that will do it for me. thank you for watching. be sure to tune in tomorrow to the sunday show when congressman jerry connolly of virginia joins us live in studio to preview big funding decisions next week when the house returns including aid to ukraine and israel with speaker mike johnson's job on the line. plus, i will also let you speak with congresswoman barbara lee to get her take on major developments on abortion rights and how it could all play out in november's election. that is tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. remember to follow us, you can also catch clips of the show on youtube. dragging me through that night, it haunts me. i didn't know that people were capable of that. they have destroyed the rest of my life. >> reporter: intelligent,

educated, accomplished. >> i am a professor, i tried to seek a meaningful life. >> reporter: she had a prestigious career, a loving husband, a young daughter. but she also had a secret. >> i have lived at this nightmare for 18 years. >> it is 7 murder. they followed him, they kidnapped him and then they dumped his body. it was clearly a plan. plan. i didn't realize she was involved as deep as she was. narrator: scholar, professor, mother. what is going to happen to my daughter? i am innocent. she certainly knew. manipulative, in your eyes? uh, yes. narrator: everything was at stake. >> she certainly knew. >> manipulative in your eyes? >> yes. >> everything was at stake. >> i could face life in prison, i am willing to do anything that needs to be done, now i have the strength.

attended elite schools, and rose to the top of her field. she was the embodiment of the american dream, an immigrant who escaped a childhood of poverty and abuse, attended elite schools and rose to the top of her field. against all odds, norma patricia became a well-respected psychology professor and a champion for children's health care around the world. a success story, a life 40 years in the making. so how on earth did it come to this? >> whatever the charges are they are asking me to be guilty for, it is essentially something i cannot accept because it would eventually be a lie.

>> reporter: the professor's case would draw international attention. >> a young mother in a professor who is now in custody. >> 239-year-old woman says she is the victim. >> reporter: it started a heated debate. >> this is not america. this is not justice. this is abuse of power. >> reporter: did this well educated mother orchestrate a horrific murder and sabotage the investigation? >> you do not get a pass to become a vigilante and kidnap people and kill them. >> reporter: or was she the victim at the center of it all? >> do you ask yourself, how did i get here? >> absolutely. absolutely. i rewind so many events in my life. i rewind so many things in my mind. >> reporter: try to make sense of this mystery, you do have to rewind come all the way back to 1974, the year patricia was born in a small farming town in southern mexico. >> it was a very rural, rustic place. it is a town with unpaved

streets, no sewage, no running water. >> reporter: the family moved to southern california for a better life. but, patricia's life here wasn't easy. she says her dad physically abused her mother. >> my father had lots of difficulties, he was an alcoholic and he was quite violent with her. >> reporter: patricia says she too was victimized by her dad, claiming he had sexually abused her beginning when she was just 5 years old. >> as a 5-year-old, i couldn't go to anybody for help. who could i go to? i could not go to him. he was the one abusing me. i could not go to my mother when she couldn't stop him from beating her. so i really had nowhere to turn. >> reporter: apparently, patricia did not tell anyone at the time. her mother and sister worried

about the abuse later. patricia's brother said their father eventually admitted to him that the abuse had happened. the brother also said his father would not respond to our questions about it. >> the way that i dealt with all that chaos was to throw myself into my books, into education. >> the bad things that were happening in your life or driving you to essentially be a better person? >> absolutely. >> to better yourself? >> yeah. >> reporter: all her studying paid off, she excelled, earning a scholarship to attend high school at phillips exeter academy, a prestigious boarding school in new hampshire. >> it must have been a culture shock to go from the life that you had to this very privileged surrounding? >> absolutely. >> did you feel like you are living the american dream? >> absolutely. i have always been so grateful to the u.s. >> reporter: she probably could have had her pick of any ivy league school, but chose to

attend pomona, a top-notch college near her family's california home. but on one weekend in her sophomore year, her dreams of a happy college life were dashed. it was march, 1995, when she made a decision that would haunt her for the rest of her life. >> i was a very serious student, i wasn't a drinker, i wasn't a party or. >> reporter: although she did not go out often, one saturday night, patricia decided to go to the nightclub. there, someone caught her eye. >> i met this person and we exchanged numbers. >> what was it about him that attracted you? >> there was really nothing attractive or unattractive, it was just somebody who seemed to be nice. i did not think that i would be seeing this person again. >> reporter: but he called the very next morning and invited patricia to breakfast along with her sister and friend. after they ate, they offered patricia a ride back to campus. >> he says before i go, would

you mind if i get a glass of water? so we go to my dorm. my dorm room. >> reporter: it was then, she says, the casual date turned terrifying. >> when we were inside he tells me that -- that he wants to have and i tell him no, i am not interested. he starts to get aggressive and starts to try to kiss me and i push him away. we are struggling. and then ultimately he takes off my pants and he forces himself on me. when he is finished, i -- i just turn away from him and i am half naked and curled up into a ball, i just started

sobbing. when he gets to the door, he tells me, you have a lot of problems, and he walks away. >> reporter: patricia says she was raped and like many victims, she felt somehow it was her fault. >> i felt so dirty and so ashamed. i was just blaming myself, i thought, my goodness, why did you do this, why did you bring him here, why did you trust him? >> reporter: patricia did not call the police the next day she went to her college health center where she says she saw a nurse but says the nurse did not take any action to report her rape allegation. >> i had told her i had been raped and i remember her reaction because it made me feel just as ashamed. she doesn't want to deal with it. she walked away. >> reporter: patricia herself had walked away from terrible experience as before but moving on from this. nearly impossible.

especially when just weeks later, police found a body. coming up, that discovery would lead to a strange and sinister puzzle. >> i have been to a lot of things in my career but this one was a little more gruesome. >> reporter: a mystery victim, a crime of passion, and on the phone bill, a clue. >> there is a handwritten note that said patty. >> reporter: when dateline continues. or. manage your diabetes with more confidence and lower your a1c. try it for free at freestylelibre.us. how long have you been tracking the value of our car? try it for free at should we sell it? we hold... our low mileage is paying off. you think we should...

