05x12 - Life After Midnight

[bunniefuu]

[ Sinister music climbs ]

[ Sinister chord strikes ]

Narrator: a woman's body dumped in an alley...

[ Eerie music climbs ]

Strangulation, stab wounds,

Blunt-force injury to her head.

[ Eerie music climbs ]

...leaves a community terrified.

They had the whole of south park on edge.

It was scary.

No clear motive, and a list of suspects...

Seattle pd! Up against the wall!

We can either eliminate him as a possible suspect

Or he would be the focus of that investigation.

...a deadly puzzle with missing pieces...

...until cameras reveal...

Is that her?

...the shocking truth!

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

To me, it was violent,

Just rage, just hate.

[ Eerie music climbs, chord strikes ]

[ Static crackles ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

♪♪

--Captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

♪♪

February 14, 2015.

♪♪

South park, seattle,

Where 26-year-old celina peterson

Has always called home.

♪♪

Johnson: celina was kind of tall.

She had this really long, blond hair.

She was a very loyal friend.

Whenever I needed her, she was there,

Even, you know, for a shoulder to cry on.

She was there to give me a nice hug and make me feel better.

♪♪

Beaver: celina was beautiful, honest.

She was reliable, trustworthy.

[ Tender tune plays ] narrator: even on valentine's day,

There's no one she'd rather see than her best friend, kristy.

[ Knocking ]

♪♪

-Hey. -Celina's famous for turning up

With freshly picked flowers. -Oh, thank you!

They're lovely.

Anytime she came over, she would always pick flowers

On her way to my house or buy something from a store

And bring it over and, "here, I got this for you."

Do you mind if I hang out for a bit?

Yeah, sit down.

She cared.

Like when you talked to her about things,

She actually cared what you were saying.

So how was your day?

Didn't do too much.

Narrator: the young women have always been

More like sisters than friends.

-I just wanna relax. -She grew up in a big family.

Her mom was single.

Her dad died when she was younger, so.

But she was brought up real well.

Her family was very important to her.

Narrator: but celina's recent struggle with alcohol

Has caused friction at home.

Rather than disturb her family, coming home late,

She would just stay at my house.

Okay. I'll see you later.

Okay. Gimme a hug.

♪♪

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: at midnight,

After a few drinks, celina's back again.

♪♪

[ Knocking ]

♪♪

Hey. Is it okay if I hang out

With you guys for a while?

Normally, you know I would say yes,

But adrian has a romantic night in planned.

I was mad to have to tell her to come back

Because I never had told her before,

But I didn't wanna argue with my boyfriend.

Sorry.

Okay. That's no problem.

Um,

I'll just see you sometime tomorrow.

She says, "okay, I'll come back.

Happy valentine's day."

-Sorry again. -Have a good night, okay?

-You too. -Okay.

Bye. -Bye.

♪♪

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

[ Crying ] at the time, I didn't know

It was the last time I would speak with her.

♪♪

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: 8:00 am the next morning.

It's sunday and retired nurse rosemarie fitzpatrick

Is headed to church.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

In the alleyway behind her house...

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

...she spots someone laying on the ground.

[ Eerie music plays ]

♪♪

[ Dialing ]

[ Sinister music plays ]

[ Sinister chord strikes ] [ ring ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ] [ siren wailing ]

♪♪

Narrator: detective jason kasner of seattle police department

Heads up the investigation.

Hi. Thank you.

I arrived at the scene about an hour after the 911 call.

What do we got?

There was a female that was laying in the alley.

She had blood in her hair, along her face.

My impressions, with regards to the method

In which she was k*lled: to me, it was violent.

It wasn't entirely clear what the cause of death was,

At that point, because there were so many injuries.

She was wearing black yoga pants.

She had a black boot

That had a sort of fluffy cuff around the ankle.

She had on a very dark coat and then, underneath that,

She had a bright-pink hoodie.

[ Sinister music plays ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Do we have an i.d. Yet?

Kasner: we didn't have an immediate identification.

