01x04 - Dial 911 for m*rder

[bunniefuu]

[man]
florida is pretty crazy
when it comes to crime.

[man]
it was a made-for-tv movie
that was happening in real life.

[man]
landy fit in very well
in st. Petersburg

because they are so welcoming
to the lgbt community.

[man]
he wanted nothing more than
to find the love of his life.

[woman]
that's when the crazy switch
flipped on.

[narrator]
in a flash,

landy's life is
ripped away from him

when a twisted love triangle
turns deadly.

It was one of the most
horrific crimes

to hit southwest florida.

[man]
it was crazy,
absolutely crazy.

[man]
landy was kidnapped
and tortured.

[man]
they keep saying that
they are going to pour drano

down his throat.

[narrator]
a sadistic k*ller videotapes
landy's final moments.

[man]
you could hear
the m*rder happening.

[man]
we had the victim
speaking from the grave.

[narrator]
just when these florida men

think they got away
with m*rder...

They left a key piece
of evidence behind.

[narrator]
...And it seals their fate.

[man]
we wouldn't have a job
if criminals were smart.

[deeson]
when there is a bizarre story,

the first thing
we always say,

what is the florida connection,

what is the tampa connection?

[vega]
it's hot here year round,

people are drawn
to this area,

and they bring
their own brand of crazy

to the state.

♪

[narrator]
tampa and st. Petersburg
are sister cities

nestled on
florida's gold coast,

the gulf of mexico.

[vega]
st. Petersburg and tampa
go together very well

as sister cities.

Tampa's more urban
than st. Pete.

[narrator]
although tampa is considered
the metropolis of the gulf,

it does not have the hustle
and bustle of miami.

[deeson]
it's a little bit more
down to earth.

It's a comfortable
metropolitan area.

[narrator]
just two miles away
is st. Petersburg,

where the sun rains down as hot
as two lovers on the beach,

and the sparkling water
dissolves into magical sunsets.

[vega]
we have by far
one of the nicest beaches

that you can ever go to.

[deeson]
it is a very cosmopolitan area.

[vega]
there's so much diversity

that it makes it
a very special place

to live and work in.

[narrator]
the tampa-st. Petersburg area
prides itself on being

a picture-perfect place to live.

[tense music]

but this serenity is shattered
on December 21st, 2011,

at 10:04 a.M.,

when 9-1-1 dispatchers
in pinellas county

receive a disturbing call.

[schaub]
there was a 9-1-1 call

where it sounded
like the victim

was under a great deal
of stress.

[judy]
he could be heard in the call

saying that
they're going to k*ll him,

implying that there's
more than one k*ller.

[snipes]
and then you hear two g*nshots.

[judy]
then the line goes dead.

[schaub]
it was very, very strange.

[narrator]
police are able
to trace landy's cell phone

to a neighborhood in tampa,

but they cannot find
his exact location.

[judy]
it's the difference
between using a hard line

and a cell phone.

Hard line,
we know where you are;

cell phone, we're relying
on the phone company

-to give us a location.
-That cell phone,

unlike a land line,

is not tied
to a specific address.

So they have
to take that cell phone,

the signal that it's sending,

and triangulate that
from the cell towers

that are in the area

and get you a rough idea
as to where that call

may be coming from.

[narrator]
it's like looking
for a needle in a haystack.

[snipes]
we were able to narrow it down
to roughly two streets,

and our deputies went out
and knocked on doors,

trying to see if anyone
had heard or seen anything.

[narrator]
officers are combing
the neighborhood,

looking for anyone
who might be in distress.

The deputies split up and begin
knocking on every door.

One deputy goes
to 58th avenue,

while the other stays
on 57th avenue.

Deputy fitzgerald knocks
on 5476 57th avenue

when his partner radios him.

[judy]
he knocks on the front door,
and that's all he does,

because the other deputy
calls him on the radio and says,

"hey, I think it's gonna be
over here,"

so this deputy did not
walk around the house,

didn't check the house.

[narrator]
the deputy leaves


and goes around the corner
to meet his partner,

who is speaking
to a few concerned neighbors.

A neighbor said, "there's a man
in here that's paralyzed

and he screams all the time."

[narrator]
after questioning the man,

police conclude
that he did not call 9-1-1,

and they continue
to search for landy.

