All language subtitles for The First 48 Presents Critical Minutes S02 E20_track3_[eng]

[dark tone]

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

- What the hell
happened in here?

- Holy cow.

- All homicides are
disturbing,

but every detective
has worked cases

that are so brutal,
it haunts them long after

the suspect is behind bars.

- That's cold-blooded.

- Tonight on "The First 48:
Critical Minutes"...

- House of horrors.

- Two men
fight for their lives

after being bludgeoned
with a hammer.

- That was brutal.

- A triple homicide
leaves Dallas detectives

in disbelief.

- He just killed three people

in less than a minute.

- And...

- Yeah.
- A homeless man

is severely beaten

and left for dead
behind a jailhouse.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

It's not natural
to see the things

that a homicide investigators
sees on a daily basis.

You look at the news,
movies, and TV shows,

and you think you have
a great perception

of what happens
on a homicide scene,

and that doesn't even begin
to scratch the surface.

You can't smell a TV.

You can't feel the gore.

Those things impact
your life forever.

You can never shut it off.

I still have
images of homicides

that I worked
from 20 years ago

that I'll never, ever forget.

Regular people
cannot even begin to imagine

some of the things
that these investigators

have to carry around with them.

♪ ♪

narrator: Tulsa, Oklahoma,

1:21 AM.

A man wakes up to someone
beating on his front door.

[sirens wailing]

narrator: Police and EMS
find two men

in the living room
with severe head trauma.

They're rushed to the
hospital,

where doctors fight
to save their lives.

♪ ♪

- Do we know anybody's names?
- Yeah.

Dustin VanWoudenberg.

narrator: The first victim,
found on the couch,

is 30-year-old
Dustin VanWoudenberg.

Born and raised in Oklahoma,

He's a loving father
to a young son.

The second victim,
found on the bed,

is a 22-year-old male.

- And the fifth one is--

- And the suspect's
outstanding.

narrator: The fifth
person wasn't on the scene

when police arrived.

♪ ♪

- We'll just go back here and
see what we can get from both

of these young people.

♪ ♪

- I can't imagine
what these two people

have witnessed tonight.

It must have been horrible.

- Who all lives in the house?

- The owner.

narrator: She says the other
witness owns the house.

- What's he like?

- Oh, he--he's a blessing
for all of us,

just letting us
all stay there...

- OK.
- With no rent, no nothing.

Dusty.

narrator: She says Dustin
and the other victim

stay in the living room.

- OK, So this living room
kinda doubles for,

like, a bedroom, too?
- Yeah. It's really big.

- OK. So, Dusty.
Who else?

- Jose.

narrator: A man named Jose

lives in the basement.
- OK.

And do you know
Jose's last name?

- Jose Diaz.

narrator: Jose just
moved in two weeks ago.

- What's he like?

- Quiet.

- Tell me kinda what
you know about tonight.

- I got home about 8:30.

Nobody was there
when I got home.

Took a shower, went to sleep.

Heard TPD come in the house
and sat there like,

what's going on?

Opened the door,
and he's like,

"Where's the guy that did this?
And I start crying

'cause Dusty's sitting there.

He's laying on the couch.

♪ ♪

He's just bleeding.

I don't know what happened.

- I'm sorry that you had
to see all of that, OK?

♪ ♪

All right, dude.

Tell me what happened tonight.

narrator: He says a few hours
before the attack, Jose,

AKA, Bones, drove him
and the victims

to Dustin's brother's house
to pick up some tools.

narrator: Dustin and
the other victim fell asleep

while he and Jose were cooking
and drinking.

narrator: He says Jose claimed
the tools they picked up

were taken from his family.

- Where'd he hit 'em?

- What did you do?

- When he was talking
about that stuff belonging

to his family, that you
guys picked up from Dustin,

was he acting, like,
pissed off that--

- OK.

You get the feeling in
any way that the tools

may have been stolen?

- And what's he like normally?

- OK.

Be patient, and I'll be
right back with you, OK?