There was no purse, no identification on her person,

But one thing we noticed on the victim was distinctive tattoos.

Narrator: one on the left shoulder,

That says "celina".

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

A patrol officer actually was able to positively identify

The victim as celina peterson.

♪♪

Narrator: news travels fast in south park.

[ Melancholy tune plays ]

Well, it was the next morning.

She didn't show up.

[ Cellphone rings ]

[ Rings ]

[ Rings, beeps ]

Hello.

I had a friend call me and she said,

"Did you hear about that body they found?"

What body?

[ Sniffle, crying ] there was a girl's body found

Down the street in an alley.

♪♪

And then tells me the detective had just talked with her

And was asking about celina

And [gasping]

What tattoos that she had

And where her family lives.

♪♪

My heart just broke for her family,

Especially her mom.

♪♪

Narrator: back at the crime scene,

Detective kasner speaks to the 911 caller...

Ma'am, my name is detective kasner.

Are you okay to answer a few questions?

...and she delivers a key piece of information.

Was there anything unusual last night?

She remembered hearing a very piercing scream

A couple hours prior to her calling 911

And she estimated it around 5:00 am.

What kind of scream, a man, a woman?

It sounded like a woman.

Did you happen to see where the scream came from?

No, I didn't look.

She didn't investigate because she lives alone.

It was dark and she didn't hear anything more,

So, she disregarded it.

Narrator: rosemarie has provided police

With their first piece of the puzzle.

Well, thank you so much for your time, ma'am.

Appreciate it.

That gives us a timeline, gives us a timeframe

Of roughly when the victim would be k*lled.

Narrator: now, to analyze the crime scene.

Raz: near the body were a straight-edge screwdriver...

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ] [ camera shutter clicks ]

♪♪

...and a belt.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ] [ camera shutter clicks ]

♪♪

And these were of particular interest because,

Due to the amount of blood...

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ] [ camera shutter clicks ]

...it is possible that the screwdriver

Could have been the weapon used to inflict injuries to the head

And the belt itself appeared to have some blood on it.

Here.

Narrator: and there's something else

That catches detective kasner's eye.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ] [ camera shutter clicking ]

One thing that stood out about this coffee cup

Is the alley itself, it was relatively clean,

So this was kind of out of place.

Because of the type of cup it was, the color,

We believed it came from the 76 station.

There's one a couple blocks from here.

[ Radio chatter ]

Narrator: detective kasner immediately follows this new lead.

[ Suspenseful music plays, chord strikes ]

And he's not disappointed.

Above the entrance

Is the unblinking eye of a security camera.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

I was very, very happy when I saw that

And I know that, because it's a gas station,

More than likely, they're gonna have good cameras.

♪♪

Raz: and maybe, just maybe,

They had picked up footage of our victim

And, if we were really lucky,

[ Suspenseful music climbs ] her attacker.

[ Static crackles ] [ suspenseful music plays ]

[ Static crackles ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: after celina peterson is found

Brutally k*lled in an alleyway...

♪♪

...detective kasner hopes a camera at the 76 gas station

Will help uncover the truth behind her m*rder.

♪♪

Hi, there. I'm detective kasner.

Your cameras, were they on last night?

I wanna locate video cameras as fast as possible

Because some surveillance cameras

Will purge out footage in 24 hours.

Narrator: he's got there in the nick of time,

But the footage can't be viewed on-site.

I'm gonna send someone by

To collect the footage. Thank you.

♪♪

[ Melancholy tune plays ]

Narrator: as the footage downloads,

Detective kasner questions celina's friends.

I am very sorry for your loss,

But, we do need some information

About celina. Okay.

Kasner: what we learned about celina was that she was a very,

Very kind person, very gentle, very -- a sweet person.

She was very popular.

And I didn't come across anybody

That had anything negative to say about celina, not one.

She was lovely.

Beaver: she had a lot of friends. She was real lovable,

Easy to get along with.

Really liked her.

[ Crying ]

And her smile was so big all the time.