At 10:44 a.M.,


landy's 9-1-1 call,

pinellas county 9-1-1 dispatch
receives a call

from a woman named
yadira guzman.

She's worried about
her roommate, landy martinez.

[snipes]
she had been trying
to reach landy,

but he was not answering
the call,

and what made her
more suspicious

is the fact that they had
surveillance cameras

at the house,

and when she tried
to check the cameras online,

there was no signal
from the cameras.

[narrator]
worried that someone turned off
the cameras intentionally,

yadira asks police to do
a welfare check on landy,

and she gives them his address:


the same house that
deputy fitzgerald knocked on



If this is
the same landy martinez

who placed the 9-1-1 call,

police prepare themselves
for what could be

a bloody m*rder scene.

Detectives cautiously make
their way into the house.

They do not know what or who
is waiting for them inside.

[snipes]
they notice
in the back of the house,

there's a broken window.

The door is open.

It looks like
we have a break-in.

That's when they begin
the process of opening the door,

announcing themselves,

and then checking the house
to see if anyone's inside.

As they're walking
through the house,

that's when they notice
the bathroom.

The bathroom's
in total disarray.

[schaub]
the sliding glass shower doors

had been knocked off the tracks
and broken.

There was drano.

There was a knife.

There was tape.

There was bleach.

There was a lot of blood.

It was obvious
there was quite the struggle

in that area.

[narrator]
investigators make
a gruesome discovery.

[snipes]
they found
one of the bedroom door handles

seemed to be damaged,

and upon entering that room,
that's when they found landy.

[schaub]
mr. Martinez had been shot

once in the head
and once in the chest,

lying face-down
in his bedroom, dead.

[narrator]
deputies confirm
that 21-year-old landy martinez

is the victim who was
pleading for his life

on the 9-1-1 call.

If landy had given his address
to the 9-1-1 operator,

deputies might have been able
to save his life.

♪

the news is devastating
to his family and friends.

[rigg]
when I heard he was m*rder*d,
I was in shock.

It was very surreal,

especially being like eight days
after his 21st birthday.

Everybody was crying.

I think I just kind of
walked around like a zombie

at work that day.

♪

landy was born in cuba.

His dad moved here first

and then brought him over later.

Landy's parents were divorced.

[narrator]
at the age of eight,

landy moves to miami
to live with his father,

but he holds on
to his cuban roots.

[rigg]
landy's mom stayed in cuba
with her mother.

Landy was close with
both sides of his family,

cuba and here.

[narrator]
shortly after he turns 18,

landy comes out as a g*y man,

and he decides to make a move
to the lgbt-friendly town

of st. Petersburg.

[vega]
landy came out when he was 18,

and for landy,

coming from a hispanic family,

it was probably
very hard for him,

but landy would fit in very well
in st. Petersburg

because they are so welcoming
to the lgbt community.

[narrator]
landy gets a job
as a certified nursing assistant

at a nursing home in tampa,

just three miles
from st. Petersburg.

[rigg]
me and landy met
at the springs nursing home.

We were in orientation together.

We did become friends
pretty quickly.

He was sweet and kind
and caring.

Residents loved him,

he loved the residents.

Eventually, he became
the activity caregiver.

Landy loved his job,
loved his co-workers,

loved the residents.

He just did
a fantastic job there.

[narrator]
everything is going great
in landy's life.

He loves living
with his roommate,



and he recently
started dating a new man

after celebrating
his 21st birthday.

[schaub]
he loved life.

He liked to be with people.

He had a lot of friends.

[deeson]
he was trying to make his mark
in america.

In fact, he told his cousin,
"I'm gonna be somebody."

[rigg]
landy was kindhearted, caring,
sweet, social butterfly,

loved everybody,

made everybody happy.

It was a shock.

I cried every night
for the first six months.

Landy was the best person
I knew.

[narrator]
with a k*ller on the loose,

detectives are scrambling
to find answers.

Why would anyone want to k*ll
this caring young man

in the prime of his life?

[judy]
we learn that there was
a new love interest for landy.

They're talking to him,

all of a sudden, he says,
"do I need an attorney?"

innocent people
don't need attorneys.

[snipes]
landy decided
that he did not want to be

-in a relationship any longer.
-That in the detectives' minds

made him suspect number one.

[vega]
it really was a horrific m*rder.

