On the Case with Paula Zahn (2009) Season 29 Episode 3

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Get ready for a gripping dive into the heart of a compelling investigation on On the Case with Paula Zahn! Season 29, Episode 3, unravels a perplexing crime that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.  Join us as we meticulously dissect the evidence and explore the intricate details surrounding this challenging case. Paula Zahn leads the charge, bringing her signature insightful approach to uncovering the truth and understanding the motivations behind the actions that unfolded.  This episode delves deep into the investigative process, highlighting the critical steps taken by law enforcement. Prepare to be captivated by the twists and turns as the pursuit of justice takes center stage, pushing the boundaries of what the human mind can comprehend.  #OnTheCase #PaulaZahn #TrueCrime

Transcript

00:03How did you get involved in the case?

00:09Sheriff's office received a 911 call that there was a dead female out in the middle of nowhere.

00:17I knew this was no hunting accident. She was totally nude.

00:22She had a gunshot wound to the back of her head.

00:26It looked like an execution.

00:31An officer gave me the news that they had found her. Why would somebody do this?

00:40I just started banging the wall. My life went blank. It was just horrible.

00:48There had been a guy that Inez had been in the Navy with that had harassed her.

00:55Inez had told her sister, if anything happens to me, you need to look at him.

01:00Law enforcement pulled a photograph of his truck, and it showed a dark-headed female with him.

01:06It was just another piece of the puzzle.

01:09Have you ever heard a more callous murder?

01:13The cold-bloodedness does stand out.

01:17Inez, out in the middle of nowhere, shot in the back of the head.

01:23This was just awful.

01:41Hi, I'm Paula Zahn, and tonight we're on the case in Edwards County, Texas, not far from the Mexican border.

01:49The region's sprawling countryside is a nature lover's dream, with many more miles of rugged terrain than residents.

01:57Folks who visit come prepared to face the elements, but no one here was ready for what unfolded after a

02:06woman's lifeless body was discovered near a remote campsite.

02:10What they found led investigators to sift through the clues of a bizarre mystery that hid a sinister plot filled

02:19with betrayal and deception.

02:27September 2nd, 2012, it was the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, and while much of the country was enjoying backyard

02:36barbecues by the pool,

02:38Mark Bauer and his friends had a different plan for celebrating the holiday.

02:43We were out here recreational hunting, and just enjoying our company and time out in nature.

02:50It was around noon when Mark and his friend Tommy began a typical day of boar hunting.

02:59But first, Tommy made a life-changing decision to check on their friend in a neighboring campsite.

03:07Tommy went up the road to check on a fellow, Troy, because we had drank all night,

03:11and Tommy wanted to make sure that he was good to drive, because some of the terrain out here is

03:15pretty extreme.

03:16But what Tommy found was far more disturbing than he could have imagined.

03:23He drove up on what appeared to be a dead girl.

03:28Tommy asked what happened, and Troy said, I found her like this.

03:35Tommy was stunned.

03:38He raced to his campsite and brought Mark with him to the grisly scene.

03:44Upon arriving up on the scene, it was shocking to find a female body laying on the side of the

03:50road,

03:51with clothes scattered about in the brush.

03:55I knew this was no hunting accident, because she was totally nude, and she had a trash bag over her

04:01head.

04:02It was very, very concerning, and that's when I called the Sheriff's Department.

04:10Mark's report triggered a rush of law enforcement activity.

04:15How did you get involved in the case?

04:18Sheriff's Office received a 911 call.

04:21The individual reported that there was a dead, naked female.

04:27They arrived, they started processing the scene.

04:31They then requested assistance from the Texas Rangers.

04:36Mark, Tommy, and Troy were waiting for investigators at the gruesome crime scene.

04:44Was it obvious how she had been murdered?

04:47No, she was found face down.

04:50It wasn't until they removed the bag that they were able to see the gunshot wound to the back of

04:54her head.

04:56Did it appear as if the victim had been killed there?

