Snapped: Women Who Murder - BONUS: Monica Diaz and Michael Naranjo (Snapped: Killer Couples)

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

A family is brutally attacked in its residence, leaving four dead and a mother clinging to life.Season 17, Episode 20Originally aired: May 5, 2024Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on th...e Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:01:34 We are bringing you a special bonus episode today from Oxygen's hit series, Killer Couples. You can also watch full episodes live or on demand on the free oxygen app or on Peacock by clicking the link in our description. Enjoy. I remembered being at home. It seemed like a typical night, nothing out of the ordinary. I fell asleep. Shortly after that, I heard screaming. I saw my dad standing there covered in blood.
Starting point is 00:02:07 I called 9-1-1-1. 9-1. What's your emergency? Someone found my dad where we were speaking or something. Somebody what? Someone found my dad. Stap? Yeah. Hold on to the paramedics.
Starting point is 00:02:19 Don't hang up. We've got several staff victims in the house and several hysterical family members. It was a whole family massacred. It was just gut wrenching. I was in disbelief. These crimes are contained in this home. The attack was directed on this family. Why this family?
Starting point is 00:02:47 I have my belief that this was done with great anger, great hatred, unconscionable. These are just two evil people who carried out something. because they wanted to be together. He loved her. What do you do for love? Some people do anything they can. I wished them in the same pain my family felt in their last moments.
Starting point is 00:03:25 July 21st, 2000. 30 a.m. Dispatchers in Los Angeles County field a terrifying call from the home of the Flores family. Hi, hello. What's your emergency? Hello. Someone was in my house and there's like my dad's in the floor. He's bleeding. Monica Diaz made the first 911 call. She said she heard somebody breaking in and screaming and she became scared and sequestered herself in the bathroom and she was so scared could move. Moments later, dispatch receives a second 911 call from 18-year-old Esperanza Flores. Okay, what's the problem over at your house?
Starting point is 00:04:10 I don't know. I heard so, like, screaming, and my dad woke up, and he was bleeding a lot. Bleeding from where? He goes from his neck. I don't know. I just have blood all over him. All available law enforcement officers are immediately routed to the scene. When deputies arrive, there are.
Starting point is 00:04:27 met by Esperanza, 16-year-old Monica, and their sister, 18-year-old Laura, outside the residence. Want to be one, Tom 2. Can I have two additional units, Code 3? One or two, make an entry into the residence. That's procedure. They would want to do what's called a protective sweep. Check and see if there's anybody else's side the house or even potentially a suspect. The deputy makes a right-hand turn into a bedroom because the information. The information was that there was a victim in that bedroom.
Starting point is 00:05:00 He did a quick check, and that victim was Sylvia Jr. He was a 14-year-old young lady. The amount of injuries inflicted was so horrific. She suffered a terrible death. The deputy continued in a westward fashion and entered a room, and that's where two boys were at. Richard Flores, Jr., and then Matthew. They were young, 17 and 10 years old.
Starting point is 00:05:36 Richard Jr. was lying on the floor. Matthew, his body was lying, resting against his brother. He had suffered horrible lacerations. The deputy was shaken, visibly shaken. shaken. They did a sweep and found yet another victim. That ended up being the father Richard Sr. The children's mother, Sylvia Flores, is lying on the bed bleeding, but she's still breathing. The mother, the matriarch of the family, is in critical condition. Her injuries were quite severe. Puncture wounds to her upper torso area. It caused for a collapse lung. There was
Starting point is 00:06:25 slashes cut off the windpipe. Sylvia was treated and then transported to a local hospital. After clearing the rest of the house, officers exit and secure the scene. We had surviving members of the family, and that would be the eldest daughter of this Flores family, her name was Esperanza, and adopted daughters, Laura and Monica. We were standing in the front yard. There was just ambulance, police cars. The lights flashing.
Starting point is 00:06:58 There was just so much that I was just trying to process. It was just overwhelming. It was hard. It was hard to go through that, and it was hard to have images of family when they passed away. I've already been on the job about 26 years at that time. Work things to where I was exposed to a whole lot of death. Yet here, effectively, an entire family was wiped out. That was started.
