Transcript
Hell hath no fury like a woman's gore. Then we started getting pissed off at him, so I just emptied both guns into it. 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. Catechism is not my choice. I was young. I was beautiful. I had the whole world in front of me. My people here are miserable. It's a struggle in here every day. I'm sitting on death row. How do you accept that? I got my chance and I blew it. On this episode, two criminals. And for the first time, a death row inmate tells all she is one of only 63 women awaiting execution. People have no idea what death row is. We come out three times a week. We are locked down twenty four hours a day. Two intimate confessions. You did one hurt officer who tried to break her neck. And I couldn't do it, but I was shaking so bad. I didn't stop because I was mad. I kept hitting her. I started bashing in her head. Two shocking crimes. They taped the bag around her neck. She begged for her life. She was obviously struck with that concrete block. Her face was totally smashed in. My name is Amelia Carr, and I was convicted of first degree murder, and I've been sentenced to death. The North Central Part of Florida is prime horse country. Here, manicured equestrian farms are surrounded by nature that's both beautiful and lethal. It was in this remote and sparsely populated area of the county where what first appeared to be a missing person's case would reveal a tangled web of obsession, betrayal, and murder. In March 2009, the Marion County Sheriff's Office received a report that a wife and mother of two small children had suddenly disappeared. Soon as I read the report, I knew something wasn't right. Heather had been missing approximately thirty days. Twenty six year old Heather Strong had not been seen since February 15 after she left her job as a waitress at a local truck stop. But when she went silent, her distraught family in Mississippi called authorities. I had a feeling that that something bad had happened. She had kids. She was married. She just fell off the face of the earth. What raised suspicions was that Strong's husband, Josh Fulghum, had failed to report his wife missing and was using her debit card. Josh was accessing the money on her account. When we first approached Josh, it was what was me. My wife just took off. She abandoned me and the kids. She would never just disappear and leave her kids. Josh and Heather had been together eleven years, but had only been married two months and had recently separated. Police then discovered that Josh Fulghum had another woman in his life, 24 year old massage therapy student, Emilia Carr. She was married twice. She had two children with her first husband. She had another child with another man. When detectives met with Carr, she was eight months pregnant with her fourth child, and the father was Josh Fulghum. While Carr was questioned about Heather's disappearance, she tried to downplay her connection to Josh. As she described it, what they had was merely a fling. I lived with Josh for about three months. But police learned that Amelia and Josh were actually living together after Heather went missing. Josh and Amelia moved in together at the Pine Grove Mobile Home Park. Amelia told detectives that Heather had gone back to live with her parents in Mississippi. I hear Josh's daughter say, dad, is mom gonna call tonight? And he'd tell her, no, baby. She called while you were at school. So I'm assuming everything's fine. But family and friends were adamant that Heather was a devoted mother who would never abandon her children. She loved her kids. She'd do anything in the world for them. Heather always had a smile that you never forgot. I used to call her my moon face girl. In contrast, folks had had a different opinion about Heather's husband, twenty seven year old Josh. A cold hearted, no good, worthless, some other words I use, but I want piece of garbage. He was someone who had a temper. He was known for being a bully. Josh and Heather met when they were teenagers in Heather's hometown of Sturgis, Mississippi. A Few Years later, the couple moved to Florida. They had two children and a long list of problems. Your standard dysfunctional on and again, off again type relationship. He was just very controlling, very abusive. It was always like that from a year into the relationship. I said, Heather, you keep fooling with Josh, you're gonna wind up dead. But eventually, Heather did listen. And by February, she declared her marriage to Josh over. She was planning to leave the state with her two kids to go back to Mississippi. She had told Josh she was taking the kids and was leaving. I told her, Heather, why would you tell Josh you were gonna take the kids and leave? He will kill you, Heather. Heather left work on February 15, and that was the last time anyone would see her alive. When she didn't show up for her shift the next day, her friends knew it meant trouble. I knew that Josh had something to do with it. I knew it was him. Detectives too shared a gut feeling that Josh Fulghum knew something about his wife's month long disappearance and brought him in for questioning. We had been in in an interview with Josh for hours. As detectives were tightening the screws during his interview, Josh finally broke down. He denied any involvement