to get one for her mom, too. they wear them often, keeping carmela close to their hearts. and they gather every year to celebrate carmela's birthday. they make a home-cooked meal together. franca still sees her daughter in her grandsons. do you think carmela lives on through her boys? she does. dylan looks exactly like her. andrea canning: is the future bright for them? i hope so. i hope so. they have a lot of carm. thank god. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. to say something. i'm not going to be here for long. someone's going to kill me. [dramatic music]

priscilla villarreal: the sheriff's department and texas rangers are investigating a murder. who'd want melissa dead? i have no idea. federico calderon: the sheriff had a bad feeling about this case. isidro alaniz: the second victim is from laredo, comes from a very good family. i think my whole block heard me scream. it did not feel like a coincidence. isidro alaniz: the killer is looking for his next victim. she does something amazing. she's able to slip out of her blouse. she realizes, oh my god, he killed melissa, he killed claudine, and i'm sitting in his house [dramatic music] and, welcome to "dateline." melissa ramirez and claudine luera were loved, if lost, souls whose lives took a tragic turn after years of struggle and life

on the streets. the friends were found murdered days apart. theirs were the first two in a string of homicides, sending police in search of a killer hiding in plain sight. here's josh mankiewicz with "the streets of laredo." [dramatic music] these are the streets of laredo, texas. and these are also the streets of laredo. they're named after famous mystery writers, men and women who created frightening, intriguing stories full of twists, stories that often deal with the wealthy, the powerful, the privileged, and the damage they can do. we cover a lot of that on "dateline," too. this story is different. it's a visit to the underbelly, a four-block stretch of laredo called san bernardo avenue.

it is the wrong side of the tracks, known for prostitution, drug deals, and everything that comes with that. in the late summer of 2018, these blocks were even more dangerous. that's when someone was hunting the women of san bernardo like prey. on these sidewalks, you find people who rarely have their stories told. it began on september 3rd, when a woman's body was found on a secluded road 25 miles from downtown. now, despite its frontier reputation, the border town of laredo is consistently ranked among the safest cities in the country. isidro alaniz is webb county district attorney. josh mankiewicz: usually when a body turns up, it's not a murder. it's somebody who was crossing the border who died from the heat. that's exactly true.

this wasn't that. no, not at all. not at all. craig melvin: webb county sheriff's captain federico calderon was called to the scene, a young woman shot in the head. from a distance, it looked like she might have been dumped there, but upon closer inspection it looked like she had been executed at that spot. there were shell casings. craig melvin: the ammo came from a 40-caliber handgun and the brand federal, a leading ammunition supplier that also sells to a lot of law enforcement agencies. the medical examiner made the id off her prints. the victim was 29-year-old melissa ramirez. federico calderon: she has kids. she has a family that lives in rio bravo, which is a municipalit just south of laredo. craig melvin: law enforcement knew melissa as a drug user and sex worker. to her family, she was something else entirely. every time we would hang out with each other, we would just laugh. it was very fun to be around with her.

craig melvin: gracie ramirez was melissa's sister-in-law. ciara ramirez: we were like sisters. we were super close to each other. craig melvin: melissa's mom likes to remember her daughter as she was. [speaking spanish] translator: she got good grades. i never struggled with her. i never had problems with her. craig melvin: that was before her early teens, before a bipolar diagnosis that went untreated. gracie says melissa never let on to her family that she turned to drugs and then sex work. she really kept her life split in two, didn't she? she was very private to her life. craig melvin: still, when melissa would leave for days at a time, her family knew it couldn't be for anything good. ciara ramirez: so she would come visit me. i would beg her to stay with me. i would feed her. i would give her everything she needed. but she just insisted that she needed to head out.