Starting point is 00:07:32 Pillars of their Pico Rivera community, Sylvia and Richard Flores, were known for the large and close-knit family they had raised. I grew up being raised not only by my parents, but my neighbors as well. My parents were very involved in the community. Our house was always, like, a central hub for everything. me, my two brothers and my sister were really close. In 1987, the Flores family grew when Sylvia and Richard became the legal guardians
Starting point is 00:08:03 of their nieces, Monica Diaz and Laura Reda. Our mom struggled with drugs, to be honest with you. I was five when she passed away. Monica was four. Cops took me and Monica away and gave us to my aunt, Sylvia. It did require an adjustment going from a family of six to a family of eight. If you were there, you were part of the family. You were going to get taken care of.
Starting point is 00:08:30 You're going to get treated like one of us. Richard made me feel welcome in the home when we finally moved in and made me feel like one of his kids. There was never a dull moment in the house. There was always someone laughing. making fun of someone. There was just always the love. S.B. Richie, Sylvia, and Matt played sports. My dad enjoyed watching everybody play a sport.
Starting point is 00:09:05 And I loved playing and I loved watching him in the front of the stands cheering us on. Playing basketball, I was decent, so I continued to play. And basketball was a palest. pathway to go to college. By July 2000, Sylvia and Richard's oldest daughter had finished her first year of college, and the family of eight looked forward to spending the summer together. I felt like we had the perfect family, the perfect everything.
Starting point is 00:09:39 But in the early morning hours of July 21st, 2000, the Flores family has been attacked in their home. and law enforcement have descended upon the chaotic scene. The scene is well established as a crime scene. There's the yellow tape. There's police cars everywhere. There are neighbors that are up at this time standing outside of the yellow tape. The number one thing is we are there about getting the truth.
Starting point is 00:10:12 First, I've talked with the surviving sisters, S.B., Laura. And Monica. With the sister's help, investigators begin to build a timeline of the events that led up to the horrific attack. The night before it happened, it was like normal dynamics at the house.
Starting point is 00:10:34 Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I would say probably like 10. I think I was the last one to go to sleep. Around 3.30 in the morning. Monica said she got up to use the bathroom. And then while she's there, she hears all this noise, footsteps. And then she becomes scared. So she just stays in the bathroom.
Starting point is 00:11:03 Esperanza and Laura, they generally slept in the same room in bunk beds. Esperanza, here's a thud against the wall. I thought it was an earthquake, so I jumped out of bed. But then I realized someone hit the wall. like the wall connecting my parents' room in my room. And I ran outside into the hall. And when I did, I saw my dad just holding his neck. And there was just blood everywhere.
Starting point is 00:11:32 And then I just remember being like, Dad, what happened? Dad, what happened? And that's when he got out the words, I've been stabbed. When I saw him fall, I guess I started yelling. That's when Monica exited her hiding place in the basement. bathroom and ran to Sylvia and Richard's bedroom. She found her mother lying on the bed. She goes to assist her mother.
Starting point is 00:11:57 I saw Monica over my mom, and she was applying pressure. She was trying to help her. So I was like, Monica, stay with my mom, stay with my mom. So I wanted to go look for the phone to call 911. The dispatcher just kept asking me all these questions, and I was like, I can't do this. And I was like, he's bleeding. He was stabbed so bad, he can see parts of his insides coming out. And when I knelt beside him, there was just so much blood.
Starting point is 00:12:27 Literally, my niece were soaked in his blood. And I covered him with the towel, trying to stop some type of bleeding, but I knew he was gone. I say my brother's room, the door closed, and I thought they were okay. I thought they were just scared. from all the commotion that was going on. I go into my little sister's room, and I've seen something brown on her bed. Didn't know what it was until I got closer.
Starting point is 00:12:55 When I realized it was blood, dry blood, I started screaming out her name. She didn't respond to me. Laura was in the hallway screaming. I was like, Laura, get out of here. Go, go outside. Go wait outside for me. I panicked, and I ran outside.
