Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20140823

Mystery in south beach. First, another florida mystery. Teenager, romance, and murder. In pain and so hurt and so sad. I would give anything for christian to be here. They were new to college and newly in love. The whole world ahead of them. He gave me this magical kiss. Their secret romance would lead to something shattering when christian vanished. Oh, god. My young life went out the window. It was tense. We were nervous. We were scared. Im starting to believe that there might be more to this than just a missing person. Where was he . Did someone have something to hide . There was blood found in the car. A lovers triangle. A circle of friends. Was one of them a killer . This was planned. This was on purpose. How could you do something so horrific . Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Tonight, two Dennis Murphy mysteries. We begin with circle of friends. Remember going away to college . The tingling of possibility, new friends. It was amazing. Sometimes disappointments when things didnt work out. I thought highway was depr depressed. Didnt take it that seriously. Maybe we should have. For three florida teenagers, the decisions they made at they started campus life had terrifying, lethal consequences. It seemed surreal. When we were told, we thought this cant possibly be happening. The story of our three begins at a high school near miami. Not quite hogwarts, but erica, pedro, and christian were as inseparable as harry, ron, and h hermoine. The trio wrestling together at Doral Academy, a Charter School for highachieving, smart kids. I moved there in 2006, sixth grade. For erica freeman, Doral Academy was a special place. I met people from all over the world, actually, which was really interesting. And they had a lot of opportunities academically that i dont think youd get at an average high school. Reporter erika was smart, upbeat, pretty. She loved everything from skydiving to shakespeare. And in her sophomore year she caught the eye of a cute guy in class, pedro bravo. He was a big clown. He was kind of a funny guy around people. He was always making jokes, or tryin to reporter disruptive, actoutinclass kind of guy . Not really act out in class, but hed act out as soon as class was over. And it was just to, you know, get a crowd laughing, or this or that. Reporter pedro was a fellow rocksolid student with an artistic flair. His journals were full of sketches and doodles that friends thought showed real talent. He could draw anything, anything you wanted. Reporter robert lopez was a friend and classmate. Anything from graphic comics to picture art yeah, very. He was very gifted in that sense. Reporter erika and pedro quickly became an item. Teenage lovers, but with adult dreams. We were in a pretty serious relationship. We were a little bit more mature than the average, i guess. We didnt go out and drink. We were just very focused on school and each other. Reporter another sharply focused classmate in their circle was pedros good buddy, Christian Aguilar. I met him through pedro. He was awesome. He was funny, and he was nice. And we were instantly good friends. Reporter christian was the Soccer Player who hit the books. The son of colombian immigrants became the allamerican boy. Video games, kanye west rap in his ears, and plans to become a doctor. It sounds as though to understand christian, you have to realize how academically motivated he was. Oh yes. He was very driven. And it wasnt like his family was pushing him. It wasnt it was just that he wanted to make them proud. Reporter these three high achieving musketeers christian, erika and pedro all doubled at prom together and posed for this snapshot in the waning days of high school. Did you guys do a limo and the whole thing . We did do a limo. And we all showed up. We took plenty of pictures. It was fun. Reporter for a lot of american kids, it was for these three, graduation from high school is one of those big paths crossing in the woods. A lot of what are you going to do next . Lets stay friends forever, kind of goodbyes. Mr. Christian aguilar. [ applause ] reporter christian, scholar that he was, intent on pursuing premed, got admitted to the Selective University of florida in gainesville. Was christian happy when his acceptance came through . Oh, he was so happy. He was ecstatic. Reporter and though all of Three Friends wanted to be gators, had u of f as a top choice school, only christian got in. Erika was headed to a Different College in gainesville, santa fe, while pedro planned to take classes near home in miami. And as graduation neared, more life decisions. Erika broke it off with pedro. She didnt want a longdistance relationship. And after all, they were just 18yearsold, and the big wide world was ahead of them both. I wanted him to find someone and fall in love with them, and you know, live a normal life. I just didnt think he was the one for me. Reporter they were barely unpacked, classes just starting, when a sudden change of plans. Pedro didnt want to be left behind in miami after all. As the fall semester started, he showed up in gainesville, as his friend robert remembered. He just visited gainesville, and that was the intention, was just to visit. And he ended up signing a lease and enrolling for classes in the fall at santa fe college. Maybe there was life after hogwarts for pedro, erika and christian . Could the friendship be renewed and survive a five hour move up the interstate from miami . If that was indeed the hope, it was dashed with some awful news on september 21st, 2012. It was tense. We were nervous. We were scared. You know, what could have happened. Reporter christian never showed up at his dorm that night, and wasnt answering his phone. Its not like christian to just not answer. Its not like him not to just disappear. There was something wrong. Reporter Christian Aguilar had vanished. What could be behind christians sudden disappearance . When we come back retracing his last steps. A rough neighborhood and a curious stranger. He tells me at one point they stop to pick up a hitchhiker. He said, i want to get out. Christian said, i want to get out of the car, too. A living i take pride in them. So when my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis was also on display, id had it. I finally had a serious talk with my dermatologist. This time, he prescribed humiraadalimumab. Humira helps to clear the surface of my skin by actually working inside my body. In clinical trials, most adults with moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis saw 75 skin clearance. And the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. 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But fwhoun of them now one of them, christian, was a noshow for meeting with his circle of friends. Didnt pick up the phone. Not so much as a text. And it got later and later. And i started calling our friends. And im like, hey, i just wanted to make sure like, have you seen christian . Whether youre not getting texts back, when do you start to go from worried to really getting freaked out . Well, honestly, all that night i couldnt really sleep. I had passed by his dorm room to see if possibly, you know, his phone died, and he couldnt answer. His phone got wet. I was thinking of all these different scenarios. And he wasnt in his dorm. Where was he all night . Where was he staying . Where was he sleeping . Where where is he . Reporter the next morning still nothing from christian. He hadnt come back to his dorm room. So, erika and pedro, her exboyfriend, together went to the gainesville police. So, we go to the window and we start explaining our situation. And the lady pretty much, like, laughs at me. So, theyre blowin you off. Yeah. And i was just there, like you know, this lady better hope theres nothing wrong here. I was so upset at that point cause i just wanted someone to Pay Attention and you know this is a serious thing. Reporter but after all, christian wouldnt be the first College Freshman to go off the grid for a bit. Maybe taking a break from his studies, crashing at another dorm. But his friends were worried and the cops told them to go see if the Campus Police could help. The big thing that i wanna find out is has anybody been in contact and when was the last time they contacted him. Where was the last time anybody was on contact with em . Reporter officer tim peck talked to the concerned pair. Found out that pedro was the last friend to see christian the previous day. And he kinda walks me through the the day, you know, once he meets christian. They go to the infirmary cause christian needs to get a flu shot. Then, they go back to pedros car which is parked on campus. And then at that point they go to best buy. Reporter pretty routine afternoon until, pedro told him, they decided to do something a little impulsive. Then, he tells me at one point they stop to pick up a hitchhiker. Reporter pedro told officer peck and erika they drove around town for a bit. Eventually, the hitchhiker was like, i wanna get outta the car. And then