She was always smiling.

Narrator: but, as celina's friends know well,

There was a sadness behind her smile.

Johnson: celina was couch-surfing.

She was spending a lot more time with her friends

And less time with her family.

Kasner: she didn't have a permanent residence.

Wasn't unusual for celina

To walk around the south park area after midnight.

Narrator: kristy says she doesn't know where celina went

After leaving hers at midnight.

That leaves a five-hour window before the reported scream.

Just wander around.

With this information...

Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

Detective kasner returns to the department

To review the gas-station footage.

Start it from 8:00 am,

When celina's body was found,

Then rewind from there.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Detective kasner studies the screen

For any glimpse of celina.

Keep rewinding it.

The minutes peel away,

With no sign of anyone on the footage.

[ Eerie music climbs ]

Oh, pause it.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

That her?

[ Sinister chord strikes ]

At 4:33 am,

A woman dressed in black crosses the gas station,

Heading north.

Zoom in, right there.

♪♪

I recognized the boots as being very similar to the type

That celina was wearing when we saw her in the alley.

Jacobson: she appears to be carrying a small purse.

Her right arm is sort of crooked in a way that it appears

She might be carrying something, like a coffee cup.

It has to be her.

She was alone, walking away, didn't meet with anybody.

We know that celina is alive at that point.

We also know that there's a time period somewhere in there

That she may have crossed paths with her k*ller.

Narrator: police now have a 30-minute window

When celina was k*lled,

Before the reported scream at 5:00 am.

Keep rewinding it.

See if she was there earlier in the night.

♪♪

So what we're trying to do then is

Go back as far as we possibly can,

To locate celina

And anybody that she may have had any contact with.

Narrator: they roll back three hours.

♪♪

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

At 1:28 am, a woman appears, walking towards camera.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Stop it there.

There's no denying it's celina.

She had the pink-hooded sweatshirt

Underneath her jacket.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ] narrator: what's more...

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

...there are two other people in the footage.

Who are they?

Okay, pause it.

Can you zoom in on them?

♪♪

One was a white male,

Looked to be probably in his mid-30s;

And then an hispanic male,

Slightly taller than the white male,

Blue-and-white checkered shirt,

But what was really distinctive was his hairstyle.

He had kinda puffy hair.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: the men do not interact with celina,

But they could provide useful information

About her last movements.

It's important to see if they had seen celina

Prior to her being m*rder*d

Or whether or not they had any kind of involvement.

Narrator: detective kasner issues a bulletin to patrol officers

To identify the two men.

Police now know celina was at the gas station

Twice that night,

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ] the last time being at 4:33 am,

Just 30 minutes before her m*rder.

♪♪

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

While officers canvass the area for additional cameras...

♪♪

...the autopsy results are in.

Raz: celina had sustained extensive injuries to her body.

The medical examiner would divide her injuries

Into three different categories.

Each one of them, alone, could have caused her death.

[ Camera shutter clicking ] strangulation,

Stab wounds,

Blunt-force injury to her head.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

[ Eerie music plays ]

Kasner: to have three different tools,

To me, was rage.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ] there was just rage, just hate.

[ Sinister chord strikes ]

Narrator: dna is taken from the potential m*rder weapons

[ Suspenseful music plays ] and they get a hit.

Raz: in addition to celina's dna being

On the screwdriver and the belt,

The crime lab found male profile on both items.

They called that male a.

Narrator: but their hope of a quick result is short-lived.

They ran it against the national dna database.

No hits at all?

Narrator: with no match to the dna profile male a,

Seattle pd are no closer to catching a violent k*ller.

♪♪

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Within 24 hours,

Detective kasner gets a response to his bulletin

On the man in the checked shirt from the gas-station footage.

Kasner.

I received a call from an officer.

[ Eerie music climbs ] he identified him as

Emanuel jaime-rodriguez.

You sure?

He had dealt with him down in the south park area

And he was fairly well known to patrol officers.

Narrator: and what's more,

He's already in custody, for an unrelated charge.