♪ ♪

Two young men might end up dead
over nothing

because somebody flipped
a switch in a drunken state.

I don't know.
This is--it's different.

It's different. Ted Bundy-like,
brutally beating

two people for nothing.

♪ ♪

Here we go, right here.
Boom.

narrator:
30-year-old Jose Diaz

has no history of violence.

- 56145.

Goes by the name of Bones.

[phone ringing]
narrator: Then...

- Homicide. White.

- She was thinking
about stuff,

and this--this stuff
came to her mind.

narrator: White gets a call
from the officer

who drove
the female witness home.

- There's an abandoned house
about a street

behind where this occurred.

And he's talked about
going there before

if something ever happened.

- OK.

- And I noticed there
was a window open.

And she said that that window
wasn't open the other day.

So there's a good possibility
he might be there.

- OK. That's good stuff.
I like it.

Thanks, bro.
- OK.

- All right. Bye.

Well, let's go--just go
out there right quick.

[intense music]

♪ ♪

- Tulsa Police.

Have your hands up.

- All right, this is clear.

- He's not here.

- Shall we go to the scene?
- Yeah.

- We're gonna head to the
house where this happened.

♪ ♪

What the hell happened in here?

Holy cow.

To do that kind of
damage to somebody,

you're swinging with purpose.

- House of horrors.

♪ ♪

narrator: In the basement,
where Jose has been living...

- Well, this is kind
of spooky down here.

Does he sleep on that?

- That's the only
thing I saw down here.

That's the only
place he could be.

- Man.

I couldn't imagine
living down here.

Is there a hammer?

- We haven't found it.

- I think he took it with him.

- Yeah, I think he's
probably fairly close

unless he got a ride
because his truck's

still in the driveway.

♪ ♪

- I'm gonna send this
arrest affidavit through.

And we'll put it
out to the media,

so people will be on
the lookout for him.

- Someone who snaps
at a moment's notice

is really scary
because he could go out

and do this to somebody else.

♪ ♪

- Let's run by the hospital.

♪ ♪

- I mean, they're still
in some really bad shape.

One was going to
surgery as we speak.

The other one is
still unconscious.

- I am amazed that these
young men are alive.

♪ ♪

- It appears that they
thought death was inevitable.

They thought the injuries
to the two victims

were so substantial
that it was probably

gonna be impossible
for them to survive.

So they felt that
it would probably be best

to get homicide involved
earlier than later.

It doesn't matter whether
the victim dies or lives.

You still have to deal
with all the things

associated with that case.

And it's not always that easy
to dismiss from your mind.

It stays with you forever.

- Before coming to the police
department 18 years ago,

I worked 10 years
in the medical field

as a surgical tech.

Been on about 4,500
or 5,000 surgeries.

And I've seen a lot of
death and destruction.

You just don't see
too many people

that have this
type of an injury

even make it to
an operating room.

♪ ♪

narrator: The next day,

with Jose still on the loose,

White searches social media
for a lead...

- Here we go.

This is Corinna.
That's his ex.

narrator: And finds
Jose's ex-girlfriend.

- These are Jose's kids,
right here.

narrator: Jose has two
young children with Corinna.

- I've got her
phone number here.

It looks like that she works
at a restaurant in Bixby.

♪ ♪

- Hi.

Do you know what happened?

- Yes.

- Where can I find him?

Have you talked to him?

- I haven't spoken to him since

the Monday after Father's Day.

narrator: Corinna says
she last spoke to Jose

two months ago by phone.

- OK.
Does he have a phone number?

- Yes.

I don't know if
it's still working.

- Sure.

918--
- Uh-huh.

narrator: She gives White
Jose's cell phone number.

- What do you know
that happened?

- He took a hammer
to two men asleep.

- They're clinging to life.

- That's the reason
why I left him.

I have back issues now
because he would throw me up

against the wall to take
the keys, and take my money,

and take off for
the entire weekend.

He drinks too much and
does too many drugs.

- What's he get
like when he drinks?

- Crazy.

