All language subtitles for American Greed s08e01 Murder in Memphis

In this episode of American Greed, he's
a successful insurance broker.

She's a vice president at a leading
financial firm.

She was making close to a quarter of a
million dollars a year. They were living

large. Tina and Joe Corona lived the
good life with a nice house and a

collection of classic cars.

We did everything together.

She loves cars.

She loves football.

But Joe has one very dark secret.

He's stealing money from clients to
finance their funds.

He preyed on people that were friends
and family. He didn't prey on strangers.

There was nobody he would not steal
money from.

How far will Joe Corona go to keep his
sins a secret?

I started crying and I said, I don't
want to believe this.

Please tell me he didn't do this to her.
I don't want to believe it.

Saturday, October 25th, 2008.

Just outside Memphis, Tennessee, in the
quiet suburb of Olive Branch.

Shortly after 7 o 'clock in the evening,
Carrie Brown, a trucking company

manager, receives an alarming phone
call.

It's Joe Corona, the husband of her
close friend, Tina Corona.

He sounds worried.

He just called somewhat panicky and just
said, have you talked to Tina today?

And I'm like, no.

Has she called you today?

No. Joe, what's going on?

Corona explains that he last saw Tina
around 10 o 'clock that morning when she

left home in her black Chevy Avalanche.

She planned to run errands in
preparation for a party later that

But she never came home, Corona says.

And she isn't answering her phone.

Well, I went into a straight panic
because that's not like her.

Especially not to answer phone calls
from him.

Tina Corona is a 44 -year -old financial
executive and president of the Memphis

Corvette Club.

She is so well -loved that friends and
family immediately form a search party

that very night.

They were thinking somebody had abducted
her, so I just went looking for that

black avalanche. It was like a massive
manhunt for Tina.

The mystery of Tina Corona's
disappearance would eventually reveal a

financial fraud scheme and murder plot.

But just how did Tina and Joe Corona, by
all appearances a happy and successful

couple, become entangled in this twisted
tale?

It's a story that begins decades
earlier.

I don't know anybody that didn't love
Tina.

She was the kind of person that you...

You had no choice but to love her,
really.

Carrie Brown meets Tina in kindergarten.

The two women stay tight through high
school and college and even get their

first jobs together as tellers at a
local bank.

Customers that adored her would wait
until she got back from lunch until she

helped them.

She's just that kind of person. She was
magnetic.

Although she does not have a degree in
business or finance, Tina's infectious

personality and strong work ethic propel
her up the corporate ladder.

Within a few years, she's working for
the brokerage firm Payne Weber.

She could talk a heating blanket from an
Eskimo.

She could sell anything. She could make
every customer that walked in there

happy.

In early 1993,

Tina meets her match in the charm
department.

One afternoon while out shopping, Tina
is swept off her feet by a smooth

-talking shoe salesman.

She didn't look like, you're not going
to believe this.

I just met somebody at the shoe
carnival. We're going out.

Joe Corona is a manager at the store.

He knew all the right buttons to push
with Tina.

Lots of attention.

flowers all the time, gifts all the
time, really winning her over.

Less than a year after meeting, the two
are married.

But shortly after the wedding, Tina
pushes her new husband for a career

She thinks he can do better than
slinging shoes.

So that's when she came to her dad and
said, will you take Joe in and train him

in the insurance business?

Tina's dad, Jim Murphy, is an
independent insurance agent.

He's eager to teach his new son -in -law
the ropes.

Two of Joe Corona's earliest clients are
his elderly neighbors, Lake and Helen

Sturtevant.

Their son, David, remembers when Corona
first came to call on them.

He would come over to my parents' house
and practice his sales pitch on them.

Have a live...

somebody to tell about the product he
was selling.

Because they adore Tina, the Sturdivans
are willing to take a chance with her

new husband.

They agree to let Joe open up an annuity
for them.

They thought it was a safe deal, and I
think they thought they'd be helping out

Tina by investing with them.

An annuity is a financial product that
is often used to create a future revenue

stream in retirement.

When you buy an annuity, you're buying
an investment, and you're expecting your

money to grow in value, and it's really
considered a safe investment. There's

not a lot of risk involved with an
annuity.

