Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Beautiful, young social media star found injected with pool cleaner, encased in concrete. Who killed Esmeralda Gonzalez?

Episode Date: December 5, 2019

The family of Esmeralda Gonzalez was desperate to find the social media star after she goes missing. The investigation turns up erratic behavior just before her disappearance. Police find Gonzalez encased in concrete. Who killed her?A suspect is facing murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges in connection with the death of the beautiful Las Vegas model.Two additional suspects are arrested, both women. Investigators say they played a part in the young model's murder.Joining Nancy Grace to discuss the case: Ashley Willcott: Judge, Trial Attorney, Anchor at Court TV James Shelnutt : 27 years Atlanta Metro area Major Case Detective, Swat Officer (RET)  Dr. Tim Gallagher: Medical Examiner for the State of Florida,  Dr. Lyz DeBoer: Licensed Psychologist, Corrections Psychology Intervention, & Founder of Visionistas by Design  Levi Page: CrimeOnline Investigative Reporter  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. It all goes down in Las Vegas. Now, before you judge Vegas as Sin City, it's a community. It's strippers and gamblers and loan sharks and tourists and grifters. There's a big community that lives there. People just like us. What happened to a beautiful young girl, just 24 years old, Esmeralda Gonzalez, a model. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Two months have passed and Juan Gonzalez Madera says there has been no sign of his 24 year old sister Esmeralda Gonzalez. She was last seen May 30th at her Southwest home off of Pebble and Durango. On that day in May, Madera

remembers checking on his sister. I came to visit her. I came to the home and she wasn't here. And so I, I automatically, I immediately panicked because it wasn't like her to kind of just wander off. Madera says neighbors told police Esmeralda was walking on the street asking for a ride to a car dealership. She said she lost her keys. Madera says somehow his sister made it to the car dealership. These images believed to be near that dealership show this man, who police say Esmeralda was last seen with. Detectives would like to speak with him for possible leads to the case.

I don't have any idea who he is. I've never seen him before. But if he, if someone knows who he is, we kindly ask that he comes forward. Madera says his sister has never vanished like this before. He has a message for her. Esmeralda, we miss you. We love you. What happened to a beautiful young girl, just 24 years old, Esmeralda Gonzalez, a model. You were just hearing our friends at News 3 in Las Vegas. That was Antonio Castellon. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.

It all goes down in Las Vegas. Now, before you judge Vegas as Sin City, I get it. You got to know that all around Vegas, there are families and schools and playgrounds and parks and churches and temples and mosques. It's a community. It's not just strippers and gamblers and loan sharks and tourists and grifters. There's a big community that lives there. People just like us. Again, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Esmeralda goes missing.

Joining me, Judge Trial Lawyer Ashley Wilcott. You can find her on Court TV and at AshleyWilcott.com. James Shelnut, 27 years, major case detective, SWAT officer, now lawyer. Dr. Tim Gallagher, medical examiner for the state of Florida. Dr. Liz DeBoer, psychologist, founder of Visionistas by Design and at DrLiz.com. Straight out to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page. Levi, let's start at the beginning. When was the last time this 24-year-old woman had been seen, Esmeralda? So 24-year-old Esmeralda Gonzalez, she was last seen May 5th in the Durango Drive in Pebble Road area of Las Vegas. She's five foot tall, 110 pounds. She has

blonde hair and she just vanished from her home. Her brother went to her house to look for her. The front door was open and unlocked and the lights were on. And that was the last time that anybody had seen her except she had been wandering around the area disoriented dressed only in high heels and lingerie someone even took her to a bmw dealership and dropped her off and then she was actually seen trying to get into someone's home caught on their security footage and they told her you're in the wrong home. So that was the last time anyone had seen this young woman. Okay.

I'm trying to digest what you just said with me. CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page. You know what? You better tell me that again a little bit more slowly, starting with when she was last seen alive. May 31st. She was last seen in the area, wandering around. She seemed disoriented. She had, you know, waved down someone in the neighborhood to take her to a BMW dealership, and she was wearing only her lingerie and high heels.

