- 4 weeks ago
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00:003-9-1, what's the address of the emergency?
00:12I'll call my wife under his arm, please.
00:15And I'm kind of scared if she's not breathing.
00:18Can you check for a pulse, please?
00:21Yes.
00:22Oh, my God.
00:24What about her chest? Is her chest rising up and down?
00:27You don't want to close.
00:30Uh, is somebody coming?
00:31Yes, there should already be an officer getting close.
00:34An officer or an ambulance?
00:35We have both an officer and an ambulance.
00:37Okay.
00:41This video provided by a neighbor shows a threatening man.
00:45He's seen walking past a home holding an axe.
00:48My name is Luis Mata, Jr.
01:03My name is Luis Mata, Jr., and I am a sergeant for the Laredo Police Department in Laredo,
01:19Texas.
01:20What I can tell you about this neighborhood is that it is very calm.
01:25It's not uncommon to see kids running around in the neighborhood.
01:30There's a park close by.
01:31It's a very, very lovely neighborhood.
01:36In September 2020, all that changed.
01:40Our patrol officers responded to an unresponsive female.
01:47The information that I received was that we have a female in her 30s that apparently had
01:51been depressed.
01:52The husband indicated that he had found her on the bed, what he thought was asleep.
01:57She ended up being unresponsive.
02:01Right now, we're approaching the residence.
02:04This has been five years now, but it feels like I was just here last night.
02:10I have some officers outside if you would be able to unlock the door really quick.
02:15I'm going to let you go so you can speak with the officers.
02:33What's going on?
02:34What's going on?
02:35What's going on?
02:38What's going on?
02:40I wonder I'm responsive all the time.
02:42First on the scene is an officer from Laredo PD.
02:45But I can't see the pulse.
02:49He finds Joel Payot doing CPR on his wife, Maria.
02:55He says she might have overdosed on antidepressants.
02:58She has medication here?
03:00Where is it at?
03:01We take the same medications.
03:02OK.
03:03I give her some.
03:08When paramedics arrive, they continue trying to resuscitate Maria.
03:12When did you find her?
03:14Uh, I'm the dad.
03:16I brought her over here.
03:17How long did you find her?
03:19Like, maybe like 20, 25 minutes.
03:23I don't know if she did.
03:31Nah, man, she's fine.
03:34She's been down for a long time.
03:36Yeah.
03:36OK.
03:37Are you calling me?
03:38Yeah, she had no rhythm.
03:42I have two kids in the house, too, by the way.
03:45You're asleep?
03:46Yeah.
03:48Can you give me a seat?
03:50Yeah.
03:51Yeah.
03:51Just in case they wake up.
03:52You know, we don't want them to see them.
04:04With Maria pronounced dead by the medics,
04:07Sergeant Luis Mata is called to the scene.
04:09My job as an investigator is to go in there and rule out foul play.
04:16And nine times out of 10, there is no foul play.
04:21He had a prescription drug.
04:22Where is it?
04:24However, she's a 30-year-old woman that passed away in her own home unexpectedly.
04:29Sir, you got to go downstairs.
04:30We'll be with you shortly.
04:31He was behaving like any husband would that had just been told that his wife had passed away.
04:39His wife of 10 years is gone.
04:44Despite Joel's distress, Sergeant Mata needs to find out what happened before Maria died.
04:50You got to go outside.
04:51I approached him.
04:53I expressed my condolences.
04:55And then I started my questioning that I would in any common death investigation.
05:00How did she die?
05:01And why did she die?
05:02What's going on?
05:03What happened?
05:04I noticed that he was wearing scrubs.
05:07So he's some type of nurse,
05:10some type of medical employee.
05:14Joel explains that he's a nurse anesthetist.
05:17He and Maria are no longer living together, but they'd agreed to discuss their relationship after his shift.
05:25We're going through some problems.
05:30I've been ignoring her.
05:33She's been super depressed.
05:35I came to talk to her.
05:39Like, we were just talking.
05:41Joel indicated that Maria and him had been having marital problems.
05:46That she had been drinking lately and had been using pills to help her go to sleep.
05:51So you're not staying here right now?
05:57We had sex.
05:58We took a shower.
06:00He goes in and takes a shower.
06:02When he comes out, he thinks that she's asleep.
06:06Then I thought she was, like, knocked out.
06:09I was like, hey, what's up?
06:10What's going on?
06:13I didn't think anything of it.
06:16So I just kept on doing my thing.
