48 Hours - The Murder of Haley Anderson

Episode Date: April 26, 2020

A college student goes missing -- the “Find My Friends” app leads to her body as her suspected killer flees the country. Will he get away with murder? CBS News contributor Maria Elena Salinas reports for "48 Hours."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. The Binghamton area of Broome County has 200,000 people. We have our share of major crimes and five or six homicides a year. I've represented many families at the DA's office of victims of crime. I promise them that I will work as hard as I can to do

everything that I can to get justice. Who was Haley Anderson? How would you describe her? Haley, you know, is a typical college student. Everyone needs to try on my glasses. By everybody's account, a very sweet, fun, energetic person. Oh, you look so cute! I mostly remember her laugh. And just her presence. Look who I found! She was always the one who was the most sensitive and supportive friend ever.

As a mother, I know what it's like to have your child go off to college. Yeah. I mean, it was sad, and we dropped her off, and obviously, you know, I cried. In college, you go through so many different changes. You're away from your family, you're learning who you are as an adult. And you make mistakes. A guy that you meet in a class could be so different outside.

Tell me about Orlando. Orlando is charismatic, knows just how to push your buttons in the right playful way to get you to laugh and have fun with him. He definitely liked Haley. I'd say they were a good match just because they both were very good at having fun and kind of life's at the party. They both were very good at being social, having friends. They are both compassionate, understanding people. Haley and her roommates were spending some time together, drinking a little wine, playing some board games,

and just kind of enjoying an evening. Stayed up pretty late. And when you woke up the next morning, did you look for Haley? Yeah, I texted her that morning. She didn't answer. I figured she was still asleep. She loves sleeping. Nobody really saw or heard from her the entire day.

There were several attempts to contact her by phone, and she didn't return those calls, which they thought was peculiar, but it really didn't seem to be an issue. We weren't super worried at that point because, you know, Haley's a big girl. We don't need to keep tabs on her. She had told me that she was going to come watch me read poetry at Poetry Night that Thursday. And then she didn't show up, and we were all calling her, and she didn't answer. It was the next morning.

We just were like, this doesn't make sense. When did you find out that both Haley and Orlando were missing? Friday, March 9th. The first thing I thought was maybe they had eloped. The police received two calls within the hour. And the first call was from Orlando Tessaro's sister. And she asked them to go check on the welfare of Orlando. A patrol officer came here at that point in time. There was no answer at the door, and the vehicle that we believed him to be operating was not present. One of my roommates was just like, I've located her phone on Find My Friends,

and it says it's at Orlando's house. Why did you decide to climb in the window? Because we were knocking on all the doors and no one was answering. Did you fear what you could find when you would go into the apartment? I was definitely afraid of what I would find. Thank you. Happy birthday dear Haley When Binghamton University student Haley Anderson

first disappeared from her off-campus apartment, her close friend and roommate, Josie Arton, says she wasn't that alarmed. When I first didn't hear from her, I didn't think, oh, something terrible has happened. It was early March 2018, and back in Haley's hometown of Westbury, New York, her mother, Karen Anderson,

didn't even know her 22-year-old daughter was missing. I didn't talk to her every day because she was like, Mom, can you call me every Sunday? I said, okay. Haley was always fiercely independent, says Karen. Oh, she's such a free spirit. She was a millennial hippie. The way she dressed, her hair, her personality, the way she was with her friends. She trusted everybody. She talked to everybody. Haley was a straight-A student at Binghamton University when she was accepted into their nursing program.

It meant an extra year of school, but Haley didn't mind. In March 2018, graduation was just around the corner, and so was a nursing job back home. Karen was about to have her daughter close again. She had worked so hard and done so well, and I was going to give her a big party. She made up this really long list of everyone that she was going to invite. She's always wanted to be a nurse more than anything

For her it was a chance to help other people Kevin Ocampo, also a Binghamton student at the time was Haley's on-again, off-again boyfriend Did you love her? Yes Did you think that you might end up together? Definitely But Haley made it clear Did you think that you might end up together? Definitely.

