i cry with the family members. and you feel satisfied that notwithstanding everything muth did to avoid being held being accountable, at the end of the day justice was done. she was so alive. to hear that news and realizing that it's amber. how could that be? her life was just beginning. >> amber made friends for life. >> there was just no trying with our friendship. it just was. >> but that life didn't last long. >> amber's on the floor, face down, and she has a plastic bag wrapped around her head. >> the door is open. most people that rob a store

don't kill anybody. >> my whole world just died right there. >> for months the murder stayed cold. >> didn't have witnesses, didn't have video, didn't have dna. we have everything going against us. >> we would go down and talk to the detective. we wouldn't let it go. >> then a break, another victim. >> he would duct tape me, duct tape my mouth. >> and she knew a secret. could she risk revealing it? >> something's going to happen tonight. >> a killer ready to run, face to face with the one person who might be able to stop him. >> he just reached over the glove compartment and he pulled out the gun. and i said, please don't kill me. i wanted to get out of there alive. >> it was a monday morning in january, 2007, 9:08 a.m. a young woman in san antonio

texted her boyfriend. i love you. that's all it said. i love you. nothing more. downtown, the alamo had just opened its doors. a few tourists began boarding little booats to gaze. and several miles away the manager of a video game store began his daily ritual. his name was mariano rivera. >> the store opens at 10:00, but the managers get there at 9:00 in the morning. go to the bank. >> similar process to the sister store. same company, not far away. that one managed by the woman who sent the text to her boyfriend except this was strange. as the morning stood by, her store remained closed. mariano got a call from the district manager. >> can you go over there and maybe you can see something, see what's going on?

>> he did. he saw a white car in the parking lot looked like the young woman's car. he peered into the store window. nobody there. >> i thought, man, this is strange. where is she? so i kept calling. >> her name was amber belkin. ambitious, very much in charge. >> she was a fire cracker. that's the easiest way to put it. >> matt pena worked with amber at the video game store. >> she would let you know what she wanted, but i think she was one of the kindest souls ever that i've ever met. i guess it depended what side you met her on and how much you made her mad. >> she could be tough? >> most certainly. she just expected you to do your job. as long as you did that job, there was never any problems with it. she made sure to surround herself with people that were trying to go somewhere, do something. >> she loved her job. >> she did. >> monica and ashley for amber's

best friends. >> was she cut out to be a manager? >> yeah. >> oh yeah. >> oh yeah. >> she was fierce. >> but she still was friendly. >> yeah. >> she loved all her employees. >> yeah. >> and she loved all of her customers. >> she was only 25. she was a store manager, so it was a very good sense of she's doing it. she's making something of her life. she had goals. she had ambitions. she wanted to go back to school. she wanted all of it. >> not that she set out to work in a game store. she wanted to be a veterinarian. >> she was just so loving. we couldn't pass a turtle on the road. she had to turn around and pick it up and take it to her house. we would go to pet shops all the time and buy turtles and fish. >> snakes. >> snakes. >> she hliked snacks. she had a snake once. >> wow. >> a white albino python. >> she would find these random animals on the side of the road,

like where did you find that animal? >> like her little dog buddy. amber's parents lee and randy. >> she actually ran for buddy across the expressway and the hair was all matted up, looked like dreadlocks. >> and she said, well i can't put it back out on the road, it'll get killed. >> so, i just opened the door and let it in. >> amber was their own child. they doted on her from the day she was born and she was good in return. >> amber was the type person that would give you the shirt off her back. she helped anybody that needed it. they didn't even have to ask. >> she was going to make sure that you were protected. >> but now where was amber? why was her store not open? why didn't she answer the phone? early afternoon, still no sign of amber. so, again, the district manager called mariano. >> something is just strange.

