Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 'Pouty' Teen Paid Friend to Kill His Parents: Cops

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

Darren Munoz, 19, is accused of paying his friend to murder his parents. Oscar Munoz and his wife, Dina Munoz, were shot to death in their bed in Clovis, New Mexico, on December 15, 2025. Police say Darren paid his friend, Julio Zamora, to murder his father and stepmother so he could inherit their estate. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through the body-worn camera video and interviews from the case in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Van DinhGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Put your hands on now! A teen calls 911 to report a burglary and police find a grisly, gruesome scene. 2650s. Tell them to step it up. It looks like a possible GSW to a female or a male. Then a sick plot is revealed. We've talked to all those people and we already know about discipline. Okay. And they've thrown you under the bus pretty much.

I'm Ann Jeanette Levy and this is Crime Fix. Oscar Munoz and his wife, Dina Munoz, celebrated their anniversary in December 2025. Little did they know after they returned home from an out-of-town trip that they would be murdered in their own bed. It was Christmas time. It should have been a happy time for the couple who lived in Clovis, New Mexico. Later that day, Oscar Munoz's 19-year-old son, Darren, and his friend, Julio Zamora, would be charged with murder. It was December 15th, 2025 before 5 a.m. when Clovis police officers drove to the Munoz home, Darren Munoz, had called 911 and reported a possible burglary in progress.

When the first officer arrived, he found the garage door open. 26, but I got a 6-8 at the garage door. Close, pity if you're a stomach's unknown. Watch the back. Yeah. 26, any available unit, I got a 68. Sounds like somebody's inside. Nobody's advising if they're inside.

There's a close, please, phone you're a cervix unknown. 26, BD, make commands inside. Nobody's responding. six eight to the front door. I'm holding until more units get available. Officer Smith yelled a couple of more times, and then Darren Munoz appeared. Hello. What's going on here? What's going on here? We just got to call that somebody's trying to burglarize the house, and I'm making announcements. Can hear somebody inside, but you're not responding to me.

You just woke up? Is your front door and garage door usually open? No. Okay. Are you the only one here? No, my parents are here. Your parents are here? Where are they at? Sleep. They're asleep?

Okay. Well, we just got to call that someone who was trying to burglarize the house. The garage door and this door are wide open. So I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Does that make sense? I'm not trying to scare you or anything. I got you. I got you.

I got you. Is your parents in their room? Yeah. Okay. Are they sleeping? Yeah. Where are my room? I got you.

26. You're just in 49. I got contact with a room. residents that stated that they were asleep. I'm going to attempt to make contact with the homeowners. All right, let's go talk to your parents. You want to wake them up first? I mean, if they're not up, yeah, I'd like to wake them up,

because, like I said, we got a call for a burglary in progress. Okay, yeah, if you want to go tell them to wake up. Is everything good? Nobody else is in here that I need to know about? Okay. 26 to unit in the back. You can come around to the front. 26 other units.

If you're responding code, you can go ahead and go back 10. Everything appears in four here at the moment. Charlie 26 video. Who's the caller on this? What's going on? 26 phoenix, send me in, that's we got a full of blood. Stay outside. In the back.

Where? Back. Back. Stay outside. 26p.es. Tell them to step it up. It looks like a possible GSW to a female or a male. This scene is horrific. Help is needed immediately for the two gunshot victims,

Darren's 58-year-old father, Oscar, and his stepmother, Dina. On the left. One on the left? Clear the house. Go ahead and step out for me. Go outside. Clear. Ready?

One, two, three. Clear. Ready? One, two, three. Clear. Keep moving back. Clear. If you were in this room,

what's going on with that. What's here? It's just us. Just you three? Yeah. You have family members? Your uncle and man live across the street? Yeah.

All right. Just stay outside for now. I don't need you going back in, okay? I'm going to get you in my facility. Okay? Come with me. Do you have family members? Your uncle and aunt live across the street? All right. Just stay outside for now. I don't need you going back in, okay? I'm going to get you into my patrol unit, just the security for now, okay? Come with me. Stop right there. Stop right there. Come on. No, inside, in the bedroom. Go inside to the right. We cleared. We didn't find anything yet.

All right, just have a seat, man. We'll figure out what's going on, okay? Charlie 26, we did just for 49. We have one male detained at this time. Just for 49. He stated he was asleep during all of this. I don't know where my flashlight went. Backdoor secured.

Where in the flashlight go? So both of them have a big pool of blood coming from step inside. He's got a pool of blood coming from his head. She's got blood coming from nose, possibly 10. I think he's agnably bleeding. Eventually, police take Darren Munoz to the police station. Well, let's start over. What did you guys do yesterday? They weren't home. They were out of town.