Joe Corona's new career is off to a
promising start when American Greed

Corona takes a high -stakes gamble with
his family's fortune.

Joe loved to gamble. Joe and Tina both
went to the casinos a lot. No one ever

knew how much money that he was spending
at the casino.

Memphis, Tennessee, home of the
legendary Beale Street, where seven days

there's always a party going on. And by
2006, the good times are rolling for Joe

and Tina Corona.

That year, Tina takes an executive job
with the financial firm Cantor

Fitzgerald. As the vice president in the
loan department, she's paid nearly a

quarter million dollars a year,
according to her good friend, Carrie

Everyone knew that she was successful
and was doing well, but she would never

take the credit for all that. She'd be
like, oh, Joe's done so well, you know,

in the insurance business. He's doing so
well.

But she's being far too humble.

Most of Joe's clients are Tina's
friends.

She often accompanies her husband on
sales calls.

Anybody that knew Tina would go with
them, but that was his bread and butter

people who trusted Tina, therefore they
could trust Joe.

With years of experience under his belt,
Joe now works out of his own office and

away from the watchful eye of his father
-in -law.

Carrie Brown eventually becomes one of
his clients.

She purchases a life insurance policy
through Joe and considers opening up a

,000 annuity with him as well.

I said, you know, I've got some money
invested in an annuity. It just would

more sense if I put it with someone that
I know.

So why don't I move my money to you? And
Tan was like, it's a great idea.

Of course you can move your money to
Joe.

But rather than make a phone call and
transfer money over to the life

company, Joe curiously tells Carrie to
make out a check to his business.

He said, just call your broker and tell
him that you want a check in full made

out to you.

You'll sign that check over to me, and
then I will invest it with Alliant.

and the same type of annuity.

Carrie doesn't think twice about the
transaction.

Joe is the husband of her good friend,
Tina.

Complete 100 % trust.

She was involved. I mean, she was there.
She helped sell it.

With his insurance business thriving,
Joe picks up a new hobby, collecting

classic cars.

Within a few years, Joe buys a 1971
Chevelle.

A 1969 Daytona yellow Corvette and a
couple of Porsches.

He liked to be seen in them. He was very
proud of his cars.

Joe becomes so enamored of his cars that
he and Tina join the exclusive Memphis

Corvette Club.

It's a defining moment, says Tina's
younger brother, Scott Murphy.

Joe was all about the appearance of what
you had.

He was looking to hang out with the
people that were in a different class

he felt like had money.

Joe and Tina moved to a bigger house in
Cordoba, a quiet town in the eastern

suburbs of Memphis.

The couple are high rollers at the
casinos in Tunica, Mississippi, where

plays fast and loose with their cash.

Joe loved to gamble. Joe and Tina both
went to the casinos a lot.

She hit 10 grand one time, and, like,
it's so much fun. I mean, we're

you know, because we're winning all this
money.

But what Tina doesn't yet realize is
that like any addiction, there can be

to pay.

Joe is losing a ton of money.

It's not uncommon for him to drop
several thousand dollars playing

high -end slots.

He won money, but not enough to cover
what he was losing.

At one point, I think he was down $90
,000.

Next on American Greed, Joe Corona loves
life in the fast lane.

But will he drive his friends, family,
and clients into a financial ditch?

I never really thought he would try to
steal money from the family.

In Memphis, Joe and Tina Corona appear
to have the perfect marriage.

But what Tina doesn't know is that their
lifestyle is propped up by fraud.

Joe's been pocketing his clients' money
for years, says Shelby County Assistant

D .A. Danielle McCollum.

Tina made good money, but I guess that
wasn't enough, and he wanted more cars

a bigger house or to go gamble more.

Since 2001, Joe's been stealing money
from several clients.

He makes it look easy.

When Joe sells an annuity to a customer,
he often encourages them to write the

check directly to him.

The check many times will be made
payable to Corona Investments, and Joe

deposit that money to his account, and
he would never forward that money to the

insurance company.

Some checks went to the insurance
company. Some checks went to him.

He was very good at what he was doing,
so he would mix it up.