but she wouldn't say where. no, she would never tell me where, nor her-- her brother. she wouldn't tell anybody. craig melvin: now, melissa had met a brutal end. priscilla villarreal: a female was found deceased. craig melvin: when it comes to news about the underserved and under-covered, people in laredo usually turn to priscilla villarreal. we're live, fyi, just so you-- oh, we're live. priscilla villarreal: hey, want to say hi? hi, everybody. to her more than 200,000 followers priscilla is known as la gordiloca. la gordiloca, the big crazy woman. thank you. everybody says "the fat crazy." they're like-- craig melvin: she deals mostly in crime. but unlike traditional news outlets, her reporting is done off the cuff via facebook live streams as events are unfolding. and so if something's going down in laredo,

la gordiloca usually knows about it. priscilla villarreal: they call me and say, hey, there's a chase here by, you know, central laredo. and you can get to it. i'm up and going. craig melvin: that rawness and immediacy seems to keep laredo clicking on her. now, la gordiloca was asking the same questions as melissa's family. josh mankiewicz: who would want melissa dead? i-- i have no idea. craig melvin: she didn't, but maybe melissa did. investigators heard that about three weeks before her murder, melissa had some kind of premonition. ciara ramirez: we were at the kitchen table. she said, i need to say something. we just stopped what we were doing. and she said, i'm not going to be here for long, someone's going to kill me. she didn't tell you who that was. she never said who it was. she just said, someone's going to point me with a gun, like this. she said somebody was going to shoot her in the head.

yes. craig melvin: and prosecutor alaniz, who was on this from the start, says forensics back up the story melissa so chillingly foretold. isidro alaniz: she did have a gunshot wound to around her wrist area, one by her jaw, and one to her her head. that feels like she's putting her hand up. that's exactly right. that's exactly right. craig melvin: melissa's premonition came true. soon police had more than just a sense that they were headed in the right direction. priscilla villarreal: and at this moment, police and other agencies are surrounding a home in las cuesta subdivision. [dramatic music] can neuriva support your brain health? mary. janet. hey! eddie. no! fraser. frank. frank. fred. how are you? support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva.

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[suspenseful music] craig melvin: investigators in laredo, texas were working the murder of melissa ramirez, found dead on the side of a desolate road. josh mankiewicz: the murders of sex workers can be problematic for investigators. victims often don't keep regular hours, making their movements difficult to track. they may not know their customers real names. and often their families and friends don't want to speak with police. over the years, a number of law enforcement agencies faced criticism that they just didn't work hard enough to solve the murders of sex workers. and if the laredo killer was counting on that, then he made a mistake because investigators pursued

this case aggressively. sheriff's captain federico calderon knew he'd need help, so he called in the texas rangers, the department of public safety, and the us border patrol. and early on came a lead, a big one. the residents who'd discovered melissa's body told of a dark-colored pickup truck parked nearby. as they approached the truck to see who was inside, it sped off. ciara ramirez: and when they saw the truck leave, they noticed that there was a body next to where the truck was parked. craig melvin: one of the group was close enough to jot down a plate number. a computer search later, investigators were able to track down the truck's owner that same evening, and it wasn't at all who they were expecting. and that person of interest is one of yours. that's right. at this time, the sheriff's department and texas rangers are investigating a murder. craig melvin: investigators in laredo, texas

were not talking publicly about melissa ramirez's killing. la gordiloca wasn't talking about anything else. and at this moment, the police and other agencies are surrounding a home in las cuesta subdivision. craig melvin: she was live on facebook as laredo pd staked out the house of a man whose truck had been seen next to melissa's body. it had to have been a little surreal for those officers because the truck's owner, 32-year-old renee arce, was himself a laredo police officer. even so, as soon as he stepped out his front door, he was cuffed and brought in for questioning. a male police officer is either detained or has not been detained yet, but it's being said he is responsible for the murder of this female. craig melvin: law enforcement didn't know if that last part

was actually true. it's one of the things they asked officer arce about. arce said he was in the area that day but had nothing to do with any murder. he was just checking out real estate. investigators kept at him. so not the caliber of weapon that killed melissa. of course, plenty of officers own more than one gun. it can't be lost on you that that laredo police officer will have access to 40-caliber federal ammunition. that's a reasonable conclusion. craig melvin: arce insisted it wasn't him.

