tv Dateline MSNBC January 28, 2024 12:00am-1:01am PST
12:00 am
i didn't feel like i could or should leave. >> reporter: she's opened a bookstore, it's called book therapy and more. it's the headquarters for the mason moore foundation, a charity jodi founded to raise money for safety equipment for cops who need it. her motto something mason said to her long time ago. love wins. >> he loved me and all we wanted to do to try to make this a better place. and leave his mark. i think he did. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, i'm andrea canning, and this is dateline. ♪ ♪ ♪ blood isn't a very good
12:01 am
anniversary gift. >> i need an emergency ambulance, my wife has a gunshot. >> a fatal gunshot, just hours after celebrating 16 years of marriage to her police officer husband. >> he told me, she may have tried to clean my gun, and it may have accidentally got off. >> police are suspicious, the victims own mother wasn't. >> she was so opposed to anybody even exploring the idea that her only daughter had been murdered. >> as the years went by, the case grew cold. until a reporter heated it up again. >>stayed up all night reading that file. it was astonishing. >> it turned out there was a lot less to the marriage than meets the eye. >> he cheated on vicky the day before they got married, and the day after they got married. >> but not every cheating heart hides a killer. >> you could hear members of the jury gasp. ♪ ♪ ♪
12:02 am
>> hello, and welcome to dateline. when it comes to solving a crime, time can be the enemy. this is the story of a murder that after seven years might never have been solved. the victim, a new mother had been forgotten about everyone. except a complete stranger determined to find justice. >> in the lore of the lone star state, texas lawmen rank pretty high. the good guys in the white hats. they're badge brought prestige, their gunfights, the history books. but in the modern-day town of denton, texas. the little d, outside the big daddy of dallas, served one texas law man with a curious past. all locked up in a box. >> nobody left at the police department had any idea what was left in that box.
12:03 am
>> they knew the basics. the box told the tale of a blond beauty. a new mother, found dead in her bedroom. a cops bedroom, her husband's bedroom. >> my wife has a gunshot. >> but the box eventually fell silent, to every ear, but one. >> i just, the whole time, felt that vicky was there, that she was there with me and that she was waiting to see what was going to happen. >> vicky was virginia parish. a quiet girl, sweet as texas tea, and a touch as officer dark blond hair. >> vicky excelled in everything
12:04 am
that she tied to do. >> robin wyrembelski and it's valerie grissom where vicky's crew. friends as long as they can remember. from barbie to boyfriends. and everything in between. >> i'd say we had a very much of a wonder years kind of life. middle class, you, know maybe not really privilege but sharing your bicycle, sharing our skates. getting out everything and playing. we had an unusual circumstance, we had five girls within a block all the same age. and so where a gang of girls. >> complete with then normal insecurities. for her part, vicky was a little chunky, had braces and was far more of the bookworm than the social butterfly. >> very happy child, shy, but happy. >> a shyness that was especially evident around boys, except for, one bobby lozano. >> once they started dating, if i saw vicky, i saw bobby. >> they hooked up the summer after vicky graduated from high school. bobby was older and he had a job, working at his families gas station. >> i saw him as the outcast loner type on his own. everybody knew of bobby, but nobody knew him real well. and he didn't hang out with anybody except for vicky.