It opens people's eyes
to a new level of evil

that many people
won't experience.

Called 9-1-1,rk music] 21-year-z

he knew he was in danger.

That was the last time
anyone would hear his voice.

On December 21st, 2011,

when 21-year-old landy martinez
is brutally m*rder*d

in his home,

law enforcement looks
to the crime scene

to piece together
what happened.

The house was legitimately
broken into.

[snipes]
the house was in total disarray.

Looks like someone's intent
was to burglarize the house.

Surveillance cameras
disconnected,

things taken
and moved out of place.

There was
a large-screen television

lying on the pool table
in the family room.

[judy]
computer systems,
gaming systems, clothing,

and they were stuffing it
in pillow cases

and boxes and suitcases,

and everything was stacked
at the front door,

just like you see in
a regular residential burglary.

What we believed happened
is that the break-in occurred

and that landy was confronted
by the perpetrator.

They bound him, beat him,

forced him into the bathroom.

[narrator]
however, detectives find clues

that suggest that the k*ller
may have been familiar

with the layout of the house.

They find suspicious items
like drano in the bathroom.

[judy]
we know that the perpetrator

actually obtained drano
from a kitchen cabinet,

which is a good distance
from the bathroom.

[narrator]
if this was a random burglary,

why would someone
go to the trouble

of getting drano
from the kitchen sink

and bring it to the bathroom,

and how would they know
that it was even in there?

[judy]
someone had to know
that it was there.

We know that they used
a hammer and a kitchen knife,

'cause all these were found in
the bathroom of the residence.

We don't know if
the initial intent was

to take some things
out of the house,

or if the intent was
to k*ll landy.

[schaub]
big-screen tvs,
computers, clothes,

all types of items he had
stacked up ready to go.

So I think the k*ller
was loading up these items

and planning to clean house.

[snipes]
the bathroom is across the hall

from where landy
was actually found.

[schaub]
but at some point in time,

he made it into his bedroom.

[judy]
and he must have
locked himself in there,

because there's signs
that they tried to break down

these interior doors.

[snipes]
they found
that one of the bedroom doors,

the door handle seemed
to be damaged.

[schaub]
and at that time,
landy was able to call 9-1-1.

[snipes]
I believe that landy,

at the point that he knew
that they were

breaking into that door,

called 9-1-1 to let them know
that he was in extreme danger.

[schaub]
they broke into that room
and were able to apprehend

and sh**t and k*ll landy
at that time,

and that's when
the 9-1-1 phone call terminates.

[vega]
you hear the actual m*rder
on the 9-1-1 call.

[narrator]
the autopsy report confirms

that not only
was landy shot twice,

he suffered
multiple knife wounds

and had burns from drano
being poured into his eyes

and down his throat.

[snipes]
it was determined
that he was shot

once in the chest
just above his right nipple

and a second time
in the rear portion of his head.

What happened to the chest

would have taken longer
to k*ll him,

but the shot to the head was
the immediate cause of death.

[narrator]
if this was a random burglary,

why would the k*ller
spend so much time

torturing landy?

Although detectives do not find
the actual m*rder weapon,

they do find clues
that help them determine

-what kind of g*n was used.
-Inside the bedroom,

there was at least
one shell casing

that was found on the floor
near his body.

[judy]
the perpetrator was armed
with a handgun,

at least one,
we know that for sure.

[narrator]
detectives analyze
landy's 9-1-1 call,

and they note
that landy repeatedly says

that "they are going
to k*ll me."

[judy]
so at least two K*llers
were in the house.

We knew that from the very
beginning of the investigation.

[narrator]
did the perpetrators k*ll landy

because they heard him
on the 9-1-1 call?

Or is it possible
that this was not a burglary

and something else entirely?

[schaub]
there was a broken window
in the back of the house.

The glass was broken
from inside the home.

[glass shatters]

[narrator]
if this was a home invasion,

then why would the burglar
break the window

from the inside of the house?

[snipes]
it could very well have been
the intent of them

to try and throw
law enforcement off

by making us believe that
a burglary happened there.

[judy]
the forensic team
and the crime scene detective

were able to locate
an apple iphone

that was underneath a mattress
on top of a box spring.

[narrator]
could this be the phone
that landy used

to call 9-1-1?

Are there clues on the phone
that could lead detectives

to the k*ller?