josh mankiewicz: you go through his house and his truck. isidro alaniz: yes. anything? weapons were recovered from his house. craig melvin: yes, except none matched the murder weapon or the ammo. still, it was strange. josh mankiewicz: he's parked right next to a body and he doesn't see it? that's what he said. craig melvin: and with no probable cause, they let him go. soon, investigators were following a new lead. melissa's mom mentioned a suspicious man who'd been with her daughter the week before. [speaking spanish] translator: she came with a man. i didn't know him. craig melvin: she was unnerved enough that she told gracie about the encounter. she said that he had this weird look on his eyes whenever he would see melissa, like-- like an evil look. josh mankiewicz: that, to me, sounds like somebody who at least is a sort of potential suspect. isidro alaniz: oh, absolutely. he was on our list.

craig melvin: investigators tracked him down, and it turned out the man was a john, a customer of melissa's. it happens to be that, while the time frame of the murder occurred, he was in another location, on the road. he was driving a truck somewhere. josh mankiewicz: now you've looked at two specific guys, the police officer who parked almost right on top of melissa's body and the guy who'd been a customer of hers. you don't get a good hit of either one of those guys. we're nowhere closer than we were the day of the actual murder. and we resorted to what cops do best, and that's being nosy and talking to people. craig melvin: that meant scouring the corners of san bernardo. josh mankiewicz: one of the names you hear when you're building a profile of who melissa was is claudine luera. federico calderon: correct. they worked in the same area. they-- they were acquainted. they knew each other. both prostitutes, both on drugs. correct.

craig melvin: investigators thought claudine might know who it was that melissa so feared, except she was nowhere to be found. they put out the word among other law enforcement agencies, but claudine didn't turn up. josh mankiewicz: possible that she heard you guys were looking for her and was keeping her head down? that is a possibility, for sure. craig melvin: 10 days after melissa's murder, they finally found claudine luera. she wasn't talking. she's been shot. federico calderon: she's been shot. craig melvin: it was about two miles from where melissa's body was found, also by the side of the road. nearby, the same 40-caliber federal ammunition. claudine was taken to a hospital. she did not survive. federico calderon: it's starting to smell like it's the same guy, and we have a strong inclination, after processing that crime scene, that we're probably dealing with the same person. someone's killing prostitutes. someone's killing prostitutes with a 40-caliber handgun. [dramatic music]

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ola[suspenseful music]ion. craig melvin: it was a hot end to the summer of 2018, and laredo was simmering. within 10 days, two women had been found executed, and investigators thought it was the work of one killer. they'd focused on two potential suspects. neither panned out. isidro alaniz: people were worried. people were scared.

now, this was real. and you can feel the tension. i would just order everything to get it delivered, rather going to the store. we were all scared. we were like, what is going on? [atmospheric music] craig melvin: law enforcement had been looking for claudine luera. . now, she was gone, too. colette ramirez: it wasn't until thursday that i heard of another female being found. ann hutyra: the victim was found-- craig melvin: claudine's sister, colette, heard about the second murder from kgns news. ann hutyra: she was alive when deputies arrived but later died at the hospital. and i kept thinking, man, poor lady, she must have suffered a lot. i go, poor family. [suspenseful music] craig melvin: she had no way of knowing it was claudine. and when she found out, it hit her hard. i think my whole block heard me scream. and just to think, you know, here i am feeling sorry for this person the day before, saying, you know, how sad for the family, she must have suffered.

and next thing you know, we're that family. [suspenseful music] craig melvin: she rushed to tell claudine's daughter ciara at work but didn't have to say a word. and i could just see the look on their face. i knew my mom was gone. it's no words that anybody should hear. ciara just-- she just stood there. and what words do you give a child? their mother's gone. craig melvin: colette remembered how close she and claudine were, growing up in laredo. she would help me sneak in my frogs into the house. i loved to dress them up in barbie clothes. actual frogs. yes. josh mankiewicz: huh. ciara knew her mother had suffered trauma, beginning in her youth. what happened to her growing up? that's a hard story for you to tell.

