My whole world just died right there. For months the murder stayed cold. Didnt have witness, didnt have video, didnt have dna. We had everything going against us. We would go down and talk to the detective. We wouldnt let it go. Then a break, another victim. He would Duct Tape me, Duct Tape my mouth. And she knew a secret. Could she risk revealing it . Something is going to happen tonight. A killer ready to run, facetoface with The One person who might be able to stop him. He just reached over the Glove Compartment and he pulled out the gun, and i said, please dont kill me. I wanted to get out of there alive. It was a Monday Morning in January 2007. 9 08 a. M. A young woman in San Antonio, texas, texted her boyfriend. I love you, thats all it said, nothing more. Downtown, the alamo had just opened its doors. A few tourists began boarding little boats to gaze at remnants of Texas History along urban stretches of the San Antonio river, and several miles away in the farther reaches of the modern City A Manager of a Video Game Store began his daily ritual. His name was mariano rivera. The store opens at 10 00 but managers get there at 9 00, grab the till, the money and take it to the bank. Same process at a sister store, same company, not far away. That one managed by a woman who sent the text to her boyfriend, except this was strange. As the morning slipped by, her store remained closed. Mariano got a call from the District Manager. Can you go over there and maybe you can see something, see what is going on. He did. He saw a white car in the parking lot. Looked like the young womans car. He peered into the store window. Nobody there. I thought, man, this is strange, like where is she. So i kept calling, nothing. Her name was amber belken. Tiny, just 52, 100 pounds, but energetic, ambitious and very much in charge. She was a fire cracker. Thats the easiest way to put it. Matt pena worked with amber at the Video Game Store. She would let you know what she wanted, but i think she was one of the kindest souls ever that i have ever met. So i guess it depended on what side you met her on and how much you made her mad. She could be tough . Oh, most certainly. She loved her job. She did. She surrounded herself with people who wanted to go somewhere, Do Something. She loved her job. She did. Monica peck and Ashley Flores were ambers Best Friends. Was she cut out to be a manager . Yeah. Oh, yeah. She was fierce. But she still was friendly. She loved all of her employees and she loved all of her customers. She was only 25. She was the store manager, and so it was a very good sense of she is doing it. She is making something of her life. Like she had goals, she had ambitions. She wanted to go back to school, she wanted all of it. Not that she set out to work in a Game Store. She wanted to be a veterinarian. She was just so loving. We couldnt pass a turtle on the road, she had to turn around and pick it up and take it to her house. We would go to Pet Shops all the time and buy turtles and fish. Snakes. Snakes. A lot of snakes. She had a snake, a white albino python. She would find these random animals on the side of the road. It is like, how did you find that animal. Like her little dog, buddy. Ambers parents, leigh and randy. She actually ran for buddy across the expressway, and the hair was all matted up. Looked like dreadlocks. And she said, well, I Cant put it back out on the road, it will get killed. So i just opened the door and let it in. Amber was their only child. They doted on her from the day she was born, and she was good in return. Amber was the Type Person that would give you the shirt off her back. She helped anybody that needed it. They didnt even have to ask. She was going to make sure that you were protected. But now where was amber . Why was her store not open . Why didnt she answer the phone . Early afternoon, still no sign of amber. So again, District Manager called mariano. Something was strange. And sent him back for a second look. Again, mariano looked in through the big front window. But this time he saw someone. Ambers Assistant Manager brandon just standing there behind the counter. I knock on the door. And so he lets me in and i said, brandon, have you seen amber . Hes like, no, but something is strange, theres money on the floor, it looks like theres some kind of Struggle Or Something happened, things got knocked over. My first thought was, Wheres Amber . He said he didnt know. Right away im thinking, what is going on with this guy, clearly he sees Theres Something wrong, he must recognize the car, thats her car outside, you see it, theres things on the floor, why havent you reacted right away and called someone or checked the rest of the store . But he hadnt. So mariano ran to the Back Office, the only other room in the store. Not a Moment Hell ever forget, not for the rest of his life. When i run to the back, find that amber is on the floor, face down. And she has a Plastic Bag wrapped and her head. And instantly i knew what happened. Coming up. One mystery solved. Amber was no longer missing. But a much bigger mystery remained. Most people that rob a store dont kill anybody. They just want to do the robbery. Maybe the robbery was just a cover for murder. He had the classic motive. It does kind of seem personal. When everything she knew continues. And our customers rated us 1 for Network Quality in america according to j. D. Power. 