i'm here i'm in pain. so hurt so sad. i would give anything for them to be here. >> they were new to college and newly in love. the whole world ahead of them. >> he pulls me up he gives me this magical kiss. >> but their secret romance would lead to something shattering when christian vanished. >> oh god. my young life went out the window. >> it was tense. we were nervous. we were scared. >> i'm starting to believe that there might be more to this than just a missing person. >> where was he? did someone have something to

hide? >> there was blood under the car. >> a lover's triangle. a circle of friends. was one of them killer? >> this was planned. this was on purpose. >> how could you do something so horrific? >> i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." here's dennis murphy with circle of friends. r. remember going away to college, maybe your first time away from home? there were new friends waiting to be made. the tinkleing of possibilities. >> oh god. the first kiss was amazing. >> sometimes disappointments when things didn't work out. >> i thought he was just depressed. we just didn't take it that seriously and, you know maybe we should have. >> for three florida teenagers, the decisions they made as they started campus life had terrifying legal consequences. >> i mean it all seemed

surreal. when we were told about it we thought, this can't possibly be hang. >> the story of our three begins at a high school near miami. not skwiet hogquite hogwarts. a trio of friends laughing and wrestling through adolescents together at doral academy, a charter school for ahigh achieving smart kids. >> i moved there in 6th grade. >> for erica freeman, doral was a special place. >> i met people from all over the world. it was interesting. they had a lot of opportunities academically. i don't think you get an average high school. >> erica was smart, upbeat pretty. she loved everything from sky diving to shakespeare. and in her sophomore year she caught the eye of a cute guy in class, pedro. >> he was a clown, a funny guy around people. he was always making jokes. >> the back down if class kinds of guy?

>> not really act out in class, but he'd act out as soon as class was over. it was just to get the crowd laughing or this or that. >> pedro was a fellow rock solid student with an artistic flair. he showed real talent. >> he can draw anything anything you wanted. >> robert lopez was a friend and classmate. >> anything from a graphics comic to a picture, art? >> yeah he was very very gifted in that sense. >> erica and pedro quickly became an item. teenage lovers, but with adult dreams. >> we were in a pretty serious relationship. we were a little more mature than the average. we didn't go out and drink. we were just really focused on school and each other. >> another sharply focused buddy was christian aguilar. >> i met him through pedro. he was awesome. he was funny. he was nice. we instantly -- we were

instantly good friends. >> christian was a soccer player the son of the immigrants became an all american boy, videogames kanye west rap in his ears plans to become a doctor. >> you have to understand christian, you have to understand how academically motivated he was. >> he was very driven. it wasn't that his family was pushing him. he wanted to make them proud. >> these three high achieving musketeers christian, erica and pedro all posed for this snapshot. >> did you do a limo? >> we did a limo. we all showed up took plenty of pictures. you know it was fun. >> for a lot of american kids it was for these three, graduation from high school is one of those big paths crossing in the woods. a lot of, what are you going to do next? let's stay friends together kind of good-byes. >> mr. christian aguilara.

>> christian intent on premed got into the university of florida in gainesville. >> r. was christian happy when his papers came through? >> he was ecstatic. >> all three wanted to be gators at usf as a top school only contradiction got in. erica was headed to a different college in gains victim santa fe while pedro planned to take classes near his home in miami. and as graduation year more life decisions. erica broikt off. she didn't want a long distance relationship. after all, they were just 18-years-old, a big wide world was ahead of them both. >> i wanted to find someone and fall in love with them and live a normal life. i just didn't think he was the one for me. >> they were barely unpacked classes just starting when a sudden change of plans, pedro didn't want to be left behind in miami after all. as the fall sfefter started, he

showed up in gainesville as his friend robert remembered. >> he was visiting. that was the intention. then he ended up signing a lease and enrolling in classes in the fall at santa fe college. >> maybe there was life after the hogwarts for pedro, erica and contradiction. could this friendship be renewed, survive a five-hour move up the interstate from miami? if that was, indeed the hope it was dashed with some awful news on september 21st 2012. >> it was tense. we were nervous. we were scared and you know what could have happened? >> christian never showed wasn't answering his phone. >> it's not like christian to just not answer. it's not like him not to just disappear. there was something wrong. >> christian aguilar had vanished. what could be behind christian's sudden disappearance? when we come back we trace in his last steps, a rough neighborhood and a curious stranger.