she was assaulted by somebody who lived behind her. and i don't think anything was ever done about it. she was how old? ciara ramirez: i believe under the age of 14. she was damaged by that. ciara ramirez: yeah, very damaged. [suspenseful music] craig melvin: ciara says her mom had always been there for her children but then got together with an old boyfriend, someone the family felt was bad news. she started using heroin. i was like 15. and things-- you know, she just changed. she would only wear, like, long sleeves. so you knew something was wrong. ciara ramirez: yeah, it didn't make sense. [suspenseful music] craig melvin: it wasn't long before claudine lost custody of her children. i would be lying if i didn't say there weren't times that i asked her, you know, like, when is my love going to be enough? and what was her answer? ciara ramirez: it was that it was enough. she was just heavily addicted to a drug and it took over.

but my love was enough, and she always wanted me to know that. you know, to separate the drug from her and to understand. but i couldn't. [suspenseful music] craig melvin: after that, claudine turned to sex work to feed her habit. her family never stopped loving her. josh mankiewicz: who did you think had killed her? my thought was him. the boyfriend. colette ramirez: the boyfriend because who else? [suspenseful music] craig melvin: good question, because the boyfriend had an airtight alibi. investigators did find a person of interest after looking through claudine's phone. shortly before her death, she'd been communicating with a guy who went by the nickname chon. josh mankiewicz: did he have a sheet? he did, you know, with a little bit of everything. craig melvin: they went to his address, parked by his house, and waited. josh mankiewicz: he's not there.

he's not there, but as luck would have it, he shows up. and as soon as he sees that there's people waiting for him outside his house, he takes off at a high rate of speed and-- and you're in a pursuit. federico calderon: they chase him. he gets away. all of a sudden, we feel like maybe-- maybe we got our guy. craig melvin: and then chon himself contacted police and came in for an interview. he said he was with claudine but before she was murdered. and he said that, at some point in that late evening or night, he leaves, that she goes her way, he goes his way. that's the last that they saw. which is exactly what the murderer would say. federico calderon: that's what-- yeah, exactly. we definitely thought we were heading in the right direction. [suspenseful music] they thought, finally, they were getting close. then investigators got a call that would make them realize it wasn't chon, it wasn't officer arce, and it wasn't the trucker.

and ranger salinas tells me, hey, one of our troopers ran into a female who, she's frantic, she's scared. she says that somebody tried to kill her with a handgun. craig melvin: like the two other victims, this woman worked san bernardino, except this woman survived. had she been face to face with the killer?

hi, i'm richard lui with a news update. after years of a devastating civil war, syrian rebels captured the capitol city of damascus. this turn of events ending the rule of the assad family. senior biden administration official confirms that ousted president assad has fled to moscow. and appearing in "meet the press", president elect trump expanded on policies he will

and act after taking office including pardons for january 6 rioters and ending birthright citizenship. for now, back to dateline. i'm craig melvin. police were searching for the killer, who they suspected shot both melissa ramirez and claudine luera, when a third woman reported she had barely escaped the same fate. she had been terrorized by a gunman. now, she was about to share the chilling details and give detectives their first big break. back to josh mankiewicz with "the streets of laredo." [dramatic music] craig melvin: september 14th, 2018, two nights after claudine luera's killing, a texas dps trooper was pumping gas into his cruiser just before 9:00 pm when a frantic woman hurried toward him. she wasn't wearing a blouse, as she breathlessly told him she'd just been attacked by the man she was with. that's when the trooper turned on his body cam audio.

the woman was 26-year-old erika pena. she told him she and the man had arrived at the gas station just a few minutes earlier. and then after they parked, he put a gun to her head. erika used her wits to escape. she said, as the man grabbed her blouse, she through the passenger door open, slithered out of her top, and ran to safety. erika admitted she worked on the streets of san bernardo, where the man had picked her up earlier that evening. she described him as a regular customer.

