Original subtitles

[reporter] This week on CrimeFeed...

Did this yoga teacher commit murder

in a fit of jealousy, as prosecutors say?

Bombshells revealed in the case against Kaitlin Armstrong.

A yoga teacher, a love triangle, and alleged murder.

And justice delayed in the death of Shanquella Robinson.

She died on vacation, in Mexico.

Her brutal beating caught on camera.

But has no one been arrested one year later?

This is CrimeFeed with Nancy Grace,

Mara S. Campo,

and Derrick Levasseur.

Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace.

This is CrimeFeed.

And I wanna thank you for being with us.

Breaking news tonight.

She's glamorous, she's poised,

she's a yoga guru,

and she's deadly.

According to Texas prosecutors,

the so-called glam yoga teacher,

now accused of shooting a female love rival in the heart

in a jealous rage.

Mara, what happened?

Yeah, Nancy, the prime suspect in a fatal shooting

became an international fugitive,

evading law enforcement for six long weeks.

Detectives believe the killer was triggered

by a burning obsession and extreme jealousy.

Here's that story.

[narrator] On May 11th, 2022,

police discovered the body of pro-cyclist, Moriah Wilson

in the bathroom of an Austin, Texas home.

The 25 year old suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

And nine millimeter bullet casings were found next to her body.

When investigators checked surveillance video from a neighboring home,

they saw a black Jeep Grand Cherokee

at the crime scene when the murder occurred.

According to witnesses,

the last person with Moriah before she died

was 36-year-old pro-cyclist, Colin Strickland.

And when police visited his home,

they noticed something interesting.

Parked in the driveway, was the same black Jeep that was caught on camera.

Colin admitted he had a romantic fling with Moriah.

But denied knowing anything about the murder.

When asked about the Jeep,

he said the vehicle belonged to his live-in girlfriend,

34-year-old yoga teacher, Kaitlin Armstrong.

After testing a gun belonging to Kaitlin,

investigators determine the nine millimeter bullet casings

found at the murder scene were a match.

And Kaitlin emerged as the prime suspect in Moriah's murder.

Well, Nancy, after 43 days on the run,

the yoga instructor was arrested and charged

with killing Moriah Wilson, in what police call

a jealous rage.

She was captured in Costa Rica.

But take a look at this.

Her strange behavior did not end

once she was in custody.

After she was arrested,

Kaitlin tried to escape police custody

during a doctor's appointment.

She was apprehended about a mile down the road.

Police said she was never out of their sight.

She had told them she had an ankle injury.

But looks like her ankle was fine to me.

Yeah. And she worked out, dressed appropriately,

and charmed the prison guards in order to get away.

Now, I can't give them an A for effort.

Because she was shackled at the hands,

if you look carefully at that video.

And it took them a while to catch her.

Did you see her jump over that fence?

So this in my accounting is the third time

Kaitlin Armstrong has fled the jurisdiction,

all over a man,

Colin Strickland,

who's been on the stand the last couple of days.

[Derrick] Yeah. We really can't blame her.

Because this case against her in my opinion is very strong.

You have a little bit of--

But did you just say you really can't blame her?

She knows she's going away. Think about what there's against her right now.

You have digital DNA.

You have the digital evidence of it.

You see you have her GPS coordinates from her cell phone

matching her vehicle GPS coordinates,

that was in the area Moriah was killed.

You also have the video that we just played here.

You have her vehicle in the area as well.

Then on top of that, it's enough you have DNA evidence.

You have Moriah's bicycle,

where you have Kaitlin's DNA found on the seat,

and the handlebar of Moriah's bicycle,

which was later found

in a bamboo brush area,

about 60 yards away from the house.

And finally, as you just said in the package,

you have the firearm, the shell casings that come back to--

-[Nancy] Hold on just a sec. -Yeah.

-That is an understatement. -That's the key. Yeah.

I think it all fits together.

But when you say, they expelled cartridges,

this is really important.

This shows pre-meditation.

First of all, you've got her following Mo, Moriah,

up and coming world class competitor.

And she follows her on Strava.

-Which is a-- -Workout app.

[Nancy] Yeah. Workout app.

But not only that,

little did Colin Strickland, the love object know,

or I guess he forgot,

she could see all of his texts and emails.

They shared apps.

They shared devices.

So he could see her texting Mo,

even though he put Mo's name under another woman's name.

Which, warning, if you find out

your husband changes a woman's name to a fake name,

you need a divorce lawyer right then.

So she's stalking.

And on that video, Mara,

the video,

the night that Moriah is murdered,

you see her going round and round,

and round the murder scene before she goes in.

Chases Moriah.