- Well, if you happen to
hear anything, dear, just

give me a call any time, OK?

And sorry you're having
to deal with this.

And--
- It--it sucks.

I had to tell my kids
before they saw on TV.

- Yeah.
I'll tell you what,

it's--it was a bad situation.

All right.
Nice meeting you.

♪ ♪

narrator: A few days later...

- All right. Bye.

Jose Diaz was arrested.

narrator:
The warrants squad learned

Jose was making calls
from Carthage, Missouri,

130 miles northeast of Tulsa.

♪ ♪

- OK. Basically, I want to talk
to you about that incident

that happened
down there in Tulsa.

- Yeah, I don't
remember what happened.

♪ ♪

I was doing a lot of drugs,
a lot of drinking.

I don't remember anything.

- Let me just be real with you,
because we drove

a long ways to come up here.
- I know.

- And we really
wanted to give you

an opportunity to basically
show that you have a heart.

- I mean, I--
- Let me tell you what you did.

You have a couple of
warrants for assault

with a deadly weapon.

You're lucky it's
not for murder.

I mean, honestly,
neither one of these two guys

that were assaulted have
died, which is excellent.

- I don't remember it.

- That's excellent
because I'm telling you

they both got hit in
the head with a sledgehammer

that you swung at 'em.

- Are you suffering from
any sort of mental illness?

- What kind of drugs
have you been doing?

That might explain
some of this.

- Meth?

- [laughs] Come on, dude.

- OK.

- Thanks for your time.
- Yeah.

- OK.

♪ ♪

- Definitely one
for the books, man.

- It's sad.

- You know, I kind of get
these cases a little bit

when somebody's been
doing some bad stuff,

and you know,
there's a risk to it.

But when somebody's
sleeping in their bed,

they're not doing anything
to anybody, that's brutal.

And I don't--
I don't understand it.

narrator: Dallas, Texas,

4:48 AM.

Just north of downtown, in a
small strip mall parking lot,

a newspaper delivery man
makes a shocking discovery.

narrator: Patrol responds.
In a parking lot

in front of a nightclub,

they find three people
all dead.

♪ ♪

- All I know is that
we have three victims.

And this will be
my first triple.

It's something that
doesn't happen very often.

[radio chatter]

- We have three people
shot and killed.

It's almost execution-style.

narrator: The victims are
22-year-old Claudia Balderas,

a mother of three,

29-year-old Alfredo Alonso,
a father of one,

and 27-year-old
Francisco Martinez.

All three were close friends.

- No witnesses either?
- No.

narrator: A camera
from a convenience store

next to the nightclub
faces the parking lot.

The owner is on his way
to the scene.

- Hopefully, it has
a wider angle than it looks.

Whoever did this to do it in
the middle of the parking lot

where people driving by
can see it happening,

it's definitely over
something very personal.

♪ ♪

- Hold on.
Right there.

♪ ♪

The woman in the black
and white dress fighting

is our female victim.

- That's right in front
of the club next door.

narrator: A pregnant
woman in a purple shirt

tries to break up the fight.

- The guy in the
black shirt is trying

to keep that pregnant girl
from getting into the fight.

narrator: Then another man
with a gun walks up to him

and shoots him in the head.

The gunman then shoots
another man in the chest.

- He just shot him point blank.

narrator: Next,
the gunman separates

the two women fighting.

He shoots the female victim
in the face and walks away.

- Wait.

The second victim
is still alive.

- He's reaching for his phone.
- He's reaching for his phone.

- He's trying to call 911.

narrator: The gunman returns

and shoots
the surviving victim

in the back of the head

then flees on foot.

- That's cold-blooded.

- I haven't seen
a video like that.

He just killed three people
in less than a minute.

narrator: The pregnant woman

gets into a gray pickup
truck...

♪ ♪

and speeds away.

- Triple homicides
are not common.

Being a homicide investigator,
sadly to say,

you get used to
working homicides.

But not every day
do you deal with

a double or certainly not
a triple homicide.

What happened to make this
person kill three people?

