was granted to raven's mother. janet's mom is left with the memories of the daughter she loved and lost. josh mankiewicz: how often do you think about janet. janet christiansen: constantly. the only way i can handle it is i know she's happy. i know she is. craig melvin: that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. and i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." my only question was why. craig melvin (voiceover): they were beautiful people. in miami's sizzling south beach. singles who became lovers. unidentified man (home video): you may kiss the bride. craig melvin (voiceover): and then newlyweds. unidentified man (home video): congratulations.

craig melvin (voiceover): they were still on their honeymoon, only married four days, when this young bride was murdered. rita stephen: i get a phone call, screaming, crying. craig melvin: no murder weapon. no dna. but no shortage of suspects. maria mederos: you've got to prove it. you've got to prove it craig melvin: did the red-hot miami lifestyle have something to do with her death? dennis murphy: what's been going on in this club scene? gus bayas: he did admit to having encounters with other couples there. craig melvin: or was it simple jealousy? unidentified man (deposition video): are you still intimate with yolanda? michel escoto (deposition video): yes, we are. craig melvin: threats. michel escoto (in court): say that again. unidentified woman (in court): objection, judge. craig melvin: betrayal. yolanda cerrillo: he said that he didn't love her, he loved me. craig melvin: and finally, a verdict. rita stephen: the years of waiting. the years of mourning her. but we needed justice. craig melvin: hello and welcome to dateline. wendy trapaga fell head over heels for michel escoto,

an older man with a string of admiring girlfriends though wendy was his prize catch. the couple quickly married. then, just days later, the young bride was found dead in a parking lot. the mystery of her murder would haunt investigators for years... but the truth would prove more cold-blooded then even they could imagine. here's dennis murphy with "mystery in south beach." dennis murphy: if you've spent any time down here you probably sensed there are really two miami beaches: you know this one, by reputation anyway...south beach...a pulsating playground with energy that surges out of the ocean and exhausts itself in the all-night clubs. and then there's the old miami beach.

here are the sun-burned back streets of squat apartment blocks where decades past the old people used to sit out in aluminum chairs. and that's where a young couple--wendy and michel-- was trying to make a go of it. the rent was cheap, the window air-conditioning good enough. dennis murphy: but if you've ever thought beautiful people catch all the breaks, then listen to this story of 21-year old wendy trapaga - because she may be the most gorgeous, doomed young woman to ever walk these streets. dennis murphy: she was model pretty? tiare trapaga: i don't think that she thought of herself as anything spectacular. dennis murphy: her much older sisters, tiare (tee-are-ay) and rita, and brother ralph, never use the qualifier "step" sister when they speak of wendy. they'll tell you she was a little bit of a daddy's girl, her father an international airline pilot who died, sadly, in a crash when wendy was just six. wendy's mother myriam raised her with big sister, rita, always pitching in. rita trapaga: i guess i was like that other mother for her.

because i pretty much was there by myriam's side raising her. wendy: see it, you see the monkey? dennis murphy: the love of animals was always a part of wendy rita trapaga: she was always rescuing some animal, or a dog, or a puppy, or a kitten, anything. dennis murphy: but allergies would end her ambitions to be a vet. rita trapaga: i kept telling her, "don't give up your passion. don't give it up. dennis murphy: but wendy did have another passion and it was for fashion, and makeovers. ralph trapaga: oh my goodness someone: pretty girl. wendy: give a little turn. dennis murphy: at easter, she memorably dolled-up her nieces for a living room fashion show. ralph trapaga: and here is the director of the entire operation. dennis murphy: how nice a kid was this church-going, slightly sheltered, girl? well there's this story of the classmate without a dress: ralph trapaga: one girl-- couldn't afford to go to the prom. and-- wendy got this girl prettied up, got her a dress, everything. that was the heart she had." dennis murphy: after graduation, two cousins who owned their own salons urged wendy to follow in their footsteps. dennis murphy: she had a flair for it. and you can do very well in that field-- rita trapaga: yes, she did. yes she did.

dennis murphy: so at twenty-one, after a brief marriage, she enrolled in beauty school. and in 2002 that's where she first saw michel escoto rumble up on his fire engine red ducati motorcycle. michel was a self-taught web designer and sometime teacher of computing but by his early 30's he was looking for a career change. he thought he'd try hair styling so he enrolled--as fate would have it-- in the same cosmetology school as wendy. michel's friend, ramon santa cruz. ramon santacruz: when i met wendy-- he was-- on a motorcycle with her. i told myself it's a beautiful girl. i don't know what he did to get this girl. dennis murphy: whatever he did -- it worked. the pair falling quickly and deeply. dennis murphy: within six months they were living together on south beach. wendy gave michel a makeover, dying his hair blond. perfect for the club scene. they lived for the day. then came unexpected news for these two butterflies: wendy was pregnant.