Detectives will not know
these crucial answers

until they can look
inside the phone.

[snipes]
we had to get a search warrant

in order to search
the contents of that phone.

And that usually takes
a couple days.

[judy]
we learned from neighbors
that there were

some suspicious solicitors
going door to door.

They were magazine sales
personnel.

That was odd for them to be in
that neighborhood at that time.

[deeson]
they saw two men
leaving the house.

If you have two strangers
in a neighborhood

where a m*rder occurs,

the police are certainly
going to look at them

and see if
they are the perps.

[narrator]
detectives take on
the daunting task

of locating
the magazine salesmen,

while the csi unit continues
to process the crime scene.

[snipes]
the only dna evidence
that was found inside that scene

belonged to landy.

[narrator]
landy lived with yadira
and another girl named mia.

Yadira was the woman
who called 9-1-1

and asked police to do
a welfare check on landy.

Both women were out of town
at the time of the m*rder.

[judy]
yadira and mia were snow skiing
up in north carolina.

[narrator]
after police confirmed
their alibis,

yadira and mia are
eliminated as suspects.

But they give police
an interesting

tidbit of information.

[snipes]
we talked to yadira,
first over the phone,

and then she drove back
from north carolina,

back to st. Petersburg where
she was interviewed again.

[July]
yadira and mia told us
that landy had a new boyfriend.

[narrator]
one month before the m*rder,

landy started dating


Landy jumped into things
way too quickly.

Landy wanted to get married,
have a family,

grow old with somebody,
and enjoy life.

[judy]
there's actually statistics.

Most people are m*rder*d
by someone they know.

It's always good to start
with a domestic partner.

I know that's sad
but it's true.

So, basically, if they didn't
go there to rob the house,

this could have been
a jealousy lover homicide.

[narrator]
could landy's new boyfriend
have the answers

police are searching for?

Does he know
what happened to landy?

Landy martinez was found dead
in his 57th avenue home.

It is believed
that his m*rder was random,

possibly the work of men
selling magazines door to door.

Police are following
multiple leads

in the mysterious m*rder of


They learn that landy
just started a new relationship

with jonathan galicia,

who lives over an hour away.

While they track him down,

police meet with eyewitnesses
who saw several suspicious men

in the neighborhood
at the time of the m*rder.

[schaub]
coincidentally,

there was two young fellows
in the neighborhood.

They were young,

they were in the area
going door to door.

[deeson]
when the police were
canvassing the neighborhood,

they talked to folks who
the salespeople had called upon.

One of the people had a card

that one of the salespeople
left with him,

so now they say, "oh,
now we're gonna be able

to track these guys down."

this was not that easy.

[judy]
the solicitors were a little bit
harder to track down.

They were with a company
out of california.

We had to locate them,

and then they used people that
responded to a craigslist ad,

they were
independent contractors.

[narrator]
as police try and locate
the salesmen,

another eyewitness comes forward
and tells police that they saw

two men leaving landy's house
at the time of the m*rder.

[snipes]
we had not only
one group of people

that were canvassing
the neighborhood

to sell magazines,

but we also had
a couple folks who saw

two people leaving the area
in a hurry.

[narrator]
eyewitnesses tell police

that the two men leaving
in a hurry were hispanic,

and detectives
are trying to determine

if these are the same people
who were selling magazines.

After some digging,

police are able to confirm
that the two salesmen

were college students,

but neither of them
are hispanic.

[snipes]
we were able to identify

some of the students
that were there,

none of which matched the
description of the two people

that left the area later on.

[judy]
we were able to locate them
and interview them,

finding where they were
at the time of the offense.

[narrator]
police determine
that landy's m*rder occurred

at 10:04 a.M.,

while he was on the call
with the 9-1-1 operator.

According to
the magazine salesmen,

they took a break at 9:30 a.M.

[schaub]
they had alibis.

They had a receipt
from a coffee shop

in downtown st. Petersburg
at the time of the k*lling,

so they couldn't
have been responsible.

[narrator]
police eliminate the
magazine salesmen as suspects.

But they turn their attention
back to the two hispanic men

eyewitnesses saw
leaving the crime scene.

[schaub]
we started thinking
that these two young individuals

may have been responsible,

because it was the time that the
k*lling would have taken place,

and they were seen running,
leaving that neighborhood.