The dynamics of
it is different.

The approach to
it is different.

The sense of urgency
is different.

It's difficult to describe, but
it's just a different feeling.

- Yeah.

narrator: Detectives
learned from the store owner

that the pregnant woman in the
video owns the club next door.

- Oh, is she? OK.
- Yeah.

narrator: He also claims that
the shooter is her boyfriend

and he owns the gray pickup
truck that she left in.

- We got a name and an address.

I think we can drive by
in the Impala real fast.

- Let's go do it.
- And then that boyfriend,

Truck is there,
then we'll go from that.

♪ ♪

narrator: Tabor and
Detective Esteban Montenegro

head out to the
pregnant woman's home

a few blocks away
to see if the gunman's

gray pickup truck is there.

- Very, very close.

♪ ♪

- Don't get too close to him.
You know, he's crazy.

- Sarge, we're behind this
truck that has similarities

to the one that was there.

Send one of those officers
to catch up to us, please.

It is occupied,

and they got two females
in there and a male driver.

- He just leaned forward
and to the right.

- Did he?
- Yeah.

Be careful.

♪ ♪

- Stay off of him, though.

[phone ringing]

- Hello?

Yeah, we're passing
Inglewood on Maple.

- He's speeding up.
- Yeah.

He's starting to speed up now.

♪ ♪

Stay off of him.

- I got it.

♪ ♪

[siren wailing]

♪ ♪

- Hands up.

- That's not gonna be him.

♪ ♪

Man, it looks just
like that truck

on the video with the wheels.

He came right off their street.
- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

- Oh, there's a--
that's a pregnant girl.

- OK.

narrator: As they pass by,
they see the pregnant woman

getting into a white van.

- Hey.
Y'all go ahead.

There's a pregnant female
coming out of the front door.

[siren wailing]

narrator:
Tabor calls in patrol.

♪ ♪

And the white van
is pulled over.

♪ ♪

- You speak English?

Is she the--
- [speaking Spanish]

- Where does she work?

narrator: The woman
says her boyfriend's name

is Rigoberto Hernandez.

♪ ♪

- Does she know where he is?

narrator: She claims she
has no idea where he is.

- Yeah, I'm gonna need her
to start talking to you

as quick as possible.

- Well, he definitely
looks like the guy

from the surveillance video.

♪ ♪

narrator: 45-year-old
Rigoberto Hernandez

is an El Salvador national.

He has no criminal record.

- You know, it's strange that
a guy with no violent history

will go out and
kill three people.

narrator: Detective Esteban
Montenegro goes in to question

Rigoberto's girlfriend.

narrator: She says there
were a few regulars

and an employee in the club
when she was closing.

narrator: She claims
when she answered the door,

two men and a woman
tried to rob her at gunpoint.

narrator: She says people
inside came to her defense.

- Monte's asking her,
who is it?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: Montenegro tells
her that the murders

were caught on surveillance
video.

♪ ♪

- Yes!

[phone line trilling]

narrator:
Detective Esteban Montenegro

has the woman call Rigoberto.

♪ ♪

- I think self-defense
is probably the most commonly

and misunderstood,
misinterpreted reason

for committing a homicide.

You have to be able to prove
that your life was in danger.

I think people give
self-serving statements to say

"I did something bad,
but let me tell you

"why I did something bad.

"I was prompted to do this.

"I never would have done
this if this person had not

did what they did."

People tend to give
self-serving statements

to basically lessen
their role or to try

to lessen their charges.

- That's him.

♪ ♪

- He seems so mild mannered.

He's not the type of guy
that would execute three people

at the drop of the hat.

- That's just good, good work.

- I don't think we needed
his voluntary statement.

With the video, it's enough.

This is one of the few cases
that really bothers me.

Just very brutal.

I'm glad it's over.

♪ ♪

- The way our suspect
killed the three people,

I mean, he was so
quick and deliberate.

He didn't hesitate.

He just did it with
little to no consideration

for human life.

It's just one, two, three, and
you know, they're all dead.