05:00Yes.

05:00The way they're able to determine that is through the puddle of blood that was surrounding the body.

05:07Could they get any sense as to how long the victim had been there?

05:11Not exactly, no.

05:13However, it had not been very long.

05:21Based on those early observations, police began to formulate a theory of the crime.

05:27Did the investigators believe that sexual violence was the motive?

05:33Yes, because the body was naked, there's always going to be an assumption it was sexual violence.

05:38And this young lady had abrasions and contusions that were indicative of sexual trauma.

05:48But as investigators continued to process the area, they noticed some clues that didn't fit.

05:57Were there any signs of struggle at the crime scene?

06:01No, there was not.

06:03There was blood on the clothing, which indicated that she was murdered prior to being unclothed.

06:11The gunshot wound was to the back of her head, suggesting that she did not even know it was coming.

06:17It looked like an execution.

06:23And there was another clue that raised suspicions.

06:27Investigators noted the unmistakable smell of bleach, often used to destroy DNA.

06:34What did that indicate to you?

06:36Well, that indicated to me that the suspect was trying to throw the investigators off.

06:44The garbage bag over the victim's head, as well as the body's proximity to the Mexican border, raised new concerns.

06:53It was disgusting that possibly the cartel might have had something to do with the murder.

07:01Could the young woman have been murdered by sadistic drug lords who had tried to cover their tracks?

07:10Police hope that a wallet found along with the victim's clothing might help them answer that question.

07:17Investigators found her billfold, and inside the billfold were items that helped them to identify her as being on Santa

07:25Cruz from Arizona.

07:28What did they learn about her?

07:29They learned that she was a nurse at a hospital in Tucson, and a Navy reservist in the military.

07:38Police were puzzled.

07:41Inez was more than 700 miles from her Tucson home, and seemed an unlikely victim for this type of crime.

07:50Do they have any understanding of how she ended up in such a remote place?

07:55They had no idea why she was there or how she got there.

08:02Investigators now had a lot of questions for the men who had found Inez.

08:08Could investigators find any ties between the hunters and the victim?

08:14Only the proximity of the victim to the hunters.

08:19According to the hunters, they did not know who Inez was.

08:24In fact, those at the scene offered little that advanced the investigation.

08:30Did any of the hunters report hearing gunfire that morning in the area?

08:35They did, but that would not have been unusual at all.

08:41The whole scene was odd.

08:43I mean, here's a woman out literally in the middle of nowhere.

08:46There's hunters nearby.

08:49They separated them.

08:51They asked them questions.

08:52That led the investigators to realize that we're going to have to do some more work on this.

09:01Would the jumble set of puzzle pieces start to fit together after detectives spoke with Inez Santa Cruz's loving family?

09:25Police trying to solve the brutal murder of 27-year-old Inez Santa Cruz had little to go on.

09:33They hoped that the Naval Reservist's autopsy report might provide a new lead.

09:39Instead, the findings only added mysterious new details, starting with the odd test results from Inez's blood.

09:49What did the toxicology report indicate?

09:53She had the presence of benzodiazepines in her system.

09:57A very strong dose of Xanax, basically.

10:01The large amount of sedative was surprising.

10:05It didn't fit with any of the other aspects of the brutal crime.

10:11It was just another piece of the puzzle they were trying to put together.

10:16The medical examiner's sexual assault exam also told an unexpected story.

10:23The autopsy revealed no DNA evidence that would be consistent with the sexual assault.

10:28What did they make of that?

10:29Once he knew she was dead, he removed her clothing.

10:35He wanted to make it look like a sexual assault.

10:41Police were convinced that whoever murdered Inez had gone out of his way to leave evidence that muddied the true

10:49motive of the crime.

10:57When officers arrived to deliver the heartbreaking death notification to Inez's family, they had few specific details to offer.

11:08When did you find out that something tragic had happened?

11:14It was Sunday morning.

11:15An officer gave me the news that they had found her.

11:24They said they found Inez's body.