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three weeks after patricia had her fateful encounter at el cortez nightclub, two men went to the same club three weeks after patricia had her fateful encounter at el cortez nightclub, two men went to the same club and had a life- changing encounter of their own. >> i believe they were just heading home and approximately a mile and a half from the club , they were rear ended by a white man. >> reporter: dean was a

detective back then with the santa ana police. >> was this just a minor traffic accident? >> reporter: it was just a fender bender. >> reporter: premiers's pickup truck had been rear ended by a white man. his friend and the passenger seat said not to stop. >> he said we have to pull over and exchange information. >> reporter: as a friend later told police, when he got out of his truck, several men got out of the van. the men attacked him. the friend ran to get help. >> he just turned and ran northbound on the street at that time. >> reporter: his friend came back to the incident scene with police but the white van was gone. >> the police arrived, is gonzalo there? >> he is nowhere to be found. >> he has just finished? >> correct. >> reporter: any signs of a struggle? >> there were. i believe they -- the issue that we believe belongs to mr.

ramirez, a watch, and then there was also a small amount of blood. >> reporter: gonzalo was now missing, possibly kidnapped. police had no idea where he might be or who would have kidnapped him. now frantic, the friend called gonzalo's family at 3:00 that morning after hearing the news, his brother was missing, carlos ramirez started making phone calls. >> i called all of his friends, have you seen my brother? no? >> reporter: carlos drove around that night searching but never found gonzalo. at 8:30 the next morning, easter sunday, 1995, investigator larry montgomery got a call at home. he immediately knew something bad had happened. >> it was my sergeant and he told me there was a body found and i was to respond. >> reporter: montgomery at the time was an experienced detective with the irvine california police department. he was used to dealing with murders but this one stood out.

>> i have been to a lot of things in my career but this one was a little more gruesome, just because of the sheer amount of injury to the body work he was definitely hacked to death. >> reporter: the man's body had been found near a stretch of the 405 freeway. he had clearly suffered a brutal death his body was sliced dozens of times with some kind of heavy bladed knife. like a meat cleaver or machete. his right hand was nearly severed. and oddly, there was some kind of blue towel like material wound around the body. >> a blue towel was wrapped all around him from the torso and legs all the way up to the neck area, it was wrapped around five times around the neck and then several times around the eyes. >> reporter: one thing was clear to police. this murder was personal. >> after looking at the victim's injuries i would say it was really consistent with somebody who had some sort of heated passion because the injuries were just consistent

with somebody very angry. >> reporter: detectives had so many questions. who was this man and why had this happened to him? >> one of the problems we had is we have no identification on the victim. >> reporter: another day passed, it was now monday. gonzalo's family heard that a body had been found in the area, praying it wasn't their brother, they called police. >> when this man called, he identified himself , he had a brother that was missing from santa and area and was possibly kidnapped and so he thought it was very possibly his brother that was the victim. >> reporter: police were able to connect the dots rather quickly, the body they had found was that of gonzalo ramirez. when his family went to identify his remains, they could not believe how he looked. his brother, benito. >> when we picked up my brother, we could not recognize his face. >> it is very sad. you know? i don't want anybody to see or one family -- we saw it. >> reporter: van left behind

two little daughters. >> sheet -- he was a very good person, responsible person. >> police were also trying to find out why they're only witness was his friend, the last person to see him live. >> he was pretty detailed and unable to give the responding officers at that time a lot of good physical descriptions of both the vehicle and the suspects. >> but the friend said he had no idea who the men in the white van were or why a fender bender turned into a kidnapping and murder. >> where do you go from there when you don't even know who these men are? >> generally you would start with the individual who has been kidnapped, looking into their background, seeing what is going on in their life. whether they have financial issues, maybe a love relationship that has ended. >> reporter: detectives interviewed gonzalo's friends, work associates and family members but got nothing.

>> i don't think they were able to provide anything that really could point to detectives at that time in the right direction. >> reporter: eventually, investigators stumbled across something in gonzalo's home, something very scary as scribbled on his phone bill. >> there is a handwritten note that said patty and there were two numbers. >> was this patty someone they needed to talk to right away? >> it was. >> reporter: coming up. >> i was weeping and crying, it was really hard. >> reporter: patty is about to open up to the police. >> that is kind of a twist, it through a whole new level -- element into the investigation. >> when "dateline" continues. e

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their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for. santa ana police were trying to solve the mystery of who had kidnapped, tortured, and murdered gonzalo ramirez santa ana police were trying to solve the mystery of who had kidnapped, tortured and murdered gonzalo ramirez. the leads were thin until they stumbled across gonzalo's phone bill where he had written the name patty along with two phone numbers. were eager to find her. mike murri was an orange county deputy district attorney, he did not work this investigation

back in 1995 but later joined the case. >> they called this patty? >> faded. >> and where did it lead them? >> they contacted her and she agreed to come down to the police department and discuss gonzalo ramirez. >> reporter: the mysterious patty, it turned out, was then college didn't the tressa esparza. >> we work for the santa ana police department. >> she told the police that gonzalo ramirez was a young man she had met at a club in santa ana, several weeks prior. that they had danced together, she liked him, he seemed to like her. they exchanged phone numbers. >> reporter: that is how her name and numbers came to be scribbled on gonzalo's phone bill that patricia did not seem too concerned about why she was being questioned about gonzalo. >> at what point does she say, what is this about? why are you asking me about this man? >> she never does.

>> she never asked? >> i don't ever recall her asking that question to the police during that interview. >> reporter: in the interview, patricia reluctantly told her story about what happened in the dorm room with gonzalo. >> well in your dorm, he took sexual advances of you to the point of even possibly being raped by him. was this correct? >> yes. he turned around and kissed me and i just stopped him right away. i got up at that instant, when he kissed me and i was walking toward another chair. and then he got up also and -- and that is when it happened. >> she told the police that he had sexually assaulted her. >> that is kind of a twist. that through a whole new element into the investigation. what did they make of it? >> initially, they just wanted to hear what she had to say.

>> reporter: she said the rape happened about 2 1/2 months earlier, this is the first time she was reporting it to the police. all the while, she says her world was falling apart. >> i was weeping and crying, it was really hard. really hard to put myself together. i wasn't doing my assignments as i should have. my grades were dropping, and so i wasn't able to deal with the rape as well as i had wished i had. >> reporter: she also told police that after the alleged rape, she confided in an ex- boyfriend . they dated for about seven months but were no longer together. still, one day when he stopped by her dorm room, she broke down and told him what happened. >> that must've been hard to finally open up. >> yeah. i did not feel that i wanted to but i guess i did want somebody to be there and understand. i wanted somebody to just listen to me and just make me feel that it wasn't -- that i

wasn't so dirty and so ashamed. >> did he help you? did he make you feel better? >> at first. but then he became angry and i did not understand why. yes, of course he would be angry if somebody did it to your sister, to your friend, but we weren't together anymore. >> reporter: she told detectives about him and they listened very carefully. >> did you have a boyfriend at that time? >> yes. >> what was his name? >> gianni. well, he wasn't my boyfriend at that time actually. to mickey was set about it? >> of course. >> she did tell gianni that she had been raped by a man named gonzalo but she said she would not tell gianni what his full name was or anything about how

to locate him, she just wanted gianni to comfort her, did not want him to try to find this guy and retaliate in anyway. >> was he expressing he did want to retaliate? >> she said that he was angry. she did not say he wanted to retaliate, just that he was angry and wanted to know more details than she wanted to disclose. >> an angry ex-boyfriend? could he have been angry enough to track down gonzalo on his own? investigator dean fulcher. >> did this give the detectives something to cling onto, that he was so angry about the rape claim? >> absolutely. you now have a motive for somebody wanting to do what they had done to mr. ramirez. >> reporter: detectives wanted to talk with gianni and they would soon find a key piece of evidence they believed could tie him to this murder. >> the detectives must be thinking, we have got our guy. >> faded. coming up.

