Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Gorgeous DC Jogger stabbing perp; Elizabeth Smart kidnapper walks free; Border Patrol serial killer

Episode Date: September 20, 2018

An arrest is made in the case of a tech exec stabbed to death while jogging on a Washington, DC, sidewalk. Nancy Graces looks at the case with experts including victims advocate Marc Klaas,  prosecutor Kenya Johnson, lawyer and psychologist Dr. Brian Russell, investigator Sheryl McCollum, and reporter John Lemley. They also discuss the release from prison of one of Elizabeth Smart's kidnappers. Wanda Barzee helped her husband hold Smart hostage. Border Patrol officer Juan David Ortiz is now an accused serial killer.  He allegedly murdered 4 women in Loredo, Texas. Grace suspects more bodies will be found. She is joined by forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan, psychologist Caryn Stark, lawyer Ashley Willcott, and reporter Robyn Walensky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. If you have heard about the murder of Jessica Chambers, do not miss the new docuseries on Oxygen. It's the true story of a teen girl, a cheerleader in Mississippi, who is burned alive. And the story of the man accused of this heinous crime. Is it the right guy on trial? Who is he? And who is Jessica Chambers? And how does such a horrific crime occur? With more questions than answers, this is a case that has captured national headlines, taken over social media, and leaves a small town divided. This is a must-see TV event. It features exclusive interviews that take you inside the investigation as the search for answers and justice goes on.

Unspeakable Crime, The Killing of Jessica Chambers, Saturdays at 7, 6 Central on Oxygen, the new network for crime. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A 35-year-old young woman stabbed dead on an early evening jog, daylight hours, near her home in upscale Washington, D.C. Just one week after she is engaged to be married. I'm talking about Wendy Martinez, the chief of staff at a D.C. company fiscal note, stabbed dead near Logan Circle. This is before 8 p.m. yesterday. What happened to Wendy Martinez? Her family described her as a devout Christian, the light of their lives, who had just gotten engaged.

Straight out to John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. What do we know, John? Nancy, Wendy Martinez grew up in Florida, but she settled in D.C. after graduating from Georgetown University. She went on to become chief of staff at Fiscal Note, a technology management company. On LinkedIn, she describes herself as a forward thinker in data and technology. It seems she was perfectly suited for her life as a tech executive. Not too long ago, Wendy was featured in an article for the website Bridge.com, and in that interview, she says that exercise was a big part of her life.

She said she loved to take classes at a local fitness studio and that she loved nothing more than to go jogging around D.C. Unfortunately, it was that passion for running that would lead ultimately to her death. A horrific attack, a bloody attack on jogger Wendy Martinez one week after she gets engaged, stabbed dead in Washington Tuesday evening. Police looking for a man spotted on surveillance video. Now, take a listen to what Washington, D.C. Police Chief Peter Neuschem says. It was very disturbing.

You know, you have a young woman out here exercising in a neighborhood, a very, very safe neighborhood. You have a lot of people out here. People were enjoying dinner across the street. And to have something like that happen, like I said, it's unsettling. We do not have a motive, but like I said, more likely than not, it was a stranger to the victim. To Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation, a random attack. That's what police are saying. How likely is that? Well, it was likely for Sean Villevy in the same area several years ago. And I think at this point in time, and we hear about women that are out jogging,

that are approached by these creatures on a regular basis and I think it's incumbent upon them at this point unfortunately to carry some kind of protection with them whether it be mace pepper spray or some kind of a physical weapon. To Cheryl McCollum director of the Cold Case Research Institute I was looking at one photo. This woman, a Georgetown grad, she'd just gotten engaged. In the photo, it shows the fiancé, Daniel, in a blue suit, down on one knee with a ring box open as she was standing there with this beautiful smile on her face. And what you do and what I do when we're putting cases together

is you go back and you get to know the victim in death and photos like that are just they're heartbreaking you know I remember the first carjack murder case Cheryl I ever tried and it was a young guy he was carjacked and shot in his own front yard that where he lived with his family, with his mom and dad and siblings. And I was looking at the crime scene photos. I was going to the crime scene. And then I saw where a neighbor ran out with a pillow and put under his head in the driveway. And that was it. I actually, I had to leave the courtroom. That tenderness broke my heart. I could look at the crime scene photos, the autopsy reports all day long, but something about that photo. And there's something about this photo, that joyful

moment they were having just last week. It just, when you're putting a case back together, that's the journey you go through. There's no question about it, Nancy. That was a storybook moment that was captured. It was beautiful. It was sweet. It was endearing, and their whole life laid out in front of them. But what resonates for me is the video of the man walking away from that thing. And he's swinging his right arm pretty consistently, like trying to walk at a good gait. But his left hand isn't moving at all. You don't even see his fingers. He's got long sleeves on, so that indicates to me he's probably holding the knife in his left hand and is hiding it.

