Transcripts For WCAU Dateline NBC 20170709

Reporter 20 years went by. I still had to keep looking for what i had lost. Reporter but cathy had her. And she had him. I put a lot of faith in god. Darren was his tool. And the killer . He never had a chance. This was everything to her. I fulfilled my promise. Reporter in the wee small hours of the morning, while the whole wide world is fast asleep, mary bennett is awake. Not because she wants to be, but because some things stay with you, whether you want them to or not. And for mary bennett, its the time 3 40 a. M. Every day i wake up around that time. Its embedded in my brain. Reporter for more than two decades, that particular time has stabbed her in the heart, pulled her awake. Its an internal clock, permanently set to the worst day of her life. It began with a phone call, then a knock on the door, and news of something that should never have happened to this family, to this girl. When she would come inside the house, her favorite thing was, im home. Whats for dinner . Even if somebody we just finished cleaning the kitchen, shed still ask, whats for dinner . That was cathy. Reporter cathy torrez grew up in placentia a small town nestled amongst the sprawling cities of southern california. Even as a baby she was a good baby. Reporter mary bennett is cathys mother. She was always happy, always running, and always very loud, and always smiling. Reporter that radiant smile shined everywhere she went, says cathys sister tina. Cathy was energetic. She was happy. She loved to laugh. Reporter cathy was one of four siblings. There was younger brother marty and the baby, debbie. Tina was the eldest. She watched as cathy excelled in school. Cathy was exceptional. Cathy made her own way. She didnt follow a role model. Reporter nobody guiding her and nobody pushing her. Exactly. She had her own drive. She used to tell her younger sister that she had to leave her mark. You had to leave your mark in this world so that people would remember you when you moved on. Reporter you have to leave your mark on the world. Did you teach her that . No, that was just her. Reporter seems like an admirable thing for a kid to come up with. Well, cathy was different. Reporter beautiful, smart and social. And popular. You knew more about her dating life than maybe your mom and dad did. Yes, i believe to some extent, yes. Reporter cathy dated a few guys in high school, but no one she was terribly stuck on. And then in 1994, out of high school and a young woman of 20, cathy started to see a boy named albert. A boy shed played with as a child, and was now interested in romantically. Were they boyfriend and girlfriend . She said that they were, you know, seeing each other, but it wasnt anything serious or formal that i knew of. Thats how she explained it to me, you know, he was a nice guy. Reporter cathys plate was full that february of 1994. She was an honors student at cal state fullerton, holding down two jobs one at the local drugstore and another as a teachers aide all to pay for college. And now she was also seeing a new guy. Just a few days before february 14th, cathy told sister tina what she wanted for valentines day. She said, tina, i would just like it if somebody gave me a dozen red roses for valentines day. And i said, yeah, thats all you want . She said i would just like a dozen red roses. Reporter she had never received a dozen roses from anyone, but that year she was hopeful. It was saturday, february 12th, when cathy went off to her job at the drugstore. How was she that morning . She was fine. Just routine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Reporter tina was trying to catch up with cathy that day before she went to work, but just missed her at home, only to see her moments later in traffic. We saw each other and she gave me the biggest smile that i will always remember. She saw me. We looked at each other. It was a beautiful smile. Reporter that smile, that moment, burned into her memory. Cathys shift ended at about 8 00 that night. She was supposed to come straight home. But mary didnt see her. So 9 00, 10 00 comes, youre not worried . No, i wasnt worried. Reporter saturday night she probably went out after work. Yeah. Reporter but then sunday morning came, and still no cathy. Cathys family launches a search. I drove into the parking lot, i said let me just see her car. Let me just see her car. Reporter and the fear and the frustration grow. There was no days or no nights. You didnt want it to be dark because you wanted to keep looking. Introducing the new sleep number 360™ smart bed. The only bed smart enough to change sleep as we know it. It senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides to keep you comfortable. And snoring. Does your bed do that . Right now save on sleep number 360™ smart beds. 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And they have the best price for unlimited among National Carriers and. Wait are you watching this on the awesome iphone 7 . You gotta get iphone 7 from sprint and theyll give you a second one on them what are you doing . Go switch to sprint whos he talking to . I dont know. But i better go to sprint. Wait two iphone 7s. Love you vo get sprint unlimited. And now, get iphone 7 for people with hearing loss, and get a second iphone 7 on us. Visit sprintrelay. Com. Valentines day, 1994, was two days away, but mary bennets heart was already racing and for all the wrong reasons. Her daughter cathy torrez never came home after her shift at savon ended. And the next morning, there was still no sign of her. Mary called cathys friends and no one had seen her. So mary got in the car and scoured the streets of placentia, searching for cathy and her red Toyota Corolla. Cathys sister tina saw the wrenching worry in their mothers face. She was a mom full of pain. She was a mom who who was hurting because she was looking for her baby. She would say, just find the car. If you find the car, it was like an equation. Find the car, youll find cathy. Reporter you get any sleep sunday night . No. Just waiting. Reporter you dont wanna call the police because that makes it real . Thats right. It makes it real because youre Still Holding onto the hope that shes going to come running in through that backdoor. Reporter by monday, cathy still wasnt home. Panic was setting in and mary called the Police Department to report her daughter missing. And the police said . Well, you know, you dont know that. Maybe she went off and but i knew. Reporter that she could have met some guy and theyre in vegas right now. And youre saying no. Reporter not possible . At that point you want to yell and scream at them and tell them, thats not true. You dont know, not my cathy. Reporter the torrez family was not going to wait for police to catch up to what they already knew that cathy was not someone whod just disappear. They went to reporters. Mary spoke to knbc in los angeles. This is one thing that nobody should have to go through. Reporter and took the search into their own hands. The Police Department wasnt receptive. So i told my mom, okay, give me a picture. Reporter tina was in charge of flyers. Mary worked the phones at home. And younger brother marty kept watch in front of savon. Hi, did you guys receive a flyer . Reporter soon it wasnt just the torrez family searching for cathy. We know gods there for you. Reporter police did jump on the case, and it seemed as if all of placentia did too. We had strangers, people coming to the house asking, what can we do . Where can we take the flyers . Can we have some flyers to pass out flyers . Reporter tina drove to the school where cathy worked. All the while, marys mantra echoed thru her mind find the car and youll find cathy. When i drove into the parking lot, i said, let me just see her car. Let me just see her car. Because i knew a lot of things were going on in her life, you know you know, in that week prior. Reporter a lot of things was an understatement. Cathys family was very worried about her state of mind after a strange and terrifying series of events that had happened the week before she vanished. First, shed come home the previous saturday in a bizarre state incoherent, unable to stand up. She couldnt get out of the car. My son went out to help her. Reporter that cannot have made you happy. No, it didnt. Because i had never seen her come home like that. And she couldnt tell me what had happened. Reporter she smell like alcohol . No, she didnt. That was that was the scary part to me that, you know, that she did not smell like alcohol, yet something was wrong with her. Reporter even more alarming, mary later realized cathys underwear was missing. What youre describing is what happens when people come home after theyve been date raped. Well, yes. Reporter you know, they cant remember what happened. Theyre maybe not wearing all their clothes and they are clearly under the influence of something. Well, yes. I was afraid that maybe that had happened to her. But i didnt know for a fact. Reporter and she had no memory . And she had no memory. Reporter you think about calling the police . Sadly, no. I didnt think about that. Reporter it didnt end there. The next morning tina saw cathys car. I remember looking at the tires and saying, what happened . How could this be . The way they they were slashed. Reporter it was deliberate. I just kept saying, what happened to your tires . Who slashed your tires . Reporter and shed say . And shed say she didnt know. Reporter but the worst was yet to come. Two days after cathy came home in that strange condition, her new boyfriend Albert Rangel apparently tried to commit suicide. He even left a note that seemed to be in his own handwriting. All of this just days before cathy disappeared. Albert hanged himself at work, but he didnt die. He lingered in a coma