>> tell me right now why. >> intense moments in the interrogation room. just what kind of evidence did they have against the man named gianni van? >> it was a huge clue. >> when "dateline" continues. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. icy hot.

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after speaking with patricia esparza about the murder of gonzalo ramirez, police quickly after speaking with patricia esparza about the murder of gonzalo ramirez, police quickly developed a theory of the case. patricia told him they had met gonzalo at a dance club. the next day he allegedly raped her and after hearing about the rape, her ex-boyfriend, gianni van became enraged. investigators now believe this could be a case of an old boyfriend seeking revenge and they wanted to find gianni. >> to they go to talk to him? >> they did interview him. >> where did that go? >> he denied any involvement with the death of gonzalo ramirez. >> reporter: in fact, gianni told police he could not have had any role in the murder because patricia knew few details about gonzalo including how to find him. >> she goes, no.

you know who this guy is, she goes no, i just met him at the club. i don't know, he seems like a nice guy. that is it. >> reporter: executor mike murri says when he came in for questioning, investigators weren't buying his story. >> they question his a story particularly when they learned that he had a white fan registered to him. >> the white van was seen rear ending the dollar which was a big clue in this case. >> it was a huge clue. >> the only eyewitness said several men in a white fan kidnapped gonzalo after a minor fender bender. >> where was the van? >> when the police asked gianni if he was familiar with a white fan, or if he owned one, he denied owning one. when they confronted him with the fact that there was a white van that was registered in his name, gianni said, i do not own the van. it is registered under my name

but it actually belongs to a guy i know who owns a transmission shop. >> reporter: police got a search warrant for the accurate transmission shop. sure enough, the white fan registered to gianni was there. but that is not all they found. >> the people who trant processed the transmission shop saw one single drop of blood in an office. >> reporter: investigators found something else. remember those old-style towel dispensers and gas station bathrooms? the shop had that exact type of dispenser. >> the towel spencer had lost hills in the dispatcher. the class that was wrapped around gonzalo ramirez was blue cloth. >> reporter: later, when the blood drop found in the shop was tested the result was less than conclusive. >> did the blood match gonzalo? >> when they ran the dna profile, we could not! mr. ramirez but in no way was it strong enough to say that it

was his. >> that was a problem for the investigation, the police brought gianni back in a second time for questioning. >> this is badge number 586, i will be conducting an interview of gianni van. >> this time police had more information, they learned that he was good friends with the transmission shop owner. >> the relationship between you and your girlfriend, the transmission and the van, all of that comes into play, quite honestly. the common denominator, the common denominator, you understand what i am saying, right? is, gianni van. >> all arrows were pointing at gianni. >> exactly, if miss patricia esparza had no connection to accurate transmission then you're going.

>> reporter: the detectives pressed him asking about the weapon they that was used to kill gonzalo. >> i don't know what you're talking about. >> was at a meat cleaver? >> i don't know what you are talking about. >> you know what i would be talking about. >> reporter: he told police he could never killing another human being. >> tell me why you are -- tell me right now why you are not the guy and why you shouldn't be going to jail for murder? >> because i did not -- i'm not an angry type of person. i have always been a loving person. i would never think of such a thing. that is absurd. >> we got the motive. at this juncture, it is coming to a close now if you don't come out and give me more. you are going to be going to

jail for murder. >> i don't know about anything. i don't anything about what you're talking about. >> reporter: despite his denial, in march of 1996, nearly a year after the body was found, detectives arrested gianni van for the murder of gonzalo ramirez. what investigators did not know was that patricia had more secrets that would have a big impact on their case. coming up. >> i feared for my life. >> patricia and yonny, their relationship was far from over. >> it is a major game changer. >> absolutely. >> i didn't know that people were capable of that. >> when dateline continues. it's one of ten next-level lobster creations. lobsterfest is ending soon, so hurry in. (vo) if you have graves' disease... ...and itchy eyes, the truth may be even more uncomfortable.

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solid case against gianni van for the murder of gonzalo ramirez. investigators were largely basing their case on the words of patricia esparza. she said gonzalo raped her, she confided in gianni and he got very angry, giving him a motive for murder. but then prosecutors found out something surprising, something that changed everything. >> they had gotten married in las vegas after the murder. >> reporter: patricia, who told authorities gianni was her ex- boyfriend, secretly married him one month after the murder. investigator dean fulcher. >> based upon the spousal privilege in the state of california, no way was patricia going to be forced to testify against gianni who was still denying any involvement. >> reporter: without her testimony, prosecutor mike murri , it would be very hard to prosecute gianni.

>> it was a major game changer. >> absolutely. she had so much information and was so enmeshed in the case that the prosecution would be hampered to the point that they wouldn't be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. so rather than put the case in front of a jury, and take the chance that without all that critical background information, the jury would not have a full picture, the decision was made to dismiss the case against gianni van. >> so, gianni walked and investigators were coming to see the lease, unhappy with patricia esparza. >> i knew that they got married for the simple fact they needed to keep patricia from testifying against gianni. >> reporter: why would patricia do that? she told us that in no way was she trying to protect gianni are the other men in the white van from that night. she said she had no choice. gianni forced her into the marriage. >> how do you get into this

situation? it sounds almost -- how does that happen? >> again, i was 20. i was not very sophisticated in terms of being streetwise. >> but why say yes? why say yes i will marry you? >> because i feared for my life. when i was told i had to marry him, that is when i learned gonzalo ramirez had been killed and i thought to myself, oh, my goodness, if they are able to do that to him, what are they going to do to me if i don't follow what they say? >> reporter: patricia said besides being naove she was also extremely durable. she described herself as haunted. a victim of an alleged rape in college and sexual abuse as a child. she questioned her own judgment and wondered how she could have ever dated gianni in the first place. after all, he was accused of a horrendous murder , one that included perjuring the victim. -- butchering the victim. >> i did not know that people

were capable of that. of course you read things in the newspaper, you see things on tv. you never think that is going to cross your path. you never think that you are actually going to befriend a person that is capable of doing that. >> why not just go to the police and tell them everything? >> i wish they had told me we will protect you, we will protect you if you come forward. i wish they had told me that. i did not know. i did not know that they were capable of protecting me. >> reporter: so, she says she agreed to marry a man she believed was a murderer. >> were you in love when you married him? >> no, absolutely not. i was trapped. i just felt like -- i felt that he was -- it was a punishment for me. we never lived together, nobody knew about the marriage. how could he possibly be in the was somebody who is so horrific? >> reporter: patricia says she soon dropped all contact with gianni but that did not change her status as his wife.

