00:00:00
[AUDIO LOGO] [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] [SIREN BLARING] DISPATCHER: Laredo 911. What's the address
of emergency?
00:00:17
JOEL PELLOT: I found
my wife unresponsive. And I'm scared that
she's not breathing.
00:00:23
DISPATCHER: Can you
check her pulse, please? JOEL PELLOT: Yeah. Oh, my God. DISPATCHER: What
about her chest?
00:00:29
Is her chest
rising up and down? JOEL PELLOT: No. Is somebody coming? DISPATCHER: Yeah,
there should already
00:00:37
be an officer getting close. JOEL PELLOT: An officer
or an ambulance? DISPATCHER: We have both
an officer and an ambulance.
00:00:42
JOEL PELLOT: OK. NARRATOR: This video
provided by a neighbor shows a threatening man.
00:00:49
He's seen walking past
a home holding an ax. [SCREAMING] [POUNDING] [STREET BUZZING]
00:01:18
LUIS MATA JR: My name
is Luis Mata, Jr., and I am a sergeant for the
Laredo Police Department
00:01:22
in Laredo, Texas. What I can tell you
about this neighborhood is that it is very calm.
00:01:31
It is not uncommon
to see kids running around in the neighborhood. There's a park close by.
00:01:36
It's a very, very
lovely neighborhood. NARRATOR: In September
2020, all that changed.
00:01:45
- Our patrol officers responded
to an unresponsive female. The information that
I received was that
00:01:52
we have a female
in her 30s that apparently had been depressed. The husband indicated that
he had found her on the bed,
00:02:00
what he thought was asleep. She ended up being
unresponsive. Right now we're
approaching the residence.
00:02:08
This has been five years
now, but it feels like I was just here last night. [SIREN BLARING]
00:02:30
DISPATCHER: I
have some officers outside if you would be able to
unlock the door really quick.
00:02:35
I'm gonna let you go, so you
can speak with the officers. OFFICER: What's going on?
00:02:40
JOEL PELLOT: Could you
just come this way. OFFICER: What's going on? JOEL PELLOT:
--unresponsive on the bed.
00:02:46
NARRATOR: First on the scene
is an officer from Laredo PD. JOEL PELLOT: But I
can't feel a pulse.
00:02:53
NARRATOR: He finds Joel Pellot
doing CPR on his wife Maria. He says she might have
overdosed on antidepressants.
00:03:02
OFFICER: She has
medication here? Where's it at? JOEL PELLOT: We take
the same medications.
00:03:07
OFFICER: OK.
JOEL PELLOT: I gave her some. NARRATOR: When
paramedics arrive, they continue trying
to resuscitate Maria.
00:03:17
OFFICER: Where
did you find her? JOEL PELLOT: On the bed. I brought her over here.
00:03:22
OFFICER: How long
ago did you find her? JOEL PELLOT: Like-- maybe
like 20, 25 minutes.
00:03:36
- No, man, she's gone. She's been gone for a while.
Yeah. OFFICER: OK. - Are you calling it?
00:03:43
EXAMINER: Yeah,
she had no rhythm. [TENSE MUSIC] JOEL PELLOT: I have two kids
in the house, too, by the way.
00:03:49
OFFICER: They're asleep? JOEL PELLOT: Yeah. OFFICER: Can you
give me a sheet? EXAMINER: Yeah.
Yeah.
00:03:56
OFFICER: Just
in case they wake up, you know, we don't
want them to see them. [SCARE CHORD]
00:04:02
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] NARRATOR: With Maria
pronounced dead by the medics, Sergeant Luis Mata is
called to the scene.
00:04:15
- My job as an investigator
is to go in there and rule out foul play. And 9 times out of 10,
there is no foul play.
00:04:25
He had a prescription drug. Where is it? However, she's a 30-year-old
woman that passed away
00:04:31
in her own home unexpectedly. Sir, you got to go downstairs. We'll be with you shortly.
00:04:37
He was behaving like
any husband would, that had just been told that
his wife had passed away.
00:04:43
His wife of 10 years is gone. You gotta just hang tight. NARRATOR: Despite
Joel's distress,
00:04:50
Sergeant Mata needs
to find out what happened before Maria died. LUIS MATA JR: You
got to go outside.
00:04:56
I approached him. I expressed my condolences. And then I started
my questioning,
00:05:01
that I would in any common
death investigation. How did she die,
and why did she die?
00:05:06
What's going on? What happened? I noticed that he
was wearing scrubs. So he's some type of nurse
some type of medical employee.
00:05:18
NARRATOR: Joel explains that
he's a nurse anesthetist. He and Maria are no
longer living together,
00:05:24
but they'd agreed to discuss
their relationship after his shift. - We're going through
some problems.
00:05:33
[SIGHS] I've been ignoring her. She's been super depressed. [SIGHS] And I came to talk to
her, like, really just talking.