shortly after, christian said, you know, i wanna get outta the car, too. You know, just pull over. I wanna get out. Reporter and that was where the friends parted, near this auto body shop, a few miles offcampus. That neighborhood around the body shop raised alarm bells for officer peck. It had some rough spots. Some of the area is known to be a high drug area, have some Gang Activity as well. So, that kinda concerned me. Were they up there specifically for that reason or in the process of christian gettin dropped off, did he he run into something or or wander into a bad area . I knew there was a large Homeless Community in gainesville. And there there still is. So, i was a little concerned about that. If he was in the woods somewhere, and he stumbled into a campground of homeless people, and, you know, they decided to do something to him, you know, that was one of the options i had thought of. Reporter a gang area . Homeless camps and a mysterious hitchhiker . There seemed reason enough to be worried. Erika called christians parents, carlos and Claudia Aguilar down in miami and told them christian was missing. What did you think . I know that something was wrong. So, it was that worrying for you that uhhuh. Yes. This behavior was not at all like christian, huh . Not at all. That was not christian. Reporter along with christians younger brother, alex, they jumped in the car to make that long drive up to gainesville. I can say that car ride was the most silent car ride ive ever had. We really didnt talk. It was really quiet. We didnt know what to say to one another. What did that word missing mean to you . Missing, at first i guess i maybe me tryin to be positive, was maybe he went out to the party. Maybe he got injured. Maybe he got into a car accident. We couldnt really tell cause we dont know who he hangs out with. Reporter and once they got there, police had questions for alex and his parents, too. They bring us into this small, little room. And we have an officer who gave us a few questions, asking what it was, what type of person is christian . Would he is he normally like this . Would he usually go out . Does he drink . Does he do any drugs . What were you seeing in christians parents in this period . Confused, pain. There was just pain in their eyes. Reporter but erika says they were all about to channel that pain into determination with more friends heading up from miami. I had a whole group of individuals who were now just as concerned as i was just as focused as i was, just as driven to find christian. I didnt feel so alone once they got there. I felt, you know, were gonna find him. We can do this. Reporter christians family and friends were hopeful hed turn up and soon. And for officer peck, the case of the missing student got more baffling when he caught wind of a secret christian had been trying to hide something. Was his secret the key to finding him . Theres Something Else going on here that im not aware of, but what exactly that is im not sure. Reporter coming up the secret turns out someone else knew it, too, and it was about to be revealed right there at the police station. Do you know him . Chris, too . Yeah. How do you know him . I was just concerned that i was gonna push him off the edge. And this is my favorite its the kickstand. So youre saying it does more than my mac . Well technically, you said it. Well technically, you said it. Great rates for great rides. Geico motorcycle, see how much you could save. You could be hanging ten. What are you waiting for . announcer get up to 40 off labor day hotels at travelocity. Christian had not logged on. We check with the hospitals, the local hospitals to see if he was in there. Then well also check with our notes from the previous night, run his name to see if hes had any contact with us, check with the city and the county, their main dispatch center, to see if they had any contact with him. Reporter no sign of christian anywhere. Still calling, still texting . Im still calling, still texting. Im sending him messages, like, you know, were gonna find you, you know . I i you know, i love you so much, you know . I cant wait to see you again, you know . Everythings gonna be okay. Trying to, like, calm myself down. Reporter and it was in those hours inside the Campus Police station, that erika disclosed a secret that christian had been keeping. It was her secret too. Since high school graduation, and her breakup with pedro, she and christian had become more than friends. It was very exciting. We we thought it was great. We thought, this is us, you know, learning how to get used to gainesville. And it was like, i had my best friend with me. It was somebody who i could always turn to, somebody i did always turn to, and somebody now that was always gonna be there for me. Who made the move for the first embrace . Oh, he he did. I he drove to my house. And i see him, and i instantly we we hug. And im there. And im just nervous. I havent been this nervous. And all these butterflies in my stomach. And he grabs my my chin and he pulls me up. And he just gives me this magical kiss. And you became a couple that moment. Oh, yeah. It was, like, we our first date was going to a restaurant, chickfila. And we just both had all those butterflies in our stomachs. And we just felt like like, is this really happening . Is this still really happening . Like, i just kept, you know, pinching myself, like, god, this is crazy. I cant believe this. Reporter and in a matter of weeks, their young lives, she and christian, had changed completely. They were madly, deeply in love. What do you think the two of you had . Something very rare. Something you dont find every day. Something amazing. Something i dont even know how to explain what we had. Its like not a care in the world because youre just so happy to be with that person. Where i mean, young young girls are in love sometimes with being in love, but this doesnt sound like that. Oh no, no. This was something where you clicked on every level. Reporter but out of friendship and respect, theyd kept the new romance a secret from pedro, erikas ex. Yet his friends knew that something was eating away at pedro, ever since graduating from high school he had been in a kind of a funk. Did he change at all . Yes, as a matter of fact. As time went on he he kind of was a little more withdrawn. He was just starting to keep to himself a little more. I thought he was just depressed. You know . We all go through it, we all feel like, oh my gosh. Reporter buddy robert lopez had noticed some odd, alarming behavior. We all went out to this restaurant the swamp. Its well known in gainesville. Its right next to the football stadium. And our tab ran up to, like, 70 and he picked up the whole tab. And we asked him like, pedro, why why would you pay for our whole tab . Youre paying for all your classes out of pocket. And hes like, yeah, im not worried about it. I wont need this money soon. Whoa. Yeah. That was that that give you an insight into his head at that point yeah. Do you think . That was when we realized, you know, hes not doing okay. Reporter was pedro suicidal . All the more reason, for erika and christian, to keep their happy romance quiet. I was just concerned that i was gonna push him off the edge, i didnt want him to go home that night, knowing that i was dating one of our mutual friends and him think, you know, im just gonna end my life right now. Reporter but now with christians disappearance, the cat was out of the bag. At the University Police station that day, erika blurted it out with pedro right there in the room. Do you know christian . Yeah, yeah. How do you know him . Im his girlfriend. Youre his girlfriend . Yeah. Oh, im sorry. And she goes on to tell me that her and christian had started dating, but they didnt think pedro knew about their them dating. Reporter how would pedro react to hearing that . The officer sensed that something seemed to be brewing in the circle of friends, but what that was wasnt clear. For now, everyone was focused on finding christian. They were all feeling like were all in this together, were all worried about christian. Hes our friend. Were trying to find out do whatever we can to to help locate him. Reporter officer peck could see that erika was becoming increasingly agitated. So, as the campus cop was checking out the stories these two friends told him, he decided it was time to bring in investigators from the gainesville pd. And the first thing theyd want to do is talk to pedro bravo. I have to tell you one thing. Okay. Coming up a dramatic new clue we find christians backpack. Where would this New Discovery lead . I heard officers discussing like a love triangle. Im starting to believe that there might be something more to this than just a missing person. male announcer its happening. Today, more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about longacting levemir®, an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. And levemir® helps lower your a1c. 