in the hospital. And cathy was devastated. She was so upset. She was crying. She couldnt believe that someone would do Something Like that. Reporter and now the torrez family was left to wonder if and how all of this connected to cathys disappearance. Just felt like you were out in this time warp. You know, there was no days and no nights. And you didnt want it to be dark because you wanted to keep looking. Reporter the next big search was planned for saturday morning, february 19th one week since cathy had last been seen. We got all the maps ready, and we had just got another box donated of flyers. And everything was set. Reporter and then around 3 40 a. M. Saturday, there was a knock on marys front door. Police find cathys car. Cathys shoe was on the floorboard and there was blood within the interior of the car. What had happened to cathy . Ugh, no bars. Oh no, looks like somebody needs a new network. When i got this unlimited plan they told me they were all the same. Theyre not. Verizon has the largest, most reliable 4g lte network in america. Its basically made for places like this. Honey, what if its just us out here . Right. So, i ordered you a car. Thank you. You dont want to be out here at night cause of the coyotes. Ok, thanks bud. Bye. Be nice to have your car for some shelter. Bye. vo when it really, really matters you need the best network and the best unlimited. Plus, get the pixel, by google with no tradein required. So i trust nature made vitamins. Health and life. Because they were the first to be verified by usp for quality and purity standards. And because i recommend them as a pharmacist. Nature made, the 1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. Tand, our adulte children are here. So, we save by using tide. Which means we use less. Three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. Those are moms. Anybody seen my pants . Nothing cleans better. Put those on dad its got to be tide. Its not carbonation. Those bubbles are celebrating. Right now, get 1 any size soft drink. Only at mcdonalds. Frappe or shake for 2. Small mcdonalds smoothie, how do you top a deal like that . Hurry in, only at mcdonalds. The torrez family had planned a major search for cathy on saturday, a week after she disappeared. But at 3 40 that morning, mary had a visitor. A police officer. Reporter he asked for cathys keys. I gave him the key and i asked him if it was cathys car. And he just looked straight and he didnt look at me. And he said he didnt know, that they had just told him to come and pick up the key. And he left. Reporter find the car and youll find cathy. It had become practically a family motto. So when another officer arrived hours later, the torrez family was waiting for what they had dreaded all week. My mom asked him what had happened. Did you find cathy . And then he looked at my mom, and he said, im sorry. And all i remember were the flyers that were on my moms table in the living room and feeling so much pain. I was yelling, not my cathy. Not cathy. Reporter mary bennett had been right all along. Cathys Toyota Corolla had been spotted in a hospital parking lot. A plastic bag was peeking out of the trunk. Officers opened it, and cathy torrez was missing no longer. She had been stabbed multiple times. All about the upper chest and neck. Reporter detective Sergeant Daron wyatt. You know, theres no way to time the death. But i think its pretty safe to assume that she had been dead since she disappeared on that saturday night on the 12th. Reporter it was devastating not just for the torrez family but for all those in placentia whod been searching so tirelessly for cathy. She was a vibrant, very intelligent young girl. This is truly a tragedy. Reporter detectives went to work trying to find cathys killer. They set up a hotline. If you have any information regarding the homicide of cathy torrez reporter and scoured placentia for clues. By studying her car and her body, investigators got a sense of what happened. First, cathy was completely clothed. No sign of a sexual assault. And one more thing also seemed clear. Most likely the attack started in the car. There were pieces of the gearshift that were broken, pieces of the Center Console that were broken, as if a struggle had occurred. And then there was blood within the interior of the car. Reporter Orange County prosecutor matt murphy later reviewed the case. He noted blood on everything the killer must have touched the steering wheel, above the glove compartment, the drivers side armrest and, of course, the trunk release. But one noteworthy place where there was no blood . The drivers side seat lever. 411 cathy drove her car with the seat moved closest to the steering wheel. But when police found the car, the seat was racked all the way back. Suggesting that somebody taller than cathy was operating the car. Not only operating the car, but did that before the murder itself took place. Because that was touched, and that seat was moved without any transfer of blood at all. So the seat was moved back before the killing started. Reporter and, if so, perhaps it was because cathy knew her killer and opened the door for him or her. Investigators also found cathys right shoe on the floorboard of her car and her sock covered in dirt. She got out of the car . Yes, absolutely. Cathy had fled from the vehicle on foot, had most likely been caught and attacked again before she was ultimately placed in the trunk of the car and died. Reporter she fought pretty hard to get away. She did. She ran for her life. Reporter to detectives, this was not a sex crime or a robbery. More than 70 stab wounds suggested Something Else. Theres nothing random about it. She was a targeted victim. Reporter and perhaps the most chilling clue a letter in cathys own handwriting found tucked away on the passenger side of cathys car. She says in the letter its a little after 8 15. Its yeah. Its 8 15, just finished my shift. Today was crazy. Everybody was all buying v and the v was for valentines day. Reporter and thats as far as she got . Thats as far as she got. So shes interrupted midsentence. Reporter just who had done that . Detectives werent quite sure. Daron believed the letter was intended for albert, who at the time of cathys murder was lying in a coma in the hospital after a suicide attempt. He never woke up, and died almost two years later. Obviously you have to look at all of that, and you have to ask, is there something thats involved in that . Reporter it was almost too strange to imagine. Except to police. There were rumors within the community that that may have been the motive for her disappearance and murder, was that, hey you need to look at the rangel family. Reporter members of alberts family, the rumors said, were angry with cathy, thinking that she might have been the cause of his suicide attempt. Because of his relationship with cathy and the fact that she wasnt as serious about him as he was with her. So that had to be examined, it had to be looked at. Reporter so the investigation continued, as people in placentia paid final respects to the friendly cashier they knew from savon. More than a thousand people attended cathys funeral. Pretty impressive. The kind of person cathy was. She touched a lot of people, and they remembered her. Reporter she left her mark. She did. Reporter cathy had hoped for a dozen red roses that february. Instead her family remembered her with a headstone. Your smile will shine forever. That wasnt the only promise cathys mother made. I didnt know how long id be i would have to wait. But i knew that we had to do everything that we could to get the answer. Reporter because . Because she was my daughter. And someone had taken her away from me. Someone had done something horrible to her and they someone needed to be accountable. Reporter no one could have imagined at the time just how long marys quest for justice would take. Detectives have a few questions for one of cathys closest friends. The minute i said no to her, she blew up. She started cussing me out. bell rings with my moderate to severe crohns disease,. 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Aw, i thought you did. I dont know either. Either way its free for everyone. Cool. Whats in your wallet . Cathy torrez had been murdered and stuffed in the trunk of her car. Police were considering what role her new boyfriend, albert, and his attempted suicide may have played. But for now, they were left with Unanswered Questions and a town shaken by her murder. Cathy had so much to live for and was a very happy person, a peoples person. Reporter that was Armando Lopez speaking back in 1994. Armando was cathys brotherinlaw, tinas then husband. But that wasnt the only connection between the two families. It turned out cathy had dated armandos younger brother, sam, off and on. And the families lived right down the street from each other. You can see one house from the other. Exactly. Reporter and shes going out with sam. Uhhuh. Reporter you marry his older brother. Uhhuh. Reporter so that house wasnt just another house on the street. Right. Reporter it was family. Right. Right. Reporter police spoke with members of the lopez family. Sam knew cathy the best. How long have you known cathy . Jeez, ive known her for over five years. Reporter they interviewed him down at the station. Yeah, i really had fun with her. Like i said, that person, im serious, would always have a smile. We would always be laughing, making jokes. Reporter given their friendship, detectives were curious about what cathy might have shared with sam about albert. Since albert tried to commit suicide, she was taking it pretty hard. Was she confiding in you . The only thing she mentioned about him was that he hung himself and she was sorry for him doing that, because she thought it was his her fault, okay . Thats thats how she said it to me. We never really sat down and talked about it. Well, you know what . I think she was trying to hide from her problems by smoking out. Reporter meaning she was smoking marijuana. Cathys family said that for her, that would be out character. Sam told detectives he had last seen cathy the thursday before she disappeared. He said shed paged him several times that day and when they finally met up she asked me for some weed, you know . And then she kept on asking me, so are you going to give it to me or what . And i go, you know what . The minute i said no to her, she blew up. She started cussing me out. You know, and, if i dont get it through you, im going to get it through somebody else. Reporter and then, sam said, cathy got in her car and took off. So im like, you know, i mean, what can i do now . I mean, shoot, a girl cusses you out, i mean i cant go chasing after her. You know, cause i never thought she was going to i mean, this was going to happen. Reporter sam shared his suspicions about what had happened to cathy. The same rumors about albert that were circulating around placentia. But you know what . Hey, its a possibility that, shoot, somebody else from his family im not blaming anybody. Im not pointing fingers at nobody, okay . But why why the coincidence that after he hung himself, this happened . Why . Have you ever thought of that . Reporter of course, police also asked sam where he was the night cathy disappeared. Could you tell us where you were saturday night, this last saturday . Sure. Were asking everyone. No. Thats fine, thats fine, i understand. I was up in corona. I was helping my friend, a friend of mine moved. Reporter sam told police how he and his cousin xavier helped their friend move in the afternoon, and then he said he dropped xavier off at his home. Whered you go from there . From there i went to my girlfriends store. And i was there till, shoot, till they closed, which was around 8 00, a little bit after 8 00. Then let me see, what did i do that day . Somebody paged me, i think. Oh, i picked my cousin up again. So if we had to contact everyone that you mentioned, you know, you could get the names and addresses, phone numbers. Sure. They could confirm where you were on saturday night . Reporter and sure enough, they did. Police spoke with xavier who corroborated sams story. Xavier told investigators that he was with sam, that sam had picked him up at his house in anaheim and driven him to another friends house in fullerton during the time that we believe cathy was contacted and ultimately murdered. Reporter so if you believe sams alibi, he couldnt have been the thing that interrupted cathy when she was writing that note. Right. Reporter nevertheless, they pressed sam for more details. The clothing you were wearing saturday . I think it was a guess sweatshirt. Reporter sam readily gave those clothes to the police. He let them search his house too. And he willingly gave samples of his hair and blood. But something about sams behavior the week cathy was missing bothered her family. Mary said shed repeatedly paged sam looking for cathy, but he was slow to respond. He call you back . Not at first. Reporter but eventually he did . Eventually, yes. Reporter and he said what, he hadnt seen her . He hadnt seen her. Reporter to all appearances, that was true. And the physical evidence seemed to confirm it. Sams dna was not found anywhere on cathy or her car and his clothes, the ones he gave voluntarily to police, had no dna of cathys on them. But that behavior of sams which bothered cathys family, also bothered police, and they focused on him. However, when investigators took their suspicions to the Orange County d. A. , the outcome was not what they expected. Coming up, sam has a new woman in his life who soon discovers his old life. You were a little freaked out by that . Well, yeah. Close your eyes and make a marshmallow wish. It can come true by winning one of 10,000 boxes of only marshmallows. Find your code in special boxes of lucky charms. Theyre magically delicious but their nutritional needs vremain instinctual. D, thats why theres purina one true instinct. Nutrientdense, proteinrich, real meat number one. This is a different breed of nutrition. Purina one, true instinct. Police had their suspicions about sam lopezs involvement in the murder of his neighbor and former girlfriend, cathy torrez. But there was no physical evidence tying him to the murder. And he had a solid alibi on the night cathy was killed. Sam was with his cousin, xavier. Which is why when police took their case to the d. A. s office, the d. A. Refused to file charges against sam. Police pursued other leads too, like a possible connection to the suicide of cathys boyfriend, albert. Did you think that cathys disappearance had anything to do with albert . No. Reporter coincidence. Yeah, just two tragedies happening at the same time. Reporter but not connected. But not connected, no. Reporter even though that coincidence continued to bother them, police were forced to agree. But that left the investigation with nowhere to go. Whoever had killed cathy was still out there walking around. Yes. Still out there. Enjoying the sun. Reporter breathing the same air youre breathing . Yes. Reporter you think about that a lot . I did. Especially if it was a beautiful day. Reporter those sunny days turned dark. Months passed. Seasons changed. And still the torrez family was left wondering who had killed cathy. Something that never changed was mary steadfast in her resolve to get justice for her daughter. Early on, a friend gave her some advice. She said, remember, mary, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Dont let anyone tell you different. You keep going. And thats what i did. Reporter mary and her family sought the attention of the media. They marched in rallies, lobbied officials for greater victims rights, and spoke with thencalifornia governor pete wilson about cathys murder. They even contributed to reward funds, some of it by selling tamales at the local fair. You were doing just about everything you could think of, werent you . Yes. Yes. Well, you have to. You have to, because you dont have the name or the resources to do it on your own. So then you look, then you knock on a lot of doors, trying to keep it out there. Reporter the torrez family says they spent thousands of hours knocking on doors, speaking at events, all in the hope that cathys case would not lie forgotten in a filing cabinet. And mary did Something Else too. I worked part time for the city. And it just so happened that my desk was right at the door the hallway that connected the Police Department with the city. And so they would see me sitting at my desk when they walked into city hall. Reporter so every new police chief every. Reporter would get a meeting with you . Yes. I would actually go into their office and talk to them and tell them see what they could do. Reporter you were a pest . I was a squeaky wheel. Reporter your mom was relentless with the police. Yes, she was. I went with her a couple times to meet the the new chief that would come into the Police Department. We go in there. You know, we just want to let you know that we represent kathy torres, and we have not forgotten, and we just want to make sure that her case is still being worked on. Reporter we have not forgotten and we want to make sure that you dont either. Right, right. Reporter the city of placentia didnt forget. The Community Learning center was dedicated in cathys name. The cathy torrez learning center. Yes. Reporter youve got to leave your mark on the world. And she did, huh . Reporter and a tree was planted in cathys memory across the street. They planted it in a way where from my moms kitchen, she could see the tree. Reporter sam lopez could see it too. He was still living in the same home police had searched after cathys murder. A search that had turned up nothing. And sam was also moving on with his life. In may 1994, just months after cathys murder, sam walked into a local restaurant. He walked in with his friend. And i just remember thinking that he was cute. Reporter tina montelongo was a hostess then. So, i offered him some free food. And then we started talking. Reporter she felt the spark right away. I did think i would marry him when i first saw him. That was, like, the words that came out of my mouth. Im going to marry that guy. Reporter you were taken with him right away . I was. Uhhuh. Reporter sam and tina started dating. But in a small town like placentia, it wasnt long before tina heard the whispered rumors. I found out that my sister went to school with him and i asked her what she knew about him, what she thought about him. And thats when she told me that he they were he was the one that they suspected. Reporter in the murder of cathy torrez . Yes. Reporter he hadnt told you that . He hadnt told me that. That was in the first couple of weeks that i was dating him. Reporter sam emphatically denied any involvement in cathys murder. But just the idea spooked tina. So she made up a lie. I met him and i told him that i was dating somebody else. Reporter which was not true . Which was not true. Reporter you were a little freaked out by that . Well, yeah. Reporter but the spark that drew her to sam was too strong, and though tina had only known him a few short weeks, something in her heart said sam was innocent. So i gave him a call. And i started dating him again. Reporter okay. I mean, youre an attractive woman. I have trouble believing that there were not guys available who werent already suspects in a murder investigation. Im sure there probably were. But there they didnt have my attention. Reporter they dated for a year, and then married. I was ready. I was, this is it. This is who i want to be with. This is