12:05 am
constantly. >> so what do you think that vicky saw in bobby back then? >> he showed her immense attention. >> and that attention seem to be the sunlight that vicky needed to blossom. her friends soon saw a different vicky. on the outside at least. >> it was like, wow, she had found that side of herself, and enjoyed it, it was always there. she just may have not known how to bring it out. she was a swan. she turned out to be a very pretty women, very beautiful. >> was it bobby? maybe. he eventually changed too. he joined the police academy. and in time, he did not look so bad either. >> when he went into the police academy, he got bumped up, and he was on the tactical squad. he had on these camo looking gear and guns strapped over the
12:06 am
place, i. >> he always looked very official. >> yeah, it was pretty cool -looking. i have to admit. i was a little jealous. >> they were two young lovers in the lone star state who are coming into their own, together. in time, there was a wedding, and of course careers. vicky became an elementary school teacher, and a good one at that. says fellow teacher, christy corner. >> i admire how she had this classroom management, because to get fifth graders to line up, stay in a line and walk down the hall. but they did it with love and respect. because they loved her. >> the only person who appeared more loyal to vicky, was bobbie. who couldn't seem to barely be apart from her. even at work. >> he seem like the doting husband who would show up at lunch. and show up after school sometimes. he was just around all the time. you know, much unlike most other spouses. even other newlyweds that we're at school. there has been just didn't show up like bobby did. >> everyone wondered just how
12:07 am
he found the time. he'd been promoted to detective at the denton, pd. a rising star as bright as his badge. >> he was very thorough, very particular in his work, as he was in a lot of his personal life. >> few knew bobby better than richard godoy, he's the social worker at the department and fittingly enough, saw a lot of bobby social, along with his wife. >> they look like a happy couple, they would sit close together and joke around with one another and hold hands. and i think they gave each other a peck. this kind of thing. >> the icing on the seemingly perfect cake came into thousand and one. a baby boy named monte. vicky was wildly happy, on the verge of their 16th wedding anniversary. it seemed like the lozano's had it all. the job, good family, a good size home. more than 5000 square feet. and supplemental income, from vicky's mother. who lived with them.
12:08 am
even paid for part of the house. but on july 5th, 2002, bobby and vicky celebrated the anniversary. that would be their last. >> i need an emergency ambulance. my wife has gunshots. >> the next night, bobby came home to find a horrific scene. vicky, covered in blood, shot through the chest. lying in their bedroom. >> is she breathing? you know? okay. >> she would never get out of bed again. >> coming up! a not so tearful farewell from a husband, to a dead wife. >> he looks at her and says take care. and he turns, and walks into the house. >> when dateline continues! ♪ ♪ ♪ it's an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. and can help improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks...
12:09 am
and can even reduce or eliminate oral steroids. imagine that. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. get help right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor about new or worsening joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. who knows what you can do when you du more with less asthma. ask your doctor about dupixent. the most prescribed biologic for asthma. your best defense against erosion and cavities is strong enamel - nothing beats it. new pronamel active shield actively shields the enamel to defend against erosion and cavities. i think that this product is a gamechanger for my patients - it really works. i told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms.
12:10 am
but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. relieve fatigue for some... and stop joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. done settling? ask your rheumatologist for rinvoq. and take back what's yours. abbvie could help you save.
12:11 am
your best defense against erosion and cavities is strong enamel - nothing beats it. new pronamel active shield actively shields the enamel to defend against erosion and cavities. i think that this product is a gamechanger for my patients - it really works. shipstation saves us so much time it makes it really easy and seamless pick an order print everything you need slap the label on ito the box and it's ready to go our cost for shipping, were cut in half just like that go to shipstation/tv and get 2 months free >> i need an emergency
12:12 am
ambulance. my wife has a gunshot. >> how could so much happen in just half an hour? that is the slice of time policeman bobby lozano says he was away from home. only to return to find his wife vicky, shot through the chest. >> is she breathing? >> no! >> no? okay. >> rescuers and investigators race to the scene. one of their own was in trouble. richard godoy, bobby's coercion at the police department was
12:13 am
one of the first to get the call. >> driving down there thinking, oh my god, please help me, help me help these people. which i always do anytime i go on a call like that. because you never know what you're gonna go into. >> this one was different. >> it was different. >> different and difficult. bobby was a friend. and so was vicky. and now she lay dead in the couple's bedroom. questions swirled as richard approach the sergeant outside of bobby's house. >> i said what happened, he says, well bobby said he came home and found vicky in the bed. and she has a gunshot wound to her chest. >> inside, bobby was waiting for his old friend. tense, it seemed. but at the ready with the details of the terrible preamble. what lay on the bed. bobby told richard that he left home, only briefly, to come back to find vicky shot. his gun cleaning kit lay right beside her. >> he said before he left he took his gun out and he was going to clean it because vicky and him were going to go to the range the next day. he told, made she must've been trying to clean my gun because how she likes to tinker with stuff, and she may have been trying to clean my gun and it accidentally went off.