06:18He checks on her 10 minutes later.
06:20He finds her unresponsive.
06:23And then I go back upstairs, and then she just...
06:28This is what he brought, and he said that
06:29he thinks he took these.
06:32He went all the way into the medicine cabinet and brought these.
06:35I suspected the possibility of an intentional overdose,
06:40which could have been a suicide.
06:41Is this your phone?
06:42You can just leave that here.
06:43No, no, no.
06:44I need my phone.
06:45Just leave your phone here.
06:46You can't have your phone.
06:47Just put it here.
06:52As Joel is taken outside,
06:56Sergeant Mata combs the house for evidence.
06:58We're looking for notes, medication, bottles, pills,
07:06things that could explain the reasons why she died.
07:11We found a needle on the stairwell.
07:18Alongside the body were wrappers of a syringe.
07:22Wrappers that you see like in a hospital setting.
07:29Joel's account was telling us that he had taken a shower.
07:33We went into that shower, and it was very dry.
07:35It looked like it had not been used for several hours.
07:40There was no evidence that she had been in a struggle,
07:42had been abused, had been tortured, had been assaulted.
07:45However, we found one mark on her elbow crease.
07:51A mark that is consistent with an individual getting their blood drawn
07:56or getting an IV started.
08:01I'm asking myself, why are there syringe wrappers scattered throughout the home?
08:05Why is the shower dry?
08:09Why is there a mark on Maria's elbow crease?
08:11Why is there a needle on the stairs?
08:15Those are the questions that I want answered.
08:17Something's not quite adding up here.
08:19The coroner takes Maria's body in for autopsy.
08:40Joel is taken to the station to answer further questions.
08:43We want to get the background of what's going on in Maria and Joel's life
08:51that could lead us to this point.
09:00Joel's demeanor was of a hysterical spouse.
09:07Detectives coming in.
09:10Sergeant Mata starts the interview
09:12by asking Joel where he's been living.
09:16So do you separate us?
09:17Did you leave the house?
09:20Yeah.
09:21OK.
09:21How often would you go back to the house?
09:24Oh, a lot.
09:25You thread her keys and stuff like that?
09:27OK.
09:28Were you there almost every day?
09:30A lot, yeah.
09:31I wanted to see, like, four years.
09:34If Maria did take an overdose, could their separation be the reason?
09:39She didn't think it was going to last this long.
09:42And, um, it's a constant thing that she can't even wear pills to go to sleep.
09:49And then she can't go to sleep at all.
09:53Because she's so depressed.
09:54She cries all day.
09:58Maria was taking pills for depressions.
10:00Oh, were they prescribed to her?
10:01Yeah, they were.
10:02And, uh, hers ran out.
10:06So I just went to give her some.
10:08Do you know the name of the pill?
10:09Yeah, one little, one little brand of clematis.
10:13His reasoning was that she was very depressed and very sad because she was losing him.
10:19I asked, had Maria been drinking?
10:22And he had said yes.
10:23Did she drink today?
10:25I don't know.
10:26OK.
10:27I'd like to tell you that she really needed, like, relief.
10:35When you say she would need a relief?
10:41From her depression.
10:43OK.
10:45Sergeant Mata asks if Maria could have injected herself.
10:49OK.
10:50Um, did she do drugs other than pulling out of time?
10:55Has she ever done drugs?
10:57Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure.
10:59I'm pretty sure.
11:00Did she do any type of injections?
11:03Um, lately I'm not sure what she'd get into.
11:10If she did, what would it be?
11:14I don't know.
11:16When we asked Joel about the needle prick mark,
11:18he could not explain it.
11:20I feel like you're not telling me something about that track mark.
11:24What's going on?
11:25Yeah, I don't know.
11:26What do you suspect?
11:29I don't want to speculate.
11:32You're not speculating.
11:33You're helping me out.
11:34Yeah, but she just died.
11:37Exactly.
11:39You know, that's my main concern.
11:41Exactly.
11:43And my main concern is how did this happen?
11:45But I'm not going to speculate.
11:50And I flat out asked him towards the end of the interview,
11:53did you kill Maria?
11:55Did you have anything to do with your wife's death?
11:58Anything else?
12:00I love my wife.
12:01I don't know what my kids are going to do without her.
12:04He seemed shocked.
12:05I said, no, me?
12:07No, I loved her.
12:10I loved her.
12:11I would rather die.
12:12Yeah.
12:13I would rather die.