>> while marriage was potentially keeping a murderer free. >> correct. >> even the police thought they had solved the murder, it went into the cold case files. for patricia, she says she just wanted to put the whole, unbelievable tragedy behind her and get her life back. >> i thought to myself you're not going to allow them to take away what is so valuable and that is the ability to trust. how in the world am i going to continue on? >> what she did, she studied abroad in africa, then graduated from pomona. the first person in her family to get a college degree. she went on to work as a political activist, all the while, santa anna detective dean fulcher was keeping track of her and gianni van. >> patricia's life really changed over the years. >> yes. >> five years past, the terrible events in california seemed farther and farther away.

in 2000 came another dramatic turn in patricia's life when she met a distinguished scholar. >> she had this honesty that i found very rare. >> of course he had no idea about the dark secrets in her past. coming up. >> he has been my strength ever since i met him. >> a new romance and a stunning revelation. >> she broke down, started crying. >> when "dateline" continues. heat makes it last. feel the power of contrast therapy. ♪♪ so you can rise from pain. icy hot. ♪you're the one that i want!♪ nexgard® plus helps you protect your dog from fleas, ticks, heartworm disease and more... all in one delicious, monthly soft chew. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. nexgard® plus. the one you want for one-and-done protection.

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patricia esparza had as experienced a lifetimest. of unbelievable tragedy. she says she was sexually abused by her father, raped at just 20 years old, patricia esparza has experienced a lifetime of unbelievable tragedy. she was sexually abused by her father, raped in college. she was secretly forced to marry and ex-boyfriend to keep

him out of jail. she says it nearly broke her until she met him on special. this is a fresh start for you. ? >> he is a wonderful human being. >> his name was jorge mancillas. >> what was it like the first time you laid eyes on patricia? a real leader, she was inspiring everybody around her. >> patricia, now 25 years old, fell for him while they worked together on a california political campaign. >> i was taken by her very quickly, we both came from limited environments in mexico, we had worked hard to open up to education. >> reporter: just like patricia,

he was a high achiever with a phd in neuroscience. they both had degrees in psychology and one thing he particularly admired in patricia was a desire to help people. >> she wanted to get a p.a.t. because they had this clinic. she wanted to help children. to help them learn with the difficult circumstances she faced as a child. >> reporter: it wasn't long before the 48-year-old decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with patricia. he proposed to her at new york's world trade center in august of 2001. >> patricia was -- when i proposed. >> did you feel like finally my life has taken a turn for the better? and maybe i can put all of this behind me? >> absolutely. he has been my strength ever since i met him.

>> within hours of that proposal everything turned upside down. it was a forced marriage, not a real marriage. she felt it would put me at a risk. to live under the threat she was living under. >> this is the first time you're hearing about her past? >> yeah, she refers to tell me and crying. i had never seen her like that. >> patricia says she begged jorge not to ask her details about her first marriage. >> he was very respectful of my privacy, he did not ask me, i told him not to ask me because i wasn't able to tell him. he said whatever it is we are going to deal with that together. >> the couple faced a dilemma, they wanted to become husband

and wife but couldn't since patricia was already married. jorge hired a lawyer and patricia ended up telling that attorney everything. >> she talked to his lawyer, she told me he couldn't share the facts with me but that it was there for me not to know. >> one thing he did know is he really wanted to marry patricia, so he asked that lawyer to help. after three long years of negotiations, nine years after the murder, van agreed to a divorce. patricia and jorge's and got married but he still did not know her deep secrets. >> weren't you curious? >> i was completely mystified by what it was that was so threatening. >> is it because he loved her so much? >> i not only loved her but i realized how unique she was. i felt so, that she was someone

i could completely trust. i was willing to take any risk whatever it was that was lurking in her past, i wanted to be with her. >> in 2004, the couple went. life moved on and they relocated to a small town in france. both committed to jobs in nearby geneva. patricia worked for the world health organization as a consultant, became a psychology professor at a local university. five years later in 2009 came and other life-changing event. the couple welcomed a daughter, arianna. >> after all you have been through, what was that like, the birth of your daughter? it must have been like a reverse. >> oh my goodness, i know that every parent knows how different the world looks once you have a little tiny little human being looking up at you, you feel you want to go out there and actually create a better world. >> finally, patricia had a loving husband, a happy family,

a successful professional career. she even rubbed elbows with the likes of hillary clinton. it was a life she always dreamed of. but while patricia esparza was building her perfect world, the murder of gonzalo ramirez remained unsolved. is two dollars were just toddler's when he was killed. 2010 they were young women growing up in mexico with just photographs to remember him. >> it is not the same. it was very hard. >> it felt like we really wanted him to be there. >> his brother, carlos, saw their pain. >> i could see it in their eyes, they get sad. it is really sad. >> carlos and his brother benito were left with so many questions. >> we felt frustrated because we couldn't find out what happened, when my brother was killed and we didn't know anything.

>> investigator dean fulcher had carefully reviewed the case file from the mid-1990s. >> what did you want to take a second look at? >> at that time, dna in the mid- 90s was fairly new but it was also advancing rapidly. i simply requested that the crime lab re-examined the blood. >> the blood found in the transmission shop, the shop that the prime suspect, gianni van, had access to. the original dna test said the blood might be gonzalo's but it was far from certain. >> was there something different the second time around? >> there was significant change , although the crime lab couldn't say it was definitively mr. ramirez. the numbers were astronomical that it had to be his. >> more sophisticated testing lead to a stronger conclusion. >> mr. ramirez had been inside that transmission shop. >> so, in 2010, 15 years after the murder, investigator fulcher brought the case to prosecutor mike murri, who was

known for his work on cold cases. intern, murray contacted gonzales brothers who says they were surprised to hear from him. >> both brothers said that they had figured that with all the years that had gone past sense gonzalo's murder, that nobody was paying attention anymore. that he was just another young hispanic man who had been killed and the police probably weren't even investigating the case anymore. >> the confirmation of gonzalo's dna in the shop was an important step but the prosecutor knew they needed more. a stronger connection between gonzalo ramirez and his suspected killer , gianni van. >> we still needed to establish how it is that gianni would have known who it was who allegedly 1020 miss esparza. >> was that the missing piece

all along? >> to me that was. >> patricia was a key to helping them connect the dots but as far as the authorities knew, she was still married to gianni and cannot be compelled to testify against him. >> i was constantly running their social security numbers, all their information, finding out where they were, i would try to locate it is or certificate wherever they were. >> you're constantly doing random record checks x >> correct. >> it took years of random checks but finally the detective got a hit for patricia in chicago where she had attended graduate school, with one phone call he learned patricia and gianni were no longer married. >> how did that feel after all those years? when you finally get a hit on a divorce certificate? >> it felt good, there is no doubt about that. >> reporter: he immediately caught a plane to chicago. >> our next move was to show up at her doorstep and try to have a conversation with her.