And this is what I'm getting to,

shoots her three times.

The neighbor said he hears bam, bam, pause.

And the third shot shooting her in the heart.

And you know, all of this, of course, speaks to the motive.

What was the motive here?

And what you had was, Moriah and Colin,

had reportedly dated very briefly,

while Kaitlin and Colin were on a break.

But he didn't wanna cut off the relationship altogether.

So like you said,

he changed her number in his phone.

He would delete messages,

so that they wouldn't come up, if she happened to look on the phone.

[Nancy] She knows she's watching him...

[Mara] But she's seeing everything that's taking place.

And let's look at what Moriah represents to Kaitlin.

It's not just any other woman.

Colin is a cyclist.

Moriah is one of the biggest rising stars in that industry.

In fact, Colin himself said she was the best female cyclist in the country,

if not in the world.

And of Kaitlin, he said, he didn't like riding with her,

because she would hold him back.

She was too slow.

So here you have a 25-year-old much younger woman,

who is a rising star in the field that he's in.

And she just couldn't manage that jealousy.

Her friends said, when she found out that they had been dating,

she was visibly shaking with rage.

[Derrick] And think about that day, right. So as you said,

the iPad, she's seeing the text messages

and she's seeing Colin's actively lying to her

about where he is and who he is with.

So like you said, she's driving around that block.

I think Moriah comes out of the home.

She's got her cyclist bag with her.

Kaitlin confronts her and--

Wait, wait, wait. That's bass ackwards.

So, Colin Strickland, the boyfriend,

and there's nowhere that's says

they slept together.

They went swimming at, I think it's called

little Eddy swimming area.

Then they had a hamburger.

-That's it. -Right.

Then Moriah comes back.

She goes in.

And within one minute, after Strickland dropping her off,

then you start seeing, uh,

Kaitlin Armstrong circling the area.

-Then she goes in. -Yeah.

That's when it goes down. But there's three bullets.

So important.

Because, I mean, pre-meditation can be formed

in the twinkling of an eye.

The time it takes me to pull a gun-- pull a trigger.

That's enough for pre-meditation.

She shot her three times.

Over a hamburger!

With a man.

You know what my grandmother said, Derrick? No offense.

Men, they're like buses.

Another comes along every 15 minutes.

-Not you of course, because you're special. -[Derrick] Yeah.

But over a man having a hamburger.

Yeah. No, it's something where I agree with you.

She shows up. I think she confronts. Kaitlin confronts Moriah.

There's probably a brief conversation.

I think at that point, allegedly, this is my point.

[Nancy] Allegedly, yes.

She pulls out the firearm.

Moriah does what she can.

She flees back into the apartment.

Kaitlin pursues her.

It goes all the way to the bathroom.

And like you said, she shoots her twice.

I think, one, she actually shot her in the finger.

Obviously that's her trying to protect herself.

The final shot is the execution shot,

to ensure that she accomplished what she wanted to do.

And then the door not being locked.

I know it's a minor thing.

But the fact that the apartment door was not locked

-tells me that-- -Well, it didn't really have a key.

-Yeah. -It's not a traditional key.

It's a digital code like we see

-out in the Idaho slays. -Yes.

So a digi code.

You know that video from the doorbell cam?

-Mmm-hmm. -You hear Moriah screaming.

Did the glam yoga teacher

manage to charm her way out of the country,

get a nose job,

and hide out in a popular surf town in Costa Rica?

Then, once back on U.S. soil,

manage to talk her way out of the jail,

to mount yet another escape.

A jury hears a frantic 911 call,

and then a desperate attempt to save the life

of a super-star cyclist, Moriah "Mo" Wilson.

Wilson died of multiple gunshot wounds,

including straight to her heart,

all over a hamburger.

Yes. Yoga teacher Kaitlin Armstrong's boyfriend

shared that hamburger with Moriah Wilson, say prosecutors.

The stalking, the spying, the scheming,

all leading to one thing,

murder.

Uh, joining us right now, a special guest, Brian Buckmire.

Criminal defense attorney and legal analyst.

Brian, thanks for being with us.

First, I want you to hear this portion

of the opening statements in court.

All of this is just alleged.

Kaitlin Armstrong on trial for murder. Listen.

Wow. Brian, what do you think about that opening statement?

I mean, for that aspect, it was very good. It's emotional.

You're getting it through the story of what they're anticipating to hear.

And the passion behind it is very important.

I mean, we're all talking about these two shots,

followed by a third, execution style.

And that's what's gonna really grip the jury to wanna listen to more.

[Nancy] You know what's interesting? Did you hear the defense?

The defense said, you know, DNA, that's not so much.