>> and sent him back for a second look. so, again, mariano looked in through the big front window. but this time he saw someone. amber's assistant manager brandon just standing there behind the counter. >> i knock on the door, so he lets me in. i said, have you seen amber? he's like, no, he goes, but something is strange. there's money in the floor. looks like there's some kind of struggle. something happened. things got knocked over. my first thought was, where's amber. so, he said he didn't know. of course right away i'm thinking, what is going on with this guy? he clearly sees there's something wrong. he must have recognized her car. i'm thinking that's her car outside. you see it. >> sure. >> you see there's things in the floor, why haven't you reacted right away and call someone or check the rest of the store? >> but he hadn't. so, mariano ran to the back office, the only other room in the store. not a moment he'll ever forget, not for the rest of his life. >> and when i run to the back, i

found out amber's on the floor, face down, and she has a plastic bag wrapped around her head. and instantly i knew what happened. coming up, one mystery solved. amber was no longer missing. but a much bigger mystery remained. >> most people that rob a store don't kill anybody. they just go in there, do the robbery and leave. >> maybe the robbery was just a cover for murder. >> he had the classic motive. >> it did kind of seem personal. >> when "everything she knew" continues. >> when "everything she knew" continues. investing today wherever you are - even hanging with your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood.

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there are some things which once seen can never be unseen. amb amber bell kin sprawled in death, her head wrapped in a plastic bag. mario dialled 911.

his mind a horrible confusion. he stared at the assistant manager. >> i was angry. i was upset. i'm looking at brandon like i don't understand. how did this happen? i don't want to blame anybody but your first thought is who is around? who can you look at? maybe he had something to do with it. >> it's got to be a shocking thing to discover. >> it's hard to describe. you have a million emotions running through and you don't know what to make of them. >> the police took one look and called raymond "ray bob" roberts, then a detective with the san antonio police department. >> looks like a robbery gone bad. the store is in disarray. the clerk is found in the back office. she's dead. try to get information. are there any witnesses? no, sir. so, try to get the crime scene, detectives out there. >> the news, indistinct, unconfirmed spread through the afternoon, somebody dead in

amber's store, but most people did not know who, including amber's father. >> my brother called me and said that there was a robbery and a manager had found someone murdered in the store. and my daughter was a manager. and i started calling amber's phone. >> you thought she was the manager who discovered the body. >> i jumped in my truck, and i called a friend of mine who is a defense attorney. and i said i need you to call anybody that you can and see what you can find out. and i was just about there, and he called me, and he said, well how far are you from here? >> and that's when he realized it wasn't that amber found someone dead. >> they found her. >> my knees just buckled and i just -- my whole world just died right there. >> it's a pretty dreadful

feeling, isn't it? >> it's the worst feeling in the world because you totally realize no one can fix this. nobody can bring her back. >> not for them. not for her friends. >> then everything just stopped. disbelief. disbelief. your earth shatters. >> i sat on the curve and cried. everything around me was just a blur. >> inside the store, detective roberts had had a look around. >> there's a bunch of dvd games on the ground. where the cash register was right there by the front, the till's open, the drawer is open. there's change laying around. there's more dvds on the ground in the back. >> like somebody came in, ransacked it. >> ransacked the place, took off, yeah. >> he ran to the back alley. was this an escape t route.

>> probably stacked the games up here -- either had their car here in the alley or had them pashlged here, put the boxes there, picked them up. >> you wouldn't think robbing a game store would be worth killing somebody in the process. >> well, you wouldn't think anybody would rob a game store. yeah, normally during robberies, it's just a robbery. there's no murder. >> and this was certainly a robbery, given the mess and the empty safe. >> we checked the bank. there was no deposit made for that morning. there was $1,900 stolen, three, four big video games, playstations and ps3s and dvd games. all that was taken. >> the haul totalled just under $6,000. maybe the store surveillance cameras could tell who took it. except -- >> there's no surveillance video in the store. there's none in the strip center the store was located in. there's no video. there was video at starbucks

next door and it only showed the front door. and that's it. you don't see anything. >> who would know that? who would know it was the video game company's only store in san antonio not equipped with cameras. >> the answer was obvious, thought the detectives, an employee would know, just like an employee would know amber hadn't taken the cash to the bank yet. then why he didn't understand why brandon didn't look for amber until mariano arrived. >> his first thought should have been there might have been a robber. first of all, the robbers might still be in here. and then where is amber. >> just what detectives were thinking. they said she had issues with brandon. >> they never learned to work together yet. when you have a guy like that that's not the same type of attitude or mentality the rest