>> surprise, we are here? >> yes. >> what happened? >> we got to chicago and we found out she had married and moved to europe. >> moved to france. out of his jurisdiction. >> what is a bit of a game of cat and mouse with patricia? >> you could call it that. >> coming up, an explosive new detail about that night. >> it certainly made me realize that patricia was involved. >> the past patricia thought she had escaped is about to come charging back. >> i wanted miss esparza to know that we knew she had lied. i wanted to know why she did that. >> when "dateline" continues.

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e-mail asking for her assistance in the murder case. he wrote, i hope you believe me when i tell you that you are not a person of interest nor are you a suspect in this case. >> did you all believe that at the time? or was that a technique to get her out of it? >> i think there was a thought process among all of us that we didn't know if she was involved or not. my intent, if we could get an interview with her, was to try and get her to give us the information we needed. >> your primary goal was to talk to her. >> correct. >> the e-mail didn't work. patricia wouldn't agree to be interviewed. however, investigators didn't stop there in building a case. if prosecutor murray couldn't get patricia to testify, he needed to find someone else who could list gianni and gonzalo. >> as it turns out, no. >> rereading the file, he

noticed a name. nancy luna. she had been with patricia and her sister the night they met gonzalo at el cortez. when he did, luna told him something that changed the case completely. she said patricia brought gianni to the club and identified gonzalo as the man who raped her. >> she told her boyfriend, who gonzalo ramirez was, and pointed him out to her boyfriend. >> this was a bombshell. patricia had told police all along she didn't know anything about the murder. now, a new witness could place patricia in the club with gianni the night gonzalo was killed. >> did that change the focus of patricia? >> it certainly made me realize that patricia was involved. >> it also made him take a fresh look at everything

patricia had said to police. it led to a disturbing conclusion. >> even after knowing that gonzalo ramirez was brutally murdered, she was willing to sit down at the age of 19 or 20 with hardened homicide investigators from the santa ana police department and look him in the eye and lie to them. repeatedly. >> now murray had a stronger case against gianni and he was starting to think he might have a case against patricia as well. of course, he wanted to question patricia. >> i wanted ms. esparza to know we knew she lied. i wanted to see why she did that. i wanted to give her an opportunity to explain why she would marry the person who was the prime suspect in a brutal murder. >> but remember, patricia was in france, out of reach. >> when somebody is in another country and you don't have

jurisdiction, there's not a lot you can do. she was not willing to speak, which was her right. she didn't have to. >> their only hope was that she would return to the u.s. so they put her name on the homeland security watch list in case she did. the next move was hers. >> so, we waited. >> waited for? >> ms. esparza to come back to the united states. coming up, a surprise for the professor. >> that was the longest night of my life. >> and another for investigators. >> he was there with her in the club. i intend to fight him. >> did any of the details surprise you about what patricia had to say when she finally broke her silence? >> i didn't believe she was involved as deep as she was. >> when "dateline"continues.

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october 2012, 17 years after the murder of gonzalo ramirez, october 2012, 17 years after the murder of gonzalo ramirez. prosecutor mike murray got the call he had been waiting for. patricia esparza was headed for the u.s. >> i know you're a patient man. was it a shock when you got that call? >> it was a bit of a shock. i was getting impatient. >> did you just hop on plane to go talk to her? >> that's exactly what we did. >> i was coming to the u.s. for

professional travel, and boston was a layer for me. >> she handed her passport to the customs officer. >> i noticed something was wrong when he stopped talking and he started to turn red. he asked me for my social security number to make sure i was the person on the screen. and i realized at that point that something was wrong, that this was not a regular procedure and that's when he gave a document to another woman, another officer who took me to a back room, searched through my luggage, and handcuffed me. >> patricia had no idea that murray was able to confront her with new evidence and new suspicions about the role she may have played in gonzalo's murder. >> that was the longest night of my life. >> the meeting happened at a holding facility in the airport. >> i wasn't naive. she had lied to investigators in 1995. she married the primary suspect

in the case. she had a life in france that i'm sure she didn't want to give up. i was reasonably certain she wasn't going to talk to us. >> did you get anything? >> no. we didn't. >> that must have been really frustrating. >> to me, it was more about giving her that opportunity and having her remember that opportunity later, down the line. >> murray then delivered a big blow patricia never saw coming. he charged her with first- degree murder. >> was that a complete shock? >> absolutely. and the first thought that ran through my head was, what is going to happen to my daughter? >> she called her husband, jorge mancillas, who was back in france with their three-year- old daughter. he knew patricia had a dark secret, but he didn't know how dark. >> so she told me that the basic points of the case and

then i immediately started searching, now that i had information. >> patricia was brought back to orange county to a jail in santa ana. >> i felt as if i was transported into a different planet when i went into jail. i mean, that is a world that i was completely just unknown to me. how you have no control over what you eat, when you eat it, where you eat it, when you sleep. everything is stripped away from you. >> the prosecutor hoped some time in jail with a murder charge hanging over her head might finally cause patricia to break her silence about what happened to ramirez. >> i made it very clear to her attorney in the beginning that i was interested in speaking to ms. esparza, if that's what she wanted to do. i couldn't make promises about what would or wouldn't happen with her case. i would give her an opportunity to make a statement, assess what it is that she had to say,

and then we would decide whether we would offer her anything or nothing. >> patricia spent two months behind bars. finally, in december, 2012, she broke. behind closed doors, patricia and the prosecutor came face to face once again. >> i don't know if you remember, ms. esparza -- >> with her lawyer sitting next to her, patricia finally opened up, starting with the encounter with gonzalo ramirez. >> a bit more aggressive. i was pushing him back and he pinned me down and i was wearing a pair of jeans and he took those off. >> she told the prosecutor how she confided in gianni about the alleged rape. >> he got really upset.