who i want to grow old with. This is who i want to have kids with. Reporter and they did. A year later came a baby girl. And sam embraced his role as dad. He was like mr. Mom, you know. He stayed home and took care of the baby while i worked. Reporter if sam had anything to do with cathys murder, he certainly didnt act like it. He stayed put. Living with his wife and baby right down the street from cathys mom, mary. She would sit outside and stare at us, and i felt like she was doing it to make me uncomfortable, and probably him, too. But im sure she didnt want him to be happy if she thought that he had anything to do with what happened to her daughter. Reporter sam say anything about mary . No. No. He would try to tell me to ignore it. Reporter i mean, was this like the hatfields and the mccoys . What happened . There was no communication, no associations with them, you know. That that was basically it. That they became estranged. Reporter which made it difficult for tina, who was still married to sams older brother, armando. Police continued to work the case, but the fact was, they had no solid leads. They werent even close to arresting anyone. But then two years after cathy torrez was murdered, an unexpected meeting put this investigation in the fast lane. An explorer scout with a familiar last name inspires a renewed search for a killer. That is a weird convince coincidence. We dont believe in coincidences. woman one year ago today mom started searching for her words. And my brother ray and i started searching for answers. vo when its time to navigate inhome care, follow that bright star. Because brightstar care earns the same accreditation as the best hospitals. And brightstar care means an rn will customize a plan that evolves with moms changing needs. woman because dad made us promise wed keep mom at home. vo call 8444brightstar for your free home Care Planning guide. Listerine® total care strengthens teeth, after brushing, helps prevent cavities and restores tooth enamel. Its an easy way to give listerine® total care to the total family. Listerine® total care. 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Actually, the biggest dinos only ate plants muum dinosaurs only eat meat and country crock is made with plants. Country crock has always been made with the goodness of plants. It has real, simple ingredients. And the same Country Fresh taste you love. Welcome to crock country. Were pouring more into paint. So your color match is spot on. A color you discovered this morning . Well match it. A color we mixed a decade ago . Well match it. A color we didnt even mix . Yup. That too. Lets see if anybody can match that. Paint that has you covered. Thats the next generation of painting. Get the best paint for any budget starting at 17. 97. The home depot more saving. More doing. It was 1996. Two years had passed since the gruesome murder of cathy torrez in placentia, california. I had been to several places, had knocked on many doors. And all i ever wanted was the truth to come out as to what had happened to cathy. Reporter the case had gone cold, but its memory still clung to the breeze in this small town. Daron wyatt was a Patrol Officer back then, and one afternoon his shift brought him to this park just across the street from where cathy had grown up. Daron was about to bust a drug suspect when the guy started talking. Hes playing the game of, you know, ill tell you whatever you want to know, just you know, ask the right questions and ill tell you and then you wont take me to jail. So, you know, just almost as a flippant remark, i tell him, okay, so tell me who killed cathy torrez. Reporter it was a shot in the dark. A tactic hed picked up at a seminar for cultivating informants. And the Patrol Officer that is next to me starts kind of kicking my foot. And hes got an explorer scout whos riding with him a young hispanic female. And i look at her name tag and it was d. Torrez. Turned out it was Debbie Torrez, cathys youngest sister. Reporter who just heard you ask that question. Correct. Reporter you had no idea it was her . I had no idea. Reporter Debbie Torrez cathys baby sister was now 14 years old. Eager, her mom says, to assist police because of everything her family had been through. She remembered that when we needed help, people came to help us. So she thought it was her turn to help others. Reporter which is why debbie was in the park that afternoon, and how she heard daron mention cathys case. That is a weird coincidence. We dont believe in coincidences. Reporter to daron wyatt, it felt more like fate. And just months later, in january 1997, his lieutenant suggested daron apply to the homicide unit. So i ended up putting in for that job and being selected. Reporter it wasnt long before he cracked open the doors that housed the homicide files. And i open the cabinet and i see the torrez case. And i remembered the incident with debbie from about a year earlier. So i pulled it out and i started reading just on free time, just reading it a little bit. Reporter by then, the cathy torrez case had been cold for a good three years. And essentially no work had been done on it for at least the last two years. Reporter from the beginning, police had suspected cathys onetime boyfriend sam lopez had something to do with her murder. But they had nothing connecting him to the crime. No witnesses. No dna. And sam had that solid alibi. Tina was still married to sams brother, armando. The two families intertwined, as cathys family continued to search for answers. And then in april of 1997, i got a phone call from mary bennett. Reporter cathys mom. It would be their first conversation of many. Mary told daron how shed seen reports about a new program in Orange County centered around investigating cold cases. Cathys case had specifically been mentioned. And mary said, if theyre going to use my daughters murder as publicity for their program, by all means theyre going to work it. And its your job to make sure that that happens. Reporter there were no new murders in placentia in 1997, allowing daron to focus his full attention on this old one. And because you have you have mary bennett and the family, whos persistent, who are very well known and very well liked within the community, it did give me a lot of leverage when i went forth and said, hey look, i need time to concentrate specifically on this case. Reporter daron pored through the files and hunted down new leads. And then a tip came in, seemingly out of nowhere. So a guy from a Repossession Company calls the police and says, hey i repod this car earlier today, and there was a folio in the trunk of the car. And as im going through the folio, there are articles in there about this murder in placentia from 1994 and there are receipts from savon. Reporter savon. The drugstore chain where cathy was working at the time she was stabbed to death. That had to make everybody sit up straight. It did. Reporter there was more. The guy whose car had been repossessed had recently been released from state prison and was now in custody for threatening someone with a knife. Reporter and what you wanted to know first was, where were you on the night cathy torrez disappeared . Correct. Reporter and where was he . He was in state prison. Reporter so whatevers going on with this guy, hes not your guy. He well, hes not personally. But is he related to does he know . Whats the connection . Why is this stuff in the trunk of his car . Reporter when you say to him, why would you have articles about cathy torrez murder and receipts from savon in the trunk of your car, his answers what . Thats all my wifes stuff. He disowns it. He separates himself from it, which now raises a little bit more suspicion. Reporter could you tell if he was connected to anyone in the case . Not initially. I really had to dig a little bit deeper to see what the connection was. Reporter daron finally located the convicts wife. She was uncooperative at first, which again, now, this is raising suspicions again. Ultimately she did come in and talk to us, and her explanation was that she went to Valencia High School with cathy. And then upon closer examination, we were able to see that the receipts from savon were from a different savon than the one that cathy worked at. And this was basically, like, her keepsake file. Reporter shed saved those articles just because she knew someone who got murdered . Correct. Reporter so this had nothing to do with her husband who was in prison at all . Who absolutely nothing. Reporter so youre back to basically no suspects. No, were back to sam. But there was one big problem with sam. He didnt act like a killer. He voluntarily gave hair samples, he gave a blood sample. He gave fingerprints. Would a killer do all that . The moment you realize grocery lists only help when you remember to bring them. At lowes, we have refridgerators like samsungs family hub, which lets you create a Shopping List that syncs to your phone so you always know what you need. All projects have a starting point. Start with lowes. Hurry in to lowes and get up to 40 off select appliance special values. From the moment you met you wantecomfort and protection thats why pampers swaddlers is the 1 choice of hospitals to wrap your baby in blanketlike softness so all they feel is love pampers swaddlers homicide cop daron wyatt was deep in the cathy torrez murder case. If her mother mary wasnt giving up, neither would he. I knew that it wasnt over yet, that i still had to keep looking for answers. Look looking for what i had lost. Reporter daron chased some leads that went nowhere, and ultimately ended up right where detectives were in 1994 back to sam lopez, cathys neighbor and exboyfriend. A man suspected but never charged. But at the same time, daron had to admit that sam certainly did not fit anyones profile