of us were, it causes troubles. >> did she trust him? >> you know, i don't know. in some instances with some things, no. >> even amber's parents said they knew she was dissatisfied with brandon. >> because she had written him up. >> she had prepared a negative work review. >> she was going to turn it in that way. >> it's just his last chance, mom. she said, i can't -- i can't allow him to continue to make these mistakes. >> so, motive, opportunity, behavior that didn't seem innocent? >> i mean, he had the classic motive. he didn't want her to write him up. >> yeah. >> he didn't want to get fired. >> he didn't want to get fired. >> this seemed like a personal crime. could have been. >> most people that go to rob a store don't go with the intentions of killing somebody. they go in, do the robbery and leaving. putting a plastic bag on their head -- >> squeezing it tight. >> -- squeezing it tight, takes

four or five minutes. even though she's struggling, she's just not laying there. that takes a while. that takes -- it does kind of seem personal. >> they had brandon in the backseat of a patrol car. detective went to talk to him. >> he tells me a story, and it's just not making any sense. >> so he had brandon taken downtown and questioned by a colleague known for her special interviewing skills. >> she's a real good detective. she has a way of getting things out of people. about an hour later she calls me back to the scene, says, yeah, something's up with this guy. >> coming up, amber's parents were convinced it was brandon. >> we definitely thought brandon did it. >> everything pointed to him. >> that explained what amber's mom said she saw at the funeral. >> she put one of the game stop tag holders that had their id on it, he put one of those in her

casket. >> when "everything she knew" continues. casket >> when "everything she knew" continues. robinhood believes now is the time to do money.

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had yo game store. amber belkin's funeral was huge, as if in death she had been adopted by the community around her. >> over 600 people. and the ones that couldn't get into the chapel waited in the lobby and the parking lot. >> is that a comfort? >> a very big comfort that she touched that many lives. >> they loved amber. they said, we loved amber. >> they did. >> as amber's parents watched, they could not stop seeing in their heads another scene, the one in the back room of the have you had yo game store, the way she was killed. >> they told me it was personal. >> she had to be so frightened. and when she tried to pick up the phone, i know it was to call us. and he yanked the phone out of the wall. >> was it brandon biel? by the day of the funeral, they were sure.

>> we definitely thought brandon did it. >> everything pointed to him. >> and then as mourners filed by to pay their respects, suddenly there he was at the funeral in front of them. brandon biel. >> did you think, my god, her killer has come to the funeral? >> oh, he came and shook my hand and i got up and my knees just felt weak and i just fell. >> then, said amber's mother, she was sure she saw brandon walk right up to the casket and put something into it. >> he put one of the gamestop tag holders that had their id on it. he put one of those in her casket. and i got that thing out of there as fast as i could and put it in a tissue and put it in my purse because i thought that's the last thing i want buried with my daughter. >> was that id potential evidence, she wondered? was brandon trying to bury

evidence with amber's body. >> so, mama's automatly thinking brandon did it. >> it's got to be brandon. >> a week after the murder, detective roberts questioned brandon on video tape. >> i'm going back over everybody we talked to, trying to figure this thing out. >> brandon repeated the story he had been telling from the start. he was nowhere near the store that morning. >> got up, let my dog out, watched sportscenter. then at 9:45 i left to go help my fiance's parents move a big island that goes in the kitchen. >> he didn't get to the store, he said, until after 2:00 p.m. for afternoon shift. and when he got there, he insisted it was still closed. so, he panicked. was he supposed to open this morning? >> i was putting my stuff in so i checked the computer. >> he looked around and sees the dvds on the floor, the cashier's drawer open. he sees this all this and

thought, hm, so he starts going about to open the door. >> he thought hm? >> yeah, so, you know, he's not looking for amber or not looking for anybody that's supposed to be working. >> brandon told detective roberts he had no idea amber was in the store, no idea amber intended to submit a negative work review about him that very day, didn't notice her car in the parking lot, he said, didn't think the obvious mess in the store meant they had been robbed. >> you saw the disarray. >> yeah. >> if an employee saw disarray -- >> a normal person you would think would go in and start looking, something's up. >> something's wrong here. >> yeah. >> so, they got a search warrant for brandon's house and car. maybe they would find some of the stolen dvds and consoles there. they did not. but there had to be something. for weeks, detectives looked for evidence on brandon biel. >> randy and mom called me 24/7. >> every day. >> two or three times a day.