12:14 am
>> police photos showed the grisly result. her wound was fatal. she was gone. her mother arrived that evening to a crowd of investigators. the castle that she had helped paid for had now become her daughter's coffin. and it fell to richard to break that knows. >> oh no, not my vicky. not my vicky. and then she starts whaling and, bobby what happened? she screaming. i mean, you never forget the sound of a mother who has lost her child. the whailing of her at that loss. >> but somehow, in the middle of all that grief, vicky's mother offered up a theory about what might have left to her daughter shooting. >> and i said, did the dogs jump up? did the dogs up and make the bed go off. >> i thought that was odd. >> vicky's dogs, small ones, could have startled vicky richard surmised. but how could that have led to a wound in the chest. >> the only way that can go off is to pull the trigger.
12:15 am
you're not going to sit around the table and it's going to go off. >> the scene puzzled investigators, and the more they observed bobby's demeanor, the more puzzle they became. >> did he seem agitated though? >> he seemed uncomfortable with how anna was acting. he just appeared uncomfortable with the emotions in the room. and this is some heavy stuff. it was really thick with emotions, and with grief. >> as heavy and as emotional is that scene was, it wasn't for bobby? >> he did not seem to be joining in that emotion. with everyone. there is no tears, he's like, grimacing. faking like he is forcing himself to cry. but there's nothing there. >> paramedics also wondered. bobby had insisted on that 9-1-1 call that he had tried to revive vicky with cpr. but to look, the league paramedic, one look at bobby made that same unlikely. >> he certainly was not perspiring like someone who had done cpr. he did not appear to have any
12:16 am
blood on him, which would've been very obvious based on the entrance ruined of that bullet, and why the homes will be placed on the chest. to do cpr. >> and speaking of blood, luke noticed the case. it had settled around her ankles, and around her back. it was another key steppingstone for investigators. who knew right away with that evidence lad. >> what did the pooling on the blood tell you? >> that she had been the for a substantial amount of time. >> it seems that vicky could not be alive just a half an hour earlier, like bobby had said. >> you had a very good sense from the get-go that night that something wasn't right? >> yeah, anybody who walks into that scene is going to think the same thing. something that does not fit right, something that does not feel right. >> but the piece that really
12:17 am
did not fit was bobby's farewell to vicky. >> bobby told me i want to see her before they take her. >> the medical examiner stop the stretcher she was being wheeled out on. the body bag was unzipped. and then, buddy uttered the strangest thing. >> he looks at her and says, we'll take care. >> take care? >> he turns and walks into the house. yeah. for someone to say take care, and just walk back inside like nothing happened. i thought that was really cold. >> maybe reality staring back from a body bag was too much for bobby to bear. maybe being a detective had left him hardened to death. or maybe bobby did not care about vicki the way everyone thought. as night turned to dawn, and investigators pored over the sea in. not a single piece of evidence pointed one way or the other. accidents? suicide? or homicide? vicky's final moments were a mystery. >> but there was nothing
12:18 am
12:22 am
but she saw her wedding anniversary, and being a new mother to. just a few hours after her anniversary dinner, her husband, bobby, the texas cop, came home to find vicky shot through the chest. bobby says that vicky was cleaning his gun when it accidentally went off. but to his fellow officers, sympathy soon gave way to skepticism. >> you don't, just know normally see someone cleaning a gun in a bed, in their pajamas, partially covered up and then accidentally shoot themselves in the chest. it just did not add up. >> lee howell was in charge of the investigation for the police department that night. and he was puzzled. he said that bobby did not act like a grieving husband. >> he had no information. >> which left the evidence to tell the tale. first, the investigators took a close look at the gun clean-cut,
12:23 am
found on the bed next to vicky. >> it did not look like to me like someone had been cleaning the gun, it look like it had been placed there as a prop. >> then they examined the gun itself. >> the gun was dripping and oil, you can see where it was lying on a sheet of newspaper. >> there was that much? >> yes. it looked to me like someone had taken the gun and just sprayed it down with a can of oil. i mean, it was literally soaked. >> and yet vicky did not have any oil on her, not a drop. >> nothing on her hands? >> nothing on her hands. >> an accident that seemed unlikely, but so too did suicide. >> the way that she was lying there, it would be a very awkward, very unusual position for her to have shot herself. it would have fit perfectly for somebody standing next to the bed, over her. pushing the gun down toward her. >> the clue spoke, but in a confusing language, and so did the key players. police were really stumped by vicky's own mother. >> she was adamant that she