of a murder suspect. No criminal history. There was no indicators that he was anything other than, you know, a normal 22yearold kid. He didnt sound like a killer. No, absolutely not. Reporter detectives had interviewed sam on two separate days, first on audiotape when cathy went missing. Were here about cathy. Right, yeah, i heard. Reporter and later, this time on video, after her body was found. A whole week, i havent hardly slept. Because all i do is think about cathy. Where the heck could she be. Reporter he had always been cooperative. He voluntarily gave head hair samples, he gave a blood sample, he gave fingerprints. And at the end of that, he ultimately said, you know, whatever i can do, ill do. Reporter but as he read the file, daron learned there were other things sam didnt do. For example, sam lived right down the street, yet cathys family says he never stopped by during that whole frantic week when they were searching. He did speak extensively with police. I dont think anybody thought that sam was telling the truth. Remember how sam told detectives cathy came to him looking for weed . But there was absolutely no indication that any of that was true. Which called into question sams story. It does. Reporter and daron noticed another inconsistency in sams account of the days right before kathy disappeared. Mary, however, says sam was the one calling her home looking for cathy. He called how many times . Quite a few times looking for her. Reporter mary says sam sounded okay at first, until she told him where cathy was. I said she was at the hospital and she wasnt back yet. Reporter at the hospital, visiting albert, her boyfriend, who had attempted suicide. Sam okay with that . No, he got upset. Reporter sam told police he was just worried about cathy, especially after he spoke with her that week. She was crying on the phone, i messed up you know, i never tried getting him hurt and all this and i told her just calm down. Cause when youre depressed you do things. Remember, this interview happened while cathy was still missing. Sam seemed to be implying she might have hurt herself or that another boyfriend might be involved. I mean, look, she, shes had, i know shes had a lot of problems in the past with boyfriends. Reporter then there was the second interview, the day cathys body was found. Detective wyatt studied that tape, too. There was one thing that was important that sam didnt display that you would expect to see in a case like this. Reporter which is . Emotion. He showed more emotion over the contents of a coke can. He picked it up when they left the room and reading the coke can and the ingredients and the number of calories. And at one point he puts that down and picks up a baseball hat he had been wearing, sees dirt and brushes it off and starts swearing about the fact that theres dirt on his hat. Oh [ bleep ]. But he never shows any emotion about the fact that this gal has been brutally murdered, no emotion whatsoever. Reporter and thats a big red flag . Huge. Reporter daron went deeper into sam and cathys relationship. There were a lot of things that brought them together, they were in high school, lived across the street. Cathys older sister was married to sams older brother. Reporter they had this long on again off again relationship in which what, he couldnt let go of her or she couldnt let go of him . I think a lot of it was mutual. Reporter even after cathy started dating albert and sam had another girlfriend, too, they continued to see each other. And daron found evidence that in sams mind, his relationship with cathy was far from casual. Mary gave me a shoe box full of letters that were written between sam and cathy, and the content of these letters showed a very jealous guy. A guy who would get angry any time somebody flirted with cathy. Reporter sam didnt try to hide the fact that he was prone to jealousy. She knows, every time she mentions some guys name, i get pissed off, okay . Reporter that led the detective to take a fresh look at those bizarre events the week before cathy disappeared when she came home impaired and then had her tires slashed. She never regained full memory of what had happened, but she was able to tell everybody who she had been with that night. Reporter the person cathy had been with that night . Sam lopez. When police asked sam about that night, he remembered something very specific. A hickey. On her neck . On her right here. Covered up with her bra. You mean way down here on her shoulder . Right here. Right here. Reporter sam claimed it was no big deal. I didnt want to hit her up, like, tell her, hey, you know, who were you with last night . Whatever. Reporter but that night, Police Records showed sam received two traffic citations, both while driving cathys car. One was an open container ticket for Drinking Alcohol in a parking lot. The other for failing to stop at a stop sign. The cop who pulled sam over for not stopping said sam flew through the intersection, and when he approached the car, the cop said it looked as if sam and cathy had been arguing. But he did say cathy looked fine. Nobody was quite sure what happened after that, except they apparently parted company. Sam in his car, cathy in hers. Then cathy arrived home, too out of it to realize shed been driving on slashed tires. Tina saw the tires the next day. I just kept saying, who what happened to your tires . Who slashed your tires . Reporter and shed say . And shed say she didnt know. She she just knew that she had gone out with sam that night. Reporter daron wyatt now believed sam drugged cathy, possibly assaulted her, and slashed her tires. The next day, cathy called tina with more details about her strange night with sam. He had told her lets run off, lets get married. Lets run off and lets elope. And she told him, youre joking, this is not you know, what are you talking about, are you serious . Reporter remember, cathy was seeing another guy. Albert. Who, only days later tried to kill himself. Tina says cathy thought about sams proposal all that week. Ultimately, cathy decided, says tina, that she was so broken up about albert she was going to tell sam the answer was no. Shes crying, and then she said, im gonna tell him this said saturday that im not gonna take off with him, that i will not elope. That was wednesday. And then saturday she never came home. Reporter sams admitted jealousy, cathys doting on albert, a rejected proposal. All of it seemed to add up to motive. But motives dont prove murder. There was still no physical evidence tying sam to the crime. All the blood on the car had been tested, and it was all cathys. But then, while combing the case file, detective daron wyatt learned something shocking. There were blood and hair samples that had never been sent to the crime lab. And when those samples were analyzed, they pointed to a whole new suspect. New dna and a new man in the hot seat. He sat there and put his fist in front of his mouth to keep himself from talking. I lost my sight when i was 14 years old. So i really navigate the world by touch. When dove asked me to try out this body wash. I was excited that it was foam. It was so light and soft. Not sticky. Its light. Its different. Its foam. Kfcis now availablespy zingon a 5 fill up. Ich because who wants to spend 7 dollars on a meal at a burger place, when you can spend 5 on a meal at kfc . You need another reason . I didnt think so kfc, its Finger Lickin good. 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They were looking at xavier solely as an alibi witness who was lying to cover for sam. Reporter thats why, as detective daron wyatt now discovered, even though investigators in 1994 took blood, hair and fingerprint samples from xavier, theyd never had those tested. They had sent all of the evidence related to sam lopez to the crime lab, his fingerprints, his hair, his blood. But they hadnt sent anything related to xavier lopez to the crime lab. Reporter daron sent xaviers samples, now three years old, to the crime lab. Two months later, the phone rang. They had positively identified a fingerprint on the trunk of cathys car, left there by somebody closing the lid of the trunk. Reporter xaviers print was on the trunk of cathys car . Yes. Reporter weeks later, another call from the lab. A bloodstain on the car had tested positive for both cathys dna and xaviers. And the detective found there was Something Else another major piece of evidence investigators had initially overlooked. When you look at the crime scene photos in the trunk of the car, something jumped out at me. And it just it hit me like i got punched in the face, was there was arterial spurt on the sidewall of the trunk panel. Reporter meaning only one thing cathy was still alive when she was placed in the trunk of the car. So, if xavier put her there, he could be charged with murder. Why not grab xavier up that day and say, okay, your dna and fingerprints were at the scene. We didnt know that until just now. Youre going away for murder unless you Start Talking . Well, lets say that we did that and we bring him in and he says, well, yes, my fingerprint was there because i helped her push her car out of the street a week before. Or when i was helping her change a tire. I cut my finger and i bled on it. Reporter so instead of approaching xavier, daron wyatt spent nearly five months carefully watching him and sam. He learned the two cousins were unusually close. Sam lived in a onebedroom little bungalow with his wife and his baby at the time, yet xavier was there all the time, sleeping in the same essentially the same room. Reporter eventually, daron wyatt felt he had enough new information to get a search warrant. There was a loud pounding on our door. Reporter tina montelongo remembers it clearly. When i opened the door, there was about five Police