11:27I just started banging the wall.

11:29It was just horrible.

11:32I just couldn't believe it.

11:34It was like my life went blank.

11:36And I was like, what do you mean found?

11:39Like what happened?

11:41I really thought it was like an accident.

11:52Erica Santa Cruz told police that her sister Inez had been kind-hearted and humble.

11:59What is it that you most respected about her?

12:02What I respected about her was each accomplishment, it was as if it was nothing.

12:08She never bragged about what she had done.

12:11She was just so down to earth.

12:15One of those achievements was a successful enlistment in the U.S. Navy.

12:20It was there as a corpsman that Inez learned the skills she needed to become a top surgical assistant.

12:28She had just been chosen to do an open-heart surgery that was one of the first ones that was

12:33going to be done in Tucson, Arizona.

12:36She loved it.

12:37She loved helping people.

12:39Inez could have worked anywhere, but she had chosen to settle down in Tucson so she could be close to

12:45her family.

12:46How would you describe where she was in her life at the time of this tragedy?

12:51Inez seemed to be very happy.

12:54She had many, many friends.

12:57I was so proud of her.

13:03Leti and Erica told police there was no reason for Inez to be in the remote area where she was

13:09found.

13:11As far as they knew, she was supposed to be spending that weekend with her friend Rosa Medina in San

13:18Antonio.

13:19Rosa had a photo shoot to do, and she didn't have anybody to help her with her daughters.

13:27Inez had planned on babysitting Rosa's two daughters while Rosa did photography at a wedding.

13:36Police quickly followed up on the lead.

13:39What happened when investigators reached out to Rosa?

13:44She told investigators that although her and Inez initially had plans that weekend, that Inez had canceled her trip.

13:56Rosa was devastated to hear that her friend had been murdered.

14:01She and Inez's family were quick to point police to a potential suspect.

14:08What did investigators find out?

14:10Investigators were told about a co-worker, a naval cadet, and evidently he was pretty sweet on her and made

14:19her uncomfortable so much that Inez had told her sister that,

14:23Hey, if anything happens to me, you need to look at him.

14:32It was investigators' first big lead.

14:37Did you think it was possible he could have been involved?

14:40Yes.

14:43Did you think he was in love with her?

14:45He was.

14:46He was becoming a little too controlling for her.

14:53Investigators immediately set about tracking down Inez's former Navy co-worker.

14:58But when they found him, the promising lead became a dead end.

15:04He had been on duty over Labor Day weekend.

15:07They checked his whereabouts during the time of the murder and found out that he wasn't anywhere close to Texas.

15:13So they ruled him out pretty fast.

15:17Investigators were back at square one with challenging questions to answer.

15:22How did Inez Santa Cruz end up dead at an isolated campsite in Texas?

15:29And who had a motive to kill her?

15:46Police trying to solve the murder of Inez Santa Cruz still couldn't understand why she was in the secluded area

15:54of Texas where she was killed.

15:59That led them to dig deeper into Inez's relationship with Rosa Medina, the only person she knew in the Lone

16:08Star State.

16:09Some aspects of the long-term friendship raised new questions.

16:20Rosa had a pretty troubled background, and so Inez's mother helped raise Rosa.

16:27Rosa was living with them while they were in high school.

16:31I did always accept Rosa as, like, my daughter.

16:35She'd call me mom.

16:37Very respectful young lady.

16:40My parents' house was always open for everyone.

16:43She would stay with us.

16:49But what really caught investigators' attention was that their friendship had actually been something more.

16:57I noticed that Rosa did have a crush on Inez, but she knew that I was against any type of

17:05relationship.

17:06If it did happen, it happened behind my back.

17:10They actually started their romantic relationship when they were in high school.

17:15I don't think.

17:16I would say they fell in love.

17:18My sister was just one of those people who, whether it was love or just a friendship, she was always

17:25going to be there for everyone.

17:30After Inez left home for the Navy, her family believed the couple had drifted apart.