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They called in a veteran detective from the gainesville p. D. When i first walked in, there was two girls sitting in the lobby which was erika friman and her sister. There was a male, pedro bravo, in an interview room. Are you paid flow is. Yes. Since pedro . Yes. Since pedro of the last person to see christian, he topped the list of people detective Randy Roberts wanted to speak to. I wanted to hear the story beginning to ending e end as he had told upd so i could get a feel for what was going on. Not missing for long me, too. In the last 48 hours, when have you seen christian . Yesterday. That was pedro repeated his, of the last time hed seen his friend. How theyd run errands, grabbed a bite to eat, swung over to best buy so christian could pick up the latest kanye west. Does. Thats them around 3 00 p. M. , smiling as they walked around the store. His shirt was tattered. Again, he said they picked up a hitchhiker in a rough part of town. Mid 50s, i couldnt tell because he a big, white, bushy beard. Around that. How else was he dressed . Hat . He had a cowboy hat. Detective roberts pressed pedro about lou and why he and christian parted ways that night. Pedro revealed that after dropping off the hitchhiker, he and christian got into an argument about a girl, but it had nothing to do with erika. Remember, christian and erika had been trying to keep their new relationship a secret. This was about another girl from high school altogether. I made a comment about this girl he had a crush on for like three years,ya and he poured hi heart out and didnt work out. He got mad. He was silent for a few minutes, and then highway toe told me to car, he wanted to get out. What did you do . I was angry, too. I stopped the car and said, fine, get out. The investigator listened with a skeptical ear as pedro described driving away, stopping at mcdonalds, and then going home to bed, with no idea something had happened until his phone rang at 4 00 a. M. And erika told him that christian of missing. Got up and tried to go back to sleep, but i couldnt. Like i was i felt kind of guilty because i dropped him off on the road. I was afraid what if something happened, what if hes lost now. Pedro let them search his car if i any clues related to christian, and bingo. They found something interesting. They found the receipt showing that someone, him or someone else using his vehicle, had made a trip to mcdonalds during the night. Mcdonalds, where pedro claimed hed eaten right after christian had jumped out of the car. Call it 7 00 p. M. And change. And yet, the receipt was timestamped much later. 12 54 a. M. , more than five hours later than he told them. You went to mcdonalds in the middle of the night. Maybe you forgot maybe you forgot Something Else. The back and forth with detective roberts started sounding more like an interrogation. Leave things out kind of like like you it make you look like you did something bad, you know. As for the story about the hitchhiker, the cops checked it out but couldnt come up with anything. We checked Surveillance Video in the area where they said he dropped him. Looked and didnt find anybody. He checked area businesses to see if there was someone like that that that matched the description of the him hiktchhi didnt find anyone. Was pedro hiding something . Is there anything we need to change about where you went, what times . Well, there was. Just whether it seemed the interview was just when it seemed the interview was ending, pedro decided to keep talking. There was something hed left out. One thing i have to tell you because youre right, i cant keep everything from you, and i have to tell you one thing. Okay. That one thing was huge. Like in the scuffle with chris, it wasnt really an argument. I made the comment about his girl he had the crush on. He got angry at that. And then he came back with, maybe you should just maybe you should [ bleep ] kill yourself. Thats when i turned around and punched him straight in the face. A fist fight. This was a new detail hed never mentioned. Pedro was now admitting to leaving his buddy by the side of the road bleeding from a sock in the nose. Now im starting to believe that there might be something more to this than just a missing person. But what . While investigators tried to figure it out, they decided they couldnt let pedro go home. They charged him with depriving a victim of medical care. For bloodying christians nose and then leaving him on the side of the road. I had a suspicion that, you know, the meeting took a wrong turn, and that they got into an argument. What could have happened . What exactly is pedro capable of . Meanwhile, the search for christian was only getting bigger. And for his family and friends, more desperate. Whats going through your head . Is it like its me, like, im in the woods, im trying to find you, where are you . Yeah. I think when we were searching, it was more just to do something because you feel so useless and so helpless. So youre there looking. Posters are going up . Were hanging posters. Were handing out flyers during the football game. It was football season. Gainesville police were doing their own searches, too, as they focused more and more attention on pedro paragraph oh abravo an story. They executed a search of his apartment less than two days after christian had gone missing. What did they find stashed way up in pedros clot we found christians backpack closet . We found christians backpack, hidden inside of pedros backpack, hidden inside a suitcase. Why would a friend have another friends backpack . Thats our concern. Why would he hide his backpack so excessively because it was very well hidden. We thought is pedro trying to cover up. Pedro has gone from being a person of interest to a suspect in the disappearance. Yes. It was very quickly that that happened. Its hard to swallow something that huge when its, you know, this is somebody youve known for so long. Ark erika had to face the possibility that maybe she and christian hadnt been so good at keeping secrets. Maybe pedro had known all about their relationship, and it had sent him over the over. I overheard Police Officers discussing that i like a love jealous rage kind of thing, like a love triangle i think they had said. How did you bear up with that . Didnt want tong of that. I couldnt want to think of that. I couldnt imagine somebody doing something so horrible especially somebody as smart as pedro. But when the crime scene techs processed pedros suv, there it was blood. Now the Police Believe pedro hadnt just punched out christian, they believed he killed him. On the friday a week after pedro bravo had helped report his good friend missing, he was charged with firstdegree murder. With the blood evidence, with the backpack being hidden, and with him being away and not heard of for so long, thats when we decided to upgrade the charge to murder. Pedro, your high school boyfriend, in your life a long time, is charged with the firstdegree murder of the guy youre describing as the man of your life. Yes. Its exactly what happened. Very strange, strange life i have. But theres an axiom in homicide work no body, no case. Investigators hadnt found christians body. So what else were they finding out about pedro bravo . Coming up, the case heads in to court, and the star witness i dont want to be around him. I just wanted him gone. The young woman at the center of it all now facing pedro and a painful past. Got really emotional. 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Reporter as pedro bravo sat in jail, charged with the murder of his friend Christian Aguilar, the search for christian continued. His family clinging to hope, but fearing the worst. Youre there looking all day, from sunrise to sunset, with people you are meeting along the way, a bunch of volunteers, Police Officers. Reporter but after three weeks of searching just down this road here is where those two men found human remains on friday afternoon. Reporter two hunters walking through some acreage came across a body buried in a shallow grave. It was christian. In a way we had expected it. We were just waiting for that phone call to actually happen. Reporter erika could not absorb the news. You never want to just accept that kind of news. But at least we were able to find him. State of florida versus pedro bravo. Reporter earlier this month, nearly two years after christian died, his High School Friend pedro was on trial for murder. He pleaded not guilty. Erika, your personal belief, do you believe that pedro killed christian . Yes. Reporter why . For what reason . I think it was i mean, a mixture of jealousy academically, and a mixture of jealousy involving me. Reporter central to the prosecutions case, simple high school geometry, a love triangle. Christian, his new girlfriend erika, and her ex, pedro bravo. A motive as old as time, the prosecutor said. Mr. Bravos plan is not just to murder Christian Aguilar. Thats just a part of it. Hes got to reunite with erika. Reporter the prosecutor painted a picture of a teenager not just depressed over the breakup, but obsessed with getting erika back. And his star witness was the very object of pedros