Going West: True Crime - Valerie Zavala // 161

Episode Date: December 29, 2021

On New Years Eve, 2002, an inspiring 19-year-old woman celebrated at a friends house party in Fillmore, California before becoming the designated driver for the night. But after taking some partygoers home, she disappeared. When her body was found the following morning in a nearby drainage pipe, the investigation into her murder began. This is the story of Valerie Zavala. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28811002/valerie-diane-wilson https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/mercurynews/name/valerie-wilson-obituary?id=14629352 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-aug-03-me-puebla3-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-may-18-me-zavala18-story.html https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missing87975/unsolved-murder-valerie-zavala-wilson-t3530.html https://www.oocities.org/inmemoryofvalerie/article_070904.html https://www.newspapers.com/image/190278884/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/191070557/?terms=Valerie%20zavala&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/190255579/?terms=Valerie%20zavala&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/190262454/?terms=Valerie%20zavala&match=1 http://santapaulatimes.com/news/archivestory.php/aid/4876/High_School_senior,_18,_charged_in_brutal_slaying_of_Valerie_Zavala_.html https://www.vcdistrictattorney.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/term_report_web_08072012.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans, I'm your host Teef? And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Howdy folks, hope everybody had a great holiday weekend for those who celebrate. Heath and I didn't get to see family this year just like last year because of COVID, so, uh, but we, we did enjoy the day together. It snowed. We watched home alone like four times. Yes, and a lot of you guys posted the going west merch that you guys received on Christmas, which is so awesome. We thought that was so cool. That was really fun to

see. So thank you everybody who posted. Thank you everybody who bought merch for a loved one. It means a lot to us and we love seeing it. So yeah, hope everybody had a great weekend. And if you didn't get to see a family like us, we hope that we kept you company in some way if you were listening to us. Yeah, and as you guys know, new years is coming up.

So today, we have a new Year's case for you guys. Yes, we do. And then Friday, which is New Year's Eve, is our three-year pot of herstery. That is the day that we released our very first episode. So we have a pretty special episode coming up this week as well. Yes, we hope you guys enjoy that one. But today, we are going to California

for a devastating case that, like Heath said, takes place on New Year's Eve. All right, guys, without further ado, this is episode 161 of Going West, so let's get into it. On New Year's Eve, 2002, an inspiring 19-year-old woman celebrated at a friend's house in Fillmore, California, before becoming the designated driver for the night. But after taking some party-goers home, she disappeared. When her body was found the following morning and a nearby drainage pipe, the investigation

into her murder began. This is the story of Valerie Zavala Wilson was born on August 20, 1983 to parents Michelle Wilson and Richard on Syrah in Santa Clara, California, alongside her siblings Jessica, Kirsten, and Kevin. And Valerie was known as the family peacemaker. And although she was born in Santa Clara, which is a city near San Jose, California in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, she's been much of her upbringing in Southern California.

And more specifically, the small city of Fillmore in Ventura County. Valerie's mother, Michelle, who was a bookkeeper and her father, Richard, who was an industrial equipment mechanic, had her when they were just 16. And although they remained together for years, they did split up, and ultimately, Valerie was primarily raised by her mother Michelle and stepfather Kevin. While attending Philmore High School, Valerie was a cheerleader and honor student due to her

very good grades, and even a member of student government. During her sophomore year, she started scoring for the wrestling team and even acted in the school's horror play titled Call of the House of Usher. From childhood and on, she was known to be just wonderfully outgoing and vivacious girl who never really took risks or did anything too crazy. vivacious girl who never really took risks or did anything too crazy. She cured deeply for her family, had a ton of friends, and was responsible yet love to have fun. She was trusting, bubbly, and worked hard towards her goals in life. She was an individual.

She never followed what other people did, but instead paved her way in the world. And after graduating from film or high School in the spring of 2001, Valerie headed off to San Jose State University, so the area that she was born in, and she worked hard as a liberal studies major to fulfill her dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. While at San Jose State University, Valerie joined the Alpha-Capa Delta Phi Sorority and quickly made friends with her newfound sisters. She was loving the college life and her studies and even became the fundraising chairwoman for her sorority.

