00:00:06
it's usually easy to figure out how a
00:00:08
criminal enters a crime scene but in
00:00:11
this case it was far from clear
00:00:14
it looked like the killer vanished in
00:00:16
thin air
00:00:18
and perhaps he had
00:00:23
[Music]
00:00:29
[Music]
00:00:48
getting into medical school
00:00:50
it's the hope and dream of thousands of
00:00:52
students who apply each year then pray
00:00:56
they'll be accepted
00:00:59
michael andrade was one of those
00:01:01
hopefuls
00:01:03
he really wanted to be a doctor he
00:01:04
really wanted to help people
00:01:07
just recently my mom told um told me she
00:01:09
used to tell him don't worry michael all
00:01:11
your hard work is going to pay off
00:01:14
because you worked really hard at school
00:01:16
in 2005
00:01:18
michael was a pre-med student at saint
00:01:20
mary's university in san antonio texas
00:01:24
he decided not to live in the dorms so
00:01:27
he rented an apartment a few miles from
00:01:30
campus
00:01:31
he actually chose that apartment because
00:01:34
it seemed more family oriented than the
00:01:36
other apartments he said that was the
00:01:38
one he felt safer at one morning in
00:01:41
february of that year workmen smelled
00:01:43
smoke coming from michael's apartment
00:01:46
they noticed that the windows were
00:01:48
coated with soot and when they went to
00:01:51
the door it was unlocked and as soon as
00:01:53
they opened the front door smoke came
00:01:56
below me now they were forced out
00:01:58
because of the smoke and when they went
00:02:00
back in they found mr andrade laying on
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the bed
00:02:04
michael andrade
00:02:06
had been strangled to death
00:02:09
his body was somewhat burned but
00:02:12
very little compared to if the fire
00:02:13
would have taken over he was found with
00:02:15
one of his arms his right arm in fact
00:02:18
back behind him about belt high
00:02:20
it appeared that he had been at some
00:02:22
point tied up with his hands behind him
00:02:26
there were no signs of forced entry
00:02:29
but electronic equipment was missing
00:02:32
there was a entertainment center that
00:02:34
had speakers hanging off the front of it
00:02:37
which appeared to have been connected to
00:02:39
something and that item was missing
00:02:42
on the computer desk was a perfect you
00:02:45
know demarcation of where a computer
00:02:47
would have sat
00:02:48
this meant that the computer had been
00:02:50
stolen after the fire started
00:02:53
and the fire was set in three different
00:02:56
locations
00:02:58
arson investigators gave information
00:03:00
from the beginning that the fire
00:03:02
probably was not started with an
00:03:04
accelerant it wasn't
00:03:05
gasoline it wasn't uh lighter fluid
00:03:08
anything that would create big flame
00:03:10
type uh a big flame type fire a winged
00:03:14
back chair placed in between the kitchen
00:03:16
and dining area was the site of one fire
00:03:20
the foot of the bed was another and the
00:03:22
third fire started on the floor of the
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bedroom closet
00:03:27
i had watched a lot of forensic shows
00:03:30
and i knew that that seemed like a
00:03:32
cover-up that when there's three points
00:03:33
of fire one person's not gonna the
00:03:35
person who's obviously passed away was
00:03:37
not the person who said it that there
00:03:39
was obviously gonna be someone trying to
00:03:40
cover up whatever evidence was in the
00:03:42
apartment
00:03:44
michael had been wearing boxer shorts
00:03:46
and a t-shirt
00:03:48
an indication he might have known the
00:03:50
perpetrator and willingly let him or her
00:03:53
inside he knew them and was comfortable
00:03:56
enough around them to be just in his
00:03:58
underwear if it was somebody that he
00:03:59
didn't know
00:04:02
everyone was certain that he would have
00:04:03
put on more clothing before he answered
00:04:05
the door
00:04:06
with no forensic evidence
00:04:08
investigators hoped that the stolen
00:04:10