Corona's first ever client, Lake
Sturdivant, remains his favorite mark.

My dad loved Joe to death.

Joe was telling him about all this
interest that he was making.

And when they would come into some
money, most of the time we'd invest it

Joe.

Unfortunately, Lake rarely asks Joe for
any paperwork.

It's a mistake made by several of Joe's
clients, including Carrie Brown,

who has a $20 ,000 annuity with Joe.

I never got one statement, ever.

At the time, the market was not doing
well, so I didn't want to look at it.

When clients do press Joe on the
subject, he often whips up a fake

The amount of time he spent defrauding
these people is ridiculous.

He would go through and change the
amounts. He would retype parts and then

repaste that on top and then photocopy
it.

Remarkably, while Joe is plundering
their friends and family...

Tina Corona, vice president of a
financial firm, has no idea of the fraud

happening right under her nose.

Joe was very controlling of a lot of
things in the relationship, but

the money. He did handle all of the
finances.

She said, I don't even realize what I
make, because it goes into a direct

deposit into the account, and Joe gave
her allowance.

If she needed money, Joe gave her the
money.

In June 2007, tragedy strikes Tina's
family, and Joe's greed reaches new

depths.

One night after Jim Murphy attends a
classic car show, the 65 -year -old dies

his sleep.

She called me about 5 o 'clock in the
morning, and she was absolutely, I mean,

just, Carrie Daddy died, you know,
Carrie Daddy died.

While his wife grieves, Joe turns his
attention to his father -in -law's car

collection. It includes a 1963 Cadillac,
a Bentley, and several others

worth more than $100 ,000.

He came to me and said, your mom's got
six, seven, eight cars out there that

your dad had, and they're not doing
anything but losing value, but I'll be

to help you guys sell them.

The Murphys agree.

But Tina's brother, Scott, soon finds
out that Joe may not be the trustworthy

brother -in -law he thought he was.

When Joe was selling the cars, instead
of having the checks made out to my

mother, Joe was having the checks made
out to Joe Corona.

Joe deposits some cash in Clara's
account, but the totals are far less

the family expects.

The family calculates that Joe has
shorted them between $30 ,000 and $40

He had a Nash that he claims he sold for
$16 ,000.

Right there alone would have easily,
somebody would have come up and dropped

,000 cash on it.

The 57 Chevrolet, he let it go for $16
,000.

The Chevy fair market value is $25 ,000.

Two months after the funeral on August
22nd, 2007, the family gathers to

discuss the transaction.

Joe is visibly anxious.

He's sweating, he's shaking.

We've just about got him cornered up in
a wall.

Joe denies any wrongdoing and tries to
talk his way out of the situation.

But Scott is armed with solid evidence
that Joe has pocketed money owed to the

family. He has already contacted the
buyer of the 1963 Cadillac, who confirms

paid $12 ,000 cash for the car.

But the Murphys haven't seen a penny.

Well, at first he said, I made the
deposit the day of the funeral. And Tina

said, Joe, we didn't go to the bank that
day.

So that's when he got up from the table.

Joe Corona leaves the house and heads
outside to his car.

A few minutes later, he returns with a
stack of cash.

My sister says, you guys are not going
to believe this.

He found the money. It fell in between
his seats, and it has been there for two

solid months, and it was $4 ,000.

And I was like, hallelujah, $4 ,000.

Now, where's the other $8 ,000?

In the face of damning evidence, Tina
stands by her man.

It's like she didn't believe us that she
believed Joe. Because she got up after

it was all over with, she got up and
said, I've lost my family.

That night, Joe writes a check to his
mother -in -law for $35 ,000.

The next day, he pays Scott the other $8
,000.

Joe and Tina proceed to break off all
contact with the Murphys.

Oh, it's like a knife sticking me in my
heart.

I tried to talk to her.

I'd call her at the office, and she
wouldn't answer my call.

I'd send her e -mails. She wouldn't
answer my e -mails.

Next on American Greed, is there
anything Joe Corona won't do for money?

Or to keep his secrets hidden.

I said I don't want to believe that he's
done something wrong, but there's no

doubt that he has.

And later, Joe Corona's exclusive
interview with American Greed.