[snipes]
the key thing
about the two people

that were leaving the area
after the 9-1-1 call is,

those people were leaving
between the time

that the 9-1-1 call was made

and the time that the second
call for a welfare check

came in.

They're the only ones that were
leaving the area in a hurry,

which drew attention to them.

You have two strangers
in the neighborhood,

and someone says, "we saw
two males leaving the house,"

well, all of a sudden,
the detectives go,

"hey, these could be our guys.

We're gonna solve this
real quickly,

it's gonna be nice and neat."

that was not the case.

[narrator]
according to yadira,

landy's boyfriend jonathan
often spent the night.

Is it possible
jonathan is one of the men

eyewitnesses saw
leaving the scene?

If jonathan was
familiar with the house,

could it be that he was the one

who put the drano
in the bathroom?

[deeson]
police then looked at
the closest person to landy.

That would be his current lover,
jonathan.

[vega]
he wanted a boyfriend.

He wanted nothing more
than to have love and happiness

in his life.

[narrator]
according to friends,

landy spent a lot of his free
time enjoying the nightlife

in st. Petersburg.

[rigg]
he went out dancing a lot.

Landy was a very good dancer.

[vega]
landy fit in very well
in st. Petersburg.

g*y bars, they were open
and they were friendly

and they were thriving
around that time.

[rigg]
landy, he had a charismatic
personality, bubbly.

When we went out dancing,

everybody pretty much just
stopped and watched him dance.

[narrator]
one month before the m*rder,

landy caught the eye of


[rigg]
when I met jonathan,

I thought he was like
the sweetest guy in the world.

Very cute, charming,
kind, caring,

seemed to like landy a lot.

[narrator]
within weeks of meeting,

the couple starts
dating seriously.

But the relationship
has a rocky start,

because landy just ended
another relationship.

It's an insecure love.

Let's all remember
when we were 21 years old.

The relationship was
just starting out,

was just blossoming.

[narrator]
before jonathan and landy
started dating,

landy had been in
a long-term relationship

with 24-year-old jose adame,

but it was over.

[rigg]
landy's the one
that broke up with jose.

Landy seemed so happy
with jonathan.

But jonathan was jealous
about jose.

[deeson]
jonathan and landy had not been
together all that long.

It was not
a long-term relationship,

so they don't know whether
he was out to get landy,

what he was doing,
but it wasn't that

they had been together
for a long time.

So that increased
in their minds

the possibility
that he was the perp.

They start first off
telling jonathan

landy's been m*rder*d.

They look for a reaction.

Does he have a reaction
like he knew?

Was he shocked?
Was he upset?

[judy]
jonathan asked
in his initial interview

if he needed an attorney.

[deeson]
when someone says
to a law enforcement officer,

"do I need an attorney,"

their radar goes off.

[judy]
innocent people
don't need attorneys,

and in my career
investigating homicides,

no person ever asked
for an attorney

-that wasn't guilty.
-That in the detectives' minds

made him suspect number one.

[narrator]
law enforcement is

landy's current boyfriend,
jonathan galicia.

Jonathan claims
that he was home alone

on the morning of the m*rder,

and that he made
multiple calls to landy.

We followed that up

by subpoenaing
his cell phone records,

[narrator]
while they wait
for the cell phone records

to verify jonathan's story,

police question him about
his relationship with landy,

and he tells police
that he was involved

in a love triangle
with landy and his ex-boyfriend,



[judy]
on our interview
with jonathan galicia,

we learned that there was
a three-way phone call

the night before this homicide

between jonathan,
landy martinez, and jose.

We didn't know
about the three-way call

until jonathan
told us about it.

[narrator]
jonathan and landy's
fragile love affair

was just beginning
when the m*rder happened.

[deeson]
jonathan thinks that landy
still has feelings for jose,

and he says,
"no, there's no way,

I'm done with him," and he said,
"I'll prove it to you."

so he arranges
a three-way call,

and the new partner, jonathan,
is quiet on the call.

[vega]
landy wanted to make sure
that jose knew

things were over with.

"we're not getting
back together,

I have a new boyfriend,

we're moving on
with our lives together."

[judy]
and then,
at the end of that call,

which was over an hour long,

jonathan identified himself
as being on the call.

Jose wished them well
as a couple

and he'd actually said
that he had a new boyfriend.