Starting point is 00:13:14 house that's what espion monica followed me and the police were finally there and they were like is anyone here i was like i don't think so the girls insist that their family doesn't have any enemies instead they believe the attack is the work of a random killer everyone thought there was some type of serial killer on the loose hurting people i think that was the last thought that my family family had when they were killed. If somebody would attack and kill this family, who else would they kill? Who else would they target?
Starting point is 00:13:56 Coming up, evidence inside the home points investigators toward a terrifying prospect. The presence of dark tape made me go, okay, this is not a random event. This is a planned event. And a forbidden romance sparked. suspicion. He gave her all this attention that she craved. She, his head over heels. Those are just getting to get. No, I know, I'm not.
Starting point is 00:14:25 Love you, baby. On July 21st, 2000, the Flores family is attacked in their Pico Rivera home, leaving four dead and Sylvia Flores Sr. clinging to life. Daughters Esperanza, Monica, and Laura were spared in the attack. These crimes are contained in this home. The attack was directed on this family. Why this family? While authorities scour the neighborhood for witnesses and suspects alike,
Starting point is 00:15:05 investigators begin processing the Flores' home for evidence. By now it's past daybreak, sun us up. This is a large crime scene. Each bedroom was its own crime scene. You know, you just start working your way in. The front door opens up into a hallway. From this hallway, I'm able to see Lil Sylvia lying on the floor. She looks as though she slid off the bed or was pulled from the bed.
Starting point is 00:15:33 She had terrible wounds to her body, her torso. She had a piece of duct tape that was affixed to her mouth. The presence of duct tape made me go, okay, this is not a random event. This is a planned event. I continued down the hallway to take a look into that room which contained the two boys. Again, I see the presence of duct tape affixed to the bed. Richards on the floor, it immediately jumped out of this young man didn't even know what hit him. His throat was slashed, brutally.
Starting point is 00:16:14 It's my belief that Matthew more than likely was awakened during the course of this event. He obviously fought. His body was lying, resting against his brother. I'm standing over this young man to take a look at the wounds, the type of wounds, where they're located, all these things. And I remember catching myself because I didn't want my tears to fall in and co-mingled DNA on this young man.
Starting point is 00:16:44 It made me angry and sad because of how violently he was brutalized. The stabbing is when you see multiple injuries to a body. It can support and give the belief that it was done with great rage. There was passion involved in this. Investigators continue down the hallway to the master bedroom. I believe Sylvia is attacked first because her movement and wrestling in the bed by all accounts causes Richard to get up.
Starting point is 00:17:20 Richard Sr. had a number of puncture wounds, slashing wounds, defensive wounds to his body. It shows that he fought hard with his assailant. You've got to be a pretty good shape. I've handled over 300 homicides in my career, but there are those that are significant to me because of the gravity of it, the amount of death in one scene.
Starting point is 00:17:50 As I'm walking down the hallway, there's a military-style flashlight, and it had a red lens on it. The red lens on there, it cuts down light signature. It's done in a military tactical setting to where you don't want to have a blaring light. So the attacker was able to see where he was going.
Starting point is 00:18:09 Based on what we were seeing, we had to think this was done tactically. This was methodical. Investigators continue to the bathroom. This is the bathroom that Monica said that she had hidden in or locked herself in. CDed on top of the vanity, I saw a double-edged knife. I saw another, it looked like a button. Butterfly knife. This looks like evidence items to me.
Starting point is 00:18:39 That made me go, a whole second, take photos. Let's go back there and interview with them again. In the kitchen, investigators discover the rear door is unlocked. That family routinely, all doors have been locked, yet that rear door was unlocked. A couple steps down, a landing, there's a backpack. Within that backpack, what was prominent was this particular towel. this particular towel, a multicolored towel. I see pieces of duct tape stuck to the air conditioning unit
Starting point is 00:19:13 that's outside there. There's scissors on there. Then more compelling is lying on the ground, a hatchet, and a double-edged knife. They have a particular type of a handle wrap, black type of tape. And the reason I say that, because one of those knives said in the bathroom, had it very similar wrapping, something handmade. We see these items in the bathroom, the tape connected to the tape outside.