DNA, eye witnesses,

all that together, that means nothing.

DNA, you know, eh.

-Really? -It depends on DNA.

Derrick and I were talking about this.

We have children. I say, "Hey, when I walk into the studio, I will do this."

This morning I was holding my son.

Now this table has my son's DNA on it.

So if you come and say, "Well, Brian Buckmire's son

was on studio at CrimeFeed," I say, no.

For me, it's about the quantity of DNA.

I wanna know how much, not just the fact that it's present.

Interesting. Because for me, it's location.

I don't care if it's a lot of DNA

or a little bit of DNA.

Because, maybe, you can answer this.

You're the renowned defense attorney.

Why do you think

Kaitlin Armstrong who had never

associated with Moriah "Mo" Wilson, the murder victim,

why was Kaitlin Armstrong's DNA on Mo's bike?

On the handlebars and the seat.

And then it was hidden in the bushes. Hmm.

-So I'll play defense attorney. -Oh, please do.

My wife's DNA is also here.

Wasn't it that Colin was in a physical relationship with Mo?

So just like, when I came here and I shook your hand,

I'm sorry, my wife's DNA is on your hand.

-[Nancy] I ain't counting... -I don't think the two of you are gonna--

-It's the way it is. -That's a good thought, though.

-I respect that. -It's the way it works.

And you might get once you are to actually believe it.

[Brian] And that's all I need as a defense attorney.

So your theory would be that Colin was with Moriah

and then he was with Kaitlin,

although all he did was swim with Moriah and have a hamburger?

[Brian imitates yawning]

-Yeah. That's what... -I don't take a lot of my just friends

to go swimming.

I think the relationship's a lot more.

But from my understanding,

they also lived in the same house.

-I mean, how many times are you walking-- -Who lived in the same house?

Well, Kaitlin and Colin.

But, to your point about them being more than just friends,

what I think actually supports Colin's claim

that they were just friends, is that,

he dropped her off. She was staying there by herself.

If he wanted to go inside,

presumably he could have and he chose not to.

-But in terms of what your-- -[Nancy] That's a good point, Mara.

[Mara] Thank you.

Well, looking at her like a wife.

-At least he didn't go inside. -[Brian] Well, she chose not to.

[Mara] Perhaps. But...

in terms of things the defense is gonna have to explain,

how are they gonna explain

fleeing to Costa Rica,

using a fake name,

reportedly using her sister's passport,

getting plastic surgery,

signing up for yoga classes under an alias?

How are they gonna explain that?

So you can explain it one at a time, definitely.

But as I was telling Derrick before, the jurors will start to roll their eyes.

Because I can explain, hey, you flee to Costa Rica,

the defense says, she does this,

spur-of-the-moment trips to go and be a yogi.

She's a 35-year-old-woman who is in her mind, cheated on.

She does plastic surgery, 'cause she wants to look younger, more beautiful.

Because this man clearly wants to leave for someone else, right?

-But as I keep going-- -[Nancy] Why do men always make it about them?

She did this because of him.

And have you noticed, Mara?

That we keep... Well, not us.

Many people keep talking about

Kaitlin Armstrong, Kaitlin Armstrong.

What about Moriah? What about Mo?

Her family has been in that court room watching.

And how sick do you think they are

of hearing people say,

glam yoga teacher.

She ain't so glam with blood on her hands.

No, I think we're gonna have a--

I think they're gonna get the outcome they're hoping for.

I know Brian might disagree with me.

But Brian, I wanted to go back to the case because,

I know you can break down each individual thing,

the DNA, you can pick it apart,

the-- her being near, why she was there in the first place.

But, when you consider in totality,

you have digital evidence, you have forensic evidence with the DNA,

you have ballistics evidence as well

and obviously you have the stuff after the fact.

How, as a defense attorney, do you attack all of that?

'Cause in totality, you have to admit, it looks really bad.

It is, you-- you're gonna get buried

by the weight of this evidence.

There-- it is-- no way, shape or form you can get around this.

I-I think at best, as a defense attorney,

you hug the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt

and try to create some doubt.

And, I think this case,

largely feeds on who you selected.

Sometimes, it's not the information you have

-but who's receiving it. And I think this is-- -You mean the 12 on the box?

-[Brian] Yes. -The jurors.

One thing that really is going to hit home,

you can explain away a lot,

but she used a fake name to leave the country.

-She used her sister's passport. -[Derrick] Yeah.

So far, her sister has not been implicated in any crime.

But, the fact that you leave the country under a fake name,

and Mara, uh, I looked into it,

what she was teaching or trying to teach

was surf yoga.

I don't know what that is.

I guess yoga while you're surfing.