Jose was in north carolina
at the time during that call,

that night.

[narrator]
jonathan tells police

that on the morning
of the m*rder,

he received suspicious texts
from landy,

which tipped him off
that something was wrong.

[deeson]
those texts were saying,

"I'm going back to jose.

I really love jose.

It's over between us.

We haven't been together
that long,

I don't want you.

Jose is the person I love."

♪

[narrator]
after the three-way call,

did landy have second thoughts
about his new love, jonathan?

Did his feelings rekindle
for jose?

[vega]
they've looked at jonathan
as the obvious suspect,

thinking that he's
the new, jilted boyfriend.

[snipes]
jonathan galicia
tried to reach out to landy

to no avail.

He wasn't calling him back.

[vega]
jonathan at that time

was concerned,

because just a couple hours ago,

jose was out of the picture,
jose was moving on.

He thought it was very unusual,

and he suspected that there
might be something wrong.

[narrator]
jonathan tells police
he became concerned

when landy wasn't answering
his phone,

so he called
landy's roommate yadira,

who was out of town.

[schaub]
at that point in time,

she decided she needed
to call law enforcement,

and that's when
his body was found.

[narrator]
police are suspicious
of jonathan's story,

and they cannot verify it until
they get his cell phone records,

which can take a few days.

In the meantime,

detectives take a deep dive
into landy's relationship

with his ex-lover, jose adame.

We were able to determine
that there were several

domestic issues in the past.

[narrator]
in July 2009,

just months after
publicly coming out,

landy meets jose adame
on a dating website.

[rigg]
I wasn't surprised
landy met somebody online.

I figured nowadays, that's
the way anybody meets anybody.

Landy and jose's relationship
seemed pretty good

in the beginning,

seemed like
they got along great,

liked each other a lot,
fell in love.

[narrator]
first love can be intense,

and as time passes,
there are warning signs

that the relationship
is beginning to crack.

[rigg]
jose was very jealous.

I believe if you saw
jose and landy in a room,

jose would be more
off to the side,

while landy would be
the one in the middle, going,

"hey, let's have a great time!"

[narrator]
the fighting between
jose and landy escalates,

and two months
before the m*rder,

the couple calls it quits.

I wasn't really surprised
that landy and jose broke up,

with all the fighting
that was going on

and things like that.

It wasn't too long
after the breakup

that landy started
dating jonathan.

[narrator]
although landy
and jose's breakup

was amicable on the surface--

landy even allowed jose
to borrow his car--

things quickly begin to sour

when landy starts
dating jonathan

and jose begins lashing out.

[snipes]
jose began doing things
to get back at landy.

He took the car up north

and was driving
through intersections

where he knew
that there were cameras

that would record
the plate and the tag.

[judy]
landy was getting
these $50, $60, $70 tickets

with no recourse.

[narrator]
the car was registered to landy,

who is now responsible
for the tickets

that jose is racking up.

Furious with his ex,

landy hatches a scheme
to get the car back.

[schaub]
mr. Adame came back
into pinellas county,

and at that time,

he thought he was meeting
mr. Martinez,

but he actually was meeting
mr. Martinez

and local law enforcement,

and local law enforcement
took back that vehicle

at that time and returned it
to mr. Martinez,

leaving jose adame
stranded there.

[narrator]
is it possible
that losing the car

and the three-way phone call
with jonathan

pushed jose over the edge?

When police try
to contact jose,

he refuses to speak to them,

so they orchestrate a call
between him and landy's friend

gail rigg.

She made a controlled call
to jose

where we recorded it
trying to gather evidence,

but he said
that he was not in florida,

he was at
his new boyfriend's house,

and when she told him
landy was m*rder*d,

he said, "that's not true,

you're just trying
to mess with my brain."

he wouldn't believe it.

[schaub]
jose indicated
that he was also involved

in a new relationship,

with a person
with a lot of money,

and bought him a new car,
a lexus,

and he was very happy.

[narrator]
although jose stays
on police radar,

they do not have any evidence
to tie him to the m*rder,

and they turn their attention
back to the apple iphone

that was found
at the crime scene.

[schaub]
they were able to get
a search warrant,

opened up that phone,

and saw a videotape
of a t*rture scene.

Mr. Martinez was
in his bathroom.

He was kneeling,
he was crying out for help.