Starting point is 00:19:45 Either one, what thought out individual is coming to wipe out this entire family. Or, there are multiple individuals involved in this. As investigators, you want to leave yourself open-minded about things, but, no, this can't be a serial color. The girl said, go get the people responsible for this, which we hear a lot, right? Go get them, the way of diverting us away from them. At this point in time, I'm looking at the survivors, something in the back of my hands going, maybe one of these young ladies is involved.
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Starting point is 00:22:27 Richard Flores and his children, Richard Jr., Matthew, and Sylvia, Jr. Investigators bring the surviving girls, Esperanza Flores, Monica Diaz, and Laura Reda in for questioning. Saturday afternoon, the girls were interviewed individually. What I'm looking for are the accounts consistent. It was just so surreal sitting there and just trying to answer these questions and making me feel like I was part of it or had some type of knowledge in what happened. I presented these photos and asked, first, S.B., do these look like items from the house that you kept around?
Starting point is 00:23:09 Are these items that you'd seen before? Esperanza provided that she did not. Laura quickly said, no, I've never seen any of that stuff. What about those knives doing there? Quite frankly, early on, there was something about Laura that gave me a little bit of pause. She's tough. I think multiple people had said, look at Laura.
Starting point is 00:23:35 She might be the person for this. And it was only because I was always in trouble. I was always doing my own thing in my own little world. But I could never hurt a human being. I was always very protective over my brothers and sisters. I don't know, just something in the same. old gut went, explore this a little bit more. But that quickly subsided when I now talk with Monica. I said, take me through this again. She explained what she did again. She was in the bathroom.
Starting point is 00:24:08 And then I put the picture out there and I said, do you know anything about these items here? She looked at it and went, oh, I think Michael gave me that knife. Monica reveals she has been dating Michael Maranjo for the past year. Investigators begin to wonder if he could be involved in this crime. As they continue interviewing the three sisters, other officers dig into Michael's background and learn that he grew up in Pico Rivera, not far from the Flores family.
Starting point is 00:24:41 He had two older brothers, long since out of the house, and he just resided at the home with his mother, father, and himself. I remember him being very just slim, clean-cut, kid, you know, very innocent. He was a good student. He was quiet. At 15, Michael joined the junior ROTC, where he rose to Sergeant and dreamed of becoming a Marine. Once he got exposed to the ROTC,
Starting point is 00:25:09 I started noticing the changes in his clothes, aiming more towards the, I guess, military style. Michael started wearing black cargo pants and boots and at a bomber jacket as well. Investigators learned that Monica joined the ROTC program a year later. That's where Monica and Michael met and it's where their relationship started. They're only in ROTC together one year, but it was significant enough to where their relationship progressed and became more involved.
Starting point is 00:25:43 He joined us everywhere. He had dinner with us. He went with us on family. Outings. He seemed like a normal couple. a couple. Monica's sisters tell investigators that while their family was passionate about sports, Monica always cared more about academics. She was straight-a-student, always in her books, always trying to figure out how to do things, chemistry, AP honor classes. Monica wasn't the athlete that her sisters were.
Starting point is 00:26:18 There were some statements made. that she was treated differently because she wasn't as athletically gifted. She was looked down on. So when she met someone like Michael, who was devoted to her and gave her all this attention that she craved, you know, she was head over heels. Michael and Monica, once they were together,
Starting point is 00:26:45 they became more withdrawn. It was one of those things where they were together often, a lot, constant, enough to where neighbors would mention that it was, quote, hot and heavy. And the parents didn't want to spend as much time as he appeared to be starting to spend at the home.
Starting point is 00:27:08 Monica never had a problem with her grades. I think her grades started slipping when she did meet Michael. That's when Sylvia kind of had a feeling something was up when it came to Michael. I just didn't like him, period. He had problems with the mother. Even calling her, I she's a bitch.
Starting point is 00:27:29 I was starting to think, this young man's involved in this. And if she's involved, Monica is involved in. With Esperanza, Laura and Monica waiting in separate interview rooms, investigators decide they need to speak with Michael Naranjo immediately. We had him come there. We asked him if he would consent to an interview room. interview, absolutely. He sat down and we started talking with him. He sat effectively at attention to where I was going, you can relax you. Man, it's okay. We just want to talk to you about what happened.
