Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20150502

Reporter it started with a strange, sudden death. Then another and another he had been crushed under a vehicle while working on it. Reporter all, ruled accidents, but were they . It didnt smell right. Reporter for investigators, a journey in to the supernatural. He would say that even though we couldnt see her, she was there. Reporter who, or what, had a grip on this place. Amber was the angel of death. She would come around when somebody was going to die. Reporter a terrifying tale of dark power and diabolical prophecies. He predicted my mom was going to die. Reporter im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Dennis Murphy with angels and demons. You might as well be telling me to go live on the moon because that just wasnt something that could happen. The thought of leaving was scarier than the thought of staying. I never once thought about leaving. I thought about killing myself, but i didnt think about leaving. Reporter rolling out past the downtown grid, toward the wideopen flatlands north of wichita, kansas, it would be easy to zip by the small cluster of homes nestled between corn and wheat fields not notice them at all. Maybe that was the point. But the nondescript compound did have a whimsical name Angels Landing and it was home to a kind of large puttogether family, a commune really, including two sisters. We had a great relationship. I had everything i wanted. Reporter but Angels Landing gnawed at a county detective. For years he could not shake the place, or the people who lived there, from his mind. You thought there was a criminal scheme goin on here . It didnt smell right. For us, it was a game of cat and mouse. Reporter and after a decadelong obsession, the detectives hunch would be proved right. It turned out to be far more sinister than anyone could imagine. We had kept this a secret for 10 years and no one knew. Reporter he would uncover a supernatural tale of angels and demons. An investigation into the saga of a travelling family that dabbled in most of the seven deadly sins. Amber was the angel of death. Did you believe it . He could see the future. Reporter lies . Plenty. Lust, greed, murder . Angels landing had all of that and more. All i could think about was how are they going to believe me . You know, this is such a crazy story. What if they dont believe me . Reporter growing up near kansas city, missouri, the two sisters sara and emily had about as normal a life as any suburban girls in the midwest. My sister and i used to play together when we were younger. My mom, it seemed like she was always home with us. And my dad was always there for dinner and things like that it seemed like. Reporter their dad built houses. Mom, jennifer, a realtor, sold them. And the girls were close, despite a 7year age gap. We would go fishing together. She would take me to the pool every day during the summer. Things like that. So, i mean, we were close, but we fought like siblings. Reporter sara was 16. Emily just 9 and a star student. I was a teachers pet. And i was usually one of the top of my class. You were always prepared. Yeah, i was a suck up. You said that. I didnt, emily. Totally was. I didnt know it then. But i was. Reporter everything was easy sailing for the girls until their parents lives went in different directions. I knew that my parents were getting divorced. I didnt know why. They never fought in front of us or anything. Reporter thats always tough for kids. That summer, 2001, their mom jennifer was showing houses to a new client, a man named lou castro who, with his long hair, and western hat, looked for all the world like a wellheeled young cowboy. He seemed really charismatic and outgoing and friendly and like he had a lot of money. He would tell everybody that he had cattle in south dakota, and that he was trading stocks he told me he had a bunch of cars in texas somewhere, and that he owned a mansion down there. Reporter this softspoken man was looking for a Country Property for his somewhat new age family commune just down from south dakota a young married couple, trish and brian hughes their baby girl and a young wm woman from north dakota. Jennifer found them just the right parcel, but even after turning over the keys, there was something about that lou castro guy, that emilys mom found ir resistable irresistable. Hed become more than a client. Well at first, he was just somebody that mom was doing business with. But they would go to lunch often. Reporter as you look back now emily what do you think went on with your mother . I dont know. Reporter but something was going on, huh . Something was. Reporter and something was going on with lou too. No sooner had he settled down in greater kansas city, than his family commune was on the move again. And guess who was going with them . Jennifer the realtor and her two girls. Reporter and whatd your dad think . My dad was devastated. Reporter just like that, in the fall of 2001. Emily, sara and their mom were packing up a uhaul and heading out for a fresh start to life. You got to leave your neighborhood, your playmates, your class kids. At first, i was really upset. But eventually it kind of seemed like a new adventure and that thats what mom really needed to do. Reporter the new home for all three was a tenacre minifarm north of wichita. They moved in with lou and his family commune in the spread they called Angels Landing. The girls mom jennifer bought the adjoining ten acres and built a second house. And after they added a Swimming Pool and a dirt track for atvs, the commune later put up a third house. So what was the routine at the household . We were all having meals together. And we didnt really do chores. Reporter while the girls mom resumed her realestate business, brian worked as a mechanic and lou organized the down time. He would throw parties about every weekend. There was a lot of drinking. Other people would bring their kids over. Wed go swimming. I would take care of the little kids. Wed play pool. Reporter pretty normal. Little lavish, but pretty normal stuff. Reporter lou loved toys with engines and there were a couple of workshops big enough to garage his enormous radiocontrolled planes and a fleet of snazzy cars. Going to a dealership and buying a corvette was like going to a toy store and picking out a model car. Like, that is how quickly. He would just go and pick one out, say, all right. I want it. Reporter corvettes, dodge viper . Many corvettes, a few dodge vipers. We had suburbans, tahoes, trail blazers big trucks, duallies. Reporter they had vanity plates angel one, angel two and so on. So a lot of it is kind of a kids dream, huh . Yeah. I mean i got everything i wanted. Reporter while the sisters did stay in touch with their dad who had moved nearby lous promise of whatever your heart desires found a sweet spot. Lou asked me what i wanted for my birthday. And i was like, well, i would love to have a horse. But i know that its expensive. And i know its too much work. So, were not gonna do that. Hes like, no, if you want a horse, were gonna get a horse. Reporter you were the little girl who got a horse for your birthday . I was. I got three horses. Reporter you were the princess of the house . Yes. Reporter emily being the princess didnt always sit well with sister sara. So the other young mom in the family brians wife trish sometimes stepped in to referee their sibling rivalry. She was the disciplinarian . Kind of. There was a specific way to do things. And you did it her way. And thats just what was expected. Reporter what did you think of trish . Did you like her . She was wonderful. I loved her just like another mom. Reporter so she really was substitute mom in a lot of things, huh . She was. Reporter so the sisters will never forget that awful day in june 2003. Emily just 11yearsold found herself standing by the Swimming Pool. Trish was floating in the shallow end of the pool, face down. Reporter a beach sandal floated on the water. Trish was dead. Reporter just two years reporter for emily and everyone else the sunny life at Angels Landing had ended. When we return the horror of losing one of their own. It was very traumatic. Later there would be more shocks in store, mysterious accidents. Dark threats involving this spirit world and one seemingly denomic transformation. He would get aer the able grin that just looked evil. This toothpaste, sensodyne repair protect can actually repair and protect sensitive teeth. And as long as they brush twice a day, everyday, then they can expect to continually have that reparative layer of protection. Against sensitivity. 