17:36It looked like she had moved on from the relationship with Rosa.

17:41But Inez and Rosa remained close, even as Rosa struggled through a failed relationship that left her a single mother

17:49of two young girls.

17:51Rosa would be gone for two, three years, and then she'd show back up, bring the kids over.

17:56I always kept in touch one way or another.

18:03The new information about the nature of Rosa's relationship with Inez led the Texas Rangers to bring her in for

18:11a formal interview.

18:14You and Inez, Santa Cruz, our girlfriends.

18:19Yes.

18:20She was supposed to come down this little day weekend.

18:24Yeah.

18:24She told you she wasn't going to be able to come by Thursday, right?

18:28Yeah, because on Wednesday, she sent me the itinerary for, like, next day, which was Thursday, that she texted me

18:36that she wasn't going to be able to come.

18:43Investigators read the text message Inez sent Rosa.

18:48I'm not going to be able to go.

18:51So after that, you're not expecting her.

18:54Yeah.

18:55In fact, Inez's cancellation forced Rosa to change all of her holiday weekend plans.

19:03Instead of doing the photo shoot she had scheduled, she went to a concert with her kids.

19:10She had recorded footage of the concert on her phone.

19:14There was no question that she was at this concert.

19:19The evidence had police ready to accept Rosa's story, but there was one detail that just didn't fit.

19:29According to the airlines, Inez Santa Cruz had actually boarded her flight that weekend, just as she had originally planned.

19:38She flew Southwest Airlines from Tucson to San Antonio.

19:43Was Rosa confronted with the fact that Inez had gotten on the plane?

19:49She was.

19:50What was her reaction?

19:51She said she had no idea what had happened.

19:56We are best friends, and I want you to solve it, and anything I can do to help with.

20:01That's why I'm here, so that you can find out what happened.

20:05Yes.

20:05You don't know anything.

20:06No.

20:07You're not holding nothing back.

20:08No.

20:09Sure.

20:11Yes.

20:15So far, everything Rosa had told police had only deepened the mystery.

20:21But before detectives ended the interview, her answer to a routine question would give the investigation a very clear focus.

20:46Police believe that Inez's friend Rosa Medina had shared everything she knew about the case, when a routine question about

20:55Troy Ryder, the hunter who had discovered Inez, changed everything.

21:00How did his name come up in the first place?

21:03They asked her about Troy Ryder because he was at the scene where Inez was murdered.

21:11Did Rosa reveal anything that advanced the investigation?

21:15Yes.

21:17The most shocking thing that they found out was Rosa knew Troy Ryder for approximately three months.

21:26Police were stunned.

21:29And when they told Rosa he had found Inez's body, she appeared to be as surprised as they were.

21:38What?

21:38No.

21:39No.

21:41Wow.

21:41That's not right.

21:42They shouldn't know each other.

21:44They don't.

21:44I need to know what happened.

21:46Troy didn't talk to you about this?

21:47No.

21:50Rosa immediately told police everything she could about her relationship with Troy Ryder, including

21:57a detail she was desperate to keep hidden from her friends and family, how she and Troy had met.

22:06She revealed that she knew him through the adult club where she was a dancer.

22:16You know, I'm an entertainer.

22:18Nobody knows.

22:19Nobody.

22:21I don't want anybody to know that.

22:24Rosa insisted the relationship was platonic, but admitted she had seen Troy outside of the club.

22:32She had established a friendship with him, and they had gone to lunch a few times.

22:39Troy, you ever been to your house?

22:40No.

22:43Investigators pressed Rosa about whether Troy had ever met Inez, or if he knew that she

22:50and Inez had a romantic history.

22:53Did he know you have a girlfriend, or that you-

22:55No.

22:55No, no.

22:56Nobody here.

22:57Everybody that knew about being Inez is in Arizona.

23:00Sure.

23:00Because I have a hard time seeing a coincidence of Inez coming down from Arizona not knowing

23:07Troy and Troy finding her dead at the place where he hunts.