She then went to someone else's residence in the area and tried to attempt to get in. And they said, you've got the wrong phone. And this was caught on their security camera footage. And that was the last time that she was seen. Okay, clearly disoriented out of it. We are learning that this young woman, just 24 years old, suffered from depression and schizophrenia. So before you judge her as thinking she was drunk or high, we are learning she had a diagnosed medical condition. To Dr. Liz DeBoer joining us. Dr. Liz, what is schizophrenia and how does it affect your behavior? So schizophrenia is a diagnosis

that is prevalent with the key features of psychotic psychosis, psychotic episodes that include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and speech. So there's really a fragile connection to reality for individuals who are diagnosed with schizophrenia. And so it definitely can affect behavior, depending on the severity of the symptoms and the hold that the person has on reality. So the fact that she was seen wandering around is not an uncommon kind of behavior that you would see with a non-purposeful kind of walk with someone with schizophrenia. I remember dealing with so many defendants

that tried to go with mental illness or insanity, particularly schizophrenia. I recall distinctly James Shelnut, 27 years, Metro Major Case, SWAT officer, now lawyer. When I heard this about a defendant behind bars, that he had smeared himself and the walls with his own feces, that he had tried to pull out, extract one of his eyeballs. I'm just a lay person, but that is what schizophrenia can do to a person. And you have auditory, which are the worst, not just optical, but auditory hallucinations where you hear the angel of death telling you to commit a murder or to kill yourself. You know, that is overwhelming.

That's what schizophrenia can do to you in the real world, James Shelnut. I'm sure you've seen defendants and victims that were suffering. This lady, this young girl, Esmeralda Gonzalez, is 24, also bipolar. And James, you know it when someone has schizophrenia. It can't be hidden. No, I agree with you. And it adds a whole lot of different dimensions to both sides of the investigation. You know, from the victim standpoint, it makes it a lot more difficult to figure out what happened when you've got somebody who does not have stability. You know, it's an easier case. I'm not going to say easy, but an easier case when you have, say, a mom who's stable.

She picks her kids up at the daycare. She's either working or housewife every day. She has a routine. There's no psychological problems. You know, you can go back and find out what's different very easily. But when you've got someone who's got these types of issues, it makes it difficult. They're often sometimes transient. They make irrational decisions. Sometimes it's hard to find what their normal routine is because they may not have one that the rest of us would look at and say is normal. You know, on the suspect side, Nancy, you know, you look at it and you say,

okay, maybe this guy is insane or from a legal perspective, but in the same token, is there anything that we can show to indicate whether or not he appreciated what he was doing? He understood the difference between right and wrong for there to be a criminal case. And it adds just some additional dimensions that create an awful lot of work and sometimes can lead to confusion. So the last we know of her to Ashley Wilcott, judge, trial lawyer, and anchor at Court TV,

you can find her at ashleywilcott.com. Ashley, what we know, and this has been supported by multiple witness testimony, she was last seen wandering around in her heels and I guess PJs. I don't know why men always call it lingerie. I guess in their own heads, that's more sexy. And she wanted to be taken to a BMW dealership and she had gone up to a random home. That's where I believe I would start the investigation at the BMW dealership and at that random home she stumbled into. The random home where she stumbled into, I completely agree.

That's the very first step that I would start with because she's seen May 5th wandering around disarrayed goes to this random home and then she's never heard from again and the tragic part of this I want to emphasize random home so it just feels like well certainly nothing would have happened certainly someone might have called an ambulance called police helped her but that was the last she was seen. Levi Page, what can you tell me about what neighbors say? Give me again the description of what they say happened when they observed Esmeralda wandering around in her heels and her, as you say, lingerie. Well, she was disoriented. They said that her gait was off.