her mother, myriam, had mixed feelings. dennis murphy: how did myriam feel about the fact that her baby was having a baby? rita trapaga: delighted with the fact of being a grandmother. but not delighted with the-- with the circumstances. dennis murphy: wendy had had the big church wedding for her first marriage, this time around she and michel got hitched at miami beach city hall. justice of the peace: you may kiss the bride. justice of the peace: congratulations. dennis murphy: the next day, wendy and michel set out for a brief weekend honeymoon, a drive down the florida keys to key west where the road ran out. sunset drinks, dinner and a hotel room. dennis murphy: three days after the wedding, they were back in miami beach. sunday evening. wendy called her mother to say they were going to a movie, and then dancing later at a club. her mother urged her pregnant daughter not to drink. then, in the middle of the night, the wee hours of monday morning, wendy's mother got an unexpected call

from her new son-in-law: michel saying they'd had an argument, wendy had stormed off saying she was going to her mother's house. since then the bridegroom said he'd repeatedly called wendy without success. dennis murphy: right around then, in a bleak warehouse district miles and miles from the after-hours bars in miami, a sanitation worker was startled to see the body of a young woman in a blue dress slumped between two vehicles. it was the newlywed, wendy. news traveled fast. rita trapaga: i get a phone call from my stepmother screaming, crying. "wendy's dead. they took her from me." she told me, "it's on the news." and i went looking. and there's my sweet little sister being put on a gurney and it's just so surreal. dennis murphy: this desolate warehouse place? rita trapaga: all i kept thinking about was her being alone there by herself and praying to god that she didn't suffer.

dennis murphy: the killer who bludgeoned her to death also erased the beauty of her young face. a honeymoon weekend for the new bride had ended behind yellow police tape. craig melvin: coming up, who killed wendy and why? did it have something to do with miami's wild night life? gus bayas: he did admit to having encounters with other couples there. craig melvin: when dateline continues. [coughing] copd isn't pretty. from the struggle to breathe... to getting stopped in your tracks. bye, grandma. ♪♪ but with trelegy, i can finally move forward. with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. once-daily trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night.

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dennis murphy: miami-dade police detectives maria mederos and gus bayas had barely clocked in for their monday morning shift when word came down of a homicide in a bleak warehouse district. it's where they found--in a parking lot--the body of wendy trapaga lying between a car and a van. maria mederos: we could see the spatter of the blood on the van, meaning that- whoever did this to her did it to her right there. dennis murphy: so this body hadn't been disposed of there? this was the place where she was killed? maria mederos: correct, correct. dennis murphy: her head had been bashed in. but there was no weapon to be found. det. gus bayas: what type of a homicide is this? is this a robbery? is this maybe some-- a drug deal that went bad? dennis murphy: tell me what you're taking in about the victim. maria mederos: she is a young girl-- dressed like she may have gone out the night before. she didn't have her shoes on which was unusual. why is this young girl in this industrial parking lot? dennis murphy: no reason to be out in this forlorn part of the county.

maria mederos: no, no the-- unless she met up with someone. dennis murphy: so the detectives headed out to do the part of the job that never gets easier. dennis murphy: so you're delivering terrible news. maria mederos: horrible news. dennis murphy: amid the shock and tears the detectives pieced together from the mother a sense of who their victim was and what her final days and hours had been about. sunday evening, the phone call, wendy sounded ok, the detectives were told. but that next call at 5:48 am--the one from michel asking if she was at her mom's--was worrisome. a few hours later, michel was waiting for wendy's mother at the school where she worked. maria mederos: he met her at-- at her job. she tells me, you know, "he was very disheveled and very worried about where she could be." dennis murphy: michel escoto, it turned out, was about to get an official answer to his "where is she" question. maria mederos: and while we're talking the phone rings. and it's-- michel escoto calling-- dennis murphy: again asking his mother-in-law -- had she heard from wendy? detectives grabbed the phone and asked where he was.

they headed over to michel's apartment to deliver the news about his girlfriend of eight-months, his bride of four days. det. gus bayas: we walked into his apartment, when he blurted out, "is she dead?" and we explained to him w-- we're investigating the death of-- of-- wendy, et cetera, he started balling up. dennis murphy: doubled over. crying. police gave him a few minutes to compose himself before asking him to come down to headquarters to answer some more questions. there he recounted the brief honeymoon. michel told the detectives that wendy had the idea of adding a little more spice before rejoining their workweek lives. det. gus bayas: "well, we haven't had much of a honeymoon this weekend. let's extend our honeymoon. dennis murphy: so, as michel escoto told it, around midnight they checked into a miami hotel that features fantasy suites with a private pool, and jacuzzi. he says they had sex, slept a little, and wendy dozed off in the jacuzzi. around 4 a.m., michel says they checked out and headed home. and that's when, he said, the newlyweds had their first argument.