I'm not sure, but think about her choice of Costa Rica, Mara.

You've got the rainforest in, uh, Monteverde,

you've got the volcanos in Arenal,

and then you've got the beach in Tamarindo.

She could've blended in anywhere.

But, because of her vanity and that nose job, they found her.

But what's-- that's what's so incongruous to me

about this person committing this crime

because yoga is all about being centered.

Yoga's a spiritual practice

far more than a physical practice.

[Nancy] Have you ever tried to hold those

-poses very long? -Well, you know, I-- [chuckles]

'Cause that is not spiritual.

-It's pain! -But-- it's supposed to teach you patience

and it's supposed to teach you how to endure difficult situations.

So, you have someone who is practicing and teaching others

-the spiritual practice that is centered on... -[Nancy] Zen.

...loving, kindness and compassion and namaste,

goes to Costa Rica

which is a hub of that kinda activity

and inside her, there's this duality.

-[Derrick] Yeah. -The trial is going on right now

and all of these crimes are alleged.

She has declared herself innocent.

Brian Buckmire, thank you so much for being with us.

Everybody, when we come back,

with "friends" like these, who needs enemies?

Shanquella Robinson heads to a lux resort for a girls' trip.

It's an all-inclusive Mexican resort.

But, Shanquella never makes it home to her mother.

I'm Nancy Grace, this is CrimeFeed.

Thanks for being with us.

Where is lady justice tonight?

A beautiful young woman with her whole life in front of her

dies after a savage beating

that was actually videoed by her so-called friends.

Warning, this video is so difficult to watch.

Shanquella Robinson's friends wake her up,

roused her out of bed

and the beating commences.

All the while laughing, cackling, insulting her.

[inaudible]

It all goes down at a luxe resort near Cabo.

Her friends even shouting at her

to fight back but she did not.

I don't get it.

Shanquella is dead.

The attack is caught on video.

I have personally confirmed the names of the "friends"

registered at the resort.

They coincide with the attackers on that video.

So, why are they still walking free?

Why no prosecution?

We will talk to Shanquella's mother

and the family lawyer in just a few moments.

But, Mara, what happened?

Yeah, the big problem here, Nancy, is that this,

uh, if this was a crime, if this was a homicide

and they still are not necessarily able to confirm that it was a homicide,

but if this homicide took place in Mexico, that is the complication.

Because you have this taking place in Mexico,

then the group, basically, sneaks out of the country,

The ask for a ride to dinner on the day that Shanquella dies

and then they leave the country with Shanquella's stuff.

The Mexican authorities issue an arrest warrant for Daejhanae Jackson

which is the woman that was seen on video,

but she's back in the United States

so, now, the United States has a decision to make.

The State Department and the Department of Justice,

do they extradite this woman to Mexico

and make her available for prosecution there

or do they prosecute her here in the United States

based on a rarely used law that says,

if an American citizen kills another American citizen overseas,

in some cases, they can be prosecuted here.

-It's a nightmare. -[Nancy] Got a question for you.

Have either of you heard the term, because I had not

until this case, atlas luxation?

-[Mara] No. -Atlas luxation.

It is essentially a...

an internal decapitation

where your head is decapitated from your spine.

That, an atlas luxation is what happened to Shanquella.

That's why she died.

In the Mexican autopsy there's a lot about,

"Oh, she had been drinking and we don't know the cause of death."

Hello! She was decapitated, internally.

So, when you look at the body you don't see it.

When you look at the X-ray you see it.

That's the COD, cause of death.

So, little bit of a surprise here,

I'm gonna play defense attorney on this one a little bit

because I have some issues with this case and it's... it's...

it's more about what you just said, so,

Mexico, when they did the autopsy report,

coroner Dr. Terrence Owens, uh, Thomas Owens I should say,

he has a difference of opinion as far as that autopsy.

First off, they did say there was a dislocation of the neck

and there was a spinal cord injury.

-However, when Mecklenburg-- -[Nancy coughs] Sorry, I choked.

-A dislocation? -That's... that's what they said.

That sounds more like, "Ow, my shoulder hurts."

Not that your head is literally separated from your spine.

[Derrick] Well, here's the problem with it, though.

So, Thomas Owens says in his report,

"They never physically examined her neck or spinal cord."

So, they were... How were they able to determine that? But he did.

Even after the embalming he was able to do that.

And he says, and I'm gonna quote it right here,

"There is no evidence of any disruption

of the spinal column alignment or subluxation."

So, basically, he's saying there's no injury to her neck and on top of that

the alcohol, the toxicology results which he...

he can't do those after the fact,

it just came back negative in Mexico

but he's saying, listen, there were ten and a half hours between the assault

and the time that she passed away,

that would've been plenty of time for the alcohol to metabolize,

-so, it's still possible that-- -I don't know if that's true.

