48 Hours - A Sister’s Fight for her Brother - Encore

Episode Date: June 19, 2022

A sister stands by the brother accused of murdering their parents. She insists he’s innocent and there’s more to the story. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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ConstantContact.ca The lead detective called me. I think I heard screaming and crying. I don't know. Yeah, I think so. The lead detective called me. He said there was an accident at your parents' house. And he said there was a fire. Your parents didn't make it. I just started hysterically crying. didn't make it. I just started hysterically crying.

I flew up on the first flight out the next day and that's when they told us what had really happened. The fire wasn't an accident. My parents had been shot and the fire was a cover. How, why, and who? Neighbors on this usually quiet street are stunned.

It's not real. I wanted to know why this happened to Scott and Janet. I wanted to know who did this. They were great people. They were giving people. And that's not the way it's supposed to go. Did your parents have any kind of conflict with people that might want to hurt them? Not that I'm aware of, no.

It didn't make sense that this could or would happen. How soon did investigators focus on Brandon Pettit as the killer? Instantly. They focused on Brandon as soon as one of the neighbors said, oh, they have a son that's weird. Is there any physical evidence that ties her brother to the murder? No. There is no DNA.

There are no fingerprints. There is no blood. But what you do have here is a litany of statements and actions that point to Brandon. The most damaging evidence against Brandon came out of his own mouth. He's terrible in his ability to figure out what's appropriate. He referred to his parents as b**** and that he wanted his dad dead.

I mean, this is like just a few weeks before the murder. It's clear that your brother isn't like everyone else, isn't it? Mm-hmm. He told them he had Asperger's. When somebody's autistic, they're different than you. He doesn't act the same way as you or I might act. If you should get laid on a body bag, do you know what? You're already past it. I'm not past it. You have no emotional response. I might act. Autism is the reason I focused on him.

It's the reason that they became convinced that he was guilty. Your brother't know who killed my parents. No, I don't. No. Your brother was working that night, right? He has an alibi. Yeah. You murdered your parents. I didn't do anything. He intended it, he desired it, and he did it.

I think there's a lot more to this story. I love my parents. Words don't make you a murderer. Субтитры создавал DimaTorzok The morning of August 8, 2013, had started out full of promise for then 28-year-old Lauren Pettit, living in Los Angeles. I remember I had texted one of my best friends that morning, today's going to be a good day. What she didn't know was that 300 miles away in Modesto, California, firefighters had been called to her parents' home at three in the morning. Their bedroom had gone up in flames. Fire crews still trying to determine where that fire started. Lauren's parents, Scott and Janet Pettit, were found dead inside.

How would you describe your mom and dad? You really miss them, don't you? They were amazing. don't you? They were amazing. Two of the family's dogs also didn't make it, but one, Bailey, survived. Is it kind of a miracle she's even here? It's insane. Bailey means a lot to you now. Everything. She's like my lifeline. Mike Anderson, a close friend of the family, had arrived at the scene after getting a call that something terrible had happened.

When I turned on to Scott and Janet Street, there was fire trucks, ambulances, and so my heart sank. trucks, ambulances, and so my heart sank. I'm going to say it's like losing an arm or something. You lose a part of your soul, a part of your body. And that's what it felt like. This can't be happening.

But it was. And things only got worse. Investigators soon determined the fire was no accident. Scott and Janet had been shot a total of seven times, and evidence of an accelerant was found throughout their upstairs room. More than 12 hours after firefighters made the gruesome discovery, police investigators remain sifting through clues in what they are now calling a pair of suspicious deaths. The community lost two people that did more for their communities than hundreds of people will ever do. Scott was an avid car collector and owner of a martial arts studio in nearby Riverbank. The local paper once called him citizen of the year.

Janet, a neonatal nurse, had recently earned her PhD. When you think about your mom, what comes to mind? She was just incredible, you know, very caring and selfless. My dad was very sarcastic, very witty, loved to give back, loved to help everyone. The couple had been in their late 20s when they first met. Scott was working as a paramedic then. I believe the story is he was bringing a baby in from the ambulance and she was the receiving, one of the receiving nurses. The two would later marry and start a family. Lauren was

two years old when her brother Brandon was born and the family was complete. Your mom writes, Lauren was so excited to have her baby brother home. You do look very happy to have a little brother. First kiss from a big sister. I think I thought I had a new toy. Growing up, Lauren says Brandon loved playing pranks on people. But when it came to career aspirations, that was something he was serious about. What did he want to do? He really enjoyed like firefighting, I guess just like helping people in some way, shape, or form, police force, things like that.