he asked me, who was it? where did you meet him? >> for the first time with investigators, she admitted that she was at the club the night gonzalo was killed. >> i remember him being on edge that night. i felt so much pressure at that point, and we were there for, i don't know. i actually don't know. but gonzalo was there at the club. i identified him. >> when he told you he wanted you to point this guy out, did he tell you what he was going to do? >> intimidate him, scare him. >> the long cold case turned white hot. police thought they finally had enough evidence and arrested gianni van a second time for

the murder of gonzalo ramirez. this time they made more arrests. two other people at the transmission shop that night. >> it was clearly a plan. they identified gonzalo ramirez at the club. they followed him from the club. they staged a car accident. they kidnapped him. they had taken him back to a transmission shop from santa ana. then dumped his body in irvine. >> all of them pleaded not guilty. it took a long time, but gonzalo's family felt they were finally getting answers and possibly justice. >> we tell the prosecutor, we told the detectives, i hope this guy will get what they deserve for the crime they did. >> now authorities had to consider the fate of patricia esparza. on the one hand, her

cooperation made the case against the other defendants. on the other, she admitted to playing a role in the murder. investigator dean fulture. >> did any of the details surprise you about what patricia had to say when she finally broke her silence? >> i knew she was the catalyst. i knew she had some involvement. i didn't realize she was involved as deep as she was. >> just how deeply? as you'll see, that would become a matter of dispute. but in return for her cooperation, patricia was granted bail and allowed to keep her passport. meaning, she could return home to europe. >> in the twenty years, i never agreed to recommend bail on a special circumstance murder case. >> why now? >> she was willing to use her mother's home as collateral and said that she would come back for any subsequent hearings. i didn't believe that she would

jeopardize her mother's home and financial security and flee. >> her husband, jorge mancillas was back in europe, trying to understand the secret his wife kept from him for years. >> i couldn't understand how she could have been living with such traumatic events in her past. i was very moved that she tried to protect me because then i understood what was the threat for me and our family. >> there was no anger? she should have told me? i should have known what was going on? >> no. i felt frustrated, because i thought perhaps i could have done something had i known what the circumstances were. >> patricia arrived home just before christmas. >> i cherished every minute of the day when i was with my little daughter when i went

back to geneva. i felt blessed and fortunate my life had been given back to me. the life we worked so hard to create. >> those days were very happy. we thought the nightmare was over. >> but the nightmare was far from over. >> coming up, defiance. >> he is willing to destroy a family, knowing i'm innocent. >> the professor and her husband strike back. >> i knew her heart. i knew her soul. >> prosecution of an innocent woman. >> when dateline continues. witr max hold & comfort. it has superior hold plus keeps us comfy all day with it's pressure absording layer. time for a bite! if your mouth could talk it would ask for... poligrip. hi, i'm janice, and i lost 172 pounds on golo. it would ask for... when i was a teenager i had some severe trauma in my life and i turned to food for comfort. a friend told me that i was the only one holding me back from being as beautiful

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many of the details of the murder plot that began with a strange kidnapping at this intersection many of 2the details of their murder plot that began with a strange kidnapping at this intersection in santa ana remained a mystery for almost twenty years. that was until patricia esparza was arrested and finally agreed to speak with investigators about the night gonzalo ramirez was killed. >> i was completely shocked. i felt it was clearly orchestrated and here i am. oh my goodness. it had to be orchestrated. >> her role in the case and the killing was far from clear. was she a victim? a witness? or something much more sinister? >> she had certainly allowed gonzalo ramirez's family to sit

for twenty years and wonder what had happened to their brother, what had happened to their father. >> do you think patricia esparza was just as responsible as the others? >> if you are asking if somebody aids and abets in a crime and is a willing participant in the crime, are they just as responsible in the eyes of the law? are they guilty of that crime? the answer is yes, unequivocally, yes. are they morally as responsible? maybe not. >> patricia charged with first- degree murder and out on bail was offered a deal in exchange for her testifying against her ex-husband, gianni van and the other codefendants. the deal, plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and serve three years in prison. in november 2013, patricia returned voluntarily to the united states for her next

court hearing. at that time, the prosecutor was hopeful the deal was done. but patricia had other plans. she would take her case to the court of public opinion. she and her husband called a last minute news conference outside the orange county courthouse. >> good morning and thanks for your patience. this is my wife, dr. norma patriciaest esparza. carries the possibility of life in prison without parole for a murder she did not commit. she is being charged for the murder of the man who raped her 18 years ago. >> standing with her four-year- old daughter, arianah, patricia made a very public statement, aimed directly at the district attorney. >> it is unfortunate that he is willing to destroy a family. that he is willing to strip me away from my daughter, knowing that i'm innocent. it is unfortunate and for that reason, we're coming forward

and talking to you about it. >> she announced she was going to refuse the plea deal. she would not take the witness stand in the case against gianni van if it meant she had to plead guilty. >> the principle of what they are asking me is plead guilty to something they know i'm not responsible for. it's essentially something i cannot accept because it would essentially be a lie. >> plus, she said, a conviction and prison sentence would destroy her professional reputation as a psychologist. >> this is not america. this is not justice. this is abuse of power. this is persecution of an innocent woman who has never harmed anyone. >> the news conference struck a nerve around the world. she was the one who set things in motion. patricia quickly gained supporters who saw her not as a suspect, but as a rape victim charged with a murder she didn't commit. the day after her news conference, patricia appeared

in court. after she officially turned down the prosecutor's plea deal, the judge issued a ruling. >> the circumstances have changed. >> patricia was handcuffed and sent back to jail. her husband gave her one last hug as she was led away. with his wife behind bars, he returned to europe with ariana. >> how do you explain to a four- year-old daughter who is happening to her mother? when she asks me where her mother is, i am unable to explain it to her. i just tell her, mommy will be back soon and committed to make sure that happens. >> jorge worked to drum up support for patricia. thousands of people signed a change.org petition. >> was there any doubt in your mind that she was telling the truth? >> i believed patricia's story immediately. there was no doubt in my mind. i knew her heart. i knew her soul.

i had no doubt that patricia was innocent to any wrong doing. i wanted to know the facts. i wanted to understand how it is that she was entangled in a situation like that. >> she had told her ever changing story to police, to the prosecutor, to her husband. how much would she be willing to tell us? >> it haunts me. and it has haunted me for the rest of my life. >> coming up. >> he was still alive when they brought you to see him? >> yes. >> what was the truth? >> i was dragged, pressured, bullied, intimidated. >> her full story at last. >> he destroyed the rest of my life. >> when "dateline" continues.

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hi, two russian strikes on ukraine killed eight civilians and injured at least ten early saturday. ukraine's national police say the attack was launched by

drones while regional officials say russians used missiles and bombs. and iowa's win against uconn drew 14.2 million viewers. that's the most in women's college basketball history. that's according to espn. iowa and undefeated south carolina will meet for the national championship sunday afternoon. and now let's get you back to dateline. patricia esparza, the petite psychology professor was an inmate wearing a blue jump suit. she was allowed to change her clothes for our interview. we sat down just days after she was ordered back to the orange county jail in 2013. >> did you ask yourself, how did i get here? >> oh, absolutely. absolutely. i have been rewinding so many

events in my life. especially being here and having so much time to think about how things progressed. i just ask myself so many questions. >> she said for a year, she answered the prosecutor's questions and even testified before a grand jury. >> i had no idea. i had no idea i was going to revisit that night again and again and again during this last 12 months. it has been -- it has been so difficult because i feel retraumatized every time i talk about it in an unsafe setting. i feel that i'm taken back to those moments and i get flash backs and i start to feel panic attacks and i have to really contain myself and bring myself back. >> her cooperation led to murder charges for her ex- husband, gianni van, and two

alleged accomplices who prosecutors say were involved in the death of ramirez. what about patricia herself? she set it in motion when she identified gonzalo at the club. patricia told a very different story. she was an innocent victim at the mercy of gianni van. >> i would go home to my mother's home on the weekends and that's when he took the opportunity to drag me through that whole night and the chain of events that took place that night. >> patricia told us that three weeks after the alleged rape, gianni suddenly showed up at her door. >> he said, let's talk. let's continue to see where we can go. i got in his car and once i was in the car, he took matters into his own hands. >> did he bring other men into the picture at this point?