♪ ♪

narrator: Tulsa, Oklahoma,

7:44 AM
at the county jail house.

[siren wailing]

narrator: Patrol arrives
and searches behind the jail.

♪ ♪

A few feet
from the bike trail,

they find a man dead.

♪ ♪

- Tulsa County
was flagged down.

Said there's a body
behind the jail.

It's a homeless encampment.

There's all kind of
craziness that goes on

in some of these places.

♪ ♪

narrator: 40-year-old
Barry Hotzler was born

and raised in Iowa City, Iowa.

According to friends, he had
been living under the bridge

for the last few months.

- I think sometimes, people
look at homeless people

with a negative light
because they don't

necessarily understand it.

You see them standing on
the corner asking for money,

and people kinda look
at them as an annoyance.

But you don't know
the story behind

that person being homeless.

People have lost jobs.

War veterans,
when they come back,

and they just cannot fit
into regular society again.

A lot of these people have led
some very interesting lives.

It's not by their choice
that they're homeless.

- Golly, that's a heck
of a gash to that head.

- Yeah.

It looks like someone
grabbed his arms

and then turned around and
place them upon his chest.

narrator: 10 yards
from Barry's body...

- And there are some drag marks
across the bike path

over to where our victim is.

narrator: Brown follows
the blood trail.

♪ ♪

- There's a pool
of blood down here.

So there's a major incident
that happened here.

♪ ♪

- That can be what
they used to beat him.

- This is underneath the
interstate system right here.

So this is just one
of the many bridges

that people are
living underneath.

narrator: Patrol has
rounded up witnesses

who live under the bridge.

- What is your name?

- And your name, sir?

- OK. So you two are together?

- What is your name, sir?

- Hang tight.

This guy's got
blood on his leg.

- Oh, really?
- Can we get--

sample that guy's blood off his
leg before he wipes it off?

- Yes.

narrator: Michael agrees
to have his legs swabbed.

- It doesn't appear
that he's got

an injury that is consistent
with the blood on his leg.

So he maybe has
a little bit more

closer contact to our victim.

narrator: Michael agrees to
go downtown along with Buffy,

Derrick, and Derrick's wife.

♪ ♪

- Michael, you consider
yourself an honest guy?

- Truthful?

- OK.

Were you under the bridge
last night?

- Did you recognize voices?

- So you were there
when it happened?

- Well, but there's blood
up there by your bunk.

- Yeah.

- But there's a lot of blood
up there on the ground.

Blood up there on the
ground is not from you.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- What do we got?
What's the news?

- The mark on his face,
it looked like he could

have been from an impact.

narrator: The team has
an update from the ME.

- In addition to
the impact wounds,

he was cut quite a bit.

He had stab wounds
as if he was close by,

but kind of backing up
when he got stabbed.

- The ME counted
seven stab wounds.

- If he's beaten, stabbed,
and dragged from there,

surely, somebody
had to see something.

Derrick, last night, there was
some kind of incident there

in the camp area, correct?

- There was a fight. Yeah.
- OK.

And was Barry one of the
participants in this fight?

- The voice sounded like his.

It was dark out.

Me and my wife, we laid down,
and we start hearing fighting.

I look to see.

I see two shapes
on the side swinging,

like, sticks or something.

And then they walk up
and roll down the hill.

She started getting up to look.

I said "No. Lay down."

And I laid down.

And I didn't wanna
see any more.

- OK.

Did you hear any voices
other than Barry's?

♪ ♪

- Yeah, I heard another
guy hollering, "Get off.

"Get off. Get off.

"I'm not a bitch.
Don't call me a bitch.

[bleep] you,
you piece of [bleep]."

- OK.

Did you recognize
the other voice?

- I didn't recognize
the other voice.

- They started not
too far from where

you guys were laying, right?

- The fight was on the
embankment by our rack, yeah.

- And you didn't
see the other guy?

- No.
I didn't wanna see anymore.

I mean, I've been to prison.

I know what it is about if
somebody's getting in a fight,

you don't pay attention.