in Heather's disappearance, but told police he had information about the location of her body. Josh blatantly just came out. If you let me go see my mom, I would tell you where Heather is. It was a big breakthrough and it was okay. Get the cars ready. Let's go now before he changes his mind. Josh led authorities 20 miles north of Ocala to a secluded rundown home owned by none other than the family of his girlfriend, Amelia Carr. Behind the property was the an old single wide mobile home that they use as storage. Next to the storage trailer, police found a pile of fresh debris and beneath it, a shallow grave. Police then dug up the decomposing body of Heather Strong, stuffed into a duffel bag that was covered by dirt and plywood. The missing persons case had just become a homicide. Coming up, detectives haul Emilia Carr back in for questioning. Josh Emilia put a plastic bag over her head. They taped it around her neck. She was begging for her alive. Heather knew she would probably never leave that trailer alive. And later, murder off the reservation. She was obviously struck with that concrete block. Her face was totally smashed in. On 02/15/2009, Heather Strachan, wife and mother of two, was last seen leaving her waitress job at a truck stop. One month later, Heather's husband, Josh Fulghum, broke down and led police to the location of Heather's body. The corpse was buried in the backyard of Fulghum's girlfriend, 24 year old Emilia Carr. While the crime scene was still being processed, detectives questioned Amelia. They was at disbelief. There's a body back there? But police weren't buying it. We have Heather's body found on Amelia's property. She definitely knows a lot more than what she's telling us. Amelia claimed that despite being involved with Heather's husband, she and the victim had been on good terms. Heather and Amelia had a friendly relationship. Amelia used to care for her children. We had the children in common. We got really close in the summer of o eight. But those who knew them both tell a different story. Heather and Amelia were not best friends. They were rivals. Amelia wanted Josh. Josh would always go back to Heather because of the kids. It seemed as if Josh always had Heather on one side, Amelia on another side. Amelia needed to eliminate the competition. Today, Amelia rejects that theory and insists that she never loved Josh or any of the other men she ever dated. I don't get emotionally attached to men. I've never been faithful to a man. According to Emilia, her inability to bond with men stemmed from alleged sexual abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her father and grandfather. The abuse, the abandonment, and neglect started when Amelia was very young. My childhood consisted of responsibility, secrets, and sexual perversion. Amelia says when she was five years old, she endured horrific sexual abuse that lasted for years. I remember at night, there's this board that creaks right before you get to the door. And I could be in a dead sleep and you hear that border creak and all you could think was who was it gonna be tonight. That made me feel bad as a mother. I feel like I felt her. The abuse continued till I was 15. Emilia says she suffered in silence because she was protecting her baby sister. My younger sister was born with thirteen birth defects. I had spina bifida, so I had lots of problems. Emilia looked after me my whole life. Amelia was in the mother position. She took care of Milagro and all of her ailments. My father was arrested when I was 15 because I finally spoke out. I couldn't let it happen to my sister. While awaiting trial behind bars, Emilia's father attempted to have her murdered. Emilia's father solicited a cellmate to kill the family so that they would not be a witness against him. But the plot was discovered and her father was convicted of solicitation to commit murder. He was sent to prison for two years. The sexual abuse charges were ultimately dropped. Living in a small town is really hard. What my father did, everybody knew, everybody talked about it. Humiliated, Amelia dropped out of school at 15. By 17, she'd given birth to her first son and was married. My, first husband was actually really good to me and I couldn't be the woman he deserved. She was taking my car, sleeping with people. Amelia is a liar. That's all I can say. After two kids, the marriage fell apart and they divorced. I've had several unsuccessful, unemotional relationships with men. Usually within the first couple weeks, I get tired and I just start being promiscuous. She's had a very hard time trusting men, but she really wanted to be loved. 