 6 15. this is the trailer that she says has the video yeah
11:40the wife says she found the strings that you hadn't answered her all day monday so she went to the
11:46neighbor's house detectives pull up the video from guadalupe's next door neighbor
11:52that suspicious male was seen on camera standing right outside the house
11:56like 15 minutes before the wife says her husband left for work
12:03her husband doesn't give anybody a ride uh doesn't have any co-workers or anything he normally picks up
12:08doesn't really bring anybody to the house they had no idea who the guy was
12:12the camera doesn't catch that male getting in the car he doesn't catch the truck driving by
12:16but it looks like he's wearing long sleeve yeah black like a hoodie the jacket had to hurt him
12:24cover takes his jacket off because that covers on oh that's him
12:44the video quality is not the best so you're not able to make a face out or anything like that
12:55victim's family doesn't know who this person is we don't have him on camera walking into the trailer
13:00park but he's waiting for him to come out knowing that he leaves around 6 6 30 to to travel
13:07to his
13:08job so kind of shows me that you know these two know each other you know
13:12we have a good timeline it's a very short window so ultimately we need to get the surveillance footage
13:18from nearby businesses and the nearby trailers where victim was living at to get a good idea
13:24on this guy and you know where he came from and where he went after the homicide
13:36the team fans out hey how are you canvassing the victim's neighborhood
13:44do you have access to your home surveillance cameras
13:49and along the highway where they believe the suspect fled after the murder
13:54seeing if we can reduce some video footage
13:57thank you
14:00hey how are you
14:02hey how are you
14:03good
14:04we're investigating a shooting that happened just down the road
14:06on pavement do you know if any of your cameras picked up off the floor
14:10yeah i should be able to run it back
14:22hi do you have cameras on the roadway check them real quick
14:36we did collect video from businesses and the victim's trailer park from before and after the
14:42homicide but there was no video of the suspect walking up to guadalupe's trailer from before the
14:48homicide but we do have video footage of a vehicle a green honda crv entered the trailer park at 6
14:56603 right before the suspect is captured leaning against the tree in front of guadalupe's trailer
15:04shortly after the crv is exiting the trailer park at 608
15:09so i believe that the crv is how the suspect arrived that morning
15:18so that's why we don't have him on camera walking into the trailer park
15:22somebody dropped him off he was on foot that's what i was thinking
15:29in the video captured after the murder
15:34right here
15:36the suspect can be seen walking away from the crime scene
15:39you see him carrying a black book bag that belongs to the victim
15:45and let me just show you this video real quick
15:55it's like so close to seeing his face
15:59hispanic male early 40s
16:02i think 30 to 40 is a good good range
16:04when you see his head like it's shaved off you see that or like balding or something yeah
16:14there's a camera on the chevron
16:19straight across
16:22the suspect continues walking southbound on lawrenceville highway
16:28but then turns off looks like we got him cutting through a neighborhood where is this amberwood
16:36eight in the morning yeah
16:38uh all black with a book bag so he's cutting through or it may even live in there
16:50all right so we have a direction to travel try to get additional video
16:5710 years down and figure out where he went and go from there
17:13over the next several days the team continues to hunt for video
17:19hey sir do you have any cameras that face the roadway in hopes of tracking the suspect
17:24oh my god
17:28they got a camera right there
17:30all right hey how are you we're trying to access cameras in this neighborhood all right
17:38is that camera there is pointing this way
17:47hola do you have access to the ring cameras yes
17:53see this is where it gets tricky
17:56nothing thank you
18:01he doesn't walk this way or doesn't walk past his location
18:08so now we're trying to pick him back up and there's these little side streets where he could have
18:13turned down that's where it gets a little bit tougher
18:18or
18:19any luck down here nothing yet no
18:22they don't got nothing up here on the right side
18:26here goes hey how are you
18:32okay well thank you for checking
18:36he's disappeared
18:39does it go man that's the question
18:43this is my uh 17th homicide last homicides have been all solved so you know we're going to try to
18:49keep that trend and this way we'll get solved you're going to be 17 and l brother i promise
18:54we'll figure it out we just got to find out where he got that
19:05nine days in the last camera we lose him at is that
19:10hillwood drive we check these houses right here and we don't have anybody captured walking past