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I am having a really great time. I am so glad you came. I knew everybody here would love you. Oh no. Who. Is this . i told you, i am seeing someone else. Hi, i am heinz new mustard. Hi na na na na shes just jealous because you have better taste. You who do you think has better taste . Anybody wants a hot dog . Whatever. Hey. Keep your chin up. For years, heinz ketchup has been with the wrong mustard. Well, not anymore. Introducing heinz new better tasting yellow mustard. Mmm reporter just two years new start with their moms freeliving, freespending friends near wichita, kansas, the two sisters, emily, 11, and sara, 17, were still living in the family commune called Angels Landing. Lou, who had money and lots of spare time, was the patriarch. And trish who was married to brian and had a baby daughter took care of the home. Trish kind of was the one that would be there before we went to school and after we went to school, because my mom had to work. Did you like her . I loved her. I loved trish. Reporter so what happened in june 2003 at Angels Landing came as a sudden lifealtering shock. The day began normally enough for the sisters. We all had gone to lunch, trish and her daughter a friend of mine and her baby and then lou and my sister. And then we came back to the house after lunch. And trish and emily and the baby were going to clean the pool. That was the plan for the afternoon . Right. And lou and i were gonna go to davis moore. Car dealer . Correct. So you go off to the car dealership with lou . Uhhuh. Reporter back at the Swimming Pool, something truly awful had happened. I called 911. Reporter she told the operator that trishs toddler had fallen in to the pool, and when trish had tried to save her little girl she slipped backwards. She tripped and fell and hit the concrete . She fell and hit her head and drowned. And the baby was in trouble in the pool, and that you rescued the baby but you couldnt help . Right. Reporter emily got the baby out of the pool but, because she was just a wisp of a thing, try as she might emily could not lift trishs body out of the water. Hopeless. Across town, sara and lou were checking out cars at the dealership when saras phone rang. I receive a phone call from emily. And she says that, trish fell in the pool. I need you to come home. Did she say that trish was dead . Yes. So this is shocking news. Youve all just had lunch a few hours before. And now youre hearing trish is dead, huh . Uhhuh. Reporter lou and sara raced back home to Angels Landing, where police and emts were already on the scene. Theres no reason to believe that she was under the influence of anything at this time. Reporter they had pulled trishs body from the pool, and taken photographs. A single beach sandal floated on the waters surface. Pieces of trishs hair clip were in the pool. It had snapped apart when she banged her head, they presumed. And there were small bruises and a cut on trishs forehead. The medical examiner determined trishs death was due to a freakishly bad accident. Trish was just 26 years old. And trish was gone . Yeah. Reporter the family was in a state of shock. Devastated. Trish had been kind of a mother of the house, the way you talk about her. Yeah. For you, too. Absolutely. It was really hard. It breaks my heart. Reporter and it was hard for lou. Trish was someone he regarded as his best friend. Lou had met trish in the mid 90s in south texas, after serving in the navy as a plane mechanic. And for eight years they were inseparable travelers. Moving on to south dakota and ending up in wichita. It was very traumatic. Reporter as the family commune tried to come to terms with the tragedy, trishs husband brian embraced his little daughter closer; and gradually, they all got on with their lives. And then, youre, what, goin back to school and yep. Exactly. Reporter still it was hard for the family to put trishs death behind them. And Something Else was troubling. Emily and sara had a fuzzy recollection that trish wasnt the first person in the family commune to die. Theyd recently met a teenager whod also once been on the fringes of the commune. And he told a story with painful echoes. Coming up, a tale of tragedy and mystery. I knew something wasnt right and he told me, your mom and sister have been mising. Two members of the commune van niche thin air. When dateline continues. Why am i so awake . Did you know your brain has a wake system. And a sleep system . Science suggests when you have insomnia, the neurotransmitters in your wake system may be too strong, which may be preventing you from getting the sleep you need. Talk to your doctor about ways to manage your insomnia. Enamel is your teeths first line of defense. But daily eating and drinking can make it weak. Try colgate enamel health. It replenishes weak spots with natural calcium to strengthen enamel four times better. Colgate enamel health. Stronger, healthy enamel. Reporter at Angels Landing, the family commune was slowly mending after the devastating loss of trish hughes, who had drowned in the Swimming Pool, since covered over. Sisters sara and emily saw trishs husband brian, an auto mechanic, a broken man, left to raise a daughter. Brian loved trish more than anything in the world. And he loved his daughter immensely. He was a really just good person. He missed his wife. Brian was sad. Reporter as they coped with the loss themselves, emily and sara had a flashback, and pieced together another incident when tragedy struck the family about two years before. I wasnt there, and im glad i wasnt there. That would be more that i had lost. Reporter not long before trishs death, the sisters met 15yearold Cody Griffith from texas, whod also once been on the fringes of the family commune. Hed been close to trish and lou thanks to his mom, mona. My mom and trish were really great friends. They would do a lot together. Reporter codys mom mona was something of a flower child. She was extremely loving very freespirited. Everything was spontaneous. There was really no planning. She could say, hey, lets get in the car and drive somewhere. Reporter couldve been a hippie in an earlier day, huh . Maybe. Just someone who is extremely loving, very accepting. Reporter when cody was growing up in Corpus Christi in the mid 90s, his mom, mona, was going through a difficult divorce and financial trouble. She, cody and codys young sister lindsey moved in with their good friends trish and lou from the apartment complex. I can remember lou taking us to baseball practice when my sister was little, picking her up from school and stuff like that. Reporter his mom, mona, and trish took turns cooking for what was the beginnings of the commune. So youre really an extended family . Yeah, pretty much. I mean, it was like living with an aunt and uncle. Reporter so when trish and lou suddenly decided they wanted to pick up sticks and move to south dakota, mona wanted to go too, and to take cody and his sister lindsey along as well. Ill never forget it. It was just like yesterday, and i told her, no, im not leaving. And i had gotten extremely upset. Reporter the very thought of being so far away from his dad was too much for cody. So what did she say . Yes, you are. Youre gonna go with us . No. She let me make that decision. She would have not wanted me to do something i didnt wanna do. Reporter so in late 1998, mona and codys younger sister lindsey ended up leaving Corpus Christi and settled near rapid city, south dakota, where, one christmas, cody paid them a visit. It was an extremely small home. It was like in the mountains. We even went and cut our own christmas tree. Reporter off the grid kind of a cabin place . Yeah. Reporter the cabin was a tightsqueeze for sure, but the family commune was growing. It was here that trish met and married brian, the auto mechanic, and they had a daughter. Mona, codys mom, had also found a boyfriend, a rapid city realtor and experienced private plane pilot. You were okay with that, huh . Oh, yeah. I wanted my mom to be happy. And, you know, i looked forward to meeting him. Reporter did you ever meet him . No. Reporter one friday in february of 2001, mona and her boyfriend decided to take daughter lindsey on an exciting birthday trip to nebraska. Exciting because monas boyfriend would fly them there himself. They took off from rapid city. But not long after, something went terribly wrong. How did you find out about the plane . My dad had called me inside, and he just looked at me. And i knew something wasnt right. And then he just told me, hey, your mom and sister have been missing. Reporter your dad must have been all ripped up, huh . Theres nothing you can say. I mean he didnt there was no way that he could explain to his son that his sister and mom are gone. Reporter and imagine you hope that somebodys crawled out of the wreckage and theyve got some food and water and theyre in a little tent waiting for search and rescue to find them but thats the only thing i could pray for. Reporter as cody was praying for a miracle, monas sister lisa also got a phone call, from another sister. And shes crying hysterically. And she said that mona and lindsey had left on a plane, and the plane had never reached its destination. And they didnt know where it was. Reporter monas boyfriend hadnt filed a flight plan, so the plane could be anywhere. Rugged territory. Correct. Up in the badlands area, we assume, or nebraska. We really had no clue. Reporter but in south dakota, lou castro, a former navy plane mechanic, was on it. When lisa paid a short visit to try to help find her sister and niece, lou was in constant touch with search and rescue. A huge comfort. Soft spoken, nice, funny, friendly. He seemed very concerned. Very, very distraught over mona and lindseys disappearance. And very helpful. I mean, he was very gracious in whatever we wanted. Reporter so its thank goodness we have lou at the helm here, huh . Exactly. You know, he didnt work. So he seemed to have plenty of time. He seemed to know everybody. They knew him. We were grateful that there was somebody that was had taken control and was keeping us in the loop also. Reporter at a gathering of lindseys School Friends in support of the search, lou seemed especially popular with all the girls. Oh, they were mesmerized by him. Was he telling them stories or jokes or uhhuh, laughing. He knew them all quite well. We could tell. Reporter was there something a little creepy about it . I dont want to plant an idea here that that didnt exist. They all knew lou, but they didnt know lindseys mom. I just i just found that strange. Reporter six weeks after the plane went missing, lisa and cody got the the news they were dreading. The wreckage had been found. There were no survivors. So thats the end of hope . This is not gonna have a miraculous ending . Yeah. Uhhuh. Reporter cody traveled back to rapid city, and once again saw lou, who seemed distraught. He starts crying and he tells me that my little sister was never supposed to be on the plane. He tells me that if my mom would have only been on the plane, that he says, you know i would have taken your sister and we would have left. Reporter he would have become like the adoptive father then . Right. Reporter how would he know whether she was supposed to be or not . I dont know. Reporter looking back, do you wonder what he meant by that . Every day. Every day. Reporter an ntsb investigation into the catastrophe found no mechanical