Okay. And, um, seven to me down. Same time. Were you gone all weekend? Yes. Okay. When did you stay by yourself? No, so.

When did they leave? Uh, Friday. Friday? Really. Okay. Once and then they got back yesterday? Yeah. No, today.

Okay. Yeah. So today's Monday. So Sunday. So Sunday night, would you say? No, during the day. Oh, during the day? Oh, it's 10 o'clock.

And everything, I mean, do you have a pretty decent relationship with your parents? Yeah. And your stepmom, you get along with her pretty good? Okay. I think you guys have family across the street. Yeah. Police talked to Darren for a little while. They get his story about what happened that morning, including his 911 call.

And then Darren is asked about guns. Right. Did you know? I don't know. Yeah. He was asked him. He was all? Who?

The guns. I know. He had no. He has told me for things. They said a few of the family. You know. But you don't know what kind. Do you know if they're like rifles, they are, handguns, like,

those. Oh, I don't have my. Sorry. Do you know what the, what they look like? I think he's an handgun. Okay. You know what, you know what caliber or anything with that? Yeah.

Are you a gun for someone or not really? No. Okay. Are you a shot at firing? No. if you think maybe Darren said he's not a gun person hasn't shot a gun

but investigators will later say they found videos, photos and messages between Darren and his friend Julio Zamora where they handled and discussed guns one of those messages reads, I got an AR Glock and a ghost Glock

it then says hold on and a photo of an AR 15 and a gun is shown the next message states the one on the right is yours clean I bet I will get back at you because I am trying to buy more instead of trade. Then the time comes to collect some evidence. Hey, Darren. Sorry, just hand the ball.

Got a search one here to collect your clothing and get some photos and stuff taken. I mean, now everything, okay? I get you to stand up and towards that wall? Yeah. The reason for this, obviously, with what happened this morning, the fact that you went in the room and everything, we just we have to take these steps in order to process everything okay so i'm going to take photos of you i'm going to have you i'll tell you give you direction on what we're going to be doing

and then i'll take swabs of your hand i'll get have you take swabs of your mouth stuff like that okay there's DNA swabs okay huh yeah i have i have like a suit that you can put on okay all right so if you just want to stand still and i'm going to start taking photos okay used to photograph Darren Munoz, documenting his appearance just hours after someone shot his parents. His clothes will be taken as evidence and possibly tested at the crime lab. Then he's left in the interview room to sit in a white suit since his clothes have been taken, and he sits for a while. Detectives then interview female friends of Darren and Julio. Darren's girlfriend reveals a plot. And you don't remember what else was discussed

Other than Karen pretty much Wanted them gone And Julio offered to do it for money Okay And you don't know how much No Who is what you would?

A girl A girl I have a girl with her I just have to go And he was in a white, was that white truck, can't see or shut it? Okay. And what you, on your end, it would just you and Darren? And did he have to hear them talk about that any time after that?

Did Darren say anything over the weekend? That he was going to do anything. do anything, did you know, did you know anything about a silencer or anything like that or any other information or talk about it, so then I'm, or nothing like that? Did, um, see Vincent or Julio after that? We had all went, um, um, we had this girl from Green and Jake. We had all the Christmas space last week. So all of this, all of the, whatever you guys talk about.

about and everything happened before the Christmas parade. And so I think that was last two weeks ago. A second young woman offers more information. So I overheard a conversation of them was Darren saying that if he didn't shoot his dad, that he was going to cut his brakes to his truck. And then eventually he would just keep driving, smack into something, you know, die of heart attack because he's fat that's sort of what he said and then um he said that he could have Vincent go in and then while his dog to sleep and then there'd just be a sound death and I mean like

I was just like like like I always said it as a joke because like I said like Darren would always say things but he would never do it and like he's never really like been like harmful to people you know what I mean he's always just been like a joke big care buried in me like. Police then pick up Darren's friend, Julio Zamora. They take him into custody and he's also placed in an interview room. You have the right to talk to a lawyer before we ask you any questions and to have him or her here with you during any questioning. If you can't afford a lawyer, one will be given to you at little or no cost if you wish. If you do not wish to talk with me or Mr. Munoz, you can stop at any time.

Alright, do you understand what I just explained to you? Yes, sir. If you were just initially yes, and do you was to talk with us? Yes, sir. Okay. I see no problem with it. There you go, sir. Did you graduate from my school?

No, sir. So what grade are you in? I dropped out, and I was trying to get my GED, but I really haven't been trying. I've been busy with work. Where'd you work at? I do landscaping. Me and my dad worked as landscaping, and she had like that, and he did work now, but the season slowed down, so.