obsession, a very nervous erika. I didnt want to see him. I didnt want to be around him. You know, i didnt want his family near him. I just wanted him gone. Reporter with pedro barely looking at her, erika read just some of the nonstop Text Messages pedro had been sending her. I came all this way, and i miss you like crazy. And i love you despite everything thats happened. And maybe im stupid, but i cant help the feeling. And im so sorry. Im so, so sorry. Reporter on the stand, the prosecution asked erika to read out loud sections of pedros journal, thoughts that would show the jury just how fixated on her he was. I can win her back. I will win her back. I want to give up everything to be with her again. Reporter but it was the sight of an evidence bag containing christians backpack, his personal stuff from a carefree, happy time, that caused erika to lose it on the stand. I got really emotional. You know, i got really thrown back. I was just, like, why do you have to bring this out . Why do you want to show me this . Reporter and the prosecution wasnt done. There was more to its theory of motive. Despite their best efforts, christian and erika hadnt done a very good job concealing their relationship from pedro. Pedro went into Christians Facebook and email accounts and read conversations between erika and christian. Reporter so christian was the romantic rival, and he needed to go, said the state. We know that he knew about it prior to them going off that day. Reporter and this wasnt simply a crime of passion, the prosecution charged. It was a cold, premeditated murder. The prosecution alleged pedro started plotting his friends murder on september 16th, four days before christian disappeared. Hes at home, and hes on his computer. Reporter google searches were found on pedros laptop. Questions like, what is chloroform . Can rubbing alcohol knock someone out . And, what kinds of murders get solved . And here on security video is pedro at a walmart buying a sleep aid product, 55 yards of duct tape, and a hunting knife. In his hand was a shovel hed just bought at lowes. He literally bought the murder starter pack. Reporter and, as the prosecution theory goes, pedro used those items to drug and strangle his friend, right inside his car. On 9 20 at 4 11 that blue blazer pulls in. They showed the jury surveillance cam video of pedros suv in a walmart parking lot. Investigators believe inside the vehicle the murder is going down. They sit there for a long period of time, and then pull up a little further and sit there for another long period of time. When he leaves that parking lot, Christian Aguilars dead. He murders him in the car. Reporter forensics confirmed that was christians blood that investigators had found in pedros suv. And they had discovered even more intriguing evidence in the trunk, an empty gatorade bottle caked with residue from a sleep aid and an antihistamine. Putting those two combinations together in a large quantity would cause someone to lose consciousness. Reporter once christian was dead, pedro had to get dispose of his friends body. And the tale of how that happened, the prosecution said, was told by pedros phone. His iphone had been on Airplane Mode for more than five hours that night, but investigators could see that pedro had used an app, the flashlight app, for 48 minutes. Hes using the flashlight. Hes burying chris body. Reporter and the prosecution had yet another piece of physical evidence it said tied pedro beyond a reasonable doubt to the murder. Duct tape. When we found Christian Aguilars body he had duct tape wrapped around his ankles, his wrists and his neck. A piece from his ankle was identified as being torn from the same piece of tape that was inside pedro bravos windshield. Reporter when pedro was done burying his friend, the prosecution said, he stopped at mcdonalds for that bite to eat. Then he drove to a car wash. So at 1 00 in the morning, we have pedro bravo pulling up to a car wash and washing his vehicle for 12 minutes. It tells me that hes trying to get rid of evidence. Reporter when he got home, pedro washed his clothes, and crawled in bed in time to get erikas 4am phone call asking of christians whereabouts. Who duct taped him . Pedro bravo. Who put him in the grave . Pedro bravo. Who killed him . Pedro bravo. After calling nearly 50 witnesses to the stand, the prosecution rested its case. The defense, though, thought it needed only one witness in response pedro bravo was about to take the stand. Coming up he would have a dramatically different story to tell. Did you drink the concoction that was in the gatorade bottle . Yes, drank the concoction that was in the gatorade bottle. Could the evidence presented against him actually help clear him . Iness. And energy. Happiness is the most attractive form of beauty. The one that comes from deep within. [ male announcer ] discover renergie lift multiaction, our 1 lifting and firming moisturizer from lancome. To visibly tighten all facial zones. See younger looking skin. 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Yeah, theres so much to watch. Ive been on this earth nine years, ive never seen anything like it. The new amazon fire phone, with a full year of prime included. Exclusively on at t. To pitch in for an industrialsized smoker. Before earning 1 cash back everywhere, every time. And 2 back at the grocery store. Even before he got 3 back on gas. All with no hoops to jump through. Norm used his bankamericard cash rewards credit card to enter the bbq masters invitational. Where he smoked 40 pounds of ribs and the competition. Thats the satisfaction of rewarding connections. Apply online or at a bank of america near you. The prosecutions portraits of pedro bravo was clear and unforgiving. Highway was so fix he was so fixatesed on winning back his former girlfriend, he would kill anyone who got in his way, anyone. Didnt think it would be safe for anyone to be out in the real world with normal people. I think he could be borderlaine sociopath. The defense had a flip side 18yearold, charter academy, he had issues that he wanted to talk to his best friend about. His best friend. Thats what the defense said christian was it pedro right up to the time he disappeared. His lawyer insisted that pedro never saw christian as a romantic rival. Thats because he didnt know that christian and erika were dating until that day in the police station. How do you know him . My boyfriend. Now the jury was about to hear from pedro himself and only pedro. The sole went for the defense. And when he took the stand, the jurors didnt see some hulking psycho killer but a pale, intelligent, lovesick boy in a tidy suit. I graduated from Doral Academy, yes. With any distinctions . I graduated magna cum laude. Although he denied any malice toward christian, pedro did concede another element of the states case. He was desperate to rekindle his relationship with erika friman. I still loved her. Like i was still very enamored with her and really wanted to get back with her. And whether it became clear that she when it became clear that she wasnt coming back, he told the jury he sank into a deep depression about erika and Everything Else in his sad, disintegrating life. Basically how i felt like a failure. Everythings a mess. Everything feels like a mess, and i feel like im breaking apart piece by piece. Thats why he made plans to hang out with christian that afternoon. He wanted help from his old friend. Chris was one of the people i could talk to about this because he had also gone through the same thing. So how did that mantoman talk end up in a fist fight . Pedro says it started after christian said something terrible. And he tells me, why dont you go [ bleep ] kill yourself. What happened next . I turn around, and i hit him in the nose with my left fist. While youre driving . While im driving, yes. That punch in the face could explain how christians blood ended up in the car. Next, pedro told the jury that he pulled over, and the fight moved into the street. But after a few minutes, pedro left the scene. What is chris condition when you leave . All i could tell is he didnt get up right away, but that he was still moving. Still breathing . Yes. Whether but this, did you have when you did this, did you have any malicious intent to kill Christian Aguilar . No. It was all spur of the moment. All right. You decided to leave . Yes. Have you come to regret that decision . I feel like im going to regret that decision for the rest of my life. So pedro admitted he fought christian but claimed he didnt kill him. And as he drove away, pedro said the only person he wanted to destroy was himself. Thats when he says highway decided to do it, commit suicide. Now was this just a suicidal ideation, or were you going to act on it . I was going to act on it. So all that evidence presented by the prosecution wasnt about murder, it was it suicide. The druglaced gatorade cocktail wasnt meant for christian, it was meant for pedro himself. Did you drink the concoction in the gatorade bottle . Yes, i drank the concoction that was in the gatorade