Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Young American Mom found DEAD in Mexico, tortured, teeth pulled

Episode Date: September 1, 2020

Lizbeth Flores tells her mom she is going to Mexico to meet up with her boyfriend, but she is keeping a secret. The young mother of two had received a message that her boyfriend had been kidnapped for ransom. She heads across the border with an indeterminate amount of money to buy his freedom. Flores is never seen alive again. Her body is found, tortured, covered in bruises and her teeth pulled. Police say she died from blunt force trauma to the head.Joining Nancy Grace Today: Katie Cherkasky - Irvine, California, Criminal Defense Attorney, criminal defense /former JAG and former Federal prosecutor www.goldenlawinc.com  Dr. Daniel Bober - Forensic Psychiatrist, Chief of Psychiatry Memorial Regional Healthcare Systems, Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale University School of Medicine, follow on Instagram at drdanielbober David Katz Former Senior Special Agent with the DEA, Author of "Executive's Guide to Personal Security", CEO Global Security Group www.globalsecuritygroup.com   Medical Examiner Dr. Tim Gallagher - Medical Examiner State of Florida Brandi Chionsini - Katy Times owner, Katy Texas Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young 23-year-old woman, Lizbeth, travels from her Texas home in search of her Boyfriend crossing the Mexican border She was never seen alive Again why Crime stories with

Nancy Grace. Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. Shortly after walking across the Veterans International Bridge after 5 p.m., Elizabeth Flores called her mother, letting her know she was in Matamoros and would be home soon. Her mother, Maria Rubio, tells KRGV-TV, quote, It was 11, 12, 1, 2, and I kept calling her to find out where she was and why she hadn't gotten home, and I couldn't sleep all night because I was waiting up for her.

When Rubio still hadn't heard from her daughter by morning, she called the Brownsville police so they could help her and open up an investigation to help her find her. The Brownsville police put out a missing persons report on Elizabeth Flores the day after she went to Matamoros, Mexico. With me, an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again. Again, this is Crime Stories. I'm Nancy Grace, and I want to thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Joining me, Katie Cherkasky from California, criminal defense attorney, former JAG,

former federal prosecutor, and you can find her at goldenlawinc.com. Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, chief of psychiatry, Memorial Regional Healthcare, and assistant clinical professor, Yale University. You can find him on Insta at Dr. Daniel Bober. With me, David Katz, former Senior Special Agent with the DEA. He is an author of The Executive's Guide to Personal Security and the CEO of Global Security Group, globalsecuritygroup.com.

Wow, that's a mouthful. Medical examiner, the medical examiner for the entire state of Florida. Joining me, Dr. Tim Gallagher. But first, to Brandi Chiancini with the KD Times. Brandi Chiancini, question to you. I can't imagine a worse nightmare for a parent. I mean, you raise your child. You give them all your love, all your time, all your money, dreams for their future, what they're going to be, how you can help them.

Get across the finish line. And then you get that call. Hey, Mom, I made it. I'll call you later. But then you don't hear back, and you call at 11, 12, 1, 2, on the hour until the sun comes up, and you can't find your daughter. Tell me about this young lady, Lizbeth, traveling from Texas to go down to Mexico. What do we know about her and her mother's relationship?

Well, what we know is that she was a young mom herself. She had two young children, and she was very close with her family. And she received a call that her boyfriend had been kidnapped and was going to go pay the ransom to get him out. Oh, my stars. Whoa, whoa. Right there. Straight out to the CEO, Global Security Group, David Katz, formerly with the DEA. You know, it's hard enough finding a missing person within the U.S., but finding somebody missing in Mexico? You know what? Forget about it. That is just almost impossible. Well, why?

Well, because the Mexican authorities are not nearly as good, as professional, as the United States authorities. Boy, that's an understatement, huh? Anything that happens over there, we're at their mercy. You sure put perfume on the pig on that one. I mean, we can't get anything out of Mexican authorities. We have a extradition treaty of sorts. And you can't find anybody down there when they go missing because so many of the law enforcement are in league with the bad guys, the cartel. They're all getting paid off.