Starting point is 00:28:02 And it was sir, yes or no, sir. Michael admits Monica's parents didn't approve of their relationship. He was talking about the problems he was having with the parents, that the mother didn't like him. They were always watching them. And I just remember that during the course of this interview, I saw something. What happened to your arm? He goes, what? He goes, what happened? Is that a fresh cut?
Starting point is 00:28:26 He peels it back, and there's a, there's a laceration. What happened there? Some of the guys at school were goofing around. They threw a bottle, a glass bottle, and broke, and I got cut. My partner immediately goes, Michael, hose, like it. That's not an injury received for somebody throwing a bottle at you. It got a little flustered. My hope obviously is, well, maybe I can get some admission.
Starting point is 00:28:54 Michael continues to deny any involvement in the Flores murders, so investigators decide to collect fingerprints from him and Monica. While they wait for forensic results, Michael and the three sisters are free to leave. On Monday, we start receiving the word that preliminary testing and processing of items that had been collected, started producing results. The flashlight that I talked about, fingerprints from the batteries inside of it,
Starting point is 00:29:29 Michael. A forensic examination of the duct tape ultimately confirms investigators' worst suspicions. We have a roll of it outside. We have scissors there. We have pre-cut pieces that have been affixed for ready use. Just peeled off, ready to go. They all came.
Starting point is 00:29:47 from one single strand consistent with the source item, the duct tape, and it also showed fingerprints. This piece was the one that was on Sylvia Jr. This piece comes from what was collected from the
Starting point is 00:30:03 boy's bedroom. We had latent prints of two individuals, Michael and Monica. Three days into their investigation, authorities in Pico Rivera, California, have connected 17-year-old Michael Naranjo and his girlfriend, 16-year-old Monica Diaz,
Starting point is 00:30:26 to the brutal murders of Monica's family. The forensic examination of evidence items revealed prints determined to be those of Monica and of Michael. The 27th of July was when the arrest warrants and subsequent search warrants were served at two different locations. Monica had been staying at her uncle's residence along with Laura and SB.
Starting point is 00:30:58 A detective came to the door. rang the doorbell, they opened the door, as they're talking, there's cops on the side of the house walking towards the back to where Monica was. Then I'm seeing her walking towards the car is when I realized that they were arresting her. I was in disbelief.
Starting point is 00:31:19 I couldn't believe a family member could do something like that. I think we were all confused. Everybody couldn't believe that our own family took our family from us. With Monica in tow, investigators raced to Michael's house before he has time to learn of her arrest. I go to Michael's house. I'm at the door, and it's answered by his mother. And I said, hi, we need to talk with Michael.
Starting point is 00:31:53 And I took Michael outside. I said, Michael, you're under arrest for the murders of the Flores family. He just looked and we went, just a nod. That was it. Handcuffed, I put the car for transportation to the station. We had set up a vehicle, which was being recorded, and put them in the seat together. not an uncommon tactic that we use
Starting point is 00:32:17 and there was no wailing of no we didn't do this what are they doing nothing you would expect from somebody that was innocent those are just going to get no no honey baby
Starting point is 00:32:36 at the station the suspects are placed in separate interview rooms Investigators sit down with Michael first. So you want an attorney? Everybody said I should get one, so yes. Okay. Okay, then I can't talk to you. Okay.
Starting point is 00:32:56 Down the hall, investigators confront Monica. Do you know who did this? No, I don't. You have no idea? I don't. How about Michael? I haven't said anything to me. Do you think he did it?
Starting point is 00:33:12 I don't think now. Do you love Michael? So did. Would you lie for him? What I like to him? I'm sorry. I'm telling you that Michael killed your family. And you know what I was I'm going to tell you?
Starting point is 00:33:24 That you know he did. Tell us what happened. Was this supposed to happen? Nothing was supposed to happen, love. I think nothing was supposed to happen. You've had told people you're changed. He believes that Michael has been changed. My dad has been telling me that for a while.
Starting point is 00:33:43 And that scared you? Yes. What do you think happened? Why this happened? I don't know. She wanted to try and mitigate her involvement in this. I just remember going, no, it just doesn't add up. They're ultimately booked into the L.A. County system.