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There are some things which once seen, can never be unseen. Amber belkin sprawled in death in the Back Office of a Video Game Store. Her head wrapped in a plastic back. Mariano rivera dialed 911, his mind a horrified confusion. He stared at Assistant Manager Brandon Beal. I was horrified, i was upset. Im looking at brandon, how did this happen . I dont want to blame anybody but your first thought is, who is around, who can you look at and say, maybe he had something to do with it. Its got to be a pretty shocking thing to discover. I mean, its hard to describe. You just have A Million emotions just running through and you dont know what to make of them. The police came, took one look, and called raymond roberts, then a detective with the San Antonio police department. It looks like a robbery gone bad. Stores in disarray, the clerk is found in the Back Office, shes dead. Try to get some information, are there any witnesses, no, sir. Hold the scene down, get the Crime Scene detectives out there. The news, indistinct, unconfirmed, spread through the texas afternoon. Somebody dead in ambers store. Most people did not know who. Including ambers father. My brother called me and said there was a robbery and a manager had found someone murdered in the store. My daughter was the manager. I started calling ambers phone. You thought she was the manager who discovered a body . I jumped in my truck and i called a friend of mine who is a Defense Attorney and i said, i need you to call anybody that you can and see what you can find out. And i was just about there, and he called me and he said, how far are you from there . Thats when he realized it wasnt that amber found someone dead. They found her. [ crying ] my whole world just died right there. Thats a pretty dreadful feeling, isnt it . Its the worst feeling in the world, because you totally realize No One can fix this. Nobody can bring her back. Not for them, not for her friends. And then everything just stopped. Disbelief. Disbelief. Your earth shatters. I sat on the curb and cried. Everything around me was just a blur. Inside the store, detective roberts had a look around. Theres a bunch of Dvd Games on the ground. Where the Cash Register was by the front, the till is open, the door is open, theres change kind of laying around. More dvds on the ground in the back. Like somebody came in, ransacked ransacked the place, took off. He went around to the back alley. Was this an Escape Route . Probably either had their car here in the alley or had a car over there, put the boxes here, picked them up. You wouldnt think robbing a Game Store would be worth killing somebody in the process. You wouldnt think anybody would rob a Game Store. Yeah, normally during robberies, its just a robbery, theres no murder. And this was certainly a robbery, given the mess and the empty safe. We checked the bank. There was no deposit made for that morning. There was 1,900 stolen. Three or four big videogames, playstations and ps3s and Dvd Games. All that was taken. The haul totaled just under 6,000. Maybe the Stores Surveillance cameras could tell the detective who took it. Except theres no Surveillance Video in the store. Theres none in the Strip Center that the store is located in. Theres no video anywhere. There was video at the starbucks next door but it only showed the front door and thats it. You dont see anything. Who would know that . Who would know it was the Video Game companys only store in San Antonio not equipped with cameras . The answer was obvious to the detective. An employee would know. Just like an employee would know Amber Hadnt taken the cash to the bank yet. Mariono told the detective about Encountering Brandon and that he didnt understand why brandon didnt look for amber until he arrived. Let me make sure, first of all, the robbers are not still in here and can hurt me but also let me see where amber is. Thats what the detective was thinking. He talked to ambers coworkers. They said she had issues with brandon. They had never learned to work together yet. Just when you have a guy like that whos not really the same type of Attitude Or Mentality that the rest of us were, it causes some problems. Did she trust him . You know, i dont know. I think in some instances with some things, no. Even ambers parents said they knew she was dissatisfied with brandon. Because she had written him up. She had prepared a negative Work Review. She was going to turn it in that day. Its just his last chance, mom, she said. I Cant I Cant allow him to continue to make these mistakes. So, motive, opportunity, behavior that didnt seem innocent. I mean, he had the classic motive. He didnt want her to write him up. Yeah. Didnt want to get fired. Didnt want to get fired. This seemed personal. Most people who go in to rob a store dont go in there with the intentions to kill anybody, they just do the robbery and leave. Putting a Plastic Bag on her head, squeezing it tight, takes four or five minutes, probably, takes a commitment. No kidding. Shes struggling, shes not just laying there. That takes a lot. That does kind of seem personal. They