Officers there. The one in the middle was wyatt. He put us against the wall and patted us down. Reporter what was sams demeanor while all that was happening . He was calm, you know. He really was. I was freaking out. Reporter he wasnt worried . No. No. Reporter maybe he had no reason to be. Police didnt find anything in the house linking sam to cathys murder. They even sprayed his truck with luminol looking for signs of blood. We took the seats out, we did everything we could. And there was nothing. Reporter Police Briefly detained sam, but he was back home by morning. Now daron wyatt focused on xavier. And we really approached it very low key. We think that you can really provide some great information for us. Would you mind coming down with us and talking. Reporter they brought him down to the station and listened patiently as he distanced himself from cathy torrez. Hed never been shopping with her, never changed a tire on her car, never carried groceries. We went through the whole litany of things that reporter and hes all, oh no, no, thats would reporter thats all true. Im a million miles away from her . Right, right separated himself. Reporter but in so doing, xavier ruled out any innocent explanation for finding his dna and fingerprint on her car. So when police told him thats exactly what they had found it was like vapor lock. And then all of a sudden he said, well, you know, this one time i was at the video store, and i saw sam and cathy there together. And i went and i sat in cathys car and sat in the backseat and waited for them. And they came out and then i left. And that was really his only contact that he could give us with cathys car. Reporter but he doesnt fold up like a house of cards and say, all right, fine. You got me. Youre right. But josh, youve watched probably thousands of these interviews. And sometimes what people dont say is just as important as what they do say. Reporter what xavier either would not or could not say were these words i did not kill cathy torrez. He says, i dont know who did. Thats not what i asked, xavier. Did you kill cathy torrez . I dont know who did. And we play that several times to where hed finally say, i didnt do it. You didnt do what, xavier . I didnt do what you say i did. Reporter cant say the words, killed cathy . Correct. Then it moved to, did you put cathys body in the trunk of the car . I dont know who did. Finally he sat there and he put his fist in front of his mouth to keep himself from talking. Reporter but xavier had already managed to talk his way into an arrest for murder. Nearly four years after cathys death, he was booked into the Orange County jail. Cathys family was stunned when they heard the news. Tina included. Remember, she was still married to armando, who was sams brother and xaviers cousin. Yes. That that was a shock. That was a shock. Reporter you didnt see that coming and police didnt tell you . Right. That was part of their investigation, and we had no knowledge of that. Reporter but they were relieved. At last the case was moving forward. Daron wyatt was confident he had enough evidence to prove xavier lopez had killed cathy torrez. But once again, the Orange County District Attorney did not agree. The d. A. Decided not to charge . Correct. Reporter and so xaviers set free . Xavier walks. A detective who refuses to quit i said i have a cold case i need you to take a look at. Reporter now has a reason not to. My first daughter was born. 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And pay day has progressive top prizes. You could win fast. Faster than this . slurping fast play. Play fast. Win instantly. Detective daron wyatt never believed xavier lopez had acted alone. Even when he arrested xavier in 1997 for the murder of cathy torrez, he thought xaviers real role was helping the prime suspect xaviers cousin sam lopez. Tina montelongo, sams thenwife and xaviers friend, wasnt buying it. Can you conceive of xavier going through with a murder or being involved in it because of his loyalty to sam . No. I dont see that. If sam did it, would xavi help him just because theyre close family . I dont see that. Reporter neither did the d. A. Who decided there was not enough evidence to file charges. How do you tell mary bennett, we had xavier, but we had to let him go . It was extremely difficult. There was a lot of crying on both sides. Reporter daron knew exactly what releasing xavier really meant. What walks out of the jail along with xavier is any leverage you had to get him to name sam . Yes, absolutely. Reporter and now you really are back to square one . Yes. Reporter is that the end . To some people. Reporter but not to him. And not to mary. You put a lot of faith in daron. I put a lot of faith in god. Daron was his tool. Reporter but for the time being, it seemed darons hands were tied. After all, the case had been rejected by the d. A. s office twice before. This case getting a lot of baggage over the years . Yeah, it did. Reporter and so if you go ahead with it, youre not only going ahead with the case, youre also kind of insulting the d. A. . Yeah. Reporter years went by. The cathy torrez case grew colder by the day. And so did the marriage between cathys sister tina and sams brother armando. You and armando got divorced. Yes. Reporter this have something to do with that . No. Definitely it was all intermixed. Reporter daron wyatt was promoted to detective sergeant and his caseload shifted to other types of crime. But he never forgot his promise to mary. In part because of a milestone in his own life. My first daughter was born. And i remember going to mary shortly after that and looking her in the eye and saying, i know i know now how you feel. I know it. I can feel it myself. Im a dad now. You havent given up. I wont give up. Reporter in 2003, nine years after the murder, daron once again approached a friend in the d. A. s office. I said, ive got a cold case that i need you to take a look at. And he physically stops walking and he says, if its the case im thinking about, im not going to touch it. Reporter but daron was persistent. Eventually he persuaded his friend to take cathys case back to the d. A. s homicide unit. The same unit that had rejected it twice before. This time though, Something Different happened. A prosecutor unfamiliar with the case agreed to take a fresh look. His name is matt murphy, and he noticed one thing right away. The first thing you see when you look at the file is a big rejection from really good lawyers who reviewed it individually and as a group. Reporter which means they tried very hard to make a case and they couldnt do it . They tried very hard. Thats right. And they figured, based on their review, that they couldnt do it. Reporter and some of the reasons were apparent from the getgo when you look at it on its face, this case is a real tough one. Reporter for one thing, there was so much evidence they didnt have against sam. There was no murder weapon here. We had no witness. We had no confession. We had no dna. So you can look at it that way, in a conventional review. And yeah, it looked really tough. Reporter but what really made this case a prosecutors nightmare was the fact that all the physical evidence pointed away from the man they thought was the killer. Any defense attorney would ask, if police found xaviers dna and fingerprint, why would they charge sam . Were you surprised you didnt find sams dna there . Yes. Reporter he thought newer, better tests might find sams dna, but it was too late for that. Cathys family had sold the car. The case against sam would have to be entirely circumstantial. Murphy felt the key to that was somewhere in those interviews sam gave to police. But here, too, there was a problem. When you look at the interview, everything that sam lopez said seemed logical at the time. And everything seemed to make sense. Reporter picking apart those interviews would be critical. This is one of those cases where you have to look at the details. And its truly one that you have to look at each detail in light of every other detail. Reporter and when you rearrange the letters of little tiny details, it spells larry montgomery. Absolutely. Reporter larry montgomery. Or as hes known here at dateline, the evidence whisperer. 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Monkey swimming. Irreplaceable monkey protection. Detergent alone doesnt kill bacteria, but adding new lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99. 