12:24 am
wanted us to find it an accident. she made it very clear. i was really kind of shocked that she reacted the way that she did. >> what was her demeanor? >> very defensive of bobby. refused to believe that he could have anything to do with it. she flat out told us that if we found anything besides an accident, that we would not be doing vicky a service. >> but it was bobby who remain the most perplexing, the written statement about the events the night his wife that sounded more like a dime store novel then a report from a police officer. >> i have to say it was the most bizarre statement ever that i have seen that was given by a witness or suspect in a criminal case. 85 to 90% of the statement was extraneous information. and typically that's a good indication someone is being
12:25 am
deceptive. >> for investigators, it was troubling, for bobby's friends, it was behavior that sounded familiar. >> many who knew bobby often surmised that there was something behind the badge not quite seen. as a husband, there were questions too. like the schoolyard visits that bobby always paid to vicky at lunchtime. the fellow teachers thought it was a loving gesture at first. but then they began to expect that the visits were really about something else. >> i think that he wanted to see what she was eating. he wanted to stay in control of the calories that she took in. because weight was such a good issue for him. >> he was that obsessed with it? >> he was at the gym yeah. >> in fact, he was so militant about her weight that for more than a decade of their marriage. he had denied her what she wanted most in the life. a child. -- had asked vicky about that
12:26 am
once. she had a -- response. >> she didn't even answer, she went to her wallet and pulled out this picture of herself, and she showed it to, me and she said. bobby makes me carry this picture to remind me of how fat i used to be. he doesn't want me to get pregnant, because he doesn't want me to get fat. >> this is not about making sure that vicky was healthy, it was about keeping her thin. >> and not just the case, his own to. >> he was obsessed with his body image, in terms of, always working out, has to be buff. looking good. >> looking back, richard said it was almost comical cow self obsessed bobby really was. he never had a hair out of place. and his eyebrows waxed, and was insistent on tanning. which never made sense to richard. >> i always asked, why do you tan?
12:27 am
mexicans don't go to tan in growth. brown enough. >> he said i don't want my pigment to fade. i said dude, it's not going to fade. >> fade? hardly. bobby sparkled, it was always press, always chris, always pristine, always high and everything. a lot of effort, richard thought, not to look at for his wife. that's a look good to others. richard told investigators that bobby had wandering eyes under those waxed eyebrows. how does he know? richard had a young intern working for him at the department. and bobby had taken notice. >> he says hey, do you mind if i take her out to dinner. i asked him is vicky going? he says no, i want to take her out. and date her. >> he said that straight out? >> yeah. and i thought, wow, i said will the problem with that is that most guys who are married do not date. >> what did he say? >> he says all right. but do you have a problem with it? >> richard know bobby made up his mind. all he could do was mourn his intern. >> i said if you're asking -- if he's asking you out, i wonder how many more he's asked
12:28 am
out and you have to keep in mind, i don't think he's ever going to leave viki lozano. >> richard had no idea how prophetic he was being. bobby never did lay vicky, but he left his marriage vows intact, not just with this woman, but with others for years. bobby's off duty lifestyle was much more crowded than investigators ever thought. >> coming up! did bobby's cheating, drive vicky to take her own life? >> the attorney said that i have to investigators telling me that it was suicide. >> when dateline continues! but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups.
12:29 am
trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ [laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night.
12:31 am
here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. the hours top stories -- meeting with israel and egypt counterparts at qatar's prime minister at this weekend's meeting in europe, aims to advance negotiations for the pleas of more than 100 hostages still held by hamas.