23 year old Emilia met Josh Fulgham through friends. They would periodically hook up whenever Josh was having problems with Heather. In the February, Amelia got pregnant with Josh's child. And while separated from Heather, Josh proposed. A month later, when Josh and Emilia had a falling out, Josh reunited with his longtime on again off again girlfriend, Heather Strachan, and married her instead. Heather was absolutely beside herself when he gave her that ring and they got married, but he went right back to the same way. Emilia claims that she and Heather often commiserated with one another over Josh. He beat her with the belt and told her try to leave now. The kids are half mine. No matter where you go, I can come get them. And she said she felt like that's the only reason he married her. Just days after their wedding, Heather filed a domestic violence complaint. Josh was arrested for pointing shotgun at her. In early February, Heather dropped the charges and Josh was released after serving a month in jail. Less than two weeks later, Heather went missing. As detectives learned more about the twisted love triangle, they were certain they had a motive for murder. Is it a lie that some people are? The people with the motive were Josh and Amelia. Josh didn't wanna lose his kids, and he just thought that he could get rid of the problem. Amelia loved Josh, and Heather was just a block that she had to get rid of. After hours of questioning, Josh led detectives to Heather's body. Despite initially stating he had nothing to do with his wife's murder, he finally admitted to his part in the killing, but claimed Amelia was the one who actually killed Heather. He confessed to everything and and gave us the blatant honest truth. Him and Amelia had planned to bring Heather to the house. Josh had lured Heather inside of the trailer. Once Amelia walked into the trailer, Heather knew that this was a setup. She attempted to escape, but they caught her and pulled her back in. They duct taped her legs. They duct taped her torso over body to the back of the computer chair. They duct taped her hands to the handles. Heather pleaded for a lie. Just let her go, and she would be out of their lives forever. And Josh said no. This was it. You're not gonna take my kids away from me. Amelia tried to break her neck, but wasn't strong enough to do it. So that's when they decided to suffocate her. They put a plastic bag over her head. They taped it around her neck, and then they held their hand over her mouth and nose. The actual way that this crime occurred was just so stark in its coldness and cruelty, and a lot of people couldn't believe that it happened the way it did. The details of Heather's last moments devastated her family. They told me that they had found her. That was the hardest day of my life. I didn't wanna believe it until the sheriff's department came and told me I just I did wanna lay up. Josh's confession provided a vivid description of the vicious homicide. Heather's husband was charged with first degree murder, but detectives knew they had another killer to catch. But without a confession or forensic evidence linking her to the crime, police feared that Amelia Carr could get away with murder. Coming up, a killer gets caught on a wire. We weren't visible to them, but we could hear exactly what they were saying. I want the true story from me. I already party. Yeah. Amelia went for it. In February, Florida authorities were on the verge of breaking the case of the murder and disappearance of 26 year old Heather Strong after her husband, Josh Fulgham, confessed to helping kill his wife and burying her on the property of girlfriend, 24 year old, Emilia Carr, detectives believed that Carr, now eight months pregnant with Fulghum's child, also played a key role in the murder. But they lacked enough evidence to conclusively link her to the crime. She would call asking how the case was going, wondering what we had learned from Josh. I kept calling them. I said, look, I want immunity. She had further information about the case that she could, quote, put the nail in the coffin as long as he would grant her immunity. She was trying to position herself to be more of an informant rather than a participant in this crime. Detectives needed help from someone who could extract the truth from Carr. They got it from Josh's sister, Michelle. Michelle said, Amelia's calling me. She wants to speak to speak to me about this case. What shall I do? Investigators put a wire in Michelle's vehicle so that any conversations with Amelia could be secretly taped. We gave Michelle a few details about the case so that it would seem as though she had talked to her brother, Josh, and then maybe Amelia would open up about the rest of the details. This is a place that we instructed, Michelle to come. We kinda parked back behind this this building here, and we monitored their conversation from that area. We weren't visible to them, but we could, hear exactly what they were saying. I want the true story from you. I've already heard it from Josh. Michelle told her, look. If you want me to help you out, you have to tell me everything. Amelia went for it. Tell me what happened that night. When he got her back there, I was supposed to come back there a few minutes later. She tried to run for the door. He dragged her back. She told Michelle about how Heather had fought back. Did Heather go peacefully or did she? Did she fight him? Yeah. She fought him She fought him. You know, it's a bit burnt to the chair. The more she talked, the more Emilia Carr implicated herself in Heather Strong's murder. So what happened next? You put the bag over her head? We tried to snap her neck. That didn't work. Why would you try to break her neck? I'm gonna be quick and painless. There were times that we would just look at each other and say, did did she say what I think she just said? Amelia also was worried over what Josh might be telling police. I'm trying to get a