Her sorority sisters called her chug-a-bug because she was always gulping down water from her reusable bottle. In Wiling College, Valerie lived with her grandparents in San Jose and she remained incredibly close with her family. She loved fishing with her grandfather when she could, you know, between her studies and her job at a local Albertson's grocery store and she really enjoyed all of the things that are grand-monided for her, including a new beanie. In December of 2003, so during Valerie's sophomore year at San Jose State, 19-year-old Valerie headed home like many other students

did to be with her family during the holiday break. And in fact, Valerie was planning on taking the upcoming semester off so that she could work and just kind of save money and just take a break from the stress of school, but she did plan to return that fall. As the New Year approached, she made plans with friends to attend a party, but she agreed to be the designated driver. So on Wednesday, December 31, 2002, Valerie left her mom's house in Oxnard, which by the way is about 30 minutes away by car from Fillmore, at about 8.30pm and headed to the party in Fillmore with a couple of her friends.

But she didn't drink or do any drugs that night. Her friends later reported that she do any drugs that night. Her friends leader reported that she was incredibly happy all night. She was peppy, smiling, and laughing, and just having a great time with everyone else despite being sober. The party they attended that night was at another 19 year old's house named Denise Hurtado, who hosted the party with her sister Tina. In both Denise and Tina were really good friends with Valerie, so everyone was really excited to be together again, especially after being separated due to going to different various

colleges. And Valerie had actually just seen these friends because sadly she had come home about a month earlier to attend the funeral of their high school classmate Mario Arias, who had apparently died in a sleep due to an aneurysm. But you know, now they could see each other in a more positive atmosphere once again, and this New Year's Eve party was a bit of a tradition for the Hortado sisters. They had been hosting one for years in their family's home and they would invite all their closest friends, and this year was the same as usual with around 30 party goers

dropping in and out throughout the evening. Valerie spoke with her father at around 11.30 pm right before they were going to ring in the new year, and her dad told her that he loved her, and little did he know this would be the last time he would speak to his daughter. Then at about 12.40 am, Valerie called her mom to wish her a happy new year, and then told her that she was going to take a couple friends home before going to her ex-boyfriends house in Fillmore, which is also by the way where Valerie's dad still lived, just for reference her dad lived in Fillmore, her mom lived in Oxnard. One of Valerie's high school best friends named Robert Padilla was at this party as well, and he brought

along one of his 19-year-old female cousins. But by the time 2am hit, she was pretty intoxicated, so she asked Valerie if she would drive her home in her own car, which was a black Toyota Corolla. Another party goer asked for a ride home as well. A 17-year-old film or High School senior named Samuel Puebla. Valerie didn't know him very well, but decided to help out and drive him home too. And it is worth noting that many sources state him as the other girl's boyfriend, but we couldn't confirm this. So Valerie first dropped off her friend, and then Samuel, and

after that, she planned to go to her ex-boyfriends house. Since it was January 1st by this time, later that day, Valerie's family couldn't get in touch with her, and she hadn't come home from the party. They called various friends' Valories, but when words started spreading that she hadn't returned home, a bunch of her high school friends got together at her mom's house to put their heads together and just hope that everything was okay. Which I think is really, it says a lot about her friends. These are her friends from high school that she hasn't really seen in a while and they just all go to her mom's house and are like, okay, how do we all find Valerie?

Yeah, it seems like she had a pretty tight knit, like, close community of friends. Yeah, totally. But as the day progressed, there was just no sign of Valerie. So Valerie's family reported her missing to the local police. Little did her family know a body had been found at 9.30 a.m. that morning by a 15 year old boy who was just taken a shortcut home by walking up this embankment that's along South Mountain Road between Santa Paula and Philmore, California. And that body was Valerie.

When police arrived at the scene, they found a young woman's half-naked body inside a concrete drainage pipe in a citrus field. She had seemingly been deceased for hours, and after an autopsy was conducted, it was concluded that there was no drugs or alcohol in her system, and that she had died by

his fixation, but she had been severely beaten as well before her death, and even though she was found half-nude, it didn't appear that she had been sexually assaulted. So by the time that Valerie's body was found, they didn't have an identity for her, but when her family reported her missing that day, police kind of put two and two together, and they asked the family to verify her remains. And of course, her family was in complete disbelief and nobody understood how this could have happened, because she was just trying to be responsible that night. She wasn't drinking, she was making sure everybody else got home safe, but she didn't get home safe herself, and it just didn't make any sense.