Okay, thank you.

And, at that point, I made arrangements to interview him

About what he may know about celina's m*rder.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: they take off his handcuffs to talk,

But jaime-rodriguez isn't feeling chatty.

-All right. -Mm-hmm.

He denied knowing about the m*rder.

He denied knowing celina.

It was clear to me that he didn't want to cooperate at all.

Narrator: detective kasner changes tack

And shows jaime-rodriguez the surveillance footage.

Yeah, it's you.

Narrator: detective kasner pushes even harder.

Jaime-rodriguez isn't intimidated,

But detective kasner isn't giving up.

During the interview, the detectives had provided

Jaime-rodriguez with a can of soda

And had also given him some cigarettes to smoke.

Narrator: he's put back into handcuffs for his previous offense.

As soon as that interview was over,

The detectives collected those items

And shipped them off to the crime lab for analysis.

With those items, we can either eliminate him

As a possible suspect in celina's m*rder

[ Suspenseful music climbs ] or he would be the focus

Of that investigation.

[ Static crackles ] [ suspenseful music plays ]

[ Static crackles ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: investigators in the celina peterson m*rder

Have focused in on emanuel jaime-rodriguez,

Seen following the victim on gas-station footage

Hours before her death.

We submitted the coke bottle and the cigarettes

To the crime lab to be tested against

The dna that was collected from the screwdriver.

Okay, thank you. Bye.

The results were negative.

Did not match mr. Jaime-rodriguez.

♪♪

When we didn't have a match,

He was still on the radar, but more as a witness.

Narrator: police still don't have any information

About the second man in the footage

And jaime-rodriguez claims not to know him.

♪♪

Out of leads, for now, detective kasner digs deeper

Into celina's movements that night.

There's very few routes that she could take

From the 76 station

To the location that she was found in the alley.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]



More likely that she took that route.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: detective kasner retraces

What he believes to be celina's last journey

And it's not long before he finds a potential witness.

♪♪

Consejo is located on 14th,

About one block away from the m*rder scene itself.

Hi, there. Detective kasner.

In speaking to the staff there, they learned that those cameras

Had, in fact, been recording on the night of the m*rder.

♪♪

Can we pull up the night of february 14th?

Narrator: the video is queued to 4:33 am...

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

...when celina is last seen on camera,

Leaving the gas station.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Twelve minutes later...

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

...he gets a hit.

Can you pause it there?

[ Heartbeat ]

Jacobson: there are two individuals

Who are walking north from the direction that the 76 is

And walking up in the direction

Of roughly where the alley would be.

We had the boots with the cuff around the ankle,

The dark pants, a dark jacket, which the hood was pulled up.

He believed this to be celina.

And then, she is carrying a coffee cup,

Which is important because

[ Camera shutter clicking ] there was a coffee cup found

Not far from where she was located in that alley.

Celina?

Who is she with?

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Kasner: it appeared to me that they knew each other.

It seemed friendly, not confrontational.

[ Eerie music plays ]

Rewind and play it again.

♪♪

The male next to her was an hispanic male,

Mid- to late 20s, stocky build.

Okay, I'm gonna need

To get a copy of this footage.

Raz: keeping in mind that the 911 caller

Reported hearing screams at 5:00 that morning,

The man walking with celina,

Although apparently on friendly terms in this video,

Could be her attacker and responsible for her death.

[ Suspenseful music climbs, ominous chord strikes ]

Narrator: police need to urgently locate the mystery man.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Detective kasner issues a bulletin,

In the hope an officer can i.d. Him.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

[ Sinister chord strikes ]

Two weeks after celina was m*rder*d,

Her friends and family gather for an informal memorial.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Johnson: we did the barbecue to kinda just honor celina,

Show her that she wasn't forgotten.

We cried and, you know, we shared,

You know, some memories of her

And, you know, we just came together as a community

To celebrate her life and show,

You know, her family that we love them.

Her mom was there.

[ Crying ] I felt bad for her 'cause it has to be terrible,

Losing your kid like that.