- [sighs]

- This is beginning to suck.

They have to live out
there on the streets.

They are afraid
of retaliation.

The rule out there
is you don't talk.

♪ ♪

What happened, dude?

- All I know is I was getting
hit by a freaking lead pipe.

And that was it.

- Who was hitting you?

- I have no idea.

- You have no idea?

- You want--
you can see.

- OK.
So what started it?

- Next thing I know,
I was getting hit

with a freaking lead pipe.

- So where were you
guys on the bike path,

or where you up by your
little cubbyhole or what?

- On my rack.

narrator: He says the
fight began by his bunk

at the top of the embankment.

- We started going at it.

He'd come back at me with
the [bleep] pipe again.

- And what else?

- When I got up, I fought
back in self-defense.

- I mean, did you pick up
something and defend yourself?

- Mm-hmm.
- What'd you pick up?

- I think a stick or something.

When he swung at me,
I swung back.

- Then what?

♪ ♪

- I blacked out.

I don't know what
happened at the end.

- OK.
Hang tight, man.

♪ ♪

- I would like for you
to be honest with us

about what happened last night.

- I had heard Cherokee tell--

I don't remember what the
guy's name is that died--

that he was gonna
beat him up--

narrator: She says moments
later, a fight erupted.

- And then Cherokee
started yelling for Loki

to come and help him.

♪ ♪

'Cause I guess the other man
had grabbed a pole

or a stick or something.

- OK.
Loki come down and help him?

- Yes.
Loki pulled him off of him.

narrator: She says
Cherokee's friend,

Loki, overpowered Barry.

- OK.
So what happens next?

- I saw him hit him once,
and then I turned back around.

And then I come back down,
and they're dragging.

♪ ♪

- Who's they?

- Hersheys and Loki.

- Describe Hershey.

- How well do you know Loki?

- Loki is an ex.

- But where did he stay at?

narrator: She says
Loki and his wife

share the first bunk
under the bridge.

- Summer, hang tight.

- Summer's saying Loki
lives in the first stall.

Well, we talked to the people
that live in the first stall.

- Where are you staying,
Derrick?

- With my wife.
- OK.

- So you two are together?

- Yeah.

- So if Loki is living there,

Loki is Derrick.

♪ ♪

- Derrick Mathes.

- Yeah.

- Summer described Hershey as
a light-skinned Black male,

and I do believe that's
probably gonna be Michael.

♪ ♪

As it turns out,
we needed Michael again.

And we found him in
the same motel room

with Loki and the girl.

We just need to hear
from you the truth.

So take me through
what happened

up on under the bridge.

♪ ♪

- Do you who did have
involvement in the stabbing?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Loki? Who's Loki?

♪ ♪

- Derrick.

So in the last 12 hours,
have you heard

who Barry was fighting?

- I heard rumor
that it was Cherokee.

- Dude, I've
talked to Cherokee,

and we know the story, OK?

Just tell the stinking story
of what happened.

- Yeah.
Him and Cherokee were fighting.

When they rolled
down the hill,

I told her,
pay no more attention,

and we rolled back over.

- Here's the deal.

I actually have
a witness that says

they saw you help Cherokee
get that old boy off him.

- Who the hell
told you that [bleep]?

- Anything you want change
your story on before I get up

and walk out of here?

- No.

- Stay there for me.

- What, am I under arrest?
- Well, you aren't free to go.

♪ ♪

There was a fight.
And during the fight,

Cherokee kinda gets the laundry
beat off of him

by the victim.

You have a right
to defend yourself.

It was a mutual combat type
situation until Derrick

interjected himself.

He actually came
down from the hill,

stabbed our victim
multiple times.

So he's going to jail
for first-degree murder.

♪ ♪

- We often say
we get used to it,

but do you ever really
get used to seeing

the devastation of death,
the devastation of homicide?

Do you ever get used to
sitting across the table

talking to people that can
commit these type of crimes?

Those types of things
can help,

but have an adverse effect
on your mental health.

♪ ♪