brandon, brandon, brandon, brandon. >> detectives questioned his fiance, her parents. they scoured his phone records. >> we did everything we could to try to get some kind of evidence on brandon. and there was none there. >> yeah. >> and there was none there because he didn't do it. >> that alibi about helping his fiance's parents checked out. and his phone records revealed he was miles from the store when amber was murdered. finally, brandon biel was cleared. >> did you at some point think i'm going to be charged with murder? >> yes, i did. >> the memory still fresh. >> had nightmares of going to jail. it was hard for me to sleep. >> that terrible day -- what time were you supposed to be at work? >> i would come in at 2:00 and close the store. >> what did you think when you got there? >> when i got to the store i'm thinking, it was all closed up like normal. >> like it had never been opened. >> like it had never been

opened. my whole thought process was i have to get this store open because -- >> i think i screwed up. >> yeah, i think i screwed up. >> why didn't he notice they were robbed? >> some stores are messier than others. >> the person that worked the night before didn't put away the night before. >> yeah, that was my thought process. >> brandon was 23 then and terrified. >> i'm thinking they're really trying to put this on this young black man. >> when they questioned his fiance -- >> they was trying to convince her i did it. they would say things to her like, how can you sleep with a murderer? you know he did it. you're possibly next. >> what did that do to you? >> it angered me because they're trying to convince my fiance to lie on me pretty much. but she's a strong woman, so she's telling me don't worry about it. you know, i know you didn't do it. >> when they searched his

house -- >> it seemed like a scene out of a movie, just going through drawers, throwing clothes. they left my house a wreck. looked in the attic, looked in our garage, in our refrigerator. they went through my car. you know, they were swabbing stuff, these little sticky circle things and they was just swabbing everything, swabbing everything. >> even when he was finally cleared, he said no one told him, nor was he told amber had written him up, though he agreed they hadn't always seen eye to eye on some things. and until we spoke with him, he said, he had no idea amber's mother believed she saw him put something in her coffin. >> did you put a lanyard in her coffin? >> that was the most absurd thing i ever heard. that was my first funeral so i

didn't even get close to the casket. >> but brandon is a father now, two kids. he told us he thinks of amber's parents and understands. >> i couldn't imagine losing one of my children. >> but if brandon biel didn't kill amber, then who did? >> coming up -- >> i'm sitting at the office and the phone rings. >> a caller reluctant to give up his name but gives up someone else's. >> says i know who killed this girl. i know who killed this girl $9.95 at my age? $9.95? no way. $9.95? that's impossible. hi, i'm jonathan, a manager here at colonial penn life insurance company, to tell you it is possible. if you're age 50 to 85, you can get life insurance

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putting 2020 in the rear-view mirror. an oddly empty times square saw the ball drop. the u.s. surpassed 20 million positive cases of covid. and mother nature is welcoming 2021 with a winter storm moving from the midwest to the east coast. ice will be the main concern on friday along with snow and rain for others. now back to "dateline extra."

if brandon biel did not kill his boss amber belkin was very clear, which meant ray bob roberts had a big problem. >> we had everything going against us. didn't have dna, didn't have fingerprints, didn't have nothing. >> he went public then, had to. >> we held a big news conference with the parents, mom and dad, pleading for help. >> we kept saying if you could do this to amber, you've got to stop him because he could do this to your child, to your daughter, to your son, to your mother. there's no telling what this person can do. >> crime stoppers put up a lot of money. nothing. i was hoping, you know -- >> 100 grand reward. >> 100 grand reward is a lot of money. nothing. >> we put fliers up all over san

antonio. >> we wouldn't let her go. >> but as months went by without a single solid lead, detective roberts sank through frustration and into a kind of despair. >> this little girl was like my girl. she resembled my daughter, same build, same color of hair. amber's favorite book is "if you give a mouse a cookie." i read that to my daughter a million times. you know, you do this for an extended period of time, you try to distance yourself. >> sure, you guilty ot it. >> and the worst mistake you can make is getting too close to it, close to the family, mentally, physically for the detective. if we do that every case -- >> you're no good. >> you're no good. you're a burden. >> and then about seven months

african-americ after amber's murder. >> the phone rings. >> the caller claims to know something. >> what's your name? just call me joe. okay, joe. what you got. i know who killed this guy. okay, who. a guy named giovani. what makes you think this guy did it? well, he asked me if i wanted to do a robbery with him before. okay. >> fascinating. >> he says, we used to both work for eb games. you said, well why did he want to do this robbery. well, there's no cameras. i call eb games. yeah, both of them did work for eb games. >> yeah. >> so, i'm thinking, finally got a break. >> the detective asked joe to come in for a talk. joe told him that at first he didn't think giovani's request was serious. >> i just kind of blew it off. you don't think your best friend is actually going to go through with something.