She was not walking normally. She seemed out of it. And to you, Dr. Tim Gallagher, the medical examiner for the state of Florida, you know, I hate to think of you taking a break from dead bodies to be with us, but so be it. I'll take it. Dr. Gallagher, what does that say to you that she had an uneven gait? That's very significant in my mind. Well, an uneven gait in terms of the way I would interpret that would be she could be under the influence of some medication or she could be very emotionally distraught, which is affecting her ability and fine motor movements and giving her the sun-steady gait. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The Clark County coroner has yet to release the identity of the woman, THE CLARK COUNTY CORONER HAS YET TO RELEASE THE IDENTITY OF THE WOMAN. BUT NEIGHBORS TELL ME HER NAME IS ESMARALDA GONZALEZ. POLICE SAY SHE WAS HELD AGAINST HER WILL INSIDE THIS HOME AND THEN MURDERED.

HER BODY WAS FOUND IN THE DESERT LAST WEEK. I'M VERY SADDENED. NEIGHBORS ARE IN A STATE OF SHOCK. RELATIVES OF ESMARALDA GONZALEZ FIRST REPORTED HER MISSING IN LATE MAY.

THESE ARE PHOTOS FROM A PUBLIC FACEBOOK PAGE CALLED FIND ESMARALDA GONZALEZ. IN WASHINGTON, I'M TAMMY BOWEN. THE VICTIM WAS ARRESTED IN THE HOME OF THE VICTIM. POLICE SAY THE VICTIM WAS ARRESTED IN THE HOME OF THE VICTIM. THE PAPERS ARE IN A STATE OF SHOCK. RELATIVES OF ESMARALDA GONZALEZ

FIRST REPORTED HER MISSING IN LATE MAY. THESE ARE PHOTOS FROM A PUBLIC FACEBOOK PAGE CALLED FIND ESMARALDA GONZALEZ. IN POST SHE IS DESCRIBED AS A LOVING DAUGHTER AND SISTER. THE MAN AND WOMAN ARRESTED IN

CONNECTION WITH HER DEATH APPEARED IN COURT THIS WEEK. CHRISTOPHER PRESTOPINO IS CHARGED WITH OPEN MURDER, FIRST-DEGREE KINNAPPING AND CONSPIRACY MURDER. POLICE WERE LED TO PRESTOPINO THE VICTIM WAS A HOMICIDE DETECTIVE. THE VICTIM WAS A HOMICIDE DETECTIVE. THE VICTIM WAS A HOMICIDE DETECTIVE. POLICE WERE LED TO PRESS TO PINO THROUGH AN ANONYMOUS TIP.

THEY BELIEVE HE MURDERED THE VICTIM INSIDE HIS HOME. HOMICIDE DETECTIVES FOUND THE BODY LAST WEEK IN A CONCRETE AND WOODEN STRUCTURE IN A DESERT AREA NORTH OF LAS VEGAS. POLICE ALSO ARRESTED LISA MORTZ WHO THEY BELIEVE KNEW OF

THE MURDER. SHE'S CHARGED WITH HARBORING, CONCEALING AND AIDING A FELONY OFFENDER. ESMERALDA'S NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S GONE. SHE WAS VERY SWEET, VERY NICE. SHE HAD A CUTE LITTLE TOY POODLE AND SHE WOULD SIT OUT ON THE ROOF AND SHE WOULD BE and aiding a felony offender. Esmeralda's next-door neighbor can't believe she's gone. She was very sweet, very nice. She had a cute little toy poodle,

and she would sit out on the little bench there, and she would just, she's just very pleasant every time we speak. We confirmed Esmeralda's address through the Clark County Assessor's website, and this is interesting. It's only a couple minutes away from Prestapino's home. I am just sick. I am sick to my heart. You are hearing Las Vegas 8 News Now reporter, that was Orko Manna speaking. This young girl, 24 years old, Esmeralda Gonzalez, found dead, and listen to this, in a wooden and cement encased enclosure out in the middle of

