03x06 - m*rder at Sunrise

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: A grim discovery...

You're dealing with something
that's very evil.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Narrator:
...Leaves a family broken.

It really just
hit me really hard.

[ Sirens wail ]

Narrator: As police hunt
a sadistic k*ller...

[ Sputters ]

[ Grunts ]

Is everyone a suspect?

Yes.

Margie: She was with some guy
that I had never seen before.

Narrator:
...There's only one witness
they can trust.

Sutton:
A video camera doesn't lie.

It tells you what it saw.

♪♪

Narrator:
Tuesday, September 13, 2005.

Every day, the lubbock, Texas,
landfill takes

in the trash of a quarter
of a million souls.

But they do have
some restrictions,

which is why they screen every
load for hazardous materials.

The horrified
foreman calls police.

911 emergency.

Detective Chris breunig
takes the case...

[ Sirens wail ]

...and rushes to the scene.

Breunig:
You could tell by the sound
of the 911 call,

the nervousness in his voice,

this was something well
beyond the scope

of their day-to-day activities.

He was upset.

[ Sirens wail ]

I had preliminary information

saying that a body
had been found inside

of a suitcase in the landfill.

You cannot jump
to conclusions

in an investigation.

But, in your mind,
you're already thinking, "okay.

This is probably
going to be a homicide."

Narrator:
At the scene, breunig meets up

with fellow
detective Doug Sutton.

Black suitcase
contains a body,

found by these guys
about an hour ago.

The human being that would do
that to another human being

is probably the lowest form
of life, in my opinion.

Narrator: The D.A., Matt Powell,
also attends the scene.

Morning, Matt.

[ Insects buzzing ]

Powell: The first thing
that hit you

when you go there
are the smells.

You know, it's 100 degrees.

There's bugs.
There's flies.

There's all kinds of trash
and everything else

that you can imagine
is out in this one area.

The body was
in a fetal position

inside of the suitcase.

There were some injury
that obviously, at that time,

not knowing whether it was
created by the landfill or by...

by whatever the act
was that caused the death.

Powell:
When you start trying to imagine
what her last minutes

and hours of her life
were like and the injuries

and the pain
she must've suffered,

then... then you can't help

but be, uh,
angered by that.

Narrator:
The medical examiner estimates

a time of death


Anybody that could put another
human being in a suitcase

and dispose of them
like a piece of garbage,

you're dealing with something
that's very evil.

And obviously the things
that you worry

about are contamination.

If there is any type
of forensic evidence,

if there is any type of DNA,

any type of blood,
any type of fluids,

this is not a sanitary place.

It certainly is not
the best place

to try to obtain
forensic evidence.

Breunig:
Preservation of the suitcase
is Paramount

because that is
the only physical evidence

we have other than
the body itself

and any DNA

that may have been left on
or in the body.

Narrator:
That's where investigators
get their first break.

The medical examiner,
they were able to identify

a tattoo on the left ankle

that had the word "summer."

Narrator: Her fingerprints
are sent to the lab.

Breunig:
The identification officers

will take an impression
of their fingerprints

and insert it into
what is called AFIS,

the automated fingerprint
identification system.

♪♪

Going back through
police records,

we were actually able
to utilize

the tattoo of summer
to quickly determine

that the deceased individual

was a female named
summer Baldwin.

Narrator:
Now comes the painful task
of notifying her mother,


in roswell, new Mexico.

[ Telephone rings ]

I got it.
Okay.

Who's on the phone,
darling?

John?

I was in the kitchen
fixing dinner.

And my husband
came in the kitchen.

And he goes,
"you need to sit down."

I says, "well,
I don't have time to sit down."

I says, "I'm busy.

I'm trying to get dinner
on the table."

And he goes, "no.
You need to sit down."

He says, "that was
the police on the phone."

[ Voice breaking ] And he says,
"they just found summer's body."

And so it really
just hit me really hard.

And, uh, so, uh
[ Clears throat ]

I kind of collected myself

and called the police back.

And I says,
"are y'all positive?"

And he says, "yes.
We are positive."

Narrator: Summer was a bright
and bubbly child.

I came across the name summer.

After she was born,

it really fit her

because she had
long auburn hair,

and she was just this
little chubby thing

and just, uh, so good-natured.

And so it was
like summertime.

[ Kids laughing ]

Narrator:
Summer grows up in new Mexico.

She eventually studies
cosmetology

and moves to lubbock, Texas,
to be near her aunt Terri

and make a life for herself.

I was devastated.

Um, she was like
one of my own children to me.

I was closer to her
as she got older, um,

because she was able
to come around more.

It was like it was
one of my own children

that had been taken away.