But Haley made it clear, first she needed to graduate and experience some real freedom. She always wanted to move to California, get a hippie van, be out on the road kind of, and freelance and work as a nurse. And while still at school, Haley wanted to be free to date others. Orlando Tercero was born in Miami and grew up in Nicaragua. A good student from a well-to-do family, he was also in the nursing program. His dad was a physician, and I believe that Orlando got the drive to be a nurse through his father's career. Jesse Buap, a nursing student himself, was one of

Orlando's roommates and best friends. He liked to work hard in school during the weekdays. On the weekends, he liked to go out, have a few drinks, meet up with some friends, always liked to dance, also kind of similar to Haley in that sense. Haley and Orlando first met in class, but didn't forge a friendship until Haley's fourth year at school, when they crossed paths at a party at Kevin's off-campus apartment. It was just coincidence that they met in my apartment. Haley recognized him, and so she introduced me to him. Orlando, Haley, and Kevin grew closer. Kevin even invited his new friend to join his fraternity.

We tried to recruit people who we think we would get along with well. And being that we were both from Hispanic backgrounds, me and him were the only two people that spoke Spanish. So I thought it would be a good idea. And for a while it was, until Kevin and Haley took one of their breaks and Orlando crossed the line in his friendship with Haley. They had some romantic times together,

but Haley was very clear from the beginning that she didn't want to be in a committed relationship. times together, but Haley was very clear from the beginning that she didn't want to be in a committed relationship. Haley and Orlando now had their own on-again, off-again relationship. Sometimes they were bickering, sometimes they weren't. Other times they would laugh hysterically and I could hear from my room when she would stay over. And other times they kept their distances and wouldn't see each other for a little bit. But as everyone told us, Haley never completely turned her back on Orlando, especially after his fraternity brothers pushed him out for sleeping

with her because she was Kevin's girlfriend. I think Haley felt guilty for that. Did he make her feel guilty? Yes, I found that out. Yes, he made her feel guilty. Orlando would say, oh, I'm going to kill myself. Josie says Orlando started coming around uninvited. He used to stop by a lot to come, like, smoke a cigarette on our porch. He definitely used to drive by. And how would Haley react when he showed up? Haley, um, usually I would deal with it for her. You did? Yeah, because it's hard for her to be like, to her friend, you need to leave, like, this is not appropriate. So there were nights where

I would have to go out and be like, Orlando, you need to leave, you can't just show up at our house. Why do you think he did that? Because he was jealous. He just didn't want to see someone else over there. You think Orlando was obsessed with Hailey? Yeah, for sure. He was clearly weirdly possessive of Hailey, who wasn't his girlfriend. He definitely liked Hailey. He definitely seemed like he wanted it to be a little bit more than just an on and off fling. like he wanted it to be a little bit more than just an on-and-off fling. Then there was this big red flag. Slashed every single one.

Haley posted this Snapchat video, announcing the tires on her car had been slashed. Her childhood friend, Sydney Matuszak, was a few hundred miles away when she saw the post and saved it. I was just like, what just happened? Why would anyone do that? How crazy do you have to be to slash someone's tires? It happened the day after a party at Orlando's apartment, where he learned that Haley and Kevin were on again. I was the one who found her tires slashed. Kevin had spent the night at Haley's. We wake up, she walks me out of the door, and

this time when I was walking past her car, I noticed that something looked off about it. Slashed every single one. I told her right away, I said, it must be Orlando. I told her right away, I said, it must be Orlando. Orlando denied it and even tried to blame Kevin, but Karen Anderson didn't buy it. So you're pretty convinced that it was Orlando who slapped her tires. Oh, absolutely. I said, Haley, you need to make a police report.

So the police came over. They took the information down, but she wouldn't press charges because it was over $600 in damage and it would have been considered a felony. He would have been kicked out of the nursing school. For a while, Haley kept her distance from Orlando. But despite warnings from her family and friends, she eventually let him back into her life. It was a red flag for you, but not necessarily for Haley. No, right. She trusted him. It was a red flag for you, but not necessarily for Haley.

No. Right. She trusted him. Nearly six months after her tires were slashed, Haley went missing, even off Snapchat. Josie and another roommate named Michelle tracked Haley's iPhone to Orlando's apartment and then climbed through a window in search of their friend. I boosted Michelle up first and then climbed in. And she was a little ways ahead of me and basically she screamed and yelled to me like Josie, call 911.

And I walk in there and then I see Orlando's bedroom and Haley is there. I didn't know for sure that she was dead at the time. She just was so pale, you know. Haley had been strangled to death, and Orlando Tercero was nowhere to be found. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld,

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Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? 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 bolder 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 the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the

most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just The best idea yet. On the afternoon of March 9th, 2018, Karen Anderson noticed two men in a black car parked outside of her house. And they get out of the car, and they walk up to the door,

and they sent me down the table, and they said, Haley's name. And then they said, suspicious activity. And so I was like, oh. I just kept staring at them, and it wasn't processing. And I said, what do you mean? And then they told me. Her daughter Haley had been found strangled to death in Orlando's bed.