That's what... that's what he's saying.

-That's what he's saying, so, this is a big issue. -No, I know but he

is a... a per... a person here

basing his opinion on what he's been told

-as Mara-- -[Derrick] No, he's doing the report.

He's doing the actual exam of her body.

Yes, I know that. Let me... let me clarify.

-Was he in the room when she was beaten dead? -[Derrick] No.

Oh! So, he doesn't know what time it was.

Mara, we don't know if ten hours stretched apart.

From what I can tell, she was already with her head,

uh, severed... internal decapitation.

When the cleaning lady comes and finds her

and in that video you clearly see,

and her family has told me,

she slept without her clothes on.

Somehow, she's got her clothes back on.

They have redressed her

and left her there for the cleaning lady to find.

How long do I know the time that passed?

Well, but... but Derrick is speaking to is...

is discrepancies between the two autopsies.

-[Nancy] Yeah. -So, the Mexican government, Mexican officials

didn't autopsy the final morning.

So, at that time, she died around 6:00 p.m.

They didn't do the autopsy until the final day around 9:00 a--

The next day around 9:00 a.m.

So, at that time they did a toxicology for alcohol

and at that time so much time had gone by that it could have metabolized

and that is maybe why they came up with the negative for alcohol.

They also only did a partial autopsy according to US officials...

-That's right. -...and as they say, partial autopsies

lead to partial results.

So, by the time the body came back to the United States

and US officials did their autopsy,

A, the body had already been embalmed.

B, part of the skull had been removed.

C, they could not do any more toxicology

because too much time had passed.

So, there's a huge problem here in answering basic questions.

Did the beating cause her death?

We don't know the answer to that question.

[Nancy] Another question for both of you?

Should I believe you or my lying eyes?

Because I see her

yanked out of her bed without her clothes on.

I see the friend hitting her

and you can see her neck go over like that.

I can see it.

-But as you all know-- -You play that for a jury

and I guarantee you they're gonna believe that

was the COD, cause of death.

But the timeframe she--

The fight took place around 7:30 in the morning,

the housekeeper discovers her in the bathroom around noon.

The friends can very well say, "She was fine after the fight.

She got up, she got dressed, we had breakfast,

we had drinks in the morning,

-we don't know what took place in the four hours after." -[Nancy] So?

Here... here's the thing for me. Now, I've had this happen

in a case, unfortunately where we talk about detectives and prosecutors

and defense attorneys and how important they are.

You know who's the most important person? The pathologist.

Because if they don't come back and say homicide, you have nothing.

And then that's what's going on here in the States.

They're saying, "Listen, it's undetermined. What do you want us to do?"

And I will say this to your point...

Yeah, they're saying it's a dislocation of the neck

but I can tell you right now an embalming is not gonna heal those injuries to that neck.

So, the fact that she didn't have those injuries

when the pathologist here in the States conducted that autopsy,

-big problem. -Well, you know what,

let's see what her mother and the family lawyer have to say.

When we come back, what do we have to do

to get justice for Shanquella Robinson?

We talk to her mother and the family lawyer.

Their mothers and their fathers, those parents

or those six individuals

don't have no decency

to call and say, you know, "Mr. Robinson,

we're sorry about the loss of your daughter."

Their life is still moving along

but this father right here struggling each and every day,

you know. I cry.

Everyday is a struggle for me.

It's been one very long year

since Shanquella Robinson left her home in North Carolina

for a girls getaway at a Cabo resort she never made it home.

Shanquella dies after a horrific beating,

savagely attacked by a group of women she thought were her friends.

Shanquella just 25 years old.

With us now, Sallamondra Robinson, this is Shanquella's mother,

and Sue-Ann Robinson,

the lead attorney working with the family on this case.

Ms. Robinson, thank you so much for being with us

and please know we have been in prayer

for you and your family and your daughter since the get-go.

And to your lawyer, Ms. Robinson,

what do you believe is the cause of death of Shanquella?

I believe that the Mexican autopsy has the most accurate information

because it was done contemporaneously with her death.

And the cause of death would be what?

Her cause of death was listed as an injury to her neck, to her spine.

Sue-Ann, it's Derrick here, I... I looked at the autopsy

and we're seeing the autopsy from Dr. Owens as well,

uh, here in the States, Mecklenburg County.

Uh, he's stating that Mexican officials did not physically examine

her... her spinal cord or her neck

and he found no injuries.

Do you see that as a complication in this case?