00:05:45
- Joel indicated
that Maria and him had been having
marital problems, that she had been
drinking lately
00:05:53
and had been using pills
to help her go to sleep. OFFICER: So you're not
staying here right now?
00:05:57
- [SIGHS] No. Um, we had sex. We took a shower. - He goes
in and takes a shower.
00:06:07
When he comes out, he
thinks that she's asleep. - Then I thought she
was, like, knocked out.
00:06:13
I was like, hey, what's up? What's going on? I didn't think anything of it. So I just kept
on doing my thing.
00:06:22
- He checks on her
10 minutes later. He finds her unresponsive. - And then I go back
upstairs, and she's just--
00:06:32
LUIS MATA JR: This
is what he brought. And he said that he
thinks she took these.
00:06:37
He went all the way
into the medicine cabinet and brought these. I suspected the possibility of
an intentional overdose which
00:06:44
could have been a suicide.
OK, just your phone here. Just leave that here.
- No, no, no, no.
00:06:48
I need my phone. LUIS MATA JR: Just
leave your phone here. You can't have your phone.
00:06:52
Just put it here. [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] NARRATOR: As Joel
is taken outside, Sergeant Mata combs
the house for evidence.
00:07:06
LUIS MATA JR: We're looking
for notes, medication, bottles, pills things
that could explain
00:07:12
the reasons why she died. We found a needle-- [CAMERA CLICKS] --on the stairwell.
00:07:22
Alongside the body were
wrappers of a syringe-- [CAMERA CLICKS] --wrappers that you see,
like, in a hospital setting.
00:07:33
Joel's account was telling us
that he had taken a shower. We went into that shower,
and it was very dry.
00:07:40
It looked like it had not
been used for several hours. There was no evidence that
she had been in a struggle,
00:07:46
had been abused had been
tortured, had been assaulted. However, we found one
mark on her elbow crease,
00:07:55
a mark that is consistent
with an individual getting their blood drawn
or getting an IV started.
00:08:02
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] I'm asking myself, why
are there syringe wrappers scattered throughout the home?
00:08:11
Why is the shower dry? Why is there a mark
on Maria's elbow crease? Why is there a needle
on the stairs?
00:08:19
Those are the questions
that I want answered. Something's not
quite adding up here.
00:08:25
[SUSPENSE CHORD] [DRAMATIC MUSIC] NARRATOR: The coroner takes
Maria's body in for autopsy.
00:08:40
[SIREN BLARING] Joel is taken to the station
to answer further questions. LUIS MATA JR: We want to get
the background of what's
00:08:54
going on in Maria
and Joel's life that could lead us to this point. - [WAILING] [CLANKING]
00:09:04
LUIS MATA JR: Joel's demeanor
was of a hysterical spouse. - [CRYING] [TENSE MUSIC]
00:09:11
- The detective is coming in. - Thanks. NARRATOR: Sergeant Mata
starts the interview by asking
00:09:17
Joel where he's been living. - So when you separated,
did you leave the house? - Yeah.
00:09:24
- OK. How often would you
go back to the house? - Oh, a lot. - You still had your keys
and stuff like that?
00:09:31
OK. Were you there almost everyday? - A lot, yeah. I wanted to see my boys. - OK.
00:09:38
NARRATOR: If Maria
did take an overdose, could their separation
be the reason? - She didn't think it was gonna
last this long and on, um--
00:09:48
So it's been a constant
thing that she needs more pills to go to sleep. Sometimes, she can't
go to sleep at all--
00:09:56
- OK. - --because she's so depressed. She cries all day. - So Maria was taking
pills for depression.
00:10:05
Were they prescribed to her? - Yeah, they were. And hers ran out. So I just went
to give her some.
00:10:12
- You know the name
of the drug? - Yeah, 1 milligram
of clonazepam. - OK. - His reasoning was that she
was very depressed and very sad
00:10:22
because she was losing him. I asked, have Maria
been drinking? And he had said yes.
00:10:27
Did she drink today? - I don't know. All I can tell is that she
really needed, like, relief.
00:10:40
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] - When you say she
really needed relief-- - From her depression.
00:10:47
- OK. NARRATOR: Sergeant
Mata asks if Maria could have injected herself. - Does she do drugs
other than clonazepam?
00:10:59
Has she ever done drugs? - Uh-huh. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure. - Did she do any
type of injections?
00:11:09
- Lately, I'm not sure
what she's been into. - OK. If she did, what would it be?
00:11:18
- I don't know. - When we asked Joel about
the needle prick mark, he could not explain it.
00:11:25
I feel like you're not
telling me something about that track mark. What's going on?
- Yeah.
00:11:30
I-- - What do you suspect? - I don't want to speculate. - You're not speculating.
00:11:37
You're helping me out. - Yeah, but she just died. - Exactly. - You know, that's
my main concern.
00:11:46
- Exactly. And my main concern is,
how did this happen? - But I'm not gonna speculate.
00:11:54
- And I flat out asked
him towards the end of the interview,
did you kill Maria?