items might lead to the identity of the
00:04:13
killer
00:04:15
there was always a chance that something
00:04:17
would happen something would break later
00:04:18
someone would brag about the crime
00:04:20
someone would uh come across the stolen
00:04:23
material and or stolen property and
00:04:25
bring that back and we could track it
00:04:26
back that way or maybe there was
00:04:28
evidence in the apartment that they
00:04:31
couldn't yet see
00:04:37
at michael andrade's autopsy
00:04:39
the medical examiner confirmed what
00:04:41
investigators already suspected
00:04:44
she did find that he had been murdered
00:04:46
before
00:04:47
the fire was set because there was no
00:04:49
smoke in his lungs the deposit of soot
00:04:52
across the body indicated that he had
00:04:53
actually died in that face down position
00:04:55
because the soot deposition was much
00:04:57
more prominent across the back of the
00:04:58
body
00:05:00
the cause of death was
00:05:01
strangulation with a piece of cloth
00:05:05
ripped from the bed sheet
00:05:06
[Music]
00:05:07
and dr dana also found fiberglass
00:05:11
insulation on the body
00:05:13
this was unusual since there was very
00:05:15
little structural damage caused by the
00:05:18
fire
00:05:19
the material deposited was
00:05:22
there alone there's a possibility that
00:05:24
it had been deposited by the perpetrator
00:05:26
when the when the deceased was strangled
00:05:29
it's unusual that you would see just the
00:05:30
insulation material without this other
00:05:32
debris such as
00:05:34
wood burned wood nails screws that have
00:05:37
come out and even fixtures out of the
00:05:39
ceiling
00:05:41
in their search for suspects
00:05:43
investigators couldn't find anyone who
00:05:46
had a motive to kill michael andrade
00:05:49
he never had no enemies
00:05:51
i never seen him mad at anybody upset
00:05:54
about anything
00:05:55
it's a person that you don't even think
00:05:58
anybody would have anything against them
00:06:01
so i had no idea
00:06:03
investigators discovered one person who
00:06:05
was apparently angry with him his
00:06:08
longtime girlfriend a fellow student 22
00:06:11
year old lily macias
00:06:14
i do remember quite a few fights between
00:06:17
the two of them where he'd be very upset
00:06:20
either hurt or mad at her i don't know
00:06:22
exactly what would happen it was just
00:06:24
they would have problems and you could
00:06:25
tell
00:06:26
investigators found a voicemail from
00:06:29
lily to michael left at 8 30 that
00:06:31
morning
00:06:32
she had left a message on michael's cell
00:06:35
phone
00:06:36
indicating that they were having
00:06:37
problems and that she was done with
00:06:39
their relationship
00:06:40
was it possible that lily went to
00:06:43
michael's apartment afterwards
00:06:45
and there was an altercation
00:06:47
at that point
00:06:48
combined with the fact that it seemed
00:06:50
like michael may have known the person
00:06:52
who did this to him she was initially a
00:06:54
suspect
00:06:55
but lily had an alibi
00:06:58
she was working at her part-time job on
00:07:00
the morning of the murder and was
00:07:01
eliminated as a suspect she was very
00:07:04
forthcoming she was willing to give us a
00:07:06
statement willing to allow us search of
00:07:08
her apartment willing to allow us a
00:07:10
search of her vehicle
00:07:13
michael's sister stephanie provided the
00:07:16
first solid lead
00:07:18
she said michael complained about a man
00:07:20
he saw around the apartment complex
00:07:23
the guy would just talk to him but that
00:07:25
the guy made him feel very uncomfortable
00:07:27
for some reason he didn't say while the
00:07:28
guy never said anything suspicious to
00:07:30
him or
00:07:31
anything mean
00:07:32
but he just said he always felt a little
00:07:33
uncomfortable or a little uneasy around
00:07:35
the guy just because his character
00:07:37
seemed a little off
00:07:39
unfortunately michael never identified
00:07:41
the man
00:07:42
provided a physical description or
00:07:45