19:16them so we're just going to go knock on some residential houses showing the picture of the
19:20suspect see if he possibly lives in the area if they have been walking in the neighborhood
19:34just going to door to door see if you recognize this person possibly a neighbor or
19:41i don't
19:44you guys recognize this person hispanic male five five five six
19:50hang a book bag okay then
19:57hey blackburn gets a call from detective tyler daniel who was canvassing several blocks away
20:07ariah hey we might got something hop in
20:21i showed him the picture in immediate he goes oh i i know that guy he walks up and down
20:26the street all
20:27time says he has seen him with longer hair but recently he thinks he's gotten a haircut
20:32uh the one up here he's seen him too yeah
20:36i had a guy that said the same thing she'd seen that guy walk around the back right before
20:51it's looking good i mean most likely living in this neighborhood we just got to figure out what
20:56house now so we're just going to keep pushing unfortunately this is a pretty big neighborhood so
20:59let's keep knocking uh we're just going door to door to see if anybody in the neighborhood recognizes
21:08this individual hey man hey how are you how are you good have you ever seen this gentleman
21:18never never have no one this way has seen him okay after two weeks of canvassing so
21:38my thing is that he lives somewhere in the neighborhood he's got to figure out where so
21:44the media release to go from there it's kind of like the last resort throwing spaghetti at a wall
21:52uh-huh hoping it sticks
22:01we are about two miles from where that father's body was found and now police need the public's help
22:06to find a killer the pictured suspect is the suspect that's seen exiting the victim's vehicle
22:12anyone who might recognize the suspect is urged to call quinnett county police where they can remain
22:17anonymous
22:24one month into the investigation
22:31i'm the lead investigator blackburn gets a call from an anonymous source who knew the victim
22:38any information regarding the investigation
22:44this is uh detective araya
22:51the source says 15 years ago guadalupe had bought some land from the father of his ex-girlfriend
22:57one of the father of his ex-girlfriend
23:00but she has two children from guadalupe
23:03okay
23:06one month before he died
23:31the source says that the father
23:34and another man went to guadalupe's home to pressure him to sell
23:38one month before he died
23:40but i said i said who is the other man
23:42he said
23:43he said no he said
23:45he said i don't know who he is
23:47he said i haven't seen it
24:02he said i haven't seen it
24:30the ex's address is on the same block
24:34where neighbors saw the suspect walking
24:46So we got a motive now, possibly.
24:49We got a house.
24:53This can't be a coincidence.
24:55The plan is to do some recon at the ex's house
24:58to see who is coming and leaving,
25:00and to obtain some license plate numbers of the vehicles
25:04at the residence.
25:14One hour later, we went to the ex's residence
25:18conducting surveillance.
25:21The house had us on a CRV parked in the driveway.
25:24And we distinctly remember seeing a CRV in the video
25:28from the victim's trailer home coming in that morning.
25:32So this is what they took today.
25:34And this is the surveillance footage
25:35from the day of the murder, the morning of the murder.
25:39We need to get the registered owner of this car.
25:41Right.
25:44Let's see.
25:49This is going to be the registered owner.
25:52The CRV is registered to the husband of Guadalupe's ex.
25:59I mean, we had this guy walking in the direction.
26:01We had ties from the victim over property spook.
26:05I mean, I feel like we have enough for a search warrant
26:07to hit the house.
26:14About to execute the search warrant.
26:19That's the house right there.
26:2410-7 with CID 120 in units.
26:3010-7 with CID 120 in units.
26:35Guadalupe's ex is outside.
26:38Is there anyone else in the house?
26:41Is there anyone else in the house?
26:58Can we talk to you?
27:00Yes.
27:00Can we talk to you?
27:01Yes.
27:01We'll talk to you.
27:01With San Antonio.
27:08Okay.
27:08I don't know, do you live here with your husband?
27:13Yes.
27:13Yes.
27:14How's he?
27:15He's working.
27:16He's working with me.
27:17Guadalupe's ex says her husband is a manager
27:19at an underground cable installation company
27:22and often travels for work.
27:24He's working on the weekend.
27:26He's working on the weekends every week.
27:28Every week.
27:28Every week.
27:29Every week.
27:30Every week.
27:31Okay.
27:33Do you know what happened with Guadalupe?
27:36Yes.
27:38He's the father of my children.
27:40Two of your children, right?
27:42Yes.
27:43There were conversations with Guadalupe and your dad.
27:47Who?
27:47Why did your dad want to talk to Guadalupe?
27:49I don't know.
27:52My dad was a medical home.
27:56He was part of the parents of my dad.
28:01He was a family.
28:03Yes.
28:03Yes.
28:03Yes.
28:04Yes.
28:29Uh-huh.