12:32 am
president biden called partners in advance to press for a deal. january 27th marks international holocaust remembrance day. dozens of commemorations were held locally on saturday for the 6 million jews and other minorities who were killed by the dropsy genocide. now, back to dateline. to dateline. >> it is early july, 2002, just before vicky lozano was found dead of a gunshot wound in her bed. and her husband, police detective, bobby lozano, was a very busy and secretive man. most of his fellow officers at the time did not know that bobby had been having a series of affaires, neither did the family, says lee howell, who headed up the investigation for the denton police. >> his family thought that he was the hardest working guy in the police department.
12:33 am
because he was always out late at night, sometimes overnight, he was always being called out all the time. out doing surveillance. >> made it sound like it was a pretty busy departments. >> right. >> a lot of midnight crime. >> right. >> but a philanderer does not make a murder, and investigators did not have any new clues into why vicky died. even the medical examiner threw up his hands. they keys cause of death was undetermined, he ruled. there wasn't enough evidence to point to homicide, suicide, or even an accident. >> there was an obituary, that did not say how she died. >> to tie up loose ends, crime reporters love. and the denton record chronicle, donald feeler, was no exception. she knows around a bit. and stumbled on a curious series of departures. >> three weeks after his wife's death, bobby resigned from the police department. that gave me a really good clue that something was up. >> but bobby's resignation was not the only one. >> cindy waters, another police officer, resigned at the same time.
12:34 am
>> she was also a detective, with no obvious reason to quit the force. but don had noticed that over the previous year and a half, cindy waters had dropped about 60 pounds. >> bobby was just insistent that people around him, people he had control over, be fit and be slim. >> cindy waters, she figured, just had to be the other woman that bobby was seeing at the time of vicky's death. bobby is cohen, richard godoy, had seen them together often. cindy, he figured, was just the latest in a long line. >> i said you're not in love with any of these women. you are in love with the idea of being and love. and you like the feeling that you get when you are dating, and you're courting, and everything like that. it's the chase. >> but maybe sunday was different from the other women. could she have add anything to do with vicky's death? investigators wonder the same thing. >> in fact, they questioned cindy. and found out that she had
12:35 am
threatened to walk if bobby didn't divorce vicky like he promised. his wife was a problem that had to be taking care of. and that had all the makings of a possible motive. what is more, bobby had more than $1 million in life insurance on vicky. and so, in light of that, and all the rest of the evidence. circumstantial as it was. finally, six months after vicky died, a grand jury indicted bobby lozano for his wife's murder. the theory? that bobby had killed vicky so he would not lose cindy. even though she did not know anything about what investigators said that bobby was up to. the problem was, the indictment did not stick. a year and a half later, out of the blue, the district attorney decided he didn't have enough evidence to prosecute after all. the indictment was dismissed. bobby was free, and still no one knew what happened to vicky. >> the reasons given were strange.
12:36 am
they did not make sense. i couldn't make them fit what i knew. >> what really did not fit was the advice of an out of town medical examiner. >> the district attorney said, i consulted this guy from chicago. and he says that it was suicide, and he has communicated that to the medical examiner who did the autopsy. and he now agrees. so now i have to medical examiners who are telling me it is suicide. so i cannot continue with this case. >> but that wasn't really the case. the medical examiner had not changed his mind. >> he had not changed his mind. it's still said undetermined on the medical examiner's website. >> confusing? yes. final? it seemed so. the case of viki lozano was put in a box, sealed in an evidence room. and was soon forgotten by almost everyone. except donna fielder. >> did this become an obsession?
12:37 am
>> pretty much. i just felt this empathy for her. >> the box in the evidence room held a key. but as far as police were concerned, it was off limits to the media. >> there comes a point in the way that i covered stories, when i actually feel like i know the victim. i began to feel like i knew vicky, and i thought that vicky was getting a really raw deal here. and i just wanted justice for vicky. >> she was vicky's voice, and vicky was about to be heard. as donna finally got her hands on that box. >> i was just so excited. it's like a kid at christmas. wow, just what i wanted! >> coming up! but it would not be just what bobby lozano won it. >> the totality of that case was so strong, that bobby lozano had shot and killed his wife. >> when dateline continues! e pursuit for your pigment is no exception. it's time you had a proven choice to help restore what's yours. opzelura is the first and only fda-approved prescription treatment
12:38 am
for nonsegmental vitiligo proven to help repigment skin over time. restoring what's yours. it's possible with a steroid-free cream that you can apply yourself. opzelura can lower your ability to fight infections including tb or hepatitis b or c. serious lung infections, skin cancer, blood clots, and low blood cell counts occurred with opzelura. in people taking jak inhibitors, serious infections, increased risk of death, lymphoma, other cancers, and major cardiovascular events have occurred. the most common side effects were acne and itching where applied. repigmentation is possible. ask your dermatologist today about starting or refilling opzelura. pursue it.