problems with the plane, leaning toward a theory that bad weather had contributed to the crash. When do you miss your mom and sister the most . Times along the way when youve been growing up . [ sniffling ] cody, i dont think you need to put any words to it. You really cant. Reporter lou and trish, not blood relatives, determined the burial place for mona and lindsey a surprise to lisa, who again raised an eyebrow when she saw her sisters and nieces obituary in a south dakota newspaper. And it lists myself, my two sisters, and her brother lou. Were like where did we pick up a brother . Reporter later, as emily recalled the awful story of the plane crash, she too remembered lou telling her what hed told cody. He said that lindsey wasnt supposed to die. Reporter whatever that meant, in 2003, after trishs death in the Swimming Pool, emily and her sister sara werent the only ones trying to make sense of it all. A local detective in wichita was also taking an interest in the plane crash, and the death of trish hughes, and in whatever else might be going on at Angels Landing. Something wasnt adding up. One thing was adding up, the death toll of commune members. Another was just around the corner. We got the call that he had been crushed under a car he was fixing. Lets get this one. What are you thinking . Nothing. Now get the Pagosa Springs patio set for 98 at lowes. Where your style comes together. For soft beautiful feet, i have a professional secret. Amope and its premium foot care line. The new amope pedi perfect foot file gives you soft beautiful feet, effortlessly. Its micro luminor rotating head buffs away hard skin even on those hard to reach spots. Its amazing, you can see it and feel it. My new must have for soft beautiful feet. Amope, love every step. And this mothers day give the gift of soft beautiful feet with amope pedi perfect. Your eyes get sunburned too just like your skin. At lenscrafters we can fit your prescription into nearly any pair of sunglasses. Sunblock never looked this good. Lenscrafters loves eyes. 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And then, after trish died, it got more and more and more extravagant. Reporter more vehicles . Sports cars . Higherpriced vehicles. Reporter salesmen must have been licking their chops to see him coming, huh . They were. We all had the dealerships owners cell phones, cell phone. Reporter speed dial, huh . Yeah. Reporter in fact lou spent a million and a half dollars on cars in just a few years. And his lavish generosity didnt stop at the family. Civicminded lou was showered with highfives from the city council after he donated 19,000 towards a brand new police vehicle. And cops were always welcome at the extravagant parties thrown by lou at Angels Landing. One of the officers in the county dated one of the women there for while, huh . That was me. Reporter it was you . Uhhuh. Reporter but not everyone in uniform was joining in the fun. It didnt smell right. Reporter a local informant gave a psst, check it out, to wichita detective ron goodwyn an undercover narcotics officer who ended up recruiting two lawenforcement heavyweights. And in early 2003, from the shadows, the detective was eyeballing the commune, zeroing in on lou castro. Ron, why did you become interested in him in particular . He drew attention to himself. Reporter kinda flashy or ostentatious . Flashy. He had what appeared to be unexplained wealth, drew attention to himself with parties, high optioned vehicles. Each vehicle had an angel vanity plate with a number after it, one, two, three, four. Reporter maybe he had old family money, was an inheritance guy. Sure. And that was something that we had to look at without violating any of his rights. Reporter you thought there was a lot of smoke around this guy, but you didnt know what exactly it was coming from . There was. Reporter and the smoke kept billowing when goodwyn learned about the death of trish hughes. So her death didnt trigger your interest in him . It absolutely triggered more of my interest in him. Reporter goodwyn wanted to find out exactly who lou castro was. He ran castros name in Law Enforcement databases, quickly discovered he was trying to put his finger on a man who seemed to have no past, a virtual ghost. And not long after trish hughess death, he trawled the internet. And as i started researching. I started noticing that there were other deaths associated with him. Reporter he landed on that obituary of mona and her daughter lindsey, and bingo, there was lous name. That was the first time i had seen lou castro in print. Reporter underlying goodwyns suspicion about castros unexplained wealth he theorized he had a drug case. I worked drug cases and unexplained wealth is, is something that you look at to determine if thats how this person might be earning their money. Reporter so goodwyn set out to collect evidence from Angels Landing. He began with the trash bags. Maybe inside there was evidence of drugs, incriminating documents or a fingerprint . So maybe if you can get a fingerprint, somewhere hell be in the system and youll come up with a name . Thats right. Reporter you tried to get a fingerprint. I did. Reporter and the tech guys couldnt come up with anything . They could not. Reporter frustrating. There was no evidence of drugs. And nearly three years later there were still no clues as to who lou castro was. But in 2006, came another shocking coincidence. Brian hughes, trishs husband, an experienced 31 year old mechanic who was raising their daughter in the commune suffered an unimaginable accident. As emily tells it, brian was visiting family in south dakota. One day he called and he spoke to lou for a little while and then he asked to speak to his daughter, who was still in wichita. And the story goes that he told her goodbye. Reporter told his daughter goodbye . Right. And then, a couple hours later, we got the call that he had been crushed underneath a car that he was fixing. Reporter brian was dead. Really . That didnt make any sense to emily. He would have put blocks under the tires. Reporter he knew his way around a vehicle . Right. Reporter and then, he was dead . Yeah. Reporter the bodies were piling up, five now. But none of the findings in any of the cases, including brians, concluded there was foul play. It was classified, and still is classified, as an accident. Reporter detective goodwyn decided he was going to have to find a new angle on the enigma of Angels Landing and lou castro even if he had to work around the clock. What drove you on this thing . There had to be Something Else out there he was hiding from. Reporter the mystery . The mystery of lou castro, his true identity. Reporter one thing was for sure, goodwyn wasnt going to let this go. Coming up, yet another member of the commune meets a tragic end, but this time a light bulb would go off. What we saw was a pattern. Reporter as investigators dig in to lous past, he starts to seem like a ghost. There should have been credit records, drivers license records and we could find none. Reporter when dateline continues. Im so glad someone helped. Hunger lives closer than you think. Purchase participating items at walmart and you can help secure a meal for someone through feeding america food banks. Wait till you see what ive been doing. laughs i know, i, it just came to me. Manscaping husband . Get scrubbing bubbles. Kill 99. 9 of germs and destroy grime. With scrubbing bubbles for 100 problem solved. Fame change me . Not so much. I have to stay true to who i am. Almay smart shade makeup gets me. And my skintone. Perfectly. Underneath, im still carrie from checotah, oklahoma. Smart shades biggest fan youve got to try it almay. Simply american. Women talking about activia. 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Reporter in 2007, wichita detective ron goodwyn was investigating and keeping count of the mysterious deaths. Noon, her boyfriend and daughter lindsey perished in the plane crash, trish in the pool and now brian had been crushed under a car he was working on. While all of the deaths were deemed to be accidents really he wondered how could any family be so unlucky . What baffled him most is he didnt know who the central plan, lou tsa castro, really was. Rifling through Angels Landing trash cans hadnt worked. What do you do next . One day when i was out on a day off i just happened to see lou castro with a female in an suv vehicle. I followed them to a restaurant on the north end of town. Goodwyn sat in the restaurant, watched and waited. After they finished, i contacted the manager and asked if i could collect the dishs and glasses they had used at that table. Did that work . We tried every piece of dinner ware but were unsuccessful. Reporter he is still a mystery man. Thats right. He tried another fingerprint ploy. He cooked up a story about burglaries in the neighborhood. Could lou recognize the cars or people in the photos. So you hand the glossy 8x10s to the guy who you believe is lou castro. I do. How did he handle them. He takes them and holds them between his palms. Once the photos are out of of the envelope he moves them with his fingernails and doesnt pick them up by his fingers. He knew what you were go doing and didnt give you fingerprint. Raised my suspicion he was hiding from Law Enforcement. Reporter he called a detective who worked highprofile cases like the notorious wichita btk case. It was an amazing story when ron told me. All the mysterious death n. This business you dont believe in coincidences. I felt ron was on to something. Reporter ron enlisted another big gun to help find castro, john sullivan. We checked the fbi databases and private databases. I had the officers go out and get photographs, pull arrest records. We checked every lou castro we could find in the u. S. None matched the lou castro living in wichita. How unusual is that that the fbi cannot come up with a name and i. D. On the guy. Thats extremely unusual, especially in this day and age because usually everybody has a trail. There should have been credit records, drivers