bottle. Obviously an unsuccessful suicide attempt. But the defense argued pedros desire to end his own life was very real. Ha pedro of combing the web for information about chloroform, rubbing alcohol, and sleeping pills because he was planning his own death. He even brought along the shovel as part of his plan. At the beginning, i was going dig myself my grave. So the jury had to decide who is pedro bravo a killer without a conscience or a selfdestructive lovesick boy . But then came some of the weirder evidence ever to come from a jailhouse snitch. State your name he had cut a deal in exchange for leniency in his own case was a cellmate of bravo. Slipped a note under my door. The note asked the cellmate to find someone on the outside to commit a series of murders similar to christians killing, suggesting that the real murderer was still at large, and he, pedro, was innocent. He wrote, three to four people unfortunately must die. They are random individuals but preference would be two u. F. Students. Tased to incapacitate and strangled to kill, hand duct taped. A plan to show that Christian Aguilar was murdered by skarl w a serial killer whos still out there. As the jurors struggled to get their heads around the new twist, the trial ended. The fate of pedro bravo was in their hands. So much for one family to go through. You could see the tension on their faces as they waited for the verdict. The jurors began deliberating last friday night. We all talked to each other. That day wasnt a day to celebrate whatever the jury had decided. Whatever they decided, erika knew there would be sorrow all around. In fact, the jurors came back in less than four hours, and they found pedro bravo guilty of murder in the first degree. A verdict the family wanted. But there were no winners that day. About an hour later, pedro bravo faced the judge at his sentencing, insisting to the end i did not kill Christian Aguilar. I know in my heart what i did, and i know god knows what i did. Clearly unmoved, the judge sentenced bravo to life without parole. Hes appealing his conviction. The day after the verdict, christians family made a heart wrenching visit to the place where their beloved sons body had been found. Since his death, theyve created the Christian Aguilar search and rescue foundation which supports the use of trackingdogs to find the missing. Now christians brother, alex, is embracing an opportunity that has a bittersweetness to it. He just started his freshman year at the university of florida in gainesville. Im going through the stuff that he went through. I started remembering how he was during that time. And i guess now ive always followed his example in school. And now that examples gone, so i have to i guess just follow my own. Erika will be there, moving ahead has been hard for her. She cant forget that fleeting moment when she fell in love with christian, and then he was gone just like that. We had the death talk, what happens if something happens tomorrow and you got hit by a car. He looked at me and said, i dont know what i would do without you. I dont know what i would you know. I looked and said, ill tell you what youre going to do, youre going to find somebody, and youre going to live your life. Do you ever get up in the morning just shaking your fists in outrage at the heavens . Pedro, why did you do this to me . Not just christian as the victim . Youve become a victim, too. Its so difficult sometimes to think of it that way. I would still give anything for christian to be here. Theres not going to be another joke he tells or another smile when i look up from working or something. s n its not going to happen again. Theyre just memories. And now, our second hour of dateline. It started as a honeymoon, it ended in a murder. My question is why. I didnt need who. My only question of why. They were Beautiful People in miamis sizzling south beach, singles who became lovers. You may kiss the bride. And then newlyweds. Congratulations. They were still on their honeymoon, only married four days, when this young bride was murdered. I get a phone call screaming, crying. No murder weapon, no dna, but no shortage of suspects. You got to prove it. You got to prove it. Did the redhot miami lifestyle have something to do with her death . Been going on in the club scene . Did admitted to having encounters with other couples there. Or was it simple jealousy . Are you still intimate with yolanda . Yes, we are. Threats state that again. Objection, sir. Betrayal. He didnt love her, he loved me. And finally, a verdict. The years of waiting, the years of mourning her, we needed justice. Here again is Dennis Murphy with miss freeway mismystery reporter if youve spent any time down here you probably sensed there are really two miami beaches. You know this one, by reputation anyway. South beach, a pulsating playground with energy that surges out of the ocean, and exhausts itself in the allnight clubs. And then theres the old miami beach. Here are the sunburned back streets of squat apartment blocks where decades past the old people used to sit out in aluminum chairs. And thats where a young couple, wendy and michel, was trying to make a go of it. The rent was cheap, the window airconditioning good enough. But if youve ever thought Beautiful People catch all the breaks, then listen to this story of 21 year old Wendy Trapaga because she may be the most gorgeous, doomed young woman to ever walk these streets. She was model pretty . I dont think that she thought of herself as anything spectacular. Didnt become the central part of her personality . I am pretty. No. It wasnt who she was about. Reporter her much older sisters, tiare and rita, and brother ralph, never use the qualifier step sister when they speak of wendy. Theyll tell you she was a little bit of a daddys girl, her father an International Airline pilot who died, sadly, in a crash when wendy was just six. Wendys mother myriam raised her with big sister, rita, always pitching in. I guess i was like that other mother for her. Because i pretty much was there by myriams side raising her. See it, you see the monkey . Reporter the love of animals was always a part of wendy. T048rita trapaga she was always rescuing some animal, or a dog, or a puppy, or a kitten, anything. And she worked for a vet for a while, huh . Uhhuh. Yes. Reporter but allergies would end her ambitions to be a vet. I kept telling her, dont give up your passion. Dont give it up. Reporter but wendy did have another passion and it was for fashion and makeovers. Oh my goodness. Pretty girl. Give a little turn. Reporter at easter, she memorably dolledup her nieces for a living room fashion show. And here is the director of the entire operation. Reporter how nice a kid was this churchgoing, slightly sheltered, girl . Well, theres the story of the classmate without a dress. One girl couldnt afford to go to the prom. And wendy got this girl prettied up, got her a dress, everything. That was the heart she had. Reporter after graduation, two cousins who owned their own salons urged wendy to follow in their footsteps. She had a flair for it. And you can do very well in that field. Yes, she did. Yes she did. Reporter so at twentyone, after a brief marriage, she enrolled in beauty school. And in 2002 thats where she first saw Michel Escoto rumble up on his fire engine red ducati motorcyle. Michel was a selftaught web designer and sometime teacher of computing, but by his early 30s he was looking for a career change. He thought hed try hair styling so he enrolled, as fate would have it, in the same Cosmetology School as wendy. Michel, who fancied himself a sensitive guy poet, had a string of admiring girlfriends. But wendy, younger by ten years, and prettier than most any other woman in his orbit, was clearly a prize catch. When i met wendy he was on a motorcycle with her. I told myself its a beautiful girl. I dont know what he did to get this girl. Reporter whatever he did it worked. The pair falling quickly and deeply. They were in like, high school sweethearts. She was totally in love, sparkle in the eye. He said, im gonna buy her her own motorcycle. And its gonna be great. Reporter within six months they were living together on south beach. Wendy gave michel a makeover, dying his hair blond. Perfect for the club scene. They lived for the day. And then came unexpected news for these two butterflies. Wendy was pregnant. Her mother, myriam, had mixed feelings. How did myriam feel about the fact that her baby was having a baby . Delighted with the fact of being a grandmother. But not delighted with the with the circumstances. Reporter wendy had had the Big Church Wedding for her first marriage. This time around she and michel got hitched at miami beach city hall. You may kiss the bride. Congratulations. Reporter the next day, wendy and michel set out for a brief weekend honeymoon, a drive down the florida keys to key west where the road ran out. Sunset drinks, dinner and a hotel room. Three days after the wedding, they were back in miami beach. Sunday evening. Wendy called her mother to say they were going to a