I just believe that the truth needs to
come out. My time has never been told.

family and obviously all the people that
were involved need to know what

happened.

In Memphis, Joe Corona's greed has
opened up a family rift.

After his in -laws, the Murphys, accuse
him of stealing their money, Tina Corona

and her mom stop talking.

She used to drive by her mom's at
Thanksgiving, Christmas, see who's

People have no idea how much that
devastated her.

It was bad.

While his wife quietly suffers, the
first cracks start to appear in Joe's

In March 2008, Carrie Brown wants to
cash out part of her $25 ,000 annuity.

She needs $10 ,000 to pay off some
bills.

She tried to talk me out of it, and I
insisted that it was my money. Give it

me. I want to pay some debt off.

For the next three weeks, Carrie waits
for the money to be transferred in her

bank account.

But it never arrived.

On the third week, I called him, and I
felt at the time, what's the deal? I've

taken money out of investment accounts
before.

It's never taken this long.

A few days later, the money is finally
deposited.

But curiously, the wire transfer doesn't
come from the insurance company.

Tina's name was on that transfer. And at
the time, I thought it was odd, but I

got my money. That's all I cared about.

Carrie Brown never mentions the incident
to Tina.

Besides, Tina has exciting news of her
own that she can't wait to share with

friend.

She's planning on buying a new home, a
half -million -dollar house in the

upscale suburb of Eads, where many of
her Corvette Club friends live.

She was so excited about the house.

She had been wanting to buy a house out
in that area for a really long time.

For years, Joe has quashed his wife's
plan of buying a bigger home, telling

they have other expenses that need to be
addressed first.

The truth is, Joe can't risk exposing
his personal finances to the mortgage

lenders.

According to Danielle McCollum of the
Shelby County DA's office, Joe is

his fraud will be revealed.

He knew what the ramifications would be.

As far as the financial truth starting
to come out. And then Tina was going to

start asking questions about that. And
it was just going to be a snowball

before she knew everything.

But Tina is persistent.

She won't take no for an answer.

In October 2008, Joe finally gives in.

Bailed by the Dreamhouse.

Tina's so happy, on October 23rd, she
shares the big news with her girlfriend.

According to Carrie Brown, Tina explains
that Joe has found a buyer for their

current home and they're going to be
closing on the new house that weekend.

Unfortunately,

Tina never gets a chance to move into
her dream house.

As two days later on Saturday, October
25th, something unexpected strikes.

Next on American Greed. I was just
devastated.

And I pulled up and I was hurling.

I lost it. It was just shock.

Shock. To learn more about Joe Corona's
secrets, go to AmericanGreed .CNBC

.com. Want inside information from
behind the scenes of the show? Join the

social network.

Like us on American Greed's Facebook
page.

We'll be right back.

It's a crisp fall day on Saturday,
October 25th, 2008.

Joe Corona plans to have a lazy day
tinkering on his car at a friend's

While his wife, Tina, is out getting
party supplies for a Corvette Club

that night.

But by 6 p .m., Tina hasn't come home
from her errand.

It's not like her to be late.

Around 7 p .m., Joe Corona starts
calling Tina's friends.

He just called somewhat panicky and just
said, have you talked to Tina today?

And I'm like, no.

Has she called you today?

No. Joe, what's going on?

Around this time, the Corvette Club
party is just starting when Joe calls.

And then he starts calling all the
people at the party.

Have you guys seen Tina? I haven't seen
her. I haven't heard from her.

Tina's friends are worried, and the
party quickly changes into a search

They spread out and hit all of Tina's
regular shopping places, posting flyers

and searching for her SUV.

And that's when everyone starts to get
really nervous and driving all over the

city looking for that black avalanche.
See if it's on the side of the road,

maybe she broke down.

On Sunday, the search continued, but
there's still no sign of Tina.

Sunday at 1 o 'clock until probably 1 o
'clock in the morning, I drove around

everywhere looking for my sister.

I don't even know what I was looking
for.

On Monday morning, October 27th, police
find a black SUV on a residential

street in the Memphis suburb of
Bartlett.

Kevin Martin is a Bartlett detective.

He's one of the first officers on the
scene.