00:11:59
Did you have anything
to do with your wife's death, anything? - No. I love my wife.
00:12:06
I don't know what my kids
are gonna do without her. - He seemed shocked. He said, no.
00:12:11
Me? No, I loved her. I loved her. - I would rather die.
- Yeah. - I would rather die.
00:12:19
I would rather my sons not
have me than not have her. - My condolences, OK? NARRATOR: With no
evidence of wrongdoing,
00:12:30
Joel is free to leave. [TENSE MUSIC] Maria's friends hear
of her heartbreaking death.
00:12:43
LUIS MATA JR:
That day, I had 15 or 20 missed calls of friends
that wanted to come forward.
00:12:49
She was well loved, and they
were adamant that Maria would not take her own life.
00:12:56
[AMBIENT MUSIC] [WHIRRING, WIND WHOOSHING] [METAL CREAKING] ELIZABETH SEARS: I
first met Maria not long
00:13:13
after she had moved to Laredo. And she quickly became just
an instant best friend.
00:13:20
Really and truly like sisters. I mean, we raised our sons
as almost siblings, and we were there
for each other.
00:13:27
We talked about everything. This is one of the-- one of the last
pictures, I think,
00:13:34
Maria and I took together. We were at her house. And we had been hanging
out and talking about life,
00:13:43
talking about plans. Maria was always happy,
always encouraging, beautiful, naturally beautiful.
00:13:51
Really could lift you
up no matter what. - Take 1,000.
[LAUGHS] - Maria was smart.
00:13:58
[PIANO PLAYING] Maria was intelligent. She was passionate. She was a family person.
00:14:06
She loved her husband. She loved her kids. MARIA MUÑOZ: I am great! - I am great!
00:14:15
- I've never known
Maria to do anything that would even align with
wanting to take her own life.
00:14:23
[PIANO CONCLUDES] [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] MARISELA JACAMAN: When we
started reviewing the case
00:14:40
we noticed that Maria
had several cameras inside the home. OK. We realized that this
was a camera that was
00:14:50
no longer mounted to the wall. It was removed. That's a red flag. LUIS MATA JR: We also
discovered Maria's journal.
00:15:00
As a detective, when we find a
book like that, like a journal, especially with recent
entries up until the moment
00:15:07
that she died,
that's our victim talking to us postmortem. MARISELA JACAMAN: Several
journals of Maria all indicated
00:15:15
her great faith in God. I believe she loved God. She loved her family. She trusted her husband.
00:15:24
And she believed in the idea
that if you were good, you would not be harmed. LUIS MATA JR: There
was no suggestion
00:15:33
that Maria was suicidal. Something's not right. There's needles, syringe
wrappers and she has one mark.
00:15:41
And it just happens to be where
a nurse could start an IV. And what's her husband do?
00:15:47
He works in anesthesia. [CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC] NARRATOR: Sergeant Mata speaks
to Joel's former employer
00:15:57
for background on him. JOHN HUNTSINGER:
Well, I knew Joel. He would come across
as very humble,
00:16:08
but he was actually a very
bright guy, especially in the area of pharmacology. NARRATOR: Joel's
modesty turned to pride
00:16:16
when it came to his wife. JOHN HUNTSINGER:
He would bring her to some of our business
meetings,
00:16:23
and we were a little
surprised by that. It just jumped in my mind that
he's just trying to show off
00:16:29
that he has a beautiful wife. [AMBIENT MUSIC] ELIZABETH SEARS: They
presented as a loving couple.
00:16:36
They acted like
they were in love, and it was something that
you would expect to see
00:16:41
with any other married couple. And then something seemed
to change about him. LUIS MATA JR: It became evident
that as time was passing,
00:16:50
Joel was changing. ELIZABETH SEARS: Joel
had always prided himself on being a father.
00:16:58
That part faded away. He was becoming heavily
obsessed with finances, money, becoming a millionaire, heavily
obsessed with being at work,
00:17:09
as well as the way he looked. NARRATOR: Joel's coworkers
also noticed the change.
00:17:16
JOHN HUNTSINGER: He put
blonde streaks in his hair. He lost weight
but gained muscle mass.
00:17:22
He became more aggressive. He had several
confrontations with surgeons and other physicians.
00:17:28
To me, that
suggested that he was probably taking testosterones
or anabolic steroids.
00:17:35
It was very disappointing
and shocking that Joel began to change as he did. NARRATOR: Sergeant Mata
makes a surprising discovery.
00:17:46
LUIS MATA JR: Joel
had been having a secretive affair
with a coworker of his who's a nurse, named
Janet Arredondo.
00:17:53
JOHN HUNTSINGER:
I talked to Joel about rumors of a relationship,
and it's making a lot of us
00:18:01
feel very uncomfortable. There was an air of anxiety
whenever he was around. - I became aware that Joel
was having an affair as there
00:18:12
had started just to be
rumors amongst the friends groups, the medical community.