Exactly right. So it's a bit of a roll of the dice. If you get the individual non-corrupt law enforcement officer, and sadly to say there are fewer and fewer of those, then you have an opportunity to forward a case. But if you have somebody who, as you said, might very well be working for the cartel in the moonlight hours, then you're not getting anywhere. And tell me about the Mexican law enforcement, because if suddenly one of my children go missing in Mexico, I don't really know where I would start. You know what I'd swear at start first alert their authorities and the U S authorities. But then I get a private eye,

somebody like a global security group to help me figure out how to cross international borders and find my child. I mean, how do you even go about finding a missing person, a missing adult in Mexico? It's also an excellent question. So to your point, if you went the private route, at least you have the possibility of getting a network of individuals who are familiar to the area. And, you know, I hate to be so stark, but this is a corrupt area.

It's a corrupt nation with respect to law enforcement. They're on the take. Do I even need to say El Chapo? You mean to tell me that nobody knew that El Chapo's people were digging a tunnel miles long with lighting, with a little motorcycle route right under his cell. And it's like Epstein, nobody noticed that he was gone from his cell. He went to the bathroom, which is behind a little partition like that. And then nobody saw him for hours. And whoops, he was gone.

Nobody knew. Imagine that. Of course, they're dirty. Yeah. Well, I mean, in this case, in this case, that can actually work in your favor favor because if you have if you have the wherewithal to pay to pay for information you're going to get it absent that you got to rely on your local authorities they'll contact the fbi they'll reach out to their counterparts in mexico and they'll do the best they can but what do you mean their counterparts who we do other private eyes in mexico well no we actually we actually

have like a you know we're fortunate enough enough to have a good network of contacts down in Mexico, but they're locals. They know the system. There are legitimate law enforcement individuals in Mexico. We've worked, DEA's worked with them, sometimes to our dismay, but sometimes it works out very, very well. So there are vetted units. If you, if it's the best way to describe it, they're, they're, they're checked, they're polygraphed, they're, they're reliability is assessed. So those folks can be enlisted. But then again, you're dealing with an open area. You're dealing with an area that doesn't like we have cameras,

we have license plate readers. We have bridges, tolls and tunnels that at once, once you get into Mexico, you're, you're, you tunnels that once you get into Mexico, you're losing a lot of that electronic tracking ability that we come to take for granted here in U.S. law enforcement. Unless, unless you have someone as much of an idget as the affluenza team. Remember him, Ethan Couch? Remember him, Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist? We talked about him a lot. He killed he killed i think three or four people driving under the influence for the millionth time permanently paralyzed another uh the people on the side of the road changing a tire he was high as a kite and his mother tanya i think was

her name took him on the lam to me. And then the two, you know what? I'll just say it, idiots. I don't like, we don't use the S word. Okay? In our house, the S word is stupid. We don't say that. So I'm just going to go with idiots. They use their cell phone at a five-star resort in Mexico to order a pizza.

Bam! Got them. So at least we can search cell phones. Do you remember that dr daniel bober yep i remember what people think that we can't track a cell phone because you cross into mexico i mean people just you would think in this day and age with movies and the internet people would have an idea how technology works but sometimes they just don't and the other thing is a certain degree of arrogance.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, again, thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. A beautiful young mom, just 23 years old, Lizbeth, gets a mysterious call that her fiancé is in danger, kidnapped in Mexico. And just like in the movies, she takes off to try to save him. Thank God in heaven she didn't have her children with her. Take a listen to our friend at Crime Online. Lizbeth Flores reportedly received a call from an individual in Mexico who told her that he and his group had kidnapped her boyfriend and demanded a ransom. Flores' mother says Lizbeth told her that she was going to Matamoros to find her boyfriend and that she would be back later that night.

Flores is said to have crossed into Mexico via the Veterans International Bridge that afternoon with an undisclosed amount of cash on her person. Maria Rubio says when her daughter wasn't home as planned, she tried calling her every hour starting at 11 p.m. all through the night. The next day, Rubio called Brownsville, Texas police and reported Flores missing. You know, I'm just thinking about this mom heading off into the night trying to find her fiance, getting what money she has, and taking off. To Katie Joukowsky, joining me out of California, former prosecutor, now defense attorney. Katie, again, thank you for being with us. This kidnap for ransom is, in the U.S. anyway, typically in the movies and in novels, right? It doesn't happen that much. In Mexico, it's a whole nother ballgame, Katie.