12:14I would rather my sons not have me.
12:18She did not have her.
12:23With no evidence of wrongdoing, Joel is free to leave.
12:27Maria's friends hear of her heartbreaking death.
12:39That day, I had 15 or 20 missed calls of friends that wanted to come forward.
12:45She was well loved, and they were adamant that Maria would not take her own life.
12:57I first met Maria not long after she had moved to Laredo.
13:12And she quickly became just an instant best friend.
13:17Really and truly like sisters.
13:18I mean, we raised our sons as almost siblings, and we were there for each other.
13:24We talked about everything.
13:27This is one of the, um, some of the last pictures I think Maria and I took together.
13:33We were at her house, and, um, we'd been hanging out and talking about life, talking about plans.
13:40Maria was always happy, always encouraging, beautiful, naturally beautiful.
13:47Really could lift you up, no matter what.
13:52Take 1,000.
13:53Maria was smart.
13:56Maria was intelligent.
13:58She was passionate.
14:00She was a family person.
14:02She loved her husband.
14:04She loved her kids.
14:07I am great.
14:08I have never known Maria to do anything that would even align with wanting to take her own life.
14:19I have never known Maria to do anything that would be alive.
14:35When we started reviewing the case, we noticed that Maria had several cameras inside the home.
14:42Okay.
14:44We realized that this was a camera that was no longer mounted to the wall.
14:50It was removed.
14:51That's a red flag.
14:54We also discovered Maria's journal.
14:56As a detective, when we find a book like that, like a journal, especially with recent entries
15:03up until the moment that she died, that's our victim talking to us post-mortem.
15:09Several journals of Maria all indicated her great faith in God.
15:16I believe she loved God.
15:17She loved her family.
15:19She trusted her husband.
15:21And she believed in the idea that if you were good, you would not be harmed.
15:29There was no suggestion that Maria was suicidal.
15:32Something's not right.
15:33There's needles, syringe wrappers, and she has one mark.
15:37And it just happens to be where a nurse could start an IV.
15:41And what's her husband do?
15:43He works in anesthesia.
15:46He works in anesthesia.
15:50Sergeant Matta speaks to Joel's former employer for background on him.
16:01I knew Joel.
16:02He would come across as very humble.
16:05But he was actually a very bright guy, especially in the area of pharmacology.
16:11Joel's modesty turned to pride when it came to his wife.
16:14He would bring her to some of our business meetings.
16:20And we were a little surprised by that.
16:22It just jumped in my mind that he's just trying to show off that he has a beautiful wife.
16:28They presented as a loving couple.
16:33They acted like they were in love.
16:35And it was something that you would expect to see with any other married couple.
16:40And then something seemed to change about him.
16:42It became evident that as time was passing, Joel was changing.
16:50Joel had always prided himself on being a father.
16:54That part faded away.
16:55He was becoming heavily obsessed with finances, money, becoming a millionaire, heavily obsessed with being at work, as well as the way he looked.
17:09Joel's co-workers also noticed the change.
17:11He put blonde streaks in his hair.
17:15He lost weight, but gained muscle mass.
17:18He became more aggressive.
17:20He had several confrontations with surgeons and other physicians.
17:25To me, that suggested that he was probably taking testosterone or anabolic steroids.
17:32It was very disappointing and shocking that Joel began to change as he did.
17:37Sergeant Mata makes a surprising discovery.
17:43Joel had been having a secretive affair with a co-worker of his who's a nurse named Janet Arredondo.
17:50I talked to Joel about rumors of a relationship and it's making a lot of us feel very uncomfortable.
18:01There was an air of anxiety whenever he was around.
18:04I became aware that Joel was having an affair as there had started just to be rumors amongst kind of the friends groups, the medical community.
18:13There was just a lot of, you know, talking behind the scenes.
18:20I was definitely shocked when we started to see some of the verbal abuse, the disrespect, and the control that Joel had over Maria.
18:28The most common theme that we gathered from all these interviews was Joel's narcissism.
18:42Another factor was lack of respect for his co-workers, lack of respect for his supervisor.
18:48There was an incident where I was called in emergently to help him in the room, and the patient was flat-lined.
18:57We had to immediately do CPR, but when I walked in the room, he was texting on his cell phone.
19:05After that incident, I brought him to our office, and I let him know that we were going to terminate him immediately.
19:21After Joel left, I had hoped that perhaps he would straighten out.
19:26He would go back to being a good husband and father and forget about Janet.