had brandon in the Back Seat of a patrol car. The detective went to talk to him. He tells me a story and its just not making any sense. So he had brandon taken downtown and questioned by a colleague known for her special interviewing skills. Shes a real good detective, she has a way with getting stuff out of people. An hour later, im still at the scene. She calls me back, yeah, somethings up with this guy. Coming up. Ambers parents were convinced it was brandon. We definitely felt brandon did it. Everything pointed to him. That explained what Ambers Mom said she saw at the funeral. He put one of the Gamestop Tag holders that had their i. D. On it, he put one of those in her casket. When everything she knew continues. A unicorn in training. A corner to build a legacy. A vision for tomorrow. A fresh start. A blank canvas. A second act. A renewed company culture. A temple for ideas. And a place to make your mark. Loopnet. The most popular place to find a space. At pnc bank, we believe in the power of the watch out. Thats why we created low Cash Mode, the financial watch out that gives you the options and extra time needed to help you avoid an overdraft fee. Its one way were making a difference. Low Cash Mode on virtual wallet from pnc bank. My Dvt Blood Clot left me with questions. Was another around the corner . Or could i have a different Game Plan . I wanted to help protect myself. My doctor recommended eliquis. Eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another Dvt Or Pe blood clot. Almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didnt experience another. And eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Eliquis is fdaapproved and has both. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial Heart Valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your Bleeding Risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Whats around the corner could be a different game. Ask your doctor about eliquis. It was four days after that awful morning in the Video Game Store. Amber belkins funeral was huge, as if in death she had been adopted by the community around her. Over 600 people, and The Ones that couldnt get into the chapel waited in the lobby and in the parking lot. Is that a comfort . A very big comfort. That she touched that many lives. They loved amber. They said, we love amber. As ambers parents watched, they could not stop seeing in their heads another scene, The One in the Back Room of the Video Game Store, the way she was killed. They told me it was personal. She had to be so frightened. And when she tried to pick up the phone, i know it was to call us. And he yanked the phone out of the wall. Was it Brandon Beal . By the day of the funeral, they were sure. We definitely felt brandon did it. Everything pointed to him. And then as mourners filed by to pay their respects, suddenly there he was at the funeral, in front of them. Brandon beal. Did you think, my god, her killer has come to the funeral . Oh, he came and shook my hand. I knees just felt weak and i just fell. Then, said Ambers Mother, she was sure she saw Brandon Walk right up to the casket and put something into it. He put one of the Gamestop Tag holders that had their i. D. On it, he put one of those in her casket. And i got that thing out of there as fast as i could and put it in a tissue and put it in my purse because i thought, thats the last thing i want buried with my daughter. Was that i. D. Potential evidence, she wondered . Was brandon trying to bury evidence with Ambers Body . Mama is automatically thinking brandon did it. Its got to be brandon. The week after the murder, detective roberts questioned brandon on videotape. Im going back over everybody we talked to trying to figure this thing out. Brandon repeated the story he had been telling from the start. He was nowhere near the store that morning. Got up, let my dog out, watched sports center. At 45, i left, i had to go help my fiances parents move out. This Big Island that goes in the kitchen. He didnt get to the store, he said, until after 2 00 p. M. For afternoon shift. And when he got there, he insisted it was still closed. So he panicked. Was he supposed to open that morning . Im about to put my stuff in, check the computer. He looks around, sees the dvds on the floor, the Cashiers Drawer open. He sees all this and thought, hmm. So he starts going about to open the store. He thought, hmm . Yeah. So hes not looking for amber or not looking for anybody thats supposed to be working. Brandon told detective roberts he had no Idea Amber was in the store, no Idea Amber intended to submit a negative Work Review about him that very day, didnt notice her car in the parking lot, he said, didnt think the obvious mess in the store meant it had been robbed. You saw the disarray. Yeah. If an Employee Saw the disarray the normal person, you would think, would start thinking somethings wrong here. They got a Search Warrant for Brandons House and car, maybe they would find some of the stolen dvds and Game Consoles there. They did not. But there had to be something. For weeks the detective looked for evidence on Brandon Beal. Randy and mom called Me 24 7, every day, two or three times a day. Brandon, its brandon, brandon, brandon, brandon. Detectives questioned his fiance, her