movie, and then dancing later at a club. Her mother urged her pregnant daughter not to drink. Then, in the middle of the night, the wee hours of monday morning, wendys mother got an unexpected call from her new soninlaw michel, saying theyd had an argument. Wendy had stormed off saying she was going to her mothers house. Since then the bridegroom said hed repeatedly called wendy without success. Right around then, in a bleak Warehouse District miles and miles from the afterhours bars in miami, a sanitation worker was startled to see the body of a young woman in a blue dress slumped between two cars. It was the newlywed, wendy. News traveled fast. I get a phone call from my stepmother screaming, crying. Wendys dead. They took her from me. She told me, its on the news. And i went looking. And theres my sweet little sister being put on a gurney and its just so surreal. This desolate warehouse place . All i kept thinking about was her being alone there by herself and praying to god that she didnt suffer. Reporter the killer who bludgeoned her to death also erased the beauty of her young face. A honeymoon weekend for the new bride had ended behind Yellow Police tape. Coming up who killed wendy and why . Was it a kidnapping, a carjacking gone bad . Maybe it had something to do with miamis wild nightlife . Whats going on with michel and the club scene . He did admit to having relations with other couples there. The dark side of life in sunny miami. Love you bye. [ computer beeps ] [ male announcer ] finally a paint thats stain resistant and scrubbable. Introducing new valspar reserve. Now the colors you love stay the colors you love. Exclusively at lowes. Walked in to a mcdonalds and discovereden now the colors you love stay the colors you love. An extraordinary burger with heaps of jalapenos. For only two dollars. Within minutes, they had also discovered the phenomenon of economnomnomics nomnom. Nom . Nom nom the jalapeno double, try it now for just 2 on mcdonalds dollar menu and more. Its economnomnomcial. Nom. Nom. Nom. Reporter Miamidade Police detectives Maria Mederos and gus bayas had barely clocked in for their monday morning shift when word came down of a homicide in a bleak Warehouse District. Its where they found, in a parking lot, the body of Wendy Trapaga lying between a car and a van. We could see the spatter of the blood on the van, meaning that whoever did this to her did it to her right there. Reporter so this body hadnt been disposed of there . This was the place where she was killed . Correct, correct. Reporter her head had been bashed in. But there was no weapon to be found. Did you find any jewelry missing or anything that said maybe this was an opportunistic robbery gone bad . What type of a homicide is this . Is this a robbery . Is this maybe some a drug deal that went bad . Tell me what youre taking in about the victim. She is a young girl, dressed like she may have gone out the night before. She didnt have her shoes on, which was unusual. Why is this young girl in this industrial parking lot . Reporter no reason to be out in this forlorn part of the county. No, no the unless she met up with someone. Reporter the detectives headed out to do the part of the job that never gets easier. Delivered terrible news. Horrible news. Reporter amid the shock and tears, detectives pieced together for the mother a sense of who the victim was and what her final days and hours had been about. Sunday evening, the phone call, weekended sounded okay, detectives were told. That next call at 5 48 a. M. , the one from michel asking if she was at her moms, was worrisome. She tells me at his job, he was disheveled about where she could be. Reporter Michel Escoto, it turned out, was about to get an official answer to his where is she question. And while were talking, the phone rings. And its Michel Escoto calling. Reporter again asking his motherinlaw, had she heard from wendy . Detectives grabbed the phone and asked where he was. They headed over to michels apartment to deliver the news about his girlfriend of eight months, his bride of four days. We walked into his apartment when he blurted out, is she dead . And we explained to him were investigating the death wendy, et cetera. He started balling up. Reporter doubled over. Crying. Police gave him a few minutes to compose himself before asking him to come down to headquarters to answer some more questions. There he recounted the brief honeymoon. Michel told the detectives that wendy had the idea of adding a little more spice before rejoining their workweek lives. Well, we havent had much of a honeymoon this weekend. Lets extend our honeymoon. Reporter so, as Michel Escoto told it, around midnight they checked into a miami hotel that features fantasy suites with a private pool and jacuzzi. He says they had sex, slept a little, and wendy dozed off in the jacuzzi. Around 4 00 a. M. , michel says they checked out and headed home. And thats when, he said, the newlyweds had their first argument. Michel says he walked into the apartment, leaving wendy in the car. Three minutes later he comes out. He says when he comes out the car is gone. Wendy is gone. Reporter Michel Escoto spoke with detectives for 14 hours. They asked him repeatedly if he could identify anyone with a motive. He said he couldnt. After leaving police headquarters, he saw his friend ramon santa cruz. He was looking depressed. He looked down, maybe tired. Reporter five days after her murder, wendy was laid to rest, and then friends and family gathered at her parents home. Detective bayas was there as well, and he learned something about the couple that would send the investigation down another path. A thread of this investigation takes you into the swinger lifestyle. Whats been going on with michel and wendy in this club scene . After im informed of this, that wendy was part of a Swingers Club, a place called the miami velvet down here in south miami, the first thing i did was i called michel. He did admit to having encounters with other couples there. Reporter so now you got to wonder, did somebody have a thing they developed about wendy, and is that person maybe the killer . It turns out the club is within a mile and a half of the scene. So i wanted to explore that. Reporter the Swingers Club was cooperative, and detectives took dna samples from a few employees and members. They would have to wait for the results. In the meantime the investigation was turning up a new lead, a former girlfriend of michels. Her name, yolanda cerrillo. Yolanda cerillo is a person that had a relationship with michel before he met the victim. According to her, michel left her for wendy. She loved Michel Escoto. She was very much in love with him. Reporter yolanda, a single mother, was she also a woman scorned . Michel left her just sixmonths earlier and, to add insult to injury, asked her to watch his dog while he was on his honeymoon with wendy. To go to the extent of taking care of somebodys dog during their honeymoon, its just, as a woman, very strange to me. Reporter does yolanda become a suspect . A woman who feels that she was cashiered, fired because of this younger woman, and nobody gets away with that, and im gonna kill you . Theres a lot to yolanda. Theres a lot to yolanda. Reporter a lot of bad, if you ask ramon santa cruz. I didnt like her from the beginning because she was very evasive. The apartment was always dirty. She was never a good person to begin with. Reporter detectives met with yolanda cerrillo, who freely admitted that she had been devastated when michel dumped her, but she had no idea who beat his wife to death. She said she didnt know anything about it. Reporter but the detectives noted Something Else about yolanda. She lived just a few minutes from the parking lot where theyd found wendy. When you start adding up all the Little Things together, then her proximity to the crime scene im very interested in yolanda cerrillo. Reporter no one knew yet what yolanda was hiding. That would come later and so would the revelation of a motive that seemed to explain every violent little thing. Coming up a million reasons why someone wanted wendy dead. I ask him, how much is the Life Insurance policy . And he said, one Million Dollars. Reporter when dateline continues. Oncedaily breo ellipta helps increase airflow from the lungs for a full 24 hours. And breo helps reduce symptom flareups that last several days and require oral steroids, antibiotics, or hospital stay. Breo is not for asthma. Breo contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. It is not known if this risk is increased in copd. Breo wont replace rescue inhalers for sudden copd symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Breo may increase your risk of pneumonia, thrush, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking breo. Ask your doctor about breo for copd. First prescription free at mybreo. Com compared to a dry duster, a can of pledge picks up more dust and cleans 100 of messes. Pledge multi surface. Dusts better. Cleans more. Pledge multi surface. [thud] [eerie music] boo i am the ghost of meals past. When you dont use pam, this is what you get. Residue . Bargain brand cooking spray leaves annoying residue. Thats why theres pam. Everybody here got the lunchtime blues they need to be inspired Something Better than the rest. New lipton peach iced tea with that ham and cheese it tastes so sunshiney [ carl ] drink it down and youll believe the taste of peachiosity looks. [ carl ] drink it down and youll believe lowest prices its kohls lowest prices of the season save big now for backtoschool . On a new pair of juniors boots. Get the lowest prices of the season on guys levis 511s 39. 