19:33But nothing changed.
19:35Joel got work at a different hospital and continued his affair with Janet.
19:40Maria eventually found out.
19:43At this point in the investigation, I had my suspicions that Joel had killed Maria, but I still couldn't prove it.
19:49We needed more evidence.
19:53Sergeant Mata's team searched through Maria's phone.
19:57There was one particular video where Joel and Maria are having a conversation in a vehicle.
20:03Maria is spilling her heart, and Joel arrogantly just continues eating his food.
20:08I want to know, what is it that you want me to do?
20:13What, you know, what do you want me to do?
20:15I have already forgiven you.
20:19When Maria tells him, it's just over, you've made this choice.
20:24You walk out that door, we're getting a door.
20:28All right, fine.
20:32He gets mad and storms out of the car and slams a door.
20:40We also discovered an email.
20:42It seems that you already made your decision.
20:44You've gone with Janet.
20:46That's okay.
20:47I wish you two the best.
20:49And I just hope that we make this relationship be civil for the sake of our children.
20:53The next step I want you to do is to turn in your keys to the house.
20:58Maria had just filed a divorce appointment with a local attorney.
21:03She was leaving him.
21:04Once Maria mentioned the word attorney and indicated to Joel that she had already made an appointment,
21:09he emailed her indicating that he's had a lot of time to think about it,
21:13that he wants his marriage to work, he wants his family.
21:16And all he asks before she goes to an attorney is to have one last heart-to-heart talk.
21:21Chief Assistant DA Maricela Jackerman doesn't believe that's what Joel wanted.
21:34She thinks this was another example of his coercive control over Maria.
21:39I believe that Maria was subjected to various levels of emotional abuse.
21:47And when he felt he was losing control and she said,
21:53we'll end this amicably.
21:56We can even go talk to an attorney.
21:58He didn't want that.
22:00That was not part of his plan.
22:04Sergeant Mata calls in Joel's girlfriend, Janet, for an interview.
22:23Has anybody been staying with you recently?
22:27Um, sometimes.
22:31Joel.
22:32I'm sorry.
22:34When we asked Janet what she knew of Maria,
22:40she mentioned that she had been told that Maria had been very depressed,
22:43that she was refusing to let go of Joel,
22:46and that she did not want this divorce.
22:49Why is Joel still married to her in Virginia?
22:52Why?
22:53Because she won't do the divorce.
22:57And in her mind, it was a boyfriend that just could not get away from his wife,
23:02who was refusing to let him go.
23:04Because last night, at about 1.30 in the morning, or earlier in the day,
23:08um,
23:10whole wedding wife passed away.
23:12Okay?
23:13Um...
23:13I'm sorry.
23:15Um...
23:15I understand.
23:17Take your time.
23:17When I told Janet that Maria had been found dead,
23:23that's when she told me I had a chance to talk to her two days ago,
23:27and I wish I should have.
23:28That is when she told us about the incident when Maria had gone over to Joel's house.
23:34Yeah, she went to my house on Saturday.
23:36Oh, this past Saturday?
23:37Yes, sir.
23:38Oh, and did she see you?
23:41I didn't open the door.
23:43Did you call the police?
23:44Yes.
23:45Was she trying to say something?
23:47Janet explains that the incident was recorded on her door cam.
23:51Do you have a...
23:51I might still have it.
23:53I think it's this one.
23:55I said 29.
23:56Okay.
23:56She's there.
23:58Let me see.
23:59Janet hasn't been charged,
24:01so Detective Mata has no right to seize her footage.
24:04So when she offers the video,
24:07he records it on his phone.
24:08Maria and Joel had taken the boys to a Halloween pumpkin farm,
24:15but he cut the trip short,
24:17saying that he had to go into work immediately.
24:20Maria became suspicious,
24:22drove to Janet's house.
24:24She's like,
24:24I just want to go tell Janet that I'm not going to bother anymore.
24:29She can have them,
24:30but to be responsible and be mature for the kids.
24:33She told them, like, you need to pick.
24:36And he said, I'm staying here.
24:38I'm going to be here.
24:41Maria phones Joel repeatedly.
24:46He eventually agrees to talk with her in her car,
24:50away from Janet.
24:53Soon after,
24:55a police officer responds to Janet's previous call.
25:02Hello, ma'am.
25:04Do you call, please?
25:04Yes, I do.
25:05What's going on?
25:06I had a woman come by
25:08that she was already told not to be here.
25:12She was here.