>> yes. >> and did he tell you his intentions? >> never. never. >> she says she was too frightened to do anything, but go along. >> i was traumatized by the rape. i was still depressed. i was still weeping. i was still in distress and he took advantage of that. and he took advantage of that. >> did they take you to the bar? where you had met gonzalo? >> i don't want to revisit. my lawyer has advised me not to revisit in the interview. >> patricia did fill in the blanks for investigators about the rest of that night. gianni and the others drove her to the club. they went inside and insisted she point out gonzalo ramirez. when they left the club, she watched as they rear ended gonzalo's truck. when he got out to check the damage, the men forced him into

the white van and drove him to that transmission shop. patricia said she waited at this nearby bar and then later that night, she was driven to the shop and led up a small staircase to a loft. >> did you see him being beaten? >> no. no. i didn't see when they were actually beating him. they made me witness the aftermath of the beating. >> so he was still alive when they brought you to see him? >> yeah. >> and what kind of shape was he in at that point? >> um, not in good shape. >> did he know it it was you? did he remember you? >> i don't know if he did or didn't. i just, at that point, i just knew that they were doing all this to punish me.

they were mad at him for what he did, but they also were punishing me. >> what were they punishing you for? >> for having allowed it to happen. for somehow, not stopping it. >> were you able to say anything to gonzalo before he died? >> no. no. i was in shock and i screamed and i was just in fear. i couldn't possibly. i wasn't able to. >> patricia told us that was the last time she saw gonzalo. his hands were tied with chains in the transmission. she said she didn't find out he had been murdered until much later. >> what i can tell you is that i was dragged, pressured, bullied, intimidated, into that night when they actually took

gonzalo ramirez, kidnapped him, beat him up, and ultimately killed him. i never saw him dead, but i was terrorized by the violence that i witnessed. for me, these people were so foreign to me. they were just -- i didn't know who they were. i just knew they were dangerous and they were violent. and that scared the living daylights out of me. i feared for my own life. >> did you tell gianni you wanted to seek revenge on gonzalo? did you convince him to go there that night to kill gonzalo? >> never. she said she, too, was a victim of gianni van that night. >> he destroyed the rest of my life. the rape was difficult. the dragging me through that night, it haunts me. >> do you wish now that you hadn't gone to the police?

>> i wish that at some point, this whole cycle had been stopped either by an adult, but when you are traumatized. when you are raped. when you are terrorized. when you see what you saw, when these people are a mob, violent, i don't see how i could have possibly stopped if it wasn't something coming forward and helping me. >> patricia was willing to testify in gianni van's trial. as she said before, it had to be on her terms. she wasn't about to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter. >> perhaps it's 18 years later, but i don't think it's too late. i don't think it's too late to seek justice for him and to seek justice for myself. the only justice i can obtain is not be wrongfully convicted and taken away from my daughter's life. >> some might say it's quite the gamble to decide not to take the plea deal and you know, as few as three years, when you could get life in

prison. why take that chance? >> i never wanted gonzalo ramirez to be harmed. i had to look deep within myself. i had to reflect on who i was, think about my conscience and what could i live with? i can't live with the guilty plea. i could face life in prison. i would be stripped from my daughter's life for the rest of her growing years. that's a risk, but trusting the district attorney will know that we're both seeking the same goal. we both want justice for the man who raped me, and justice for myself. we are both unfortunate victims in a horrible series of events. >> a horrible series of events to be sure, but patricia esparza, a victim? the prosecutor wasn't buying it. >> she was a very educated woman. >> manipulative? in your eyes? >> yes. >> coming up. another woman there that night

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beautiful stair renovation, sir. and they're covered with your home and auto bundle with progressive, so you get round-the-clock protection. so, is gabby coming down? oh, she said she'll meet you at the prom. as patricia esparza sat in an orange county jail, there was another inmate who also faced charges in the murder of gonzalo ramirez. as patriciasat in jail, there was another inmate who also faced charges in the

murder of gonzalo ramirez. her name was dianne. what put her in jail was patricia's statement to investigators. she said there were several people involved in the murder and one of them was dianne. >> from outside the door, a male voice. i heard, yes, from everybody. i didn't expect her. >> remember the transmission shop where patricia saw gonzalo in chains in diana owned that shop with her husband, cody. he died by suicide before police could charge him. that left diane. her defense attorney was robert weinberg. >> how was she doing? >> she is under so much pressure.

the loss of her freedom. to say it is a shock is an under statement. >> according to diane attorney, she was at the shop because he forced her to be there. >> cody was a very, very difficult character to live with. very volatile. violent. i would say that she was subject to his commands, come to the shop. cocome with me. >> diane's story was like patricia's. she was a wife that went along out of fear. >> diane had nothing to do with this at all. >> so when patricia turned down her plea deal and refused to testify, a door opened for diane. >> you are willing to plead guilty to the new charge and the enhancement and receive a possible sentence of up to four years in prison? >> diane made a deal with the

prosecutor, pleading guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, in exchange, she agreed to testify in the case against patricia, and her testimony would be explosive. diane said patricia wasn't forced into anything, but instead, took part in planning the murder. >> gianni was talking about wanting to find this guy and retaliate. according to diane, those discussions about retaliation began immediately. she indicated there were conversations that took place where she was present, where gianni talked about killing gonzalo ramirez, where ms. esparza was present, and ms. esparza knew that the plan was to kill gonzalo. >> a claim, remember, that patricia strongly denied in our interview. >> did he tell you his intentions? >> never. never. >> investigator, dean, believed

that patricia not only knew what gianni was planning, she may have orchestrated it. >> started peeling back the layer, you find that there was an individual who i think is a very manipulative person, who was pulling the strings and claiming to be the victim. while she is using other people to exact revenge on the individual she feels raped her. >> but many people did see patricia as a victim and a movement calling for her freedom was building. supporters attended court hearings wearing t-shirts that read, set patricia free. >> we're here to stand in solidarity with her and as well as other sexual assault victims across the world. >> many saw an accomplished woman who overcome terrible trauma. only to be victimized again by the legal system. >> there are two victims here and i hope that the da finds to get justice for those that committed this crime and stop persecuting the other victim in