license record and all sorts of records and we could find none. Reporter none of the car purchases, property deeds and utility bills at Angels Landing were under the name lou castro. They were all under the names of commune members. Just as goodwyn was feeling stuck, another tragedy was about to happen in Angels Landing. In happened in 2008 when sara was 24 and emily 17. I called mom after school to have dinner with her. She didnt answer her phone. I was so angry with her. Because she ignored my phone call. About 30 minutes in to 0 the test i was taking, they pulled me out of class. My dad was there. He said, we have to go. And he started driving me to my house and i said, dad, we have to go to the hospital. And he said, no, emily, we dont. 911. Whats the location. Reporter their mothers car had swerved in to the oncoming traffic. She had hit gravel truck head on a rural road. So your mother was suddenly dead. Right. Reporter may have been distraction or turn away from trouble. We really dont know, do we . No idea. She just bought a little yorky and for the past couple of weeks she had been happy. Reporter what did the investigators make up happened. . They said it was an accident. Reporter the investigators couldnt ignore that jennifers headon highway death was the sixth in eight years from the same family commune. Does that change your interest in the case . Are you amped up more . I think we were. We saw a pattern. Reporter every two and a half years a mysterious death, deemed each time to be an accident. While the officers suspected lou castro was somehow involved they had no hard evidence on which to arrest them him. They had to wait. Its not that easy. We did not want to tip off what we were looking at and if he knew we were looking at him, he could move or change the way he does business. Reporter and you still did not know who he was. Reporter and a year later in 2009, castro did what they feared, he took off but just as the investigators thought lou castro might have slipped away they got their first big break. Coming a troubling encounter shakes sara. He was very angry with me, care scary angry. Reporter and someone new gives a first look in the angels land sdplg authorities were interested in what you had to say . Yeah. Breyers gelato indulgences. Creamy gelato, rich caramel topped with crunchy curls. Its way beyond ice cream. Now, try our new indulgent flavors. Quiet mom has a headache had a headache but now, i. Dont. Excedrin® is fast. 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Lou said emily we are doing this for you. Reporter for you . Yep, he said we were going to be closer to vanderbilt, which was the college i wanted to go to. And he said this whole move was for me. Thats kind of flattering to hear. Yeah, well and also, how do you say no when the entire thing is about you . So you were still the princess . Right. Reporter emily was 17, but sara was nearly 24 and edging away from the smothering nest. I moved out. Howd you do that . Thats a huge step. They were leaving to go to tennessee and i didnt wanna go. And i had just lost my mom and i couldnt stand the thought of losing my dad. I never have been able to stand that thought. My daddy is so important to me. And did you tell lou to his face, im not going. Im not gettin in the car . Yes. Howd that go down . He was very angry with me. Scary angry. And i just said, im i cant. Im not doin that. I dont wanna be that far away from my dad. I dont. Theres no way. Reporter emily might have gone to live with their father, but she remained with the commune. I wasnt going to leave what i considered my family. And your dad was part of another family back when but i mean i still visited my dad and i still loved my dad, but thats just not where i was going to live. Reporter so as the family and emily moved to a beautiful colonial home on acreage in columbia, tennessee, sara stood her ground in wichita. She could exhale at last. And one evening, she went out and met a guy. His name was daniel an expert marksman in the Kansas National guard. And as they fell in love, she began to spill the buried secrets of her past. Youd think nobody could have these dark stories that are part of your life. But you had just awful, awful things to tell . Uhhuh. Yes. Reporter sara was still in touch with the family commune, now living in tennessee. And daniel wanted to know more about this lou character sara was telling him about. And i just started researching all these deaths to try to figure out, you know, how much of it was related to this individual. Which is exactly what Law Enforcement was doin on the outside of all this, trying to look in and figure out where the puzzle lay. Whatd you feel about these stories . A lot of mixed emotions. I didnt know how to handle a lot of stuff at that time. Because it was all very fresh, very new to me. And just stuck with her and decided, you know, lets try to make things right. Reporter and secretly, daniel decided to take action. You put together a remarkable letter for the f. B. I. Yes. That took some guts to do it. I was just pretty much just tired of me carrying all that information myself. I found out enough that i believed that it should be in somebody elses hands that can do something with it. Reporter daniel laid out his suspicions, painting an alarming picture of the Angels Landing commune a series of mysterious deaths, a code of silence enforced with sickening threats, and a big clue as to where all the money might have come from. And at the center of it all the man who called himself lou castro. Even for this veteran of the wars in afghanistan and iraq, reporting to the authorities carried its risks. You worry about that . I did. But i decided, you know, this was something i have to do and the chips will fall where they fall. And turns out the authorities were very, very interested in what you had to say . Yes. Reporter so in december 2009, nearly sevenyears after the wichita investigation began, detectives goodwyn and snyder and the fbi agent sullivan got their first break the email from daniel. And in the email, he told us what he thought was happening. But the great thing about it was, for the first time, we had somebody from the inside that could confirm some of our suspicions. Saying you guys really need to look at this guy, lou castro . Yes. And im guessing you get a holy cow phone call, huh . Yes. We finally have a cooperating witness that will help us determine who lou castro is. Reporter in secret without sara knowing they brought daniel in and peppered him with questions. He related to us how lou castro and the others had moved to a residence in columbia, tennessee. We were reluctant to talk to his girlfriend because, again, we did not want to tip off lou castro or anybody else. Reporter and daniel, their inside man, delivered the mother lode. Theyd bring me pictures, do you can you identify these people . Theyre out at the gate lookin, you know, surveilling, watching cars come and go. But youre able to put the picture together for them . Correct. Reporter armed with daniels email and his intel, goodwyn, snyder and sullivan got an official green light to pursue castro and try to take him out of business. And, castro, walking into a bank in tennessee, was about to make a big mistake. Coming up, investigators finally get inside the doors of the commune. And later, sinister stories of Angels Landing dark angel. Amber was the angel of death. She would come around when somebody was going to die. Then youll hear from lou castro himself when dateline continues. A very happy woman. Join over 500,000 women whove discovered always discreet underwear. For more stories and your free sample go to always discreet. Com. So bladder leaks can feel like no big deal. At jared, we have a lot more jewelry than ordinary jewelry stores. More is good. I want to find her Something Special. But our jewelry is so much more than just. More. We have unique Diamond Fashion jewelry thats perfect for mothers day like these Beautiful Diamonds in rhythm necklaces. This is totally her. But wait. Theres more. Awwww. We call it the awww moment. And thats why. He went to jared. The galleria of jewelry. Reporter its a striking Colonial House deep in the countryside outside nashville, tennessee. And in 2010, this was where lou castros house full lived. There was lou, his fiance and their daughter; emily was there too and other commune members. Based on information saras boyfriend daniel had supplied to the three determined investigators, the fbi was now birddogging the property. But inside, emily and the other occupants were oblivious. So tennessee. The house looks very nice. You werent happy about leaving your your classmates and your life in wichita, but were you pleased at what the prospects were for you in tennessee . I was. I mean it was really hard going to school there and things, but i just started focusing on getting to college and things like that. Reporter emily recalls there had been so many changes. And one change in particular was unusual. Lous name. Lou now wanted to be called joe. How did he explain that to you . That, im not gonna be lou. Dont call me lou over here anymore. I think because he didnt have the proper, like, identification to actually get legitimately established as lou. So he needed, like, an actual Social Security card and an actual drivers license. Reporter by now, goodwyn and snyder and agent sullivan were getting up to speed on lous whereabouts and agents in tennessee were keeping close tabs on him. Johns counterparts in tennessee obtained a license tag on a vehicle out there which was registered to a person by the name of joe venegas. So at that time, we had a new name that we potentially thought could be a new Family Member or that could potentially be lou castro. Reporter at the same time as the investigators were looking for joe venegas, they were following money transferred from the Angels Landing family to their new home in tennessee. The money had transferred from wichita, kansas area banks to columbia, tennessee banks. Reporter