00:18:16
There was just a lot
of talking behind the scenes. [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] I was definitely
shocked when we
00:18:25
started to see some
of the verbal abuse, the disrespect, and the control
that Joel had over Maria.
00:18:39
LUIS MATA JR:
The most common theme that we gathered from
all these interviews was Joel's narcissism.
00:18:46
Another factor was lack of
respect for his coworkers, lack of respect for his supervisor.
00:18:53
JOHN HUNTSINGER: There
was an incident where I was called in emergently
to help them in the room,
00:18:58
and the patient was flatlined. We had to immediately do CPR. But when I walked
in the room, he
00:19:06
was texting on his cell phone. After that incident, I
brought him to our office,
00:19:16
and I let him know
that we were gonna terminate him immediately. After Joel left, I
had hoped that perhaps
00:19:28
he would straighten out. He would go back to being
a good husband and father and forget about Janet.
00:19:36
NARRATOR: But nothing changed. Joel got work
at a different hospital and continued his
affair with Janet.
00:19:44
Maria eventually found out. - At this point
in the investigation, I had my suspicions that
Joel had killed Maria,
00:19:52
but I still couldn't prove it. We needed more evidence. NARRATOR: Sergeant Mata's team
searched through Maria's phone.
00:20:00
- There was one
particular video where Joel and Maria are having
a conversation in a vehicle.
00:20:05
Maria is spilling her heart,
and Joel arrogantly just continues eating his food.
00:20:11
MARIA MUÑOZ: I
want to know what is it that you want me to do. What-- you know, what
do you want me to do?
00:20:19
I have already forgiven you. LUIS MATA JR: When Maria
tells him, it's just over.
00:20:25
You've made this choice. - [SIGHS] You walk out that
door, we're getting a divorce.
00:20:32
- All right, fine. [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] LUIS MATA JR: He gets mad
and storms out of the car
00:20:37
and slams the door. [THUDS] We also discovered an email. It seems that you already
made your decision.
00:20:48
You've gone with Janet. That's OK. I wish you two the best. And I just hope that we make
this relationship be civil
00:20:55
for the sake of our children. The next step I want you
to do is to turn in your keys
00:20:59
to the house. Maria had just filed
a divorce appointment with a local attorney. She was leaving him.
00:21:07
Once Maria mentioned
the word "attorney" and indicated to Joel
that she had already made
00:21:12
an appointment, he emailed her,
indicating that he's had a lot of time to think about it, that
he wants this marriage to work.
00:21:18
He wants his family. And all he asks before she
goes to an attorney is to have one last heart-to-heart talk.
00:21:25
[SURGING MELODY] NARRATOR: Chief assistant
DA Marisela Jacaman doesn't believe that's
what Joel wanted.
00:21:38
She thinks this was another
example of his coercive control over Maria. - I believe that Maria was
subjected to various levels
00:21:48
of emotional abuse. And when he felt he
was losing control and she said, we'll
end this amicably,
00:21:59
we can even go talk to an
attorney, he didn't want that. That was not part of his plan.
00:22:08
[DRAMATIC MUSIC] NARRATOR: Sergeant Mata
calls in Joel's girlfriend, Janet, for an interview.
00:22:26
- Has anybody been
staying with you recently? - Um, sometimes. - Joel? - Mm-hmm.
00:22:37
- Does he stay
with you sometimes? - Sometimes. - When we asked Janet
what she knew of Maria,
00:22:42
she mentioned that
she had been told that Maria had been very
depressed, that she was
00:22:46
refusing to let go
of Joel, and that she did not want this divorce. Why is Joel still married
to her, in your opinion?
00:22:54
- Why? Because she won't
give him the divorce. - And in her mind,
it was a boyfriend
00:23:01
that just could not get
away from his wife, who was refusing to let him go. - Because last
night, at about 1:30
00:23:08
in the morning
or earlier in the day, Pellot's wife passed away. OK? - I'm sorry.
00:23:18
- I understand. Take your time. When I told Janet that
Maria had been found dead,
00:23:25
that's when she told
me, I had a chance to talk to her two days ago,
and I wish I should have.
00:23:31
That is when she told
us about the incident when Maria had gone
over to Joel's house.
00:23:37
- Yes, she went
to my house on Saturday. - On this past Saturday? - Yes, sir. - And did she see you?
00:23:44
- I didn't open the door. - Did you call the police?
- Yes. - Did she, like-- was she
trying to say something?
00:23:49
NARRATOR: Janet explains
that the incident was recorded on her door cam. - Do you have a--
00:23:54
- I might still have it. I think it's this one. It's 29.
- OK. - She's there. NARRATOR: Janet
hasn't been charged,
00:24:03
so Detective Mata has no
right to seize her footage. So when she offers the video,
he records it on his phone.
00:24:12
LUIS MATA JR: Maria
and Joel had taken the boys to a Halloween
pumpkin farm, but
00:24:18
he cut the trip short,
saying that he had to go into work immediately. Maria became suspicious.
00:24:24
Drove to Janet's house. She's like, I just want
to go tell Janet that I'm not gonna bother her anymore.