message to him that he's got to keep his mouth shut. I'm trying to get him out of this. He can't throw me under the bus either. After the little cat and mouse game that she was playing with us, to hear those words finally come from her mouth, it it was very satisfying. When I went down in very thought, You could even look at him. He would cry, but he'd almost still he had me wrap a blanket around her head because he couldn't look at it. This is a big turning point in the case. Hearing this information coming directly from Amelia was was what we needed. Detectives had heard enough. Nearly a week after Josh Fulghum's arrest, police finally obtained what they needed to arrest his accomplice. She was brought back to the Sheriff's Office and again, we interviewed her. Detectives knew they had to play their cards close to the vest. Amelia had no idea she had incriminated herself on tape. Not knowing that there was a recording, she told us another set of lies. I wasn't there. I did not kill her, the detective, really. I'm telling you, I did not kill that girl. Then detectives dropped the bomb. I don't think it's time for me to open Pandora's box, at least from our day today. You had a conversation with Josh's sister. We know that you admitted your responsibility in Heather's murder, and she kinda just sat back at disbelief as if she was she was caught in her own trap. She then changed the story. She admitted to being there. She helped tape her body up. The most I did to her was I taped her up. I made a false attempt to break her neck because that's what he told me to do. But taping her up was all I did. With each new detail, detectives were finally getting a picture of what really happened. After she was taped, and I put the bag over her head, and he taped it. You're the one that taped the bag around her head? I gave him the tape. She was begging for her life. I think Heather knew it at that point that she probably never leave that trailer alive. Her body was taped. Her mouth wasn't taped. What was she saying? He was trying to get her to be quiet. Josh, why are you doing this, Josh? Why are you doing this? He's and he told her, because you keep trying to take my kids and I'm tired of it. And that's when she started telling him, he's she was claustrophobic. She was claustrophobic. That's when he hit her. And he said, b***h, I'm claustrophobic too, and you had me locked up in Mary Town Jail for thirty one days. Amelia tried to break her neck. Amelia told us that she tried, but wasn't strong enough to do it. I didn't want us. You didn't want her to suffer, so you tried to break her neck. And I couldn't do it because I was shaking so bad. So that I just stepped back, and he took over. And he held his hand over her nose and her mouth. Heather ultimately died of asphyxiation. From the moment this entire plan started, either one of them could have changed their minds, either one of them could have decided to do the right thing. But even as she was being suffocated, even as her body was fighting for life and fighting for air, they both chose to carry on the plan. On 03/24/2009, Emilia Carr, '8 months pregnant, was booked for first degree murder. Coming up, Emilia Carr faces the death penalty if convicted. I believe he deliberately set me up. And later Miss Ignacio actually started slamming the Sarmiento's head into a concrete block and was actually telling herself that that she needed to stop, but couldn't. I don't know how many times I did that to her. In February, the chilling murder of a young mother in the backwoods of a a small residential town shocked the citizens of Marion County, Florida. According to their confessions, Josh Fulghum and his girlfriend, Amelia Carr, lured Fulghum's twenty six year old wife to Amelia's trailer, where they suffocated her with a garbage bag. Charged with first degree murder, both defendants face the death penalty. Amelia Carr's trial began on 11/29/2010. The prosecution's strongest evidence came from the killer's own lips in a recorded conversation with Josh's sister, Michelle. I can play it off like I didn't know anything. That was pretty much the conversation that did her in. At trial, Emilia tried to explain away her confession as an attempt to assist police with the investigation. She said that she was trying to get details that she could bring to the detectives. Emilia believed that if police no longer considered her a suspect, then the state would release her kids from foster care. When I was talking to Michelle, I was trying to help myself and get my children back. But the jury heard for themselves that Amelia was not fishing for information to help police as she claimed. Why did she do it in the backyard? Because your brother just wanted her there for a little while, and he was gonna move her. We all heard on the tape. There was one person asking the questions, and that was Michelle. There was one person answering the questions, and that was Amelia. And as for Amelia's confession to police, according to the defense, it was all a lie. Amelia told me she was making up stories to the police. They're threatening me with my kids, so I start making up these stories based on everything that they had told me. She's pregnant. She's tired. She she just wants out, and she she made this false confession. When she took