emily remembers the day lou set up a new account. Did you go to the bank with him that day he opened the account . I did. Reporter you dont know that the local authorities had been looking at him for years back in wichita . Nope. Reporter after they got in touch with the bank, the investigators pulled the Security Camera video. There, clearly visible, was emily. And there was a man called joe venegas opening an account. And who did you see in that image . Lou castro. Reporter so lou castro, of wichita is now joe venegas of tennessee . Thats correct. Reporter the investigators believed he was neither lou castro nor joe venegas. And now hed been made. Identity fraud is a federal crime so the investigators now had grounds to arrest him. A week later, they moved in. We went to the front of the residence, knocked on the door. Mr. Castro and his common law wife answered the door. We actually approached him as joe venegas. We called him joe venegas to his face when we talked to him. He corrected us and told us he was not joe venegas, but he was in fact lou castro. So he went back to his old old identity. Reporter was he shaky to see Law Enforcement at his front door . I didnt think so. He was confident that he was gonna be able to explain away why we were there. Reporter the officers arrested him, charged him and searched the property. Whatd you find in the house . Normal things. We found paper documents. We found computers. We found 11 weapons, guns inside the house. Reporter any smoking guns . No. Reporter emily had been on her way home from school when she got a call from detective goodwyn. And he said, emily, where you are . And i said, i dont know who you are . He said, im detective goodwin. Where are you . He said, you need to come home. Reporter first time you heard that name, goodwyn, huh . I showed up and goodwyn and sullivan came out and i just about fainted. And goodwyn had to practically carry me into the house because i was terrified. Reporter what did they tell you it was all about . I dont remember. I remember that i didnt tell them anything. Reporter lou himself was continuing to confound the officers by not giving up his real name. Were very frustrated at that point. We swept him away to the jail as fast as possible. We wanted his fingerprints immediately. We wanted to know who he was. And that didnt occur. Reporter castros prints didnt show up in any federal database and, even after a sixhour interview, he didnt crack. So after the search warrant, after the tennessee trip, we came back to wichita partly happy because we had arrested lou castro, but we still didnt know who he was at that point. Reporter so when castro pleaded guilty to id fraud and was sentenced to twoyears in federal prison, goodwyn believed that was just a ploy to avoid much bigger charges really serious crimes over many years. And he was determined to get to the truth. Seven years after opening up his investigation into Angels Landing, he set off to the place he believed lou castros criminal journey began. And at last found castros true identity. Coming up, the discovery that would break the case wide open. I snatched it out of his hands and said where did you get that . Reporter and then emily makes a troubling discovery about lou. That was the price of being the princess . Right. Few days. I just want to be sure. As long as people drive cars carmax will be the best way to buy them. Lowes presents how to plan for the future. 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As the investigators called everyone with links to castro, the phone trail took goodwyn to south texas. It took us to south texas because Patricia Hughes the victim in the drowning was from beeville, texas. Reporter goodwyn questioned trishs family and a sister recalled trish had gone with a guy way back when. A guy by the name of daniel perez. Reporter had you ever heard that name in all your years of trying to figure out who lou castro was . No, id never heard that name. Reporter daniel perez. Goodwyn immediately contacted the local authorities and it turned out there was a record of a daniel perez and a mug shot. They faxed that to me that day. I remember when ron finally got the fax from texas and i snatched it out of his hands and said where did you get that . It was often it was the person we knew as lou castro. But now we, of course, knew he was daniel perez. Reporter we got our guy here . Yes. Reporter lou castro was daniel perez born in aransas pass, tx in 1959. The records showed daniel perez had pleaded no contest to two sex crimes in the mid 1990s. But the cases had been dismissed because he was believed to be dead. And the person believed in south texas to have been dead for many years wasnt dead because you saw him in wichita. Youd seen him driving his corvettes. Thats right. Reporter so he was on the lam . He was on the lam. Reporter in kansas and tennessee, interviews with the Angels Landing commune helped goodwyn connect the dots between six states and more than a dozen commune members over a period of about 15 years. And Something Else happened. Emily wrote a letter to lou while he was serving time for id fraud. I said im finally going where i wanna go and im doing the things i wanna do. And he wrote me back and chewed me out for not caring about him. Reporter that was the price of being right. Reporter his little princess. I was saying that i was happy. And he took that as a slap in the face. And i stopped talking to him. Reporter instead, emily started talking to the investigators but warily. She and sara trickled out their stories, fearful they too might be implicated in whatever goodwyn suspected. It took a lot of questioning and lots of tears and lots of detective goodwyn telling me that it was gonna be all right and that i wasnt in trouble. Reporter sara and emilys whole terrifying saga began when sara was 17 and emily just 10. A supernatural world began to emerge soon after their mom got to know the man they called lou in 2001 as they prepared to move into Angels Landing. Mom said, you know, emily, does i think sara was in the car, too. Does lou seem kinda special to you . And i was like, yeah, hes pretty nice. And shes like, well, you know, hes actually a seer. Reporter a seer . A seer. Mom said that he had told her that he was hundreds or thousands of years old, and that he could see what was going to happen in the future and that the reason we followed him was that she just had that instinct and just knew that she needed to be close to him, because he could protect her and keep her safe, because he knew what was coming. Reporter did you believe it . I mean i was a little skeptical at first. But i think when youre nine or ten and your mom says that this is really whats happening you give it a little bit more credibility. Reporter and it wasnt just emilys and saras mom. Others at Angels Landing believed lou was a direct descendent of geronimo and had the power to make it rain and Bring Good Health to those at deaths door. Trish had told me about similar incidents where either lou had been dead or an animal had been dead or somebody had been really sick and he made them better. Reporter did you believe it . Yes. He could also see people, like, from the past, like, people thatd already died, he could see those people too. Reporter see them because he said he was an angel. Lou said, you know, your mom is right. I am hundreds of years old. This isnt really my body, you know. Ive died several times, but this is just the one im in right now. Reporter what did you think . It seemed really cool, you know. It was like being so special, and being around this thing that nobody else gets to do. Reporter your very own angel . Right. Its like seeing santa claus. You get really excited when youre tenyearsold. And, you know, he was tellin us that he would take care of us, and he would always make sure that we were safe. Reporter but safety meant lou needed control. He was the one that told everybody what they were gonna do and when they were gonna do it and how they were gonna do that. Reporter really bossy guy, my way or the highway kinda thing . Kind of. He was very good at, like, manipulating you i guess you could say. Reporter was your mom vulnerable, do you think, he seemed to know where peoples buttons were. Yes, very much so. Reporter hes steppin in like the boss, huh . Yeah, he acted like he was my dad. Reporter what do you think that thing was that he put together that you got pulled into, sara . A cult. Reporter cult . And the guy you knew only as lou castro was the cult leader . Yes. Reporter what is that thing that he had . Did you feel that power . Yeah. Reporter he can say crazy things and you think hes telling you the truth . Yeah. Reporter detective ron goodwyn was incredulous listening to all of this. But nothing could have prepared him for what came next. Lou castro the seer had three angel alter egos. They were always watching over him. Daniel, amber, and arthur. Like, arthur was mean. And daniel was kinder. Reporter but you didnt wanna meet either of these alternate personalities, huh . No. No. Amber was the angel of death. So, she would come around when somebody was going to die. Reporter he could see who was going to die . Was that something he yes. Reporter said was in his powers . Right. Reporter and did you ever see that personality in him . I did. He wouldnt blink. He would get this terrible grin that just looked evil. Reporter the sisters say before their moms death, castro had a terrifying vision. He predicted that my mom was going to die. Reporter so howd you feel about this . Devastated. It was awful. Reporter the outlandish stories were shocking to ron goodwyn, a seasoned detective, who was about to discover more about lou castros power over life and death. Emily was about to take the detective back to that summer day in 2003 when trish hughes drowned in the Swimming Pool at Angels Landing. And her story is that Tricia Hughes is not an accidental drowning, thats right. Reporter detective coming up what emily heard. A splash and shriek. 