00:24:31
She can have him
but to be responsible and be mature for the kids. - She told them, like,
you need to pick.
00:24:38
And he said, I'm staying here. I'm gonna be here. NARRATOR: Maria phones
Joel repeatedly.
00:24:48
He eventually agrees
to talk with her in her car, away from Janet. Soon after, a police
officer responds
00:24:59
to Janet's previous call. JANET ARREDONDO: Hello.
OFFICER: Hello, ma'am. Did you call police?
JANET ARREDONDO: Yes, I did.
00:25:07
OFFICER: What's going on? - I had a woman
come by that she was already told not to be here.
00:25:13
She was here. She was asked to leave. She refused, so I
called you guys. By the time I was
on the phone, she left.
00:25:21
OFFICER: Do you have
her on video camera? - I have her on my Ring. OFFICER: If you have her
on camera, it's enough for me
00:25:27
to go warn her not to return. - So the officer says, OK,
what I'm gonna do right
00:25:30
now is I'm gonna warn her. That way, she already has
the official advisory. If she comes back after that,
do you want to put her in jail?
00:25:38
At that time, she says
if she were to come back a third time, then yes. [PHONE RINGING]
00:25:43
So when the officer
called Maria-- JOEL PELLOT: Hey! I'm [MUTED] talking
to you right now!
00:25:51
Hang up the [MUTED] phone! [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] OFFICER: I guess
that's your boyfriend?
00:25:58
- Yeah. LUIS MATA JR: Joel
was in a rage. That just tells me
that he is domineering,
00:26:03
and he is aggressive. [PHONE RINGING] And then you can see
Janet on the phone sending text messages.
00:26:11
We were able to get
cell phone records. It was her sending
Joel a message. Hey, the police just
heard you yelling.
00:26:19
It's the police trying
to get a hold of Maria. So when the officer
calls back, you'll
00:26:25
notice the calmer demeanor. The switch was flipped back
to being a rational individual.
00:26:32
JOEL PELLOT: Hello? OFFICER: Hello, yes, sir. I'm looking for Maria Muñoz. JOEL PELLOT: Yeah, she's here.
00:26:37
I'm having
a conversation with her. OFFICER: All right. This is Officer
Jalomo, Laredo PD, sir.
00:26:41
[RADIO CHATTER]
JOEL PELLOT: Yeah. OFFICER: I'm calling
on behalf of Janet Arredondo.
00:26:44
Can I speak to her?
JOEL PELLOT: Sure. OFFICER: Thank you. LUIS MATA JR: The officer
then explains that she's not
00:26:51
welcomed back at Janet's home. And then when she comes
back onto her property, she's gonna be arrested
for trespassing.
00:26:56
MARIA MUÑOZ: Hello? OFFICER: Yes, Ms. Muñoz.
MARIA MUÑOZ: Mm-hmm. OFFICER: I understand you came
over to Ms. Arredondo's house
00:27:01
earlier today.
MARIA MUÑOZ: Mm-hmm. OFFICER: OK, I'm gonna
ask you to not return.
00:27:05
If not, you will be
placed into custody. MARIA MUÑOZ: OK. OFFICER: OK. She has video surveillance, so
this is your official warning.
00:27:14
If in the event you return,
you will be placed in jail. So I suggest you do not
come here no longer, OK?
00:27:20
MARIA MUÑOZ: OK. OFFICER: Do you
have any questions? MARIA MUÑOZ: No.
OFFICER: All righty.
00:27:24
Thank you, ma'am. - Maria says that
she understands, and the conversation ends. OFFICER: Thank you.
00:27:30
JANET ARREDONDO:
Well, thank you. OFFICER: Bye-bye. [TENSE MUSIC] LUIS MATA JR: Within
24 to 48 hours,
00:27:49
we received a call
from a local attorney indicating that
Janet was not gonna be making herself available to
talk to the police any further.
00:27:56
Now it's just getting more
and more clearer that there's something more to this case.
00:28:03
Janet has information. She doesn't want
us to know, and she's hiding something
that's very revealing.
00:28:10
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] NARRATOR: Despite
its poor quality, the doorbell footage showing
Maria's visit to Janet
00:28:18
could prove crucial
to the investigation. NICK BARREIRO: Video forensics
is the scientific analysis,
00:28:32
enhancement, authentication
of any sort of video evidence that may be used
in a criminal case.
00:28:38
It's the scientific analysis
of recorded evidence. Video evidence is critical
in a lot of cases, especially
00:28:46
nowadays, with Ring cameras,
Nest cameras, surveillance cameras of all types. There's almost
always video evidence
00:28:53
associated with any sort of
critical incident that happens. And it acts
as a silent witness,
00:29:00
as a objective view of what
actually occurred as opposed to eyewitness statements.