She says Brandon was smart, but struggled socially. Do you remember how old you were when you noticed any difference with Brandon? When you started realizing that he wasn't quite like everybody else's little brother? Early childhood, definitely. I was under the age of 10 for sure. Maybe like seven-ish. What do you think you first noticed? Him being really stubborn and disobedient in a sense. And she says he had trouble making friends. You know, he was almost looked down upon

or looked at as if he just didn't fit in, and that was hard. Was he lonely? I'm sure. So lonely, says Lauren, that he would tell stories and make things up just to get attention. I don't think he ever thought that he was telling a story or lying. It was just, you know, I can do this or I can do that or, you know, I can get this. And it's like, okay, let's come back down to earth and, like, let's figure out whether or not it's reality.

Scott and Janet had long been aware of Brandon's struggles. They took him to see numerous specialists. And when Brandon was in high school, he was diagnosed with Asperger's, a developmental disorder affecting his ability to communicate and at times read social cues. Now Asperger's falls under autism spectrum disorder. With Asperger's, I think it's really difficult for him to be aware of how he's presenting himself and what he's saying and how he's saying things and how he's reacting to certain things or not reacting and whether or not he's doing what people would consider the norm. So

when Lauren called Brandon, then 25, shortly after they both learned of their parents' deaths, after they both learned of their parents' deaths, his unusual reaction, she says, was usual for him. How is he dealing with it? In his normal manner, which is, you know, very emotionless. When he's sad, kind of just keeps it all in. But it was a red flag to police, who soon zeroed in on Brandon. The day after the murders, before Lauren even got to see him,

Brandon ended up in a police interrogation room for nine and a half hours. And he went along with it? Mm-hmm. And why do you think he was so willing to talk to the police? Probably the same reason I was, like, just wanting answers. Brandon was again called in for questioning just over a week after the murders. Lauren drove him to the station. Did the investigators give you any idea that your brother was a suspect?

Mm-mm. He was by them, wasn't he? Mm-mm. If you had known what was going on, if you had any idea your brother was a suspect, would you have taken him over there so willingly? I wouldn't have taken him there, period. We would have had an attorney. After nearly four hours, police arrested Brandon for the murder of his parents. I think I lost my voice and my breath for a little bit. I was like, what? Why?

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Just over a week after suddenly losing her parents, Lauren now had to deal with the news that her brother had been arrested and charged with the murders. I think I just started to hyperventilate and was like, I don't even know what's going on. In addition to Brandon, a man named Felix Valverde had also been arrested and charged. Lauren had never heard of Felix Valverde, but Brandon and Felix were both members of a group called the Clampers, a more than century-old fraternal organization dedicated to the historical preservation of the American West.

But Clampers are also known for enjoying getting together to drink. I think the only reason he was a part of that was because he thought he would have friends. Did your parents ever express concern about any of these people that your brother might be hanging out with? Mm-mm. I never heard about them. Brandon was staying at his parents' house, but on the night of the fire, he was out working the graveyard shift as a security guard. And there are people who can say he was there. Yep. He has an alibi. His boss or his superior confirmed he was there. Yep. He has an alibi. His boss or his superior confirmed he was there.

But his alibi didn't seem to matter to investigators. They believe that Brandon paid Felix to commit the murders. The alleged motive? To inherit his parents' money. But Lauren couldn't make sense of it. She says Brandon loved their parents and actually benefited more with their parents alive. They paid his bills. My brother didn't even know the value of a dollar. If anything happened to your parents, was your brother going to inherit anything? Not that he knew of, not that I knew of either. Police first began looking at Felix after Brandon, in his first interview with police, mentioned other friends, but curiously failed to mention Felix. That led to a search of Felix, and seven spent shell casings concealed in a planter outside, significant because Brandon's parents were shot a total of

seven times. Hours later, police called Brandon in for that second taped interview and confronted him. How would he come up with the keys to kill your parents? I don't know. You know what? You gave them to him. I didn't give a ****. But the detective told Brandon that Felix was telling a different story. Felix says you gave him the keys.