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three teenager all college freshman in gainesville, florida long time friends. but now one of them christian, was a no show for meeting with his circle of friends. didn't pick up the phone, not so much as a text. >> it got later and later and i start calling our friends. i'm like i want to make sure have you seen christian. >> when you're not getting texts back when do you start to go from worried to freaked out? >> all that night. i couldn't really sleep. i had passed by his dorm room to see if possibly his phone died and he couldn't answer. his phone got wet. i was thinking of all these

different scenarios. he wasn't in his dorm. where was he staying? where was he sleeping where is he? >> the next morning still nothing from christian. he hadn't come back from his dorm room. erica and pedro her ex boyfriend went to the gainesville police. >> we going to the window and explaining our situation. and the lady pretty much laughed at me. >> they're blowing you off? >> yeah. i was just there like this lady better hope there's nothing wrong here. i was so upset because i wanted someone to pay attention. this is a serious thing. >> after all christian wouldn't be the first college freshman to go off the grid for a bit. maybe taking a break from his studies. crashing at another dorm. but his friends were worried. and the cops told them to go see if the campus police could help. >> the big thing i want to find out is has anybody been in contact and when was the last time they contacted him. where was the last time anybody was in contact with him. >> officer tim peck talked to the concerned pair. found out that pedro was the

last friend to see christian the previous day. >> he walks me through the day. and you know, once he meets christian they go -- christian needs to get a flu shot. they go back to pedro's car which is parked on campus. at that point they go to best buy. >> a routine afternoon until pedro told them they decided to do something impulsive. >> he tells me at one point they stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. >> he said they drove around town. >> the hitchhiker wanted to get out and then he wanted to get out. >> that's where they parted near this auto body shop. that neighborhood around the body shop raised alarms for the officer. it had rough spots. >> some of the area is known to have gang activity and a drug area. that concerned me were they up

there that reason or is the process of christian getting dropped off that he ran into something or wander into a bad area. >> i knew there was a large homeless community in gainesville. there still is. i was a little concerned about that. if he was in the woods somewhere and he stumbled into a campground of homeless people and, you know they decided to do something to him. that was one of the options i had thought of. >> a gang area homeless camps and a mysterious hitchhiker. there seemed reason enough to be worried. erica called christian's parents carlos and claudia down in miami and told them that christian was missing. >> what did you think? >> i knew something was wrong. >> it was that worrying for you, that behavior -- >> not at all that was not christian. >> along with christian's younger brother alex, they jumped in the car to head to gainesville. >> that was the most silent car ride we ever had. we didn't talk.

we didn't know what to say to one another. >> what did missing mean to you? >> missing at first, maybe he got injured got into a car accident. went to a party. we couldn't tell because we don't know who he hangs out with. >> once he arrives police had questions for alex and his parents. >> they bring us into a small room and an officer asked what type of person is christian, is he normally like this would he go out does he drink do drug. >> what were seeing from christian's parents? >> confused. there was pain in their eyes. >> they were all about to channel that pain into determination with more friends heading up from miami. >> i had a whole group of individuals who were just as concerned as i was. just as focussed and driven to find christian. i didn't feel so alone once they got there. i felt we're going to find him. we can do this. >> christian's family and

friends were hopeful he'd turn up. and soon. and for officer peck the case of the missing student, got more baffling when he caught wind of a secret. christian had been trying to hide something. was his secret the key to finding him? >> there is something else going on here that i'm not aware of. what exactly that is, i'm not sure. >> coming up, the secret turns out someone else knew it too. it was about to be revealed. right there at the police station. >> you know, christian? >> yes. yes. >> how do you know him? >> i was concerned i was