99. And fun play wear for the little ones 6. 99 each. Get the lowest prices of the season on plush towels just 3. 99 each. And select kitchen electrics are only 17. 99. Plus, everyone gets kohls cash. Dont miss kohls lowest prices of the season going on now. Find your yes. Kohls. Reporter who would want to murder pretty Wendy Trapaga . Did her killer meet her at the sexual swapping club that her the cops ran down those leads they kept going back to their notes from that fourteen hour interview with him. At times, it had been pulling teeth. Once we ask him over and over again, is there anybody with a motive . Anything . Anything at all . Anything you can tell us . I bring up the point, well, dont you have a Life Insurance policy . And and he says, yeah, we do. Reporter a hefty one, it would seem, for a healthy 21yearold woman he wasnt even married to at the time of purchase. I ask him, how much is the Life Insurance policy . And he said, 1 million. And i said, 1 million . And you dont think thats a motive . You dont think thats important to tell us . And he said, no, i dont because i have 1 million Life Insurance policy on myself too. I said, well, thats not in question because youre here, youre alive. Reporter one thing escoto did reveal wendy was not pregnant. He said that was the cause of their argument that night. He said wendy had lied to him about the whole thing. As the detectives questions got sharper that day, michel shut down. Would you take a polygraph . No. Can we photograph those bruises on your arm . No. Take a dna swab . Again, no. He didnt talk himself off your list of suspects. He did not. He did not. Reporter the working theory of the crime was as simple as it was brute hed bashed in her skull for the Million Dollar insurance payout. A tire iron was missing from her car, a likely weapon, but nowhere to be found. So, you two go to the prosecutor, the state attorney and say, we got it. Lets go. Grand jury. No, its not that easy. A wrap, were done. Why why isnt it its not you that easy . You gotta prove it. Gotta prove it. Reporter so, the police let their person of interest go. In the meantime, wendys family had huge suspicions about michel. Sister rita wasnt crazy about him from the moment she first met him. Call it bad energy. I shook that mans hand and i was wiping my hand right after i let it go. Its just it was eerie. This guy definitely did not pass the sniff test for you. No. Reporter the revelation that hed bought a Million Dollar Life Insurance policy on wendy only confirmed their belief that hed killed her. Two months after wendys death, michel filed for his beneficiary payout. The insurer, met life, balked saying the case was an unsolved homicide. And her murder would remain unsolved for a long time. Wed be frustrated, you know, the family of the victim. And were sitting there waiting and waiting. Reporter and then michel did something bold. He actually sued the Insurance Company to pay him his Million Dollars. Would a guilty man be so brazen as to try that . Absolutely, the family said. And by then, they had had enough. The family got a lawyer, jorge borron, and together they went after Michel Escoto. We believed he was the killer. Reporter two years after the murder, the family filed a wrongful death suit against michel. Met life put the insurance money in escrow and waited on the sidelines as michel and wendys family fought it out in civil court. But if michel wanted to see so much as one cent of that money, he would have to do something he hadnt done before. He has to testify and he has he cannot take the plead the fifth. Especially since hes pursing the the claim. So, he has to testify. Reporter at this point, police and prosecutors were happy to help the familys attorney prepare his case, sharing those statements michel had made to detectives after wendys death. They call you in and say, take a look at what weve got. Is that right . We asked them if we we would be allowed to look at the statements he had given. And we were. Reporter Michel Escoto was videotaped as he gave a sworn deposition. We took his deposition and his story just kept changing. So, the story about a fight and she takes a hike just doesnt no, it didnt add up. It doesnt add up. For instance, he testified that wendy it was her idea, all of a sudden that night to go to the miami executive hotel. Reporter however, back in 2002, yolanda, the exgirlfriend, told Police Michel had asked her to make the Hotel Reservation for him. It wasnt wendys idea at all. A factual discrepancy also known as a lie. During the deposition, michel also admitted that yolanda was no longer his ex. Hed moved back in with her not long after wendys death. Are you still intimate with yolanda . Yes, we are. Do you have any plans of marrying yolanda . Plans as such . No. Reporter there had been one question about michel and yolanda that had nagged detectives since 2002. They learned through phone records that on the night of the murder, michel paged yolanda at three in the morning. But why . Both michel and yolanda told police at the time he wanted to check on her sick daughter. He claims, of course, that he beats her because he thought the her daughter yolandas daughter was was sick. We later find out that yolandas daughter was not sick. So, theres no reason for a middle of the night no reason what communication. No reason whatsoever. Reporter when the civil case finally went to trial, escoto got so roughed up that on the second day, he was a noshow in court. Wendys mother got the insurance money and prosecutors got to hear firsthand about his constantly shifting stories. The state attorney sat in the courtroom and was taking notes. And did you have a little chit chat in the hallway outside . We did. Whatd you say . This is your case. I mean, you have all the evidence right now. And of course, we gave em the deposition testimony and everything we had. We had outlined. Reporter Michel Escoto was arrested three days after his court noshow and was charged with the murder of his bride, Wendy Trapaga. But police still thought they needed more. So, they fixed their eyes on the girlfriend yolanda cerrillo. I knew that eventually as time goes by that relationship would deteriorate. Would deteriorate to the whyd you think that . Because if they had that secret amongst each other, that was gonna be a friction point in their relationship. Its too corrosive a secret to keep. Yes, yes. How do you reel her in . Well, time. Time. Time changes relationships. Reporter and it did. In 2006, one year after michel was arrested, yolanda and her attorney went to prosecutors and said lets make a deal. She got full immunity in exchange for telling how she helped michel that night. She came into the state Attorneys Office and explained that she did take him away from the crime scene. So, thats a great story to tell a jury . Yes, thats it. Reporter police may not have had a murder weapon or helpful forensic clues. But now they had yolanda who was about to give her version of that night. It was cold hearted and calculating. Coming up a dress rehearsal for murder. We filled up the tub, and i got in the water. And he pushed me down with his hands. Every story has two sides, especially when its a lovers triangle. I dont put it past her as being a person who would have committed this crime. And should a spurned lover be believed anyway . It was all a plan that he didnt life her. He loved me. Thing were heating up. 