Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Young Mom Found Dead in Mountains As Boyfriend Threatens To Harm Her Daughter

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Nothing's going to bring Elizabeth back, but the least we can do is give our all to this investigation to bring that small piece to a close. A young mother is found dead in the Santa Cruz mountains after her boyfriend shows up at a police station threatening to harm her young daughter and is shot by police. Our officer immediately recognized that he had a knife in his possession, in his hand. I'll tell you what we know about the sad case of the death of Lizbeth Arcio-Sedano in California. The Sheriff's Office is here with the latest on the investigation. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Last weekend, police in Watsonville, California,

Starting point is 00:00:52 about 50 miles south of San Jose, put out an urgent message asking for information about 25-year-old Lizbeth Arcio-Sedano. The police were concerned about Sedano's safety after her boyfriend, Joshua Gonzalez, showed up at the Watsonville Police Department armed with a knife. He had Sedano's young daughter with him. There was a man in the front parking lot of our police department, and he was armed with a knife, and that he was going to harm a three-year-old child. That's Assistant Chief David Rodriguez with the Watsonville Police Department explaining what officers encountered. It's an unusual, frightening call to say the very least. He explained what happened next. Our officer immediately recognized that he had a knife in his possession

Starting point is 00:01:47 in his hand. Our officer ordered him to drop the knife. The first time he ordered him to drop the knife, the officer began backing up, trying to gain distance from him. However, Mr. Gonzalez went after our officer, chasing him down. As our officer was backing up, he yelled and ordered Mr. Gonzalez to drop the knife again another two times. While that was happening, the officer recognized that his life was in danger and used his department-issued pistol to fire at Mr. Gonzalez. Thankfully, that little girl was not hurt. Gonzalez was taken to the hospital and police will only say that he is stable and will soon face charges. There are several, including child endangerment, attempted murder of a police officer,

Starting point is 00:02:45 brandishing a knife, to name some of them. The officer who shot Gonzalez is on paid administrative leave, and that's pretty standard procedure an officer involves shootings. The Santa Cruz County DA's office is investigating the shooting. It definitely was a concerning call for service for us. We don't get calls for service like this often. So whenever they do happen, you know, our officers are pretty much on a heightened response. Anytime there's any other person involved or being threatened, especially a young child,

Starting point is 00:03:22 it's of great concern to our officers. Sadly, Liz Beth Stodano's body was found after this incident in the area of Eureka Canyon Road and Grizzly Flat Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The investigation into her death is ongoing with an autopsy being completed. I'll have more on that with the sheriff's office in just a few moments. You know, we're just thankful that our officer is okay in all of this situation, that the three-year-old was unharmed, and really that Mr. Gonzalez survived, and he will be held accountable for his actions. That little girl is now with family members of Lizbeth Sedano and is safe.

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Starting point is 00:04:37 Harry Sinclair. The scandal, named after one of the oil reserves in Wyoming, would eventually send Sinclair to prison for contempt of Congress and jury tampering, and made Fall the first person ever convicted of a crime committed while serving in the US cabinet. Follow American Scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also binge this season American Scandal Teapot Dome early and ad free right now on Wondery Plus and by clicking on our link, wondery.fm slash lawandcrimefix. Joining me to discuss the very latest into the investigation into Lizbeth Sedano's death is Ashley Keene. She is the public information officer with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's

Starting point is 00:05:17 Office. Ashley, thanks so much for coming on. I know that there was an autopsy conducted on Lizbeth. So what can you tell us about that? Yeah, so our forensic pathologist did conduct an autopsy and has determined that her cause of death was multiple stab wounds to her torso. And the manner has been ruled a homicide. Is there any information about when she possibly passed away? We know that the Watsonville Police Department put out that information on Saturday night saying they were concerned for her safety, quite obviously, after what happened with Joshua Gonzalez showing up with her young daughter with a knife at the police department. And then they, of course, shot him when they said he didn't put the

Starting point is 00:06:06 knife down. So do we think that she was killed a while before that? Do we know when she was murdered? Yeah. So the timeline is still something that our investigators are piecing together. And, you know, obviously this is a absolutely horrific incident all around. We have a young mother who was murdered, a child that's now having to grow up without their mother. So our investigators are trying to piece everything together to get as many answers as they can to ultimately make an arrest and bring a small amount of closure to a family that is really hurting right now. And they're, I'm sure, going through an unbelievable amount of grief. And that little girl, I mean, it's just, thank goodness she wasn't hurt. But she is now going

Starting point is 00:06:59 to grow up without a mother, sadly. I mean, we can connect the dots here, Ashley, and I think there are some pretty obvious questions to ask. Joshua Gonzalez shows up at the police department in Watsonville with a knife, and you're telling me that Lizbeth was sadly stabbed in the torso. So do they believe that this is the murder weapon that he was holding when he showed up at the police department. That's something that our investigators are looking into. We're not leaving any stone unturned, and we're waiting for forensic evidence to come back. We're still going through other evidence that has been collected, but we're confident that we will make an arrest in this case. Um, it's just a matter of, of when we can get that hard evidence, um, that will stand up in court as well.