28:35Oh, the Honda that is outside now, who manages that car, the CR-V?
28:42That's him.
28:44Who manages that car?
28:46Your husband manages that car too?
28:49No, because he has his car.
28:54There were other people who were leaving here in June or July.
28:57A few people come here.
29:05Where do you stay?
29:08In the house.
29:10In the house.
29:11In the house.
29:12In the house.
29:14In the house.
29:16Do you always come here?
29:21No, always.
29:22It's a man who comes here.
29:24But...
29:25What's his name?
29:26Ah, his name is...
29:28I don't know.
29:29My husband doesn't have his name only.
29:33That guy calls me the guy.
29:37The photo that we showed you.
29:38Is this the photo?
29:41Detectives show a surveillance picture of the suspect.
29:45No, that's why.
29:46But it's a blouse of his white skin.
29:48Why is that?
29:48What I'm saying is moreno, moreno.
29:53No, I don't see the face.
29:58How was your relationship with the hotel?
30:02The truth is, I didn't have a relationship with the hotel.
30:07I got my relationship with the hotel.
30:10Maybe there were 10 years ago.
30:14I was found that he was the moment who was leaving my kids.
30:20It took me a long time ago.
30:23It took me a long time ago.
30:26It took me a long time ago.
30:29It took me to meet them all.
30:30It took me like a long time ago.
30:32It took me a long time ago.
30:34I've been a long time ago.
30:35It took me to help anyone.
30:35It took me to help someone, but I was asked why.
30:39Okay.
30:43Outside...
30:43Hey, man. My name's Corpo Black.
30:46What is your name?
30:47One of the sons of Guadalupe and his ex returns home from school.
30:51Can we talk down here, bud?
30:52Yeah.
30:53Cool.
30:54It's very important that you find this with me,
30:58because, you know, I got to figure out who killed your father, okay?
31:02I didn't have a good relationship with my real dad.
31:05I didn't really talk to him for, like, three, four years.
31:09All right.
31:11Do you remember this person?
31:13I haven't seen him.
31:15I go to school most of the time.
31:19You need to be 100% hungry, okay?
31:21I already know that he was staying here.
31:23That's why we are here, okay?
31:26There's no reason to cover up for this person.
31:28For this person that was staying with you,
31:30what did he go by?
31:33He went by Galvino.
31:39Is that his first name?
31:41That's what he goes by.
31:42And how long was Galvino living here?
31:45Like, a year.
31:46A year?
31:47Yeah.
31:48His bedroom is, like, next to my brother's, above my brother's.
31:54So you think he's been living here for one year?
31:56Yeah.
31:59So why do you think Galvino killed your father for?
32:06I don't know if it was him, actually, or if it was him.
32:11No, it was him.
32:11That's why we're here.
32:13I have video of him leaving the murder scene
32:16and coming to this neighborhood and coming to this house, okay?
32:21So we have to figure out, you know, who this Galvino is, okay?
32:25Because he's a bad person, okay?
32:27He killed your father.
32:29So that's why I need you to be 100% honest with me
32:32and help me figure out how I can find Galvino
32:35before he kills somebody else.
32:51And when did Galvino finally leave his house and didn't come back?
32:55Um, I agree with you.
32:58It was around the same time police released the suspect's photo to the media.
33:04Do you know how he left this place?
33:05No?
33:07No?
33:08All right.
33:09Want to go back up here?
33:09No.
33:20The team executes their search warrant for the house.
33:24Down here?
33:25That's right, he's doing it.
33:30That was a 9mm live round of ammunition.
33:34Victim was shot with a 9mm.
33:37There's a folder of paperwork.
33:41I took pictures of it.
33:44Dude, the paperwork has his name.
33:55Oh man, that is a freaking burden off my chest now.
34:00Got him identified.
34:02Finally.
34:03Finally, finally, finally.
34:1338-year-old Mario Rene Lopez Holon is originally from Guatemala, where he worked in agriculture.
34:20He came to the U.S. two years ago in search of job opportunities to pay off debt and send
34:26money back home to his wife and eight children.
34:33Let's just ask her real quick if this is Gallo.
34:35Yep.
34:36Is that Gavino?
34:36Yeah.
34:41When did you die in me?
34:43When did you die in me?
34:43When did you die in me?
34:45When did you die in me?
34:47Three months.
34:48Uh huh.
34:49So he went to the house?
34:51Yes, he's been working, but he's a worker who's working.
34:54Guadalupe's ex now admits that her husband took Gavino with him on his work trip.
35:01to Huntsville, Alabama.
