Transcripts for MSNBC Dateline Extra 20210101 08:54:45 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
i didn t have any eye witnesses that she killed him. she didn t confess. what did you have going for you? what was the best thing you had going for you? her story was ridiculous. reporter: so the prosecution made the call, the people v. sandra melgar would proceed to trial. reporter: coming up, a deadly seduction? the prosecution thinks that sandra melgar lured jaime to the bedroom under the guise of sex. she s massaging his neck and then she makes a strike straight up. but where was the proof? this case outta scare the hell out of all of you when dateline continues. dateline continues (employee) enterprise car sales has access to over
it was mumbling. where was her voice coming from, marissa? we did not know. my dad i just remember he just ran straight into the master bedroom. reporter: marissa raced after her father. i just hear, saying help. someone s in trouble. are you really scared at this point? yes, i was scared. reporter: the voice was coming from inside a walk-in-closet attached to the bathroom. herman moved closer. wedged against the door knob was a dining chair. he tugged it aside, opened the door, and there was sandra on the floor, tied by her arms and ankles, but alive. he said that she did not look well at all. reporter: as marissa s mom cut sandra loose, her dad spoke. where s my brother? where s your uncle? reporter: the answer to that, unspeakable. what had happened to jaime melgar and his wife? coming up she looked like she had aged ten years overnight. just broken and lost. sandra melgar, the only possible witness to a night of terror. what would she remem
the jury anyway. there was no evidence of infidelity or typical marriage troubles still she suggested that sandra wanted out. but their religion made it impossible to split up the usual way jehovah s witnesses don t allow you to divorce. unless someone s cheating, and it s very clear that jaime was not that guy. if i get divorced, i get ostracized and i can t talk with my friends. but if i kill him, and nobody finds out, i m not ostracized. reporter: but wasn t sandra too frail to commit such a violent, close-quarters, crime? maybe not. the medical examiner s report concluded jaime suffered 31 sharp force wounds but none very deep. so kind of stab, stab, taunting kind of injuries or how i don t how do you read it? or maybe not much force used. or maybe a weaker person. reporter: so how did the attack go down? the prosecutor had a vivid scenario of a lethal seduction. the prosecution thinks that sandra melgar lured jaime to the bedroom under the guise of se
collapsing. we just could not believe it, could not believe this was happening to her. to prosecutor barnett this was justice both for the state and for jamie melgar. she s committed a crime and they found her guilty and i m glad. i ve done my job and justice has been served. the jury sentenced sandra to 27 years in prison. her lawyers have begun the years long appellate process. from behind bars sandra wrote us this letter saying she s at peace because she knows she s innocent. her family supports her so she s not giving up. and lizz, well, she and her kids do their best to carry on without jamie or sandra. my daughter just loves her nana so much. and it was so heart breaking to tell her that nana wasn t coming home. when do your miss your dad the most? every day when i look at my kids because i know what a wonderful grandfather he would have been, the jokes and the