the desert and you know I started off by saying Vegas don't judge a book by its cover just because there's gambling and we know that there's strippers and there's booze and there's dope and there's loan sharks and now this this is exactly what you see in the movies it doesn't even sound real welcome back i'm nancy grace this is crime stories this case is is so disturbing she is so helpless this woman esmeralda gonzalez she is bipolar she is schizophrenic. She's wandering around in heels and lingerie. And some wolf in sheep's clothing takes advantage of her. Take a listen to our friends at KTNV. Prosecutors suspect that a body that was recently found in the desert is missing woman, 24-year-old Esmeralda Gonzalez,

and her neighbor, Christopher Prestapino, is accused of killing her. Prestapino has now been charged with kidnapping Gonzalez, holding her against her will, then injecting her with a poisonous substance. And we spoke to Esmeralda's family when she was first reported missing earlier this year. She was last seen near Durango and Pebble. Prestapino was in court this morning and a judge has denied his bail. So let me understand Levi Page. So she like a lamb just falls into his lap. He didn't know her before she literally comes knocking at his door. So a witness called police and gave them a tip. They said that he had convinced her to do drugs, to do meth,

and that she had gotten angry and threatened to report him to the police for doing these drugs and having meth inside the home. And then that's what turned things violent, that he actually tied her up to a bedpost and that he beat her and strangled her. He thought that she was dead, but then she woke up and then he poisoned her with pool cleaner. Dear Lord in heaven, Dr. Tim Gallagher, I really don't know where to start. I don't know whether to start with what does meth do to a person or what does pool cleaner injected into your body do to a person? Let's just start with meth. Well, meth, Nancy, is the same as speed. So what it does is it gives you an altered sense of time and space.

It makes you very confused. And some people who do meth have been up for days and days without any sleep at all. So it will affect you mentally that way. It's a highly addictive drug. And once you get started, it's a very tough road to get off of. Okay. I never imagined when I was going through law school that I would put all these words in one sentence, but Dr. Tim Gallagher, medical examiner, State of Florida, injected with pool cleaner. What is pool cleaner? And then what happens when that's injected to your body?

Well, there are two types of pool cleaners. There's one that is chlorine-based, and there is one that is based in a chemical called bromide. What that does, it's directly poisonous to all of the tissues. So it'll immediately prevent the lungs from expanding. It'll stop the heart from beating. And after enough pool cleaner has been injected into you, your kidneys will also shut down. So you have multi-organ failure and death probably would occur within minutes after getting the fatal dose. Levi Page, where does Home Depot fit into this scenario? So he had actually been spotted, Christopher

Prestapino had actually been spotted at Home Depot and he was paying cash for lime used to mix cement, boxes of screws, concrete fence blocks, and WD-40 silicone lubricant and ocean mist air freshener. He was caught on video purchasing these things at Home Depot. Ashley Wilcott, why is it that after a woman goes missing or is murdered, the man suddenly turns into a neat Nick? I'm thinking of, let's just say, Scott Peterson, for example. After his wife goes missing, he feels a compulsion to do the laundry. And it's equal opportunity. After Travis Alexander is stabbed 28 times and shot in the head and left to decompose in his shower, Jodi Arias decides to change the sheets on the bed and, whoops, puts her digital camera into the wash,

where police later find photos of her leg at the crime scene, the murder scene. Why is that the neat Nick compulsion after a murder, Ashley? Well, fortunately, it's a red flag because the other thing I'll point out about the specific examples of cases, Jodi Harris is a good example. If you will note in the record, excuse me, in the photographs of the crime scene or the photographs of the home, it's only those particular things that they've cleaned so diligently. The rest of the home is kind of in shambles. You know, there's stuff everywhere. They're not neat.

They're not organized. They're not clean. So it is a red flag. Take a listen to our friends at Las Vegas 8. This is Vanessa Murphy. Esmeralda Gonzalez, the 24-year-old woman, was reported missing on May 31st. On October 8th, Metro police detectives say they found her decomposing body in this structure of wood and concrete in a desert area north of Las Vegas. Grand jury transcripts

describe her body wrapped in blankets along with rope and straps. Police say they found jewelry belonging to Gonzalez, including her Rolex appraised for nearly $40,000, and a Chanel necklace. The I-team also obtained this photo, which police say is where it all began. The bedroom of 45-year-old Christopher Prestapino at his Southwest Valley home. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Grand jury transcripts describe her body wrapped in blankets along with rope and straps. Police say they found jewelry belonging to Gonzalez, including her Rolex, appraised for nearly $40,000, and a Chanel necklace. The I-team also obtained this photo, which police say is where it all began.