[ Dirge plays ]

Narrator: but the investigation is never far from anyone's thoughts.

Johnson: it was very worrying that celina's k*ller

Was still out on the run.

They had the whole of south park on edge, you know.

It was scary.

[ Eerie music climbs, suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: at the police department,

There's a response to detective kasner's bulletin.

[ Cellphone rings ]

[ Rings ]

Hello.

Kasner: I received a call from an officer

Who positively identified that person walking with celina

Was an individual named joseph boyd.

[ Suspenseful music climbs, chord strikes ]

Narrator: boyd is already in custody,

On another charge...

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

...so detective kasner interviews him straightaway.

Boyd immediately opens up about knowing celina.

He says they walked down 14th.

They parted ways.

Although he didn't have an alibi,

He was very forthcoming in his information.

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

Narrator: boyd then claimed,

Shortly after passing the consejo,

Three men began following celina.

He explained that they were so close to them,

To the point of kind of harassing

More celina than him, that he had to turn around

And actually threaten one of 'em to back off.

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

Narrator: detective kasner goes back to the consejo footage

[ Suspenseful music climbs ] to locate the three men

And, possibly, celina's k*ller.

♪♪

[ Static crackles ] [ suspenseful music plays ]

[ Static crackles ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: detective kasner has just discovered

A camera may have captured the three men seen by joseph boyd

Harassing celina minutes before her m*rder.

He watches celina leave frame and waits.

[ Eerie music plays ]

Couple minutes later,

Three other males approach, from the south, walking north,

Same direction as celina and joseph boyd.

Jacobson: once again, we see that distinctive plaid shirt,

That curly hair that's brushed out.

It's jaime-rodriguez.

[ Ominous chord strikes ] narrator: the footage places

Jaime-rodriguez near celina for a second time,

Minutes before her m*rder.

But who are they?

But detective kasner doesn't recognize the other two men.

The man seen with jaime-rodriguez

In the gas-station footage seems to be long gone

And police rule him out of any involvement.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

One of the males is much shorter than the other two,

Hispanic male, black t-shirt, faded blue jeans.

And then, also, it appears there's a black male

That's with them as well,

And he has a dark, hooded sweatshirt on.

Narrator: detective kasner goes back and asks boyd

If he knows the other two men.

Boyd knows jaime-rodriguez as wedo,

But he can't provide any information

About the other two men.

Boyd last saw celina walking on 14th avenue at 4:45 am,

Then left to go home.

We're getting a clearer picture of where celina was that night

And maybe who she was interacting with,

Leading up to her death, but, it's still a long ways off

From pinning down a specific suspect.

Narrator: with boyd cleared, police need more evidence

Before bringing jaime-rodriguez back in for questioning.

Did we have any more footage come in

From anywhere near 14th?

We were able to locate a house...

Pull it up.

...about a block away from the m*rder scene,

Directly down from the alley.

[ Ominous chords strike ]

This individual house had several cameras.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: police queue the footage to when they last saw celina

Leave frame on the consejo video.

Jacobson: three cameras capture the street surrounding the house.

♪♪

Zoom in, right there.

♪♪

Raz: in the footage, it appeared that there were three individuals

Crossing a street and then stopping.

Can you play that bit again?

Comparing the surveillance from this private residence...

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

...to the surveillance from the gas station

And, based on what appears to be the plaid shirt

And the long hair,

Is, in fact, jaime-rodriguez.

That's rodriguez, all right.

Kasner: it looks like he lights a cigarette

And he stands there and he waits.

Can't make out the other two, though.

[ Sinister music climbs ]

[ Eerie chord strikes ]

Raz: several seconds later,

A fourth individual crosses the street

And passes by the three individuals.

From this angle, however,

You can't determine definitively who that person may have been,

Though, appears to be consistent with celina.

Is that her?

Switch over to the other camera.

Narrator: the next angle shows the porch

And street in front of the house.