she told him something changed in the air when the subject of the murders of melissa and claudine came up in conversation. trooper: the guy pointed a gun-- craig melvin: at the mention of the murders, the trooper decided to contact investigators on the off chance it was connected. they asked him to bring erika to the substation, where captain calderon and the texas ranger were waiting.

with a texas rainstorm pounding on a galvanized roof, erika laid it out. she said earlier that night david had taken her to his house, where she'd been a couple of times before. federico calderon: she was able to describe the walkway, the driveway, the inside of the house, you know, the neighborhood it's in. craig melvin: erika repeated what she'd told the trooper. when the conversation turned to the murders, david's demeanor suddenly changed. he seemed nervous, agitated. erika began to suspect david was the killer, while inside his house with no clear way out.

federico calderon: she starts getting a bad feeling, like she is going to die, so she wants to leave. [suspenseful music] craig melvin: she wanted out of that house. he talked her into going with him to that gas station to get some food. luckily, the dps trooper happened to be there. josh mankiewicz: so maybe that's your guy. it's looking like one of the best leads we've had up to now. craig melvin: erika remembered something else david had said. after her interview with detectives, a slew of investigators bundled themselves and erika into three cars and told her to show them david's house. she directed them to a home in a nice neighborhood on the north side of laredo. the house with a walkway, just how she described it, the entrance to the house how she described it.

craig melvin: to investigators, it all seemed to line up. there was no white dodge in sight. they decided to wait. who lives at that address? we found out that it's owned by juan david ortiz and wife, is what it says on the record. and who's juan david ortiz? we think he's some sort of oil field worker or something. there are two vehicles registered to that particular house. one of them is a dodge 2500 white pickup truck, which fits the bill for an oil field type truck. [suspenseful music] craig melvin: that truck had disabled veteran plates, suggesting david had served in the military. so far, everything erika had told them was ringing true. josh mankiewicz: it feels like you're getting close. it feels like we're on to something, finally. craig melvin: they put a bolo out for ortiz's truck, then another twist. federico calderon: we get a call of another body that's found off of ih-35.

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the[suspenseful music]ns. craig melvin: law enforcement was on the lookout for a white dodge ram belonging to juan david ortiz, the man they desperately wanted to question about the murders of melissa ramirez and claudine luera.

soon, the truck was spotted near san bernardino, the moment captured on security video. federico calderon: the troopers, they're driving by. they see the vehicle parked at a gas station. craig melvin: when he emerged, they confronted him. trooper 2: stop right there. stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. is this your truck? is this your truck? ok, all right. turn around. federico calderon: he started telling the troopers, hey, you're freaking me out. trooper 2: ok, ok. i'm going to explain to you. federico calderon: then he runs from the troopers. hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. craig melvin: they chased ortiz for a few blocks then lost him. he couldn't have gone far on foot, so the swat team was called in. officers suited up and set up a perimeter, then proceeded to comb the entire city block.

there was no sign of him. it was a scene custom made for la gordiloca. she was live streaming this latest news to the community most affected by it. priscilla villarreal: just really don't know what's going on yet, but it's very serious. they're all armed. they're all with their bulletproof vests. it's probably those recent deaths that just happened. i can only speculate. like i said, nothing's confirmed. craig melvin: as the search was underway-- federico calderon: we get a call of another body that's found off of ih-35. the deputy makes it out to the body, and he calls me, and he says, hey, i think you all have another one. craig melvin: it was the body of guiselda cantu. she was also a sex worker, also shot to death on a webb county road, and near her federal 40-caliber casings.