Because there's probably blood all over it. So that also indicates to me you've got a Georgetown graduate, 35 years old, so she's smart, she's athletic, she's recently engaged. This person is the opposite of that to me, so clearly stranger on stranger crime. Dr. Brian Russell, host of IDs hit show, Fatal Vows, lawyer and psychologist, it's kind of hard to reconcile this wonderful, beautiful storybook life and this horrific crime. I guess I'm reacting so badly to it because of the murder of my fiance just before our wedding. When you see your whole life just go sideways in one moment. And a stranger on stranger attack, Brian. Yeah, I think it really underscores the point that you've made telling your story many times,

and we've sadly made in cases like this over years of covering them, that it can happen to anybody. You don't have to have done anything wrong. You don't have to have done anything. It's such a sense that people get of injustice about not just the crime, but just about the universe almost, about how can something like this happen to, you know, why do things like this ever happen to good people? But they do. Most of the time, they do.

Just as we are going to air, we are learning right now that an arrest has been made. A suspect arrested on the attack of Wendy Martinez, fatally stabbed while out jogging, stabbed over and over and over. After the attack, she managed to stagger into a nearby Chinese restaurant where everybody in there tried to help her. She died. To Kenya Johnson, felony Atlanta prosecutor, when you have surveillance video, it goes a long way in catching your perp, but it doesn't go the entire way.

How do you put the pieces together to find the guy? Well, you're still going to need witnesses to come in and say that they can identify this image that's on this surveillance video. Of course, it is very helpful for the juries at trial to see the actual actions of the perpetrator before, during, and after the crime event. However, now police are going to need to go to the public, or they already did, and see if they can identify this grainy video and still have to make an identification. Cheryl McCollum, they said at the get-go they thought it was a random attack. It appears that there may be some mental illness, some drug use, but he, for whatever reason, zeroed in on this poor woman who was doing nothing, in no way provoked or caused this incident. Take a listen now to the latest from Police Chief Peter Neesham.

The motive in this case right now is unknown. Yesterday morning we released surveillance video showing a person of interest in the case. A combination of information that we received from our 3rd District Patrol officers and tips from the community helped our homicide detectives establish the identification of this person of interest that was shown in the video. Homicide, they located this individual in a park at 14th and Gerard Street, Northwest. He was transported to the Homicide Division for questioning. Sufficient probable cause was established and this morning we arrested and charged 23-year-old

Anthony Crawford of Northwest D.C. with first-degree murder while armed. We await as the case progresses. When we talk about violent crime, it's almost as if we're drinking from a fire hydrant. It's just too much, too fast, too furious. If you have heard about the murder of Jessica Chambers, don't miss the new docuseries on oxygen, the true story of a teen girl, cheerleader, Mississippi, burned alive. The story of the man now accused of the heinous crime. Is the right guy on trial?

Who is he? And who was Jessica Chambers? How does such a horrific crime even occur? More questions than answers. It's a case that has captured national headlines, taken over social media, and has now left and is leaving a small town divided. It's a must-see TV event with exclusive interviews that take you inside the investigation as the search for answers and justice goes on. Don't miss it. It is Unspeakable Crime, The Killing of Jessica Chambers, Saturdays, 7, 6 Central on Oxygen, the new network for crime. When we got that call in the middle of the night, I could kind of tell

that, you know, something bad had happened and never told told us the story and it's just, you know, panic. You know, someone's taking Elizabeth with a gun and, you know, get down here. It was just kind of, it's just this sick, terrible feeling. It just struck your heart that this is the worst thing that could ever happen. I remember walking into the house and seeing Lois sitting on that couch. It was just horrifying. I mean, she was just wailing, catatonic. It was just, this nightmare is real. Elizabeth Smart, a little girl kidnapped from her own room in her own bed. Her uncles, Tom and David, talk about first discovering she's gone in a documentary, kidnapping of elizabeth smart i'm nancy grace this is crime stories thank you for being with us bombshell now one of her two kidnappers the