the witness stand, she claimed that she was feeding law enforcement lies so she could get her children back. False confessions do happen a lot, and you have a lot of innocent people in prison. But the defense's argument failed to sway the jury. You can tell she wasn't repeating a story she had heard. You could tell she was reliving all of those things that she had actually done. In addition to claiming that she made false statements to police, Amelia insisted that she was framed by her former lover, Josh, when he killed and buried Heather in her backyard. I believe he deliberately set me up. Amelia told me that she couldn't believe that he was gonna pin any of this on her. The defense was dealt a severe blow when two witnesses testified that Carr wanted Heather dead so she could have Josh all to herself. Jason Lotshaw, he testified that Amelia once offered him $500 if he would go and kill Heather for her. That testimony was corroborated by another witness. The jury was convinced. And on 12/07/2010, Amelia Carr was convicted of first degree murder. I just don't understand how I was convicted of murder for nothing more than a lie. She thought that she was gonna be found innocent because, like she told me, I am innocent. And they know what a monster Josh is. Emilia Carr's defense team had yet a new hurdle to overcome to save their client from lethal injection. What we do is we humanize killers in the eyes of the jury so they're not sentenced to death. One of the things that I wanted the jury to know was who Amelia was, that she was a caretaker, she was a loving mother. She would do anything for her kids. She loved being her mom. Her kids always came for us. In an effort to provide context, the defense revealed in court the horrible details of Amelia's childhood abuse. It did come out that Amelia Carr was sexually abused as a young girl. The defense called a clinical psychologist to the stand. She discussed the sexual abuse she suffered, how due to that, Amelia formed no emotional connections to these men. She did say that I could be manipulative in relationships. I get with men, and by the time they're falling for me, I'm bored, and I leave. I start being promiscuous. I wouldn't necessarily say it backfired, but the prosecution did take that point and run with it. But Emilia's dysfunctional background was not enough to sway the jury. They took only two hours to come back with their recommendation. On 02/22/2011, Emilia Carr was sentenced to death. Probably means waiting to wake up from this nightmare. I'm sitting on death row. How do you accept that? It's really hard. Terrifying. I'm I'm scared. Maya is exactly where she needs to be. She deserves the death penalty. I don't think I know anybody else that deserves it anymore than her and Josh. Josh Fulghum is set to go on trial for capital murder in October 2011. He has plead not guilty and claims Amelia was the one who killed Heather. Amelia's baby was adopted, and Heather's children are being raised by a loving family. That weighs heavy on my heart that Amelia is on death row. I don't believe that she killed Heather Strong. I really don't believe it. Amelia Carr is one of only 63 women currently on America's death row. She serves out her time in what she calls extreme isolation. A bed, a mattress, a toilet sink combination, and that's it. Four white walls and a window. People have no idea what death row is. We come out three times a week for two hour rec sessions followed by a ten minute shower. Other than that, we are locked down twenty four hours a day. I can't accept that this is what my life was meant to be. It doesn't make sense. I don't feel sorry for her because Amelia could've walked away, but she didn't. She took Heather's life, so she needs to give up her life. In my heart, I know she's innocent, and I'll die with that. I didn't kill her. The only thing I'm guilty of is telling a lie. Nothing more. Emilia Carr will most likely appeal her death row conviction, but until then, she will live in seclusion not knowing whether she will live or die. As for Heather's family and friends, they cherish her memory while struggling to come to terms with her death. My firstborn, my only daughter. Heather will be in my heart forever and ever. Coming up, a family fight. She was related to my mom. We were on the ground fighting, and I snapped. Yields concrete evidence. The piece of concrete, the bottom was just bright red with the blood. This is one of the most violent homicides that I've actually seen. The perpetrator takes a rock such as this and mash her skull in. I kept hitting her, and I seen that rock, and I started bashing in her head with it. She didn't seem like the type. She always tried to keep her peace. I'm Patricia Ignacio. I plead to second degree murder. They gave me fifteen years. Amid the stark and breathtaking beauty of Northeastern New Mexico lies a Navajo reservation. But there are no tribal casinos promising fast cash along these roadways. Here, many of the 180,000 Navajo eke out a meager existence, much the way they did two centuries ago. Technology hasn't reached the reservation. And in some areas, you're still hauling water because there's no electricity and just the isolation itself causes some of the problems. With jobs and upward mobility in short supply, hopelessness can give way to desperation. For native Americans, the rates for domestic violence and alcohol related suicide and homicide are four times the national average. The Navajo Reservation is a dry reservation. What you get is is that mass exodus on the weekends. It's drunk and driving, domestic violence, fights. 