I was just numb. I felt angry that I didn't push for them to be arrested for that tire slashing and that I didn't, you know, raise more red flags for Haley with that. Slashed every single one. Binghamton Police Lieutenant Corey Miner led the search for Haley's suspected killer. So this is the house that Orlando lived in? That is correct. There's several different cameras on the house. Those cameras were utilized to track not only Ms. Anderson's movements around the property, but also Mr. Tercero's throughout the day of March 8th and March 9th.

The first recording of interest to police was on Thursday, March 8th, in the early morning hours, when Haley met up with Orlando. The camera on the front of the house shows Ms. Anderson and Mr. Tercero walking into the residence on March 8th. After Ms. Anderson walks into the house, she is never seen again. Mr. Tercero, on the other hand, he is seen leaving the residence several times. Nearly seven hours after arriving with Haley, Orlando is seen clearing the driveway of garbage and leaving alone.

Using a receipt they found in his apartment, police tracked his movements to a local pharmacy, where he purchased Z-Guilt and melatonin, two sleeping aids. Orlando then returned to his apartment, where security cameras didn't pick him up for another seven hours. But when they did, he didn't go very far, says then-Broom County District Attorney Stephen Cornwell. You could see he's walking in the direction of where the basement is. Investigators believe Orlando tried to hang himself in his apartment using hooks that were stored in the basement. But in his failed attempt, they believe he fell and hurt himself. You can see some blood on the floor. You can see a tie hanging from a doorway. Detectives also found a note written in Spanish, which begins,

Lamento mucho esto. I'm really sorry about this. I never felt I could be capable of doing this. He also wrote, Papi, te veo pronto. Father, I'll see you soon. His father had passed five years earlier. Investigators thought it read like a killer's confession and suicide note. But 16 hours before Haley's body was discovered, Orlando left his apartment one last time with his luggage and drove over three hours to New York's JFK Airport. With his head bandaged, possibly from that alleged suicide attempt, Orlando boarded a plane and headed home to Nicaragua. When I learned he was in Nicaragua before we could get to him, the first thing I thought was, no way, he got away with murder.

It was now up to Nicaraguan authorities to capture a fugitive with dual citizenship. I don't know what our relationships are with Nicaragua, but if he fled there and we don't have a way to get him back, because he has dual citizenship, this is not going to be good. Maria Elena, welcome to Managua. Thank you. A 48-hours team traveled to Managua, Nicaragua, with the help of risk advisor Nick Copeland and Nicaraguan journalist Alfonso Flores to retrace Orlando's steps, starting with where he landed.

Who picked him up at the airport in Nicaragua? To this day, I don't know. 48 Hours has learned that it was his mother who picked Orlando up at Managua's international airport and drove him about three hours north to their hometown of Chinandega. So today we'll be leaving from Managua. We decided

to drive to Orlando's hometown as well, mindful of the political unrest and animosity toward the media in the countryside. I'd advise the high-risk team, so just be cautious there. For several days, Orlando allegedly hid out in this small town, in the house where he grew up. Across the street from the church his family once attended.

Back in Binghamton, Steve Cornwell wasn't sure Nicaraguan authorities were even looking for Tercero. We had no communication with anybody in the government of Nicaragua at that point for those few days. Then, four days after his arrival, Orlando's mother drove him an hour south to the much larger city of León to get medical attention. According to the police report, Orlando Tercero was brought to this hospital with self-inflicted wounds, implying he tried to take his own life. It's possible that someone here recognized the fugitive.

The story had been in the news for days. We were told that this is where police finally found and arrested Orlando. The next day in Managua, police held a press conference informing the world that Orlando Tercero was in custody and put him on display for all to see. They showed Orlando Tercero. We knew he was there. So, you know, my thought was, what do I do now? Where do we go from here? Now in custody, Orlando had yet to be charged with a crime by Nicaraguan authorities. An international fight for justice had only just begun.