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Eight months after castros arrest, emily at last took the detective back to 2003, and the tragic death of trish hughes. This was a different story than the one she told at the time back when she was 11, and it began with a prediction eerily similar to the one lou castro made before her moms death in 2008. She tells of an incident prior to Patricia Hughes drowning in the Swimming Pool. Reporter about a week before trishs death, emily, trishs toddler, and trish herself, were sitting at a table when lou castro the seer, as the 11 yearold emily believed him to be, had a vision. And he said, you know, emily, something really bigs gonna happen. And he said, trish is going to die. And i started crying. He said, its its okay. Its her time. Reporter she says castro told her not to worry. While he couldnt be there when trish died, because it would destroy his power as a seer, he would still bring trish back to life. And, you know, this shell come back. Do i understand that trish is listening in on all this . Right. Reporter shes hearing this described . Yes. Reporter is she startled . Does she say not me. Im not going along with this . No. She was in you know, quite involved. Reporter on the appointed day, the Angels Landing family had gone out to lunch. We had just gotten back from lunch. And he said, all right. Well, were gonna go to the dealership to look at a car. I think it was for sara, but i dont remember. And he said, but the pool needs to be cleaned. So, you and trish are gonna stay here and clean it. Youre gonna stay here and clean the pool. Yep. And he said, emily, its its time. And i said, okay. Reporter she says lou began to set up the cleaning equipment for the pool, a few feet away from the workshop. He said, youre gonna wait inside the shop with the little one. I said, okay. So, i gave trish a hug on the diving board, and i started crying. And she said, why are you crying . I said, cause im gonna miss you. And she said, itll be okay. Reporter then emily took the toddler, waited inside the workshop where there were some new kittens. A few minutes go by and theres a splash, theres a little scream. Reporter a little bit of a scream . Uhhuh, like a shriek. And then lou came in. And he was panting, or out of breath, he looked sad and his arms were wet. Reporter then, she says, lou gave emily a critical order. Wait 20 minutes. And then, go out there. Make sure you and the baby jump in so that youre wet, and call 911. So we went and we played with the kittens in the shop. And i waited. It was an agonizing 20 minutes. Reporter trying to entertain the little girl and knowing that trish was outside. Reporter time goes by. You leave the shed, go over to the pool. Yeah, we went to the pool. Trish was floating in the shallow end of the pool, face down. So, i got the baby and i jumped in. Reporter just to get yourself wet . Yeah. Because you had to you had a story that had been fed you, huh . Right. Reporter that you have attempted to rescue the baby . Right. How awful. There, youre seeing trish floating dead in the pool. I lost it. Reporter even so, emily called 911, just as shed been ordered by castro, and told the story that trish had slipped while trying to rescue the baby, had banged her head and drowned. And in the crucial 20 minute window, lou had apparently taken emilys sister sara to the car dealership. Did he give you a hint of what was going on that day, sara . No. Reporter what do you believe lou did at the pool that day . I believe he drowned trish. Reporter not an accident at all . No. Reporter pushed her head under the water and killed her . Yes. Reporter detective ron goodwyn believed both sara and emily had been horribly duped. Emily told the detective castro shored up his alibi with more hocuspocus, telling her that, with his powers as a seer, he had put her in a time warp, convincing her for many years that she was not even at the pool when trish drowned. So innocent, 11year old emily waited and waited for lou to bring trish back to life. But she was gone, and for years, her death remained an accidental drowning. I know that it was because of the story that i told, and theres a lot of regret that comes along with that. Reporter but youre not to blame for this. You do get that, right . Trying to come to terms. Reporter goodwyn was now grasping the full extent of castros hold over the family at Angels Landing. The control that he had over her was unlimited. She would do anything for him. She truly believed that he was this person. Reporter and with emilys story, he had the evidence hed been seeking, for so many years, of castros grievous crimes. So now, based on this little girls story, young woman, but telling the story of what she saw and took part in as a little girl, youve got a murder case . Yes. Reporter but, as if murder wasnt enough, emily and sara had more to tell. There were more crimes to reveal even more ugly stuff. Sara and emily were about to take the investigators into their truly diabolical world. 3 f2 hacia un mundo diabolico. Difficult part of your story. I will let you tell as little or as much as you would like. Your eyes get sunburned too just like your skin. At lenscrafters we can fit your prescription into nearly any pair of sunglasses. Sunblock never looked this good. Lenscrafters loves eyes. I like fun as much as anyone. But we need to talk about whoa what was that . About mustache safety. My blazin chicken sandwich has ghost pepper ranch sauce. You crave it. But you need to respect it. So remember keep it neat, before you eat the heat. Coming in hot jacks blazin chicken sandwich is back and its got a new bacon buddy. Theyre both firedup with spicy Crispy Chicken sliced jalapenos and ghost pepper ranch sauce. Youve. Been. Warned. Reporter wichita detective ron goodwyn had listened in horror as emily and sara revealed the awful story of trish hughess murder at Angels Landing. But nothing, not the email from daniel, the story about trishs drowning, or his wildest suspicions about lou castro, could prepare him for what he was about to hear next. Emily, heres the really difficult part of your story. And ill let you tell as little or as much of it as you like. But you seemed right away to be sharing the bedroom with lou. I was. As a fourth grader. Yes. I was i was ten. Ten years old . Yes. And i was in his bed every night. You know he convinced me that this is what i needed to do to take care of him, and this is my job. And why did he say that he needed you . He said that, for a seer, he needed to have a pure little girl to have sex with him so that he could survive. And that would recharge his batteries as the angel whos hundreds, maybe thousands of years old . Right. And he would validate it with old biblical stories or things like that, about how little girls are special, and that he really needed a little girl, and that i had to take care of him. Did you think it was wrong or out of line at the time . No. I wanted to take care of him. Thats what i was supposed to do. Its hard to explain but i loved lou. I loved him quite a bit. And, so, i did it. It was uncomfortable. And it was painful. And it breaks my heart now, you know. Its really hard for me to look at pictures of myself when i was little. But your your childhood was stolen from you. It was. By this man. It was. Reporter even when castro got engaged and had a child, the abuse didnt stop, though emily was pushed out of the bedroom. Crazy to say, were you a little bit jealous . I was. I definitely was. I was 12 and i felt like i was getting divorced. Reporter for sara the awful reality was not so dissimilar. She too was subjected to castros mind games, as she says he sought to control her. Like trying to drive a wedge between my sister and i. Were you jealous of emily . Uhhuh. He tried to make me jealous of her, yes. Reporter and she says castro was more violent with her than he was with her sister. If you didnt follow lous way, what would happen . He would rape me. Rape you . Uhhuh. How awful. I mean, there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times and i cant tell you every single time. But you try not to remember those things. How old were you when it began . Seventeen. Reporter castros abuse was backed up by demonic threats if the girls didnt obey him. He told me he was going to take me to purgatory. He would threaten to take people to purgatory so theyd be forever in limbo. But and that was his capacity and his skills as an angel, to right. Take your soul to purgatory . Right. And the, its important to remember that he, lou would never make these threats. It was the angels who were inhabiting his body who would make these threats. And, so, the next morning, hed wake up and hed be like, mama, i love you. Im so sorry. And im like, really . Now, wheres your mom when when all this is is goin on . It was, like, usually really late at night. And so she would be sleeping in her house. And cause you had by then, two or three different properties, huh . Yeah. Reporter and what about all the other adults . Theres brian, theres trisha. There are people coming and going. People goin to the pool parties and maybe seeing things. Nobody intervened . Nobody saw it. You know, i think thats really important is that nobody saw the abuse. And i have spoken to people who were there and i guarantee you, nobody knew. He was very careful. I never had a bruise. Except psychologically. Right. And i was always with him, so it wouldnt be weird for us to disappear for an hour or two. You know . It nobody knew. Reporter but castro didnt just manipulate the girls for sex. He ordered sara secretly to videotape a young child in a bathroom, orders backed up with the most sadistic of threats. And was he happy with what you showed him . No. He made me do it twice, because the first time he said that i didnt get what he needed me to get. If you had said, no, im not gonna take that video camera. Im not gonna go with that little girl, what would have done to you, do you think . Hell say im gonna make your Worst Nightmare come true. Im gonna kill