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erica freeman and pedro bravo were at that uf campus police station trying to help the cops track down their friend, christian. surveillance cameras were rolling as they made their report to officer tim peck. then his team quickly went to work. tracing the missing student with the usual technology tools. they pinged their cell phone, it was off. checked the university computers, christian had not logged on. >> we checked with the hospitals, local hospitals to see if he was in there. we checked with our notes from the previous night run his night

to see if he had contact with us. check with the city and county. to see if they had any contact with him. >> no sign of christian anywhere. you're still calling and texting. >> i'm still calling and texting, i'm sending messages like we're going to find you. i love you so much. i can't wait to see you again. everything is going to be okay. trying to calm myself down. >> it was in those hours inside the campus police station that erica disclosed a secret that christian had been keeping. it was her secret, too. since high school graduation and her breakup with pedro she and christian had become more than friends. >> it was very exciting. we thought it was great. we thought this is us learning how to get used to gainesville. and it was like i had my best friend with me. it was somebody who i could always turn to somebody i always did turn to and somebody who was always going to be there for me. >> who made the move for the first embrace.

>> he did. he drove to my house. and i see him, and i instantly -- we hug and i'm there. and i'm just nervous. i haven't been this nervous. i had butterflies in my stomach. he grabbed my chin and he pull mead up and he just gives me thigmagical kiss. >> you became a exultcouple in that moment? >> yes, our first date was going to a restaurant, chick-fil-a. we had the butterflies in our stomach. we felt like is it still really happening? i kept pinching myself like god this is crazy. i can't believe this. >> in a matter of weeks their young lives she and christian had changed completely e. they were madly, deeply in love. >> what do you think the two of you had? >> something very rare. something you don't find every day. something amazing. something -- i don't even know

how to explain what we had. it's like not a care in the world because you're just so happy to be with that person. >> young girls are in love sometimes with being in love, but this doesn't sound like that? >> no. this is something where you clicked on every level. >> out of friendship and respect they kept the new romance from pedro erica's ex. his friends knew something was eating away from pedro ever since graduating from high school. he'd been in a kind of funk. >> did he change at all? >> yes as matter of fact. as time went on he kind of was a little more withdrawn. he was just starting to keep to himself a little more. i thought he was just depressed. you know, we all go through it we all feel like oh, my gosh. >> his buddy henoticed alarming behavior. we went to this restaurant, the

swamp, it's well-known in gainesville. the tab went to $70 and he paid up the whole tab why would you do that? he said i'm not worried about it. i won't need this money soon. >> whoa. did that give dwrouyou an insight into his head? >> that's when we realized he's not okay. >> was pedro suicidal, all the more reason for erica and christian to keep the romance quiet. >> i didn't want him to go at home that night knowing i was dating a mutual friend and him think, you know i'm going to end my life right now. >> now with christian's dist appearance the cat was out of the bag. at the university police station that day erica blurted it out with pedro right there in the room. >> do you know christian? >> yes. yes. >> okay. >> how do you know him? >> his girlfriend. >> you're his girlfriend? >> yes.

oh, i'm sorry. >> she tells me her and christian had started dating but they dink think pedro know. >> how would he react to that? the officer sensed something seemed to be brewing in the circle of friends. what that was wasn't clear. for now everyone was focused on finding christian. >> they were all feeling like we're all in this together, we are all worried about christian. he's our friend. we're trying to do whatever we can to help locate him. >> officer peck could see that erica was becoming increasingly agitated. so as the campus cop was checking out the stories these two friends had told him. he decided it was time to bring in investigators from the gainesville pd. and the first thing they'd want to do is to talk to pedro bravo. >> i have to tell you one thing. >> coming up, a dramatic new clue. >> we found christian's backpack. >> where would this discovery lead? >> i overheard police officers discussing like a love triangle.