12:39 am
12:40 am
by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin. some even achieved long—lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ♪♪ show off to the world. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. >> welcome back to dateline.
12:41 am
i'm andrea canning. crime reporter, donna fielder, took a special interest in viki lozano cases. she pestered police for access to that box of evidence. and finally she got it. the findings would lead to a front page article, and new outrage about vicky's husband. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> viki lozano was that. but in the eyes of the state of texas, no one knew at whose hand. if anyone's. a grand jury had indicted her
12:42 am
husband, bob, for vicky's murder. but to the dismay of the many, the district attorney shy the way from pursuing it. not enough evidence, he said. so bobby went on with his life. he kept dating cindy waters for a while. but he eventually broke up, and he went on to marry a woman that he started a real estate business with. bobby was free to live his life. while vicky was not. and that irked reporter, donna fielder. she wanted to get her hands on the case case. especially that box of evidence. a year went by, then two, then more. >> so far for years, you just kept hitting wall after wall after wall? >> yes. >> so i kept you going? >> vicky was still there. and vicky had not had any justice. >> she kept at it, and finally, a warned on department relented. giving donna that box. after a formal, written request. the archaeological details of
12:43 am
vicky's life, and death. we're now in the hands of the one person it seemed, who still cared. >> i stayed up all night reading that file. and it was astonishing. there wasn't a place that said, and then someone looked in the window and saw him shooter. but the totality of that case was so strong, i had no, no doubt whatsoever when i finished reading that report that bobby lozano had shot and killed his wife. >> the overly detailed statement that bobby had made to police that one that had left detectives scratching their heads to? struck down a justice odd. it >> was the strangest thing. the night before was their anniversary. it was a friday night. he took her out to dinner at a really nice place and dallas. >> romantic? >> sounded like it from his story. the statement to the police
12:44 am
about his wife dying, the first several pages were about the dinner that they had. the wind that they had with the dinner and what the three course dinner consisted of. how they came home and played with a baby. and you looked at that and thought what the heck? this is supposed to be about her death. and he's talking about the choice of the wine. >> did it sound like just a fabrication? >> at that point i was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt about what happened the night before. but i could not understand why he would forgive a statement about his wife that way. he said they fellas sleep together. i thought that was not something true. >> he left something out? >> he left out the part about leaving home on their 16th wedding anniversary and going to his girlfriend's house. >> pretty big point to leave out? >> very big point. >> the boxes contents were hardly flattering to bobby. and nearly with the article that down eventually wrote.
12:45 am
a front page spread, rich with sex, money, lies, and bloodshed. she put. it's there was no smoking gun. but what there was was the tortured trail of ruined lives that bobby had left in his wake. now, in black and white. for all to see. >> there were five statements, from five different women, and those were only the women that they found. there were many, many more. he told two of the girlfriends that he cheated on vicky the day before that they got married, and the day after that they got married. >> he seemed proud of it? >> yes. >> he was very proud of his lifestyle and bragged about it to people, that he could brag about it to and not get in trouble. >> the conquests included a witness and a criminal case. and a woman charged with writing hot checks. he even hit on a rape victim that have come to the police department seeking help. >> so he clearly was not happy in the marriage? >> i think that he was
12:46 am
perfectly happy in the marriage. he had what he wanted, he wanted to be married, and particularly married to a rich woman that could keep him up with a style to which he had become accustomed, and he wanted the freedom to have all the girlfriends that he wanted. >> the money largely came from vicky's mother, anna. remember? she helped to buy them that million dollar home. the kind of policeman and a teacher could hardly afford on their own salaries. >> each and every one of them talked about how much he was focused on money. they all said, i can finally came to the conclusion that he was never going to leave vicky, because he was never going to leave that money. >> all of it was old evidence, but it was all new to the public. when donna's article hit news stands it landed like a bomb, letting loose theories from officers, who now more than ever, found they thought bobby had gotten away with murder.