female accomplice wanda barzee in the last hours pictured for the very first time since she has been released just 15 years after the kidnap of little girl Elizabeth Smart. It's hard for me to take in that this woman goes along with her husband, the so-called prophet David Mitchell, in his quest to kidnap six little girls to become his child brides. Well, we know what that means, child bride. It means child molestation. That's what child bride means. And she held Elizabeth Smart, tied her to a tree, and sat beside her as she was raped and threatened with death

every single day for nine months. Another terrifying, chilling thought is that this woman, Wanda Barzee, sat there quiet as they could hear rescue workers in the distance calling out, Elizabeth, Elizabeth. She sat there quiet, her chance to save Elizabeth's life. Joining me, Mark Klass, victim advocate, founder of Klass Kids Foundation. Kenya Johnson, Atlanta veteran prosecutor. Dr. Brian Russell, lawyer, psychologist, host of Investigation Discovery's hit series, Fatal Vows. Cheryl McCollum, director of the Cold Case Research Institute Crime Scene Investigator. Joining me right now, John Limley, reporter with CrimeOnline.com. John, who is this woman,

Wanda Barzee? Nancy, it's interesting to note that Elizabeth Smart's two abductors actually met in a mental health counseling group. Wanda Barzee was introduced to Brian Mitchell when she was receiving treatment for depression. She found that she was able to talk with Brian about her abusive marriage, and he was able to provide her with some much-needed comfort at the time. Brian had become active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was an ordained elder. Both of them were actually going through divorces at the time, and though they were still married to other people, church leaders approved of their budding relationship because they knew the couple needed each other. The couple actually married the very same day as Brian's divorce became final.

From what we understand, that first year was absolutely hellish that they argued all the time. Wanda has said that it was difficult, it was painful, but they did make it through that first year of marriage. Of course, as we now know, this is just the beginning of a most bizarre path that the couple would travel together. It became a toxic mix of religion, sex and ultimately crime. about how he helped her. No, I'm not getting sucked into their story. FDLS, Cheryl McCollum, isn't that the Mormons? It is, and they were later on thrown out of that church, Nancy. As they should have been. You know, this is something that always stumps me.

I went to school with a young guy, Wayne, who's Mormon, and he could not even have chocolate milk. He was very devout. How can they divorce and remarry and come up with the idea of a child? Right. You know what? I want to clear something up. That is not the Mormon religion. That's these two nuts, felons, evil.

Why she's out, Cheryl, I do not know. To Mark Klass, who has not only taught the talk but walked the walk in searching for crime victims as specialty children. Mark, weigh in. How'd the whole thing happen to start with? And I want to hear your reaction on Barzee walking free. Yeah, well, we have to remember that we have to take this out of the realm of reality and bring it into the craziness and the insanity that these people exist in. Mitchell was a homeless individual who was hired by Elizabeth's father to do work on the house.

And that's where he got his eye on Elizabeth. He later came back in the middle of the night and cut his way through a screen door, entered the house, and kidnapped Elizabeth at knife point with her sister while her sister was awake in the room with her. And she then was missing for nine months. Nancy, I believe that the answer to this whole thing is civil commitment. I don't understand why they've allowed this woman to run free. Elizabeth said that it's incomprehensible how someone who has not cooperated with her mental health evaluations or risk assessments or someone who did not show up to her own parole hearings can be released into our community. And I have to completely and totally agree with her and wonder

why the authorities aren't looking at a way to civilly commit her, given the fact that she still very well may be a threat to the community. She's no doubt suffering from mental diseases, and she's absolutely terrified this woman who deserves nothing more than peace in her life. For nine long months, this obsessed couple keeps little Elizabeth tied up in the woods where Mitchell, Brian David Mitchell, rapes her daily, threatens to murder her daily with Barzee sitting right beside her as it happened. I don't understand it. Kenya Johnson, you're a veteran prosecutor in many jurisdictions for rape or kidnap. You get life behind bars.

What happened, Kenya? Why is she out? You know, it could be a variety of reasons. From what I understand, her sentence expired. And while they attempted to have her committed for longer as a civil commitment, the law states in Utah that when your sentence expires, they can no longer keep you. And so she's not going to be under the jurisdiction of the courts as far as parole is concerned, where she has the restrictions from contacting the victim. However, when the criminal case has run its course, that's it, unless we begin to initiate new action. I don't give a flying fig about the don't contact the victim.