mentioned where in the complex he lived
00:07:49
right at that point the investigators
00:07:50
had merely the crime the crime scene
00:07:54
and a
00:07:55
very large universe of
00:07:58
potential suspects with with not a whole
00:08:00
lot to go on
00:08:01
pinpointing a specific person
00:08:04
with no other suspects for the murder of
00:08:06
michael andrade
00:08:08
investigators appealed to the public for
00:08:10
help four days later
00:08:13
an anonymous tipster called
00:08:16
the crime stoppers tip was amazing in
00:08:19
its detail
00:08:21
the tipster told police
00:08:23
the killer
00:08:25
didn't enter andrade's apartment through
00:08:27
the front door or even
00:08:30
a window
00:08:31
he entered through
00:08:33
an attic crawl space
00:08:36
the tipster knew that mr andrade's
00:08:38
laptop was missing
00:08:40
knew about the contents of the laptop
00:08:43
which was never public information
00:08:45
you really have to question how would
00:08:47
somebody know this kind of information
00:08:52
[Music]
00:08:54
investigators got an anonymous tip in
00:08:56
the michael andrade murder investigation
00:08:59
that the killer entered michael's
00:09:01
apartment through a crawl space in the
00:09:04
attic
00:09:05
sure enough
00:09:07
investigators found a paneled opening to
00:09:10
the attic in the ceiling of michael's
00:09:12
bedroom closet
00:09:15
when investigators checked it out
00:09:18
they discovered that someone could
00:09:20
access other apartments
00:09:23
through the crawl space
00:09:25
the insulation was only matted between
00:09:28
michael's apartment and department
00:09:30
number
00:09:31
1002
00:09:33
these spaces connected to each other it
00:09:36
was something i would have never thought
00:09:37
of it was something that unless you were
00:09:40
a maintenance person i would figure you
00:09:41
wouldn't know about
00:09:43
none of the insulation
00:09:45
above any of the other apartments had
00:09:46
been disturbed the only apartment that
00:09:49
had been disturbed was michael andrade's
00:09:51
apartment
00:09:52
the tenant of apartment 1002 was 23 year
00:09:56
old maria solis a single mother who
00:09:59
lived there with her three-year-old son
00:10:07
when questioned by police maria claimed
00:10:10
she didn't even know michael andrade or
00:10:13
where he lived
00:10:16
but investigators didn't believe her
00:10:18
so they took the unusual step of
00:10:20
confiscating maria's vacuum cleaner and
00:10:23
the clothes in her hamper
00:10:27
investigators found a pair of men's
00:10:29
jeans
00:10:30
and on those jeans were tiny glass
00:10:33
fibers
00:10:34
the small air pockets within the glass
00:10:37
had expanded
00:10:39
creating a distinctive football shape
00:10:42
this was fiberglass insulation that had
00:10:45
been in or near a fire
00:10:49
the evidence was not destroyed it was
00:10:51
simply charred
00:10:52
this gave it unique properties something
00:10:54
that i can compare back to with any
00:10:57
standards that were found at the scene
00:10:59
the charred insulation on these jeans
00:11:02
was consistent with the charred
00:11:04
insulation found on michael andrade's
00:11:07
body
00:11:08
the insulation was unique it was burnt
00:11:10
insulation so
00:11:12
it wasn't a situation where
00:11:14
the person could say i'd been working at
00:11:16
a construction site that's how i got
00:11:18
this insulation on my clothing
00:11:21
wrapped around the spool of the vacuum
00:11:23
cleaner
00:11:25
investigators found highly distinctive
00:11:28
thread
00:11:29
black polyester fibers were wrapped
00:11:32
around cotton fibers
00:11:34
then
00:11:35
colored with an unusual combination of
00:11:38
dyes
00:11:40
this fibrous bundle is composed of
00:11:42
polyester and cotton it's a blend
00:11:45
it also has the dark colored polyester
00:11:48
that gives the dyeing characteristics
00:11:50
and adds in strength to the thread
00:11:53
this thread was consistent with thread
00:11:55
found around michael's neck it matched
00:11:58
his bed sheet
00:12:00
which had been torn and used as a