Am I right? Oh, absolutely. And I think it's just crazy to think that this girl told her mom what she was doing, and I guess that would give any parent huge concern when somebody doesn't return from a trip like that. So it's a very tragic situation, to say the least. In fact, in Mexico, people are kidnapped for ransom a lot. Katie Cherkasky, not necessarily Americans, but Americans, too. It happens a lot there. What's the difference? Why is it uncommon in the U.S. and then you cross the border and it's very common, Katie? Well, I think it's just a matter of enforcement. I mean, as we're talking about, there's a lot of

corruption south of the border. We want to think that there's legitimate agencies that will work to help solve crimes. But everybody knows if you're going to commit a crime, cross the border and go on the lam, and you'll have a very good chance of potentially escaping justice for a long time. There are things people can get away with, and then there are things people can't. People will continue to do the things that work, quite frankly. So this gorgeous 23-year-old girl, and you can find her. She's a woman.

She's got two children. In search of her fiancé, wouldn't you have done the same thing wouldn't you have jumped in that car and taken off because this place Matamoros Mexico known locally as Heroica is in northeastern Mexico and it's right across the border from Brownsville Texas so when we say she traveled from Texas to find the fiance it's not really that far so she takes off in the night and the pain you know why is it Dr. Daniel Bober did you know Dr Dr. Bober? And I think we were talking about this the other day. My son, John David is now about six feet tall. He's 12, Dr. Bober. He's 12. And I tell him I'm tall. I'm the tallest one in the house. As long as I have the code to Amazon. But I think of him, Dr. Bober as his feet, his toes are right here and and his head is right here. Because my dad and I, especially my

dad, would hold the twins just like that. And when I look at them, that's what I see, my little babies. And you know, this mom was calling and calling and calling Lisbeth all through the night on the hour, and she wouldn't pick up. Why do I and other parents still see their grown children as babies it's maternal instincts Nancy they're always going to be a baby to you because you know you're you pick them up from their crib and you watch them grow up and so you're always going to have that connection and you're always going to see them that way in a way that other people will never see them and you know if you've got a tender heart like I do, like this morning, Lucy was very sassy over the weekend.

So her big punishment, Jackie, was I made her clean out the guinea pig cage, her guinea pigs before school this morning. That was the big punishment because it's usually me shoveling poop at a quarter of seven. Oh, the drama. And it hurt me to do that. But I see her as my little baby. And you know this mother, Elizabeth's mother, going through H-E-double-L, calling on the hour, the phone going straight to voicemail. Jackie's waving a note at me.

It's a good one, too. In 2018, there were nearly 2,000 kidnappings in Mexico for ransom. Kidnappings. So it's very, very common there. And then, who's jumping in? Is that Katie? No, this is Brandy. Jump in, Brandy. Well, I just wanted to let you know that since the pandemic started,

there's been an even greater spike in kidnapping than extortion, especially in Matamoros. Because of all that, the cartels' numbers have gone down. And so the kidnappings and the extortion have been a way to raise extra funds. So this is not unheard of. You mean the cartels' drug money has gone down? Is that what you're saying? Yes. So they're relying on kidnapping for ransom. Oh my goodness, Katie, Texas, Katie Times owner, Brandi Caronsini is with me. She's right there in Texas. How far is it? Do you know from where Lizbeth took off to Matamoros? I don't think it's that far.

It's not. It's not very far at all. Where she was from is Los Fresnos, which is just north of Brownsville. And Brownsville is right there on the border across from Matamoros. You just walk across the bridge. And as a lifelong Texan growing up, we were all taught, you know know if you go to Mexico you make sure you stay in the safe areas you don't get separated from your friends because you could get kidnapped I mean yeah this is this was just part of the the nature and it's always been that way you know Randy Keon Sani I just

finished writing a book hey it's going on sale September 22. But Don't Be a Victim, Fighting Back Against America's Crime Wave. And in it, I address traveling, traveling abroad, traveling in the U.S., buy RV, camping, the works. But Brandy Kiancini, I started the chapter on traveling abroad. I ended up doing almost a whole chapter on traveling to Mexico because the numbers of deaths and kidnappings in Mexico is insane. And I think back, Brandy, to the times that I went there to dive. Of course, I was underwater almost the whole time. I'd come out of the water, eat dinner, go to sleep. I'd be so tired.

But if you don't stay on your little resort, you're screwed. Yes, absolutely. Tourist areas are obviously a lot safer simply because they want you to come back, and Americans provide a lot of income to those areas. But places like Matamoros, Laredo, Nuevo Laredo, those kind of border towns, those are very, very popular with the college set in Texas. What? I was working at Sears Roebuck trying to fill up that tank of my Toyota Corolla in high school. What do you mean the college? Did you say high school or college? Well, mostly college, but there are plenty of places. Same thing in college. I was still trying to fill up Toyota.