your dad. Reporter it was the same reason she never told her dad about the abuse. He was always threatening to kill my dad. And that was his big goto thing with you . Yes. cause im a daddys girl. And he knew that . Uhhuh. Reporter she says the acute fear castro instilled in her was even worse when hed been drinking. One evening he was brandishing an assault rifle. He shot a gun at my head. At you . Yes. Because he was angry with me. He enjoyed the pain. He enjoyed making people miserable, and making people terrified. He enjoyed it. Reporter but so great was castros power that leaving didnt seem to be an option for the young girl. You didnt have any money and a plan b or anything. But you did have your dad back home. I think that thats thats a pretty common thing for people in these types of situations that everybody says, well, you couldve left then. And you couldve left then. But that didnt seem like a possibility. The thought of leaving was scarier than the thought of staying. The scary part is what if hes right i am useless . What if hes right nobody will love me . What if hes right and he is a seer and and does have an avenging angel who will come get you. And thats scarier than staying. And you believed that that might happen. I did. And i know i physically couldve now. But i never once thought about leaving. I thought about killing myself, but i didnt think about leaving. How do you ever get over that . You dont. I have ptsd. Im not at all surprised. Reporter ron goodwyn, aghast at what he was hearing, believed he had heard evidence of crimes that could see daniel perez aka lou castro, already in prison, behind bars for a very long time. Hes a sexual predator who is willing to do anything to get his way and do what he wants to do. Live a life like he wants to live. He will stop at nothing, including, you know, murder and rape. And he didnt stop at anything to get what he wanted. Reporter after the investigators presented all their evidence to the da, they waited until castro had completed his twoyear federal prison sentence, and then they immediately rearrested him and charged him with 28 counts of firstdegree murder, Child Exploitation as well as multiple counts of sexual crimes and fraud. Kansas V Daniel Perez was heading to the court. As witnesses filed into the courtroom, the investigators wondered if their star witness emily, perhaps still so vulnerable, would hold up when she saw the man she knew as lou castro sitting before her. How much guts, how much courage did this young woman have . I cant imagine what it took for her to get to that point. And now shes gonna take him on . Yes. Coming up, despite all of the evidence, at least one part of this case may not be a slam dunk. This was the only count thathood the testimony of one individual. So it was the most difficult to prove. Later, face to face with the man accused of being the evil heart of Angels Landing. When dateline continues. Llness that can cause coughing, chest pain difficulty breathing and may even put you in the hospital. Prevnar 13 ® is used in adults 50 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. 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Brush, whiten, go why am i so awake . Did you know your brain has a wake system. And a sleep system . Science suggests when you have insomnia, the neurotransmitters in your wake system may be too strong, which may be preventing you from getting the sleep you need. Talk to your doctor about ways to manage your insomnia. Dear stranger, when i booked this trip, my friends said i was crazy. Why would i stay in someone elses house . But this morning a city ive never been to felt like one i already knew. I just wanted to thank you for sharing your world with me. It felt like home. Airbnb. Belong anywhere. Reporter at Sedgwick County District Court in wichita, kansas, a few weeks ago. You must determine whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. Lou castro, went on trial. He was charged with the firstdegree murder of trish hughes. With sexual crimes including Child Exploitation, and fraud. Eventually, twentyeight counts in all. There were no charges in any of the other mysterious deaths. Emily and sara would both testify, at the time not wanting to make public their identities, and face down the accused whod controlled them both for so many years. Reporter i cant imagine how antsy you must have been walking into that courtroom. Right. Reporter because, you know, the case really depends on you. Right. All i could think about was, how are they going to believe me . You know, this is such a crazy story. What if they dont believe me . The state, mr. Bennett and i, will ask you hold him responsible and find him guilty. Reporter District Attorney marc bennett and assistant d. A. Kim parker prosecuted this sprawling case. Reporter were you worried about even explaining this thing to a jury about what it was all about . Sure. We had facts from across several states. Facts that involved a multitude of victims and witnesses. Reporter this was like an imax movie. And you went with that epic version of the daniel perez story. Why did you do that . You cant understand it otherwise. If you cant tell the whole story, the jury would be lost. Reporter the prosecution had won a key ruling before trial when judge Joseph Bribiesca allowed evidence from beyond kansas to be entered. So criminal accusations that goodwyn, snyder and sullivan had uncovered from texas through the midwest would be heard by the jury. An individual by the name of Patricia Hughes had died. Reporter on the big one, the murder charge the das alleged that even though trish hughes might have been a willing participant in her own death, it was nonetheless perez who held her head under water. The primary distinction between homicide and suicide is that suicide is at your own hand, and literally in this case, homicide, the hand of another. His hand was necessary to complete this act. Reporter there was circumstantial evidence presented to prove the charge and the star testimony of only one witness, emily, 11 years old at the time of trishs death. Reporter was this the weakest part of the case, the one you really had to work the most on . This was the only count that had the testimony of one individual. So yes, it was the the most difficult to prove. I kept thinking, nobody is going to really think that its as bad as it was. No ones going to think that he should serve life in prison. Reporter beyond emilys account, the prosecution put on an Expert Witness to testify to the small bruises seen on the top of trishs head, consistent with finger pressure, he said. Likewise, the broken hair clip found on the pool bottom got there not because trish stumbled but because someone pressed on the top of her head as she was held underwater. Moving on. The next big charge, the exploitation of a child, carried a life sentence. This was the incident in which sara accused perez of forcing her to video tape a young girl as she got undressed. Reporter how did it feel to see him in court, right there . It was terrifying. I always felt like he was gonna jump across the table and get me. Reporter even then . Uhhuh. Reporter the das alleged perez had ordered sara to take videos of the child at least twice. We found all this video on the computers in in tennessee. Reporter among the other sexcrime charges, sara and emily and one other witness testified about the same Sexual Assault that took place one evening. All three independently described that this event happened. So right off the bat, that was important. It was surreal and terrifying to sit before 12 people that i didnt know and tell them all of these terrible things in terribly, graphic detail that had happened when i was 10. Reporter and there were more witnesses, another four young women from three states, alleged victims unaware of one another, agreeing that lou castro claimed malevolent angels were controlling him as he assaulted them sexually. Reporter so the m. O. Of yes. Reporter attacking his victims was similar. They didnt know each other. Thousands of miles apart. And their story is essentially the same. Reporter but it was the fraud charges that revealed the big picture of what daniel perez and Angels Landing were ultimately all about. You didnt have to go very far down the paper trail before you realized that perez signed nothing. The car loans . The Mortgage Applications . All filled out by his followers. The prosecutors said he manipulated the Family Members into using their own names to buy all that real estate and the lavish toys. And it got worse. It turned out that trish, mona, and lindsey who died in the plane crash, brian hughes, the mechanic who was killed under a collapsed vehicle, and emilys and saras mother whod died in a car crash, all had two things in common. Daniel perez had predicted each of their deaths and each had juicy Life Insurance policies. Payouts totaling 4. 2 million were made to commune members perez controlled. Reporter and it seemed, whenever the coffers were running low, someone would die, and there would be a big insurance payoff. Was it that, bold faced a pattern, marc . Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean the, get down into the less than 10,000 in the account, sometimes less than 5,000, and then thats around the time somebody was gonna die. Reporter and with that explanation, the d. A. S summed up their case against 55 year old daniel perez. Its a story of domination, control and manipulation. Of the most vulnerable. It spans 15 years, multiple victims, multiple deaths, multiple Life Insurance policies, and he moves through several states so that he can satisfy his own sexual appetite. We do call daniel perez. Reporter daniel perez was about to take the stand and tell the court that it had all been a big misunderstanding. Next, youll hear him speak directly to us. 3 f2 luego, aqui lo que nos dice. Who are you . Family of jeweled feline treasures. 100,000 to the lady in the leopard print. 