I think that's probably the most tragic part about this case is the fact that she was doing everything right. I mean, everything a teenager is supposed to do right. Yeah, while all of her friends were, you know, of course there's no harm in having fun and drinking on New Year's Eve, but she wasn't even doing that. She was just trying to help people. Yeah, she was being the responsible and caring individual at the party.

Exactly. And also before we continue, I just want to give a brief description of this area. So Santa Paula and Philmore are just around like a 14-ish minute drive from each other, so they're very close. They're like right next to each other. And South Mountain Road, where she was found, runs

parallel to the freeway, which is the California 126. But between the two is some rural like farmland and palm trees, and the Santa Clara River. And South Mountain Road has one lane on each side, so this is like taking the side street. So you can't see the freeway from South Mountain Road, but it runs parallel to it. So her being found in that spot, I'm honestly surprised that she was found as early as she was and as quickly as she was, like less than 24 hours after she was last seen, because this was definitely more of a hiding place. She's on a side street in a drainage pipe in a citrus field. Right.

Whoever killed her definitely went through the effort to try and hide Valerie's body. Yes, and they probably knew the area. Yeah, and this next part just absolutely breaks my heart. So when asked what she would miss most about her daughter, Michelle, who again is Valerie's mother, she said, other than everything, she'd miss her smile, the smell of her when she hugged you, the Julia Roberts movie marathons that they had together while eating Doritos and avocados, her love for morning cartoons, the fact that the two of them weren't just mother and daughter but they were best friends,

and the way that Valerie would always shout, guess what, guess what, guess what, when she was excited about something. About five days after Valerie's body was found, on Tuesday, January 7, 2003, Valerie's funeral took place at the St. Francis of a Ceci Church in Fillmore, and over 300 friends, family members, and other locals came to mourn and pay their respects. They then headed to the nearby Bard'sdale cemetery to lay 19-year-old Valorys of Olatirrest as white doves flew overhead and Valorys sorority sisters gathered around her casket

and sang a song for her. Her mother said some words including, I know she didn't get to become a school teacher, but she was a teacher to all of us. Valorys truly is a star., but she was a teacher to all of us. Valerie is truly a star. And now she's joined the stars above. So every time you look at the stars, remember, that's my baby.

And a little addition about the stars. So Valerie just loved stars. She had like star key chains, jewelry, and she even had a star and a fairy tattooed on her lower back. And then another star tattoo on her wrist. so they were just like her favorite thing. So, police immediately began questioning various party goers, as well as the two people that Valerie had taken home that knew Yew's Eve. But both stated that Valerie had dropped them off at home, and they didn't see her after that. So next, police knew that they had to talk to her ex-boyfriend, who's how she was supposed to go to after the party, but he stated that she had never shown up.

And you know, obviously they didn't have any proof of that at the time to go against this, like that she didn't show up, it was just his word, so they had to take it for the time being. Next, the car that Valerie had been driving that New Year's Eve, which again was the first girl that she dropped off's car. Right, the black Toyota Corolla. Yes. That was found in a shopping center parking lot, which is the Carniseria E. Mercado Laplaza

Market, off the California 126 highway and film more. So just 10 minutes from where her body was found. Since as we know, she was found just outside of film more by South Mountain Road and Balkham Canyon Road, which is the side street again that's parallel to the California 126, which is where this plaza is located. So it appeared as if someone had like dumped this car there after killing Valerie. You know, or for some reason Valerie was in that plaza, something had happened to her there and then somebody else had put her body in the drainage pipe about 10 minutes away,

and then her car was just left there. But, you know, why would she be in this parking lot, essentially in the middle of the night when everything's closed? So, you know, a lot of questions here. At the time of Valerie's murder, she wasn't dating anyone, but police still focused in on her ex-boyfriend, and the week after Valerie's murder, the sheriff stated, it's too much to say he's the obvious suspect.