Elizabeth Smart lives with this woman and this monster in her head every day um dr brian russell not only psychologist and host of id's fatal vow series but also lawyer this is what i understand i had to it's like a ball of uh yarn it took me forever to unravel this thing, Dr. Bryan. But this is what I think went down. So they sentenced her to 15. They should have run it consecutive. But no, no. That means one after the next. But what happened was she did some time in a federal pen.

So just a couple of years ago, Bryan, they make the announcement. Pardon and parole say, oh, she's going to be until 2024. Now they jump up out of nowhere. Elizabeth did not see it coming and says, oh, well, you know what? Guess what? We miscalculated. We got to give her credit for the Fed time. She's out. She's getting out. I mean, that's like a ton of bricks just dropped right on your head, Dr. Bryan. Well, as you know, I rarely see a prison sentence that I think is long enough. And so we all learned in law school that the person who drives the getaway car is, under the law, considered equally guilty as the person who actually goes into the bank and robs it. So I don't know. I agree with Mark Klaas. If there were a way that we could use the mental health system to keep this woman off the street longer, that would certainly be better than nothing. But to me, the origin of this goes all the way back to what she was charged with and

sentenced for in the very beginning, not long enough. She belongs in prison every day as long as her boyfriend. Wanda Barzee, convicted for aiding a street preacher, Brian David Mitchell, to kidnap and rape a little girl, has been released. Has been released. She was last seen carrying a banana and a box of salad as she followed authorities to a hotel. Her family's saying she cannot come here. She needs to be civilly committed. That's what I know. Window treatments is one of those terms for something necessary but boring. Your blinds. You don't even think about them unless you move or they break. Well, when they're right, everything in your home looks better. But when they're wrong, everything in your home looks tacky. But let's be honest, taking the time and

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Faux wood blinds, cellular shades, roller shades, everything. Blinds.com promo code Nancy. Rules and restrictions do apply. Melissa Ramirez, 29, that was deceased. Claudine Ann Loera, 42 years of age, was deceased. Humberto Ortiz, 28, was deceased. Umberto Ortiz, 28, was deceased. And also, officially unidentified victim also. And we offer in regards to all of us here present our deepest condolences to the families and friends of all these victims of what happened here in this episode. Juan David Ortiz, 35, of course, if anything, I believe Ortiz targeted all victims due to their profession and being vulnerable.

In addition, all the victims were defenseless, and at one point Ortiz was able to gain their trust and then viciously shot them. How does a man in a position of authority in law enforcement, a U.S. Border Patrol agent, turn into a serial killer? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us in the last days. We are stunned that this man has been able to operate as a serial killer right under the noses of law enforcement and Border Patrol. David Ortiz, serial killer father, married, father of two young children with a home and a job, how often do serial killers disguise themselves as law enforcement going under the radar of their friends and colleagues? Right now, we know of four dead bodies. A fifth woman managed to escape his clutches half naked to somehow get out of his vehicle as he pointed a gun at her face and run for it. It was then and only then that Ortiz was exposed. Right now we know the names of some of his victims, but not all of them. How many more are there? Joining me, Robin Walensky's CrimeOnline.com

investigative reporter. Robin, start at the beginning. Basically, what this man, 35-year-old, he was a supervisor with the Laredo sector of the Border Patrol. And he picked up a woman, Melissa Ramirez. He shot her in the head multiple times. You know, it's one thing somebody shoots somebody else. But to shoot them in the head, there is some real underlying anger there. Then he shoots a 42-year-old woman called Dean Loera. She had been questioning him about the first victim, Melissa. Apparently he got very angry, shoots

her in the head too. Then he kills two more people, the police believe, in the time frame of just an hour. Another woman whose name we don't know who was shot in the head. And then this man, Huberto Ortiz, a victim who was 28 years old. And, you know, I agree with you. I think that there could be more victims out there. And the way that he managed to hide under the radar, disguising himself parading as law enforcement. To Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics expert, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University and author of a book on Amazon, Blood Beneath My Feet.

Joseph Scott Morgan, I believe we're going to find out that he did the same thing over and over and over, which means to me, forensically, most of the crime scenes are going to take place right there in his truck. Yeah, I think that that's a high probability, Nancy. Also, I think that it's important for us to consider his occupation as a border patrolman. He's in a supervisory position right now. I think that there will be other bodies. I think that they need to go back and see where else he had been stationed. These Border Patrol agents get stationed along the U.S. border in various different locations. I would think that he would see these opportunities. He's moved into a supervisory position. He can kind of come and go as he pleases. I wonder where else he worked and if there are any missing or unidentified bodies in those locations. To Ashley Wilcott, judge, lawyer, founder of ChildCrimeWatch.com, over and over and over. When you're on the bench, when you're handling cases, I saw it myself, but I'm not a shrink. I don't know how to verbalize it correctly, but people do the same thing over and over.