Do you feel that that's why,

uh, US officials are hesitant to... to pursue this case more?

No. Obviously, I... I don't know what their real reason is

but the... the issue for us and for the family

and for everyone that has eyes and has seen the video

is that, the issue of her being beaten was never addressed.

When the three individuals came back

and visited with Ms. Mondie which she can talk about.

They never mentioned the incident that

-Shanquella was beaten just prior... -You're right.

...to her passing away. It was never mentioned.

-So, that's always going to be-- -[Nancy] Ms. Mondie,

can you tell us about that?

When they... These girls in the video,

and there was one guy there, a friend guy,

uh, they came and visited you.

They never mentioned they pulled her out of bed,

your little girl, Shanquella,

and beat her, and in the video,

Ms. Robinson, you can see Shanquella's head

kick off to one side.

That's when the mortal blow was landed, I believe.

I do, too.

What did they tell you when they came to your house?

They told me there was never a fight

and that Shanquella had drunk too much.

But, um, shortly after they said that

someone had called and said that, um, there was no such thing as alcohol poisoning,

said they was over there fighting her.

And shortly after that the video was released.

You know, the video was already out

because people was calling and saying that

but we didn't... we... my family hadn't seen the video.

And so, when we seen the video

we knew that they was lying right then.

But we had questioned them but they said,

"No, there was never a fight it was only alcohol poisoning."

She had drank too much.

Ms. Mondie, the concierge of the hotel, after the fact,

said that the night that the group arrived,

Shanquella seemed out of place.

And this is what he said,

"She seemed not to fit in with the others.

She did not greet me or smile. She was indifferent.

She was out of place at that party."

When you spoke to her did she indicate

that there were any problems with other people in the group,

do you have any idea why they were fighting?

[Sallamondra] No, I have no idea but when I spoke with Shanquella

she seemed to be okay.

She said they was getting ready to eat,

they had a chef, they was finna eat tacos.

So, I didn't hold her up on the phone.

I told her, I said, "Well, enjoy yourself. Love you,

and I will speak with you tomorrow."

And that was the last time I spoke with her.

Ms. Robinson, when did you learn

that Shanquella was dead?

Um, Khalil Cooke called me and told me

that Shanquella was sick due to alcohol poison.

And I said what is alcohol poison?

And he said she had too much to drink.

And said he was giving her water

and said a nurse was on the way.

That's what he said, a doctor, a nurse was on the way.

And, um, he was, um, going to, um...

I said, "Well, why you can't take her to the hospital?"

And at that time he said he needed $5,000

to take her to the emergency room

because they don't take insurance.

Isn't it true that they waited hours?

Someone from Mexico al... already had said

that they wouldn't even let them take her to the hospital.

So, why wouldn't you let her, let them take her to the hospital

if she needed... needed, um, doctor's care?

You know, the doctor came, the doctor didn't know

what she was doing, apparently,

because they telling her alcohol and she's been beaten

and the doctor treating her for alcohol poison.

Yeah, what was the doctor supposed to think?

These "friends" were giving the doctor,

giving the ER, giving the EMTs all false information.

And we don't have justice for Shanquella.

How is this somehow Shanquella's fault that she had had a few drinks?

How is that happening? It's like we're blaming her.

Her neck is separated from her head.

That is the problem. Not the...

The, uh, Moscow mule she had down in the restaurant.

Yeah, I also think that, I'm not even gonna refer to them as friends,

"travel mates", right? These guys, obviously, their behavior

during this event... terrible. Shouldn't have happened.

But I also think I'm gonna steal it from our previous guest, a phrase,

"Consciousness of guilt," right? Their behavior after the fact.

And I'd really like to hone in on the behavior...

The... the detour to take a flight out of the country, immediately

and then the immediate response to go to Ms. Mondie's home

to try to control the narrative, right?

It's almost like, as parents we know, you have your kid

who comes in from the other room and says, "Mom, Dad,

the plant got knocked over by the dog but I... I cleaned it up."

They're trying to get in front of it.

That's what it feels like to me here, that they were trying to get in front of it

before they had a chance to do their own investigation.

Well, now I do have to wonder, uh, Sue-Ann Robinson,

uh, now that American officials have decided

that they are not going to prosecute here

and they're not gonna take any further steps,

uh, when it comes to this investigation, what is your plan?

I know that the family still very much wants justice. What now?

I think that we've been clear from the beginning in saying that

even if the FBI in Mecklenburg County decided to decline charges,

that there's a clear path to justice

because there's a treaty in transnational criminal cases

that would permit Mexico to submit their documents,

their own investigation which has been completed and sent in

and the US State Department would then have to authorize an extradition proceeding,

which would then begin a federal court case

where the person named in the Mexican investigation as the defendant

would have the opportunity to protest the extradition,

say they don't wanna be sent over,

challenge anything in the Mexican investigation.