12:47 am
>> so did the new d. a. in town, who had in his pocket a crew of talented prosecutors. a married couple that couldn't wait to get bobby lozano in court. >> i like these cases, these hard cases. >> what was hard about it? >> it got dismissed because they did not have enough evidence. >> did it seem like a long shot? >> no, not a long shot, hard? yes. that's not the same as long shot. >> but even vicky's own mother thought the effort was a waste of time. in fact, she was just as adamant that bobby was innocent as she was the first time around. remarkably, she still lived with him in the same house. with bob's new wife. >> it's not even that she didn't want him charge, she didn't want us opening the boxes. she didn't want us talking to anybody, it was shocking to me
12:48 am
that she was so opposed to anyone even exploring the idea that her only daughter had been murdered in her own bed. by this man that she now new had run around on her constantly. >> this time, these mom did not get her wish. bobby was indicted a second time for the murder of his life. the problem? the facts of the case were still the same old facts. the fact that had failed prosecutors here before. >> you've got no physical evidence. >> not on him. >> you've got no dna evidence? >> no. >> you've got the victims mother who does not want him prosecuted. >> right. >> you've got a medical examiner who cannot determine the cause of death. >> yes. >> the defense is a pretty good shot at this. >> absolutely. >> coming up! the trial in the defense star witness. the victims mother, testifying on behalf of her daughters accused killer. >> they wanted to hear anna testify. and she gave them their money's
12:49 am
worth. >> when dateline continues! my husband and i have never been more active. shingles doesn't care. i go to spin classes with my coworkers. good for you, shingles doesn't care. because no matter how healthy you feel, your risk of shingles sharply increases after age 50. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix.
12:50 am
fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. shingles doesn't care but, shingrix protects. shingrix is now zero dollars for almost everyone. ask your doctor about shingrix today. for moms, from centrum. ♪ (this new mom here i go) ♪ ♪ (i am strong and brave) ♪ ♪ (i know) ♪ ♪ (with a little time for me) ♪ ♪ (no doubt i'll get through) ♪ ♪ (loving me is loving you) ♪ from centrum, the women's choice multivitamin brand.
12:51 am
12:52 am
12:53 am
he once served as a police officer turned out to see his fate. >> it was amazing, it's not anything that i had ever seen in this court before. >> they have been on the police beat a long time. and after the reaction that she got from her explosive article about bobby's case. she knew the trial would be a circus. >> there were people waiting in the hallway, if you walked out, somebody walked in and took her seat. >> bobby's defense was pretty simple, although he and his attorney declined to tell it to dateline. but in court, they argued that vicky's death was either an accident or suicide, bobby's only involvement, they argued, was that it was his gun that fired the shot. prosecutors carry and susan peel knew they had a tough fight ahead. >> the perception from the observers was after the opening statement, it was a tie.
12:54 am
there is no blood on bobby's clothes, there's nothing on, him you can't even prove that he was in the room when she died. he made forensically of course. >> this all made sense to the jury? >> yes. said it well. >> that defensive star witness? vicky's own mother, and, who testified that bobby wasn't his wife's murder, he was his wife's sale beer. >> she basically described vicky as being an overweight child with friend issues, and that was lucky to snag a guy like bobby, and bobby was helping her by monitoring her food intake. >> she was the reason that the courtroom was filled daily. they wanted to hear anna testify. and she gave them the money's worth. >> i asked her, at this moment, you still live in the same house. and bobby still lives in the same house with his new wife. and he shares the same bedroom where vicky died. and you could hear members of the jury gasp when they heard that. >> yes. >> what was her reaction?