All other interviews and potential suspects are still being worked, so he hasn't been included or excluded as a suspect. Certainly anyone she saw that evening was a potential suspect. They also worked to find information regarding the black, fort, or Toyota Corolla that we mentioned, Valerie had driven that night, and if anyone had potentially seen who had dropped it off in that parking lot. Right, because I mean that could provide a lot of answers if somebody said, oh yeah, I saw a girl get out of her car and walk somewhere, or if I saw some guy driving it there. You know, like that, that says a lot. Exactly. So investigators had this car towed to the

crime lab to be processed, but as far as witness sightings go, they didn't really have much. The store owner that was closest to the vehicle was a woman named Rudy, and she told police that she noticed that the car was there at 3pm on Wednesday, so New Year's Day, five hours after Valerie's body was found, but that it also could have been there earlier. And the location of the car made police suspect her ex-boyfriend even further, because the shopping plaza that it was at was just four blocks away from his house. So while investigators continue to collect tips, they received information from some of Valerie's friends regarding her potentially going to a nearby gas station that night. When police checked it out, which was a Texaco station off of California Highway 126,

the cashier stated that she believed she saw Valerie very late at night on New Year's Eve. And to be more specific, she had said, like from 12.30 to 3am, and we know that Valerie left the party at 2. So it was like after, it would have been after she left the party for sure. Right.

She also stated that a young man who was with her made her nervous. So while the young woman that is believed to have been Valerie went to the restroom, the guy was quote, acting funny and was poking his head around the pump while he put gas in the car. The cashier identified the vehicle as a black Toyota, which is what Valerie was driving, and even remembered her wearing two shirts. A shirt with a sweater-like top over it, which matched what Valerie was wearing that night. She was wearing jeans, a navy blue t-shirt, and then a blue and white over shirt.

The cashier stated that the man looked to be around 19 years old, but he could have been in his 20s, with dark hair and he was wearing a dress shirt. After that, the woman didn't see anything else since she got back to work, so she couldn't confirm if they got in the car together or where they went. And since the Texaco was right by the shopping plaza where the Toyota was found, and still just about 10 minutes or less from where Valerie's body was, police believed that Valerie's murder took place extremely close by, especially because they think that where she was found was just like a dump site. So they started to look around behind the church that was just across the street from the

Texaco, which happened to be the church that Valerie's funeral was held at. So with that, investigators began sifting through the dirt looking for clues, and they were able to find items that belonged to Valerie, including a used tampon, underwear, and earrings. Making police believe even more that the crime had been committed there outside. At this time, someone else came forward regarding a potential suspicious person in the area where Valerie was found about an hour before the 15-year-old discovered her in the drainage pipe. He was described as being 5'7", Hispanic with an average build, a slight pot belly, and about in his 20s to 30s with black hair, brown eyes, and wearing faded black jeans

and a white t-shirt. And he was also driving a teal-colored minivan. A sketch of this man was released, and police urged the area to come forward if they knew someone who looked like him as they wanted to speak to him to see if he was possibly connected. Yeah, I mean, they had no idea if this guy was but since he had been seen in the area before her body had been dumped there, it's kind of like maybe he's connected or maybe he saw something, you know. Right, I mean it's it's definitely like a good lead. Right, but you know,

no one was coming forward. So as the months passed on, investigators continued to question party goers and they even returned to the very last person who was known to see Valerie alive. Not her ex-boyfriend, but 17-year-old Samuel Puebla. So as we mentioned earlier, Samuel wasn't like a good friend of Valerie's since he was a couple years younger than her. So he was a senior at Philmore High and he played football, but she helped him out that night by taking him home. And he had told police that she dropped him off and that he didn't know what happened to her after that. But when they asked him if they had some kind of romantic relationship,

Samuel said no, they didn't. But then he changed his story. Ah, suspicious. Always is. So detectives questioned him again and kind of pressed him on the romance aspect. And that's when Samuel stated that he did try to kiss Valerie that night, but that she had rejected it. He then explained that he felt stupid afterwards, so he tried again. Why would you try again if somebody rejects you? I don't know, it's creepy though, just leave her alone.

Let it go buddy. Yeah. So obviously that didn't lead anywhere. And as he says, that was that. He tried twice, didn't happen, he let it go. But detectives put the pressure on. And they told Samuel that they were conducting forensic tests that would see if his DNA would be found on her. And that's when Samuel changed his story again.

But get this, so Samuel told investigators that he and Valerie had sex that night, but as we know, there was no evidence of intercourse, so this didn't seem to be true. But when other testing finally came back, it only made Samuel look more suspicious. During Samuel's initial interview with investigators on January 7, so about a week after Valerie was found murdered, investigators had confiscated the jacket that Samuel was wearing since one of the investigators Jose Rivera had recognized him wearing it in a video from the party, meaning he wore it the night that Valerie was killed. Well, that jacket came back with some of Valerie's blood on it, so Samuel's sudden change

in story about consensual sex was suddenly making even less sense, and considering Valerie's tampon was found removed, and she was partially nude, investigators thoroughly believe that Samuel had made advances towards Valerie, which were denied, of course, leading him to try to rape her, and he murdered her out of rage in the process.