90% of of our dispatch calls are alcohol related. At 7PM on 11/25/2008, an anonymous tip led detectives to a remote area of town where transients go to drink. There, police found a body. Crime scene investigator detective Terry Eagle collected evidence at the scene. Where I'm standing is approximately where the victim's body was located. And her head would have been somewhere in this area right about here. Initially, I couldn't tell if the victim was a male or female. Her face was totally gone and and smashed in. I took the piece of concrete off the victim's head and turned it over. The bottom was just bright red with the blood. Using fingerprints, the medical examiner identified the legal limit and a slew of alcohol related arrests. When the case originally started, we were starting from ground zero. But just as detectives began working the case, they caught a lucky break. A crime stopper's tip yielded a possible suspect, 21 year old Patricia Ignacio, a single mother of three. Once we came up with the name Patricia Ignacio, things started falling into the place. According to police reports, at 01:30 in the afternoon, Patricia Ignacio and Irene Armenta met up and walked to the park with a bottle of whiskey. Once I ran into her, I decided to ask her if she wanted to go drink. Before a while, everything was good. That was the last time anyone saw Irene Armenta alive. It was 1988 in Shiprock, New Mexico when Patricia Ignacio, the third of four children, was born to an alcoholic mother and a father she didn't know. Her mom was living in Farmington walking the streets and drinking. My mom, she would just take off. I don't know my dad. My auntie, Lucia, raised me. Life on the reservation was hard. We had to haul water. We stayed out without electricity until February. According to Patricia, when her aunt started a family, she and her siblings were shipped to their grandmother. Patricia was a very difficult child. I think, grandma just couldn't handle her. She was rebellious. I felt like I was the problem. Like, I wasn't meant to be alive. I was just invisible to everybody. By age 12, Patricia was already on her way to becoming an alcoholic. At 14, she dropped out of school and a string of group homes, foster homes and juvenile detention centers followed. What I really wanted was just for my mom and my dad to just be there instead of saying, oh, I don't know who they are. At 17, Patricia met Rodriguez Lee. And although the relationship was rocky, they had three babies in rapid succession. Despite the fact that Rodriguez was not good to her, she still hung on to him. I started to drink and to get high again. It was like a daily basic. But the basics were precisely what Patricia could not provide for her children. She wouldn't have to ask people if they could buy Pampers for her. With no money, no prospects, and nowhere to go, Patricia pitched a tent near her grandmother's shack and moved in with her toddlers. When social services were notified, her children were placed in foster care. When I lost custody of my kids, it hurt so bad. I would go into Farmington to drink and get hyped, do crazy things, like, I was on a mission. In February, Patricia's mission of self destruction landed her a twenty three day stay in San Juan County Detention Center for assaulting a police officer. She had been involved in a fight. An officer responded, probably wasn't going to arrest her, and then she started to confront the officer. So she was arrested. Released from jail at 6AM on 11/25/2008, the 21 year old was spoiling for a fight. And by lunchtime, she had attacked a man at the Indian Center Soup Kitchen. But the violence was just beginning. A few hours later, full of rage and thirsty for alcohol, Patricia Ignacio then bumped into 40 year old Irene Armenta, a cousin. I met Irene at the Indian center that day. I decided to ask her if she wanted to go drink. She said yes. So this is a place that's kind of obscure. The perpetrator and the victim walked over, had a whiskey bottle, and basically, they came here to consume alcohol. But the more whiskey Patricia and Irene consumed, the more belligerent they became. According to Patricia, the first round of fighting was over Armento's boyfriend, Dean, who Patricia had met a couple of times. She thought that I was messing around with Dean. I didn't even know what she was talking about. There was no evidence of that, but obviously, at this point, they were intoxicated. When it started this fiasco, there was some pushing and shoving. We kinda got in a fist fight because I didn't want to be around arguments and all that. Patricia Ignacio said that she picked the victim up, gave her a big hug, continued drinking for a while, got into it again, maybe two or three times. As the afternoon wore on, Patricia's rage continued to build. It was the perfect storm for the tragic events that followed. My analogy would be something kinda like a boxing match where there would be a round, the action ceased, and then resumed. And then