25:12She was asked to leave.
25:14She refused, so I called you guys.
25:16By the time I was on the phone, she left.
25:19Do you have her on video camera?
25:21I have her on my ring.
25:23If you have her on camera,
25:24it's enough for me to go warn her not to return.
25:26So the officer says,
25:27okay, what I'm going to do right now
25:28is I'm going to warn her.
25:29That way, she already has the official advisory.
25:32If she comes back after that,
25:34do you want to put her in jail?
25:36At that time, she says,
25:37if she were to come back a third time, then yes.
25:41So when the officer called Maria...
25:45Hey, I'm talking to you right now.
25:49Head up the phone.
25:50I guess that's your boyfriend.
25:56Yeah.
25:57Joelle was in a rage.
25:59That just tells me that he is domineering
26:01and he is aggressive.
26:04And then you can see Janet on the phone
26:07sending text messages.
26:09We were able to get cell phone records.
26:11It was her sending Joelle a message.
26:14Hey, the police just heard you yelling.
26:17It's the police trying to get a hold of Maria.
26:20So when the officer calls back,
26:22you'll notice the calmer demeanor.
26:25The switch was flipped back
26:26to being a rational individual.
26:30Hello.
26:31Hello.
26:31Yes, sir.
26:31I'm looking for Maria Munoz.
26:34Yeah, she's here.
26:35I'm having a conversation with her.
26:37All right.
26:37This is Officer Halomo Laredo PD, sir.
26:40Yeah.
26:41I'm calling on behalf of Janela Redondo.
26:42Can I speak to her?
26:44Sure.
26:46The officer then explains
26:48that she's not welcomed back at Janet's home.
26:50And as she comes back onto her property,
26:52she's going to be arrested for trespassing.
26:53Hello.
26:54Yes, Ms. Munoz.
26:56Mm-hmm.
26:56I understand you came over
26:57to Ms. Arredondo's house earlier today?
27:00Mm-hmm.
27:00Okay.
27:01I'm going to ask you to not return.
27:02If not, you will be placed into custody.
27:06Okay.
27:07Okay.
27:07If you ask video surveillance,
27:09so this is your official warning.
27:12If in the event you return,
27:13you will be placed in jail.
27:14Okay.
27:15So I suggest you do not come here no longer, okay?
27:19Okay.
27:19Do you have any questions?
27:20No.
27:21All righty.
27:21Thank you, ma'am.
27:22Maria says that she understands,
27:24and the conversation ends.
27:27Well, thank you.
27:28Bye-bye.
27:28Bye-bye.
27:28Within 24 to 48 hours,
27:46we received a call from a local attorney
27:49indicating that Janet was not going to be
27:51making herself available
27:52to talk to the police any further.
27:53Now it's just getting more and more clearer
27:56that there's something more to this case.
28:00Janet has information.
28:02She doesn't want us to know,
28:04and she's hiding something that's very revealing.
28:10Despite its poor quality,
28:12the doorbell footage showing Maria's visit to Janet
28:15could prove crucial to the investigation.
28:25Video forensics is the scientific analysis,
28:30enhancement, authentication
28:31of any sort of video evidence
28:34that may be used in a criminal case.
28:36It's the scientific analysis of recorded evidence.
28:40Video evidence is critical in a lot of cases,
28:44especially nowadays with ring cameras,
28:46Nest cameras, surveillance cameras of all types.
28:48There's almost always video evidence
28:50associated with any sort of critical incident
28:54that happens,
28:55and it acts as a silent witness,
28:58as a objective view of what actually occurred,
29:02as opposed to eyewitness statements.
29:06The way that this video was recorded is not ideal,
29:09but we can still gain a lot of very valuable information from it.
29:12I'm going to make this footage look as good as it possibly can.
29:17The first thing I want to do
29:18is get a better view of what's happening on that small screen.
29:22We see that the footage is moving around,
29:25and that's because the person holding the phone
29:28that's recording this screen is moving around.
29:32I want to see this footage stable,
29:35the way that it's meant to be.
29:36So the first thing that I'm going to do
29:38is I'm going to stabilize it.
29:44So now we can look at this footage
29:46in a way that more closely approximates the original footage.
29:57Maricela Jackerman studies the police body cam evidence in detail.
30:02We noticed that there was inconsistencies in his story.
30:11He mentioned that she had overdosed,
30:14that he gave her a bottle of clonazepin.
30:19What did she take?
30:20I think clonazepin.