>> i'm starting to believe there might be more to this than just a missing person.

college kids in a college town. that first whiff of freedom can lead to some less than responsible, even reckless

behavior. in the case of missing freshman, christian. campus police had begun to suspect something sinister may have happened. they called in a veteran detective from the gainesville pd. >> when i walked in there was two girls sitting in the lobby which was erica freeman and her sister. there was a male, which later i had found out was pedro bravo who was in an interview room. >> since he was the last person known to have seen christian he topped the list of people detective randy roberts wanted to speak to. >> i wanted to her mr. bravo's story from beginning to end exactly has he told upd so i could get a feel of what was going on. >> me, too. in the last 48 hours when have you seen christian? >> yesterday. >> pedro repeat his account of that last day he'd seen his friend. how they'd run some errands, grabbed a bite to eat. swung over to best buy so

christian could pick up the latest kanye west cd. that's them around 3:00 p.m. again he told the story of how they picked up a hitchhiker in a rough part of town. >> how old was he? >> mid50's but i couldn't tell. >> how else was he dressed? >> he had a cowboy hat. >> detective roberts pressed pedro about how and why they parted ways. he revealed after dropping off the hitchhiker he and christian got into an argument about a girl. it had nothing to do with erica. christian and erica had been trying to keep their relationship secret. this was about another girl from high school. >> i made a comment for this girl i had a crush on for three years. he poured out his heart that it didn't work out. he got mad. he was silent for a few minutes.

and then he told me to stop. stop the car. he wants to get out. >> what did you do? >> i was angry at him too, so i stopped the car and jds fine, get out. >> ininvestigator listened with a skeptical ear as pedro described driving away, stopping at mcdonald's and again going home to bed with no idea something had happened until his phone rang at 4:00 a.m. and erica told him that christian was missing. >> i got up and tried to go back to sleep but i couldn't. like -- i felt kind of guilty because i dropped him off. i was afraid what if something happened. what if he's lost right now. >> pedro let them search his car for any clues related to christian. bingo, they found something interesting. >> they found a receipt showing him or someone else using his vehicle had made a trip to mcdonald's during the night. >> mcdonald's. where pedro claimed he'd eaten after christian jumped out of

the car. call it 7:00 p.m. and change. the receipt was time stamped 12:54 a.m. more than five hours later than he'd told them. >> you went to mcdonald's in the middle of the night. maybe you forgot. maybe you forgot something else. >> the back and forth with detective roberts started sounding more like an interrogation. >> you leave things out. it makes you look like you did something bad. >> as for the story about the hitchhiker the cops checked it out but couldn't come up with anything. >> we checked surveillance video in the area they said they dropped him and didn't find anybody. we checked area businesses to see if there was someone like that that matched the description of the hitchhiker and didn't find anyone. >> was pedro hiding something? >> is there anything we need to change about where you went at what times and things like that? >> there was. just when it seemed the interview was ending pedro decided to keep talking. there was something he'd left

out. >> one thing i have to tell you, because -- you're right i can't keep everything from you. i have to tell you one thing. >> that one thing was huge. >> like, in the scope with chris it wasn't an argument. i made a comment about the girl he had a crush on. he got angry with that. he came back with maybe you should just [ bleep ] kill yourself. and that's when i turned around and punched him straight in the face. >> a fist fight. this was a new detail he'd never mentioned. pedro was now admitting to leaving his buddy by the side of the road bleeding from a sock in the nose. >> i'm starting to believe that there might be something more to this than just a missing person. >> but what? while investigators tried to figure it out, they decided they couldn't led pedro go home. they charged him with depriving a victim of medical care. for bloodying christian's nose and leaving him on the side of the road. >> i had a suspicion that you know the meeting took a wrong

turn. and that they got into an argument and what could have happened? what exactly is pedro capable oof? >> meanwhile the search for christian was only getting bigger. and for his family and friends, more desperate. >> what's going through your head? is it like, it's me, alex i'm in the woods i'm trying to find you where are you? >> when we were searching it was just to do something. you fear useless and helpless. >> posters are going occupy? >> we're handing out posters and flyer during the football. >> gainesville police were doing their own searches they folks attention on pedro. they searched his apartment two days after christian had gone missing. what did they find in the closet? >> christian's backpack was hidden inside of pedro's backpack and then hidden inside of a suitcase. >> why would a friend have