23:11I'm not saying kill her.

23:13It's just something that's very curious.

23:19Suddenly, everything police knew about Inez's murder had to be viewed through a different

23:25lens.

23:26Once investigators established that Rosa Medina knew Troy, how did they go about investigating

23:33him?

23:33At that point, he was a suspect in the murder.

23:38And that meant re-interviewing the hunters who had been with him the night before Inez had

23:45been killed.

23:46When Troy showed up at my camp, he had stated that he was out looking for a place to go

23:51dove

23:51hunting.

23:52One thing I found peculiar was he was not dressed in hunting clothes.

23:57He was in a dressed cowboy shirt, blue jeans, and he didn't have any camping gear.

24:02When police dug deeper into Troy's activities that weekend, what struck them?

24:08That he had been woefully unprepared for a hunting weekend out in the desert.

24:17He was there to hunt birds, and he didn't bring a shotgun, which you would normally use

24:22to hunt birds.

24:23He brought a .22 rifle.

24:28That was the same caliber rifle as the one used to kill Inez.

24:35That convinced investigators that Troy Ryder had not visited the campsite to hunt.

24:41He had been there to murder Inez Santa Cruz.

24:48And they quickly got additional evidence to support their theory from the U.S. Border Patrol.

24:55Law enforcement ran his plate, and they saw where it had gone through a border patrol

25:01checkpoint.

25:03They were able to pull a photograph of the vehicle, and it showed Troy Ryder in his truck

25:10with a female.

25:15The woman was small and had dark hair like Inez.

25:23Can you make out Inez's face in that surveillance video?

25:27No, ma'am, you cannot.

25:28But Mr. Ryder had said that he had gotten out to the campsite by himself.

25:34It seemed like all the pieces were rapidly coming together.

25:39Police felt they now had enough to confront Ryder face to face.

25:44Investigators visited with him, helping to get a confession from him.

25:48Did he admit to knowing Inez?

25:50No, ma'am.

25:52He said he didn't know Inez.

25:54He claimed that he had picked a hitchhiker up on the highway and he had given her a ride

26:00to Brackettville, Texas.

26:02Detectives were confident that Ryder was lying.

26:06And cameras that captured Inez getting off her flight in San Antonio provided proof.

26:16What did the surveillance video actually show at the airport when Inez landed?

26:21There are cameras located throughout the airport.

26:24It showed her leaving the arrivals area, walking through the baggage claim area.

26:31And Troy Ryder was there, waiting to meet her.

26:37Mr. Ryder had actually made a little cardboard sign that said Inez on it.

26:42There's a short conversation between the two of them.

26:45The next surveillance we have is of the two of them walking out to the parking area next

26:51to each other.

26:55With Inez being in no visible state of distress or anything like that.

27:04Police were puzzled.

27:06Why would Inez have willingly left the airport with a man she had never even met?

27:12A man they now believed shot her to death less than 24 hours later.

27:39The damning video evidence that documented Inez Santa Cruz being lured out of the San Antonio

27:45airport was chilling even for veteran investigators like Pamela Elliott.

27:52The weirdest part of this that kind of gave me the creeps was to watch him stand in the corner

27:57in baggage and watch her walk.

27:59But it was like a lion stalking its prey.

28:08Prosecutors were confident that the case police had compiled proved Troy Ryder was a sadistic killer.

28:19Investigators quickly took Ryder into custody.

28:38He was initially charged with capital murder.

28:42Capital murder in Texas is punishable by either life in prison without parole.

28:47Or the death penalty.

28:49At first, Ryder tried to stonewall police.

28:53But the possibility of the death penalty forced him to reconsider.

28:58I guess Troy had to sit in jail long enough.

29:01He was ready to confess and go ahead and give information.

29:06Police still had no idea why Ryder had targeted Inez.

29:10And the story he shared was shocking.

29:15He claimed that Rosa Medina, Inez's best friend and lover, was the real mastermind of the crime.