30:22But when he was asked for the bottle...
30:25Where is it at?
30:26It wasn't around Maria's body.
30:29So he gets up, and he leaves the room,
30:32and he comes back with a bottle of clonazepin
30:34and shows it to the officer.
30:41Clonazepin?
30:41Yeah.
30:42And you see his hand grab the bottle
30:46and put it in his pocket.
30:47There was absolutely no need to do that.
30:51The pinprick found on the crease of Maria's arm
30:54is also concerning.
30:56One of the first things we said was,
30:58why isn't any of the paraphernalia there?
31:00If it was truly an accident,
31:03then the syringe would be there.
31:06Why was it cleaned up?
31:07As Maria's body is held by the coroner for autopsy,
31:14Sergeant Mata gets a call
31:15from Joelle's former boss, Dr. Hunsinger.
31:19He's suspicious about Maria's death
31:21and recommends a full toxicology test on her blood.
31:28Dr. Hunsinger's gut feeling from the good go
31:31was that Joelle played a role in Maria's death.
31:34Joelle had access to several potent drugs
31:36that could kill anyone.
31:39So a full toxicology report
31:41that included anesthesia drugs had to be done.
31:45I'm not familiar with police work
31:47and my concern was that
31:48those drugs are not always looked for.
31:51I was very concerned that if the body was cremated,
31:54evidence would have been lost.
31:56With only circumstantial evidence against Joelle,
32:01discarded medical wrappers,
32:03an open used needle found on the stairs,
32:06and the prick mark on Maria's arm,
32:09the toxicology report will be crucial.
32:12We had all this evidence,
32:14yet we still didn't have the confirmation
32:15that Joelle had killed her.
32:17We might have suspected it,
32:19but we needed the proof.
32:20When the autopsy is complete,
32:23the coroner, unable to determine Maria's cause of death,
32:27sends her blood sample to the lab.
32:30She has no choice but to release her body back to Joelle,
32:34who quickly arranges her funeral.
32:37At this point, Joelle's not accused,
32:40so he is Maria's next of kin.
32:43Joelle then has free reign to do whatever he wants
32:45with that body in the terms of selecting a funeral home,
32:49selecting a burial or cremation.
32:51He started making arrangements almost within 24 hours
32:54of her death to get her cremated.
32:58What that says to me is that in his mind,
33:00he wants to get rid of any evidence
33:02in the event that we would ever need Maria's body again.
33:05He wants to dispose of it completely.
33:06Weeks go by.
33:29With the toxicology tests held up in the lab,
33:32the investigation stalls.
33:35We hit a wall.
33:36And waiting for that toxicology report.
33:39The question that I kept asking myself was,
33:42if and when these results come back,
33:43how are we going to be able to prove that he injected her?
33:47Unfortunately, it's just a waiting game.
33:50It was very frustrating.
33:52The longer that it took to get an outcome or cause of death,
33:55the more fearful I became we weren't going to get one.
34:01The team re-examined the evidence,
34:04including the door cam footage,
34:05which shows how estranged Maria and Joelle had become.
34:09The video footage helps to show how long she was out on the porch.
34:15We know that she went there to confront her husband.
34:19We know that she was standing on this porch,
34:21ready to have a very difficult conversation about her marriage.
34:24And this video just corroborates that.
34:27She's standing on the porch.
34:29She's waiting for an answer.
34:31And we can see that she's on the phone.
34:36Police query the time Maria made that call.
34:40Her phone is recording the exact moment that call connected.
34:45So if we can compare the phone records with this video footage,
34:49we can get a very accurate timestamp
34:52for exactly when she was standing at the door.
34:54Four months after Maria's blood samples went to the lab,
35:15detectives received the toxicology report.
35:17Did Maria die from a clonazepam overdose,
35:21as Joelle claimed?
35:23The whole case rests on these results.
35:27What did you take?
35:29I think clonazepam.
35:31And then I go back upstairs and I see you.
35:35Do you know what I'm able to talk?
35:37Yeah, one miligram of clonazepam.
35:40When we got those toxicology results,
35:43zero traces of clonazepam in Maria's body.
35:48That completely refutes Joelle's constant indication
35:53to the dispatcher, to the paramedics,
35:55to the responding officers, and to us
35:57that Maria had taken clonazepam.
35:59The report reveals that Maria was poisoned
36:02by a cocktail of drugs,
36:04including ketamine, Verset, and propofol.