another friend's backpack? >> that's our concern. why he hide the backpack. it was very well-hidden. we thought this is paidedro trying to cover up. >> he's gone from being a person of interest to a suspect. >> it was very quickly it felt that all happened. it's hard to swallow that something that huge. this is somebody you have known for so long. >> erica had to face the possibility that maybe she and christian hadn't been so good at keeping secrets. maybe pedro had known all about their relationship. and if it sent him over the edge. >> i overheard police officers discussing that you know like a love jealous rage kind of thing.e$ >> i didn't want to think of that. i can't imagine somebody doing something so -- especially somebody as smart as pedro. >> when the crime scene techs

processed the suv there it was. blood. now the police believed pedro hadn't just punched out christian, they believed he killed him. on the friday a week after pedro bravo had helped report his good friend missing, he was charged with first degree murder. >> with the blood evidence with the backpack being hidden and with him being away for so long that's when we decided to upgrade the charge to murder. >> your high school boyfriend who had been in your life for a long time is charged with a first degree murder of the guy you were describing as the man of your life? >> yes. it was exactly what happened. very strange. strange life i have. >> but there's an axiom in homicide work no body no case. investigators hadn't found christian's body. so what else were they finding out about pedro bravo? >> coming up, the case heads into court. and the star witness? >> i don't want to see him be

around him. i wanted him gone. >> the young woman at the center of it all is facing pedro and a painful past. >> it got emotional. i got really thrown aback. i was why do

as pedro bravo sat in jail charged with the murder of his

friend christian, the search for christian continued. his family clinging to hope, but fearing the worst. >> you're looking all day from sunrise to sunset with people you are meeting along the way. a bunch of volunteers. police officers. >> but after three weeks of searching. >> just down this road here is where those two men found human remains on friday afternoon. >> two hunters walking through acreage came across a body buried in a shallow grave. it was christian. >> in a way we were expecting it. >> erica could not absorb the news. >> you never want to just accept that kind of news. but at least we were able to find him. >> state of florida versus pedro bravo. >> nearly two years after christian died, his high school friend pedro was now on trial for murder. he pleaded not guilty. >> erica, your personal belief, do you believe that pedro killed christian? >> yes. >> why?

for what reason? >> i think it was the mixture of jealousy. academically and involving me. >> central to the prosecution's case, simple high school geometry. a love triangle. christian, his new girlfriend erica and her ex pedro bravo. a motive as old as time the prosecutor said. >> mr. bravo's plan, not just the murder christian aguilar. that's part of it. he's got to reunite with erica. >> the prosecutor painted a picture of a man obsessed with getting erica back. the stair witness was a very nervous erica. >> i didn't want to see him i didn't want to be near him. i just wanted him gone. >> with pedro barely looking at her. she read some of the non-stop text messages pedro had been sending her. >> i came all this way, i miss you like crazy.

i love you despite everything that's happened. maybe i'm stupid but i can't help the feeling. i'm so sorry. i'm so, so sorry. >> on the stand, the prosecution asked erica to read out loud sections of pedro's journal. thoughts that would show the jury just how fixated on her he was. >> i can win her back. i will win her back. i want to give up everything to be with her again. >> but it was the sight of an evidence bag containing christian's backpack, his personal stuff from a care free happy time that caused erica to lose it on the stand. >> i got really emotional. i got really thrown aback. i was just like why did you have to bring this out? why do you want to show me this. >> the prosecution wasn't done. there was more to its theory of motive. despite their best efforts. christian and erica hadn't done a very good job concealing their relationship from pedro. >> pedro went into christian's facebook and e-mail accounts and

read conversations between erica and christian. >> so christian was the romantic rival. and he needed to go argued the state. >> we knew that he knew about it prior to them going off that day. >> this wasn't simply a crime of passion, the prosecution charged. it was a cold premeditated murder. the prosecution alleged pedro started plotting his friend's murder on september 16th. four days before christian disappeared. >> he's at home and on his computer. >> google searches were found on pedro's lap top. questions like what is chlorform. can rubbing alcohol knock someone out. what kinds of murders get solved. here on security video, is pedro at a walmart buying a sleep aid product 55 yards of duct tape and a hunting knife. in his hand was a shovel he'd just bought at lowe's. >> he literally bought the murder starter pack.