The bedroom of 45-year-old Christopher CHRISTOPHER PRESTOPINO AT HIS SOUTHWEST VALLEY HOME. METRO POLICE SAY GONZALES WAS A SEX WORKER AND PRESTOPINO HIRED HER. DETECTIVES SAY HE GAVE HER METH. HE WAS NOT AWARE OF GONZALES' MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. HE CLAIMED SHE STARTED ACTING

BIZARRE AND SPEAKING IN THE QUOTE DEVIL'S TONGUE UNQUOTE. HE TIED HER TO A CHAIR. SHE THREATENED TO CALL THE COPS and speaking in the, quote, devil's tongue, unquote. He tied her to a chair. She threatened to call the cops and punched him, and he strangled her. And then he and co-defendant Cassandra Garrett injected her with pool cleaner before putting her body in this structure with concrete. Whoa, James Shelnut, Metro Major Case, 27-year SWAT officer, now lawyer. How can you not leave clues behind when you are encasing a dead body and cement and a wooden structure, and you basically build the whole thing from your purchases at Home Depot, which, you know, NASA could learn something from Home Depot and Target.

Their surveillance video is incredible. So he's really building the case. Now, he's not just building a cement structure. He's building a case against himself with his purchases. But how can you not leave evidence behind? And how does somebody like this guy, Christopher Prestapino, convince someone else, a full-grown woman and saint of her right mind, Cassandra Garrett, to help him? You know, love is bought. And potentially, the girlfriend, this lady thought possibly she had some criminal

culpability, very likely did in this situation. But you're right. You know, when you go somewhere and you commit a crime, normally the saying is you take something with you and you leave something behind. And in this case, there was a footprint of his spending that was left behind, as well as he left behind something very important at the scene of the crime. And that is, I mean, I appreciate the pregnant pause, but go ahead. Well, what he left behind was when they dumped her body in the desert. He left behind a set of dollies that went to a rented u-haul truck that he had rented levi page you know i hate to say this but i do ask my husband this all the time what is wrong with you he's now learned to just say everything okay because that

kind of cuts off the conversation what can you say to that i'm like oh okay well uh levi page why didn't you tell me about the dolly he left behind for Pete's sake? I mean, the guy rents a U-Haul. Did he even use his own name and hand in his driver's license? Yes, there were tips that were also given to the Las Vegas police about how he had rented a U-Haul. He had asked someone in New York to come help him clean up the scene. There's calls that he made to people

asking for help moving a container. So there is a lot of evidence against him rolling in, including this rented U-Haul. Take a listen to our friends at Vegas 8. The I team has also learned a friend of Prestapino's testified before the grand jury. Trisha Ott said he called her to his home in the middle of the night in June and acted paranoid, but she claimed she couldn't hear him well when he TRISHA OTT SAID HE CALLED HER TO HIS HOME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IN JUNE AND ACTED PARANOID.

BUT SHE CLAIMED SHE COULDN'T HEAR HIM WELL WHEN HE DESCRIBED WHAT HAPPENED BECAUSE HE WAS BLASTING THE TV AND THEN MUSIC. SHE DESCRIBED AT LEAST TWO STOPS BEHIND A BUSINESS WHERE SHE SAID PRESTOPINO DISPOSED OF A FREEZER AND THEN BEHIND THE PARIS WHERE SHE SAID HE TRIED TO GET A FORKLIFT BUT DID NOT. and then behind the Paris, where she said he tried to get a forklift but did not. She said you're supposed to have clearance to be in that area, but somehow they were able to enter in a U-Haul without clearance. Ott said Prestapino scared her, and she left. Gonzalez, who had more than 300,000 Instagram followers, listed herself as a college grad, real estate investor, and model. Okay, also stripper. I've just got to be transparent about this. Wasn't she a stripper at some point, Levi Page?