Narrator: But it's a life now
tragically cut short.

I think she was here,
like, three or four days.

And that was the last time
I saw her.

Narrator: Summer's body
is sent to the morgue

to determine
the cause of death.

They begin with an external
examination of the body.

And, of course, every bit
of this is photographed

for records of court.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

There were lots
of blunt-force injuries,

lots of bruising,
lots of contusions,

uh, some scrapes,
very obvious injuries

that were present on her body.

She had put up a fight.

Narrator:
A fight she appears to have
lost to a violent b*ating.

Back at the landfill,
police puzzle.

Which dumpster did
this victim come from?

That the route list?

You were driving
Monday morning?

That means interviewing

every driver on duty
that morning.

In a homicide investigation,

early on, no one is excluded
from being a suspect.

So is everyone a suspect?

Yes.

Narrator: One of the drivers
thinks he remembers the suitcase

from a dumpster he emptied
that morning.

Police race over
to check it out.

Sutton: We were able to go
back to the alley,

check the dumpster,

check around it to see

if any discarded clothing items

or anything could be
still in the area.

Narrator:
Instead, they find something
even better...

a witness...

Hey.
Look at the camera.

A witness that never lies
and might have seen it all.

♪♪

Narrator: 29-year-old
beautician summer Baldwin

has been found dead
in a suitcase,

thrown out like garbage.

Anybody could've done it.

We didn't have,
you know, any ideas.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

I cried a lot

and just kept thinking about
what a horrible, horrible death

she had been through.

Narrator:
Now investigators have found
a security camera

from a nearby home

that might have
captured summer's k*ller.

Lubbock pd.

The homeowner cooperates
fully and shows the police

what his cameras captured
from the day of the m*rder.

♪♪

They zoom into the alleys

but can't see the dumpster.

Then, at 5:01 P.M.,

they spot movement
in the yard.

But it's just
a neighbor doing laundry.

It's no good.

The footage is useless.

And what police learn next

will only compound
the tragedy.

Bart, you wanted
to see me?

Top of page four.

You sure?


They were able to determine
that summer was approximately



Thereby, when she was m*rder*d,

her unborn child
was m*rder*d, as well.

Narrator:
In Texas, that means this
is now a double homicide.

Darling, that's
wonderful news.

Oh, I'm so excited.
I'm gonna be a grandmother.

She told me
how far along she was.

And we were gonna
start hunting her

some little baby clothes.

Breunig:
When you have a young woman

that is in the prime
of her life,

and then that life
is taken from her

and is taken, um,

from her unborn child,

that, uh, that is traumatic.

Narrator: An unborn child means

there's a father
out there somewhere...

All right, guys.
Listen up.

Narrator:
...And a potential suspect.

This is now
a double homicide.

I want us talking
to her friends, her family.

I want to find out
who the father is.

Breunig:
So we go into
summer Baldwin's past

and begin making contact

with her nearest family

and friends residing
in the city of lubbock.

Narrator: One name comes up
repeatedly...

Margie estrada.

Everyone describes Margie

and summer
as inseparable friends.

Margie estrada?

Margie.

You Margie?

Can I help you?

I'm sorry to be the one
to tell you this.

But your friend
summer Baldwin is dead.

Narrator: Margie is shocked
at the news...

You know of anyone
that would want to hurt summer?

And is quick
to offer a suspect.

A guy named laquincy Freeman,
also known as q.

Uh, they used
to fight a lot.

And it would get
pretty violent sometimes.

Margie suspects he could be
the father of the child.

She also explained that...

that they were boyfriend
and girlfriend,

so to speak, uh,

but that their relationship

was dotted with stints

of physical altercation,
verbal altercation.

[ Sirens wail ]

Narrator:
He's definitely someone
police need to question

if they can
track him down.

Detectives spend hours
trolling every one

of laquincy Freeman's
known hangouts.

Every minute that passes

gives summer's k*ller
more time to escape.

And, finally,
police inquiries pay off.

Uh-huh.
You do?

And a friend of q
spills an address...

All right. Thanks.
Got it.

...which makes q
easy to pick up for questioning.

♪♪

At that point,

he was what we would
consider the prime suspect.

Narrator: For a man whose
pregnant girlfriend

has just been found m*rder*d,

he seems strangely calm.

He swears he wasn't
anywhere near his ex

at the time of her m*rder.

He gave us detailed information
of his whereabouts

from the time before
summer went missing

until well
after the body was found.

Narrator: Police ask Freeman to
take a lie-detector test.

The pressure may force him

to drop his guard.

♪♪

Laquincy Freeman passes
the polygraph

with no signs of deception.