michel says he walked into the apartment, leaving wendy in the car. det. gus bayas: three minutes later he comes out. he says when he comes out the car is gone, wendy is gone. dennis murphy: michel escoto spoke with detectives for fourteen hours. they asked him repeatedly if he could identify anyone with a motive. he said he couldn't. after leaving police headquarters, he saw his friend ramon santa cruz. ramon santacruz: he was-- he was-- was looking depressed. he looked down-- maybe tired. dennis murphy: five days after her murder, wendy was laid to rest -- and then friends and family gathered at her parent's home. detective bayas was there as well, and he learned something about the couple that would send the investigation down another path. dennis murphy: a thread of this investigation takes you into the swinger lifestyle. what's been going on with michel and-- and wendy in this club scene? det. gus bayas: after i am, i'm informed of this, that wendy was part of a swingers club,

a place called the miami velvet down here in south miami -the first thing i did was i called michel. he did admit to-- having encounters with other couples there dennis murphy: so now you gotta wonder, did somebody have a thing they developed about wendy, and is that person maybe the killer? det. gus bayas: it turns out the club is within a mile and a half of the scene. so i wanted to explore that. dennis murphy: the swinger's club was cooperative and detectives took dna samples from a few employees and members. they would have to wait for the results. in the meantime --- the investigation was turning up a new lead ---- a former girlfriend of michel's. her name: yolanda cerrillo. maria mederos: yolanda cerillo is a person that had a relationship with michel before he met the victim. according to her, michel left her for wendy. she loved michel escoto. she was very much in love with him. dennis murphy: yolanda, a single mother --was she also a woman scorned? michel left her just six-months earlier.

and to add insult to injury asked her to watch his dog while he was on his honeymoon with wendy. maria mederos: to go to the extent of taking care of somebody's dog during their honeymoon. it's just-- as a woman, very strange to me. dennis murphy: does yolanda become a suspect? --a woman who feels that she was cashiered-- fired because of this younger woman and nobody gets away with that and i'm gonna kill you? det. gus bayas: --there's a lot to yolanda. there's a lot to yolanda. dennis murphy: a lot of bad -- if you ask ramon santa cruz: ramon santacruz: i didn't like her from the beginning, because she was very evasive. the apartment was always dirty. she was never-- a good person to begin with. dennis murphy: detectives met with yolanda cerillo -- who freely admitted that she had been devastated when michel dumped her -- but she had no idea who beat his wife to death. maria mederos: she said she didn't know anything about it. dennis murphy: but the detectives noted something else about yolanda: she lived just a few minutes from the parking lot where they'd found wendy. maria mederos: when you start adding up all the little things together, then her proximity to the crime scene i'm very

interested in yolanda cerillo. dennis murphy: no one knew yet what yolanda was hiding. that would come later and so would the revelation of a motive that seemed to explain every violent little thing. craig melvin: coming up, a million reasons why someone wanted wendy dead. maria mederos: i ask him, how much is the life insurance policy craig melvin: when dateline continues. my kids can't hide anything from me. i'm home! especially when they've been using toilet paper that doesn't hold up. new charmin ultra strong has a diamond-weave texture that's more durable and it cleans better* so you can use less. enjoy the go with charmin. work. play. blink. relief. work. play. blink. relief. >> the only ♪♪ [cough] per our previous convo,

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did her killer meet her at the sexual swapping club that her boyfriend michel escoto took her to? the cops ran down those leads and the swinger's club theory went nowhere. what about yolanda, the husband's ex-girlfriend, enraged perhaps to be traded in for wendy, the younger model? the detectives' guts told them that yolanda knew way more than she was saying but, if so, how to crack her? and then there was the husband himself. they kept going back to their notes from their fourteen-hour interview with him. at times, it had been pulling teeth. maria mederos: once we ask him over and over again, "is there anybody with a motive? anything? anything at all? anything you can tell us?" i bring up the point, "well, don't you have a life insurance policy?" and-- and he says, "yeah, we do." dennis murphy: a hefty one, it would seem, for a healthy 21-year-old woman he wasn't even married to at the time of purchase. maria mederos: i ask him, "how much is the life insurance policy?" and he said, "$1 million."

and i said, $1 million? and you don't think that's a motive? you don't think that's important to tell us?" and he said, "no i don't because i have $1 million life insurance policy on myself too." i said, "well, that's not in question because you're here, you're alive." dennis murphy: one thing escoto did reveal. wendy was not pregnant. he said that was the cause of their argument that night. he said wendy had lied to him about the whole thing. as the detectives' questions got sharper that day, michel shut down. would you take a polygraph. no. can we photograph those bruises on your arm? no. take a dna swab? again, no. dennis murphy: he didn't talk himself off your list of suspects. det. gus bayas: he did not. he did not. dennis murphy: the working theory of the crime was as simple as it was brute: he'd bashed in her skull for the million-dollar insurance payout. a tire iron was missing from her car - a likely weapon, but nowhere to be found. dennis murphy: so you two go to the prosecutor, the state attorney and say, "we got it. let's go. grand jury."