After his search warrant was conducted at Samuel's house on April 1st, investigators collected Samuel's DNA, and they also inspected his brown 1986 Toyota Supra. And when Samuel's saliva was found on Valerie's body, police issued a warrant for his arrest. So then, by the way, the man that they wanted to speak to before, you know, in the minivan was not Samuel

since they had different cars. And of course, anyway, they didn't know if this man was connected, but we're going to talk about this a little bit later. So on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2003, then 18-year-old Samuel Puebla was arrested for the murder and attempted rape of Valarice Zavala, and he was held on a $500,000 bail at the Ventura County Jail. And actually Valerie's 16-year-old sister Jessica knew Samuel from school, so she was having just an incredibly hard time processing and just accepting this information, understandably. By June 22nd, Samuel pleaded not guilty to the charges, but on August 6th, a grand jury indicted him

for the murder and attempted rape charges. And although Samuel was 17, almost 18, when Valerie was killed, he was set to be tried as an adult, and the trial was set for the upcoming year. And a little bit more about Samuel, so he often went by Sammy and he was known to be pretty well liked and popular and he was even elected prom king at his high school. And as we said he played football. So of course this guy is a total piece of shit so prom king or not people obviously didn't know him very well because he was hiding more than just being a murderous rapist.

So after his arrest this cash of underwear was found in his home that he had stolen from various women in the neighborhood that he lived in with his family. So this guy is just like a full-on creep. God, what a fucking creep. I mean, this guy's just going around the neighborhood stealing people's panties, like what? I really wish we knew more about this, because I don't like, does this mean that he broke into women's homes and just stole their underwear?

Like, it's just weird. I mean, that makes me wonder too, like, you know, how is he acquiring all these panties? Like, are they from girls that he knows? Like, did he like go over to a friend's house and then steal her panties, or is he breaking in through the window and getting them like what? I don't know and this kind of behavior also on top of the whole rape thing, which is huge.

Like did he ever sexually assault anybody else? There's just you know leads you to these questions because if you're gonna be so weird as to fucking steal underwear from people like what else are you doing? Yeah, totally. So Samuel's trial began in July of 2004, so a year and a half after Valerie was found murdered. During the trial, an array of evidence was displayed. From Valerie's blood and saliva that was found on Samuel's jacket to his saliva being found inside Valerie's bra and more. The stains found on Samuel's jacket were believed to have gotten there after he moved her body from the church parking lot to the drainage pipe and more about the church parking lot.

So because some of Valarice belongings were found there, it's heavily believed that she was murdered there and in fact, Samuel even admitted to police that he had previously stashed women's underwear in that area after stealing it. Which again, so you're gonna, this makes no sense. Like, you steal women's underwear, not only are you hiding them in your house, but you're putting them like by a church,

like, I don't, this makes no sense. Yeah, I don't understand this. Like, wouldn't you just take them home or, I don't know. I've been doing with this stash. Like, what is this doing for you hiding them there? Like, why are you hiding that? Like, is he just going behind the church every now and again and just like, you know, pulling them from behind a bush and sniffing them?

Like, what the fuck is going on here? So anyway, more on what was found in the drainage pipe, a really big piece of evidence was discovered there. And it was a footprint. The shoe print was a direct match to a pair of Nike tennis shoes that police had seized from Samuel during their previous interview, putting him right there at the scene. And more on that in a bit, since I know some of you might be like, you know, shoe print analysis is not like an exact science we will get to it.

So although Samuel never confessed to what he did to Valerie, here's what investigators as well as prosecutors believe definitely happened based on all the evidence that they uncovered. From the autopsy to the crime scene in the church parking lot, to Samuel's own statements, to the evidence found on and near Valerie's body. So while Valerie was driving Samuel home at around 2am, Samuel tried to make sexual advances towards her and she rejected it. With that, he choked her until she fell unconscious, and then when Valerie woke up, she was able to make a quick escape in the church parking lot and ran for her life. But then Samuel struck her in the head with so much force that the blow ruptured her eardrum