36:07We needed to figure out how she submitted to this
36:12without any physical bruising.
36:14Several of her friends mentioned
36:15that they would meet at a coffee shop
36:17and that she loved coffee.
36:18So when the toxicology report came back
36:21and it indicated that there was caffeine,
36:24it hit us.
36:25We knew now how he got her to submit
36:29to take these anesthetic drugs.
36:32Although a tainted coffee cup
36:33was never found in the house,
36:35investigators speculate that this
36:37was how Joelle was able to poison Maria.
36:41Our suspicion is that Joelle
36:42arrived with a cup of coffee,
36:44but the coffee was spiked.
36:47That was an aha moment.
36:51Once she's fully knocked out,
36:54fully paralytic, fully sedated,
36:56Joelle then injects her with propofol.
36:58The purpose of using propofol as a murder weapon
37:03is specifically to stop someone from breathing.
37:07It's the propofol that killed Maria.
37:11This is flat-out murder.
37:17Once we got the toxicology results,
37:20we had more of a case to get a search warrant
37:23for Janet's video and surveillance.
37:25We were hoping to find digital evidence,
37:30possibly home video,
37:32possibly the door cam footage
37:33that showed Maria at her house
37:34two days prior to her dying.
37:38Janet.
37:39Sergeant Mata Laredo PD.
37:41I know yesterday you spoke to the prosecutor.
37:43Just give me a second.
37:44All right.
37:44I suspected strongly that Janet was involved,
37:48but the district attorney's office
37:49made a deal with Janet
37:51that as long as she was truthful
37:52and willing to testify,
37:54she would be immune from any charge
37:56with the exception of murder.
37:58You had some evidence?
38:00Do you have that evidence right now?
38:02I can't find it.
38:03You can't find it?
38:04No.
38:05Okay.
38:06Unfortunately, by the time we got to Janet's,
38:08most of her home video had been destroyed.
38:10I'm going to tell you something right now.
38:12Think about it.
38:12They're giving you a deal of a lifetime.
38:14I'll leave it at that.
38:18We really wanted to re-interview Janet.
38:21She had to have had some type of knowledge
38:24of what Joelle did that night.
38:27We wanted to see if she would be willing
38:29to come forward in exchange
38:31for some type of immunity deal.
38:40Janet accepts the offer.
38:42Janet says that Joelle told her
38:54when he met with Maria the night she died,
38:57she became extremely upset.
39:00Joelle told Maria,
39:02relax, let me give you something
39:03to calm you down.
39:04And that is when Joelle injected Maria
39:07with a sedative.
39:07He told me that he gave her something
39:10to calm her back.
39:12He went to the bathroom.
39:14He came back.
39:16She was unconscious.
39:19And he...
39:20He put a little nice fridge
39:23in the air.
39:25So tight.
39:26Okay.
39:27That gives us the answer
39:28of how Maria got that mark
39:31on her elbow crease.
39:33The man...
39:34Did he tell you what he did with him?
39:35He just told me
39:38he got rid of them.
39:39So now what do you think?
39:41Do you think it's possible
39:42he killed his wife?
39:46I didn't...
39:47I don't know what he did.
39:50He did what?
39:52He killed Maria.
39:57She told me that Joelle
39:58had confided in her
39:59that he had killed his wife.
40:00It was the smoke and gun
40:01that we were looking for.
40:05Police raced to arrest Joelle
40:08who's now staying
40:09with his parents.
40:13Hello, PD.
40:15Hello, police.
40:16We're going to break down the door.
40:19Hello.
40:20I'm good.
40:21Hello.
40:23Hello, everybody.
40:23I'm good.
40:24Okay.
40:25You have the right to remain silent.
40:26I'm going to take the music.
40:27I heard Joelle
40:28had been arrested
40:29probably within minutes
40:31of it being announced.
40:33I broke down crying.
40:35Do you have any questions?
40:36No, sir.
40:36No?
40:37Is there anything you need?
40:38You can call my attorney.
40:40Oh, you could call him.
40:42We felt like there was hope
40:44that there was going to be justice
40:45and that he was going to be
40:47held accountable
40:48and that he wasn't going to get away
40:49with taking her life.
40:50With Joelle charged with murder,
41:03Chief Assistant DA Jackaman
41:05builds the case.
41:07The nature of a jury trial
41:09is that you just never know
41:10what the jury's going to decide.
41:13The plan was to show
41:15the video footage
41:16of the dynamics
41:18between Joelle,
41:21Maria,
41:22and Janet.