>> as the prosecution theory goes pedro used the icems to drug and strangle his friend. >> on 9 he pulled in. >> he showed surveillance video in a walmart parking lot. investigators believe inside the vehicle the murder is going on. >> they pull up a little further and sit there for another long period. >> when he leaves that parking lot, christian is dead. he murders him in the car. >> forensics confirm that was christian's blood that investigators had found in pedro's suv. and they discovered even more intriguing evidence in the trunk. an empty gatorade bottle caked with residue from sleeping aid. >> putting those together in large quantity could cause

someone to lose consciousness. >> once he was dead he had to dispose of the body. that tale of how that happened was told by his phone. his phone was on airplane mode for more than five hours. investigators could see pedro had used an app, the flash light app for 48 minutes. >> he's using the flash light and burying chris's body. >> the prosecution had another piece of evidence that tied him beyond a reasonable doubt to the murder. duct tape. >> when we found the body he had duct tape wrapped around his ankle. the piece on his ankle was found from the same piece of tape that was inside pedro's windshield. >> when he was done burying his friend the prosecution said he stopped at mcdonald's for the bite to eat. then he drove to a car wash. >> at 1:00 we have pedro washing

his vehicle for 12 minutes. that tells me he's trying to get rid of evidence. >> when he got home he washed hids clothes and crawled and bed in time to get erica's 4:00 a.m. phone call. >> who duct taped him? pedro bravo. who put him in a grave, pedro bravo. who killed him? pedro pedro bravo. >> the prosecution rests its case. the defense thought it needed one witness. pedro bravo was about to take the stand. >> he would have a dramatically different story to tell. >> did you drink the concoction? >> could sfx: engines revving. listen up. ready. ready. steady. sfx: engines revving. go! ♪

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the prosecution's portrait of pedro bravo wuz clear and unforgiving. he was so fixated on winning back his former girlfriend, he would kill anyone who got in his way. anyone. >> i didn't think pedro deserved to walk the streets. i didn't think it would be safe for anyone for him to be out in the normal world with normal people. i think he could be border line soci path. >> the defense had a flip side to the narrative. >> 18-year-old honor student from miami. charter academy. he had issues. that he wanted to talk to his best friend about. >> his best friend that's what the defense said christian was to pedro right up to the time he

disappeared. his lawyer insisted that pedro never saw christian as a romantic rival. that's because he didn't know that christian and erica were dating until that day in the police station. >> do you know christian? >> yeah. >> okay how do you know him? >> i'm his girlfriend. >> and now the jury was about to hear from pedro himself. and only pedro. the sole witness for the defense. and when he took the stand, the jurors didn't see some hulking psycho killer but a pale intelligence love sick boy in a tidy suit. >> i graduated from doral academy yes. >> though he denied any malice towards christian he did concede another key element of the state's case. he was desperate to rekindle his relationship with erica freeman. >> i still loved her. my -- i was still very enamored

of her. >> when it became clear she wasn't coming back. he told the jury he sank into a deep depression about erica and everything else in his sad disintegrating life. >> i felt like a failure. everything is a messism everything feels like a mess. and i feel like i'm breaking apart piece by piece. >> that's why he made plans to hang out with christian that afternoon. he wanted help. >> chris was one of the people i could talk to about this. he had gone through the same thing. >> how did that man to man talk end up in a fist fight? ped resays it started after christian said something terrible >> he tells me why don't you go [ bleep ] kill yourself. >> what happened next? >> i turned around and i hit him in the nose with my left fist. >> while you're driving. >> while i'm driving yes. >> that punch in the face could explain how christian's blood ended up in the car. next pedro told the jury he pulled over and the fight moved into the streets.

