lot. cannot forget all that he knows. so when he s 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 cathy s 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 didn t want cause i don t want memories to come back, you know? well, that s an interesting statement, i don t want memories to come back. what memories does he have that he doesn t want to remember? if he s 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 doesn t want to relive. reporter: after listening to the in
i did not kill cathy torrez. he says, i don t know who did. that s not what i asked, javier. did you kill cathy torrez? i don t know who did. and we play that several times to where he d finally say, i didn t do it. you didn t do what, javier? i didn t do what you say i did. reporter: can t say the words, killed cathy ? correct. then it moved to, did you put cathy s body in the trunk of the car? i don t know who did. finally he sat there and he put his fist in front of his mouth to keep himself from talking. reporter: but javier had already managed to talk his way into an arrest for murder. nearly four years after cathy s death, he was booked into the orange county jail. cathy s family was stunned when they heard the news. tina included. remember, she was still married to armando, who was sam s brother and javier s cousin. yes. that that was a shock. that was a shock.
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. don t let anyone tell you different. you keep going. and that s 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 then-california governor pete wilson about cathy s 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, weren t you?
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 doesn t 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 touch-dna, the microscopic calling cards the microscopic calling card many of us leave behind just by putting our hands on something. if sam and javier did place cathy s body in the car s trunk, maybe, thought larry, there would be touch-dna on her clothes. search for dna in the areas that might be grabbed. especially areas that might be grabbed that don t have blood on
in his second interview after cathy s 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 didn t want cause i don t want memories to come back, you know? well, that s an interesting statement, i don t want memories to come back. what memories does he have that he doesn t want to remember? if he s 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 doesn t 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