I went up and basically looked into the
back, and I could see a form of a body

laying in the back floorboard of this
avalanche.

The license plates match the missing
vehicle.

Inside, police find what they already
suspect, the lifeless body of Tina

There are no bullet or stab wounds, so
it's unclear how she died.

Given Memphis' reputation for violent
crime, police at first think Tina Corona

is yet another victim of a carjacking
and robbery gone wrong.

That theory changes upon closer
inspection of the crime scene.

Her hands were duct taped. They were
loose, and they weren't even connected.

They looked like somebody tried to...

to make it look like her hands had been
tied up, which they weren't.

She had diamond rings on both hands,
earrings.

And that stuck out like a sore thumb to
us.

A bad guy in this area is not going to
leave a $30 ,000, $35 ,000 ring on

somebody's finger.

Friends and family are gathered at Joe
and Tina's house when police deliver the

devastating news.

As they were showing the picture of her
dead body to him, there was no emotion.

He just shook his head, yes, like, you
know, that's her.

He acted like he couldn't walk.

It was all like, I have no strength, I'm
so weak.

The next day, Bartlett police asked Joe
to come in for a formal interview to

learn what happened on the day Tina went
missing.

She didn't know where she was going
first. No, no, I didn't know where she

going. Joe tells officers he spent the
day working on his Chevelle at a

house. And you're doing your thing at
the house, whatever. Well, yeah, and

I was over at a friend's house working
on two cars.

And I'm guessing I was there by like a
little bit after 12.

Joe's alibi checks out.

But in the days following her murder,
Tina's family grows suspicious of his

behavior. He seems more giddy than
grieving, and he's eager to move on.

He cleaned out the house.

Everything that was Tina's, he got rid
of.

Her clothes, her shoes.

He even threw her Bible away and said,
she ain't gonna need this anymore.

Police investigate other suspects.

But nothing sticks.

After we started looking at the crime
scene and looking at everything, it kept

bringing us back to one person.

But there's a problem.

Police can't find any physical evidence
that ties Joe Corona to the murder.

No DNA, no murder weapon.

And medical examiners can only determine
that Tina died by asphyxiation.

There was no indication whether she'd
been suffocated and asphyxiated through

suffocation or whether she had been
strangled.

The Corona house is beyond tainted, as
friends contaminated the premises while

searching for Tina.

Over 100, 150 people have been in and
out of the house over there where they

lived. So any crime scene that we had
over there would have been destroyed or

wouldn't have been of any use.

Lacking physical evidence, the case
stalls.

But three weeks later...

Police catch a critical break when
Carrie Brown thinks back to her

dealings with Joe.

She remembers that Tina's name was on
the wire transfer when she withdrew

that were supposed to come from her
annuity.

She calls a friend at the bank and asks
her to pull up the transaction.

And she said, oh, no, Carrie, I think
this is fraudulent. I said, why? And she

said it came from their personal
checking account at Regions Bank.

A call to her insurance company confirms
the suspicions of fraud.

I called Allianz, and all they could
verify was my life insurance. I said,

have an annuity.

And this is when I opened it.

Although Brown withdrew $10 ,000, she
believes she still has an annuity worth

$15 ,000.

Well, do you have an account number?

Well, no, because he never sent me
anything, right?

So no, I don't.

Carrie goes to the Bartlett police and
tells them that she thinks Joe is

a scam.

So we started thinking, well, Joe's
taking money from her.

What's he doing with it?

And that's when we started looking at
everything.

All his financial stuff we started
looking at.

The police subpoena Corona's bank
records and make a shocking discovery.

One week after Tina's demise, Joe
withdrew $30 ,000 from one of her

and forged his late wife's signature on
the check.

It's a big happy handwriting.

And he scribbled it like, sorry, most
men scribble. It was just Tina Corona.

That kind of caught our eye. You know,
he's cashing out an annuity check in his

wife's name.

Police start to suspect that Tina's
murder is inextricably linked to the

couple's finances and Tina's dream of
buying a new home.

I think it's very clear that Tina
thought they were closing very soon on

house. The only person that knew the
truth was Joe, that there was no closing

that was going to happen.