maria mederos no, it's not that easy. dennis murphy: a wrap, we're done. why-- why isn't it-- maria mederos: it's not-- you-- dennis murphy: --that easy? maria mederos: --you gotta prove it. gotta prove it. dennis murphy: so the police let their person of interest go. in the meantime, wendy's family had huge suspicions about michel. sister rita wasn't crazy about him from the moment she first met him. rita trapaga: call it bad energy. i shook that man's hand and i was wiping my hand right after i let it go. dennis murphy: the revelation that he'd bought a million-dollar life insurance policy on wendy only confirmed their belief that he'd killed her. two months after wendy's death, michel filed for his beneficiary payout. the insurer, met life, balked saying the case was an unsolved homicide. and her murder would remain unsolved for a long time. rita trapaga: we'd be frustrated, you know, the family of the victim. and we're sitting there waiting and waiting. dennis murphy: and then michel did something bold - he actually sued the insurance company to pay him his million-dollars. would a guilty man be so brazen as to try that?

absolutely ---the family said. and by then they had had enough. the family got a lawyer, jorge borron -- and together they went after michel escoto. jorge borron: we believed he was the killer. dennis murphy: two years after the murder, the family filed a wrongful death suit against michel. met life put the insurance money in escrow and waited on the sidelines as michel and wendy's family fought it out in civil court. but if michel wanted to see so much as one cent of that money, he would have to do something he hadn't done before. jorge borron: he has to testify -- he cannot plead the fifth. especially since he's pursuing the--the claim. so he has to testify. dennis murphy: at this point, police and prosecutors were happy to help the family's attorney prepare his case... sharing those statements michel had made to detectives after wendy's death. dennis murphy: they call you in and say, "take a look at what we've got." is that right? jorge borron: we asked them if we ---we would be allowed to look at the statements that he had given. and we were. dennis murphy: michel escoto was videotaped

as he gave a sworn deposition. jorge borron: we took his deposition and--his story just kept changing. dennis murphy: so the story about--a fight and she takes a hike just doesn't-- jorge borron: no it didn't add up. it doesn't add up. for instance, he --testified that wendy had --it was her idea, all of the sudden, that night to go to the miami executive hotel. dennis murphy: however, back in 2002 yolanda, the ex-girlfriend, told police michel had asked her to make the hotel reservation for him. it wasn't wendy's idea at all. a factual discrepancy also known as a lie. during the deposition michel also admitted that yolanda was no longer his ex-- he'd moved back in with her not long after wendy's death. sot--depo attorney #1: are you still uhm intimate with yolanda? michel escoto: yes, we are. depo attorney: do you have any plans of marrying yolanda? michel escoto: plans as such? no. dennis murphy: there had been one question about michel and yolanda that had nagged detectives since 2002.

they learned through phone records that on the night of the murder, michel paged yolanda at three in the morning. but why? both michel and yolanda told police at the time he wanted to check on her sick daughter. jorge borron: he claims of course that he beeps her because he thought the-- her daughter-- yolanda's daughter was-- was sick. we later find out that yolanda's daughter was not sick. dennis murphy: so there's no reason for a middle of the night-- jorge borron: no reason what-- dennis murphy: --communication. jorge borron: --no reason whatsoever. dennis murphy: when the civil case finally went to trial, escoto got so roughed up that on the second day, he was a no-show in court. wendy's mother got the insurance money, and prosecutors got to hear first-hand about his constantly shifting stories. jorge borron: the-- state attorney sat in the courtroom and was taking notes. and-- dennis murphy: so did you have a little chit chat in the hallway outside? jorge borron: we did. (laughter) dennis murphy: what'd you say? jorge borron: this is your case. i mean, you have all the evidence right now. and of course--we gave 'em --the deposition testimony and everything we had. we had everything outlined.

dennis murphy: michel escoto was arrested three days after his court no-show and was charged with the murder of his bride - wendy trapaga. but police still thought they needed more. so they fixed their eyes on the girlfriend yolanda cerrillo. maria mederos: i knew that eventually as time goes by that relationship would deteriorate. would deteriorate to the-- dennis murphy: why'd you think-- maria mederos: --point-- dennis murphy: --that? maria mederos: --because if they other, that was gonna be a friction point in their relationship. dennis murphy: it's too corrosive a secret to keep. maria mederos: yes. yes. dennis murphy: how do you reel her in? maria mederos: --well, time. time. time changes relationships dennis murphy: and it did. in 2006, one year after michel was arrested, yolanda and her attorney went to prosecutors and said "let's make a deal." she got full immunity in exchange for telling how she helped michel that night. maria mederos: she came into the state attorney's office and explained that she did take him away from the crime scene. dennis murphy: so that's a great story to tell a jury?