And the keys both fit the garage door and the front door, Brandon. These both fit the garage door and the front door, Brandon. If you think for a minute that anybody, anybody is going to believe your story, including your sister, you're mistaken. And you want to think about feelings in your life to make things more believable? He's remorseful. I'm being remorseful. How does that mean? Sorry.

The detective also told Brandon that he had phone records showing that Brandon and Felix spoke the night of the murders. On my break, I was asking him what we were doing until the weekend. Despite the pressure, Brandon repeatedly denied having anything to do with the deaths of his parents. I don't know who killed my parents. No, I don't. No. Yes.

No. But in that second interview, Brandon made incriminating admissions. Brandon said that he gave Felix bullets sometime in the weeks leading up to the murders. gave Felix bullets sometime in the weeks leading up to the murders. He had asked me for the box of bullets that I had because my.22 hasn't been fired in two years because I don't have a bolt for it. And he admitted giving Felix $100 just days after the murders. But the most jaw-dropping part of Brandon's story was when he told detectives that about a month before the fire, Felix had threatened to kill Brandon's parents, unless Brandon paid him $10,000. And you haven't told us something that is this important and you're telling us now?

I'm remembering a lot. You know what? And where'd you go? Did you go to the police station? Even if it was the truth, why would Brandon wait nine days after the murders to tell them all of this? Why? I didn't want to talk to anybody. You don't want to solve that crime? I wanted to do it myself. Oh, wow. That's a new one. What did you do? I wanted to find out who did it myself. And more damaging, why did Brandon remain friendly with Felix,

not only after the threat was made, but even after Brandon's parents wound up dead? So he tells you that he's a hill scratcher. You give him ammunition and then you give him a hundred bucks. He said he had paid his bills and needed some money. I had a hundred bucks, so I figured I'd help him out until he got paid. To the guy that just was threatening to kill with your parents, if you didn't pay him money, you're helping him out. In fact, you're hanging out with him afterwards, old buddy buddy.

I didn't believe he would actually do it. Investigators were convinced that Brandon was the mastermind behind his parents' deaths. But Martha Carlton Magana, an attorney appointed to represent Brandon after his arrest, says the interview proves nothing. He didn't have anything to do with it. He doesn't know what happened. She says detectives weren't interested in the truth and they lied to Brandon when they told him that Felix had already confessed. They've already decided he's a suspect and they're really trying to feed him a lot of information so that he'll regurgitate it back. She says the detectives knew Brandon had Asperger's and suggests they mishandled the interview. Do you believe they were taking advantage of his condition?

I think they were doing what they always do, and because of Brandon's condition, he was more vulnerable to that kind of interrogation. Everything in that second interview needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Lauren agrees and firmly believes her brother's innocent. He really is a good person. Does this seem at all in your brother's character to have your parents killed? Not at all. But Brandon's statements in that interview wouldn't be the only hurdle that his defense would have to overcome.

A young woman by the name of Sarah Wilson had surfaced. In the weeks leading up to the murder, she says Brandon had been promising her the world things that only money could buy. What do you make of Brandon's statements to police? In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn. And it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of them.

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As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was.

We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created, literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Sarah Wilson and Brandon Pettit met when they were in high school. But Sarah says they reconnected online in the summer of 2013, shortly before the

murders. We got to talking, seeing how we were doing throughout the years. Brandon had just gone through a messy breakup with a woman named Susan Sanchez. Susan was pregnant with Brandon's child. How did your brother feel about becoming a dad? Very excited. My family was everything to him, so. But with his relationship with Susan over,

Brandon was apparently ready to shift his attention to someone new. I had some inclinations that he had a little crush on me, but I didn't pursue anything with them. I didn't give him any hints that I was attracted to him in that way. That didn't seem to deter Brandon, who ended up making her an offer she says she couldn't refuse. He had mentioned that his parents were going to buy him a million-dollar home in Georgia,

and he said that I could move in with him. I, of course, said yes. Who wouldn't want to live in a million-dollar home? I was going through a lot of stuff in my personal life. I just really wanted to get out of California. As enticing as it all was, Sarah suspected it might be too good to be true. I took it with a grain of salt.