With no evidence to tie him
to summer's m*rder,

police must let him go, for now.

It's a dead end...

Until police realize

who has just walked
into the station,

someone they've
talked to before.

What can I do for you?

I think there's some stuff

that I forgot
to say before.

Um, so I think
the last time

I saw summer was on Sunday,
um, around 11:00.

P.M.?


Yeah.

Best friend Margie
has just added

an important detail
to her earlier story.

She now remembers
spotting summer outside

a convenience store
the night she was m*rder*d.

Margie: I went to the 7-Eleven
on the corner of 8th.

I went to, uh,
grab some cigarettes.

And she was there,
sitting in a truck.

Hey, girl.
Summer, hey.

Hey.

She jumped out
and came to see me.

What you doing?
Are you with q?

No.
No.

I actually met
somebody else tonight.

Yeah.
Oh.

Narrator:
It's a little suspicious
that Margie's

just telling this story now.

But investigators
find her credible.

Breunig:
Sunday evening, two days
before her body was found,

some time between


Margie is able to say
summer was alive.

Narrator:
Alive and with a man Margie

had never seen before.

But I'm gonna go. Okay.
Okay. Have a good night.

Bye.

Margie: I think he was hispanic
but light-skinned, clean-cut.

And then they
just drove off.

The truck, do you remember
what the make was?

No. I don't know
the make of the truck.

But, um, the truck
was red, bright red.

I actually met
somebody else tonight.

Narrator:
Margie's new story raises
new questions,

a mystery man with summer
in a red pickup.

Lubbock is awash
in red pickups.

But when police hear the name
of the convenience store,

they know
that means one thing...

cameras.

They head over
to the 7-Eleven

with a photo of summer.

Maybe someone can help them

back up Margie's new story.

You the manager?

You remember seeing this woman
Sunday night,



Narrator:
Next, detectives turn to
their real target...

the cameras.

They got cameras everywhere,
and one pointing to the door.

Can we have a look
at your cctv cameras?

We immediately obtained
consent from the business

to give us the video footage.

Narrator: If Margie saw summer
outside in the pickup,

then surely the camera

will have caught a glimpse
of her companion.

All right.
You pull up Sunday?

The security system
only records

one frame of video per second.

Pause it there.

♪♪

Narrator:
Police have caught a break

and are watching footage
from a 7-Eleven,

footage that might reveal

the last movements
of summer Baldwin

and the mystery man
in the red pickup.

All right.
Just play it from there.

Detectives spool carefully
through the video.

All right.
Hold it there.

Take it back about


And then let it
play again for me.

At 11:38 P.M., just when
the witness claimed...

...detectives spot
a red pickup truck

in the parking lot.

♪♪

Stop it there.

Zoom in again.

A few seconds later,

a man in a yellow shirt emerges
from the truck

and walks into the store...

...but quickly disappears
out of sh*t.

One minute later,
he approaches the counter.

Hold on. Hold on. All right.
Pause it there.

This could be the same man
summer's friend described.

Looks hispanic.

Yeah.
I don't know.

He's looking away
from the camera.

And a baseball cap
conceals his face.

They turn their attention
to the truck.

But it's obscured
by the reflections

from the store's window.

And then zoom in
again for me.

It looks like a dodge ram.

But it's impossible
to be sure.

And they can't see
if summer is inside.

It could be him.

There must be a thousand
red pickups in lubbock.

Detectives cannot confirm

that this is the same truck
summer was seen in,

nor can they I.D. The driver.

It won't be the last video
clue that police will get.

But for now,
there's little to go on.

With the clock ticking,

detective Sutton turns

to the only piece
of physical evidence

they have...

the suitcase
that contained summer's body.

Although the suitcase appeared
very dirty on the outside

since it had been
discarded into a landfill,

the inside was very clean.

Sutton: The suitcase
appeared to be new...

...which immediately raised
some eyebrows for us.

Was it just recently
purchased somewhere?

Narrator:
That's when police noticed
something inside the suitcase

that, at first, seems innocuous.

Inside the suitcase
and underneath the flap

was a very small upc code

that identified the name brand

of that suitcase
and the manufacturer.

Narrator: That simple bar code

could reveal a wealth
of information

about where this
suitcase comes from.

Detective Sutton quickly
traces the upc code.

The only one
to stock it is Walmart.

But there are 300
Walmart stores in Texas alone.

There must be a way
to narrow down the search.

Walmart's the only one
that stocks that model.

Okay.
I'll be right there.

Normally, trying
to dispose of a body

is an impulse behavior.

So you have to use
whatever's at hand.

And if you don't have
something, you go buy it.

So our mind-set was that
it was possibly bought locally.