35:10Where is that location at?
35:26There's enough awards.
35:27Yeah.
35:29Let's head back to 35.
35:31We're going to make some phone calls.
35:32I'm going to get arrest warrants.
35:41So I obtained arrest warrants
35:43against a suspect for felony murder, malice murder.
35:47I made contact with a U.S. Marshal in Alabama.
35:52They're going to set up on this house
35:54where we believe that the suspect
35:56is staying out right now for the night.
35:59Myself and Corporal Raya are about to head out
36:01and then link up with Huntsville PD
36:04once we get there.
36:15Purple Blackbird.
36:17We got it.
36:20Huntsville police find Mario Lopez Holon
36:23and take him into custody.
36:25All right.
36:26I appreciate the help, man.
36:27Yes, sir.
36:28All right.
36:28Bye.
36:29Bye.
36:29Holders.
36:44I'll see you.
36:45Help him kind of get a full rundown of, you know,
36:49and why this all occurred.
36:58Hey, good to have you.
37:09Come a long ways.
37:15Stand up, get the handcuffs off.
37:21How are you?
37:22Mario Hernandez Lopez.
37:24So, we were up for the Gwinnett County Police Department.
37:27I was on July 1st.
37:30I was a lead detective for a homicide investigation.
37:34The Guadalupe Rodriguez, okay?
37:49The Guadalupe Rodriguez.
37:50The Guadalupe Rodriguez.
37:55The Guadalupe Rodriguez.
37:55The Guadalupe Rodriguez.
37:56The Guadalupe Rodriguez.
37:56I was looking at the news.
37:58He was my friend.
38:00The guy.
38:01The Guadalupe Rodriguez.
38:05We got out together.
38:08They took him.
38:16I wanted to go to the Guadalupe.
38:22I owed him.
38:27and that he then walked to a nearby gas station
38:30to play their slot machines.
38:42So during the investigation, I learned a lot, okay?
38:45And I kind of got an idea why this happened.
38:49We want to talk to you to discuss everything that happened
38:52and get your side of the story, okay?
38:57So, we have a few questions about the investigation.
39:03Do you want to talk to us about that?
39:08Well, I would like to get an lawyer,
39:13to get an lawyer.
39:16Okay.
39:18I don't know how to do it, but...
39:20because, the truth, it's hard to understand.
39:25You said, I think I want to get a lawyer
39:27because it's going to be...
39:28it's really difficult for me to understand.
39:31Okay.
39:32And that's your right, okay?
39:34Yes, that's your right.
39:35But I just want you to know that after, you know,
39:39during the investigation, there's video footage
39:43of you leaving the homicide scene, okay?
39:45So...
39:46I'm just going to leave it as that, okay?
39:55So, you'll be extradited to the Gwinnett County General.
40:12Okay.
40:20I mean, it would be nice to get the suspect's side of the story
40:23and, you know, figure out, you know, why.
40:27I mean, it's just something that he was given money
40:30to kill this guy over land,
40:33over Guadalupe's refusal for not telling the land back
40:36to the ex's father in Mexico.
40:40But it feels good.
40:41This was one of my toughest cases that I've had,
40:43and I ultimately got the suspect arrested.
40:45This was my 17th homicide.
40:47So, still, 17-0.
40:53Two days later...
40:55Okay.
40:57...Blackburn gets a hold of Guadalupe's ex-girlfriend's father.
41:03He says he doesn't know why, you know, Mario killed Lupe,
41:08but I learned that Guadalupe's land
41:11will go to Guadalupe's eldest son with the ex.
41:15So that means the land will stay with the ex's family.
41:19So I believe there's a possibility that the land dispute
41:22was the motive for the homicide.
41:25There's also, to me, you know,
41:27if Mario did get the green light to kill Lupe,
41:30why didn't Mario get a cut,
41:32and why is he still in the country, you know?
41:35When he was arrested, he only had two phones and $10 problems, so...
41:38It's kind of still, you know, the what if,
41:40but something that we just won't know.
41:44Guadalupe's death was very tragic.
41:47From the victim's wife, Guadalupe was a hard-working man.
41:51He was a family man, loving husband, devoted father.
41:55So this is very tragic.
41:57And basically, now his children will no longer have a father to raise them,
42:02but hopefully for his family.
42:04It's a good sense of relief,
42:06knowing that a suspect has been identified and captured,
42:09giving the family closure from this investigation.
42:12Thank you very much.
42:42Thank you very much.
42:43Thank you very much.
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