And in little things, I do the same thing over and over and in little things. I do the same thing over and over and over again. I mean, in small patterns in your life, with your children, everything. We tend to do the same things over and over. You know he's done this before, Ashley. We've just got the tip of the iceberg on this guy. Oh, I agree with you. I think there are going to be a lot of other victims, unfortunately. And you are right, especially with criminals.

I see it when they come before me, the habits, the propensities, the little tiny things that details that they do the same over and over again. I can hear about a crime and I can say, oh, yeah, by the way, I think that's this person. I think it's this juvenile. I think it's this one who did this. And they'll say, oh, yep, that's the right one. That's the one. Why? Because it's the same way of operating every single time they commit the crime. You know, you're right. What is that about people? Karen Stark joining us, New York psychologist. Karen, why do we do the same things over and over and over? I can tell you, last night I was up helping Lucy with a book report at 11 o'clock at night. She does the same

thing every time John David finishes his. Lucy, can I do it later? Can I write one sentence today and the rest of the paragraph tomorrow? That's her. And that I do the same thing. I'm sucked into her vortex. I'm like, okay. And then it's 11 o'clock at night and I'm like, we're not going to procrastinate anymore. And I guarantee you the next time I'll do the same thing again.

I tried my cases the same way. I found myself writing out evidence proving guilt across a poster over and over and over and over for 10 years. Okay, lucky for me, it worked. But what I'm saying is you see the same patterns even in my mistakes, big mistakes, small mistakes. It comes from doing the same thing over and over. What is wrong with us? We're slaves to our habits, Nancy, and it's very, very hard to break the patterns that we've lived our life through. And that is very helpful when it comes to criminals, because they can't help but repeat what they've done before. They're driven to keep doing the same thing. And it's an obsession. They become obsessed with needing to kill, with needing to use the gun. You begin to pick up

traces and can see the patterns of how they work. And that's exactly what happened with this guy, that he was in a position where he could take advantage of it, and he was going after a certain type of person. That's what interested him, and he used the gun, and it kept happening over and over again. The witness had struggled with him. She was trying to get out. She later found that this person here had a weapon and she was not feeling just right to be with him. She tried to get away once and then tried to get away twice. And what I understand, on the second attempt, she was able to jump out through the door, run towards the lights, where a DPS trooper was gassing up at the time. She lived to tell the tale in the cab of a truck with this guy,

a Border Patrol agent, very well respected, now revealed to be, according to police, a serial killer. And she was his next victim, the fifth that we know of. She jumps from the cab of that truck. He grabs her by the shirt. That comes off. She keeps running, thank God, to the vehicle of law enforcement, and they save her life. To Robin Walensky, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, Robin Walensky, we heard Karen Stark, New York psychologist, talking about doing the same thing over and over. What was this guy Ortiz's MO, his modus operandi, method of operation? He was targeting, you know, women who are defenseless, and he tried to gain their trust and take them into his vehicle. And then after he was done with them, he would shoot them. I mean,

it's sickening. I think what strikes me, Nancy, about this case is that here is someone, a man, who's supposed to be, you know, keeping illegal aliens and criminals out of our country. He's supposed to be keeping the criminals out. And he's the criminal. He's the serial killer. I will tell you this as a final point that I would like to interview the people that he supervised and hear from them what this guy was like as their boss. Wouldn't that be interesting? Yeah, I would like to hear that too, how he functioned in, quote, normal, regular life. To Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics expert and author, you know, his vehicle has got, because you know, he did the same thing over and over again. He would lure women to his vehicle and attack them, is my guess, and then murder them. I believe we're going to find out he shot every one of them because I know

he pulled out his gun on Erica, who managed to get away. Another woman was shot multiple times in the head. A third woman was found alive, having been shot by him in the head. She was still alive, Joe Scott Morgan, not very far away from the body of another woman. She was alive when she was found, raced to the hospital, and she died of her injuries at the hospital. So how do you process that rolling crime scene, the murder truck? Yeah, this vehicle is a crime scene on wheels, literally, Nancy. And what's going to be so key here is that there's going to be overlapping bits of evidence in here. And specifically, when we think about DNA, what makes it so important? Well, in any other circumstance, would these women have wound up in this guy's vehicle looking at this from a legal perspective?

Probably not. What are the odds? So if we can find specific DNA that's tied back to these individual victims in this vehicle, that puts them in that particular place, not to mention other things. Maybe he shot them in the vehicle. There might be traces of blood evidence there. There might be hair in there. You never know what has been left behind. And also those things that can be seen with the unaided eye. Say, for instance, they left items there.

Maybe there's stuff under the seat. So these trucks are going to be virtually a cornucopia of evidence in there. Take a listen to the Zapata County District Attorney Isidro Alenas. The evidence that we have right now is that he committed these murders in a similar fashion, taking these individuals out to desolate areas near or right outside the city limits and executing them with a handgun. The question that's out there is, why did he do this? And that's part of our mission to find out why he did this. It's difficult to get into the mind of a killer. But what we have right now and what we do know is that Ortiz carried out these murders in a cold and callous way. There was a common scheme. There was a certain community or group of people that he was seeking out. Unfortunately,

this is a community of people that are vulnerable. Bottom line, he sought out those people less cunning, less powerful, or weaker than himself. He used them and murdered them and would then go home to his home and family, his children, as if nothing had happened. You know, to Robin Walensky, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, you know who this reminds me of a great deal is BTK, buy and torture kill Dennis Rader, who worked as a dog catcher for a municipal jurisdiction for years and years

and would go home to a wife and family, all the while planning elaborate murders and staging of scenes of the dead victims and their bodies, putting wigs and clothes, blah, blah. All the while disguising as a public servant. Yeah, clearly this guy had some sort of a complex, an inferiority complex, and he was living, Nancy, a double life for sure. And clearly, I think, angry about it. And why else would you shoot these women? You know, you're getting pleasure from the act of picking up and then you're going and you're shooting this person, disposing of them like they don't count, that their life doesn't matter. And then you go home to your other life. I mean, this guy was clearly sick. For a period of time, to you, Ashley Wolcott, the

authorities did not disclose the victim's names or nationality. They wouldn't discuss how the women were killed or the evidence. But we now know the evidence indicates he did the same thing over and over. In one case, we know Ortiz orders one of the ladies out of his car. It was, well, it was a white Dodge truck, shot her in the back of the head. He executed another woman as she got out of the truck as well. That's two. It's amazing to me, Ashley, that he is married with children. You never know. Hiding in plain sight.

Not only that, that the neighbors were interviewed and said, we can't believe it. We can't believe he would do this. So that just goes to show, regrettably, making of a murderer, anybody can be a murderer. He's sadistic. He's sick. The other thing that's important to note in this case, Nancy, he actually worked for the intel. So think about all of the intelligence part of the border control, all of the information that they had, he was getting.

So he had all the leads. So he had time to figure out exactly which person he was going to choose to flat out execute, which is what he did to these victims. You know what, to Karen Stark, she's right. Ashley Wilcott is absolutely correct. He was an intel supervisor, an intelligence supervisor for Border Patrol, and he specialized in narcotics and human trafficking, and at one point was in charge of patrolling Interstate 35. And we now know at least one of the alleged victims was found along that same route. And I know for another thing, one of these victims, Melissa Ramirez, just 29, had two children ages 7 and 3. And this is how they're going to grow up, knowing their mom was lured into this vehicle and then murdered?

Unfortunately, Nancy, that's true. That's exactly how they're going to grow up and be haunted by it. And it's not accidental that he had this job. It fits his personality. It fits what he wanted to do. I would not be amazed to find that this guy has picked this job intentionally so that he could go ahead and pursue his nefarious gains, what he was looking for. And I have to tell you that the reason that he's able to go ahead and assume this other identity where his neighbors think he's such a terrific guy, family man, is he compartmentalizes what's going on.

So he has no true feelings. He's able to separate himself, be this fake, wonderful family guy on the one hand and this murderous, treacherous guy on the other. Well, I just wonder if the cops are looking at a bigger time span, because this has all just gone down over the space of a few weeks that we know of. What else is lurking? And we can thank one of the victims for his capture. Listen. Thanks to the victim who escaped. Law enforcement got a break, moved quickly with the information and intel that

they had. Thank you to the good work by DPS in apprehending him. He was taken to the station where he was read his Miranda warnings. And after a thorough interview and interrogation is when he decided to voluntarily confess to these murders. We wait as justice unfolds. Thank you to Robin Walensky, Ashley Wilcott, Joseph Scott Morgan, and Karen Stark. And thank you for being with us. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.