Jacobson: as the figures pass by,

The one that we believe to be celina is illuminated

And we can see that she's actually wearing

A bright-pink hood.

It certainly appears that she's being followed

By these three men.

Narrator: police believe they are watching the same three men

From the consejo footage,

Identified by boyd, harassing celina.

And does raise the possibility that this is a crime

That was committed by more than one person.

There's another angle.

♪♪

[ Sinister music plays ]

Raz: you see the single individual out front,

Followed by the three individuals.

♪♪

It appears that that first individual,

Who we believe to be celina,

Comes to a stop and has interaction

With the individuals that were following her.

♪♪

At that point, I believe that jaime-rodriguez knows celina...

...that he was clearly lying about now knowing celina.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Even though we have these three individuals following celina,

We're a long way from being able to prove who k*lled her,

So more work is needed.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: detective kasner checks the map

For other possible surveillance camera locations,

In the hopes he can track celina and the three men.

♪♪

He spots an apartment complex close to the crime scene.

♪♪

Detectives were immediately dispatched

To the south crest apartments

To get whatever surveillance footage there may be there.

Narrator: and they're in luck.

♪♪

This is from around the time

The scream was reported.

The alley's right around the corner.

The alley itself is just outside of the view of the camera, but,

There are some very good views of the intersection

And the foot traffic that would've come from the alley.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

At approximately 5:07 am...

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

...an individual appears on the right-hand side of the frame...

♪♪

...walks over to the south crest apartments...

[ Eerie music plays ]

...and then steps out of frame.

Can you zoom in?

♪♪

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

That individual was wearing a plaid shirt,

Appears to have long, wavy hair.

That's jaime-rodriguez.

[ Sinister music plays ]

Where jaime-rodriguez appears in the frame

Is but a few feet away from where celina's body

Would be discovered less than three hours later.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: at 5:11 am,

There's more movement.

♪♪

Another individual runs from the alley

South, across cloverdale.

Play that again.

[ Eerie music climbs ]

Jacobson: he's wearing jeans and a dark hoodie

And, if we think back to the footage from consejo,

This appears to possibly be the same individual.

The fact that he is running from this area

Is a huge red flag.

♪♪

Narrator: two minutes later...

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

...a different figure runs towards the alley.

And what we see is a fairly slim, petite individual,

Jogging across the street in the direction of the alley.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Kasner: that person matched the description

Of the shorter, hispanic male that we saw earlier.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

Narrator: there is no sign of celina at any point in this footage.

Kasner: we're seeing individuals going back and forth

To the alley where celina was found.

We have the 911 call and her statement to us

About the scream that she heard.

It's close to about the same time now

That we're seeing here on video.

[ Eerie music climbs ]

And, certainly, we think, at this point,

That the m*rder could be occurring.

Kasner: now, in my mind,

Jaime-rodriguez is no longer a witness.

Now, I'm gonna look at him more as a suspect.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

We held off on arresting jaime-rodriguez because,

If I went and arrested jaime-rodriguez,

He might've possibly even tipped off the other people.

♪♪

Narrator: with no new leads on the case,

Detective kasner turns to the media for help.

♪♪

Footage of the three men is released,

In the hopes someone will come forward with new information.

I'll see what I can do.

♪♪

It pays off.

The media coverage delivers the breakthrough.

Kasner.

I received a tip from a gal.

Uh-huh.

Person had confessed to her friend that

He had, in fact, k*lled celina peterson.

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

[ Static crackles ] [ suspenseful music plays ]

[ Static crackles ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: one year after celina peterson was brutally k*lled,

Police get a tip from a witness

Claiming a man has confessed to the m*rder.

Thanks.

She identified that person

As cristen parada-rivera.

[ Eerie music climbs ]

When I ran that name in our database...

[ Beep ]

...we didn't get any information on him.

What we then do is social-media work.

♪♪

Narrator: detective kasner looks for any similarities

To the two unidentified men in the surveillance footage.

The photos that we found on social media

Matched the description of what we found

On video surveillance cameras,

Specifically, his height and his build.