I didn't think it was really going to happen. But Sarah says Brandon would send her real estate listings daily. Oh, the house has had a shower the size of my bedroom now. They were just gorgeous. And he showed her the email conversation he was having with a realtor. Which kind of made me think, okay, this is really going to happen. And the promises didn't stop there. He one day mentioned that, oh, my mom, seeing how happy I am,

how excited I am to be moving with you, that after we move, she will open a boutique for you to run yourself. I did find it kind of strange that his parents would spend this amount of money on a business for me when I had never met them. Sarah says she thought she'd finally meet them since Brandon told her his parents had bought plane tickets to take them all to Atlanta to look at homes. But a couple of days before that supposed trip, Sarah received a strange text from Brandon.

I got a text out of nowhere from Brandon saying, you're getting a boob job for Christmas, LOL. The text came in at 10.43 p.m. on August 7th. Just a few hours later, Brandon's parents were discovered dead. He delivered the news to Sarah the next morning. I got a text from Brandon saying my parents died last night in a house fire. I didn't press them for any information. I just figured that's a touchy subject. His parents had just died. On August 9th, after Brandon's first interview with detectives, Sarah says he called her and they met up.

He told me that his aunt had canceled the flight tickets and they just want to keep that under wraps, so don't tell the detectives that. I thought that was very odd. That's when I started to think, you know, something's kind of weird. Sarah would later learn there were no airline tickets, no trip to Georgia planned, and Brandon's parents didn't die in a house fire. They were murdered. It wasn't long before detectives showed up at her door. They just started asking me questions about Brandon. She told them everything about those million-dollar homes, the supposed trip to Georgia, and the text Brandon sent promising her a breast

enhancement just hours before his parents were killed. For police, it amounted to a financial motive for murder. But Lauren Pettit believes it actually amounts to nothing. Do you believe your brother really told her those things? Possibly. But I mean, that was just who my brother was. Brandon's defense attorney agrees and says Brandon's conversations with Sarah shouldn't be given much weight at all. That was a fantasy. He was playing out with a girlfriend to impress her, which he'd always done. Brandon actually called a realtor and actually pinpointed some houses. Is it possible that Brandon decided he was going to make that fantasy come true and killed his parents so he'd have the money to actually buy that house.

I don't see that as being realistic. I see that as being something that Brandon did in order to impress friends. What about the fact though, right before his parents died, he had texted Sarah Wilson and said, for Christmas, you're going to get breast enhancement surgery. Just a coincidence, Martha? Yeah. Honestly? Yeah. I'm not sure it was the first time he said it either.

You know, somebody could say, you know, Brandon lies a lot. He lies to girlfriends. You know, he lies to the police, if you're right. How do you know when to believe Brandon then? You don't. Brandon lies a lot and very badly. There's no question about that. So you don't, you look to the evidence.

And hard, definitive evidence directly tying Brandon to the murder of his parents, says Martha, just isn't there. Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly. Introducing the best idea yet. A brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy. About the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. And the bold risk takers who brought them to life. Like did you know that Super Mario, the best selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for

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As he awaited trial, convinced of his innocence. But as the case dragged on, she was all too aware there was a possibility she might end up losing him, too. It's a huge burden on your shoulders, isn't it? Mm-hmm. I mean, it's not really about me anymore. My brother depends on me. What do you think your parents would want you to do? I mean, fight for my brother, absolutely, because that's what they would do.

I'd take care of myself. On the four-year anniversary of her parents' deaths, we were with Lauren as she made the trip to the cemetery. On that same day, she visited Brandon in jail as well. Instead of it being face-to-face, it's video visitation, and I see him on a screen for 30 minutes. One court delay after another. It was seven long years from the time of the murders of Scott and Janet Pettit to when Brandon Pettit's trial finally began on September 1st, 2020. Cameras were not allowed in court.