The US department has failed to do so.

They have not authorized the extradition proceedings to begin

despite the fact that Mexico has completed their investigation

and sent all the documentation in

to permit the US to do so.

Ms. Robinson, question to you. I was thinking about

what you've been through, uh, losing Shanquella,

not knowing what was happening, being lied to

over and over and over.

You know, Ms. Robinson, we managed to find these "friends".

They're not really even hiding.

Now, immediately after, some of them moved from their apartment

and moved somewhere else but

they still got the same cell numbers,

they're still using the same credit cards,

they're still driving the same cars.

They're very easy to find.

I gotta ask you, Ms. Robinson,

how do you put your head on your pillow at night

and you think about Shanquella and you know

that there has been no justice?

Well, it's very hard but you know I asked God give me strength to keep going.

You know, and I... I believe that we will get justice

because, um, they didn't get away with this.

It's too much evidence out there

and now, for the U... for the government to say that... the US...

um, um, the FBI,

um, to say that they don't have enough evidence...

First of all, they didn't do their job correctly

and, um, there's plenty of evidence out there.

Why would you stop her from going to the hospital?

You know, then you fly back here,

you [indistinct], you come back here

and then you, um, say that she, um,

she died with alcohol poison.

Clearly in that video when Shanquella said no,

they woke Shanquella up out her sleep to fight her.

Shanquella was not drunk no kind of way.

You know, they woke her up out her sleep to fight her.

If she had been drinking she had slept it off.

Yeah, one quick thing, the decision by you guys to sue civilly,

I think is genius.

You can now force people to be deposed and hopefully from that case

you get more information about what happened

because not everyone had an equal,

uh, participation in that whole incident.

And who knows, maybe through that civil case you get something out of it

that... that leads to something further.

Ms. Robinson and Sue-Ann Robinson,

thank you so much for being with us.

Coming up, a family court judge gunned down in his own driveway.

His wife and child inside the house

just hours after he makes a ruling in a divorce and custody case.

An abusive husband and dad goes after the judge

who grants his wife a divorce and awards her custody.

Washington County circuit court judge, Andrew Wilkinson,

husband and father, dead in the driveway of his own home.

Washington County community can breathe a little easier this afternoon

murder suspect Pedro Argote was located deceased.

Until the autopsy is complete

we will not be able to answer questions surrounding his cause or time of death.

That's Washington County, Maryland, Sheriff Brian Albert expressing relief

after state police discover the body of Pedro Argote.

Judge Andrew Wilkinson heard shocking testimony

from Argote's very brave daughter

that her father was extremely abusive

and then the judge was killed in his driveway.

Mara, Derrick, just so upsetting.

And clearly, the judge was right.

You know, the mother described having to stand between

her little 11-year-old girl, that's the one

that Argote seemed to hate the most.

He was going to attack her

and that is when the mom knew, "I've gotta leave."

Yeah, well the... the abuse that was described

during this custody hearing, this divorce hearing,

the allegations were very, very severe.

I mean, the mother claimed that, uh, he abused the children.

She said he would stuff a towel inside the baby's mouth

when the baby was crying to try to keep them quiet.

He also would maintain financial control.

Um, and then, his adult daughter from a previous relationship

testified, she said, to protect her half siblings

and she testified about the abuse that she endured

during her teenage years

when she was living under the same roof with him

and in fact said that she has not spoken to him

since she's been an adult.

Because of those allegations,

the judge's ruling was very strongly against this man.

It was granting the divorce,

the mother got sole custody of the four children,

the father got no visitation and he had to pay child support

$1100 a month.

He was a no-show at court

and that certainly did not help anything.

But, where does that leave uh, us prosecutors

and judges and officers of the court?

Both defense attorneys and prosecutors.

-Yeah, as far as their safety? -Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, listen, it goes even beyond that.

As an investigator, I can speak to an incident that I had

where I was doing an undercover operation

and I came into the police station and my chief tells me,

"Hey, we just got word there's been a hit put out on you."

Had to move my family out of my home,

had to rely on state police

actually sitting in my driveway for weeks.

It's a really unnerving feeling to do this job

because when you leave that courthouse

or when you leave that police station,

-it doesn't stop, you're still in that role... -No.

...and there are people out there that can get access to you.

Believe it or not, same.

I had to move out of my house,

for the duration of a trial

and stay out for at least 6 months after the trial

because it was so contentious.

Life behind bars, that was what was at stake.

And there were factions that did not take it that well.