And we located photos identifying an employer.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: detective kasner heads to the landscaping firm

Where parada-rivera works.

♪♪

Sorry to bother you, gentlemen.

I was hoping you could answer a few questions.

They were very cooperative with us.

-This guy right here. -They gave us his address.

♪♪

Narrator: the address is an apartment

Half a block from where celina's body was found.

♪♪

Kasner: we set up surveillance

In the hope of arresting parada-rivera.

♪♪

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

-There's our guy. -Yeah, that's our guy.

Let's get him.

♪♪

Seattle pd! Up against the wall!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Up against the wall!

On the ground.

I just knew that that's the guy.

He was short stature, same build, same everything.

Cristen rivera, you're under arrest

For the m*rder of celina peterson.

We transport him back to our office so we can interview him

And, more importantly, get a dna sample from him.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: when parada-rivera's dna matches that of male a,

He has nowhere left to hide.

Te quiere hablar de celina.

He has requested an interpreter.

La muchacha.

Kasner: it didn't take long.

He came clean very quickly.

He admitted to k*lling her, went through the steps.

¿Cuántas veces le pegaste

Con el pedazo de concreto?

No me acuerdo, pero uno, dos, tres veces.

¿Le pegaste con el desarmador primero

Y luego el pedazo de concreto?

Sí.

Narrator: detective kasner asks about jaime-rodriguez's involvement,

Also known as wedo.

He refused to identify anybody because he was afraid that

What he said may bring harm to his family,

[ Eerie music climbs ] so he said that he is

The only one responsible for her m*rder.

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

Narrator: but, based on the surveillance footage,

Detective kasner knows jaime-rodriguez was there

And brings him in for questioning.

Basically, he lies during the entire interview,

But, I have evidence that gets him tangled up in his lies.

Statements made by jaime-rodriguez

Directly contradicted the surveillance footage.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: jaime-rodriguez continues to deny any involvement.

But parada-rivera's confession, along with the footage,

Tie the two men together at the crime scene

And is enough evidence for his arrest.

♪♪

As the prosecution team prepare for trial,

A new witness comes forward.

Jaime-rodriguez had told the witness

That celina had taken money from him in the past

And he wanted and intended to confront her about that.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Jacobson: her purse was never found,

So that makes sense.

So he had a vendetta against her.

He was wanting revenge.

[ Eerie music climbs ]

Jacobson: we believe that

Emanuel jaime-rodriguez tracked her down...

♪♪

...and he ultimately confronted her

With cristen parada-rivera

And the third, unidentified male.

♪♪

[ Suspenseful music intensifies ]

The three of them likely, we believe,

Began assaulting her,

Using an object.

There's a lotta concrete in that alley.

[ Thud ]

They strangled her and, at one point,

Parada-rivera took the screwdriver

And stabbed her in the head, twice.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

♪♪

Narrator: in 2018,

Cristen parada-rivera pleads guilty

[ Camera shutter clicks ] to second-degree m*rder

And is sentenced to 20 years.

♪♪

Emanuel jaime-rodriguez

Is found guilty by a jury.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ] [ camera shutter clicks ]

He is sentenced to 23 years

For second-degree m*rder.

♪♪

The third individual was never identified

And neither parada-rivera nor jaime-rodriguez

Chose to identify who that person was.

♪♪

Kasner: oh, the surveillance was huge.

I mean, that made the case.

Without that, we wouldn't have gotten an arrest,

Let alone a conviction.

[ Suspenseful outro plays, chord strikes ]

[ Dirge plays ]

Johnson: I'm just glad that she's got some justice.

We will keep celina's name, you know, in our spirit,

Keep her in our prayers, keep her family in our prayers,

And make sure that she's never forgotten.

♪♪

I miss her smile and her laugh

And just her presence.

I miss her friendship.

I just miss her.

I felt really guilty

[Crying] and angry.

This is the one time that I should've just

Opened the door to her

[Crying] and she'd probably still be here.

♪♪