00:12:02
ligature
00:12:05
microscopically it was the
00:12:07
pattern that the threads
00:12:09
had that were able to give me that
00:12:12
distinguishing or that unique appearance
00:12:14
that associated with the bedding
00:12:16
material
00:12:18
also in maria's apartment
00:12:21
investigators found a video camera and
00:12:24
keys to a ford truck
00:12:27
the video contained images of michael
00:12:29
andrade's family
00:12:31
proof that the camera was michael's and
00:12:34
the car keys were michael's
00:12:37
michael andrade's truck was a ford f-150
00:12:40
and these keys were ford keys
00:12:42
went down with the
00:12:45
alarm remote on the set of keys and
00:12:47
opened up his truck
00:12:49
investigators confronted maria soliz
00:12:52
and wanted to know
00:12:54
who owned the men's genes found in her
00:12:56
hamper
00:12:58
after she was threatened with
00:12:59
prosecution maria soliz changed her
00:13:02
story
00:13:04
she now admitted she had a roommate
00:13:07
25 year old
00:13:09
joe luna
00:13:11
she met luna over the internet
00:13:14
and seemed to me to be desperate to be
00:13:18
in a relationship with the man
00:13:20
and
00:13:24
latched on to joe luna
00:13:26
in what i believe was a very
00:13:29
manipulative
00:13:31
relationship
00:13:32
maria claimed
00:13:34
she knew nothing about joe luna's
00:13:36
criminal past
00:13:37
that he had served five years in prison
00:13:40
for carjacking and aggravated assault on
00:13:43
a police officer
00:13:45
and joe luna was wanted for a series of
00:13:47
home invasions that bore a marked
00:13:51
similarity to the michael andrade case
00:13:55
he would break in cut bed sheets up tie
00:13:58
up the people who were at the house with
00:14:01
those strips of bed sheets
00:14:03
he terrorized
00:14:05
five separate
00:14:08
people three of whom
00:14:10
were families with children
00:14:13
he tied them up
00:14:14
he used weapons
00:14:16
he threatened them he stole from them
00:14:20
brook anvik was a victim of one of those
00:14:23
home invasions
00:14:25
it's just indescribable i mean you feel
00:14:27
like your home is where you're safe
00:14:29
after the robbery
00:14:30
brook found forensic evidence the
00:14:33
perpetrator had left behind and we
00:14:35
noticed that two cigarette butts were in
00:14:37
the garage
00:14:38
we don't smoke and none of our friends
00:14:41
who had been at the house recently smoke
00:14:44
dna from the saliva on the cigarette
00:14:46
butts
00:14:47
matched joe luna
00:14:50
it's surprising to me that someone would
00:14:52
leave behind
00:14:54
their dna
00:14:56
almost uh
00:14:58
carelessly leave behind cigarette butts
00:15:00
that they had you know of cigarettes
00:15:02
that they had smoked
00:15:06
just five days after michael andrade's
00:15:08
murder
00:15:10
joe luna was arrested and charged with
00:15:13
the crime
00:15:14
did you kill your neighbor
00:15:17
my killer buddy period i don't ever see
00:15:19
myself in a position where i would have
00:15:21
to do something like that
00:15:24
despite his denials
00:15:26
joe luna was facing a possible death
00:15:29
sentence
00:15:34
the forensic evidence painted a vivid
00:15:36
picture of joe luna's movements on the
00:15:39
morning of michael andrade's murder
00:15:43
prosecutors believe
00:15:45
joe luna spent most of his time inside
00:15:48
his girlfriend's apartment since he knew
00:15:51
there were warrants out for his arrest
00:15:53
on the robbery cases
00:15:57
with nothing to do
00:15:59
he discovered
00:16:00
there was an attic and crawl space above
00:16:03
the apartment
00:16:10
so he looked around
00:16:11
and discovered there was another
00:16:14
apartment just 60 feet away
00:16:17
michael andrade's apartment
00:16:20
prosecutors believe
00:16:21
he opened the panel in michael's bedroom
00:16:24
closet
00:16:25
and when he didn't hear any sound
00:16:28
dropped in
00:16:32
but michael was sleeping and the noise
00:16:34
woke him up
00:16:35
there was a struggle
00:16:37
[Music]
00:16:39
luna tore the bed sheets bound michael's