the case. >> that didn't seem to phase the prosecutor. >> i knew that she had hundreds, if not thousands of supporters who had never read a single police report. never listened to a single taped interview. she had them convinced she was being wrongfully accused. if she was a victim of a sexual assault, that she couldn't therefore also be a defendant in a murder case. >> so much time had passed. she didn't actually commit the crime. why were you not willing to let it go? >> they left a man on the side of the road like garbage. why should the fact she lived a free life for twenty years be in any way mitigating? to me, it's aggravating. she got her time. she got to live as if she had never been involved in this incident. >> some might describe patricia as a rape victim, a mother, a

phd, a wife. someone who has done good things for the world. how would you describe her? >> i think all those might be accurate and yet, you could still add to that list, murder. >> a tough prosecutor poised for trial, with one more move up his sleeve. >> it was another one of ms. esparza's lies. >> coming up. >> did you tell patricia, i think we can win this? >> i did tell patricia i thought we could win the case. >> eighteen years of secrets. one momentous decision. >> when "dateline" continues. so you can rise from pain. icy hot. ♪you're the one that i want!♪ nexgard® plus helps you protect your dog from fleas, ticks, heartworm disease and more...

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when seasoned defense attorney jack early met patricia esparza, the psychology professor charged when seasoned defense attorney met patricia esparza, she turned down a plea deal and no longer cooperating with the orange county district attorney's office. >> patricia flipped the crime, saying she was the victim. she had to witness this brutality. do you think that's a fair assessment? >> i definitely it's a fair assessment. i think patricia would be the first to say she never would want anyone to think this was done in her name. >> that's exactly what prosecutor mike murray believed. in his mind, patricia epsarza helped plan it, and obstructed

the investigation by marrying the prime suspect so she wouldn't have to testify against him. the prosecutor believed patricia lied repeatedly for twenty years. right up to the time of her arrest in 2012. remember, she told us she was on her way to the u.s. for a conference. >> i was coming to the u.s. for professional travels. >> it turns out, she was really flying to boston to meet a former boyfriend. >> a gentleman arrived at the airport and that gentleman said that he was there to pick ms. esparza up, and she had agreed to come and stay with him in connecticut for a week at his home. >> that's kind of an interesting turn of events. >> interesting. not particularly significant to the murder investigation. just interesting that ms. esparza continues to lie when it suits her needs.

>> and there was yet another inconsistency that was relevant to the case. patricia told us, you may recall, that gianni van forced her to marry him. >> i feared for my life. >> take a look at these photos of patricia and gianni, a seemingly happy couple. all of them were taken after the murder. after they had secretly married. and according to the prosecutor, it is possible the biggest lie of all was the reason for the murder in the first place. patricia had been raped. >> she claims that she told the nurse fromthe clinic that she was raped. >> there's no record that she did. according to the medical records, patricia was examined by a doctor and nurse that day. the notes from the visit say patricia had unprotected sex and wanted a morning after pill. no mention of a rape. we contacted the college about patricia's visit to the clinic. they told us given the two

decades and personnel changes since patricia was treated, they had no further information. >> what was your gut telling you about the rape? did you believe that patricia was really raped? >> anybody who is sexually assaulted, it's a horrific experience. i can only imagine. i don't know. there just isn't enough evidence. it's inconclusive. >> patricia and the prosecutor remained at odds. >> the da was playing hardball with her. >> he was playing hardball. >> did you tell patricia, i think we can win this? >> i also told her, i'm not the one that does the time. i was able to raise my children. that's not a decision i have to make. >> meanwhile, the date was set for gianni van to face a jury. patricia was running out of time. any possibility for a plea deal would have to come before gianni's trial, so she could

testify for the prosecution. she instructed the daughter to see if a deal was still possible. the clock was ticking. >> just tearing her up? >> she had a lot of traffic in her mind as to what that decision meant to a lot of people. including her husband, her family, it was a very, very difficult decision. >> do you have any questions about what you are doing here today? >> patricia's decision came on the same day the trial for gianni van was set to begin. >> did you have an opportunity to read this plea agreement? >> yes, sir. >> did you discuss it with your lawyer? >> yes. >> violation of count two, voluntary manslaughter of gonzalo ramirez, do you plead guilty or not guilty? >> guilty of voluntary manslaughter. patricia had backed down. her sentence under this new deal, six years in prison. according to the prosecutor, everything they had learned

made the case against patricia stronger. she turned down the initial three-year plea deal. she ended up getting six. does she regret that decision at all? >> of course she regrets it in that way. that was another discussion we had. you have to live with yourself. >> did you feel like justice had been done? >> that's a hard question to answer. did i feel there was some closure with regard to ms. esparza? sure. was it justice? no. it is the way in many cases, you solve crimes. i don't think it was necessarily justice for gonzalo ramirez brothers or daughters. it's what allows us to move forward with the rest of the case. it's what allows us to move forward with the trial against gianni van. >> gianni van's trial began in 2015. twenty years to the day after

gonzalo's death. >> the evidence is going to show that the defendant acted as judge, jury, and executioner. >> the prosecutor said gianni committed murder to avenge the rape of patricia, not so, said his defense attorney. >> even though he was upset about the rape, he never had homicide thoughts of revenge. he was the one that would prevent the fight and not instigate him. what happened in april of 1995, was way beyond anything that mr. van could have ever imagined or could have ever conjured up. >> patricia testified for the prosecution. gianni took the stand in his own defense. he said the other people in the transmission shop that night were the true killers. after just one day of deliberation, the jury reached a verdict. >> we the jury find the defendant, gianni van, guilty

of the crime of murder in the first degree. >> gianni van was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. patricia was released in june of 2018 as part of an early release program after serving less than five years behind bars. gonzalo's brothers were disappointed by patricia's sentence because it was her story that led to the murder. >> he is a criminal mind. she know how to play with the people. yeah. >> and so, all these years later, the murder of gonzalo ramirez may be solved, but a big question remains. who is the real patricia esparza? >> throughout the investigation, i saw her as potentially a victim, but as it progressed and time went on, i learned more. the only word i can come up with is manipulative. she can manipulate people. >> to those who support

patricia, she's a woman who beat tremendous odds. poverty to a phd and became a symbol for victim's rights. a role she now embraces. >> the reason i went into psychology, was to help heal people. i think it's enough to be terrorized. it's enough to be abused. it's enough to be traumatized by a rape, and i tried to seek a meaningful life where i can change people's lives and that has been my objective. i'm going to put this behind me. i need to put this behind me. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." i couldn't live with that. i said, i know something, and it's terrible. i felt guilty. i couldn't live with that. i said, i