maria mederos: yes. that's it. dennis murphy: police may not have had a murder weapon or helpful forensic clues. but now they had yolanda... who was about to give her version of that night. it was cold-hearted and calculating. craig melvin: coming up, a spurned lover takes the stand. yolanda cerrillo (in court): he said to calm down. that it was all a plan. that he didn't love her, he loved me. craig melvin: when dateline continues. ooo! our car's value went up! maybe we should track all our cars' value on carvana? we need more trackers! oh! i'm getting a value update! do you see which one is going off? how's it trackin'? some dips, some rises. now what? "hold?" sold. track your car's value on carvana today. i got this wow skin from olay body wash. it's new super serum: sink into my skin with 5 powerful ingredients. 5 benefits in 1! look at this olay difference. so luminous! olay super serum body wash.

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1-800-290-7477 now or visit us at mso fund.com. >> hi, i'm richard louis with the news update. >> at least 24 people are now confirmed dead due to the california wildfires. so far, the blazes have swept through at least 40,000 acres. containment progress is expected to be hindered this week by the strengthening santa ana winds. and president biden, speaking with israel's prime minister on sunday, the white house said the two leaders discussed continued progress on a gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, with less than

ceasefire deal, with less than ten days before the biden craig melvin: welcome back to dateline. i'm craig melvin. investigators believed michel escoto had a million-dollar motive to kill his young wife wendy trapaga. but they lacked a murder weapon or any forensic evidence tying michel to the crime scene. what they did have was a witness who was about to offer a chilling account of what happened on wendy's last night alive. back to dennis murphy with "mystery in south beach." dennis murphy: nearly 12 years after the murder of wendy trapaga, her husband michel escoto was finally on trial for her murder. he'd pleaded not guilty to first-degree charges. prosecutor: money is the root of this defendant's evil. dennis murphy: prosecutors offered the most chilling detail to the case: that escoto actually picked wendy to be his bride... just so he could insure her life and kill her. prosecutor: he would prey on an unsuspecting

21-year-old girl and marry her. four days, four days after that marriage, this defendant bludgeoned and strangled wendy trapaga to death. dennis murphy: among the first witnesses, wendy's heartbroken mother, myriam benitez. speaking through an interpreter, the mother said she was shocked when she learned the couple had taken life insurances policies out on one another just before their marriage. myriam's translator: i did not feel good. i expressed to her why insurance, they're not even married. they didn't have children. why insurance? dennis murphy: on the stand, detective maria maderos said she zeroed in on that insurance policy when she questioned escoto a day after the murder. (in courtroom) maria mederos: i told him if he couldn't muster up a tear for his wife of four days to muster up a tear for the million dollars he's never going to see.

gail levine: what was his reaction? mederos folding hands and leaning back. dennis murphy: that lack of emotion ... was it indifference to wendy...or a disregard for women in general? detectives say escoto was a man with a history of mooching off girlfriends. this former lover testified she supported escoto for years. gail levine: how much money did you give him a month? dokova: uhm approximately maybe $1500. dennis murphy: go figure, the state said, but for whatever reason women threw gifts at escoto. one bought him the ducati motorcycle, another, a car. but still another former lover - who also supported him for years - would be the prosecution's star witness. yolanda cerrillo: yolanda cerrillo... dennis murphy: yolanda cerrillo. the prosecution argued she was the girlfriend with intimate knowledge of how escoto carried out this brutal crime. she'd been given immunity in exchange for her testimony here. wiping away tears ... she recounted how it all started.

how she fell hard for the defendant she thought to be a charmer. prosector: have you ever had a man that you could share your life with? yolanda cerrillo: i thought it was michel. dennis murphy: only to realize he was dumping her for the younger, and more attractive wendy. yolanda said she then confronted escoto in this restaurant parking lot ...and heard -- for the first time -- she said, that his impending marriage to wendy was all a sham, that in the end he'd come back to yolanda with pockets full of cash. yolanda cerrillo: he said to calm down, that it was all a plan, that he didn't love her, he loved me. he was gonna marry her, they were gonna have an insurance policy and she was gonna die. gail levine: all right. so, he told you he had a plan? yolanda cerrillo: yes. dennis murphy: the plan was murder. it was during that conversation, yolanda told jurors that she became a co-conspirator -- not only helping escoto cover up his crime, but also helping him carry it out. this was the plan: on his wedding night, yolanda said escoto would drug and drown wendy.