00:29:08
The way that this video
was recorded is not ideal, but we can still gain a lot
of very valuable information
00:29:13
from it. I'm gonna make
this footage look as good as it possibly can. The first thing I
want to do is get
00:29:21
a better view of what's
happening on that small screen. We see that the footage
is moving around,
00:29:27
and that's
because the person holding the phone, that's recording
this screen, is moving around.
00:29:34
I want to see this
footage stable the way that it's meant to be. So the first thing
that I'm gonna do
00:29:41
is I'm gonna stabilize it. [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] So now we can look
at this footage
00:29:48
in a way that more
closely approximates the original footage. NARRATOR: Marisela
Jacaman studies the police
00:30:02
body cam evidence in detail. - We noticed that there was
inconsistencies in his story.
00:30:14
He mentioned that she had
overdosed, that he gave her a bottle of clonazepam. OFFICER: What'd she take?
00:30:23
- I think clonazepam. - But when he was
asked for the bottle-- OFFICER: Where's it at?
00:30:29
MARISELA JACAMAN: --it
wasn't around Maria's body. So he gets up, and he
leaves the room.
00:30:34
And he comes back with
a bottle of clonazepam and shows it to the officer. JOEL PELLOT: It's clonazepam.
00:30:42
OFFICER: Clonazepam? JOEL PELLOT: Yeah. MARISELA JACAMAN: And you
see his hand grab the bottle
00:30:48
and put it in his pocket. There was absolutely
no need to do that. NARRATOR: The pinprick found
on the crease of Maria's arm
00:30:56
is also concerning. MARISELA JACAMAN: One of the
first things we said was, why isn't any
of the paraphernalia there?
00:31:03
If it was truly
an accident, then the syringe would be there. Why was it cleaned up?
00:31:12
NARRATOR: As Maria's
body is held by the coroner
for autopsy, Sergeant Mata gets a call from Joel's
former boss, Dr. Huntsinger.
00:31:21
He's suspicious
about Maria's death and recommends a full
toxicology test on her blood.
00:31:31
- Dr. Huntsinger's
gut feeling from the get-go was that Joel
played a role in Maria's death.
00:31:36
Joel had access
to several potent drugs that could kill anyone. JOHN HUNTSINGER:
So a full toxicology
00:31:43
report that included anesthesia
drugs had to be done. I'm not familiar
with police work,
00:31:49
and my concern was
that those drugs are not always looked for. I was very concerned that
if the body was cremated,
00:31:56
evidence would have been lost. [CAMERA CLICKING] NARRATOR: With only
circumstantial evidence
00:32:01
against Joel, discarded
medical wrappers, an open, used needle
found on the stairs,
00:32:09
and the prick mark
on Maria's arm, the toxicology report
will be crucial. LUIS MATA JR: We had
all this evidence,
00:32:16
yet we still didn't
have the confirmation that Joel had killed her. We might have suspected it,
but we needed the proof.
00:32:24
NARRATOR: When
the autopsy is complete, the coroner,
unable to determine Maria's cause of death, sends
her blood sample to the lab.
00:32:32
She has no choice
but to release her body back to Joel, who
quickly arranges her funeral.
00:32:40
LUIS MATA JR: At this
point, Joel's not accused, so he is Maria's next of kin. Joel then has free
rein to do whatever
00:32:47
he wants with
that body in terms of selecting a funeral
home, selecting a burial or cremation.
00:32:53
He started making
arrangements almost within 24 hours of her
death to get her cremated.
00:33:01
What that says to me
is that in his mind, he wants to get rid of any
evidence in the event
00:33:05
that we would ever need
Maria's body again. He wants to dispose
of it completely.
00:33:10
[AMBIENT MUSIC] NARRATOR: Weeks go by. With the toxicology
tests held up in the lab,
00:33:33
the investigation stalls. - We hit a wall in waiting
for that toxicology report.
00:33:39
The question that I kept
asking myself was, if and when these results come
back, how are we
00:33:45
gonna be able to prove
that he injected her? Unfortunately, it's
just a waiting game.
00:33:51
ELIZABETH SEARS: It
was very frustrating. The longer that it took to get
an outcome or cause of death,
00:33:56
the more fearful I became
we weren't gonna get one. [DRAMATIC MUSIC] NARRATOR: The team
reexamined the evidence,
00:34:04
including the door cam footage,
which shows how estranged Maria and Joel had become.
00:34:12
NICK BARREIRO: The video
footage helps to show how long she was out on the porch.
00:34:16
We know that she went there
to confront her husband. We know that she was standing
on this porch ready to have
00:34:22
a very difficult conversation
about her marriage, and this video just
corroborates that.
00:34:28
She's standing on the porch. She's waiting for an answer. And we can see that
she's on the phone.
00:34:35
[FRANTIC MUSIC] NARRATOR: Police query
the time Maria made that call. - Her phone is recording
the exact moment
00:34:44
that call connected. So if we can compare
the phone records with this video
footage, we can get
00:34:51
a very accurate time
stamp for exactly when she was standing at the door. [CLACKING]
00:35:02
[CARS WHOOSHING] [AMBIENT MUSIC] NARRATOR: Four months
after Maria's blood samples went to the lab,
detectives received
00:35:16
the toxicology report. Did Maria die from a clonazepam
overdose, as Joel claimed?