All right. So what was the last grade you completed? Senior. Senior year? I dropped that. I dropped that year? I dropped that year. So you completed 11th grade?

Yeah. Junior year. All right, man. You know my design right there from here? Right here. Mm-hmm. That's a little way. Do you have any idea why you're here?

Not necessarily. Just before they took me in and they said I was a suspect of a crime. Okay. That's all they told me, and they didn't tell me much more. And I don't know what they, what crime they're talking about. Talk about it. They just told me a sex rate of a crime. That's all they told me.

All right. You haven't seen anything on Facebook, Instagram? No, I don't. I only be on Instagram to text. I'll be on Snapchat to text, too. I don't be on Facebook. The only time it'd be on Facebook is Marketplace, just browsing around. Okay.

Okay. So do you know Darren? Darren? Yeah, he's one of my homies. You're one of your homies? How long if you know Darren? I know him for about a year. I say a year, maybe a year and a half. You guys have been here. And I know you're not being truthful with me because we've already done a plethora, a bunch, a search warrants. You're going to meet a lot of people and you're one of the last people that's in this interview room. So I'm going to give you the opportunity to be honest with the both of us and tell us the truth about when you saw Darren last, when you talked to you. and the last and the nature of regard to this friendship okay right please don't

so what's going so last time I seen him was actually something was yesterday okay yesterday when he got off work which time was that round 3 30 3 40 4 o'clock they were on there okay so I'm not good time and after that we picked up one of my other homies vinson Vincent we picked up Vincent we went to one of my other homies crick went to his I mean, you know, I kind of gone into an argument. It said that we're something stupid, but we talked out, we worked it out, which like that. I said that. Last time I seen him was after he dropped me off, which was around 5,

actually around 536. He dropped me off around that time. After he dropped me off, I was killed out of my crib, and then after that, I was chill with the girl. After you chill with this girl, what did you do? No, really just mainly with my brother at the house. So at 1 o'clock, chilling with the girl, what time did she leave? She left for like 1.30?

I dropped her off. You dropped her off? Yes, sir. Where did you drop her off at? Her house. Where's her house? It's over there on, I can't remember the name of the street, but it's over there by Warlocker. Okay.

And then after you dropped her off, what did you do? I'm back to my house. And then you stayed there for us in the night? Yes, sir. With your brother? With my brother and my dad. Who's your brother? Your brother is...

And I took off around like to get around like five buck in the morning and then my dad's some donuts and milk and me a bag of chips or a drink. And where did you get donuts from? All sorts. On May 4th and Sycamore. Now is that 5? Round 5, 14, 5. Somewhere around there. Okay.

And that's the truth? Or are you still leaving some stuff out? Yes. Because I see that before, and I still think you're leaving some stuff out. No, sir. How about a week and a half ago, did you buy ammunition from burns? Oh, yes. I did.

That's okay. What kind of ammunition do you buy? I bought nine million rounds. You got nine millionaires? Yes, sir. I bought it for a friend. Okay. What friend?

I'm sorry about that. That's okay. So you buy, which one of them are, who, like he told you, you know, we've done, we've talked to a lot of people, you know, at this point, I would hope that you're picking up that we know a lot more than you think, okay? So we know about this ghost block that Daringham, okay? You guys go and buy, well, you go in and buy nine millimeter ammo. Is that right?

Okay. They wanted nine millimeter rounds for your good thought. Who did? He wanted a nine millimeter round for his, gun and I said, okay, it's not. I didn't see much of a big deal with it because I'm not like that.

I'm going to buy it or something like that. What was going on around that time that you guys wanted to buy this line and be around for? Just go out shooting. Just got on the range shoot. Okay. Because I have a man or he has somebody else. He knows too, I guess.

Okay. And we go out there and shoot. Do you remember talking about getting a silencer? He talked about wanted to get a silencer on, hey, he wanted to get a third barrel for his gun. And I saw that's up to you. It's his gun. What, can you describe the gun?

It's, it's real. It's fully built. That has a bottom, it's bottom, black, and the top is, like, a yellow-looking kind. And that's really all I know. It has a twisted barrel. And did you guys make some kind of trade at some point? No, I made a trade with somebody else, but then we traded back, and I, that's about it. The detectives waste no time confronting Julio Zamora, and he folds.