to make sure he got it right, yolanda admitted that she took part in a grim dress rehearsal of what was meant to look like an accidental death. yolanda cerrillo: we filled up my tub and i got in the water. and he pushed me down with his hands. gail levine: you let him push you under the water? yolanda cerrillo: yes. gail levine: what did you say once he let you up? yolanda cerrillo: i told him that wouldn't work. gail levine: why? yolanda cerrillo: because the force of him holding her down in the water would leave bruises. gail levine: so what did you suggest? yolanda cerrillo: i suggest he use a towel to hold her down. dennis murphy: yolanda said she even helped him, whip-up the drug-laced concoction to knock wendy out. yolanda cerrillo: he came over and he brought some percocet pills. and he and i started squishing them in-- i think it's a mortar and pestle thing. gail levine: well, what was he gonna do with the percocet pills that you ground? yolanda cerrillo: he was gonna give it to her so she would be drugged.

dennis murphy: and then drowned, said yolanda. but she added the plan to kill wendy hit an unexpected snag: at the honeymoon hotel in key west wendy balked at the taste of the drugged cocktail. so escoto tried again later that weekend at the miami fantasy suite hotel. this time she drank the cocktail, but for some reason he couldn't manage to drown her. that's when, yolanda recalled, escoto showed up at her place in the middle of the night with a dazed wendy in the front seat of a car. gail levine: did you see anything in the passenger seat? yolanda cerrillo: i saw a movement of somebody inside the car. dennis murphy: wendy was still alive. yolanda said escoto ordered her to follow him in her car. gail levine: and then, what happened? yolanda cerrillo: he got outta the car. he walked over to my car. and he told me, "drive around. give me 20, 25 minutes." dennis murphy: eventually, yolanda said she spotted escoto again... walking down the street... splashed in blood and carrying a tire iron.

she said she drove him to the bay in downtown miami where he got out of the car with the weapon. yolanda cerrillo: and as he's walking i saw him when he threw the thing in the water. dennis murphy: after dropping him off at his apartment, she said, she took his bloody clothes and threw them in a dumpster. gail levine: happy with yourself? yolanda cerrillo: no. i'm worthless. that's how i feel right now. gail levine: is this about you? yolanda cerrillo: no, it's not. (crying) it's about a mother who lost her daughter and i had something to do with it. dennis murphy: and yolanda's time on the witness stand would get tougher still. two old lovers were about to face-off in court. one defending himself, the other testifying against him. a roiling, boiling drama in real time. craig melvin: coming up craig melvin: michel escoto's ex lover now the star witness against him in wendy's murder. michel escoto (in court): did you wish she was dead?

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>> tomorrow. inside with jen psaki at eight, the rachel maddow show at nine, and the last word with lawrence o'donnell at ten on msnbc. the second inauguration of donald trump morning joe kicks off coverage. then at 10 a.m, rachel maddow and team will bring you key moments of the day, followed by analysis from our primetime anchors as the new term begins monday, january 20th, beginning monday, january 20th, beginning at six on msnbc. had succeeded in painting michel escoto as a man who used women for money. in other words, a cad. then again, a cad is a far cry from killer. terry lenamon: i don't think he's a killer. i think there is problems with this evidence. dennis murphy: you're not just sayin' that? terry lenamon: i'm not just saying that.

there's problems with this evidence. dennis murphy: attorney terry lenamon served as escoto's standby counsel. he says that despite the teary theatrics. dennis murphy: the state's case against michel escoto was weak from start to finish. there was -- he pointed out -- no murder weapon... no blood... no dna... linking the defendant to the crime. which is maybe why michel escoto -- who had already pleaded not guilty to the charges -- did what so many men facing a life in prison sentence would never dream of doing: he defended himself in court. michel escoto: i believe the evidence will show. that only an imbecile, an imbecile who's in love with money, would kill somebody four days after they were married to that person. dennis murphy: was it lincoln's advice about fool as a client, those who represent themselves-- terry lenamon: we'll see. dennis murphy: wearing glasses, khakis, a sweater and speaking in a soft voice, escoto seemed less like a killer and more like

a geek ...a hopeless novice getting pummeled by the prosecution. gail levine: judge michel escoto: i'm telling you he's getting sandbagged. gail levine: objection judge dennis murphy: one time, the newbie seemed near tears... another... overwhelmed. michel escoto: wow this is harder than i thought it would be dennis murphy: was this klutzy moment all about winning sympathy from the jury: the time he stumbled? michel escoto: sorry, twisted my ankle judge. dennis murphy: and one particularly wince-worthy moment came when civil attorney jorge borron--his nemesis from the failed insurance trial-- took the stand. under cross-examination by escoto he explained just why it was he suspected escoto of killing his wife wendy. jorge borron: you had been married to her for three days before you killed her to get the life insurance... so to me that was very clear. michel escoto: judge give me a second because i'm going to say something that i shouldn't. dennis murphy: escoto lost it. michel escoto: you say that again. gail levine: objection judge michel escoto: it's going to take all of them. judge: mr. escoto michel escoto: all of those guys wearing