Why he would continue to lead her on, in
our opinion, was because he knew there

wasn't going to be a closing. He knew he
was going to have to kill her.

Otherwise, all of this was going to come
out.

As a motive develops, the detectives
bring in the IRS and the U .S. Postal

Inspector.

The investigators look deeper into Joe's
insurance business and discover that

he's stolen nearly $700 ,000.

This was multiple people.

As far as the amount of money that he
stole, it was thousands and thousands

thousands and thousands of dollars.

They said, wow.

Boy, did you open a box. You wouldn't
believe what he's done to all these

people.

The agencies reach out to Joe's victim.

No one has any idea they've been
swindled.

Initially, the victims couldn't believe
money had been stolen from them. And

then when the victims started looking at
their records, they realized there was

a problem.

Lake Sturdivant takes the biggest hit.
He's lost more than $200 ,000.

Daddy, he'd sit there in his wheelchair
and wring his hands and he'd say, I just

can't believe Joe would do something
like that to a crippled old man.

In March 2009, five months after Tina's
murder,

The feds collect enough evidence of
financial fraud to search Joe's house

seize his assets.

At the same time, local prosecutors get
a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of

murdering Tina Corona.

There's just one problem.

Where's Joe?

Yeah, he bolted. I think he knew that it
was all coming to a head, and that's

when he disappeared.

For the next few weeks, police conduct a
massive manhunt for Joe Corona, who's

believed to be driving a gray Hummer.

In late March, they finally catch a
break when a McDonald's employee in

Tennessee, over 70 miles away, says Joe
is a regular customer.

He comes to her McDonald's drive -thru
just about every morning for breakfast,

and he's in a gray Hummer.

Detective Martin and his partner begin
to drive around Jackson searching for

vehicle.

Incredibly, after just a few minutes,
they spot a gray Hummer in a hotel

lot.

And so we drove by in the parking lot
and looked over and we knew it was the

by the tag on the vehicle.

We saw the tag and I was like, wow, it's
him.

The detectives contact the local
authorities and assemble a task force.

Accompanied by U .S. Marshals and
Sheriff's deputies, police descend on

hotel room.

We were going to try an element of
surprise. We were going to hit the door,

unlock it, and come in and effect
arrest.

But the door is locked, and they can't
get in.

The police call out to Joe.

He doesn't respond.

Officers grow tense when they hear a
familiar sound inside the room.

Next on American Greed.

You could hear a racking sound.

It was very distinct.

In my line of work, I know what a slide
on a weapon is going back and forth, and

that's what it was. So we knew he was
armed.

After 17 days on the run, police have
cornered Joe Corona at a hotel in

Tennessee.

But he isn't going quietly.

It was high strife.

We knew he was armed. We knew he had a
weapon in there.

Over the next several moments, officers
tried to reason with the fugitive.

I was like, you need to come out.

I'm not coming out. You know, I've got a
gun in here.

You could hear him racking it, and I'm
like, yeah, Joe, we've got a lot of guns

out here, too. You know, we don't want
to resort to that.

After 20 minutes, Joe finally relents.

I just told him, all it's going to do is
delay the inevitable of what's going to

happen. You're going to go to jail.

We're going to come and get you one way
or another.

Joe knows he's trapped.

He puts down the gun and gives himself
up.

The manhunt is finally over.

In an exclusive interview with American
Greed, Joe Corona talks about the events

of that day.

According to him, the situation is blown
out of proportion.

The

news

of Joe's arrest spreads quickly.

I was driving down the 64 highway, and
Scott said, they've arrested Joe. And I

just started screaming.

I got out of the car, and I just said,
thank you, God, thank you.

Over the next three years, Joe sits in
jail, denied bail for being a flight

risk, and waits for the murder case to
go to trial.

At the same time, federal prosecutors
indicted Joe on 57 counts of insurance

fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering.

Edward Stanton is the U .S. attorney for
Western Tennessee.

He preyed upon individuals he knew that
were vulnerable. We wanted to make sure

that Joe Carano was held accountable to
the fullest extent of the law.

But before the federal case can
proceed...

the state must first move forward on the
murder charge.