parents. They scoured his Phone Records. We did everything we could to try to get some kind of evidence on brandon and there was none there. There was none there because he didnt do it. That alibi about helping his fiances parents checked out. And his Phone Records revealed he was miles from the story when amber was murdered. Finally, Brandon Beal was cleared. Did you at some point think, im going to be charged with murder . Yes, i did. The memory still fresh. I had nightmares of going to jail, you know, it was hard for me to sleep. That terrible day. What time were you supposed to be at work . I would come in at 2 00 and close the store. What did you think when you got there . When i got there to the store, im thinking, because it was all closed up like normal, you know. Like it had never been open . Like 2d never been opened. My whole Thought Process was, let me get this store open. Because i think i screwed up. I screwed up, right. Why didnt he notice it had been robbed . Some stores are messier than others. Totally opposite of, theres Somebody Dead here, theres a robbery. Brandon was 23 then and terrified. Im just thinking, you know, theyre really just put this on this young black man, you know. When they questioned his fiance they was trying to convince her that i did it. They would say things to her, how can you sleep with a murderer, you know he did it, youre possibly next. What did that do to you . It angered me, because youre trying to convince my fiance to lie on me, pretty much. But shes a strong woman and so shes telling me, dont worry about it, you know, i know you didnt do it. When they searched his house it seemed like a scene out of a movie, going through drawers, thrown her clothes. They left my house a wreck. Looked in the attic, looked in our garage, in our refrigerator. They went through my car. You know, they were swabbing stuff, little sticky circle things, just swabbing everything, swabbing everything. Even when he was finally cleared, he said, No One told him. Nor, he said, was he told amber had written him up, although he agreed they hadnt always seen Eye To eye on some things. And until we spoke with him, he said, he had no idea Ambers Mother believed she saw him put something into ambers coffin. Did you walk over to the casket and put in a Laniard Or Something . Thats the most absurd thing ive heard. No. That was my very first funeral. I didnt even get that close to the casket. But brandon is a father now, two kids. So, he told us, he thinks of ambers parents and understands. I couldnt imagine, you know, losing one of my children. But if Brandon Beal didnt kill amber belkin, then who did . Coming up. Im sitting at the office and the phone rings. A caller reluctant to give his name. But gives up someone elses. I know who killed this girl. When everything she knew continues. Now with the Samsung Galaxy Z fold 3 on Verizon 5g ultra wideband, theres no more fear of missing out. Or as i like to say. crowd no Mo Fo Mo Download a movie in seconds, while acting in a movie. Hyah while also writing a movie. Game on the Go On the fastest 5g in the world. Hes cheating Crowd Gasps whispers i gotta go Vo 5g ultra wideband, available in many major cities. Switch to verizon and get up to 1,000 off. hasan no Mo Fo Mo Forever music playing. Theres an america we build and one we explore one thats been paved and one thats forever wild but freedom means you dont have to choose just one adventure you get both. 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We didnt have witnesses, didnt have video, didnt have dna, didnt have fingerprints, didnt have nothing. He went public then. Had to. We held a big News Conference with the parents, mom and dad, pleading for help. We kept saying, if you can do this to amber, youve got to stop him, because he can do this to your child, to your daughter, to your son, to your mother. Theres no telling what this person can do. Crimestoppers put up a lot of money. Nothing. I was hoping, you know, money talks. 100 Grand Reward. 100 Grand Reward is a lot of money. Nothing. We put flyers up all over San Antonio. We wouldnt let it go. As months went by without a single solid lead, detective roberts sank through frustration and into a kind of despair. This little girl, she looks like my little girl. And she resembled by daughter, same build, same color hair. Ambers favorite book, if you give a mouse a cookie, i read that to my daughter A Million times. You do this for an extended period of time, you try to distance yourself. Sure. Youve got to. The worst mistake we can make is getting too close to it. I got close to the family, mentally, physically, for the detective, you do that every case, shh, you burn out. And then about seven months after Ambers Murder. Im sitting at the office and the phone rings. The caller claimed to know something. Whats your name . I dont want to tell you my name, just call me joe, i know who killed the girl. Who . A guy named giovanni. What makes you think this guy did it . He asked me if i wanted to do a robbery with him, you know, before. I said, okay. Fascinating. He says, we used to both work for eb games. I said, why did he want to do the robbery . He wanted to do the robbery at this store because theres no cameras. I called up eb games, both of