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So roll down your windows, hug your pet dust off some memories, make new ones. New flonase. Six is greather than one. This changes everything. Reporter for years he had traveled through texas and the midwest, going by the name lou castro. You do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give will be the truth reporter now as he faced charges of first degree murder, Child Exploitation, sex crimes, and fraud, he took the stand in his own defense, this time in his real name. Daniel perez. Reporter perez told the court that everything about his story had been invented by the prosecution. There were no angels, no demons, no sexual crimes, no insurance fraud, and certainly no murder. Perez recently agreed to sit down with dateline and we went over the points of his defense. Mr. Perez, in recent weeks i have heard you described as cult leader, child rapist, someone thats very good to have off the streets. Who are you . I, im, im [ laughter ] im no one in particular. Im just, im just me. Reporter do you think you can see into the future . Are you a prophet, a seer . No, sir. Reporter why are you telling people you can . I never told them anything. Reporter who are your angel alter egos . Are they still around . The good angel, the mean angel, the angel of death . Theres no such thing. And they werent alter egos. If i was having sex with somebody i dont want anybody else calling me by my name. So youd call me anything you wanna call me, just dont call me lou. And thats what they chose and thats what they did. Reporter explaining his wealth, he says after being charged with sex crimes in the mid90s, he left texas not because he was fleeing the authorities, but because he was on an illicit job, something he never revealed to investigators or in court. I was just a mule. I was just moving money. Thats it. I delivered money and i got paid for it. Reporter is this illegal money yes, sir. Reporter you still got the money . Yes, sir. Reporter what are you worth . What do you think . I dont know. Reporter half a million . Probably close to. Reporter as for the alleged murder of trish hughes in the Swimming Pool, did he sit emily and trish at a table and predict trishs death . Did you tell her her time had come . Did you tell little emily that trishas time had come . No. No. Reporter and have that little girl set up an alibi for you to be out at the car dealership and no sir. Reporter so youre saying they made up all that stuff about trisha in the pool . No, i was not there. I was at davis moore chevrolet. Reporter well, theres no question you were at the at the car dealership later on. Key question, it wasnt your hand on Trisha Hughes head pushing her beneath the water, killing her . Nobody killed Patricia Hughes. Reporter heres the thing. When, when investigators look at you, i mean what theyre telling is the court that bad things happen to people that know you, but theres a big infusion of insurance money in. Lets go back to the plane incident. Did you rig that plane to crash and kill those three people . No, sir. Reporter years go by and then its trishas time in the pool. A few more years go by and its brian, the husband, trapped underneath the car. Yes, he passed away in south dakota. Reporter passed away. Did you have anything to do with the no, sir. Reporter death of brian hughes . No, sir. Reporter did you play mind games with jennifer to make her drive into that truck . No, sir. I had nothing to do with anyones death. Reporter what about the instructions he allegedly gave sara with the video camera . You didnt order somebody to take these obscene naked pictures of this little girl . No. They found the pictures and the videos on her computer not mine. Has anyone considered that fact . Has anyone considered the fact that she is the one that was doing it . Reporter are you a pedophile . No, sir. Reporter do you have an appetite for little girls . No, sir. Reporter so raping the 11yearold never happened . No. Reporter thats the allegation. It is, but im not. Reporter that the thing that you get up for in the morning is to drive your flashy cars around and look forward to raping a young girl. Thats what youre about. Well, thats the picture thats come together but thats not reality. Reporter sara says that you raped her hundreds of times. No. Reporter hundreds. No. Reporter thats what she testifies to in court. Yes, she did. Yes, she did. Reporter that makes you a monster . Yes, it would. It would make anyone a monster. Reporter so what are you saying . You didnt do it . No. No. They were of age and they were of willing and consent. We were just just having fun. Reporter the stories that come out from these people that used to be in your family is that you were manipulating them, you were gonna go kill their father. They felt absolutely terrorized by you. And one of them was dating a Police Officer. We have Police Officers, Law Enforcement that hang out at the ranch for at least eight years. Its not logical. I mean how are you gonna sit there and be raping an individual and that individuals not gonna run to a Police Officer thats standing right there . And go say, hey, listen, this is taking place, you know . Reporter the prosecution is gonna put together a story that you are a very unlucky guy with all of these people around you dying every few years and a lot of money coming into the family. How do you explain that kind of pattern, that circumstantial pattern they say is your criminal enterprise . I mean i cant explain i i cant explain it. Reporter were you a cult leader . No. There was no commune. There was no cult. Reporter and thats in essence what daniel perez told the jury. The state had it all wrong, top to bottom. The jury got the case and retired to deliberate. In about three hours it was back with a verdict. Judge Joseph Bribiesca read it to the court. Count 1, guilty of murder in the first degree. Reporter daniel perez was found guilty on all 28 counts. And the following month, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the firstdegree murder of trish hughes, and for the exploitation of a child. The evidence conclusively shows that mr. Perez used people as mere objects. Reporter he received another 33 years for the other charges. The 55yearold wont be eligible for parole for more than 80 years. Reporter those who feel the pain of loss speculate perez might have been involved in the other deaths, like the car crash in which emilys and saras mom died. Do you think theres more to it than a simple road accident, sara . Probably. Reporter or that plane crash in which codys mom and sister were lost . Perez was a plane mechanic in the navy. He did it. Some way, somehow, he found a way to alter the aircraft. Reporter you believe . In my heart, i do. Reporter you dont have any evidence to say that . I cant prove anything. His heart goes out to emily and sara. I lost my mom and sister but those girls lost [ crying ] i cant even imagine. Reporter so who is daniel perez . Well, he used so many different stories that its kind of hard to piece them together. Reporter hes just a guy from south texas . Right. Reporter telling stories. Right. Reporter buying toys. Right. Reporter destroying lives. Yeah. Reporter for what reason . He liked it. He realized that if he could find a way to generate capital without having to work, he could have access to whatever sort of things his heart desired, the things including me and my sister. Reporter in the end it was tenacity and good oldfashioned doggedness that took perez down. Do you have an atta boy for detective godwyn . Outside your fence all those years looking, trying to figure it out . Yeah, i i would not have my life back if it wasnt for detective goodwin and detective snyder and supervisory special agent sullivan. And mr. Bennett and ms. Parker, the d. A. s, it is amazing what they have given me. Reporter sara, 30 years old, and emily, 23, are now trying to move on still reflecting on the shocking abuse. And your mother knew nothing about all of this, do you think . Now, looking back, she she had to have known. Reporter youd think. But she mustve lost her mind. Theres no way that my mom would allow that to happen to her children. Reporter the sisters are now closer than ever, and closer to their dad too who was anguished when he heard his daughters stories for the first time. There are many, many times that my dad could have given up on me. And he never gave up on me. He cried. And he wanted to know why i never told him. Reporter because in your mind you were protecting him. You were keeping him from the demon. Uhhuh. Reporter sara is now married to daniel, and still lives in wichita. And emily is a paralegal in South Carolina with ambitions one day to become a lawyer. Both sisters want to help others through their story. I think that there are people out there experiencing similar things that i did. Being manipulated and being abused who are scared to leave. Reporter those people might not have a goodwin ultimately looking out for them and riding up with a white hat and a posse. But there are white hats out there. There are. There are a lot of people who care. Maybe i can help somebody. Or at least least i want to. I think some sort of lightness has to come out from all of his darkness. Thats all for this edition of dateline. We will see you again on sunday, 6 00 central. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, good night. A judge ordered this womans employer to pay her but she still hasnt gotten the money. Next at 11 00 can, we go over pay theft. The when you just cant seem to escape. Another sneeze attack. You may be muddling through allergies. Dont get caught off guard. Try zyrtec® dissolve tabs. Powerful allergy relief, now in a tablet that starts dissolving instantly. Zyrtec® dissolve tabs. Muddle no more™. Nbc bay area news begins breaking news. That is the sound of frustration or simply unruly behavior. Late tonight, peaceful protests turn ugly in oakland. That breaking news out of oakland, the scene earlier tonight as hundreds of protesters hit the streets. Our nbc chopper was over head. But what