29:27She came over to my house.

29:30She had said that she just, she wanted her gone.

29:33She didn't care how.

29:34She wanted her gone and out of her life.

29:36Those are her words?

29:38Yes.

29:38I mean, and you, you, you're clear that she means dead.

29:42Yes.

29:44Out of her life, gone, done with.

29:51Police were skeptical.

29:53Why would Rosa want Inez dead?

29:57Ryder's answer was stunning.

30:00Rosa told Troy that Inez was blackmailing her and threatening her to tell Rosa's family that Rosa was a stripper

30:10and Rosa was afraid she was going to lose her two daughters.

30:19The story was a lie.

30:21The investigation revealed that Rosa's family already knew she was a dancer and there was no threat of losing her

30:28children.

30:30But there was a simple reason why Ryder never questioned it.

30:34What Ryder explained was that he wanted a relationship with Rosa Medina and that Rosa Medina had said that while

30:45she would like that, there was this roadblock.

30:48And this roadblock was Inez.

31:01Rosa told Ryder the only way for them to be together was for him to execute her murderous plan.

31:09She provided me with the airplane information from her.

31:13She showed me on her phone, told me to get her in my truck.

31:17Rosa also gave Ryder the story that persuaded Inez to leave the airport with him.

31:24He told her that Rosa had sent him.

31:28She doesn't question you one bit?

31:30No, she didn't question me at all.

31:37But not all of the plot worked as planned.

31:41Rosa had supplied Ryder with what she believed was a deadly dose of Xanax.

31:48She handed them to me and I said, well, how am I supposed to give these to her?

31:53And she says, put it in her tea.

31:55I crushed them up inside the package, dumped it in her tea, mixed it up.

32:00In the truck, Ryder gave Inez the spiked drink.

32:05She got in the truck and I says, there's an iced tea for you.

32:08I don't have AC, which was the truth.

32:11She was drinking her tea.

32:19Ryder then drove Inez to the campsite.

32:22When they arrived, he expected that it was just a matter of time until she was dead.

32:29But the overdose of pills wasn't fatal.

32:34When Ryder returned from a night of drinking with the hunters he had met,

32:39he came back to his trailer to find Inez alive, awake and furious with Rosa.

32:46She was all pissed off.

32:49She's like, goddammit, where the is she?

32:51She's gonna get it.

32:53And I says, well, have you tried to call her?

32:56At that point, he convinced her to call Rosa and her friend would explain everything.

33:03Ryder explained there was a spot a few hundred yards away where she could get reception.

33:09He said that while she was on the rock trying to call Rosa, he retrieved his .22 rifle out of

33:17the Suburban and shot her in the back of the head.

33:23The weapon that you shot her with is the weapon that you consensually gave us at your house?

33:27Yes, sir.

33:33As part of his confession, police took Ryder to the crime scene.

33:39Today's date is 12.10, 2012. The time is 5.35.

33:45Where he walked investigators through the final moments of the attack.

33:51I walked up here like this.

33:53I then grabbed the rifle.

33:55I turned with my right arm and I held it out.

33:58I was approximately, like, right about here.

34:01She started to turn a little bit and that's when I fired the first shot.

34:06I loaded one more round and with her down on the ground and shot her again in the back of

34:13the head.

34:19Ryder claimed it was his idea to stage the scene to look like a sexually motivated cartel hit.

34:27And then you stripped her clothes off?

34:29Uh, yeah. After I stripped the clothes off, I drove down to the campsite.

34:34I knew there was bleach.

34:35I brought it up and I put it on her.

34:38That's when I heard the four-wheeler coming up.

34:44Ryder may have done more to stage the scene if he hadn't been interrupted by the arrival of the hunters.

34:53Detectives still couldn't understand why Ryder would murder a woman he didn't even know.

35:00So what really made this sound like a good idea?

35:04She said that we'd be together.

35:07She's that pretty?