[judy]
that phone was landy's phone.

[whimpering]

[snipes]
in 23 years of doing
homicide investigations,

this is probably the only case
that I saw a video of the victim

prior to his being m*rder*d.

[narrator]
although the actual m*rder
is not captured on film,

the sadistic t*rture
is documented.

[judy]
the shower's running.

He's bound by his wrists
with duct tape.

He's wearing a white t-shirt.

He's crying.

It is horrific.

He knows he's in big trouble,

that something bad's
gonna happen to him.

It's a horrible video.

It's hard to watch
a man being tortured,

pleading.

[deeson]
they were using
drano and a knife.

The thought of having drano
poured down your throat

or into your eyes,
threatening to stab him,

that is psychological
as well as physical t*rture.

[snipes]
and seeing the pain
and the anguish on his face,

knowing that he was in
a lot of trouble,

that he most likely might not
make it out of that bathroom.

You can see clearly
that he is not the person

holding the cell phone.

[judy]
landy makes a statement
in spanish.

He is a terrible person,

everything was landy's fault.

[narrator]
was the three-way call
the tipping point

in this toxic love triangle?

Could one of landy's lovers
be a sadistic k*ller?

[deeson]
he says, "jose, I'm sorry."

[schaub]
he got physically sick
when they confronted him.

[snipes]
we used the u.S. Marshals office

to go and locate him.

[narrator]
police are analyzing
a disturbing cell phone video

of landy martinez in the moments
before his death...

And it reveals
a shocking twist in the case.

[deeson]
he says, "jose, I'm sorry,

please don't k*ll me,
please don't k*ll me,

I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
I'm sorry."

[schaub]
he was begging
for forgiveness

and apologizing to mr. Adame,

and telling the world that
mr. Adame is not responsible

for what had occurred.

♪

[narrator]
autopsy reports confirm
that landy was m*rder*d

by two g*nsh*t wounds.

Did jose pull the trigger,

or was it his accomplice?

Does jonathan know more
about what happened to landy

than he is admitting?

Police turn to him
and demand answers

about the morning
of the m*rder.

What the police found out

is that jonathan had
nothing to hide.

[snipes]
by subpoenaing
his cell phone records,

we were able to show
that he was in that area

where he lived at the time
that this all happened,

so we know that he couldn't
have been down in st. Petersburg

doing these texts,

making these phone calls,

and murdering landy
at the same time.

[deeson]
and that in essence
eliminated jonathan.

[narrator]
while police confirm

that jonathan was not
in st. Petersburg

at the time of the m*rder,

they begin to look into
jose's whereabouts.

Although jose told landy
he was in north carolina

while on the three-way call
the night before the m*rder,

police uncover
a different story.

[judy]
we found that
on the night before the m*rder,

on the three-way call between
jose, landy, and jonathan,

jose adame's cell phone
is in largo, florida,

which is right next door
to st. Pete, florida, which is--

this is where
this homicide occurred.

And then,
in the morning,

jose adame's cell phone
hit off the same cell tower

that landy's cell phone
hit off of.

[narrator]
jose's cell phone records

give detectives exactly
what they have been looking for:

Proof that jose was
in st. Petersburg not only

while on the three-way call

but also on the morning
of the m*rder.

[judy]
we knew it was jose.

[snipes]
we had to devise a plan

in order to help us locate jose.

We used the u.S. Marshals office
to go and locate him.

Once he was taken into custody,

our detectives responded
to north carolina,

and then they met with jose
at the county jail.

[snipes]
he tried to tell the detectives

that he was in north carolina
the entire time.

He got physically sick
when they confronted him.

[judy]
during the interview,

which was a little over
two hours long,

he vomited so much
that it got to the point

where he was producing
green bile only,

so, you know he was definitely
under a tremendous amount

of emotional stress.

We thought he'd committed
the m*rder with another person,

based on landy's 9-1-1 call.

He does say,
"they're gonna k*ll me,"

indicative of
more than one person,

so at least two.

[snipes]
but jose would not divulge

who the second person was.

[judy]
the way jose acted
during the interview,

when he wasn't gonna give up
the second person,

much more likely
that it's a family member.

[snipes]
the detectives
went back to the house

and began interviewing
the family again.

[judy]
the big break we got
in the case was,

jose's cousin maria,
she said,

"well, I'm pretty mad because
jose took my little brother leo

and borrowed my mom's car
to drive back down to florida."

we asked maria
where the car was.

We requested a search warrant
and we were issued one

by catawba county,
north carolina,

and during that search,

we found blood
on the steering wheel,

and we found a glove,

a black, inside-out cloth glove,

between the seat
and the center console.

Both of these items
had blood on them.

Lab results showed
that the blood belonged

to landy martinez.

So now we have blood
that belongs to landy

in a vehicle that was used
by jose adame.

Landy would have never
been in that vehicle

in his entire life,

so that pretty much
sealed the case for us

against jose.

D

and he was indicted
for first-degree m*rder.

[narrator]
the arrest also brings relief

to martinez's parents.

They were too shook up
to go on camera

but say they hope adame spends
the rest of his life

behind bars.

[rigg]
I felt a lot of relief
knowing jose was finally caught.

[snipes]
the second suspect was
jose's 16-year-old nephew.

We did not find any evidence
in the line of fingerprints

or blood or any type of dna,
hairs, or anything like that

we could link back
to his nephew.

[judy]
the state attorney's office
didn't think there was enough

to charge leo with homicide.

[narrator]
jose's cousin leo
was not charged with any crime

in connection with
the m*rder of landy martinez.

[rigg]
I think jose was driven
by rage and jealousy and anger.

[deeson]
he is pushed over the edge

when landy tricks him
into coming back,

thinking he's gonna
get back together

with the man he loves,

and then loses
his mode of transportation.

♪

[schaub]
when he came down here,

he literally stalked landy.

We were able to get
cell phone data

to show his locations
during these times,

and that showed
he followed him

to and from his home,

to his place of employment.

He'd follow him
all over town

until the morning
that he conducted

the k*lling of landy martinez.

[deeson]
there was so much rage
from breaking up,

the phone call
and then the truck,

he was gonna get even.

♪

landy and jose,

when they were together
as partners,

bought two iphones together.

They looked exactly the same.

And when jose grabbed what
he thought was his phone,

he didn't realize
it was landy's cell phone.

As they're torturing landy,

he's capturing this
on landy's cell phone.

[snipes]
I believe that
landy knew at that point

that he was about to die,

and that's gonna be
the only piece of evidence

that he had.

So, to hide that phone
was his last way

of helping us.

♪

[schaub]
the trial was very unusual,

because we had
the victim speaking, basically,

from the grave.

[landy shouting, pleading]

the jury got to see that video

of landy crying,
begging for his life.

[whimpering]

no, no...

[schaub]
you see the physical pain

and the mental pain

that landy martinez
went through.

The jury got to see that

and jose adame
got to see that.

The videotape was the most
compelling piece of evidence.

[rigg]
in court, jose just looked
like no remorse, you know,

a little
"I did it; who cares?"

no emotion on his face.

[narrator]
jose adame is found guilty
of first-degree m*rder.

Although he manages
to avoid the death penalty,

he is sentenced
to life in prison.

[rigg]
the saddest part
is losing my best friend.

When landy was m*rder*d,

the world lost
an amazing person.

All-around great guy
I loved hanging out with,

kind, caring person,
made me laugh,

even if I was having
a bad day at work.

That left a really big hole
in my heart, you know,

but I just take it
day by day

and just remember
all the good times.

Landy was cremated
and sent back

to his mother in cuba.

[schaub]
there was no doubt
jose thought

he could get away
with this crime.

[judy]
I believe he wanted that video
as a trophy, absolutely.

[vega]
I think that jose
really wanted to k*ll landy

and enjoy doing it.

He thought he was just
gonna walk away

and this was never gonna be
brought up again.

There were a lot of mistakes
that jose made.

[schaub]
he didn't realize

that he didn't clean up
that car well enough

to remove the blood,

and that we were able
to get dna from that.

And then, of course, he had
no idea where that phone was.

[deeson]
jose was an idiot,

an absolute idiot,

because the cell phone
with the incriminating evidence

was left behind.

In real life,
this does not happen.

[schaub]
he had landy plead for his life,

but not just plead
for his life,

but to tell the world
that jose adame was a good guy,

that jose adame
was not at fault.

That's a very, very sick mind
that would do that.

[rigg]
saddest part for landy is
he didn't get to have

his family and his children
and his happy ending.