Starting point is 00:07:54 You said you're confident you'll make an arrest. I mean, is Joshua Gonzalez the primary suspect here? That's not something that we're ready to discuss yet. Um, but again, not leaving any stone unturned. So that is something that we're looking into. Have your detectives been able to speak with him? That's not something that we would discuss at this time yet. So what are your next steps?

Starting point is 00:08:23 I mean, you're talking about needing some hard evidence. I would assume that could come in the form of some type of forensic testing, whether that's on his vehicle or on her, some type of DNA testing, other types of testing, whatever, you know, is going on at the crime lab or at the coroner's office. So talk to me about what you're looking for to really be able to make an arrest in this case. Yeah. So you said it right there. We're waiting on DNA returns from evidence that was collected at the scene. And so that can take some time. We are rushing it. So we're in contact with a private lab who is doing those testing or doing that testing as we speak. So hopefully we'll get some returns in the next week and be able to continue with this investigation and make an arrest. Have there ever been any other incidents that you're aware of? Any police calls involving Lizbeth Sedano and Joshua Gonzalez? I mean, are these people who are known to law enforcement at

Starting point is 00:09:40 all? I don't know if this was a domestic incident. You're saying still that you're not ready to call him a suspect. Yeah. So in any case, we wouldn't discuss prior contacts that we've had. That's just something we legally can't talk about right now. Okay. Are these people that you know of, were they currently together or were they a couple right now? Were they separated? Can you give us any information about that? No. So their relationship is something that we're still looking into and investigators are trying to determine exactly what that was. And was Lizbeth somebody who lived in Santa Cruz County? Yes, yes, she was a Watsonville resident. Okay, was he as well then? That is, I'm not sure on his current address, so that's probably something Watsonville PD would have since their contact

Starting point is 00:10:48 was with him. Okay. So your investigators are waiting, you said, for hard evidence. Are you looking for people to come forward, people who knew Lizbeth, to provide information to you, or have there been other people in her life, say family and friends, who've been able to talk with investigators about what was going on in her life leading up to her murder? I know we've spoken with multiple people, but we are always looking for more information. The more information we have, the bigger case we can build to eventually take to court once an arrest is made. So if anyone does have information that they think could aid us in this investigation, then we absolutely urge them to come forward and call

Starting point is 00:11:38 our dispatch. Ashley, is there any information that you have about Lizbeth? I mean, she obviously was a young mother. Is there anything that you can tell us about her that maybe would give people some insight into who she was? I mean, this is just an awful tragedy. She was a young mother. I'm sure she loved her daughter very much. So is there anything that you've been able to glean from speaking with her family members or your investigators have been able to glean about her that might give people

Starting point is 00:12:10 looking at her photo, just some information about who she was? I do not have much personal information about her, but as you said, she was a young mother. And that resonates with us so, so much. A lot of us have children. And now, you know, in these instances, you can't not put yourself in someone's shoes, knowing that their child now has to grow up without her. So it is all around just absolutely horrific. We feel for this family. We feel for her young child. And we're going to give them as much support as we possibly can throughout this entire process. Do you expect some answers pretty soon? I mean, I know sometimes it can take some time to get lab results and some things like that. So are you expecting that you might be able to file charges in her murder within the next few days to a week? Or do you have a timeline on that?

Starting point is 00:13:17 Do you have something you could maybe forecast? You know, we're hoping soon, as soon as possible. It's hard to give a definitive answer, because like you said, those lab results can take time. But we are hoping for the sake of the family, for the sake of her child, to get more answers as soon as possible so we can give them the slightest bit of closure. I know nothing's going to bring Lisbeth back, but the least we can do is give our all to this investigation to bring that small piece to a close. Ashley Keen, thank you so much from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office for joining us. Absolutely. Thank you. And 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

Starting point is 00:14:10 next time.

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Young Mom Found Dead in Mountains As Boyfriend Threatens To Harm Her Daughter

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Young Mom Found Dead in Mountains As Boyfriend Threatens To Harm Her Daughter

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