Yes, and she had worked in the adult entertainment industry. I mean, this is a beautiful young woman with 300,000 Instagram followers. She's really gorgeous. And, you know, speaking of her having been a stripper in the past, Ashley Wilcott, you know what? Would anybody on this panel, including you or me or you too, Jackie Howard, would anybody want the worst thing you've ever done on the Nancy Grace show or on the front page of the New York Post? Because I wouldn't. So, you know, before we all rush to judge her for having been a stripper, you know, I'm not going to be the first one to throw a stone at her. I mean, no one deserves the ending that this woman got, Ashley. Well, that's it. You take the victim as you find them. And what that means is warts and all. It doesn't matter what you think

about the type of person they are, what they do for a living. Put all of that aside. It has nothing to do with the fact that no person should ever, ever, ever go through what she went through. No person should be murdered in the way that she was murdered. I mean, Dr. Tim Gallagher, medical examiner, state of Florida, what do you first of all she was beaten horribly then she was injected with pool cleaner dr gallagher what would that do to a person to be injected with pool cleaner well actually very little once you start doing the the autopsy as far as would it degrade any of the organs inside hey hey hey hey dr't. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Dr. Gallagher, you got to get out of your head just a moment.

I mean, a live victim, what they would suffer. I guess it's like being injected with bleach. I mean, what she went through. Oh, it's absolutely painful as well. I mean, it does attack the nervous system, and it gives you excruciating pain until, of course, your lungs stop breathing and your heart stops. But it's an absolute painful and despicable way to go. We also know that, according to reports, she was tied up for a long time. And I can just, how would a medical examiner know that by looking at her body? Well, you can look at the wrist and you can look at the ankles and see the impression that the ligature has made around them.

Also, we don't know what she was tied up with, do we? Sometimes a residue is left behind if they use duct tape or certain types of wire will leave an impression behind. Even if you look around the neck area, you'll see the same thing, ligature marks around the neck. So those stay with you after you die and can be easily identified during the autopsy process. Take a listen to our friends at News 3 in Vegas. It's Max Darrow as we're learning more about the alleged crime. Back in May, Esmeralda Gonzalez disappeared. Now, several months later, detectives believe they've found the 24-year-old's body and the

people responsible for killing her. Metro Police took 45-year-old Christopher Prestapino into custody on October 11th. Police in Wisconsin took 39-year-old Cassandra Bascones, under the last name Wynn, into custody on the 18th. According to this arrest report, an anonymous tip came in about two months after Gonzalez vanished, stating that Prestapino and a woman named Cassandra had held a woman against her will, killed her by injecting her with pool cleaner, and later dumped her body in the desert. As the investigation unfolded, the detectives interviewed a woman who said Prestapino called her over for help one morning. The report reveals Prestapino told that woman he got an unknown woman high on meth and after a confrontation, he strangled the girl and thought she was dead, but she woke up.

The woman continued to tell detectives Prestapino had a cement mixer and freezer inside of a U-Haul truck and a wooden and concrete structure in his garage. In the report, the woman admits she left with Prestapino in the U-Haul, he got rid of the freezer, and when she asked him about it, he stated if anyone had got inside, it would be all bad. Detectives were able to confirm that in June, Prestapino purchased five 60-pound bags of concrete mix, among other supplies, at a Home Depot. Then on October 8th, police located a body who they believed to be Gonzalez's in a concrete and wooden structure in a desert

area north of Las Vegas. Police also took Prestapino's girlfriend Lisa Mort into custody they say for harboring, hiding and helping a felony offender. crime stories with nancy grace i don't understand the thinking behind uh the two women charged to levi page crime online.com investigative reporter cassandra garrett 39 lisa mort 31 how are they tangled up with this freak, Christopher Prestapino? So Cassandra Garrett actually was his roommate, and Lisa Mort, 31 years old, was his girlfriend. Lisa Mort is accused of aiding him after the fact, helping him hide from authorities. Apparently, once he found out that authorities were onto him, Nancy, he hightailed it to Belize. And then when he returned October 11th, that's when they arrested