12:55 am
>> -- yes, absolutely. >> to hear vicky's mom tell it bobby could not, would, not did not pull the trigger that night. what prosecutors felt they needed to do, was prove a motive. and that is where the name cindy waters popped up again. while her affair with bobby ended years before the trial, at the time of the keys death she was bobby's latest conquest. yet another blond, a fellow police officer who had upped the ante. she had expected bobby to marry her. and why wouldn't she? bobby had promised. >> in february of 2002, months before his wife died, he gave her a card describing her as his wife. my wife, soon to be. but not soon enough. >> it was the soon part that seem to bother cindy the most. bobby had been stalling, despite the love letters to cindy that we're dripping with bad pros. places like, my lips gliding
12:56 am
lovingly over your cheeks, now hover over yours. >> he absolutely could've had a second career as a cheesy romance writer, they were incredible. he wrote that cindy was responsible for restoring his relationship with god. he played her in every way that worked. >> prosecutors say that sydney had grown tired of the lies. and had threatened to walk. she had threatened to leave him more than once. >> he had told a series of lies that had created a situation of his own doing. where he was backed into a corner. >> yes. she wouldn't be put off. she was different. she was a cop. >> she was in his face every day? >> every day. a lot of these girlfriends. he was in a much more powerful position with them. and a position to easily walk away. and cindy was a lot more complicated. >> bobby finally realize that he couldn't have it all. was losing that control that he seemed to crave so much. >> he is desperately trying to
12:57 am
win her back, he took his wife to dinner. to celebrate their anniversary, and then he left his wife at home alone in bed, and went to cindy's house and told city, i'm going to prove to you a moving van is gonna be my white horse. i'm going to show you. and the next day his wife was dead. >> for prosecutors, there was one other detail that they were about to drop. those life insurance policies. bobby had more than 1 million dollars in insurance of vicky. a fact that they hoped would make those crime scene photos even uglier to the jury. there was the gun near vicky's hand, and the gun cleaning kit not far away. but, it was vicky's wound, right in the middle of her chest, at a strange angle. that carrie wanted jurors to question. >> for her to shoot herself, she has to do this. and you can barely do it, i can
12:58 am
barely hold that. to squeeze the trigger and get this angle. >> you wouldn't hold it that way to clean a gun either, so the experts. then, there was the matter of the bullet casing. just, where had that gone? it turns out, it was lying underneath the gun cleaning kit. another problem of physics, said carrie. >> she didn't put the box down on top of the casing because she was dead. okay? so if that casing is under the box, it but one person can do, it and that's fabulous on, oh period, end of story, game over, go home. >> not quite, they had one other morsel of evidence that they hope the jury would feast on. popcorn. >> popcorn was huge. >> microscopic pieces of corn husk where founded vicky's bodily. and a tiny fragment of popcorn was still in her mouth. who cleans gun while eating popcorn? prosecutors mused. who brings-able to bed if they plan on committing suicide?
12:59 am
no one, prosecutors thought. and they know that bobby would reason that as well. investigators, say they never found the ball with popcorn anywhere in the bedroom that night. prosecutors believe that that is because bobby had cleaned it all up. almost. >> we believe that he was picking the popcorn, the visible popcorn because he knew that it was inconsistent with her cleaning a gun, and inconsistent with suicide. >> the jury, almost all women, had heard both sides and they came back quickly. in less than five hours, they had a verdict. >> someone is going to lose, and they are going to lose bad. because that is fast. >> bobby lozano, the narcissistic, well dressed skirt chasing koch, stood expressionless as he had been the whole trial as the foreman read the bricked. guilty. he was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
1:00 am
>> it was celebratory. everybody was a static. >> except of course, bobby. >> i think what made this case so particularly emotional for me was not only did he get away for it for those hairs. but that the people that should have cared, did not care. >> indeed, it was in the end, strangers who became vicky's voice beyond the grave. donna especially, who found an odd desire to tell vicky that she had one in person. so she went to the church where vicky's ashes were kept, and was taken aback. >> when i got, there i just got such a feeling of peace, and i put my hand on the cabinet where the answers were and i knew that i didn't need to tell vicky anything. she knew. that was the high point for me. vicky's at rest, she is that piece. she has had her justice. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am andrea canning. thanks for watching! hello, i'm andrea canning, and this is dateline.
26 Views
1 Favorite
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC West Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on