and she fell to the ground. Samuel then began removing her clothes and her tampon, threw them to the side and attempted to rape her. God, this guy is such a fucking predator. It's truly disgusting. So Valerie did try to fight back, and because of this, he was unable to sexually assault her. So then, Samuel repeatedly struck Valerie in the head,

sat on her chest and strangled her with his hands. So it was almost like he tried to rape her. It wasn't working because she was fighting back, and so he just got so angry that he murdered her. And then once she was dead, he drove her body up South Mountain Road and dumped her body in a drainage pipe, and he leaned a branch against her to keep her inside so he like propped her up in there and then he left. So obviously there's still a lot of questions, but just so everyone knows, like not only did we scour the internet, but we read like every single newspaper article from this time on the case. So I wish we could have accessed more court documents on this case

because I really want to know what evidence was found in the Toyota, if any. Because, you know, he would have had to have driven the Toyota to the drainage pipe unless somebody, you know, maybe he called somebody to pick him up and to help him. So this kind of makes me wonder about the whole, you know, minivan that we talked about earlier and that man being seen. Oh, right, yeah. Yeah, in this area, like an hour before her body was found, because I just wonder, I just feel like, you know, because I didn't read,

oh, there was blood found in the Toyota, because you have to think about it this way. There would undoubtedly be blood inside the car if he had to move her bloody body to the drainage pipe. So obviously, they would have found that and it would have been like so much more clear that he did this. So I kind of think, is there another car in play here?

That's a really good question. Yeah, and I'm wondering if investigators did check that car for DNA evidence because, yeah, you're totally correct. Which car? The Toyota, because if he would have taken her body and the Toyota and driven it to the drainage pipe,

there would definitely be blood in it. No, well, they did. That was one of the first things they did was process this car, but I couldn't find any evidence that blood was found in the car. But out of the evidence that I did read about in the court documents, there was nothing about the car at all, which makes me feel like, you know,

that would have been a huge thing to mention in newspapers. And so that kind of leads me to believe that maybe there wasn't DNA found in the car, which would then lead me to believe, is there another car involved? Right, I totally get what you're saying. But to speculate a little bit more on that, is it possible that he wrapped her up in something?

Was it possible that there just wasn't a whole lot of blood? I mean, I know that he beat her, but, you know, was it like just bruising damage or was there actual blood evidence? That's just something that we don't know. Well, we know, we do know that she was severely beaten and that she was bloodied because her blood got on his jacket, which is why they think that he got it on his jacket when he was transporting her body, like if he was picking her up and the blood transfers to his jacket. Ah, right. So if you're going to, you know, inspect a car, you would be able to find like the most minuscule drops of blood.

There's no way, and what, this, the girl whose car it was happened to have like a tarp back there that he then disposed of and was never found, you know. So that's why I really do wonder if the guy in the minivan who was never uncovered really maybe did help here and it just wasn't brought to light or if he called somebody else and said, hey, I need your help with this, you know, we're gonna put the car here and then we're gonna transfer her body somewhere and they just came upon that drainage pipe and thought, hey, no one's going to look in here. So there's just still so many questions, especially because, sorry, one more thing.

He had to have gotten out of the area, you know, so how did someone had to have either picked him up or he called a taxi? But I feel like if he had called a taxi, maybe there would have been record of that too. So like, how did he, how did he get out of there? Yeah, definitely. I mean, there's just so many questions regarding how this all went down. But I feel like it just all happened in the moment.

I don't think that it was pre-planned. So I don't think that Samuel had like a tarp, you know, like we were just mentioning that he like, you know, had pre-planned that he was gonna wrap her up in or something like that. Well, no, and this wasn't even his car. So it was like, it was opportune. And, you know, they were alone in the car together and he thought, this is my chance. I'm going to try to, you know, get with Valerie or whatever. And then he took it way too far and he didn't take no for an answer.

So there definitely is a possibility that another person could have been involved, whether that person picked him up and drove him back into town or what have you. Exactly. So, Samuel's defense attorney tried to prove that the shoe print wasn't hard evidence because it's really not. And someone else out there in the area could have definitely had the same shoe in that size. But a shoe print expert in Florida weighed in and said that it was impossible for him to determine if the shoe print was 100% made by the pair that Samuel owned.

Although it did appear that it was the same size and pattern, but sadly, he was going off a photograph, which made the whole thing much more difficult. And he could also only conclude that the shoe size was between 10-13 and Samuel wore a size 11. Meanwhile the prosecutors called the shoe print the smoking gun and believed fully that it belonged to Samuel. Ultimately, after a month-long trial, Samuel Puebla was found guilty of Valerie's murder in the first degree by a Ventura County jury.