Narrator:
Fortunately, there are only
two walmarts in lubbock county.

Detectives start
at the store

closest to the 7-Eleven,

where summer was last seen.

I'd like to look
at your security cameras

from two nights ago.

Powell: And so they went
to Walmart

and found that
that particular suitcase

had been sold
a couple different times

on the time frame
that we were looking at.

And, uh, one was
in the afternoon.

One was about 3:00
in the morning.

Who the hell's shopping
at 3:00 in the morning?

Can we, uh,
see the footage?

Narrator: The store recently
sold two suitcases

like the one that
held summer's body.

The first video available

is from the purchase
made at 4:00 P.M.

The day after the m*rder
at checkout stand number 33.

Detectives hold their breath.

The camera angle is high,

and they're unable
to see much.

At 3:58 P.M., there it is.

The black suitcase
appears on screen.

But they can't
see the buyer.

They watch intently.

It could be the k*ller.

♪♪

Pause it there.

It looks like a female.

Yep.
Caucasian.

♪♪

Hold it.
Freeze it there.

Some kind of card.
Yeah.

Any way we can get an idea
of how she was paying?

It looks like it was
a Walmart loyalty card.

Narrator: The Walmart card
makes it easy

to determine who this is.

All right.
We got Diane appleton.

And it's, uh, 510 beecher,
beecher road.

Police call the name in
to see if the shopper

has a criminal record
or arrest warrants.

And it comes back clean.

♪♪

By now, the video is ready

from the purchase
of the second suitcase

bought nearly 12 hours earlier
in the middle of the night.

We able to skip ahead
to the one around



This late-night purchase
will be very different.

♪♪

Narrator:
Police in lubbock, Texas,

are watching the purchase
of a suitcase

in the middle of the night,

a few hours after the m*rder
of summer Baldwin.

♪♪

At 3:20 A.M...

...a man enters wearing
a distinctive

green-and-white-striped shirt.

Sutton: What is a person doing
in a Walmart store

at 3:00 A.M.
in the morning?

We always say that normally
only cops and criminals

are out at that time
of the morning.

♪♪


at checkout number 19,

a glimpse
of the same shirt...

♪♪

...followed by a full sh*t
of the same man

dragging a black suitcase
through checkout.

♪♪

Oh, pause it there.

Now to see if this man
matches the description

from the witness
who last saw summer alive.

Stocky build to him.

Dark hair.

It's a unique haircut,
as well.

As he goes through and makes
his purchase of the suitcase,

you can see, once again,
he's not rushing.

This in itself
would not provide

sufficient probable cause
to obtain an arrest warrant

because all you see
is a hispanic male

with the m*llitary haircut
buying a suitcase.

Just play that back again.

Mm-hmm.

Narrator: They carefully watch
for any clues

that will set this purchase
aside from the other one.

That's when police spot
something else.

This customer hasn't just
bought a suitcase

in the middle of the night.

He's also bought something
in a small cardboard box.

Police go backward on the tape

and watch him shop.

♪♪

They locate him in
the cleaning goods section.

Are you able to
zoom in there?

Sutton: When I saw the box
that looked similar to tissues,

I thought,

"could that possibly
be latex gloves?"

Latex gloves was consistent,
in our mind,

with someone trying not to
leave evidence or fingerprints.

Narrator:
A suitcase and latex gloves

may have seemed like

innocent purchases at the time.

But in hindsight, they make
for a chilling combination.

So now we're beginning
to identify

what we believe to be,
uh, a prime suspect

that we want to really focus
more attention and...

and law-enforcement efforts on.

Narrator:
But they need to tie him
to a red truck.

Now detectives can use Walmart's

extensive surveillance system

to track this
individual out of the store

and maybe even to his vehicle.

♪♪

He actually pauses
a little bit

to let another customer
come in...

Narrator:
He seems relaxed as he reaches
the parking lot.

Powell:
...And then calmly walks out,
dragging the suitcase...

Narrator: He heads towards
a dark-colored pickup truck.

But the two cameras covering

the parking space

can't identify
the truck's color.

Powell:
...Gets in his truck and drives
out of the Walmart parking lot.

Do you have something that
maybe, um, when he enters?

Narrator:
Hopefully one of the cameras

recording his arrival 10 minutes

earlier will yield
a clear view of the truck.

If it's red, police
will have their man.

♪♪

It's a hit, a bright-red dodge.

The time line and the witness
account all match up.

Same truck.
Yep.

We have summer Baldwin
disappearing 4 hours

before that,

last seen with an individual
with a red truck.