Defense attorney Robert Winston was now representing Brandon, and he was up for the challenge. I've had a lot of cases over the years, so the basic case wasn't that unusual. The fact that Brandon had Asperger's, that put a new dimension on the case. Brandon was initially supposed to be tried alongside Felix Valverde, but about a month before the trial, the judge made a rare finding. That Valverde was incompetent to stand trial. That means the man who may have actually done the killing is unavailable to the defense. How can Brandon be put on trial when the person who

police believe actually did the killing is considered incompetent. That's our law. I mean, is that fair to Brandon? Sadly, fairness rarely enters into it. Val Verde was placed in psychiatric treatment with the hope that he might be able to go on trial at a later date. Due to Val Verde's still pending case, the prosecutor's office declined our request for an interview. We asked Mary Fulgeniti, a CBS News consultant and former federal prosecutor,

to analyze the state's case. You have to look at the totality of the evidence and as you look at the totality of his statements and his actions, I think it's very difficult to say he did not plan it, he did not plot it, he did not desire it, he did not intend it, he did not want it. But the physical evidence only connects Felix Valverde. The prosecution began by calling investigators who detailed all that evidence found at Felix's apartment. Scott and Janet's wallets, the box of ammunition, those seven spent shell casings, and most important, they would argue, keys to the Pettit home.

How would Felix get a hold of the keys to the house? The keys were given to him by Brandon, and that was so that he could access the house. So he'd get into the house and kill his parents easily. The prosecution also called witnesses who knew Felix and testified that he had obtained a new gun like this one in the weeks leading up to the murders. That gun, however, says defense attorney Robert Winston was never found. It was a Western-style.22 revolver. We certainly don't know that that was the murder weapon. It wasn't recovered. Don't know where it is. We don't even know if that type of weapon was consistent with the bullet fragments that were found in the bodies.

There was no hard evidence of anything. They don't know if a.22 was used to kill the Pettits. Well, what they do know, though, and this is critical in a circumstantial evidence case, they do know they were shot seven times. They found seven.22 caliber shell casings and a planter outside of Felix Valverde's house. In an effort to directly tie Brandon to the murders, the prosecution called Mike Anderson, the Pettit's close family friend. He testified about a conversation he says he had with Brandon a few months before the murders. He just told me if my parents weren't here, my life would be better.

just told me if my parents weren't here, my life would be better. Mike says he didn't think much of it at the time, but with Scott and Janet now gone and Brandon on trial for their murders, that comment carried a whole new weight. I felt like I didn't help him, but I had to tell the truth. It was hard. It was sad. And that wasn't all Mike testified to. He also told the jury that in the days following the murders, Brandon was looking to sell his dad's prized cars,

including a 1961 Corvette. He wanted to sell the Vette and move to Georgia. It made me feel very uneasy. It made me question everything. The prosecution also called Susan Sanchez, Brandon's ex-girlfriend, the mother of his then six-year-old daughter, who still had a strained relationship with him. She said Brandon once mentioned that Corvette to her, too. He couldn't wait for his dad to be dead so that it would be all his. And he's also told Susan Sanchez on at least five or six occasions, she testified to, that he wanted his parents dead.

And there was more. Susan testified she had an ex-husband whom she had mentioned to Brandon. He said, look, if you want to make him disappear, I've got a friend, Felix Valverde, who you can pay $500 to and your ex will disappear. Coincidences? Too many. Brandon's high school friend, Sarah Wilson, also took the stand and testified about all those promises Brandon had made her. And the lead detective detailed what Brandon had said in that second interview. It's a circumstantial case. The strongest evidence against Brandon, his own words and actions before and after the

murders. Has there ever been a moment though through any of this that you've been wondering, maybe my brother did it? No, but you know, I'm not going to lie. I'm not naive. I still believe that my brother is innocent, but if someone can prove to me that he's not with actual evidence, not just words,

you know, then it is what it is, and I'll deal with that. Brandon did plan and plot the murder of his parents. He wanted the Corvette. He wanted the house. He did it for money. But would Brandon kill the parents he loved and leaned on? The defense has to raise doubts with their star witness, who knows Brandon best. You're testifying for someone you love so much.

And in your head, all you think about is, what if I say the wrong thing? See more of the evidence against Brandon Pettit at 48hours.com. Seven years after both of her parents were murdered, Lauren Pettit took the stand to try to save the man accused of killing them, her own brother, now 32 years old. There's so many things going through your head and there's no coaching. There's no nothing. You're just, here you go. Good luck. Defense attorney Robert Winston wanted the jury to see a very different side of Brandon and his family. This was not a family where there was hatred, there was animosity, that there was a motive to kill. It just didn't exist. Lauren described how important family was to her brother.