On August 2, 2004, while the verdict was read, Samuel sat in silence, while various family members from both the Zavala family and the Pueblo family cried out. He avoided the death penalty since he had committed the crime while he was still a minor, but he did face life in prison without the possibility of parole, which he received the following month. And sadly, on January 1st, 2007, so on the four-year anniversary of Valerie's murder, her 39-year-old mother Michelle actually took her own life. And according to Valerie's dad, it was due to the pain of what had happened to their daughter. So, you know, I hate to bring that up.

I know that's just even more tragedy for this family. But, I mean, it just really goes to show you how much this family went through that that she did this is it's just so sad It's just so horrible. I can't even imagine just the feeling of losing your daughter and then the family's feeling of losing their mother Absolutely. So then in 2011 a bill that was set to change laws regarding juvenile offenders serving life without parole sentences was making its rounds in California government. And Valerie's father, Richard, her biological father, wrote a long letter regarding Samuel's potential parole with the new bill. And it's a super long one, so we're just going to summarize it. So Richard went on to explain how painful the years have been for the entire family

due to what Samuel did to Valerie. You know how it's too painful for most of the family to even talk about? And that Richard's mother will call him twice a year just sobbing about Valerie on her birthday and the anniversary of her murder. That what happened to Valerie has questioned his belief in God, despite being a religious man. And that after her murder, he painted his garage black, put up a speed bag, and spent hours every day beating the bag

while he cried until Samuel was arrested. He then went on to say that due to the pain of it all, he cut everyone out of his life for the first handful of months, even his family, that all he wanted to do was take the lawn to his own hands, and that it would be worth it even if he had to spend the rest of his life in prison. That the only thing that got him out of the rut was Samuel's arrest. And him finding out that his wife was pregnant and having that promise of a new baby, but

that nothing would ever bring Val back, or truly fill the void that was in his heart. That every new year's is unbelievably difficult and full of dread, and that he can't even celebrate it anymore, because of what it now represents to him, his daughter's horrific murder. He also mentioned how much guilty feels whenever he has any fun in life, that he doesn't even feel like he can play music anymore, and that he quit his band. That all he wants to do is mourn instead of enjoying his life. He said he tries his best to be the happiest he can for his new daughters, but that he

finds it consistently difficult to do so because of one person. Samuel Puebla. Richard closed with, with all that said, do you feel that it would be fair for her juvenile offender with life without parole? To have the opportunity to be released? As far as I'm concerned, he's lucky to be able to live and not receive the death penalty. My family and I will never be the same, and he is killed something in all of us. I'm not sure if we could handle having to go to court to try to prevent him from being

released, and it would not be fair to us. I thought the justice system was there to protect us. There's no doubt in my mind that this juvenile offender would do the same thing to another young girl given the chance. Please don't let him do that to another family. I'll end with this. Due to extenuating circumstances, my ex-wife and her family never had any more contact since Valerie's murder. However, it is my understanding that her mother, my ex-wife, committed suicide on the four-year anniversary of Val's murder. I could only imagine the pain

that her side of the family is in because of Samuel Puebla. Thank you for your consideration with this matter. Richard Anciera. P.S. most of this was written with tears running down my face. Luckily for the family, the bill failed, meaning Samuel will remain at the Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, California for the rest of his days, for taking the life of a young woman who would have made such a wonderful schoolteacher, and who should have lived a long and happy life alongside those she loved, a young woman named Valerie Zavala. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this tragic episode. And on Friday, we'll have an all-new case for you guys to dive into.

Yes, again, Friday is our three-year pot ofversory, and we have a pretty special episode coming for you. Yes, it is a little bit different than our regular episodes, but it's still in the vein of true crimes, so I think you guys are going to dig it. Yes, please listen to it. I would love to know what you guys think of this upcoming episode. It's honestly freaking crazy. So, thank you guys so much for listening. Thank you for supporting our show for all this time and all these years. It means the world to us. Thank you for sharing this show. Thank you for writing nice reviews.

It means the world to us. Yes, and if you guys want some bonus episodes, head on over to patreon.com slash going west podcast. We got a ton of ad free, full length episodes for you guys to binge. Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh

1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh Thank you. you