This judge, gunned down in his driveway

after making a ruling.

[Mara] Yeah, and in fact, we've seen

you know, unfortunately, an increase

in these kinds of threats against judges and you know, officers of the court

and w-- what have you,

um, to the point where uh, President Biden has now signed legislation

to protect Supreme Court justices even more

because the threats have-- have gotten so increased in recent years.

And it all to me, starts with domestic abuse in this case.

I believe that he went after the judge,

he refocused his anger off of his wife

and his children,

and focused it on the judge,

like it was the judge's fault.

And that's a hallmark of domestic abusers,

they always blame somebody else.

It's never them.

And he tracks the judge down,

the judge comes home from court, gets out of his car,

it's over, just like that.

It was like he was hunting an animal.

[Mara] Well, in this case, as you mentioned,

uh, accusing other people of being the ones doing wrong,

he tried to blame his wife for everything

during these whole proceedings.

He said she was a-- terrible mother,

she wasn't doing a great job homeschooling.

Then, it appears he shifted his focus to the judge,

anybody's fault but his.

[Derrick] Yeah, and I know-- I know Pedro's been found deceased,

obviously, so he's no longer a threat to anyone.

But, and this is obviously a horrible situation and my f--

my thoughts go out to Andrew Wilkinson's family.

But I will say this, it could've been a lot worse.

A guy like Pedro,

he could've easily gone to the home,

killed his wife and the children.

- It could've-- it could've-- -[Nancy] And the judge.

And the judge and his family as well.

So, it's a terrible situation all the way around.

There's-- nobody wins.

Did you know this guy, Mara,

would actually take his wife's car keys

whenever he left home?

So, she couldn't go anywhere without his permission.

[Derrick] We didn't mention the cameras.

He had cameras inside, outside the home.

-[Nancy] Oh, please tell us. -Yeah.

And the wife said this that she would--

he would follow her, track her through the cameras

and this, this was corroborated by his-- his other daughter

who came and said, "Yeah, same thing with me.

I didn't even feel like I could be myself in my own home

because he was watching the cameras all the time."

-This is a sick individual for sure. -We can--

We can take a look at some of what they said, I mean,

the wife said, "I-I don't get out of the house without his knowledge.

I know he has a weapon on him at all times."

Um, and the daughter the adult daughter from the previous relationship

said he would beat her with "whatever he had close by,

belts and objects."

And that, uh, he had her under surveillance

with-with the cameras

and that the reason, again, she was speaking out in court

was, "So that my siblings wouldn't have to go through

the mental torment that I have."

You know, I'm just thinking about what the children lived through,

not just being abused themselves

but seeing their mother being abused.

And also,

uh, many people have said,

"Well, the judge should've had protection."

The judge this, the judge that.

He was just doing his job.

I'm sure he had no idea

he had a big target drawn on his back

and this guy, Argote,

was literally stalking him

like he would an animal.

[Derrick] Yeah, and it's logistics too, right?

We would love to have every judge

have personal protection at their homes.

But, he's a circuit court judge.

You have federal judges, you have municipal judges.

There's not enough individuals to perform these duties.

You have to pick and choose your battles.

You have to look at the threats that are--

that are against these individuals

and-and provide the resources they need.

There was really no warning for this,

-from-from what we know. -[Nancy] No warning.

[Derrick] So, this just came out of nowhere.

So, again, in hindsight,

how do you-- what could we have done different

as invest-- as law enforcement officials

to protect this judge?

I don't know if there's anything we could've done, I really don't.

You know, it's not like we're in Colombia,

where judges get gunned down all the time.

Anybody even-- no one even wants to be a judge there

'cause it's a death sentence.

But here, an attack on a judge,

or a defense attorney or a prosecutor,

is an attack on our system.

It's not just the individual, it's attacking the system,

and the domestic court system, Mara.

Yeah, and family court I feel like

is-is one of the toughest spaces

-to work in because... -[Nancy] Oh, it's terrible.

...it's more, you know, when you're talking

-about civil court, money's on the line. -[Derrick] Hmm.

Money's important, of course.

When you're talking about family court,

you're talking about families being together,

husbands and wives and children and custody,

visitation, child support,

these are extremely difficult issues to solve.

[Nancy] You know, I've got a really good friend,

a female defense attorney in Atlanta.

She handles all criminal cases

and a few divorces.

She says she's never been as afraid in her life

as when she's in a contentious divorce case.

And this is why.

You know, every week,

we bring you the breaking crime and justice news

from across our great country.

The biggest bombshells

on some of the biggest crime stories and headlines,

and some, you may never have heard of.

from Mara and Derrick.

We'll see you next week. Good night, friend.