Do you think Nicaragua will extradite Orlando to the United States? Take an in-depth look at the timeline of the investigation at 48hours.com. Less than a week after Orlando Tercero's arrest, Haley's family and friends gathered in her hometown in New York to lay her to rest. Everything after that was just a blur, you know? I just can't even, I mean, the funeral, I can't even remember who was there. Just two months later, another heart-wrenching day.

The one on which Haley would have graduated from Binghamton University, fulfilling her dream of becoming a nurse. It was probably the saddest day. Just walk in and there's a picture of her on a chair. Haley's father, Karen's ex-husband, Gordon Anderson, accepted his daughter's diploma in her honor. I'm accepting on behalf of Haley Anderson. I guess the reason why I wanted to do that is because I couldn't see her walk up and get it.

That maybe by me going up, I would feel a part of her in me. As Haley's family was struggling to come to terms with their new reality, the fight to extradite Orlando to the U.S. was in high gear. Our understanding was that he was going to be extradited back to us. Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell immediately took steps to secure a second-degree murder indictment against him. I told the family I was optimistic. You wanted him to be extradited and face the authorities here.

Yes, and I wanted to see him. I wanted to be face-to-face with him. But it wouldn't be that simple. Remember, Orlando had dual citizenship in the U.S. and Nicaragua, and an existing treaty does not require either country to extradite one of its own. The effort would stretch on for a year and a half, until September 2019, when Steve Cornwell says he got a call from the Department of Justice. I was told good news, bad news situation. I said, all right, well, what's the bad news?

They're not going to extradite him. What's the good news? They're willing to try him in Nicaragua. I thought we had a snowball's chance in hell of getting a conviction in Nicaragua. In the U.S., a grand jury had charged Orlando with murder in the second degree. In Nicaragua, he would be charged with committing a crime that doesn't even exist here, femicide. It is defined specifically as the murder of a woman with whom the perpetrator had a relationship. Daniel, you are Orlando's best friend. Yeah, yeah. While in Nicaragua, we spoke with a group of Orlando's closest friends.

Daniel, do you think your best friend was capable of killing someone? No. They say Orlando was an excellent student. He had the best prospects of our whole high school class. How would you describe Orlando as a friend? He was kind. He always was kind. He's someone that, if you're ever feeling down, he finds a way to get the biggest smile out of you. He was so caring, so respectful. They simply can't believe

the Orlando they know could have killed Haley. Was he in love with her? I think he was. Do you think he was obsessed with her? I think he was. Do you think he was obsessed with her? No. Did he ever tell you that she rejected him? No, no.

Never tell me that. Unlike here in the U.S., Orlando was not required to enter a plea. Steve Coynewell was starting to get nervous. I was concerned. Are we going to get a trial or is it going to be a show trial? Then, a glimmer of hope. Cornwell and his office were asked to assist the Nicaraguan prosecution team. We had eight days to prepare for trial. Eight days. And probably the biggest part is to set up a way to communicate.

And how did that happen? So the Nicaraguan authorities agreed that we could use teleconferencing. The entire trial would be conducted through teleconferencing. Witnesses would testify from the Broome County DA's office to a courtroom in Managua, thousands of miles away, where a judge, not a jury, would decide Orlando's fate. On October 1, 2019, the trial began with Haley's mother, Karen, as the prosecution's first

witness. Buenos dias. Good morning. Good morning. The woman sitting to the left is there to help translate. Did you know what to do tell you if she ever had any problem in her relationship with Mr. Romano? Yes, see, that he would not stop texting her and following her and driving by her house. As Karen testified, she got her first glimpse of Orlando on the screen.

What did you think when you saw him? What did you feel when you saw him? I felt sad that he ruined so many people's lives. And then as the trial went on, I kept becoming much more and more angry because he acted very arrogant and almost as if he was there and he was bored. Haley's roommate, Josie Arton, also testified. Orlando has always been possessive over Haley. I did. As well as Orlando's roommate, Jesse Bua.

They had an on-and-off relationship for a little over a year. Kevin Ocampo, Haley's ex-boyfriend, also took the stand. Telling the judge about that time, Haley's tires were slashed. At the time, I thought it was because I was seeing Haley again. Yes. Safe. But it was Binghamton Police Investigator Carl Peters who methodically took the judge through all the evidence.