them did work for eb games. Im thinking, finally got a break. The detective asked joe to come in for a talk. Joe told him at first he didnt think Giovannis Request was serious. I just kind of blew it off, you dont think your Best Friend will actually go Do Something. But after he heard about amber, said joe, it all clicked. Giovanni must have killed her. How much stock could roberts put in this Guy Joe who initially wouldnt give his full name . And who was this giovanni, anyway . The detective checked for priors. It wasnt much. Had a record as a juvenile. The fingerprints we lifted from the Crime Scene, theres hardly any that are legible. And none was a match. This is all you got, you got this one witness, and you want to tie the suspect to the scene, but theres nothing to tie it, theres nothing. I have nothing to hit him on. Worth a try. He brought giovanni in for an interview. Im going to do damage to my stomach without food. Of course he denies it. Im real comfortable thinking youre responsible for this murder. Thats crazy, sir. Was it crazy . No way to prove it, really. Then a couple of days later detective roberts brought the tipster, joe, back in. This time joe poured it all out, said giovanni told him straight out he had killed someone. I was in shock. I was scared too, i was thinking like, you know, i freaked out, whats he going to do to me. Now, that was huge. If joe was telling the truth. But just one guys accusation, no idea how credible it might be, wasnt much to Go On. Still, it was all they had. So i drafted an Arrest Warrant and i drafted a Search Warrant. Bring it to the magistrate, she reads it, says its about time. This is in the news, its a high Profile Case for San Antonio, Rich White Girl dies at work, people went crazy. It shouldnt matter. But people went crazy, they want justice. Go get the Search Warrant signed, go get the Arrest Warrant signed. Its my birthday. Its the best birthday present ever. But then he got a call from his sergeant. He says, Ray Bob, i want you to keep your mouth shut, dont say anything, i just want you to do what im telling you to do, i need you to get the Arrest Warrant quashed. Wow. Giovanni would not be arrested after all. Just not enough evidence. The prosecutor had made it clear he didnt want to try him and fail in court. But the detective still had a warrant for giovannis dna. So they went to his house unannounced. He opens the door. I said, got a warrant for you. Didnt say a Search Warrant, didnt say Arrest Warrant. He turned back to his wife and says, im going with them. He was defeated. He put his head down, shoulders down, he put his hands behind his back. Like he was getting ready to be cuffed. Wow. Did you . No. I grabbed him by the arm and said, come on. And he kind of perked up a little bit. Perked up. Thats certainly a tell. Oh, yeah. Giovanni gave him a dna sample. But afterwards, he clammed up, wouldnt say a word. I was disgusted so i had somebody else take him back home but i called my friends in s. W. A. T. , said hey, keep your eye on this guy. Sure enough, hours later, he got a call. The s. W. A. T. Guys called me, hes Loading Everything in a car, hes moving. Where was he headed . Getting to laredo, getting the hell out of here. Along the mexico border. Nothing Ray Bob could do about it. And the case went pretty much nowhere after that. For many months. Until there was a woman. She was terrified. And did she have a story to tell. Coming up. A young mother locked in with a killer. He just reached over the Glove Compartment and he pulled out the gun and i said, please dont kill me. When everything she knew continues. Frequent heartburn . Not anymore. The Prilosec Otc Twoweek challenge is helping people love what they love again. Just one pill a day. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. Because life starts when heartburn stops. Take the challenge at prilosecotc dot com. In 2016, i was working at the Amazon Warehouse when my brother passed away. And a couple of years later, my mother passed away. After taking care of them, i knew that i really wanted to become a nurse. Amazon helped me with training and tuition. Today, im a medical assistant and im studying to become a registered nurse. In filipino youll always be in my heart. We did it again. Verizon has been named americas most reliable network by rootmetrics. And our customers rated us 1 for Network Quality in america according to j. D. Power. Number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. Most awarded for Network Quality, 27 times in a row. Proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. Thats why were building 5g right, thats why theres only one best network. Late june, almost a year and a half after the murder of amber belkin, Detective Ray Bob Roberts roared down the highway to laredo. He had just gotten a call from the police there. Giovannis wife wanted to talk. Her name was veronica. And what a story she told. I made a dumb choice. I was really young. And i got pregnant really young. Still in High School . Yeah. She tried to resist him, she said, wasnt attracted that way, but he was so insistent. And once she was pregnant our family insisted we get married. I listened to everyone except my own feelings. I didnt want to get married. But not knowing better, i