It was very difficult because this
wasn't a case about whether or not he

money, but the financial part was a
piece of the puzzle in whether or not he

killed Tina.

In October 2012,

Joe Corona goes on trial for the murder
of Tina Corona.

Prosecutors paint him as a con man
without a conscience.

Someone who would rather commit murder
than give up his posh lifestyle.

Detective Martin believes that in the
days leading up to the murder, Tina had

inklings that Joe was a fraud.

Either she received something in the
mail or she found out or received a

call. And I think she confronted him
about that.

And his whole world was going to be
dissolved if she went and told anybody

what he was doing.

In his interview with American Greed,
Joe Corona disputes the accusation and

insists he could never hurt Tina.

Though

the

events of that day still aren't exactly
known.

Prosecutors believe Joe suffocated Tina
at their home on that Saturday morning.

He then drove the avalanche to the spot
where it was discovered.

Cell phone records confirm Joe was in
the area of where Tina's SUV was found.

And there's one more fact linking Joe to
the site.

His storage unit, where he keeps his
classic cars, is just a quarter mile

When we looked at cell phone records,
the records did show that Joe drove from

his house and drove that direction into
Bartlett. Joe told the police that he

never went to the storage unit that day.
Well, his cell phone records told us

something very different.

Joe's defense team argues that the
police mishandled the crime scene and

there's no physical evidence linking him
to Tina's murder.

Ask the police.

How did I do this? If they're so sure
that I did it, how did I do it? Where

I do it? None of those things were ever
explained because they couldn't be

explained because they don't know.

After nine days of arguments, the jury
retires to deliberate.

It only takes them an hour and a half to
reach a verdict.

Joe Corona is found guilty of first
-degree murder.

I just threw my head back and said,
thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord. I was

just... I was happy.

Joe is sentenced to life in prison. He
isn't eligible for parole until 2063,

when he'll be 99 years old.

He held me in prison for 50 -something
years for murdering my sister, and I am

thankful for that.

He will never see daylight.

He'll never come out of prison. He'll
die in prison.

On February 26, 2013, Joe pleads guilty
to the federal indictment and gets

another seven years tacked on to his
prison sentence.

The reason that I pled guilty out to
those accounts is because that's...

What was in my best interest. I do not
believe the system was after the truth.

I was not going to try to go to another
trial again with an unpaid lawyer.

The feds say Joe stole nearly $800 ,000
from 18 clients.

These victims were devastated. They had
saved and planned on saving for

themselves and their kids, and they lost
their money.

A number of these individuals, it was
their life savings, retirement savings.

These were not individuals that were
looking for a get -rich -quick scheme or

enormous return on investment.

Lake Sturdivant is the biggest victim,
losing more than $209 ,000.

But Joe's first and best customer never
receives any satisfaction as Lake passes

away in 2010 at the age of 84.

Some of the victims, including Terry
Brown, are compensated by the insurance

companies that Corona claimed he had
invested with.

Others, however, are waiting for
restitution from the court.

We have seized multiple vehicles,
personal property, sports memorabilia,

motorcycles.

We're in the process of liquidating
those, and it's our hope that we will be

able to do everything we can to provide
restitution to the multiple victims

here.

To this day, Joe Corona believes Tina
was murdered on a busy road close to

she was found and that the real killer
is still on the loose.

The bottom line is a lot of the people I
used to hang out with, their lives are

on that same street.

But his victims say Joe Corona is where
he belongs, behind bars and forced to

account for his financial crimes and the
murder of a woman that so many loved.

Why did you steal from all these old
people?

Why did you kill Tina?

I mean, it's gratifying that he'll pay
for his crime. It still doesn't change

anything. It is what it is. I mean,
she's gone.

You know, I'd like for them to put a big
picture of Tina on his wall where he

couldn't get it down so he could see her
every day and what he's done to her.

I just wish we could have talked before
all this happened. She could have come

to me.

That wasn't God's plan, was it?

My town, Vegas, baby.

Yeah!

Meet Steve Stevens. I'm the one that
tells you who to bet on. UL Lafayette,

absolute blowout winner. I'm not the
bookie. I'm a bookie killer.

Bets big, lives larger.

Money Talk series premiere right now.