00:16:42
hands behind his back and strangled him
00:16:45
to death fearing that michael could
00:16:47
identify him
00:16:50
to mask the evidence
00:16:52
he set fire to the clothes in michael's
00:16:55
closet and returned to his girlfriend's
00:16:57
apartment through the crawl space
00:17:04
when he didn't hear the fire alarm sound
00:17:06
he suspected the fire went out so he
00:17:09
returned to michael's apartment to start
00:17:11
the fire again
00:17:15
he stole michael's computer electronic
00:17:18
equipment
00:17:19
and his car keys
00:17:22
before leaving he set the two additional
00:17:25
fires
00:17:32
when luna returned to his girlfriend's
00:17:34
apartment he shed fibers from michael's
00:17:37
apartment which he tried to remove with
00:17:39
his girlfriend's vacuum cleaner
00:17:42
and he put his jeans into the clothes
00:17:44
hamper which had the burned insulation
00:17:47
on them
00:17:48
having that forensics evidence in your
00:17:50
back pocket as an investigator is just
00:17:52
something that you can't overcome when
00:17:54
it's on your clothing there's a real
00:17:56
hard
00:17:59
hurdle hurdled overcome to say that i
00:18:00
didn't i didn't do it now
00:18:02
during her police interrogation maria
00:18:05
soldies eventually admitted
00:18:08
that luna had confessed
00:18:12
it's like i went into an apartment
00:18:14
and he's just like well somebody was
00:18:16
there when i got there
00:18:18
and i'm like okay
00:18:20
and he's like well they saw me
00:18:23
it's like so
00:18:24
it's like i had to do what i had to do
00:18:26
i'm like what are you talking about what
00:18:28
did you think in your mind that he did
00:18:30
that he had heard somebody that
00:18:33
he had
00:18:34
done
00:18:35
what he did to this boy i don't like to
00:18:37
say that four letter words
00:18:40
that he had taken this person's life
00:18:44
joe luna headed for trial insisting he
00:18:47
was innocent
00:18:49
but the forensic evidence caused him
00:18:52
to reconsider
00:18:54
the fiber evidence that was found
00:18:56
and the fiber evidence that i had looked
00:18:58
at was apparently so compelling that the
00:19:01
defendant
00:19:02
didn't want to continue on with this
00:19:04
case which is quite unusual for a
00:19:06
capital myrtle trial
00:19:08
so luna changed his plea to guilty
00:19:12
and admitted what he had done
00:19:14
in open court
00:19:22
he testified that he enjoyed it
00:19:25
that he lived for the adrenaline rush
00:19:28
that it gave him to victimize people and
00:19:31
to get away with it
00:19:33
i cannot fathom the terror
00:19:36
that that young man went through
00:19:39
and really there could be nothing worse
00:19:42
than seeing a joe luna walk out of your
00:19:44
closet
00:19:46
in march of 2006
00:19:49
luna asked the jury to give him the
00:19:52
death penalty
00:19:54
they willingly obliged
00:19:56
there are certain people
00:19:58
in our society
00:20:01
that
00:20:02
have absolutely forfeited
00:20:04
their right to live among us
00:20:07
by their own actions and by their own
00:20:09
decisions
00:20:11
joe luna is one of those people
00:20:15
ironically
00:20:16
joe luna tried to cover up his crime by
00:20:19
burning the evidence but
00:20:22
he didn't destroy it instead
00:20:25
he made those tiny glass insulation
00:20:28
fibers
00:20:29
more distinctive
00:20:32
it was actually the last way i thought
00:20:33
that they would catch him that was
00:20:35
furthest from my mind that it would be
00:20:36
in a vacuum
00:20:37
you have to have the forensics you have
00:20:40
to have the evidence that can't skip
00:20:42
town you have to have the evidence that
00:20:45
can't lie to you
00:20:46
as my old professor once said there is
00:20:48
no such thing as a perfect crime
00:20:50
that you can plan
00:20:53
you can
00:20:54
calculate
00:20:55
you can try to manipulate the
00:20:57
circumstances or the surroundings
00:20:59
but you always leave a piece of trace
00:21:02
evidence behind
00:21:04
[Music]
00:21:18
[Music]
00:21:28
[Music]
00:21:35
[Music]
00:21:41
you