after a few minutes pedro left the scene. >> what is chris's condition when you leave? >> i could tell he didn't get up right away but that he was still moving. >> so breathing? >> yes. >> when you did this, did you have any malicious intent to kill christian aguilar? >> no, it was spur of the moment. >> all right. and you decided to leave? >> yes. >> and have you come to regret that decision? >> i feel like i'm going to regret that decision for the rest of my life. >> so pedro admitted he fought christian but claimed he didn't kill him. and as he drove away, pedro said the only person he wanted to destroy was himself. that's when he says he decided to do it. commit suicide. >> now, was this just suicidal ideation or were you going to act on it? >> i was going to act on it. >> all that evidence presented by the prosecution wasn't about

murder, it was about suicide. the drug laced gatorade cocktail wasn't meant for christian it was meant for pedro himself. >> did you drink the concoction in the gatorade bottle? >> yes, i drank the concoction. >> obviously an unsuccessful suicide attempt. the desire to end his life was very real. he was combing the web for information about chloroform rubbing alcohol and sleeping pills because he was planning his own death. he even brought along the chival as part of his plan. >> i was going to dig myself my grave. >> the jury had to decide who is pedro bravo a killer without a conscious or a self-destructive love sick boy. before they got the case, prosecutors gave the jurors something else to consider, some of the weirder evidence ever to come from a jail house snitch. >> could you state your name please. >> michelangelo.

>> he had cut a dear with prosecutors for exchange for leniency was a cell mate of pedro brauv row. >> he slip a note to me. >> it asked the note for someone on the outside to commit a serious of murders similar to christian's killing suggesting the murder was at large and pedro was innocent. he wrote three to four people unfortunately must die. they are random individuals but preference would be two uf students. tased to incapacitate and strangled to kill and have the hands duct taped. >> it's a plan to convince the were that christian was murdered by a serial killer. >> as the jurors struggled to get their heads around this twist the trial came to the end. so much for one family to go through. you could see the tension on thir faces as they began waiting for the verdict.

>> we all talked to each other. that day wasn't a day to celebrate whatever the jury had to decide. >> whatever the jury decided erica knew there would be sorrow. the jurors came back in less than four hours. they found pedo bravo guilty of murder in the first degree. a verdict the family wanted. but there were no winners that day. about an hour later pedro bravo faced the junldge at his sentencing insisting to the end. >> i did not kill christianing a i'lla ular. i know in my heart what i did and god knows what i did. >> the judge sentenced pedro to life without parole. he's appealing his decision. the day after the verdict christian's family made a heart wrenching visit to the place where their son's body had been found. since his death they have created the christian aguilar search and rescue foundation which supports the use of tracking dogs to find the

missing. and now christian's brother alex is embracing an opportunity that has a bitter sweetness to it. he's attending the university of florida in gainesville. >> i'm going through all the stuff he went through. i remembered how he was during that time. and i guess now i've always followed his example in school. and that example is gone. i have to i guess, just follow my own path. >> erica will be there. but moving ahead has been hard for her. she can't forget that fleeting moment when she fell in love with christian and then he was gone just like that. >> we didn't date that long. we had the death talk. we have what happens if something happened tomorrow. he looked at me and he said i don't know what i would do without you. i said i tell you what you're going to do you're going to find so 9♪ ♪

nbc bay area news starts now. >> right now at 11:00, we've waited 40 years and now we are here. on the eve of the nba finals. good evening everyone.

i'm jessica. >> it's finally time to play the game. >> and all eyes will be on bay area tomorrow. >> terry, this is more than just basketball, these are the type of events that have a lasting impact. >> reporter: absolutely. the mayor of oakland says too many of them so far have been of san francisco and not enough of oakland where the warriors actually play and she's doing something about it. the city of oakland is rolling out its gold carpet for fans at the oracle arena. >> my wife is expecting so we want to go to the game but. >> reporter: super star lebron james is dancing dur