00:35:24
The whole case rests
on these results. OFFICER: What'd she take? JOEL PELLOT: I
think clonazepam.
00:35:32
And then I go back upstairs,
and then she just-- [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] - You know the name
of the drug?
00:35:37
- Yeah. 1 milligram of clonazepam. - When we got those
toxicology results, zero traces of clonazepam
in Maria's body.
00:35:50
That completely refutes
Joel's constant indication to the dispatcher,
to the paramedics,
00:35:56
to the responding officers,
and to us that Maria had taken clonazepam. LUIS MATA JR:
The report reveals
00:36:01
that Maria was
poisoned by a cocktail of drugs, including ketamine,
Versed, and propofol.
00:36:09
- We needed to figure out
how she submitted to this without any physical bruising.
00:36:15
Several of her
friends mentioned that they would meet
at a coffee shop and that she loved coffee.
00:36:19
So when the toxicology
report came back and it indicated that there
was caffeine, it hit us.
00:36:26
We knew now how he got
her to submit to take these anesthetic drugs. NARRATOR: Although a tainted
coffee cup was never
00:36:35
found in the house,
investigators speculate that this was how
Joel was able to poison Maria.
00:36:42
LUIS MATA JR:
Our suspicion is that Joel arrived with a cup of coffee,
but the coffee was spiked.
00:36:48
- That was an aha moment. - Once she's fully knocked out,
fully paralytic, fully sedated,
00:36:57
Joel then injects
her with propofol. JOHN HUNTSINGER: The purpose
of using propofol
00:37:03
as a murder weapon is
specifically to stop someone from breathing. NARRATOR: It's the propofol
that killed Maria.
00:37:12
- This is flat-out murder. [STREET BUZZING] Once we got
the toxicology results, we had more of a case
to get a search
00:37:23
warrant for Janet's
video and surveillance. [DOORBELL CHIMING] We were hoping to find
digital evidence, possibly
00:37:31
home video, possibly
the door cam footage that showed
Maria at her house two days prior to her dying.
00:37:39
Janet. Sergeant Mata, Laredo PD. I know yesterday you
spoke to the prosecutor. JANET ARREDONDO: Just
give me a second.
00:37:44
LUIS MATA JR: All right.
JANET ARREDONDO: Yeah. [CHUCKLES] LUIS MATA JR: I
suspected strongly
00:37:47
that Janet was involved. But the district attorney's
office made a deal with Janet
00:37:51
that as long as she
was truthful and willing to testify, she would
be immune from any charge,
00:37:57
with the exception of murder. You had some evidence? Do you have that
evidence right now?
00:38:03
JANET ARREDONDO:
I can't find it. LUIS MATA JR: You
can't find it? JANET ARREDONDO: No.
00:38:06
LUIS MATA JR: OK. Unfortunately,
by the time we got to Janet's, most of her home
video had been destroyed.
00:38:11
I'm gonna tell you
something right now. Think about it. They're giving you
a deal of a lifetime.
00:38:15
I'll leave it at that. [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] We really wanted
to re-interview Janet.
00:38:22
She had to have had
some type of knowledge of what Joel did that night. We wanted to see
if she would be
00:38:30
willing to come forward
in exchange for some type of immunity deal. NARRATOR: Janet
accepts the offer.
00:38:45
LUIS MATA JR: When
we spoke last, we were investigating
a deceased person. Obviously, the circumstances
have changed.
00:38:51
It's now a murder. OK? NARRATOR: Janet says
that Joel told her when he met with Maria
the night she died,
00:38:58
she became extremely upset. - Joel told Maria,
relax, let me give you something to calm you down.
00:39:05
And that is when Joel injected
Maria with a sedative. - He told me that he gave her
something to help her relax.
00:39:13
He went to the bathroom. He came back. She was unconscious. And he-- [CRIES]
put a needle and
00:39:24
syringe in her [INDISTINCT]. - Mm-hmm. That gives us the answer
of how Maria got
00:39:31
that mark on her elbow crease. The med, didn't he tell
you what he did with them?
00:39:37
- He just told me
he got rid of them. - So now what do you think? Do you think it's possible
he killed his wife?
00:39:47
- I thinks it's
possible that he did it. - He did what? - He killed Maria. - She told me that Joel
had confided in her
00:40:00
that he had killed his wife. It was the smoking gun
that we were looking for. [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC, SIREN
BLARING]
00:40:07
NARRATOR: Police raced
to arrest Joel, who's now staying with his parents. [KNOCKING]
00:40:14
LUIS MATA JR: Laredo PD! Laredo Police or we're
gonna break down the door! Hello.
00:40:20
JOEL PELLOT: I'm gonna
come out [INDISTINCT]. - [SPEAKING SPANISH] JOEL PELLOT: OK.