35:09To me, yes.

35:10So what I'm hearing you're telling me is that you have the chance of creating a relationship with a woman.

35:18And to do that, you're willing to kill somebody.

35:20Yeah, I know it sounds stupid. I really do.

35:25You can't be that lonely.

35:27Actually, yeah.

35:28Yeah.

35:34I drove up, came up that way, came around.

35:37The disturbing confession closed the case against Troy Ryder.

35:41He got a 75-year sentence in exchange for his guilty plea.

35:51But investigators knew their job was far from done, and bringing the mastermind of the crime to justice wouldn't be

36:00easy.

36:00What evidence did you have against Rosa Medina?

36:04The evidence against Rosa Medina was scant at best.

36:08The primary evidence was Troy Ryder's statement.

36:13That is not enough to indict somebody, much less convict somebody of murder.

36:24Still, police hoped that one day they could support Troy Ryder's confession with physical evidence.

36:31And it would take a decade of improvements in digital forensic science to uncover a trail of clues Rosa believed

36:40to be buried forever.

36:43In the end, what was the most indicting evidence that came out of the advances in technology?

36:51They were able to get deleted text messages, and those text messages showed communications between Inez and Rosa on September

37:041, 2012.

37:06Those messages showed Inez saying that she was getting on the plane and that she would see her soon.

37:14It was concrete evidence that Medina knew Inez was flying that day, and that she had the information to give

37:23to Troy Ryder.

37:26And there was more.

37:30The second component were the deleted web searches on Rosa's phone.

37:38Some of those web searches were for things like, how do you slip a mickey to somebody?

37:44How to make untraceable phone calls?

37:51Each of those details were part of the murder plot, and each was corroborated by the testimony of Medina's accomplice,

37:59Troy Ryder.

38:01Dorian Kotler believed he was enough to issue a warrant for her arrest.

38:27She showed no empathy, just complete denial and a lack of acceptance of responsibility.

38:32But when Assistant Attorney General Dorian Kotler finished showing her the evidence, Rosa Medina agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter.

38:43She was sentenced to 18 years behind bars.

38:49And Inez's family saw the plea deal as a blessing.

38:54It took a lot off my shoulders because I didn't want to have to hear anything from her or see

39:01her.

39:02It's not going to give me my daughter back.

39:11Rosa Medina has never offered a confession, but police have a theory of the crime.

39:18They believe that Medina was still in love with Inez.

39:21And when Inez decided to settle down in Arizona, it ended her last hope of them sharing a life together.

39:29Rather than accept Inez's choice, Medina became enraged and saw Troy Ryder as a tool she could use for vengeance.

39:39She dances for a living in an adult club.

39:42She knows what sells.

39:44She knows how to manipulate people.

39:46She was never going to enter into a relationship with Troy Ryder.

39:50She used him.

39:54How many levels of betrayal are there in this story?

39:59Rosa was very close with Inez's family.

40:02She had been brought into their home.

40:04It's a massive betrayal on the part of Rosa Medina.

40:14A betrayal that has left many wounds that will never heal.

40:20Do you ever think you'll make sense of what happened to Inez?

40:24No, I won't.

40:25We won't.

40:27Every day is a battle.

40:29Every single day we wake up.

40:38How do you keep Inez's memory alive?

40:42There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about her.

40:48She'll live on with us forever.

40:55Investigators hope the new technology that allowed them to bring Rosa Medina to justice will help them to close other

41:03cold cases as well.

41:05I'm Paula Zahn.

41:06Please join us again next time when we're back on the case.

41:10On the next On The Case.

41:13Did your heart sink when you watched the surveillance tape?

41:18Absolutely.

41:19You see her just walk into the darkness she's never seen again.

41:23Someone was here waiting for the perfect moment to abduct her.

41:27This individual, he's a monster.

41:28It's just a little bit of pressure.

41:29No of my sin.

41:30I know.

41:30It's not five times.

41:30The world has lost.

41:30What?

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