They go to like break in Mexico? Yep. They love to go over there. The booze is cheap. There's a lot of, you can have a lot of fun there. And so bad stuff can happen if you're not careful. And that's what happens a lot of times. I myself personally went over to the border probably about 15 years ago was the last time I did it. We went over just for fun

to go have dinner and have a few drinks. Just for fun to go get kidnapped? Well, and that was the thing. I wish you'd asked me first, Brandy Chiancini. Ask me the next time you're thinking of going to Mexico. Well, you're hearing Brandi Chiancini, who's a native there in Texas, can tell you all about crossing the border for a vacation. But in the middle of the night, Lizbeth Flores takes off to try to find her fiancé. I want you to hear when the case takes a turn. Take a listen to our friend Raina Rodriguez, Fox News, South Texas. The body of a young woman who had gone missing from Cameron County was found in Mexico.

A missing person report was filed by the Brownsville Police Department for 23-year-old Lisbeth Flores on Monday. Investigators learned Flores had crossed into Mexico through the Veterans International Bridge Sunday afternoon. Officials confirmed Flores' body was found in Matamoros. Her family has been referred to the Mexican consulate. The Attorney General of Tamaulipas is taking part in the investigation. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Guys, we were talking about the disappearance, and now we know the murder of a gorgeous young mom, 23-year-old Liz Beth, two little children. She gets a call that her fiance has been kidnapped. She lives around, well, it's Fresno, Texas, but it's near Brownsville, which is a hop, skip, and a jump to the Mexican border. So this Texan mom takes off with a bag of money. She's got a little money together to try to get her fiance. Then we get the news that she herself has been murdered. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Take a listen to our friends at the Star-Telegram. Lizbeth Flores, 23, was discovered dead in Mexico on August 11, two days after

crossing the border from Brownsville to see her boyfriend. Her remains were found in Matamoros, about 20 minutes away. Police said Flores' death was the result of blunt force trauma to the head, likely from large rocks found near the scene. All of her teeth were missing and bruising to much of her body led authorities to believe she was tortured. Her mother, Maria Rubio, told Telemundo 40 that her daughter had gone to visit her boyfriend August 9. She grew worried when Lisbeth didn't return home that evening and filed a missing person report. Losing a child is like having your heart ripped out, Flory's mother told the outlet, as translated by the New York Post. I feel such sadness because of what they did to my daughter. The way they left her, the pain

that my daughter went through there in that moment. That's what hurts. Joining me now, in addition to Katie Tchaikovsky out of California, Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, David Katz with Global Security Group, Brandy Chiancini, the owner of the KD Times there in Texas, is Dr. Tim Gallagher, the medical examiner for the entire state of Florida. That's a big deal because usually you have a medical examiner for the county or for a few counties together. He's the medical examiner for the whole state of Florida. And let me assure you, there's never a lack of business. Dr. Tim Gallagher blunt force trauma to the head on this beautiful young 23-year-old mom, likely from a rock near where her body was found.

Dr. Gallagher, all of her teeth were taken out and she was so bruised, police believe that she was tortured. Let's just start with the teeth. Very often teeth are taken out, fingertips are removed, so there will be no way to ID the dead body. How is it that your teeth identify you? Yeah, we use dental records and post-mortem teeth x-rays to identify people, unidentified people all the time, several times a week, many times a month to do that. If you look at dental x-rays, each one of your teeth have very individualized characteristics that are custom just to you. So if we can take the dental records from when they were alive and then take x-rays from

when they are deceased and match up those teeth, all we really need are three to five points of uniquely identifying features to positively identify that person. And to have teeth removed forcibly like they do requires a great deal of force, especially in somebody young like this 23-year-old woman. So if she was alive, this is probably one of the most painful procedures that you can do in terms of torture for her. So my heart actually goes out to the family and to her children because she had suffered so much. Dr. Gallagher, is there a way to determine if her teeth were pulled out while she was still alive? That's going to be very difficult without somebody witnessing it. As far as looking at the autopsy

and looking at where the teeth were in the body, all we can say is that they were removed at the time of her death or around the time of her death. But there's no way to actually determine. If they had been removed post-mortem after she was killed as a way to keep her from being identified,

would the gums have bled? Because the heart wouldn't be pumping blood. As opposed to if they were removed in life, it would be bleeding profusely. Oh, that's absolutely true. You can look in the gingiva or the gums to see if there is any hemorrhage or bleeding that occurred there because she had a blood pressure. But you're right, Nancy. If a tooth is removed when the person is dead, then you will not have that bleeding around the gums.