and then came a phone call from the border patrol. it changed everything investigators thought they understood about the man they'd been pursuing. josh mankiewicz: he's not an oilfield worker. federico calderon: not an oilfield worker, he's a border patrol agent, a supervisory border patrol agent. that had to hit you like a ton of bricks. we weren't expecting that. i can tell you that. we were not expecting that. craig melvin: other border patrol agents had connected the dots when ortiz posted some messages on facebook just moments before, while he was on the run, telling his wife and kids he loved them, along with "doc ortiz checks out. farewell." like he's expecting not to survive. federico calderon: like he's expecting not to survive, correct. craig melvin: the search narrowed to a hotel parking garage. so that's when we split into two sections.

and we made our-- we were making our way up to the parking lot. [suspenseful music] craig melvin: investigator noe gonzalez led the swat team up that parking garage ramp with laredo pd, dps troopers calderon and salinas all following close behind. as they made their way through the fourth and last floor, all that remained to be cleared were a lone pickup truck and some cement pillars. that was it. it was either the last four pillars or that truck. craig melvin: gonzales and others at the top of the stack covered the pillars. he directed the rest of the team toward the truck. officer 1: ok! let me see your hands! officer 2: get down! get down! craig melvin: and there he was, hiding in that truck bed. josh mankiewicz: he takes out his cell phone very quickly. correct. you tell me. hoping that the swat team will think it's a gun and kill him? that was his-- his hope, to get killed by--

by law enforcement so he didn't have to deal with what he had done. craig melvin: if suicide by cop was the plan, these officers didn't fall for it. instead, they placed him in cuffs. he doesn't put up a fight. federico calderon: he doesn't. it would not have been a wise thing to do, but no, he didn't. craig melvin: it was around 2:30 in the morning by the time they placed juan david ortiz under arrest. priscilla villarreal: they got the guy. it's confirmed. suspect is in custody. you nervous? craig melvin: and then he was inside an interrogation room. josh mankiewicz: what's his demeanor, scared, arrogant, ashamed? i would say arrogant is the right word. you hit the nail on the head there. he's basically laughing that he was able to outrun the troopers.

craig melvin: ortiz repeatedly denied knowing any of the victims. investigators recalled finding erika's bag in his truck. over more than eight hours they took his clothes, had a man with a badge change into prisoner orange, and they pressed him. da alaniz was watching on video. isidro alaniz: i'll never forget. the time was 11:24 in the morning.

he looks at captain calderon and says, can you take 'em off? he says, i'm not going to hurt you. and i'm sitting there watching like you're watching the super bowl, you know? and i'm like, take 'em off, take 'em off, do it. he's asking for trust here. isidro alaniz: yeah, so calderon goes to take off his-- his handcuffs. and i look at everybody in the room, and i say, get ready, here it comes. craig melvin: and here it came. my mental health was better. but uncontrollable movements called td,tardive dyskinesia, started disrupting my day. td felt embarrassing. i felt like disconnecting. i asked my doctor about treating my td,

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and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. [suspenseful music] welcome back. after an intense manhunt, investigators were convinced they had finally nabbed the killer of laredo. border patrol officer juan david ortiz was now being grilled about the murders of three women. ortiz was defiant, but as the evidence against him mounted, his mood shifted. he appeared ready to confess, and police were hanging on every word. here's josh mankiewicz with the conclusion of "the streets of laredo." investigators were trying to learn more from ortiz,

and la gordiloca was live with the latest. priscilla villarreal: the man who was detained last night in the parking lot of that hotel is a border patrol agent. craig melvin: she told her audience the man who had sparked such fear in the city of laredo for the last two weeks had been caught. we had, or we we might have a serial killer in our hands. craig melvin: a captive ortiz was speaking to a captivated audience. he said he'd taken his san bernardo friend to score drugs late sunday night, then got upset when she got high and passed out in his truck. he said, melissa began yelling she wanted out of his truck. and that was all it took.

and i asked him specifically what gun did he use. he said he used his service weapon. craig melvin: the service weapon issued by the border patrol, along with the federal ammo his employer supplied. and having made the jump from lawman to murderer, ortiz said he wanted to do it again. 10 days after he killed melissa, he picked up claudine luera. he says she was curious about where melissa's body had been found, so he started to drive her out there. ortiz said he told her to get out then shot her as she turned her back. now calderon and his team had to ponder this.

remember how investigators trying to solve melissa's murder had reached out to the rest of law enforcement, including the border patrol, looking for melissa's friend, claudine luera? josh mankiewicz: ortiz's job with the border patrol was to work in the bic, the border intelligence center. yeah. josh mankiewicz: you think ortiz heard that you guys were looking for claudine luera and went out and found her and killed her? i-- i swear, i-- you know, the coincidence is just too-- too big, too strong. i think that he heard the call come in. i think that he-- he was on full alert. and thought, i got to cover my tracks. and thought, i've got to get to claudine before they do. craig melvin: ortiz confessed to killing claudine and melissa and guiselda and assaulting erika, and he wasn't done. federico calderon: he tells us,

and there was one more you probably don't even know about. craig melvin: he sent them to a gravel mound 15 miles outside of town. a bunch of cops that i'm there with, they all burst out of the room. they get in their patrol cars and drive out there. craig melvin: it's where they found 28-year-old janelle ortiz, same last name but no relation to the man who killed her. janelle ortiz fit the profile? federico calderon: fit the profile, same-- same work type, worked in the same area, also a drug user. craig melvin: when law enforcement caught up to ortiz at that gas station, he had just returned from killing janelle. ortiz knew he was being hunted by law enforcement and so accelerated his killing spree. and if you hadn't caught him, he wouldn't have stopped. he told us that he was going to keep going until he was caught.

craig melvin: in the room, ortiz offered motives that made him sound virtuous. he described murdering sex workers in cold blood as a kind of public service. had he just made that up to avoid the shame of being a cop who was also a customer, or had he been afraid the women he'd been with could have exposed him? josh mankiewicz: you think what set ortiz off was that he let the women get too close? yes. i think what ended up happening, i think there was a power shift here.

and starting with melissa, i think she crossed over, you know, from-- from her world into his world. and that gave her a lever. isidro alaniz: yeah, because she becomes now a threat to his-- to his livelihood, to his his family, his children, to his job. craig melvin: da alaniz had enough to charge juan david ortiz with four counts of murder, one count of unlawful restraint, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of evading arrest. melissa ramirez's mom, christina, recalled how hard it was seeing ortiz for the first time at one of his hearings. [speaking spanish] translator: i saw him, and my heart accelerated. and i got so angry that i stood up and i shouted at him that he was a murderer. christina ramirez: [speaking spanish] order! order! colette ramirez: he just gave this smirk. and that literally sent chills down my spine.

like, why is it? you know, you have this poor lady screaming at you, and you're just like-- this is a mom who lost a daughter. yeah. josh mankiewicz: and you're laughing? yeah. craig melvin: ortiz said his confession was coerced and pleaded not guilty. four years later, a jury didn't buy it. their verdict took less than five hours. juror: we, the jury, find the defendant, juan david ortiz, guilty of the offense of capital murder as charged in the indictment. craig melvin: juan david ortiz was sentenced that very night, life in prison with no possibility of parole. it was a long fall for a decorated combat medic, a rising star at the border patrol, and a married father of three. ciara ramirez: intel supervisor, had all this power, all this knowledge, masters educated. i mean, the list goes on. craig melvin: for the victim's families, the verdict brought some relief.

ciara ramirez: i was very happy. i wanted to yell. i wanted to, like, scream with excitement. and he just looked-- i think he didn't care. no emotion. no emotion at all. but i felt so happy. craig melvin: ciara's life also changed in one good way. josh mankiewicz: and now you work for the sheriff's department? i do. how is that? ciara ramirez: i love it. i think i am in the right place. and i know my mom would be so proud of me. i know she's proud of me. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [dramatic music] i go inside and i see the rice burning on the stove. i went through the house. she wasn't home.