felt like maybe thats the best thing for my child. Maybe they know better than i know. Yeah. So i listened to them. And i said all right, i guess thats the best thing to come. Once they were married, she said, he demanded sex whenever he wanted it. Whenever he touched me, i would feel sick and i would tell him to stop. There were times when he would get angry or frustrated and then he would force himself on me. And right beside sleeping children in their one small bedroom. He would use the children as a way to get me to cooperate, like if he wanted to, and i would say no, he would be firm about it, he would be like, youre going to do this. The kids are asleep right now, if you make any noise or wake them up, im not going to stop, theyre going to see everything. He could Duct Tape me, Duct Tape my mouth, Duct Tape, you know, my wrists to the leg of a chair and just to keep me quiet. I was very afraid. Again, i was young. Much too afraid to tell. And while detectives searched for more clues in Ambers Death then one day in late January 2007 as she watched tv she saw the news of Ambers Murder and i said, look at this, wow, isnt that crazy. And he just looked and he just said, wow, thats he mirrored my reaction to it, wow, wow, I Cant believe it. He just walked by down the Haul Hall into the bedroom. He was shocked. Like he was shocked. I never thought for one second like, he just acted normal that whole time. That is until after the police knocked on their door in the fall of 2007. After joe reported giovanni. After detective roberts got that Search Warrant for giovannis dna. We were asleep. It was early in the morning. And then we hear a pounding at the door, boom, boom, boom. And that woke us up. That woke me up. Whats that . And he Got Up first. And he went to go check. And then he returned and told her its the police. They think i killed someone. I said, did you . Whats it like to hear that . I was shocked and mortified. And he says, its because i did kill someone. And thats all he said, i killed someone. Who . Why . Im assuming maybe he had like an altercation with someone, maybe a friend or some guy down the street, i dont know. But giovanni only said were going to move to laredo, lets go. That very day . The next day. A very rapid move. Unprepared. Just fast. Veronica was beside herself, paralyzed by fear. How do i tell somebody, do i call the police . Do i tell a Family Member . What do i do . I just i just stayed quiet, i was so afraid to say something. And then one night she worked up the courage to ask him a question. I asked him, did this have anything to do with what i saw in the news that day . He said yes, i did that. That was me. What was that like to hear . I just started crying and sobbing, oh, my god. I go, why, why, why did you do that . He said, we needed we needed the money. Suddenly the responsibility for this terrible act has shifted somehow, right . Hes told you. Now what are you going to do . I didnt know what to do. I was desperate. I was desperate to get out. She begged him, turn yourself in. Instead he went to his mother. She would cry to him, no, please dont go, you dont want to leave your children, theyre never going to see you again. Im just crying, inside, like, im just im trying to do it as peacefully as i can without making him angry toward me. And then around dinner time one Evening Veronica finally told him she had had enough. The marriage was over. Then he said, lets go for a drive, lets go get the Kids Something to eat. Instead he drove her to a secluded area. It was just dirt all around, empty. And no people, No One inside. Thats when he pushed the auto, the lock. The car lock. The car lock. It locked all the doors. Ives i was like, somethings going to happen tonight, somethings going to happen because we were in the middle of nowhere. I thought he was going to kill me. [ crying ] i look over and he reached over to the Glove Compartment and pulled out a gun. I said, please dont kill me. He said, dont worry, just do what i said. Get into the Back Seat, he ordered her, and followed her. He raped me back there, i started crying and praying. I wanted to get out of there alive. But it wasnt veronica who would die. It was giovanni. He pulled her out of the car. Take the gun, he said, shoot me. I said, I Cant do that. He said, yes, youre going to do it, because if you dont do it, im going to come after you and im going to come after the children. Im going to come after your family. And whoever you end up with, im going to come after him too. So you need to end my life tonight. Joe, I Cant do this, i cannot be like you, I Cant do this. She tried to reason with him, she said, told him if she killed him and went to prison, her children would have no parents. Anything i could say to get him out of this mentality. And to worked. He drove home, told her what she had to do. He had me lay down next to him, made sure i was right there. I was awake the whole night, i was afraid he would Do Something while i was asleep or to the children or just Do Something crazy. And the next morning he said, im just going to disappear. He drove veronica and the kids to her Mothers House and he took off. What did it feel like to walk away . Like im almost there, its almost over. I run in there and said, i need to make a phone call, and i told the police what happened. And she did. I started telling them everything, my names veronica, im his wife, this is what i know. He said he was going to disappear. That must have been quite a phone call. They asked, why did you take so long. I was just so afraid. But im here now and ill tell you everything i know, everything he told me. Afraid. Now he was truly gone. Coming up a Hahn Mustnt goes into overdrive and stretches along the border. Were in the gym, a cold, stinky, loud gym. Confronting a killer. They were grateful that i said something, that i did the right thing. When everything she knew continues. She knew continues. On ancestry i discovered more about my greatgreatgrandfather baptiste caretto. 