And Darren. Okay. We've talked to all those people, and we already know about this plan, okay? And they've thrown you under the bus, pretty much. So at this point, I mean, there's... We talked about, like, stuff like that, but... Stuff like what? Like stuff is like Wanting to do stuff

I really don't really know much about it But he was talking about wanting to do Different things We know everything at this point Yeah I really I really wasn't really much into it I'm like that's a bad idea

Because I'm not that type of guy Yes I love my guns But I'm not that type of guy And when did he ask you guys to do He asked us to do him a favor Which is Kill somebody I'm like I'm not doing that

because I'm not a killer myself. I don't have the guts to encourage to do that. Kill who? Kill his parents, I guess. I don't know. You know, man. Just be straight-up. He told us, he wanted to kill his parents.

I'm like, I'm not doing that because that's not something I would do. How long ago did he come up with this? He came up with about two months ago. Okay. How much did he offer you to kill his parents? He was trying to offer me money, I can't, I don't remember how much we, he offered me something and I just declined him. He was talking like, 100 bucks, thousand bucks?

Few hundred. A few hundred. A few hundred bucks? Few hundred, thousand? Where was he going to get that money from? I don't know. That's what I'm like, no, because like, he has a job. He really makes maybe like 800, two weeks, every two weeks.

So I'm like, I don't know. No, I'm not doing that. Even for that much money, I wouldn't do that. It goes, go my life away and drink. So he did. try to broker a deal with you to kill his parents. Yeah, you tried. And you said no.

Yeah. Okay, but his parents somehow end up dead anyway. His parents are dead? Don't, don't. I know, I'll promise you. I don't know anything about it. No, I don't play down with us at this point, okay? I know if he was talking about it, but I didn't know his parents were dead.

Yeah. And he's here. And he told us your part. So we just want to know when he has. you to do this, how he asked you to do this, and whether you just kind of went along with it, or did he orchestrate this whole thing? What do you mean, like, went along with it, like if I went along with it, just like, act like I was cool with it?

I mean, I really didn't say much about it. It's his idea, and it's not my idea. It was his choice. I didn't do anything really much about it. I just kind of blew it off. How did he say? it should happen. You try to say like how it should happen is we break it, well, one of us break in and all this stuff, stuff, and just do it and then try to rob stuff and

it's like that and make it look like a whole big accident coincidental. Like try and say, oh, go in there, rob stuff, go in there, shoot them, go and they come in my room, make it look like you did this. How you got in? The garage door was open. Okay. Was he messaging you when did come in? No man. He just told you he was going to leave the garage door open? He really didn't tell me nothing. Like he didn't tell me he was going to leave the garage door open at all. So you just went in? It's kind of yes. Okay. Did he know when you were coming? No, no. But you did. You know? In the garage?

I did. I did. In the garage. And then what did you do? Honestly, in my opinion, I should have never did anything. I should have just walked off. I understand that. I was there for a good 10, 15 minutes.

Can you tell us what happened in the room there? I was, I mean, I helped me got against my own head, debating it, because I didn't want to do anything. I was scared. What's daring up? I don't know. I don't know if it was up or not. So you had the, so whenever you're walking up to the garage, we hear you get it ready, pretty much.

And you, did you know where to go? No, man. So how did you find your way? I was looking around and I heard people, I heard them, and I'm like, I was still looking around for a second. And after I heard them, I walked in there and I was in there, but I was looking around. I was in there and I was in there by 10 minutes. They didn't know what to do. I was going to run off and just leave it alone.

Did you know Darren? Yes, no. Now, I feel guilty about it and I don't know. Who are you thinking? I wanted to kill myself as if I was thinking. Was the gun that was down in the car with you, the gun that she used? Yes, sir. Have you talked to Darren since?

No, sir. Darren, he wanted that gun back. And he wanted to keep that gun for himself. So what was the plan? Like, after it was done, like, what was the next step? I didn't know the next step after it was on. Where'd you go afterwards? I just ran.

What'd you run to you? I don't know. I was running for a while. I forgot where I was running to. I just went blink. How did you get there? I walked. From where?

I was, I walked from Hill Chris. What do you want to tell us? Darren, I think, because Darren, he also said that he also said that he would kill me if I didn't do anything. So you were scared? Yes, that's really what it was too. I was scared because I didn't want to. Did you see him this morning at all? No.

No? Do you know he called him on one? No. Did Vincent play any part of this other than volunteering to do? do it if you didn't? Not that I really know him. I know he wanted to do it before anybody else. That's all I know. Detectives also photograph Julio to document any potential evidence. Darren Munoz is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation of murder and two counts of first-degree murder. His friend, Julio Zamora, faces two counts of first-degree murder and

conspiracy to commit murder. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Julio's trial is set for June of 2027, and Darren's trial is scheduled to begin in January of 27. So we'll keep an eye on this and let you know what happens. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.