I viewed the video that was secured from 23 Oak Street. Including all the seemingly damning surveillance footage. I saw at about 4 o'clock a male and a female walking to the apartment. Later on, what is clearly Orlando Tessero comes and goes from the doors of the apartment. Later on, what is clearly Orlando Tessaro comes and goes from the doors of the apartment. And then there was that handwritten note left behind in Orlando's apartment. In the note, it's written that he did something stupid and he's sorry. The motive was likely jealousy. I do. The judge also heard from Dr. James Terzian, the pathologist who conducted Haley's autopsy.

And with marks on her neck. And determined the cause of death to be asphyxiation by neck compression. For District Attorney Steve Cornwell, the evidence was overwhelming. He choked her to death. He took Haley, who I believe may have been sleeping, and he choked the life out of her and left her there to rot. That is a sick, disturbed man that could take advantage of somebody he claimed to love and kill her because he couldn't have her.

But Orlando's defense attorney had yet to present his case and was about to argue that Orlando was temporarily insane at the time of the crime. 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 a virgin. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to

report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn trials I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. 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'd 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 on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app.

Did you at any point feel that maybe he's going to get off? The only thing I was worried a little bit about was the insanity play. Orlando's defense attorney, Eduardo Rubi, argued that due to the influence of alcohol, Orlando was temporarily insane at the time of Haley Anderson's murder. And in an effort to prove it, he called a psychiatrist as his first and only witness. Dr. Ronald Lopez Aguilar, who was appointed by the court, testified that Orlando told him he had no recollection of what happened, claiming he woke up after a night of heavy drinking to find Haley dead.

But the expert couldn't verify whether any of that was true and said there's no way to tell what Orlando's state of mind was at the time of the murder. Instead, he could only say there was nothing wrong with the defendant's current mental state. It's indefensible. It was an indefensible case. I would say there is absolutely no possibility that he doesn't remember what happened. There's no evidence that he was drunk or on drugs. There's no evidence that he had some sleepwalking disorder and, you know, commits murder in his sleep.

After both sides rested, Judge Fabiola Betancourt did something that would never happen in the U.S. before a verdict. She gave Haley's family the last word. Haley was a beautiful, intelligent, and friendly girl. She was an aspiring nurse and had her whole life to look forward to. She was and still is my best friend. So thank you for listening and letting me speak on behalf of my daughter. Then it was over.

And Steve Cornwell expected at least a day of deliberation. Instead, the judge shocked him by saying she would return with her verdict after a brief recess. It was a surprise. That's not the way our system works. Here, a judge will normally say, okay, thank you. I'm going to, you know, deliberate on my own and write a decision. After a tense 90 minutes,

the judge returned with a bold statement. Denouncing violence against women and advocating for equal rights, she said Orlando disposed of Haley because he did not accept that she had control over herself. Then came the words Haley's family had been waiting for. Guilty of femicide. Her parents were advised to try and not show any emotion in front of the cameras. When the verdict finally came in and he was found guilty, what did you think and how did you feel? I was, I mean, it's so hard to say. It doesn't bring her back and it doesn't give you that sense of,

you don't really feel better, but you do feel like you can close the book on that chapter now and start trying to move forward and heal. Claren was once again given the opportunity to address the court, and this time she spoke directly to Orlando. I hope that you get the highest amount of years behind bars because you deserve even more than that. Two weeks later, Orlando Tercero was sentenced. In her decision, Judge Betancourt said Tercero took it upon himself to punish Haley for rejecting him.

Then she punished him with the maximum, 30 years in prison. I couldn't believe it. I was so happy that we could work with this other country and that the prosecuting attorney did such a good job and was so passionate about this conviction and the judge. It was just amazing to me. We owe the Nicaraguan authorities, the prosecutor, the court system, we owe them tremendous thanks and have my gratitude for the rest of my life. 30 years is a long time.

30 years. It's a punishment Orlando's friends find hard to believe he deserves. To see that they gave my friend a sentence that's the maximum here, right? It's very hard. None of Orlando's friends have seen him since his conviction, but some have received phone calls and letters, including Ashley Lopez. I feel like his faith has grown a lot more, and God so much. He always asks me to keep him in my prayers and to be positive. They all still support him and some are even convinced of his innocence.

I stand firm in saying that no, he wasn't really guilty. I feel like they're missing something. Another of Orlando's high school friends, who asked to remain anonymous, suspects there is truth to Orlando's defense that he was not in his right mind when Haley was killed. I don't know if they were under the effects of alcohol, drugs, or something, but something happened there for him to act in that way. I asked if she believes that being under the influence justifies murder. No, no, nothing can justify that, of course not. But I also don't know in what state the two of them would have been in for him to do that. I don't know what might have really happened in that room. I don't know.