Starting point is 00:34:08 They were both effectively juveniles at the time. He was 17, she was 16. So therefore, they go to a juvenile detention facility. We just serve for search warrant. With Michael and Monica in custody, investigators execute a search warrant on Michael's home in order to gather incriminating evidence. Quite a number of things that were consistent with some of the evidence items that had been collected from the crime scene location,
Starting point is 00:34:37 things like a particular type of courting that was used to wrap and make a particular type of a handle similar to the one that we had collected from the crime scene. There were books on torture, there were books on killing, there were books on how to kill, books on hand-to-hand combat. There was a military manual. It was all focused on someone trying to get schooled in the art of being a trained killer. He was an avid collector of knives. He had a large array of various types of knives that were in there. There was a notebook which had a listing of things, basically a check-off list, showing the premeditation of this event.
Starting point is 00:35:25 As I'm walking down the hallway, there's the hallway cabinet open. In that cabinet are these set of towels. There was a hand towel that was found inside a backpack that matched. a similar brand of hand towel that was at Michael's house. It's the same towel. It's the same brand. Everything. Now with a mountain of evidence against Michael,
Starting point is 00:35:53 investigators wonder how big a role Monica played in the crime. They returned to the Flores home in search of revelatory evidence. That leads to the discovery of a box. It was full of handwritten, correspondence. Monica to Michael, Michael to Monica. I started reading and I saw the beginning of this relationship. You could read as it developed. Writings about their future together. They were going to be married together and then became more, I guess you could use sinister. Monica talked about I want to see blood. She's talking about killing mass murders and says,
Starting point is 00:36:37 Quote, I want to see the blood on their faces. I want to be a mass murderer. The best job is to kill people professionally. Imagine how many victims I'd have if I lived 800 years. Monica Diaz assisted Michael Noronho in the planning and the completion of this event, not only involved, but she, in my view, puts it in motion. Based on their findings, investigators piece together a theory for what they believe occurred in the early morning hours of July 21st, 2000. The evidence shows that Monica took a large role in helping to make this happen.
Starting point is 00:37:26 She cut up strips of the duct tape to give to Michael so he'd have it ready to go when he put him over the victim's mouths. She then unlocked the rear door and allowed him into the home. She then went into the bathroom, obviously, to make it seem as if she was just a scared young woman. This was done with great anger, great hatred. It's unconscionable. These are just two evil people. who carried out something because they wanted to be together. They're ultimately booked into the L.A. County system.
Starting point is 00:38:18 Three days after the murders, investigators receive optimistic news about Sylvia Flores. It's a miracle that she survived. I remember my mom. Really just my mom. I know there was other people there. But I don't remember them. And I kept telling my head hurts, my hair hurts, my, something's going on.
Starting point is 00:38:45 But I had no clue. What happened? What happened? They still didn't tell me that Richard and the kids had passed. There's no way And all I remember telling my mom Monica did this Despite catastrophic injuries
Starting point is 00:39:20 in the attempt to end her life Sylvia Flores has pulled through after the attack that claimed the lives of her husband and three children. I remember hearing Espy scream. I remember being put in the ambulance. I know I died.
Starting point is 00:39:41 I know I was no longer breathing. My heart was invading. I know I passed. And I saw Richard, Matt, and Nana. I'm Richie Rich.
Starting point is 00:39:56 it was a beautiful light like they say perfect weather perfect everything and them telling me no you can't come with us go back with them go back with the girls and they pointed I looked back and there was SB and Laura and I looked back to look at them they were not there anymore
Starting point is 00:40:17 investigators visit Sylvia in the hospital where she shares her memories of the attack on her family. I woke up. I knew I was stabbed. I was having problems breathing, and I saw the blood on me. The bed was moving. I didn't know what was going on.
Starting point is 00:40:46 And I saw somebody on top of Richard. Somebody was hurting him, and somehow he kind of pushed that person off. I remember the person falling on the dresser that was in front of my bed and he took off. Richard got up. All I remember is telling him I love you. He said something to me.
Starting point is 00:41:09 For the life of me, I have no idea. Monica all of a sudden was there and I says, go get a towel. So she went to the bathroom, got a towel. And I says, put pressure. Then I felt her hands reaching for my throat and applying a lot of pressure. I grabbed her arm. Her face was like, she still has strength to hold her back. To this day, I know she wanted to kill me too.