>> after he heard about amber, said joe, it all clicked. giovani must have killed her. but how much stock could roberts put in this guy, joe, who wouldn't give his full name, and who was this giovani anyway. the detective checked for priors. wasn't much. >> had a record as a juvenile. got the fingerprints, fingerprints we lifted from the crime scene. there are hardly any legible. >> and none were a match. >> now you're stuck as an investigator. you want to tie the suspect to the scene but there's nothing to tie him. there's nothing. i have nothing to hit him on. >> but worth a try. he brought giovani in for an interview. >> of course he denies it. >> i'm real comfortable thinking that you're responsible for this crime. >> that's crazy, sir. >> was it crazy? no way to prove really. and then a couple of days later, detective roberts brought the tip administer, joe, back in and

this time joe poured it all out, said giovani told him straight out that he killed someone. >> i just was in shock when he told me that. i was like, wow. i was scared too because i was in the car thinking, i freaked out, like what's he going to do to me? >> now, that was huge if joe was telling the truth. but just one guy's accusation, no idea how credible it might be wasn't much to go on. still, it was all they had, so -- >> so, i draft out an arrest warrant and draft out a search warrant, bring it to the magistrate. he reads it, says it's about tomb. this was in the news. it was a high profile case. rich white girl dies at work. people went crazy. it shouldn't have mattered, but people went crazy. they want justice. >> yeah. >> go get the search warrant signed, get the arrest warrant signed. it's my birthday. uts the best birthday present

ever. >> but schethen he got a call f his sergeant. >> he says, ray bob, keep your mouth shut. i want you to do what i'm telling you to do. i need you to get that arrest warrant quashed. >> giovani would not be arrested after all, just not enough evidence. the prosecutor made it clear he didn't want to try him and fail in court. but the detective still had a warrant for giovani's dman, so they went to his house unannounced. >> he opens the door, said got a warrant for you. i didn't say search warrant, didn't say arrest warrant. he sinks. he turns back to his wife and says i'm going with him. he was defeated. put his hands behind his back. >> like he was getting ready to be cuffed. >> like he was getting ready to be handcuffed. >> did you? >> it was only a search warrant. i grabbed him by his arm and said, come on, let's go and he kind of --

>> perked up a little. >> -- perked up a little and got in the car. he thought he was going to go to jail. >> that's certainly a tell. >> oh yeah. >> giovani gave them a dna sample. but afterwards he clammed up. >> i was disgusted so i had somebody take him home, but i said keep an eye on this guy. >> sure enough he got a call. >> s.w.a.t calls me and says ray bob, he's loading everything up in a car, he's moving. >> they pulled giovani over, asked him where's he heading? he was going to texas along the mexicoen border. nothing ray bob could do about it. and the case went pretty much nowhere after that for many months until there was a woman. she was terrified. and did she have a story to tell? coming up, a young mother locked in with a killer. >> he just reached over the

glove compartment and he pulled out the gun, and i said, please don't kill me. >> when "everything she knew" continues. >> when "everything she knew" continues.

late june, almost a year and a half after the murder of amber belkin, detective ray bob roberts roared down the highway to la ray doe. he had just gotten a call from the police there. giovani's wife wanted to talk. her name was veronica, and what a story she told. >> i made a dumb choice. i was really young, and i got pregnant really young. >> still in high school. >> yeah. >> she tried to resist him, she said, but he was insistent.

and when she was pregnant -- >> our family insisted we got married. i listened to everyone except my own feelings. i didn't want to get marry, but i thought maybe that was the best thing for my family. >> maybe they know better than i know. >> yeah, and i said all right, i guess that's the best thing to do. >> and once they were married, he demanded sex whenever he wanted it. >> whenever he touched me, i would feel sick and tell him to stop. there were times he would get angry and frustrated and then he would force himself on me. >> and right beside sleeping children in their one small bedroom. >> and he would use the children as a way to get me to cooperate. like, if he wanted to, and i would say no, he would be firm about it. like, you know, you're going to do this. the kids are asleep right now. if you make any noise or wake them up, i'm not going to stop.