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I love to travel, no foreign transaction fees means real savings. We can go to any country and spend money the way we would in the u. S. When i spend money on this card i can see brazil in my future. For a limited time, earn 50,000 bonus miles. Offer ends september 2nd. Reporter nearly 12 years after the murder of Wendy Trapaga, her husband Michel Escoto was finally on hed pleaded not guilty to firstdegree charges. Four days, four days after that marriage, this defendant bludgeoned and strangled Wendy Trapaga to death. Reporter among the first witnesses, wendys heartbroken mother, myriam benitez. Speaking through an interpreter, the mother said she was shocked when she learned the couple had taken Life Insurance policies out on one another just before their marriage. Translator i did not feel good. I expressed to her why insurance, theyre not even married. They didnt have children, why insurance . Reporter on the stand, detective maria maderos said she zeroed in on that insurance policy when she questioned escoto a day after the murder. I told him if he couldnt muster up a tear for his wife of four days, to muster up a tear for the Million Dollars hes never going to see. What was his reaction . Reporter that lack of emotion was it indifference to wendy or a disregard for women in general . Detectives say escoto was a man with a history of mooching off girlfriends. This former lover testified she supported escoto for years. How much money did you give him a month . Umm, approximately maybe 1500. Reporter go figure, the state said, but for whatever reason women threw gifts at escoto. One bought him the ducati motorcycle, another, a car. But still another former lover who also supported him for years would be the prosecutions star witness. Yolanda cerrillo. Reporter yolanda cerrillo. The prosecution argued she was the girlfriend with intimate knowledge of how escoto carried out this brutal crime. Shed been given immunity in exchange for her testimony here. Wiping away tears, she recounted how it all started. How she fell hard for the defendant she thought to be a charmer. Have you ever had a man you could share your life with . I thought it was michel. Reporter only to realize he was dumping her for the younger, and more attractive wendy. Yolanda said she then confronted escoto in this restaurant parking lot and heard for the first time she said, that his impending marriage to wendy was all a sham, that in the end he would come back to yolanda with pockets full of cash. He said to calm down, that it was all a plan, that he didnt love her, he loved me. He was gonna marry her, they were gonna have an insurance policy and she was gonna die. All right. So, he told you he had a plan . Yes. Reporter the plan was murder. It was during that conversation, yolanda told jurors, that she became a coconspirator not only helping escoto cover up his crime, but also helping him carry it out. This was the plan on his wedding night, yolanda said escoto would drug and drown wendy. To make sure he got it right, yolanda admitted she took part in a grim dress rehearsal of what was meant to look like an accidental death. We filled up my tub and i got in the water. And he pushed me down with his hands. You let him push you under the water . Yes. What did you say once he let you up . I told him that wouldnt ice test. Pushbutton extension. Levemir® lasts 42 days without refrigeration. Thats 50 longer than lantus®, which lasts 28 days. Today, im asking about levemir® flextouch. female announcer levemir® is a longacting insulin, used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes and is not recommended to treat diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not use levemir® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. 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Smile woah, this takes really good pictures vo maggie wants some handson experience. Handson experience. With samsung. But shes been going about it all the wrong way. I have . Yeah, you have. Luckily for maggie, there is a place for her to touch, try and play with all of the devices shes been dying to get her hands on. The Samsung Experience shop, only at best buy. The Samsung Galaxy s5 now available in electric blue, only at best buy. Reporter after a sevenweek trial, and testimony from almost 40 witnesses, the prosecutor and the defense attorney, in this case Michel Escoto himself, would get one last chance to talk to the jurors in closing arguments. Prosecutor gail levine acknowledged that her office had to hold its nose in order to get escotos girlfriend yolanda to testify against him. I cant charge her. Id love to. But i cant. And she came in here. And she filled in the details. She gave you the answers to questions that you had. Reporter when it was the defenses turn, escoto and his backup attorney, terry lenamon, surprised the courtroom. Would you like mr. Lenamon to take over as your counsel at this time . Id like mr. Lenamon to take over. Thank you, mr. Escoto. If i may proceed judge. Reporter for the first time in this trial, escotos backup counsel, terry lenamon, a seasoned defense attorney, would take over and urge the jurors to find reasonable doubt in the states case. Lenamon jumped in attacking what he called the prosecutors overselling of a mostly circumstantial case. This is a court of law, and no matter how much i scream as an advocate no matter how much i wave my hands or say villain, villain, villain, villain, bad, villain, villain, it doesnt make it so. Reporter lenamons strategy was to plant a seed of doubt in just one jurors mind. If theres a hung jury, we may have to start over again. Reporter then the case went to the jury. Wendys family as they had done throughout the trial, gathered together once again, and prayed. Her mother hugged prosecutor gail levine, whod pursued escoto so ferociously. Shes my hero. She is without a doubt my hero. Reporter two and a half hours after the jury went out, cell phones started buzzing in the courthouse. So many years since wendys murder, and now, in moments, her family would know. The years of waiting, the years of mourning her. All of a sudden were told, the verdict is in. Before i got to the courtroom, i was already crying. I was shaking. Reporter wendys family members held their breath. Escoto appeared to do the same as the judge instructed the clerk to read the verdict. We the jury in miamidade county, florida, this 22nd day of april, 2013, find the defendant 2014, find the defendant, Michel Escoto guilty of firstdegree, premeditated murder. Reporter Michel Escoto sat stone faced in his chair, his lips down turned in a grimace. Nodding. For the family, there were more tears, but of a different kind. Now sorrow milked with relief mixed with relief and satisfaction. Wendys mother dropped to her knees and gave thanks. For detective maria maderos, a 12year case was now officially stamped, closed. Hell never do this to another woman again. His lies and his charming, and his planning and his evil plan will not affect another person. Reporter but there was someone the family felt had gotten away with murder escotos girlfriend, yolanda cerrillo. Her immunity deal meant she would never spend a day in jail. Theyre both monsters. Theyre both psychopaths. I dont care at all how desperate, how insecure, how lacking in selfrespect you have. Youre a mother. And you went ahead and planned out the death of another mothers daughter. Reporter but investigators said without yolanda, things might have turned out differently. People are going to be throwing their shoes at the tv screen at this point, detective. She gave us the additional thing that we needed to charge and keep and bring Michel Escoto to justice in this case. So he gets a life sentence, and she gets, have a nice day. Thats how it appears. But in lieu of not having anybody held accountable for this, ill take that. Reporter but the family wasnt going to let yolanda off so easily. They sued her for the wrongful death of wendy and were awarded a 44million judgement. Though they have no expectations of ever seeing that kind of money. If she has to pay one cent a week, its well worth it as a reminder for the rest of her life how she assisted that monster. Reporter two weeks after his conviction, Michel Escoto was sentenced for the murder of his new bride. At the hearing, he proclaimed his innocence to wendys family. No matter how much satisfaction this verdict has given any of you, an innocent person was convicted in this case. Reporter finally, the family had an opportunity to address the man who killed wendy. Justice served. Off to hell with you and good riddance. When wendys mother, myriam, spoke through a translator, there wasnt a dry eye in the courtroom. Translator sunday is mothers day. Many of you have daughters or sons. And you will receive a kiss from them. I have to go to the cemetery to put flowers on my daughters tomb. Reporter judge marisa tinklermendez gave escoto the mandatory sentence. Life in prison without the possibility of parole. Reporter the only way he leaves prison is in a pine box. On the day escoto was found guilty, the family went to the cemetery to visit wendy. They sat on her grave and talked to her. I kind of just sat back and felt that i could breathe for the first time in so long. And i just felt that she was finally at peace. She can rest now. Reporter rest for wendy, the kind young woman who loved animals and enjoyed playing dressup and who fatally married a stranger till death he did part. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Well see you again this sunday for a special edition of dateline at 7 00, 6 00 central. And ill see you tomorrow on today. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, good announcer nbc bay area news starts now. Right now at 11 00, you can see them for miles. Intense fire fights on opposite ends of the bay as crews battle two, large, smoking fires. Good evening, everyone. We begin with that fire, not only intense, but dangerous. And all during the evening commute. The first fire at a recycling yard on mayor island. Then, about 45 minutes later, a fire raged at a