41:24The door cam footage
41:25is the last video
41:27showing Maria alive.
41:29When Maria went
41:31to Janet's house,
41:32she wanted to know
41:34where her marriage was going.
41:35That was her goal,
41:36to obtain the truth.
41:38She wanted to know
41:39what's going on here.
41:41I thought we were in the process
41:42of resolving our marriage issues.
41:45And instead,
41:46I find you here.
41:49The first witness
41:50that we started with
41:52was the officer
41:54who was called in
41:57on a criminal trespass.
41:59Hey, I'm talking to you right now.
42:03Head up the phone.
42:04I guess that's your boyfriend.
42:10Yeah.
42:11I'm calling on behalf
42:11of Janela Redondo.
42:12Can I speak to her?
42:13Sure.
42:17Hello.
42:18The substance
42:19of this conversation
42:20was so difficult
42:21because Maria
42:22was brokenhearted.
42:26He basically broke her
42:29in that moment.
42:31That's why this video
42:33was used
42:34at the beginning
42:35of the trial.
42:37The call
42:41recorded by the officer
42:43is also crucial
42:44to the case.
42:46Hey, I'm talking
42:47to you right now.
42:49Head up the phone.
42:50I'm calling.
42:52That showed
42:53the jury
42:54a very good idea
42:56of how he was
42:59controlling of Maria
43:00and how he could go
43:01from angry
43:02to calm
43:04in a second.
43:05Sadly,
43:10the door cam footage
43:11was the beginning
43:12of the end
43:12for Maria.
43:19At the end
43:19of the trial,
43:20we believed
43:21we had provided
43:22for the jury
43:23a good understanding
43:24of the relationship
43:26between Joel
43:28and Maria.
43:30They saw
43:31it was an abusive
43:32relationship
43:32that he was controlling
43:34of her.
43:35We were able
43:36to show
43:36that not only
43:38was this
43:39not a suicide,
43:42not an accidental
43:43overdose,
43:44it was an intentional
43:45killing
43:46of Maria.
43:48The trial
43:49lasts nine days.
43:51The jury
43:52takes less
43:53than two hours
43:54to reach a verdict.
43:55The jury's decision
43:56was guilty
43:58on both counts,
44:00murder and tampering.
44:02And we were happy
44:05for Maria.
44:07Joelle
44:12was arrogant,
44:14was domineering,
44:15and killed
44:16his wife
44:17in cold blood.
44:19Joelle
44:20is sentenced
44:20to life,
44:21plus ten years
44:22for tampering
44:23with evidence.
44:24When Joelle
44:24was sentenced
44:25for the murder
44:26of Maria,
44:27I was so happy.
44:28Felt like she
44:29had been able
44:29to get the justice
44:30that she deserves
44:32to have.
44:33With Joelle
44:35and Maria's
44:35children
44:36now living
44:37with grandparents,
44:38the question
44:39her friends
44:39and family
44:39are left asking
44:40is why.
44:43I believe
44:43the motive
44:44for killing
44:45Maria
44:46was to prevent
44:47the divorce
44:48from happening
44:48and was to
44:50prevent Joelle
44:50from having to pay
44:51some type
44:52of financial resources
44:53to Maria.
44:55Money was power
44:56to Joelle.
44:57I believe
44:58he would do
44:58anything and everything
44:59to prevent him
45:00from losing
45:01any type
45:01of those resources.
45:03including killing
45:04his wife.
45:04The one thing
45:05he did not want
45:08was to lose
45:09control of Maria.
45:12He didn't want
45:13her anymore,
45:14but he didn't want
45:15anyone else
45:16to have her either.
45:18I think that
45:19when he started
45:20abusing testosterone,
45:22I think he turned
45:23into a monster
45:24and the outcome
45:25was inevitable
45:26that this would happen.
45:28It's extremely shocking
45:30to look back
45:31at the change
45:31that he went through
45:33from a very humble
45:35family man
45:37to a murderer.
45:46I miss Maria a lot.
45:48I miss my friend.
45:50It's hard
45:51when my son asks
45:53or when we drive
45:55by places
45:56that we shared
45:57so much with
45:58or when I come
46:00back to town
46:00or when I look
46:04at her pictures
46:05or different things
46:06and it's just
46:08a humongous loss
46:10that I'll never
46:14be able to replace.
46:16or when I come
46:33or anything
46:35or
46:37or
46:40is
46:41a or
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