Orlando is still betting on that very question. What was his state of mind at the time of the murder? His defense attorney wants a new psychiatrist to take a look at the case. Will an appeals court allow it? And is there a chance that Orlando could be set free? He's a killer. And if he didn't kill Haley that day, he probably would have killed somebody else someday.

And if he's ever released, he'll kill again. Do you think it's possible Orlando can't remember how Haley died? Hear a friend's tribute to Haley on Facebook at 48 Hours. on Facebook at 48 Hours. On the morning of February 4, 2020, a heavily guarded Orlando Tercero was back in a Nicaraguan courtroom, this time to appeal his conviction before a panel of three magistrates.

The proceedings began with Orlando's trial attorney, Eduardo Rubí, still handling the case and still arguing that Tercero was highly intoxicated and temporarily insane at the time of the murder. He wants a new psychiatric evaluation, this time by a forensic psychiatrist well-versed in temporary insanity defenses. Josie finds it very difficult to believe that Orlando can't remember killing her friend. A nursing student, if you're strangling someone, he's going to recognize, in whatever state, he's going to recognize this person is dying.

I need to stop. How do you put that power in your own hands and look at somebody and watch their breath get taken away from them? It's so intimate to me and so brutal. I mean, it's one thing to kill somebody with a gun, but to just take their lives with your hands like that is so raw and sad and just unbelievable. Rubi also argued that Orlando was wrongly charged with femicide and sentenced to 30 years. In the U.S., he was charged with second-degree murder and would likely have faced a lighter sentence with the possibility of parole. Rubí insisted that the Nicaraguan courts are legally obligated to follow those guidelines. To everyone's surprise, the magistrates immediately considered

and rejected the request for a second psychiatric opinion. But on the question of modifying their settled sentence, they said they would need time to deliberate. Nearly three weeks later, we were back in New York with Karen Anderson, still awaiting a decision from the Nicaraguan courts in what used to be Haley's bedroom, now a sanctuary for her ashes. This is Haley right here. She's in here.

I wanted to keep her with me. You said you did this interview to honor Haley. Yes. What did you mean by that? You said you did this interview to honor Haley. Yes. What did you mean by that? Because I want her death to have some purpose in life. I would like femicide to be brought to the attention in the United States,

seeing as though it's probably on the rise and it is a very serious crime. You wish that there was a femicide law here in the U.S.? Yes. And also to all of the people who see red flags, to make sure you follow through and take them very seriously to help prevent these things from happening. On March 10, 2020, nearly two years to the day that their daughter was murdered,

Karen and Gordon Anderson were once again at the Broome County DA's office, this time to hear the appellate court's decision. The hearing took over an hour, while an officer of the court read the 12-page decision. In the

end, it took a nervous Karen Anderson a moment to realize that the appeal had been completely denied. I appreciate all the work that you have done in helping to convict Orlando to the fullest extent of the law. Orlando Tercero's conviction and sentence would stand. Orlando will likely spend the next 30 years here in Nicaragua's main penitentiary, known for its overcrowding. Every day, he will be fed a small meal of rice and beans. If he wants more, his mother will have to deliver food to the prison gates. Steve Cornwell says if for any reason Tercero

is ever freed and even tries to step foot on American soil, Broome County will arrest him and put him on trial. There's no double jeopardy, so if for some reason he was released, the entire case can be tried here on behalf of the family. on behalf of the family. As Haley's family and friends continue to heal from their loss, they are determined to keep her memory alive. What would you say to Haley's parents, if you could?

Even though Haley's time was short, she had touched so many people's lives that I had known and that they should be really, really proud of who Haley was as a person. One time we were all sitting in her bed and she asked us, like, what does depression feel like? And the idea that someone is just that, like, happy, innocent, pure content. I want people to know that she was kind, that she was generous, that she was hardworking, but most of all that she loved almost everyone that she came in contact with. How do you want Haley to be remembered? As the millennial hippie that just has quirky and happy...

And, you know, as sad as it is that she trusted everybody, that's a good quality. You should trust people. It seems as if everything is unpredictable. We're all stuck at home. And like you, I'm feeling a bit helpless right now. But I want you to know we are here for you. All working together. You are not alone. That's right. Because we're all in this.

And we're all in this. We're all in this together. To be continued...