white it's going to take all of them and some more. dennis murphy: had mr. nerd inadvertently shown the jury the lava boiling within? that threat won escoto a contempt of court citation from the judge... judge: quiet!! dennis murphy: but what appeared to be near disaster for the defendant.... could be spun as a play to his advantage. terry lenamon: i think one of the important advantages that he has here is that human connection that he's getting with standing up there. and with every witness who says, "you're a murderer. you're this. you're that," him not backing down. he's never backed down. dennis murphy: but escoto-the-hapless underdog still needed to convince jurors he was not violent ... especially when it came to women.... wendy, in particular. michel escoto: i'm trying to be as gentle as i can judge dennis murphy: he carefully questioned his former mother-in-law. he may have won points when he got her to admit that wendy had once confided this to a friend.... myriam translator: she told her friend that she was content that she loved you mr. escoto michel escoto: so did i

dennis murphy: likewise, this former girlfriend and self-confessed sugar mamma had to admit ... escoto was never a violent bully. michel escoto: did i ever throw anything at you? albena dokova: uh no michel escoto: did i ever punch you? albena dokova: no michel escoto: did i ever slap you? albena dokova: no, no michel escoto: did i ever throw you on the ground? albena dokova: no. dennis murphy: more importantly, escoto wanted to show that the state's theory of the crime was a fairytale ... starting with the idea that he drugged wendy. a pharmacologist testified that wendy that had only small amounts of prescription narcotics in her blood when the autopsy was performed... daniel buffington (in the courtroom): the toxicology report are consistent with normal doses that you would take of any of these medications. dennis murphy: she wasn't heavily drugged as the state argued. dennis murphy: she wasn't as incapacitated as you might've been led to believe? terry lenamon: absolutely. and that's highly disputed-- dennis murphy: this was not a knock-out punch? terry lenamon: highly-disputed. dennis murphy: there was another problem with the state's theory and it had to do with how wendy died. prosecutor (in courtroom): and if the assailant left handed began to strike her.... dennis murphy: a medical examiner for the defense believed that wendy's extensive injuries indicated two

killers ... both right-handed. me spitz (in courtroom): there are several impacts on the right side which in an altercation suggest to me that the assailant is right handed. dennis murphy: and since michel escoto is left handed, the implication for the jury was clear: he couldn't be the killer. what's more, a dna expert said she expected to find escoto's dna on the victim's clothes--after all they were husband and wife. but she found something more.... dr.zuleger (in courtroom); there were several of the markers where his dna is not represented. dennis murphy: dna traces for two different males ... and get this ... traces for a female. to stand-by lawyer terry lenamon ... that could mean only one person. yolanda cerrillo... escoto's old girlfriend who said she was with escoto just before and after the murder. terry lenamon: she's got the gold-plated immunity. dennis murphy: lenamon says the first thing to know about yolanda is that she's a liar. first...

she knew nothing about the crime; then she said she did but only after the fact. the final story he said, put yolanda front and center in planning the murder. terry lenamon: lo and behold we have this story that's-- that comes about about the drowning and the drugging and all this drama that i believe is rubbish. dennis murphy: so what did make sense? a killer, he said, who hated wendy enough to pummel her so badly she was unrecognizable. and who fit that bill? yolanda cerrillo: i felt destroyed cause she took you from me, yes. dennis murphy: in a beyond-weird courtroom exchange... escoto, in cross-examination, took on his former lover, yolanda cerrillo... who admitted to her poisonous resentments of wendy. yolanda cerrillo: i hated what she stood for, i didn't know who she was, i didn't. i hated the whole situation, i hated that you left. escoto: and did you wish she was dead? yolanda cerrillo: i wished she would go away. murphy: so you see yolanda's hand in this directly?

terry lenamon: she's lying because she feels that's in her best interest. i don't put it past her as being a person who would've committed this crime. dennis murphy: but would jurors see it that way? here was the critical moment of the trial -- a chance for each side to sum up its case. and this potential tipping point... even michel escoto seemed to agree -- was no time for amateurs. craig melvin: coming up, the verdict. rita stephan: the years of waiting. the years of mourning her. we needed justice. craig melvin: when dateline continues. dry eyes still feel gritty, rough, or tired? with miebo, eyes can feel ♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪ miebo is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye: too much tear evaporation. for relief that's ♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪

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1-800-290-7477 now or visit us 1-800-290-7477 now or visit us at mso from almost forty witnesses, the prosecutor and the defense attorney, in this case michel escoto himself, would get one last chance to talk to the jurors in closing arguments. prosecutor gail levine acknowledged that her office had to hold its nose in order to get escoto's girlfriend yolanda to testify against him. gail levine: i can't charge her. i'd love to. but i can't. and she came in here. and she filled in the details. she gave you the answers to questions that you had. dennis murphy: when it was the defense's turn, escoto and his backup attorney, terry lenamon,

surprised the courtroom. judge: would you like mr. lenamon to take over as your council at this time. michel: i'd like mr. lenamon to take over judge. terry: thank you mr. escoto. if i may proceed judge. judge: all right. dennis murphy: for the first time in this trial, escoto's backup counsel, terry lenamon, a seasoned defense attorney, would take over and urge the jurors to find reasonable doubt in the state's case. lenamon jumped in attacking what he called the prosecutor's overselling of a mostly circumstantial case. terry: this is a court of law and no matter how much i scream as an advocate no matter how much i wave my hands or say villain, villain, villain, villain, bad, villain, villain, it doesn't make it so. dennis murphy: lenamon's strategy was to plant a seed of doubt in just one juror's mind. terry lenamon: if there's a hung jury we may have to start over again. dennis murphy: then the case went to the jury. wendy's family as they had done throughout the trial,

gathered together once again, and prayed. her mother hugged prosecutor gail levine, who'd pursued escoto so ferociously. rita trapaga: she's my hero. she is without a doubt my hero. dennis murphy: two and a half hours after the jury went out, cell phones started buzzing in the courthouse. so many years since wendy's murder, and now, in moments, her family would know: rita trapaga: the years of waiting, the years of mourning her --all of a sudden we're told, "the verdict is in." before i got to the courtroom i was already crying. i was shaking. dennis murphy: wendy's family members held their breath. escoto appeared to do the same as the judge instructed the clerk to read the verdict. clerk: we the jury in miami dade county florida this 22nd day of april 2014 find the defendant michel escoto guilty of first-degree, pre-meditated murder. dennis murphy: michel escoto sat stone-faced in his chair, his lips down turned in a grimace. nodding. for the family, there were more tears, but of a different kind.

now sorrow mixed with relief and satisfaction. wendy's mother dropped to her knees and gave thanks. for detective maria maderos, a 12-year case was now officially stamped, "closed." det. maria mederos: he'll never do this to another woman again. his lies, and his charming, and his planning, and his evil plan will not affect another person. dennis murphy: but there was someone the family felt had gotten away with murder: escoto's girlfriend, yolanda cerrillo. her immunity deal meant she would never spend a day in jail. tiare trapaga: they're both monsters. they're both psychopaths. rita trapaga: i don't care at all how desperate, how insecure, how lacking in self-respect you have. you're a mother. and you went ahead and planned out the death of another mother's daughter. dennis murphy: but investigators said, without yolanda, things might have turned out differently. dennis murphy: people are gonna be throwing their shoes at the tv screen at this point, detective. gus bayas: she gave us the additional thing that we needed

to charge and keep and bring michel escoto to justice in this case. dennis murphy: so he gets a life sentence and she gets, "have a nice day." gus bayas: that's how it appears. but in lieu of not having anybody held accountable for this, i'll take that. dennis murphy: but the family wasn't going to let yolanda off so easily. they sued her for the wrongful death of wendy and were awarded a $44-million-dollar judgement... though they had no expectations of seeing that kind of money. - rita trapaga: if she has to pay one cent a week, it's well worth it, as a reminder for the rest of her life how she assisted that monster. dennis murphy (voiceover): two weeks after his conviction, michel escoto was sentenced for wendy's murder. at the hearing, he proclaimed his innocence to her family. michel escoto (in court): no matter how much satisfaction this verdict has given any of you, an innocent person was convicted in this-- in this case. dennis murphy (voiceover): finally, the family had an opportunity to address the man who killed wendy.

tiare trapaga (in court): justice served. off to hell with you. and good riddance. dennis murphy (voiceover): when wendys mother, myriam, spoke through a translator there wasnt a dry eye in the courtroom. unidentified woman (translating in court): sunday is mothers day. unidentified woman (translating in court): many of you have daughters or sons. unidentified woman (translating in court): and you will receive a kiss from them. unidentified woman (translating in court): i have to go to the cemetery. unidentified woman (translating in court): to put flowers on my daughters tomb. dennis murphy (voiceover): judge marisa tinkler mendez gave escoto the mandatory sentence. judge marisa tinkler mendez (in court): life in prison without the possibility of parole. dennis murphy: the only way he leaves prison is in a pine box. on the day escoto was found guilty, the family went to the cemetery to visit wendy.

they sat on her grave and talked to her. rita stephan: i kind of just sat back and felt that i could breathe for the first time in so long. and i just felt that she was finally at peace. she can rest now. dennis murphy: rest for wendy. the kind young woman who loved animals and enjoyed playing dress-up and who fatally married a stranger till death he did part. craig melvin: that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. sunday, rag ♪♪ ♪♪ this sunday, raging inferno. wind-driven wildfires in the los angeles area burn out of control forcing hundreds of thousands to flee and leaving behind apocalyptic scenes. >> this is one of the most