We have an individual
with a red truck

showing up at Walmart,

purchasing a suitcase that is
the identical brand, style,

size, and upc code
as the suitcase

that her body was found in.

Narrator:
Police are certain they are
looking at their k*ller.

But who is this man?

They zoom in on
the license plate for an I.D.

That's where
their luck ends.

The footage is too blurry.

Police return to
the Walmart footage.

There's one more trick
they can use to identify him.

There.
Pause it there.

He's using a card.
Do you see that?

♪♪

Narrator: In lubbock, Texas,

the suspect
in summer Baldwin's m*rder

has bought a suitcase

and latex gloves at Walmart

with a debit card
the night of her m*rder.

And it's all been
caught on camera.

Sutton: We were able to get
a search warrant

from the bank
that produced that card.

And they were able
to provide us

with the name of the owner
of that debit card.

Breunig:
That debit card was tracked

to an individual we identified

as rosendo Rodriguez.

Narrator: The 25-year-old

makes his permanent residence


in San Antonio, Texas.

But the debit card
has also recorded

another purchase
that places Rodriguez in lubbock

the day of the m*rder...

$18 spent at a 7-Eleven.

It's the same 7-Eleven
summer was spotted at later.

We had pulled up that footage
approximately 4 hours prior

to the time
of her disappearance.

♪♪

Narrator: At 6:32 P.M.,
a figure enters the store.

He approaches the counter.
The clothes are different.

But the haircut matches
the man seen in the Walmart.

It's Rodriguez.

Sutton: The footage is crucial

because it gives us a time stamp

and proves that he was

in the general vicinity
of that area.

Narrator: So what's a man
who lives 400 miles

away doing in lubbock?

Yeah.
This is detective breunig.

The debit card
gives that away, too.

Really?

It's a card reserved
for members of the armed forces.

He was currently a reservist
with the us marine corps.

His reservist unit was
based in lubbock, Texas.

So we were able
to put him in lubbock, Texas,

during the period
of the disappearance

of summer Baldwin.

Narrator:
Police check with his unit

and learn Rodriguez
didn't stay on base

while visiting lubbock.

We were also informed

that he normally
would stay at 801 Avenue q,

which was
the holiday inn.

Narrator:
A holiday inn that's directly
across the street

from the same 7-Eleven

where Rodriguez
made his purchase

and where summer Baldwin
was last seen alive.

You got this guy
staying here?

Investigators race to the scene.

Rosendo Rodriguez had actually

already checked out
of the holiday inn.

Narrator: But they are able
to search his room

and call in the forensics team
for assistance.

In room 609, they discover

what looks like
a patch of dried blood,

then a clincher.

Breunig:
Investigators were actually able
to find a Walmart bag

with the actual receipt

from the purchase
of the suitcase

as well as
the disposable gloves.

Narrator:
It's time to arrest Rodriguez.

And he isn't hard to find.

He's fled to his mother's
house in San Antonio.

Go, go, go.
Freeze.

Police.
Freeze.

Sutton: When he came outside,

they stepped out,
took him into custody,

put him in the van
and drove away.

Happened literally that quick.

Narrator: Rodriguez
ultimately talks

and tells
a very self-serving story.

I had just finished
training for the day.

And I decided to go
for a drink at a bar downtown.

And that's where I met her.

Rodriguez then takes summer back

to his room at the holiday inn.

That's when he claims
an argument broke out.

Powell: He said that, after they
performed consensual sex,

uh, she just, you know,
out of nowhere,

pulled a Kn*fe on him.

Powell: He said he had
to defend himself

and put her in a choke hold.

And because of his choke
hold, she d*ed.

Um, but we knew from
the medical examiner's testimony

that that wasn't the case.

He... he was just a liar.

Narrator:
He even has an excuse

for the blood found
at the scene.

Breunig: His explanation
of how he k*lled her

was totally inconsistent

with what the blood-stain
physical evidence showed us.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

[ Grunting, shouting ]

Narrator: In march of 2008,

rosendo Rodriguez goes to trial

for the murders
of summer Baldwin

and her unborn child.

And, shockingly,
he confesses

to the m*rder of another woman,

Joanna Rogers,

k*lled the same way
as summer in 2004.

Rodriguez has an excuse
for that one, too.

Reporter:
Rosendo, you want to say
you're sorry now?

Want to say anything
to the families?

Narrator: On April 1, 2008,

rosendo Rodriguez
is found guilty

and sentenced to death
on two counts of m*rder.

For summer's family,
justice is bittersweet.

[ Voice breaking ]
I just think about her
all the time, you know,

wishing she were still here,

that I still had her.

It still just,
you know, really upsets me

and stuff.

But I'm just...

I'm just waiting
for his execution day.