they're going to see everything. he would duct tape me, duct tape my mouth, duct tape, you know, my wrists to the leg of a chair and just to keep me quiet. i was very afraid and again i was young. >> much too afraid to tell. >> and while detectives searched for more clues in amber's death -- >> in late january 2007 as she watched tv, she saw the news of amber's murder. >> and i said look at this, wow, isn't that crazy. and he just looked and he said -- wow, that's -- he mirrored my reaction to it. wow, that's -- wow, i can't believe it. he walked by to the bedroom. >> in shock. >> like he was shocked. i never thought for one second -- he just acted normal that whole time. >> that is until after the police knocked at their door in

the fall of 2007 after joe reported giovani, after detective roberts got that search warrant for giovani's dna. >> we were asleep and it was early in the morning. and then we hear a pounding at the door, a boom, boom, boom, like just -- and, you know, that we woke us up. he got up first and he went to check. >> and then he returned and told her, it's the police. >> they think i killed someone. i was like did you? >> what's it like to hear that? >> i was shocked and mortified. and he says, it's because i did kill someone. >> what? >> and that's all he said. he said, i killed someone. who? why? i'm assuming maybe he had an altercation with someone, maybe a friend or some guy down the street. i don't know. >> but giovani only said -- >> we're going to move to lor ray doe, let's just go. >> that very day? >> the very next day.

unprepared. it was fast. >> veronica was beside herself, paralyzed by fear? what do i do? and i just stayed quiet and i was so afraid to say something. >> and then one night she worked up the courage to ask him a question. >> i said, did this have anything to do with what i saw on the news that day. he said, yes, i did that. that was me. >> what was that like to hear? >> i just started crying and sobbing, like oh my god. how, why? why? why did you do that? he said, we -- we needed -- we needed the money. >> suddenly the responsibility for this terrible act has shifted somehow, right? he's told you. now what are you going to do? >> i didn't know what to do. i was desperate. i was desperate to get out. >> she begged him, turn yourself

in. instead, he went to his mother. >> she would cry to him, like no, please don't go. you don't want to leave your children. they're never going to see you again. and i'm crying like, why, like inside i'm trying to do it as peacefully as i can without making him angry toward me. >> and then around dinner time one evening, veronica finally told him she'd had enough. the marriage was over. >> then he said, you know what, let's go for a drive. let's go get the kids something to eat. >> instead, he drove her to a secluded area. >> i was just jerked all around. no one inside. that's when he pushed the auto -- the lock. >> the car lock. >> the car lock and he locked all the doors. that's when i was like, okay, like, something's going to happen tonight. something's going to happen. because we were in the middle of nowhere. i knew he was going to kill me then. i was like am i going to get out

of this? and i look over and he just reached over the glove compartment and he pulled out the gun. and i said, please don't kill me. he said, don't worry, just do what i say. >> get into the backseat, he ordered. he followed her. >> and then he raped me back there and i started crying. i just started praying. god, please. i wanted to get out of there alive. >> but it wasn't veronica who would die. it was giovani. he pulled her out of the car. take the gun, he said. shoot me. >> i said, i can't do that. he's like, yes, you're going to do it because if you don't do it, i'm going to come after you and i'm going to come after the children. i'm going to come after your family. and whoever you end up with, i'm going come after him too. so, you need to end my life tonight. i can't do this, i can't kill you. i cannot be like you. i can't do this. >> she tried to reason with him,

she said, told him if she killed him and went to prison, their children would have no parents. >> i just said anything i could say just to get him out of this mentality. >> and it worked. he drove home, told her what she had to do. >> he had me lay down next to him. he made sure i was right there. i was awake the whole night because i was afraid he would do something while i was asleep or to the children or do something crazy. the next morning he said, i'm just going to disappear. >> he drove veronica and the kids to her mother's house and he took off. >> what did it feel like to walk away from him? >> like i'm almost there. it's almost over. and i run in in and i said, i need to make a phone call. i need to tell the police what happened. >> and she did. >> i started telling them everything. i was like, my name's veronica. i'm his wife. this is what i know. he said he was going to

disappear. >> that must have been quite a phone call. >> it was. they asked me, why did you take so long? i said, i was just so afraid, but i'm here now and i'm telling you everything i know, everything that he told me. >> but now he was truly gone. coming up, the man hunt goes into overdrive and stretches along the border. >> we're in a jail, a cold stinky, loud jail. >> confronting a killer, healing a wound. >> they were grateful that i said something, that i did the right thing. >> when "everything she knew" continues. >> when "everything she knew" continues.