Starting point is 00:41:45 She was choking me. She was trying to finish me off. But I didn't let her know. Not today. It's hard to say your child wanted to kill you. How can you hurt somebody like that? Somebody you love. I don't even know how to describe it.
Starting point is 00:42:18 Honestly, I have no idea when I found out that Richard and the kids were killed. were killed. I was probably told several times, but I was in denial. I couldn't handle that information. With Sylvia's testimony in tow one week after the murders, the Los Angeles District Attorney announces that Monica Diaz and Michael Naranjo will be charged as adults. They were charged with four counts of first-degree murder for each of the victims, and they were charged with the count of attempted murder for the attack on Sylvia. In September 2003, jury selection for Michael's trial gets underway. But on September 30th, right before the trial is set to begin, Michael's lawyers contact the district attorney.
Starting point is 00:43:16 The night before, surprised everybody by pleading guilty to everything. And in his plea basically admitted to doing it all by himself. He talked about always having these thoughts of killing. He just needed the right opportunity, and this was the opportunity to he had. On October 22nd, Michael is sentenced to five consecutive life terms in prison. When he was being told he's going to spend the rest of his life in jail, he just had no emotion. He was just very callous. Monica Diaz's trial begins in late January 2004.
Starting point is 00:44:01 When she takes the stand, she continues to assert her innocence. She continued to defend herself by saying that she took no part in the murders. Michael also takes the stand in Monica's defense. He was, once again, the dutiful soldier who's, I'll take this all. I did this all. It's all me. She didn't do anything. On the stand, he was asked, why did he do it?
Starting point is 00:44:26 And he said, I just wanted to kill someone. I was like, I liked them. I had nothing against them. I just wanted to kill someone. Why would he do that? Just to save her, you both wanted to be killers. Why not say we did it? Now, she told him what to say.
Starting point is 00:44:49 He did this ultimately to try to save her from a lifetime of incarceration. but the jury never bought it. She was convicted on all counts, sentenced to consecutive life terms. I think something happened in her mind. I know I raised a great woman. I don't know that murderer. Monica.
Starting point is 00:45:15 Who that is, I have no idea. I went to ask her multiple times. Why did you do what you did? Maybe she was dead and dead. I don't know. They might have played off of each other and that off of each other's characters, but it was all her.
Starting point is 00:45:36 She is the mastermind of the murders. He loved her. What do you do for love? Some people do anything they can. He made her feel that good and she manipulated him into doing what she wanted. I do not think justice was done. In all honesty, I wished them the same pain
Starting point is 00:46:05 that my family felt in their last moments. I love talking about Richard. I love talking about my kids. But no one brings them up. No one wants to say they were murdered. Re-telling the story is hard, but remembering them is even harder because I can't get that time back. And it's harder because the memories of them are fading. It's hard to share the good things that we did.
Starting point is 00:46:39 It's hard to go back and replay all those beautiful memories. In 2005, Monica Diaz's life sentence was overturned by a three-member appellate court. panel. In 2009, she was resentenced to four consecutive sentences of 25 years to life. Her parole eligibility was denied in 2022. Michael Naranjo will be eligible for parole in 27. It's all a lighthearted nightmare on our podcast, Morbid. We're your hosts. I'm Alina Urquhart. And I'm Ash Kelly. And our show is part true crime, part spooky, and part comedy. The stories we cover are well-research of the 880 men who survived. the attack, around 400
Starting point is 00:47:23 would eventually find their way to one another and merge into one larger group. With a touch of humor. Shout out to her. Shout out to all my therapist out there's been like eight of them. A dash of sarcasm and just garnished a bit with a little bit of cursing. That mother f***er is not real.
Starting point is 00:47:38 And if you're a weirdo like us and love to cozy up to a creepy tail of the paranormal or you love to hop in the way back machine and dissect the details of some of history's most notorious crimes. You should tune in to our podcast. Morbid. Follow Morbid on the Wondry app
Starting point is 00:47:50 or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to episodes early and ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

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