00:40:26
LUIS MATA JR: You have
the right to remain silent. Anything you say-- ELIZABETH SEARS:
I heard Joel had
00:40:30
been arrested probably within
minutes of it being announced. I broke down crying.
00:40:35
LUIS MATA JR: Any questions?
- No, sir LUIS MATA JR: No. Is there anything you need?
00:40:39
JOEL PELLOT: I need
to call my attorney. LUIS MATA JR: Oh,
you could call him. ELIZABETH SEARS:
We felt like there
00:40:44
was hope, that there
was gonna be justice, and that he was gonna
be held accountable,
00:40:49
and that he wasn't gonna get
away with taking her life. [DRAMATIC MUSIC] [CARS WHOOSHING]
00:41:02
NARRATOR: With Joel
charged with murder, Chief Assistant DA
Jacaman builds the case.
00:41:08
MARISELA JACAMAN:
The nature of a jury trial is that you just
never know what the jury is going to decide.
00:41:14
The plan was to show
the video footage of the dynamics between
Joel, Maria, and Janet.
00:41:25
NARRATOR: The door cam
footage is the last video showing Maria alive. MARISELA JACAMAN: When
Maria went to Janet's house,
00:41:33
she wanted to know where
her marriage was going. That was her goal,
to obtain the truth.
00:41:39
She wanted to know,
what's going on here? I thought we were
in the process of resolving
00:41:44
our marriage issues. And instead, I find you here. The first witness
that we started with
00:41:53
was the officer who was called
in on a criminal trespass. JOEL PELLOT: Hey, I'm [MUTED]
talking to you right now!
00:42:03
Hang up the [MUTED] phone! [CALL DROPS] OFFICER: I guess
that's your boyfriend. - Yeah.
00:42:11
OFFICER: I'm calling
on behalf of Janet Arredondo. Can I speak to her?
JOEL PELLOT: Sure.
00:42:15
OFFICER: Thank you. MARIA MUÑOZ: Hello?
OFFICER: Yes, ma'am. MARISELA JACAMAN: The substance
of this conversation
00:42:21
was so difficult because Maria
was brokenhearted. He basically broke
her in that moment.
00:42:32
That's why this video was used
at the beginning of the trial. [DRAMATIC MUSIC] NARRATOR: The call
recorded by the officer
00:42:44
is also crucial to the case. JOEL PELLOT: Hey! I'm [MUTED] talking
to you right now!
00:42:50
Hang up the [MUTED] phone. - That showed the jury
a very good idea of how he was
controlling of Maria
00:43:01
and how he could
go from angry-- [FINGER SNAP] --to calm in a second. - Sadly, the door cam
footage was the beginning
00:43:12
of the end for Maria. [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] MARISELA JACAMAN:
At the end of the trial,
00:43:21
we believed we had
provided for the jury a good understanding
of the relationship
00:43:27
between Joel and Maria. They saw it was an abusive
relationship, that he was controlling of her.
00:43:36
We were able to show
that not only was this not a suicide, not
an accidental overdose,
00:43:45
it was an intentional
killing of Maria. NARRATOR: The trial
lasts nine days. The jury takes less than two
hours to reach a verdict.
00:43:56
MARISELA JACAMAN:
The jury's decision was guilty on both counts
of murder and tampering.
00:44:03
And we were happy for Maria. LUIS MATA JR: Joel was
arrogant, was domineering, and
00:44:17
killed his wife in cold blood. NARRATOR: Joel is sentenced
to life plus 10 years
00:44:23
for tampering with evidence. - When Joel was sentenced
for the murder of Maria, I was so happy.
00:44:29
I felt like she had been
able to get the justice that she deserves to have. NARRATOR: With Joel
and Maria's children,
00:44:37
now living with grandparents,
the question her friends and family are left
asking is, why?
00:44:44
LUIS MATA JR: I
believe the motive for killing Maria
was to prevent the divorce from
happening and was
00:44:50
to prevent Joel
from having to pay some type of financial
resources to Maria. Money was power to Joel.
00:44:58
I believed he would do anything
and everything to prevent him from losing any type
of those resources,
00:45:04
including killing his wife. - The one thing he did not want
was to lose control of Maria.
00:45:13
He didn't want her anymore,
but he didn't want anyone else to have her either. JOHN HUNTSINGER:
I think that when
00:45:20
he started abusing
testosterone, I think he turned
into a monster. And the outcome was inevitable
that this would happen.
00:45:29
It's extremely shocking
to look back at the change that he went through from
a very humble family man
00:45:38
to a murderer. [PIANO PLAYING] - I miss Maria a lot. I miss my friend. It's hard when
my son asks or when
00:45:56
we drive by places that
we shared so much with or when I come
back to town and--
00:46:03
or when, you know, I
look at her pictures or different things, and it's
just a humongous loss that I'll
00:46:14
never be able to replace. [PIANO PLAYING] [SIGHS] [THEME MUSIC] [AUDIO LOGO]