the day veronica called the police was the beginning of the end for giovani rivera. >> i'm drafting the arrest warrant. we're going to get him. >> not that easy. all they knew was he had gone somewhere, probably mexico. but it was a full six weeks

before they tracked him down, surprised him at a relatives house, sure enough, in mexico, as he played one of the video games he stole from amber's store. detective roberts finally got his suspect exactly where he wanted him. >> we're in a jail, a cold, stinky, loud jail. i'm detective roberts. all this background noise, we read giovani his rights. you have the right to remain silent. and he starts talk k. >> i wanted to turn myself in. i was putting the needs of others before me. >> wait, put the needs of others before me? really? >> he says this past christmas, i need money, eb games, the one on san pedro because there's no v video. he drives there, he tells me i have tape and a knife. what's the tape for? tie them up.

>> he claimed he didn't know it was tiny amber belkin running the store that day. >> in my heart, i think he knew. >> after all, giovani had worked for the company, knew who managed the store and knew amber. >> if he was going to pick somebody to rob, why wouldn't he pick a 5'2" 100 pound young woman. instead of brandon who's big and tough. >> he knew. >> when he got there, said giovani. >> she recognized me and i -- when i was in there, i asked for the money. i tried explaining to her, look, i'm having some problems, and she -- she said just take the money. >> but then, he claims he reached for the phone, so he took her down, taped her wrists with duct tape, like he had often done to his wife. >> that's when she panicked and wanted to scream and i covered her mouth and said please don't scream. don't scream like that.

and then i'm saying i can't lose everything that i gained, my family. i've already hit the point of no return. and i just grabbed a bag and i just choke her. just be quiet, just be quiet. >> he put a bag around her head, he said. he squeezed her tight around her neck. he held it there. >> i heard her gurgling. i didn't hear her screaming. i turned around and i untied her. i said are you okay, and she wasn't breathing. i heard her gasp but she didn't respond anymore. that's when i left. i already had the money and i pecked the stuff ipd to pick up so i could sell and i left out the back door. >> giovani's story would not be tested in court. he took a plea deal, murder, but life in prison with parole possible beginning in the year 2038. at the sentencing, the belkins

finally confronted the killing of their only child, their darling daughter. >> is it helpful to do that? >> it is, it is. >> no. >> not for you? >> he sat back on the constable's desk tapping his foot, just looking around -- like you're wasting my time. it would have been beneficial if i had heard him say, i am really sorry. i am so sorry, mr. and mrs. belkin. you know, amber didn't deserve to die, i'm so sorry. >> what did he say? >> nothing. >> but the belkin did say get an apology from somebody else, giovani's now ex-wife veronica. >> hi. >> they met for the very first time when we shot this story. >> i've blamed myself for not

saying something sooner, for waiting too long. and i always felt like they had maybe some anger towards me. >> but blame her? no. they knew she was a victim too. in fact, giovani pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting veronica. >> they weren't resentful at all? >> they were really nice. that was a weight off my shoulders. they were grateful that i said something, that i did the right thing. and that was nice to hear them say that to me, knowing that they didn't feel that way at all. and i can go back home not feeling, you know, like a terrible person. >> keep putting more and more of these things behind you now. >> yes, little by little. >> we don't have any ill feelings at all. she's a wonderful girl. i was very happy for her that she has a new life and a safe life. and we told her if she ever needed anything from us or to

talk or anything, just call us up. >> they are, they told us, broken still and always will be. and they cling now to amber's best friends ashley and monica. >> our daughters, our adopted daughters, amber's friends through thick and thin. >> they call us on father's day, mother's day. >> and send me flowers. >> but we know that they've had children. so, in a way, you know, we've got grandchildren. >> they have each named daughters after amber. and they hang on to memories like gold. >> it's like you have to put it in a box and then just keep it there for safekeeping because that's what you have.

that's what you hold on to. >> it hurts. it hurts. life will never be what it was with her. it's shocking. you just kind of go into crisis mode. i don't think they knew exactly what hadne happened other than was covered in blood. she was just broken and lost. there is a murderer out there, and it's terrifying. >> it was supposed to be an anniversary celebration, 32 years together. >> they were in love, even after all those years. they were very happy together.we >> suddenly, an intimate moment turned into infinite terror.