him. And she is accused of helping him evade law enforcement. And Garrett, Cassandra Garrett, knew what had happened all along. And she was talking to people. She was talking to her friends. Her friends actually called law enforcement and gave a tip. And they said, Cassandra was talking to me. She said that she recognized that young woman that was missing and that she may have died in a sex fetish game gone wrong. But she didn't tell law enforcement that when they first interviewed her. So that's how she got mixed up in this stuff. She was also helping didn't tell law enforcement that when they first interviewed her. So that's how she got mixed up in this stuff. She was also helping him evade law enforcement. It's just

outrageous. I can't believe two grown women in their right mind would get involved with Christopher Prestapino when they know that he is involved with the brutal torture and murder of this young girl, Esmeralda Gonzalez, age 24. And apparently he leaves a trail a mile wide, including smiling into the camera at Home Depot when he buys bags and bags and bags of cement. Take a listen to our friend at 8 News Now. This is Bianca Holman. 45-year-old Christopher Prestapino was back inside a Las Vegas courtroom Tuesday where a judge set his bail at $500,000. Prestapino, along with two accomplices, is accused of injecting 26-year-old Esmeralda Gonzalez with some sort of poisonous substance, encasing her body in concrete,

and then dumping her in the desert where police discovered remains earlier this month. The coroner still has not confirmed the body is Esmeralda. The young model was reported missing from her home in May. She actually lived in a neighborhood near Prestapino. Previously, a judge denied Prestapino bail over concerns that he's a flight risk. You may recall that when police arrested him on October 11th, they took him into custody at the airport after he returned from a trip to Belize. If he is able to post bond, he would have to surrender his passport and he could qualify for house

arrest. Surrender his passport and qualify for house arrest? Are you kidding me i mean he leaves a trail a mile wide that he has murdered this girl then he takes off to belize but first to dr tim gallagher why can't they identify her body i i don't understand that can't they use dental x-rays well more than likely you know they're about 99.9 sure that it is her, but without scientifically, without a scientifically based identification, such as dental records or DNA, the medical examiner won't release her identity as 100%. Okay, so they, you're telling me they likely know it's her, but they've got to scientifically prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt before they release it.

Okay, that makes sense. Ashley Wilcott, I don't get it. Why these women were going along with Christopher Prestapino. Maybe they were afraid of him. What do you think? Fear is absolutely a motivating factor to go along with someone. But we also have to remember predators. We talk about this a lot on your show. Predators

have personality qualities that cause them to groom, that cause them to act in a way that they manipulate. They seek victims often who are not able to necessarily fight back or be strong enough or susceptible to the fear. So they use all of these methods to get people that they can then victimize. Question to you, James Shelnut, 27 years Metro Major Case, SWAT officer, now lawyer. Do you believe the accused, Christopher Prestapino, planned to murder her from the moment she stumbled into his home, or do you buy into the sex game gone wrong? I think it was a sex game gone wrong. No, I don't. There's no indication otherwise. Okay, so you think injecting somebody with pool cleaner as part of a sex game gone wrong? No, I don't think that that's it.

I think that initially, you know, she was probably or possibly over there voluntarily. But do I think that possibly some drugs clouded judgment and created the type of situation that became fatal to her? Yes, possibly. Not justifying what the guy did. I'd love to be the one to put the pair of handcuffs on him. But I'm not so sure that this is something that was meditated on and planned out before she got there. Well, let me just remind everybody that premeditation can be formed in the blink of an eye from the time it takes you to raise a gun and pull the trigger premeditation does not require a long thought-out

plan such as murdering someone by poisoning over a period of weeks and months or some scheme like murder for hire or hitman premeditation under the law intent to kill can be formed almost immediately so whether you plan it for a week a, or a minute doesn't matter under the law. And I really do not see, Ashley Wilcott, how this is a sex game gone wrong. In my mind, that's a way to slur the victim. I don't think you end up shooting somebody up with pool cleaner as part of a sex game. Sorry, Shelnut. I don't know what kind of sex games you're playing,