And you could say with a great deal of confidence that that tooth was removed after they had expired. Jackie, did I tell him that before he told me? I'm so happy. I've never once told you a single thing until today. I want a copy of this. You know, to Katie Cherkasky, joining me, criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor and JAG at GoldenLawInc.com. Katie, I'm thinking this whole thing through. We can't tell.

We don't know the answer if the teeth were pulled in life or post-mortem. But based on all the bruising, it seems as if she were tortured, and that would have been a way to torture her. Oh, hold on, Katie Jirkowski. Dr. Gallagher, how much pain does it take before somebody just passes out? Do people really pass out from pain? Oh, they sure do. asking, Dr. Gallagher, how much pain does it take before somebody just passes out? Do people really pass out from pain? Oh, they sure do.

And some people have higher pain tolerances than others. You know, so it would be very individualized. You know, I would expect that a woman who's given birth to two children would have a higher pain tolerance than most people. But I don't think anybody can tolerate the pain of getting your teeth pulled out without anesthesia. I'm also learning that she was partially scalped. What does that mean, Dr. Gallagher? That means that the scalp covering her skull, which includes her hair, was peeled back away from the skull. To Katie Cherkasky, joining me out of Irvine, California. Katie, I've had autopsy photos,

and of course, as you know from being a veteran trial lawyer, you usually cannot bring in autopsy photos to the jury as evidence because it's too upsetting and inflammatory. Unless there's something in the autopsy that helps prove your case the few times i've managed to use an autopsy photo in evidence is when under the scalp there was a hematoma bruising under the scalp that was significant because you couldn't see it on top of the scalp. I guess you could also use that for entry and exit wounds, but you don't really need an autopsy photo for that.

Katie Chukowski, question to you. What does this violence, the pulling her teeth, the scalping, the torture, what does that tell you about the crime? Well, I think you made a good point. We really have to determine whether they removed her teeth to prevent her from being identified or if it was part of the torture and part of the murder itself. And I think that would really determine how much you would be able to get in front of a jury. So the idea that she was scalped shows to me that really they were trying to torture her. This wasn't just a robbery. This wasn't just a quick killing after they got the money. There was something much more personal to it, potentially much more specifically planned and targeted. So I think as a prosecutor, you would want to try really hard to show why the circumstances of the killing really aggravated the murder itself and why you need to show that photograph

in order to really get that whole story across to the jury. crime stories with nancy grace guys in the brownsville texas area and let me give you the tip line 956-456 tips repeat 956-456 tips a young woman Lizbeth crosses the border over the Veterans International Bridge to Mexico to find her fiance she never makes it home her mom calling hour by hour by hour trying to find her finally they discover her body now photos have been leaked which we are not putting on crime online of her lying face up in her bra um pants and shoes i believe that she was either tortured by having all of her teeth pulled out and scalped. She was heavily bruised or she was beaten in life and then had her teeth and part of her scalp removed to help avoid an identification. Why? Why did this happen to a young mom of two? Take a listen to our friend

Tony Velasquez Jr. K-R-G-V. 23-year-old Elizabeth Flores from Brownsville was found dead in Mexico on Tuesday, just a day after Brownsville police filed a missing persons report. Elizabeth Flores' mother tells us she felt helpless, unable to do more to save her daughter. She says when she called local authorities, all they could do was take a missing persons report since her daughter had crossed the border to find her boyfriend. Tuesday afternoon, her family got the news they were dreading. Their 23-year-old daughter, with a full life left to live, was found dead with signs she'd been tortured within the Matamoros city limits. Tamaulipas authorities confirmed that the young woman died of blunt force trauma to the head,

consistent with the large rock found at the murder scene. Her body was covered in bruises and she was missing all of her teeth. Not signs of a quick and painless death. To David Katz, CEO, Global Security Group, the rock that was used, we think, to bludgeon her dead, authorities believe came from the scene. What does that tell you about the killer? A rock there at the scene? Well, this is a bizarre case, and I think, you know, possibly a more in-depth autopsy will answer some questions. It's possible she tried to flee,