we have the final. Coming up, fighting words. She said that was a bad mom. Just a stupid drunk. Inside a fight to the death. I got her down. I kept hitting her. And when I seen that rock, I started bashing in her head with it. On 11/25/2008, single mother of three Patricia Ignacio was released from jail for assaulting an officer. By noon, the 21 year old was looking to numb her anger with hard alcohol. She met up with distant cousin and fellow Navajo, forty year old Irene Armenta. The pair walked toward a park to share a bottle of whiskey. I went running to her. She was always happy. She was a happy person. But happiness was short lived. After hours of drinking, the intoxicated women got into a violent wrestling match. We have these two people arguing, cooling off, drinking, confronting each other physically, cooling off. When Irene Armenta allegedly insulted Ignacio as a mother, Patricia says her temper and self hatred exploded. She said that I was a stupid mom, that I was a bad mom. As Armenta continued that she was worthless, that her kids were were better off without her. It hit me so hard when she mentioned my kids was she was right. She kept telling miss Armenta, stop. You're gonna be sorry. I'm gonna lose control, and she actually did. I got her down. There was this rock right there, and and I started bashing in her head with it. The victim was much older, much smaller. And at this point, once she's on the ground, she does not have the strength to withstand the rage that this younger person was delivering. It kept hitting her. I don't know how many times I did that to her. My conscience was telling me to stop. Stop. It stopped because I was mad, hurt by so many things. I let everything get to me from my childhood. I let it just all out. Patricia claims she thought Irene was still alive when she left the scene at 06:30PM. According to witnesses, Patricia then called a friend for a ride. She told him that she had gotten in a fight. Didn't know if the girl was alive. He was looking at me like, why why do you have blood on your face? I told him that I got in fight. And then the subject of food had come up. She leaves, goes to a fast food restaurant, has something to eat. After they had eaten, she wanted to go back and and check and see if everything was alright. I felt bad. I went back, and she was still laying on the ground. So I kicked her a little kick, and she moaned. She never called the police. She never called emergency medical people. She then leaves and goes back to the car and says, the victim's okay. While Patricia laid low on the reservation, an anonymous tip gave detectives the jump start they needed. We obtained information that miss Ignacio was possibly involved in a fight that obtained an attempt to locate her. Detectives posted Ignacio's mug shot in their briefing room. Four days later, a policeman conducted a routine traffic stop and spotted her in the back of a car. Upon seeing miss Ignacio, he remembered her picture from a briefing. He recognized me. He's always thinking, thank God it's done. I'm tired of running. When Patricia arrived at the police station, she wasn't talking. The first interview was like a roller coaster. And when asked if she had had known miss Armenta, she denied that, and stated she did not know who she was. I tried denying everything. But one way or another, the truth comes out. At first, Patricia claimed that on the day of the crime, after being released from detention, she had lunch at a Farmington charity and promptly hitched a ride back to the reservation. We confronted her with evidence that she had been in certain areas at certain times, and she continued to to leave out a majority of her day. Her story wasn't matching up. When detectives inquired about the clothing Patricia had worn the day of the murder, she lied again. I told the officers that I burned it, and he didn't believe me. After several hours of playing cat and mouse with police, Patricia finally had a change of heart. She took a break. She came back and she told the officer, okay. I'm gonna tell you the truth. I know I've done something wrong and I can't bring her back. I was, like, tired of just trying to lie my way out. Patricia Ignacio finally came clean and admitted to bludgeoning Irene Armenta to death. Facing thirty years in prison, Patricia plead guilty to second degree murder. She was sentenced to fifteen years. When they told me that I was getting fifteen years, I cried because I was thankful. She should pay some time for what she's done. It's not right to let someone lose their life because you get upset with them. At the same time, I feel sorry for Patricia because she had a hard life already. Patricia is serving her time at the New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility. She is a level four inmate, which is considered high risk. I like the level four. I like to be confined. It keeps my anger in check. The most chilling part about this case was the brutality, the violence, actually, taking a concrete block and and beating somebody over the head with it, then leaving the area and and basically going to eat lunch. Sometimes, I'll think it was an accident. And then other days, like, I'm a really bad person. Makes me sick. All I see is just her face. I do miss her. I miss her every day.
Comments