9 of bacteria with 0 bleach. Daughter uh oh. Lysol. What it takes to protect. Prosecutor matt murphy thought daron wyatts investigation of cathy torrezs murder was compelling. But he knew that making the case against sam lopez wouldnt be easy. The d. A. s office had declined to try it twice before. So murphy called for help from a detective whose legendary skill with cold cases has earned him a reverential nickname. Larry montgomery is the real deal. I mean, the guy is the evidence whisperer. Another nickname for him is st. Larry. Reporter larry sees things other people dont see . Larry sees things that many people dont see, yeah. And he looks at it from a different perspective. Reporter they both felt the key to the case lay in sam lopezs own words, his taped interviews with the original detectives. And they thought the perfect man to listen to those interviews was the evidence whisperer. Guilty people have tells, just like in a poker game . Absolutely. They dont have that innocent mindset, and they they have other fears. They fear being caught. They cant get their stories straight because theres too many details. Reporter montgomery spent months carefully listening and relistening, watching and rewatching, hours of sams interviews. Looking for the tells. How long have you guys been dating . Its its an off on and on thing. Onandoff thing. Okay. Reporter tell number one, how sam talked about his relationship with cathy. See, i was going out with somebody. And then she would call me up. And we would just, like calling each other, going out to eat, places like that. Nothing serious at the time. Sam definitely was trying to limit his connection with cathy, give the impression that its not that big of a deal. Reporter remember cathys sister tina had told detectives sam had proposed to cathy just days before she disappeared. But when police asked sam about that, he denied it. You didnt ask her to marry you, then . No. Reporter later he changed his story but seemed to say getting married was cathys idea. A lot of people hit me up already. They said that that that we were supposed to elope, okay . This is what she okay, but look. She had a crazy idea to go to mexico, okay . Just the two of us. Reporter then there was sams claim that cathy never tried to contact him after she disappeared. I thought she was going to page me on friday. She goes somewhere, and she never paged me on friday. We know that cathys mom paged him 20 or 25 times in a matter of at least a couple of days, trying to get him to contact her because hes so close to cathy and shes missing. Reporter montgomery noted a key detail about those pages. Marys home phone and cathys home phone are the same number. Theyre the same numbers. Reporter so, seeing that number on his pager, how did sam know it wasnt cathy . If he knew she was alive, he would know he got 20 or 25 pages from cathy, or at least think that. If hes guilty and he killed cathy, he knows those 20 or 25 pages were not from cathy. Reporter that was tell number two. Then montgomery noticed how, in his second interview, sam referred to cathys murder. You know . But then this happened and shoot. He doesnt use the word murder, doesnt say anything like that. Its like, this happened, as if its small. Its not that big of a deal, its not horrendous. He doesnt want it to be horrendous because he did it. Reporter tell number three. And then larry caught Something Else in the interview sam did before cathys body was found. Listen carefully. So you went out with her the saturday before the thursday . Right. Okay on, and where did you go . In other words a week before she was she disappeared. Reporter did you hear that . A week before she was she disappeared. Reporter before she was. What . Dead . Murdered . Either way, larry thought sam knew more than he was telling. The guilty person knows a lot. Cannot forget all that he knows. So when hes talking, all that information is in is in his brain, and it can slip out. Reporter another reason to think sam knew much more than he was saying . In his second interview after cathys body was found, police spoke with sam for 90 minutes before he asked them a single question. And when he finally did so did you do you guys know how she was killed . Uh, yeah, we do. Reporter larry noticed a telling statement. Thought you were never going to ask. Well, i didnt want cause i dont want memories to come back, you know . Well, thats an interesting statement, i dont want memories to come back. What memories does he have that he doesnt want to remember . If hes innocent, he has memories of cathy, good times, what they did. Reporter people would want those memories to come back. Yeah. If he had a memory that he killed her, that certainly is a memory he doesnt want to relive. Reporter after listening to the interviews time and again, the evidence whisperer had no doubt sam killed cathy. But could the team prove it beyond a reasonable doubt . Ultimately in cold case murders, time becomes one of our friends, because technology changes. Reporter at the time of the murder, dna tests could only be done on big samples like blood spatter. But in the years since, analysis became possible for touchdna, the microscopic calling cards the microscopic calling card many of us leave behind just by putting our hands on something. If sam and xavier did place cathys body in the cars trunk, maybe, thought larry, there would be touchdna on her clothes. Search for dna in the areas that might be grabbed. Especially areas that might be grabbed that dont have blood on them, from kathy. So you looked, what, on the ankles and under her arms . Ankles, arms, i think under the legs. Sometimes, you know, in the reporter daron wyatt send out the evidence for touch dna. You optimistic . Or are you thinking, shot in the dark . No, i was not optimistic. I was not optimistic. Reporter because what . Because on this particular case, it seemed like for the beginning phases, everything that could go wrong pretty much went wrong. Reporter but he also knew he was working with a cop on a mission. Daron wyatt was not going to quit until i filed this case or i died. Or he died, i guess. Daron was absolutely dedicated to this. Reporter the truth was, if murphy declined the case a third time, the cathy torrez file would almost certainly go from cold to dead. What would he decide . No one understood the stakes better than cathys mom. Daron had told me that we were going to meet with the d. A. My interpretation of it was that he was going to tell me that there was nothing they could do. Reporter a key piece of evidence arrives, better late than never. How long had they known that . A couple of months at least. Reporter and they forgot to call . But is it the smoking gun . Before i had the shooting, burning of diabetic nerve pain these feet. Jumped into city life as a kid. Raised two rough and tumble boys. And kept my town moving. But i couldnt bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. So i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. Nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is fda approved to treat this pain. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or blurry vision. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. 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But real joyful moments. Are shared over the real cream in reddiwip. Reddiwip. Share the joy. Is changing every day in every possible way i want more impossible to ignore impossible to ignore it was an Early Morning in 2007, 13 years after cathy torrez had breathed her last. I was having coffee at a mcdonalds before work and i was reading my bible. It was a little bit after 7 00 when i saw that i had a call from him. Reporter from daron wyatt. Mary knew he was scheduled to meet with the d. A. My first thought was he was going to tell me that the meeting was canceled. Again. Reporter but that was not the message. Not at all. He said, im standing here in front of sams house and we are making an arrest right now. Reporter theyre making an arrest. Yes. And you thought . And i got up and i think i screamed there at the mcdonalds. Reporter years before, daron wyatt had made a promise. Now, he felt, he was keeping it. That had to feel pretty good. Yeah, there were tears of joy this time. Reporter sam lopez was arrested and charged with cathys murder, but he wasnt alone. Just as prosecutors now believed he wasnt alone the night he stabbed cathy to death. Sams cousin xavier was also arrested and charged with murder. Police also arrested sams older brother, armando, who was once married to cathys sister tina, and had helped search for cathy. Its just a tragic loss. It hurts. Everybody loved cathy. Reporter armando was charged with being an accessory after the fact for allegedly helping cover up the murder. We believe that he was telling people who had information that could help convict sam not to cooperate with the police. Reporter cathys sister had to ponder what that might mean about her former husband. Betrayal of the worst kind. Reporter betrayal of her, betrayal of you. Exactly, everything. Reporter your family. My family. Trust, betrayal, everythings broken beyond belief. Reporter sam and his wife had also separated by this point. She was at work when her sister called her and told her police had once again come for sam. Whatd you think when you heard sam was arrested . The same that i always had. Like, here we go again. Nothing to it, and hell be out soon. Yeah. Reporter after all, theyd detained sam once before and had to release him. But as daron wyatt now explained to sam lopez, this time was different. Ive told you before that we wouldnt give up until until we were able to bring resolution to this case, and thats where were at now. Reporter but just when it seemed the case was buttoned up, daron got a surprising call. Remember the request for touchdna daron had submitted months earlier . The crime lab finally called back. And the crime lab says what . Hey, did we tell you that we found javiers dna on cathys body . What . Yeah, we found xaviers profile on her sock, on the back of her knee, and under her right armpit. Reporter did we tell you . No, we didnt tell you. How long had they known that . A couple of months, at least. And they, what, forgot to call . I think the examiner who had been doing it was waiting for additional results and didnt realize that she hadnt notified us. So the idea of touchdna paid off . It did. Reporter but not quite the way they had all hoped. Unbelievable that you would get touchdna evidence back that long after the fact. Right. But bad news, it doesnt have sam lopezs name on it. Right. Thats right. Reporter so the strongest physical evidence was still against xavier. But it was sam who had the motive, and he was the first one going on trial, even without a trace of his dna anywhere. It had taken 13 years to arrest sam lopez, it would take another eight to bring him to trial. And just months before that trial began, matt murphy learned that sam had a new defense attorney. Someone matt knew very well. He so is good. And i would be lying if i said my heart was not in my throat. Reporter sams defense attorney Lew Rosenblum was the former assistant d. A. Who supervised the homicide unit. In fact, he was the original prosecutor who back in 1994 didnt think there was enough evidence to charge sam. Not only that, lew was the man who brought matt into the homicide unit. Lew took me under his wing and trained me how to do homicides. Whats it like to go up against your mentor . Well, its terrifying to go up against your mentor. Reporter neither one of them had ever lost a murder case. But someones winning streak was about to end. February 10th, 2015. 