and what does the killer do? Pick up a rock and strikes her with the rock. And by the way, a jagged rock to the head can also partially remove the scalp. So was she dragged? Did she fall? How many times was she struck? There's a lot of things. It does, however, suggest a passion. If you're talking about someone who's going to beat and torture a young woman to death, you're going to look at, okay, is the person either a psychopath or is there some prior connection, prior emotional issue between the two that results in extreme anger and that kind of savagery that we saw that that poor woman had to endure. Is the removal of the teeth, the pulling the teeth, for instance, with pliers

in life, is that a typical cartel move? Nothing surprises me. In 1985, February 9th, 1985, a DEA agent named Enrique Camarena, Kiki Camarena, was grabbed by Mexican police working for the cocktails and over a period of days was tortured, kept alive by a physician to endure more torture. I cannot even tell you what that poor man went through. So, you know, that teeth and and and frankly, things to a person that I don't even want to mention over the air that that's very, very common in Mexico. And it's it's it's I mean, someone who's we have we have feelings, we have emotions, we have sensibilities for someone to be able to do that to another human being while they are alive, while they are suffering, you know, to unimaginable, unimaginable pain. That is just I can't even understand that level of savagery.

So this has all the earmarks of a cartel killing, but why on a young mom of two, take a listen again to our friends at KRGV. Her mother tells us she is absolutely certain that her daughter was a victim of extortion and that she was ultimately kidnapped and murdered by a violent gang of kidnappers who operate out of Matamoros. Brownsville police confirmed that Flores had crossed into Mexico through the Veterans International Bridge on Sunday just after 5 p.m. and that she was subsequently found deceased. Now Elizabeth's mother is hoping authorities on both sides of the border will help bring the ruthless gang of kidnappers to justice. We've also learned that the FBI is now involved

since the murder happened in Mexico. The victim's body remains with the forensic examiner in Matamoros as the investigation continues. Elizabeth Flores was a graduate from Los Fresnos High School and leaves behind two children. It's just hard for me to imagine Brandi Chiancini, the owner of the KD Times, that a young mom is pulled into a cartel plot. But what we are hearing from David Katz at Global Security is that this has all the hallmarks of a cartel killing. I'm very curious to you, Brandi Chioncini, we know about the mom. You know what, Brandy? Hold on.

Take a listen to our friends at Brit Bart, Texas. A man previously convicted in Texas for sexually assaulting children was arrested in Mexico for the murder of a Texas woman in Matamoros. The murder involved a fake kidnapping that, according to authorities, was part of a scheme to rob the victim while making the crime look like a cartel execution. This week, agents with the Tom Alibis Attorney General's Office arrested Braulio Trevino Macias and charged him with one count of murder in the gruesome death of his stepdaughter, 22-year-old Lizeth Rubio. Rubio was a U.S. citizen from South

Texas who crossed into Matamoros to see her boyfriend before she went missing. The murder does not appear to be tied to the cartel that controls Matamoros. It was instead a robbery allegedly led by Trevino Macias, the victim's stepfather. Brandi Chiancini, I am stunned. What do you know well so we know that uh that this was allegedly his plan is he wanted money uh he knew the family uh i'm you know i think the the assumption is that he knew they wouldn't contact the police um and so uh he lives in matamoros, got Elizabeth to get over there, and got what he wanted. I'm overwhelmed at what we know about what Regional Healthcare Systems, Dr. Bober, for a stepfather to go through all this, to lure her there under false pretenses just to rob her.

You know, the only thing that didn't make sense to me is how the cartel could target a young mom of two out of Texas, raising her two children at just 23 years old. So I guess, should we have seen it coming? No, Nancy, you know, this is what it looked like. It looked like it was a cartel hit, but apparently there were obviously people who thought that if it looked like that, they would never suspect that this is what actually happened. So I think that the original assumptions were correct based on the information that we had.

Back to Brandi Chioncini, what do you know about the stepfather? Well, so he is a registered sex offender. He was convicted in 2006 of one count of sexual assault of a child, it was a girl who was 15, and one count of indecency with a child. He served four years in prison and was released in 2010. And he was living in Texas when the incident occurred back in 2005. And when he was arrested, he was arrested at his home in Matamoros.

So he had moved back once he had gotten out of prison. So a Texas mother of two, just 23 years old, beaten dead, half scalped, her teeth pulled out of her mouth, was lured across the border by a sex offender who knew her family, claiming her fiancé had been kidnapped. Now we know why she had to die. Because she could identify him. May he, Braulio Trevino Martinez, rot in hell. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend.