Transcript
Hell hath no fury like a woman's gold. Then I started getting pissed off at him, so I just emptied both guns in. I did really bad things to get drugs. I killed a man. I blew his face off. If if if that's vivid enough for you. A cannibalism is not my choice. I was young. I was beautiful. I had the whole world in front of me. The people here are miserable. It's a struggle in here every day. I'm sitting on the death row. How do you accept that? I got my chance, and I blew it. On this episode, 3 women. The prosecution was trying to present me as a wife gone mad. He was dead when I turned him over, and I didn't want him to be dead. I was the getaway driver. Bob grabbed the bat. Mikey grabbed the knife. Their intimate confessions from behind bars. I found him bleeding from the head. I just freaked out. We just went in a downward spiral right back into the drugs. Horrific crimes. Bob was stabbed to death inside the house. This was a very brutal killing from an enraged person. My name is Belinda Garth, and I am an innocent woman sitting in prison. Nestled deep in the Ozarks are the small towns that make up Carroll County, Arkansas. We are a step back in time in a good way. As a region defined by deep rooted faith and southern hospitality, it is also a hub for gospel music. In 1989, Stephen and Belinda Goff moved here to pursue his dream of starting a gospel band, a dream that would end in murder. I just started screaming because it was obvious he wasn't bleeding. The early morning stillness of a summer Sunday was shattered as paramedics and police rushed to an apartment in Green Forest, Arkansas. My husband, the man I loved, the father of my children, was laying on the floor, bleeding from the head. There was no question that this man had been brutally killed. 32 year old Belinda Goff told police she woke up to find her husband murdered. It was highly unlikely that she could sleep through this brutal attack. Pieces of his skull and brain matter was found as much as 12 feet from the bottom. It didn't take long before investigators zeroed in on the victim's wife, Belinda, as their main suspect. There was blood found in the bathtub drawer. Whoever killed this man took a shower and cleaned up. Although no blood was found on Belinda's clothing, a polygraph indicated that she was not being truthful. Are you involved in this? Oh, no, sir. You are wrong. I can't believe it. There's no eyewitness. There's nothing that ties anybody directly to the homicide. I'm not a violent person. I'd never in a 1000000 years would have dreamed I would have been charged for his murder. Belinda Faye Goth was raised in suburban Illinois in a strict but loving Christian home. I was quiet and really shy. As a middle child, I was usually the peacemaker. In high school, a teen pregnancy derailed Belinda's education. At age 16, I gave birth to my daughter, Bridget. To support herself and her baby girl, the single mom got her GED and worked factory and retail jobs. Then she met Stephen Goff, the love of her life. He was very charming. He had a sideways sort of a smile that was very endearing to me. Steve was a very charismatic guy. Some called him a people magnet. Steve was outgoing. Belinda was reserved kind of the, yang and yang. I felt like my meeting him was ordained. A 3 month whirlwind courtship led to marriage. Stephen and Belinda had children from previous relationships and were eager to start a family of their own. After their son Mark was born, they set roots in Arkansas where Stephen pursued his lifelong dream of starting a Christian band. My brother always had a a passion for gospel music. He was gifted and it soon became our dream because I supported him in that. But Steven's life as a musician tempted him in ways that strained his marriage. Stephen was a womanizer. He wasn't the perfect husband. In 1991, Stephen performed in an ongoing gospel show in nearby Eureka Springs and had an affair with a coworker. Belinda, who had just given birth to another son, threw her husband out only to take him back a month later. We did counseling and decided we would recommit to our own marriage. That same year, the gospel show closed, and both Stephen and Belinda took 9 to 5 jobs at the local food factory where outgoing Stephen made fast friends. He started drinking a lot, him and his, friends. Their relationship had a lot more struggles than either one of them may have said to anybody. Before long, gossip about her husband started getting back to Belinda. Oh, she was extremely jealous. She really wanted to control him very much. Belinda was checking up on him. She thought that there could be somebody else. In the summer of 1993, Belinda discovered the rumors were true. Steven was once again having an extramarital affair. He was dating a woman. My heart was just broken. The couple separated, but Steven quickly returned to his wife and children. I wanted my sons to have their father, and that's why I took them back. My mother was very much in love with him, and she was she was going to make it work. When the Goffs reunited in the spring of 1994, Belinda says they were happy for a while. We could laugh with each other and have fun with each other. Steven was working on turning his life around. He had quit drinking. He had put an emphasis on, his family. He loved being a dad. He was really looking forward to getting back with his kids. But the marital bliss was short lived as a series of random events gave Belinda a familiar sinking feeling. We had evening of June 11, 1994, all the Goff children, with the exception of the 3 year old, were sleeping over with friends. With the place all to themselves, Belinda planned a romantic dinner with her husband. I had planned a, a dinner. It was good food. Just after the meal, Belinda says Steven received a mysterious phone call and left their apartment. It was a very short phone call. He said that he had to go. He was gonna go get some cigarettes. Something didn't sound right with his voice and his demeanor. When Steven had not returned by 10:30, Belinda claims she went to bed. I was disappointed. We were having a good time. The neighbors immediately above this residence heard someone knock on the door from downstairs. They heard a lot of banging on the walls or ceiling. The noises were so loud, they were concerned about them waking their child. And after a moment, things got quiet. According to Belinda, when her alarm clock went off at 4:30 AM, she discovered her toddler in the bed and her husband dead in the living room. I found him laying on the floor, bleeding from the head. I just freaked out. I started crying, screaming. An ambulance rushed to the apartment within minutes. When the paramedic got to the crime scene, mister Goff's body was blocking the door. The MT was able to just crack the door and hold it open with some resistance to get missus Goff and the child out. The position of Stephen's corpse wedged against the front door indicated that the killer could not have fled the crime scene. I had to physically move the body with the door as I entered. The victim was laying on his back where the door hinges to the wall. The whole entire top of his head, his skull was crushed. Police gathered evidence that included 2 claw hammers from a closet and a drop of blood in the bathroom drain. Investigators had already narrowed their sights on the grieving widow. My first thought was that the killer did not leave the apartment. Detectives asked Belinda to submit to a polygraph, and the results indicated deception. This says that you you hit it. Okay? I did. Okay. I wanted to turn. I did not take my present. Coming up, the evidence speaks for the dead. It would make no sense for mister Goff's blood to be in that direction unless she had killed him. They prosecuted an innocent woman. And later And he just said, Julie, Bob's dead. The words hit me harder than anything. Felt like I got shot. In June 1994, Stephen Goff, a 40 year old father and husband with a history of infidelity, was found bludgeoned to death in his living room. The manner of the killing indicated such rage that the police quickly focused on the victim's wife Belinda as the primary suspect. This was a very brutal killing from an enraged person. 8 to 10 blows on the top of his head. They had already made their mind up. It was I that it's gonna describe. We tried to eliminate her as a suspect, but we couldn't. Every piece of evidence had all come back to her. Everybody was kinda hopeful that it wasn't her. She always seemed to be a good Christian woman, you know. The prosecution took their time building a strong case against Belinda. 2 years after Stephen Goff was found bludgeoned to death, his wife went on trial for the murder. All the evidence we had at the time, was circumstantial. Belinda maintained her innocence, but the prosecutors believed that the crime scene spoke volumes about the events of that night and that no one else had the means, the motive, or the opportunity to kill Stephen Goff. Steve had rejected her plans for a romantic evening. She suspected him of seeing another woman. At about 2 AM, he came home. An argument ensued over the suspected affair, and he was hit from behind. Mister Goff was killed, and the killer, miss Goff, stood over him and continued to beat him. But Belinda maintained she didn't know what happened to her husband. If he went somewhere, he shouldn't have gone, and they followed him. A puzzling element to the crime was the knock on the door heard by neighbors. The neighbors said that she heard some knocking on the front door. Why would Steve knock on his own front door at 2 o'clock in the morning when he had his keys to his house? He didn't take the car and he didn't take his keys. And that's why he, knocked on the door. Belinda and her defense team argued that Stephen Goff was attacked in the living room while Belinda and her toddler were deep asleep in the bedroom. Witnesses testified that they heard a banging noise. They, said it was loud enough. They thought it was gonna wake up their baby. There's no way that, she could have slept through it. My mother is a heavy sleeper. There were times I have trouble waking her up. Belinda also claims she was still recovering from a hysterectomy and taking pain medication. She was medicated and would have been sleeping in a much deeper sleep than a normal person. Evidence from the bathroom added to the prosecution's case against Belinda. The shower curtain in the bathroom was wet beads of water on the bottom of the bathtub, but somebody had just taken a shower. And when one of the detectives lifted the bathtub drainage trap. A bead of blood was running down one of his fingers. Liquid blood. Experts testified that the trace of blood found in the drain did not belong to Belinda or the children. It was consistent with Stephen Gough's blood, although they could not prove it definitively. It would make no sense for mister Gough's blood to be in that drain unless she had killed him and cleaned up. The defense said, well, maybe cut himself shape. Farfetched probably. The prosecution's biggest argument, however, was what paramedics and police noticed the minute they arrived at the crime scene. Stephen Goff's body blocked the doorway, which in their view trapped the killer inside. It was not very wide of opening, and I had to move the body even further to get through. The location of the body, the blood splatter, nobody left the residence. That was our theory. He was not blocking the door. My son and I went out the door. The defense fought back by pointing out that no blood was found on Belinda or her clothing. There is no way to beat someone to death with a blunt instrument and have no blood. As for the murder weapon, the 2 hammers found in the apartment came up clean. Two hammers, they're both tested. No DNA, no fingerprint, no blood. It could have been cleaned with bleach. It could have been cleaned with soap and water. The theory regarding motive was easier to prove. The prosecution was trying to present me as a wife gone mad who just went over the brink. I'm not a violent person. People snap. People commit homicides that you wouldn't typically think would be a murderer. A former friend of Belinda's, Anita Belafay, provided damaging testimony. Belinda could get upset at the drop of a hat, especially if she thought you were crossing her. She had kicked Steven out of the house. He was having an affair. And she said, this will never happen again, or I'll bash his head in, like and and I was so shocked. So it was a totally different Belinda. At no time did I ever have a conversation with Anita Belafay regarding anything, let alone to threaten my husband with beating his head in. The defense countered that Anita had incentive to lie because she owed Belinda money. She had helped me out with the gas bill. I don't know how that discredits me. I wanted her so badly to be innocent. In fact, others who knew Belinda described her as peaceful. She never demonstrated any potential for that kind of rage. The Belinda Gough I know is not capable of premeditated murder. Belinda took the stand in her own defense, but was unable to convince the jury she was innocent. I did not believe her story when she was on the stand. Her demeanor, her defensiveness was very damning. She just acted like somebody guilty. When I heard the word guilty, my heart literally froze. It shattered my world. When they said guilty, that was some justice. I never had a doubt about her ability to kill a man. In almost everything that they used to convict her, there were other explanations. I think the jury was impartial. They sized up this evidence and did their job. I know they prosecuted an innocent woman. They will never admit they made a mistake. In 2001, a judge granted Belinda a new trial based on the fact that her jury didn't hear testimony that could have pointed to a different killer. But the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed that ruling and upheld her original conviction. Belinda Goff is currently incarcerated at the women's prison in Wrightsville, Arkansas where she has spent the last 15 years of a life sentence. Being in prison is not what the torture is. Being torn from your children is, torture. My mother does not deserve to be where she is. Stephen Goff's family believes the rightful killer is locked up. Time has not healed their sense of loss. One of the things I miss the most about my brother is his laugh. It's very difficult to relive his loss, and I don't think anybody would say that he deserved what he got. Coming up, addiction leads to death. Everybody has tried to help Julie, but there just comes a time when you have to let that person hit the bottom. Mikey came stumbling towards my car screaming help me, that he is covered in blood. Bob was stabbed to death inside the house. Julie was involved in a home invasion that went horribly wrong. Mikey came stumbling towards shooting heroin every day. He smoked for crack every night. I don't think anybody was surprised that Julie was involved. My name is Julie Ann Sallies, and I'm serving a 5 to 10 year prison sentence. It was after midnight on June 6, 2010 when Meredith, a New Hampshire village known for antique stores and upscale restaurants, became the backdrop for a violent killing. The Lakes region of New Hampshire is an idyllic spot dotted with villages that hearken back to the revolutionary war. But even quaint New England has a dark side. Here, like in many American towns, drug abuse is rampant. There always seem to be illegal use of drugs whether it's marijuana, heroin, crack cocaine. Julie Sallies was a girl from the right side of the tracks whose drug use landed her on the wrong side of the law. I was shooting up cocaine, taking prescription pills, selling drugs. I was a mess. Julie was going to doctors, getting prescriptions. You know, she'd sell some. She'd do some. There was really never a time that Julie wasn't high. Raised in a loving home, Julie Sallies lost her mother to cancer when she was 9 years old. Having a mother is what I missed. I don't think that she has ever coped with losing her mother. I just stopped caring. Always had an I don't care, I'll do whatever I want kind of attitude. Julie got pregnant at 19 but managed to stay clean until her baby was born. I remember leaving the hospital with my daughter and just the feeling, this wonderful feeling. But her willpower was no match for the addiction. Julie gravitated toward the wrong people. I was just hanging out with people that did drugs, cocaine, heroin, pills. When Julie's father also died of cancer, it was a turning point. When my father died, things just kinda started to spin out of control. Once drugs are in your life, they take over and they they consume your life. I gave guardianship of my daughter to my aunt. I thought it would just be temporary as soon as I get my life straightened out. Julie entered rehab, but gave up after 2 weeks. It got bad after that. At her worst point, Julie was shooting heroin every day, smoking crack every night. Get high, get more high, get as high as you can, go to sleep, and get up and do it all over again. It was a desperate life. She committed petty thefts in order to get money for drugs. She would steal things, robbing cars, writing bad checks. Even Julie's family and friends were targets. It was hard to trust her. Leave her alone in your car, she might go through your pot book. If she's in your house, she might steal something worth value and sell it. My fax machine was gone. My TV was gone. I know how powerful that drug is. You will steal from your own mother. Inevitably, her behavior caught up with her. In 2004, Julie was arrested for forging checks. She was sentenced to 2 years in jail. I was 25. I was angry. I didn't think that I did enough to be there. While serving time, Julie participated in a work release program. There, she met a fellow inmate, Robert Bob Hart. I knew he was in prison for for a robbery. He was 17 years older than me. He was really polite, sincere. He'd opened doors for me. Despite the age difference, the 2 fell in love and moved in together once they were both released in 2006. It was happy that 1st year, and then we just kinda went in a downward spiral right back into the drugs. After all the lies and broken promises, Julie's relatives had given up on her. You go from hurt to disappointed to mad, and like, I want nothing to do with you. Family members become burnt out. They feel like they're banging their head against a wall. Everybody has tried to help Julie, but there just comes a time when you just you have to let that person hit the bottom. Coming up, a robbery ends in death. I was guilty. I couldn't live with myself for what I did. Julie going to prison is a total blessing in disguise. And later He just started coming at me like a linebacker. I shot him 2 more times, and then I took off out of the house. After being released from prison for check forgery, 26 year old Julianne Sallies moved in with Bob Hart, a convicted armed robber. Over the next 4 years, strung out on cocaine and heroin, the couple committed petty crimes to support their drug habit. I did really bad things to get drugs. It's like my mind wasn't even there. On the night of June 5, 2010, Julie's drug fueled world came crashing down. We had gotten some cocaine and Mikey had showed up. According to Julie, 27 year old Michael Nukas was a friend of Bob's who ran in the same drug circles. Mikey came in and said, oh, I wanna rob this guy. He's got a ton of cocaine. Mikey just kept on telling us how easy it would be, and we decided that we would help him do the robbery. Bob started pulling out dark clothing items and face masks, and that's when it really changed changed over into, wow, we're really gonna do this. 10 miles away, 18 year old David Rivera was sleeping soundly. At midnight, Julie drove Mikey and Bob to the town of Meredith where they knew David was staying in an apartment. The plan, she says, was to rob David Rivera of his cocaine stash and leave. She parked the car and turned off the headlights. Mikey's role was supposed to be the lead guy and Bob was his backup and I was the getaway driver. Bob grabbed the bat, and Mikey grabbed the knife. They had put in their masks on and walked through the tree line down to the house. According to police, once Bob and Michael were inside the home, the situation escalated into a bloody confrontation. David Rivera wakes up. There's a man, with a baseball bat and a mask on in the apartment, and there's another man who comes in with a knife. David struggles with both of those men, eventually takes the knife, is able to stab Michael. Robert Hart is also stabbed. After about 15 minutes or so, I started to get really concerned, like, what is going on? And that's when Mikey came stumbling towards my car screaming help me, help me. He is covered in blood. Mike was injured badly, with some with with several stab wounds. She said she could see the blood one. In sheer panic and confusion, Julie drove Mikey to the nearest help, a police station, then went back to the crime scene to find Bob. I was thinking in my head, I'll drop Mikey off to get help, and I'll go back for Bob. She then returns to the apartment, and, neighbors said she was driving up and down the street screaming that Robert was inside. Before long, police pulled up and confronted a frantic Julie. At the scene of the incident, she was screaming that she couldn't find her her boyfriend. I was very uncooperative. I mean, I had like psychotic behavior lashing out at the officers. She was extremely volatile, used extreme profanity towards us. Detectives did not reveal to Julie that a body had been found in the apartment and that it was her boyfriend, Bob Hart. Bob was stabbed inside the house and he died that way. Julie was sent home not knowing what happened to Bob, but it wasn't long before a call from a friend gave her the grave news. And he just said, Julie, Bob's dead. The words hit me harder than anything. Felt like I got shot. The crime made big headlines in the small towns of the area. I don't think anybody was surprised that Julie was involved. After Bob was killed, I knew I was gonna go back to After Bob was killed, I knew I was gonna go back to prison. I've never seen her so broken. I mean, she was devastated and I couldn't do anything. David Rivera, the intended victim, escaped the scene with minor injuries. Michael Lucas, however, spent several days in the hospital recovering from his severe stab wounds. Soon after, both Michael and Julie were indicted on robbery charges. Julie decided that she wanted to come clean. I was guilty. I couldn't live with myself for what I did, and I figured to to speak the truth of what happened that night was the best way to to try to move on. Julie pleaded guilty in December to cocaine and accomplished a burglary charges and was sentenced to state prison. Michael Newcas is currently awaiting trial. He claims he did not plan the robbery and that Julie's version of the crime is untrue. Of course, she's gonna say that it was Mike's idea, but we we strongly dispute that. Julie was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in the attempted robbery of David Rivera. I'm just letting things take me to where they need to take me, trying to stay positive. Julie going to prison is a total blessing in disguise, and I hope that she starts getting some counseling for the stuff that she's been through. There was some relief for the family that she was off the street. Maybe get some help that she needs. Julie is learning to embrace life without drugs. It's not hard to get clean in prison. You can't have drugs. I definitely will be an addict for the rest of my life, but this has definitely triggered something inside me. I really truly do hope that she stays on this path and cleans herself up. I know that I'm a good person. Drugs really, really mess up your mind. They turn it to mush. I'd love to be with my daughter again. I would like her to be proud of me someday. I don't want her to be ashamed of who her mother is. Coming up, it began as a romantic rendezvous. I just wanted a normal life to be with somebody that I loved. I thought Leonard was that person. And ended up a Valentine's Day murder. She didn't wanna live without Leonard, and she was going to kill herself. This story of Cindy and Leonard is like a movie. It's a story of money, jealousy, lust. Valentine's Day, you think of love. In this case, you have a a murder. She came out from the bathroom and just shot him. My name is Cynthia Tate Villegas. I was convicted of murder and I'm serving a 20 year sentence. On Valentine's Day 2001, even a little town like Alice, Texas had something to fuss about. Roses were on special, and candy and Valentine's Day cards sold out like hotcakes. But for 37 year old Cynthia Villegas, Cupid's arrow turned deadly, and there was anything but love in the air. At 11 AM, a neighbor out for his morning walk noticed something out of place. He had seen the vehicle parked what appeared to be hidden. It's the way he described it with the sheriff's department. They came to check it out. Once police identified the owner of the truck, deputies paid a visit to an address on County Road 149. They knocked on the door, nobody answered, but they didn't have a basis to enter the house. Later that afternoon, the Wells County sheriff's deputies received a 911 call that Leonard Villegas had been shot by his wife, Cynthia. 911. What is your emergency? It happened so fast. He was dead when I turned him over, and I didn't want him to be dead. When police returned to the house, they discovered that Cynthia Villegas had barricaded herself inside and was threatening to take her own life. I just wanted to kill myself because I just couldn't believe what had happened. She didn't wanna live without Leonard being in her life. And she had a gun in her hand, and she was scared, very scared. It took hours of negotiations, but eventually, Cynthia Villegas put the gun down and came out. There was a whole SWAT team and news crews. Everybody was outside. When investigators entered the home, they found the body of Cynthia's estranged husband, 38 year old Leonard Villegas. He was lying dead in bed, covered with a quilt. There may have been some love between them at times, but it seemed like a love hate mutually abusive relationship. Although the couple were newlyweds, everyone who knew them said their relationship was rocky. He was very controlling, possessive. He was a user and an abuser. Cynthia Villegas refused to make a statement to police. Soon after, she was arrested and charged with murder. Born Cynthia Tate in 1963, Villegas grew up a happy middle class girl in the small town of Ricardo, Texas. I was fortunate to have 2 parents at home. We were a normal family growing up, had working parents. We did what most families do. At 16, Cynthia was convinced she had found mister Wright. We dated for 2 years and then we got married. By the time she was 22, Cindy was a stay at home mom of 2 active boys, but she was feeling stifled in her marriage. She was a dead mother. She was devoted to her kids. Model citizen. In 1999, Cindy filed for divorce. After 18 years of marriage, she was free. No longer forced to be a dutiful housewife, Cindy made every effort to try and become her own woman. She found herself for a little while, and she was very happy, very involved with the family. For the first time in years, things were coming up roses for Cindy when she met Leonard Villegas through a friend. The chemistry between the flush divorcee and the handsome chemical plant worker was electric. Their relationship started off as a loving relationship. She she was in love with him. He was in love with her. He's very attractive. He was divorced. He and his first wife had 4 girls. Cindy was impressed that Leonard appeared to be a doting father. My father was a dreamer. He always had goals and ambitions, and he couldn't wait to have grandchildren. It was always a bunch of adventures, I guess, with my dad around. I just wanted a normal life to be with somebody that I loved. I thought Leonard was that person. When Leonard wasn't being a dad, he was busy romancing Cindy at his ranch. I Cindy soon realized that love had a price tag, and she was about to get sticker shock. He wanted to start a hay baling business, so I bought a Dodge pickup for him. I bought a John Deere tractor, hay bailing equipment. The money drain continued. And before long, she was paying Leonard's bills. She bought him a tractor. She bought him a truck. She paid his child support. If there was something that he wanted that she didn't buy, they fought. He would throw his bets until she would give in. According to Cindy, Leonard didn't just have expensive tastes and trouble with money. He had trouble holding his temper. Cindy was in an abusive relationship and and, not just physically, but also verbally, mentally. As the relationship between Cindy and Leonard deteriorated, the domestic violence increased. The police had to be called. There was instances where they both hit each other. You could tell she had been hit. She had red marks, but he had been hit too. We would get in arguments on the phone, or if we did see each other, we would argue and bite. It just escalated. When Cindy dug deeper into Leonard's past, she discovered that he had been violent with his first wife. There was an occasion where he held his ex wife hostage. The gun. He had the gun pointed at us. My heart just dropped. They never got back together after that. Coming up, a last chance for love ends in a brutal shooting. I was still, you know, hopeful for reconciliation because I did love Leonard. She didn't wanna live without Leonard. She was going to kill herself. In 1999, after she received a generous divorce settlement, 35 year old Cynthia Tate fell in love with Leonard Villegas. Although he worked at a chemical plant, Leonard dreamed of turning his land into a profitable cattle ranch. When Cindy found herself footing the bill for many of his ventures, arguments about money turned into raging confrontations. She was vindictive. That's why they had the problems with the money. Leonard Villegas perhaps took advantage of her having that money. Cindy had filed suit against him to retrieve some of what she had spent on him. The lawsuit was to be short lived. Despite their volatile relationship, Cindy could not resist Leonard for long. She made an impulsive decision and married him. At least we talked her into marrying him where he would not have to give back or pay back anything. I thought, you know, maybe we could make it work. Maybe if we moved out of the area to a different place. But their relationship had long ago become damaged beyond repair. There were numerous phone calls from Cindy griping about Leonard. It's like why won't you just stay the hell away from him? After 4 contentious months of living together, Cindy declared that she and Leonard were finally through. By January, I had enough. I called my attorney and asked him to meet me and then I was filing for divorce. But Cindy was still drawn to Leonard and continued to date him in secret because their quarrelsome relationship had polarized their families. Cindy parked her truck in a neighbor's property because Leonard's family didn't want her to be with him. They were gonna have a rendezvous there at his house. I was still hopeful for reconciliation because I did love Leonard. When he came in from his chores, Cindy says they fell back into the same old pattern. We got into an argument and I told him he was never gonna change. I was just gonna leave and just forget about everything. According to Cindy, when she tried to leave, Leonard lunged towards her. He had taken my pistol from me some weeks before that and he had under his pillow. I thought he was going for the gun and I jumped up on the bed and grabbed the pistol. He started coming towards me and I panicked and I shot him in the shoulder. And he just looked at his shoulder and started coming at me like a linebacker And I shot him 2 more times and then I took off out of the house. Cindy claims that she listened for signs of life, but everything had gone eerily silent. When she reentered the house, it seemed like a bad dream. I went back in and he had fallen on the bed. I was freaking out. He was dead when I turned him over and I didn't want him to be dead. It happened so fast. Instead of calling 911, Cindy called her sister Candy. I could tell she was crying, hysterical. And she said, I'm okay, but I may not be here when you get here. I think she was contemplating taking her own life. She loved Leonard. Leonard was no longer there. Alarmed, Candy clutched her car keys and shouted to her husband to call police. There was a red quilt that I put over him before my sister came in the house. I just didn't want her to see him. According to Candy, when she got to the ranch, Cindy was in a trance pacing compulsively with a gun in her hand. I thought that I could just lunge and get the gun out of her hand, and then I thought, you know, that could go really south in a heartbeat. I told Cindy, we've gotta get some help out here. As deputies gathered at the scene, Cindy continued the standoff. I was just thinking a lot of crazy stuff at the time. While news crews and SWAT teams stood by, Candy and police negotiated. After 2 hours, Cindy finally surrendered. They took me in a unmarked car to the sheriff's department and, my sister rode with me. During her interrogation, Cindy failed to provide a motive or even an account of what led to her husband's shooting. When she didn't claim self defense or offer mitigating evidence, she was promptly arrested and charged with Leonard's murder. The prosecution's version is that Cindy had her vehicle snuck into the house, hid in the closet with a pistol. Cindy came home and laid down on the bed, and she came out out and shot him. While awaiting trial, Cindy was released on a $150,000 bond. But within months, Cindy had a new boyfriend and plans for a future that did not include prison. She skipped bond and fled to Mexico. She loaded her stuff in my dad's horse trailer and left. She never called me from Mexico. I met this guy and I got pregnant. Here I was waiting to go to trial. He didn't want our child to be born and all that kind of stuff, so we decided that we were gonna go to Mexico. When Cindy failed to appear in court, a warrant was issued for her arrest. I think she panicked. Buzz around town was that she was not gonna win the case. US Marshals with the help of Mexican authorities were on the hunt. In April 2002, Cindy had a miscarriage. And a few weeks later, after 2 months on the lam, the fugitive was apprehended as she went about her daily routine. They just pulled us over on the side of the road, and they brought me back to Texas. On May 25, 2002, Cindy was extradited to Texas. Considered a flight risk, this time, she awaited trial behind bars. My strategy was to portray Leonard the way that he really was, as a violent person and a person who attacked her. At trial, Cynthia's lawyer argued that she shot Leonard in self defense. To corroborate her claim, Cindy's attorney planned to use domestic violence reports filed by Leonard's first wife. Unfortunately, the documents never materialized. The records mysteriously disappeared. When Cindy took the stand, she detailed how she feared for her life and even acted out for the jury the manner in which Leonard pushed her and how she lunged for the pistol. She came across as someone who was going to get even. And self defense seemed to be contrived. The jury dismissed the self defense claim as a desperate move by a desperate woman. No one indicated that she had ever mentioned she was attacked and had to defend herself against the attack by Leonard. There was a motive, of hurt, not only because of the love that wasn't returned by mister Villegas and the fact that, he had taken advantage of her. And when she went into Luna's house, she intended to kill him and did exactly that. When I heard the verdict, it crushed me. I really thought that that she would she would get off on self defense. If she hadn't gone to Mexico, she would have stood a whole lot better chance of of winning her case. 9 years later, Cynthia Villegas still can't wrap her head around what happened. I still have nightmares about it. I did love my husband and I still do. If I had to say one thing to women out there with domestic violence, don't keep going back. On this point, even Leonard's daughters seem to agree. It's not worth taking away somebody's life and letting their children suffer and losing your life as well. If I saw Cindy, I'd probably ask why she didn't think how this would affect us. My sisters and I lost our father, but her children lost their mother too. After all this time that has passed, I've learned to forgive her.