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The day veronica called the police was the beginning of the end for giovani. I thought im going to get the son of a [ bleep ]. You know . All they knew was he was somewhere, probably mexico. But it was a full six weeks before they tracked him down, surprised him at a relatives house, sure enough in mexico as he played one of the Video Games he stole from ambers store. Detective roberts finally got his suspect exactly where he wanted him. Were in a gym, a cold, stinky, loud, kbim. Im detective roberts. All this background noise. We read him his rights. And he starts talking. Ive had this guilt for a long time. Ive been wanting to turn myself in. But i was put the needs of others before me. Wait. He put the needs of others before me . Really . He said, i need money. Because there is no video. He drives there. He tells me, i had tape. He claimed he didnt know it was amber running the store that day. In my Heart Nothing can help. He worked for the Game Store company, knew who managed the store, and he knew amber. If he was going to pick somebody to rob, why wouldnt he pick this 52, 102 young woman. Instead of the big guys, instead of all these he knew. When he got there, said giovani. He recognized me. Like im when i was in there, i asked for money and i tried to explain to her. Look, im having some problems. And she said, just take the money. But then she claims he reached for the phone, so he taped her down like he had often done to his wife. Thats when she panicked. I just covered her mouth like dont scream. Dont scream like that. Im faced i dont like saying that. I Cant I Cant lose everything that ive gained, my family. And ive already hit the Point Of No Return and i just grab a bag and im like, just be quiet. He put a bag on her head. He squeezed it tight around her neck. He held it there. I just herd her gurgling. I thought, okay. And i turned around and i untied her and i said, are you okay . She wasnt breathing. I heard her gasp but she didnt respond anymore. Thats when i had already had the money and i put the stuff i wanted to take so i could sell. Giovanis story would not be tested in court. He took a plea deal, murder. But life in parole with parole possible in 2036. They finally confronted the killer of their only child at the sentencing, their darling daughter. Is it helpful . It is. It is. No. Not for you . He sat back on the Constables Desk tapping his foot. Just looking around. Like youre wasting my time. It would have been official if i had heard him say, i real am sorry. I am so sorry, mr. And mrs. Balkan. Amber didnt deserve to die. Im so. Reporter sgli what did he say . Nothing. But they did get an apology from someone else, giovanis now exwife veronica. Hi. They met for the very first time when we shot this story. I blamed myself for not saying something sooner, for waiting too long. And i always felt like they had maybe some anger towards me. But blame her . No. They knew she was a victim, too. In fact, Giovani Pleading guilty to sexually assaulting veronica. They werent resentful at all . No, they were really nice. They were grateful that i said something, that i did the right thing and that was nice, to hear them say that to me. Knowing that they didnt feel that way at all and i can go back home and not be, you know, like a terrible person. You keep putting more and more of these things behind you now. Yes, Little By little. We dont have any ill feelings at all. Shes a wonderful girl. I was very happy for her that she has a new life and a safe life and we told her if she ever needed anything from us or to talk or anything, just call us up. They are, they told us, broken still. And always will be. And they cling now to ambers Best Friends, ashley and monica. My adopted daughters are ambers friends through thick and thin. They call us on fathers day, mothers day. They sent flowers. We know theyve had children, so in a Way Weve got grandchildren. They have each named daughters after amber, and they hang on to memories like gold. Its like you have to put it in a box and then just keep it there for safekeeping because thats what you have and thats what you hold on to. It hurts. It hurts. Life will never be what it was with her. Im really sorry. I understand why they hate me, to anyone thats loved him. For the role i played, im deeply, deeply sorry. It was right out of a soap opera. The husband, the wife, the affair with the local dentist. I just dont think of myself as someone why would he will interested in me, you know . Was it