It was his whole world. And the dogs who died in the fire, she says Brandon loved them too. I have photos and videos galore of him with his dogs. He would skip out on family vacations just to stay home and make sure the dogs were safe and okay. Lauren also questioned the alleged financial motive, telling the jury that her parents were actually in debt at the time of their death. And that Corvette that Brandon supposedly wanted, she says it was already partially in his name. But perhaps the most crucial part of her testimony casts doubt on the prosecution's theory that Felix Valverde got into the Pettit home

with house keys that Brandon gave him. My parents had an extra large-sized dog door on their back sliding glass door, which is how I had gotten into the house the day after they passed. It's how the detective told us I had gotten into the house the day after they passed. It's how the detective told us he had gotten into the house earlier that day, and he was a much larger man. So the detective himself went through the doggy door, and that was never considered as the way the killer might have gotten into the house? Correct. But then how did Felix get those keys to the petted home?

I think the keys were probably in my parents' wallets. Lauren says her parents had digital door locks where you punch a code to enter. But in the event the battery-powered locks died, she says, her parents kept spare keys tucked inside their wallets and left those wallets out in the open on the kitchen counter. Picture it this way. Felix Valverde goes to the house. He crawls in. Now he's inside. He sees a purse. He sees a wallet. He either thinks, I'll get these on the way out, or he picks them up right then. And he goes upstairs, and he does what he does.

But when he picked up the wallet of Scott Pettit, it had a key in it. When he picked up the wallet of Janet Pettit, it had a key in it. If Brandon didn't hire Felix, if he didn't ask him to kill his parents, why would Felix do it on his own? Two motives. One, Felix thought there was money in the house. The other theory is that he heard Brandon say these things about his parents and he thought that Brandon would be happy with him. But there was one big problem with the defense's theory. In a section of Brandon's videotaped interview not shown in court, he admitted giving Felix the keys. I know how he got the keys.

How did he get the keys? I got the keys. I never intended him to actually do anything. He was supposed to scare them, not hurt them. It was an admission that could destroy his defense. Brandon actually admitted that he sent Felix to his home to convince his parents to stop contacting his ex-girlfriend Susan. But because Brandon said it after he had asked for a lawyer, the judge didn't allow it in his evidence.

And as bad as it sounds, defense attorney Robert Winston claims that Brandon made it up in an effort to end the interrogation. It seemed as though Brandon was saying, I'll tell you anything you want to hear, just let me out of here. Winston was determined to show the jury why they shouldn't believe much of what Brandon said. He called Dr. Laura Geiger, a clinical psychologist appointed by the court, who testified that Brandon's Asperger's could explain his questionable statements and behavior. Dr. Geiger, does she believe that Brandon's Asperger's autism interfered in that police interview to his detriment? Absolutely. People with autism take information in differently than we do.

So when the police ask a question, there's always the worry, is it really understood? Winston was feeling optimistic when, after nine days of testimony from 23 witnesses, the case went to the jury. testimony from 23 witnesses, the case went to the jury. Deliberation stretched on for about a day and a half, and then a verdict. Guilty. Our camera caught a glimpse of Brandon as he was led out of the courtroom. How did your brother react to the verdict? He was shocked and then really scared. Scared of what? His future. Four months later, Brandon was given the maximum sentence, two life terms without the possibility of parole. Lauren was devastated. It was hard not to feel paternal towards her. She's lost everything, hasn't she? Really? Yes, she has. Lauren remains convinced her brother is innocent. She hopes one day Felix Valverde will go on trial. And maybe then she'll get the answers she's looking for.

Do you think Felix Valverde killed your parents? I think he probably had something to do with it. Felix has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys declined our request for an interview. As Lauren begins to pick up the pieces, she sadly no longer has her dog Bailey to comfort her. He passed away in 2019. Now a new friend, Jelly, is helping to put a smile back on her face. And yet nothing and no one will ever fill that void left by the loss of her once close-knit family.

What do you miss the most about your parents? Everything. My dad's jokes. My mom just tirelessly working to make sure I'm okay. I would give anything to help him back. A young woman disappears after a Snapchat rendezvous. I try to keep my hopes high, but after six months, it's a little hard for that. The murder that inspired a law.

Nikki's story has allowed us to take a giant leap forward. And started a movement. 48 Hours, Saturday at 10, 9 central on CBS. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.