James Shelnut, with your partner slash partners, but pool cleaner injections, I hope, are not one of them. Okay, cut his mic before he can answer. What? If I can clarify for just a second on that. Right, right, right. Clean up your mess, Shelnut. Clean it up. Yeah, I'm not indicating that there's not premeditation for the charge of murder. I guess the point I was trying to make, and probably didn't do a good job at it, is that I'm not so sure that when she went there that that was the intent. That, you know, he invited her over to murder her. What are you teaching?

She did not get invited over. Everyone agrees she couldn't even walk straight. She's schizophrenic. She's bipolar. She stumbles get invited over. Everyone agrees she couldn't even walk straight. She's schizophrenic. She's bipolar. She stumbles to a home she's seen before, and bam, this happens. You think what he invited her over for a candlelight dinner? Will you quit saying she'd been over there before? She'd been over there before?

I'm not talking about her state of mind. I'm talking about his state of mind. She stumbles in in lingerie in high hills and bam she's injected with pool yeah i agree i agree there's a great murder case there there's a murder charge there that's the appropriate charge you know what you remind me of and i hadn't thought about this in a long time james shellnutt as you know my dad mac walter malcolm grace senior was a freight agent for the railroad okay my mom at the time was a bank teller. She rose up to be a CFO of a company, but at the time she was a bank teller.

And they were broke with three children. So what did my dad do? Go into the pig business with my uncle, my mom's brother. So every day when he would get home from work, he could go out and start chasing pigs out in the field. You know, they're really hard to catch that's what it's like trying to pin you down on an answer now judge asher wilcott please explain this is not some sex game gone wrong why do men always say it's a sex game gone wrong and that's

you know always they always they always, always. He planned this. Injection with pool cleaner is not part of a game gone wrong. I agree. You know, I think he planned it. It is premeditated. Like you said, the blink of an eye. The worst part of this, it was a crime of opportunity.

It was not someone he knew before. We've already established that. She wandered up to the door. She had all these issues. Again, most people would either call an ambulance, call the police, do something to the door. She had all these issues again. Most people would either call an ambulance, call the police, do something to assist her. Rather, he took the opportunity of this victim as he found him at the door to plan and execute a murder. He may have been forcing her into some type of, in his mind, a sex game. I call it rape. But it's my belief, Levi Pace, she threatened to go to police. And that's when he injected her with pool cleaner, Levi. You're absolutely correct, Nancy. And where this sex game talk comes from is from Cassandra Garrett, the roommate. However,

the district attorney that's prosecuting this case, Pamela Weckerle, said in open court that she does not believe that she had a relationship with Prestapino before she got to his house, that she stumbled onto his property and that he took advantage of that. This sex game stuff is just coming from one of his co-defendants. Another issue, Prestapino's girlfriend, Lisa Moore, and roommate Cassandra Garrett also charged. What do you think is going to happen, Ashley, judge and trial lawyer? You think they'll cut a deal and testify at trial because I do? I do too, absolutely, because there's an incentive to do that.

There's no reason not to testify against him, especially if it's going to be advantageous and they're going to get a better deal. Well, I would like to see them all go to trial and stew in the same pot together. And the only way the state can do that under the law is to not allow any of their statements in where they incriminate each other. Why? Because of the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. You have a right to cross-examine your witness, the witness against you. So let's just say you try all three together and Lisa Mort jumps up and Lisa Mort is given a statement where she blames Prestapino. Well, if she doesn't take the stand under the Fifth, Prestapino cannot cross-examine her. So the answer

to that is either sever the cases and try them separately and bring in their statements, or try them all together at once and leave out their statements. I advise try them each one separately and let the chips fall where they may. Let them all get murder one. They'll have plenty of time to think about this behind bars. Maybe they'll get a chance to clean a pool every once in a while. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off.

Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.