20 years after cathy torrez murder, sam lopez went on trial. At the end of this case you are going to hold that man accountable for exactly what he did. Reporter the very first witness matt murphy put on the stand was cathys mom, mary. It seemed a safe way to start. There is a Cardinal Rule that you dont ever do a hard crossexamination on a mother. Reporter but matts mentor broke that rule. He really pressed her on some of the details. And scored some points. Scored big points. I mean, scored bigtime points. Reporter mary initially told the jury sam only responded to one of her pages, but under crossexamination mary revealed hed actually returned three pages. They were trying to paint a picture of sam that he did absolutely nothing, and that is not true. Its one of the only cases ive done in my career where i realized, he understands this case as well as i do. Reporter it was mentor against pupil, and the stakes couldnt be higher. Its as cold blooded as you can possibly get. Where is the evidence . A 20year search for a killer draws to a close. But as always, the jury gets the last word. When the clerk took the folder, i started my prayer. The lord is my shepherd, i shall not want. Nature valley Almond Butter biscuit sandwiches. Made with a delicious layer of creamy almondbutter filling. Between two tasty, crunchy wholegrain oat biscuits. Weve packed good things in here, so you can be great out there. Oh no, the fridge just died. Dont worry. 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And during that entire time, his attorney said, police had it all wrong. The detectives made up their mind about who did this murder within hours. We had a bad feeling about you, they said. Were gonna prove it. And they spent the next 21 years, over and over, trying. Reporter the defense argued sams behavior didnt prove anything. Not only was sam in touch with cathys family the week she disappeared, he also participated in the search, putting up a flyer at his girlfriends store. And that business about him not showing any emotion in his interview with police . It is very easy to sit back and say, he should have done that. He should answer this way. Look, hes stretching. Hes yawning. Hes reading a coke can. Obviously hes a sociopath. Where is the evidence . Reporter step back from those supposed tells, the defense said, and youd see the man sitting in that chair was not lying to cover up a murder. He voluntarily gives hair, blood, prints, shoes, clothes, everything they want, not a man whos hiding. Thats a man who wants to prove his innocence. Reporter and the defense said after 14 years of tests, not a single forensic link not his fingerprints, not his dna had ever been found tying sam to cathys brutal murder. Everything that they expected to find of my client everything none of it was there. Why . Because theyre wrong. Reporter the fingerprint and dna at the crime scene made it obvious. The wrong man was on trial. Xavier lopez is all over this. Prints, dna, because he was the one that did it, not my client. Reporter but prosecutor matt murphy argued that xaviers dna and fingerprint were really evidence against sam. Remember, from the beginning, xavier had been sams alibi. He paged me, saying, you know what, i need a ride. Reporter the prosecutor argued that if they were together and xaviers dna put him at scene of the crime, then sam had to be there too. His alibi is at the murder scene. And for sam lopez, i think thats just devastating evidence. Reporter and he told the jury it was the first of many instances where the most powerful evidence of guilt came from sams own words. Its sams actions and its sams statements. Reporter so he gave you the case against him. The best evidence that we have in this case, and that we had, was sam lopez himself. Reporter sam was the one who told police he had a jealous streak. Every time she mentions some guys name, i get pissed off, okay . Reporter cathy was seeing another guy albert. The prosecution said sams jealousy was triggered the night he took cathy out and saw that hickey. What effect is that going to have on a guy who gets pissed, his own word, pissed, if she even mentions another guy . What is he gonna do when he sees a hickey . Reporter what he did, matt said, was slash cathys tires. Obviously somebody had would have to be very angry at her to slash her tires. If those tires were slashed, ladies and gentlemen, theres only one suspect. Theres only person that did it. Reporter murphy said sams anger continued to build as cathys attention turned to albert the same week when sam asked her to elope. A proposal she told her sister tina she was going to reject on saturday the day she was killed. So now its not just a hickey. Its a denial of a proposal, and its all because of another guy. Reporter the result, the prosecutor said, was an attack so savage cathy stabbed more than 70 times that it could only be the work of a jealous lover. Every one of those cuts meant something. Every one of those stab wounds meant something. Reporter and the finishing blow she was alive, and sam lopez cut her throat. Its as coldblooded as you can possibly get. Reporter the 21st anniversary of cathys murder fell during the middle of trial. A day that reminded cathys family once again of all they had lost. Whatd your family do that day . We went to the cemetery. As we go every year in february. We take her red roses that she wanted for valentines day that year. Reporter for 21 years the torrez family had demanded answers. Two days after deliberations began, the jury reached a verdict. I couldnt breathe. I felt just tightness inside. And when the clerk took the folder, i started my prayer. The lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. We the jury find the defendant, Samuel Augustine lopez, guilty of murder in the first degree. Once i heard that, then i just all i remember is that i held my hands up to my chin like this and i just thanked god. Reporter daron wyatt was watching mary in that moment. This was everything to her. And i wanted to look in her eyes when they came back and see that she knew that i fulfilled my promise. Reporter for sams exwife, the news was devastating. I cried. Reporter for your daughter . For sam . For both. Reporter doesnt sound like it shook your faith at all in him. It didnt. I still dont believe that he did it. Reporter after the verdict, people in placentia strung little white hearts on the tree that was planted in cathys memory. Did she leave the mark on the world that she always wanted to leave . Yeah, she did. We have letters of coworkers, of students she worked with. Reporter people you didnt even know. People we didnt even know that were able to come back and tell my mom or tell one of us, you know, we miss her at savon. She was always smiling. Shed always help us. So what they did to her, all those stab wounds that she got, multiply those and those are her marks. Reporter for 21 years sam denied he inflicted those stab wounds, denied he killed cathy. But at his sentencing sam did something that was unexpected. I would like to apologize to the torrez family and to everyone for all of the harm and grief that i have caused them. This was a horrible act that never should have happened. It is entirely my fault. I take full responsibility. Reporter sam lopez was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison. Javier pleaded guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter and being an accessory after the fact. He served eight years and is now out of prison. Sams brother ar mand dough pleaded guilty to december sueding a witness and was sentenced to one year probation. And mary bennett is still facing the rest of her life without cathy. In 1994, i was given a sentence, and there was no parole from it. To live my life without ever seeing cathy again, without ever seeing her beautiful smile or having her come running in through the door and saying, whats for dinner . And theres no i will never have any kind of parole from that. That is my life sentence. Reporter shes serving it one night at a time, because the wee small hours of the morning still call to mary bennett, reading the bible and waiting for dawn, while the whole wide world is fast asleep. Breaking news at 11 00, a 2yearold girl falls out of a window. Philadelphia workers find a body shot several times and burned. And dualing rallies. Protesters clash over a controversial monument. And police have to get involved. Nbc 10 breaking news. That breaking news tonight, a 2yearold girl falls out of a secondstory window as her mother was in the next room. Right now, that little girls at Childrens Hospital of philadelphia. After falling out of the secondstory window of her home. Nbc 10 is aundrea clinethomass live outside the hospital. How is she doing right now . Reporter denise, according to police, the 2yearold is in stable condition here at c. H. O. P. She fell auout of the second flr bedroom window onto concrete. We went to her house in the 1800 block of north markoe street. Investigators are investigating what happened. Police say the mother was in the front bedroom and the 2yearold was playing alone in a back bedroom. And somehow the child fell out of an open window. The mother heard screams and rushed to the room, thats when she found out what happened. Our