Death of a Dream | Full Episode | Forensic Files

Oh, pa. Spread the toes. Yes. Try and keep your chest lifted at quarter reach. >> Katherine had a wonderful ballet base.
She would take jazz class. She would take theater, dance class, any kind of dancing just to [music] be a dancer. I
remember being really interested in her right away. She was [music] dancing in one of the
studios. We started talking. The very next day, she called me. I was just like blown away. I'd never really had someone
be that kind of interested in me like that. >> I don't really know what to say. >> She came home on vacation for a few
weeks. I met her in the parking lot, spoke to her, and she just seemed real nice and I was like, "Wow, you know, I
never seen this girl before. You know, she's beautiful." We definitely liked each other. She accepted me for who I
was. >> She became my best friend. I told her everything. >> We were best friends.
>> She wanted to be friends with everybody. She needed people and she needed to be
around someone that she felt cared about her. >> I loved her deeply and I I would do
anything for her. I loved her. I would have did anything for her. [snorts] [music]
>> You have a young girl who comes from Ohio to New York. >> Welcome to 40 seconds for yourself.
a young girl trying to fulfill her dreams, trying to make it in New Big City. >> You have to pay the rent. You have to
work several hours a day, and then you have to dance several hours a day. It's grueling. It's tough. And not
everybody's going to make it. >> Things with her apartment and money and everything was really tight. [music]
>> Not a lot of people knew what she did to pay her rent. >> You get concerned for someone who feels
the need to do that. You could work one or two [music] days a week, make as much
as a person would make a normal week at a full job. >> She would hide some things from [music]
me because she would know that I wouldn't approve of them. She wouldn't want me to be ashamed of her.
>> She said [music] she was living with someone, an ex-boyfriend. She tried to kick him out several times.
>> I had moved out for a few weeks kind of to give us both space to clear our heads
and we both came to the conclusion that we could still live together. Their relationship was [music] strictly
platonic. They were friends. >> As far as I knew, you know, they were friends. >> We loved each other. We always were
thinking about each other. >> The day I met him, he actually had said that he had been seeing Catherine since
[music] August of the year before. >> I know from the conversation that I had with him, that it was the first time he
found out that we were intimate. >> I heard him out, but I told her and she denied it.
>> He called me up and he was like, "You better not see her anymore." remember a
few incidents where she was a little worried. I told Catherine to get a restraining order.
>> The news watch never [music] stops. An aspiring Broadway dancer found stabbed
to death. >> With 16 years as a police officer, never in my life have I ever seen anything so
[music] violent. My name is Detective Steven Gats and I was the lead investigator on the
Katherine Wood homicide. >> She was just such a beautiful person and I think that's why I fell in love with
her. I felt like she was my angel. >> David and Paul were our two main suspects.
>> Death of a dream. Every 7 [music] 8 9 10year-old that goes and sees a Broadway show, all they can
think about is, "Oh, I'm going to be up there someday." Some children never lose that fantasy.
>> Katherine Woods was one of them. >> It was her dream. It's what she wanted to do. She wasn't going to be happy
until she reached her goal, which was to dance on Broadway. She just looked like
a dancer, looked like a star. >> Katie Miller and Catherine met as children in a Columbus, Ohio dance
studio. With her big [music] smile and personality, Catherine was the image of the all-American Midwestern girl.
>> You can't take your eyes off her. And it comes through in her dancing and in her
personality. Were other girls that she would dance with a little jealous. >> I would say I was. Sometimes it'd be
like, well, wait a minute. I'm here, too. Catherine's father, John Woods, the well-known director of the Ohio State
University marching band and a music professor, had hoped his oldest child would follow him into music. I would
think in the Woods family, don't you have to play an instrument? >> Well, we like to see that. [laughter]
>> But Catherine made it clear all she wanted to do was dance. >> For some people, dancing is like
breathing. I mean, why would I do anything else? I want to I need to dance. >> She told me that if she didn't leave
now, she never would. She had these taken. >> In the summer [music] of 2002, when
Catherine was just 17, her father and mother, Donna, drove her to New York. They were filled with hope and anxiety.
>> She had never lived away from home. I mean, this was a true coming of age, going to the biggest city in the United
States and going to start putting a career together >> once you get upstairs. >> For the next 3 years, Catherine seemed
to thrive in New York, taking dance, voice, and acting lessons. And on a visit back home, Catherine found love.
>> Met her at a pool hall. David Han, then a 20-year-old rap musician, was selling
his CDs in a parking lot when he met Catherine. You started off as friends. >> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Did you ever think you'd end up dating her? >> I wasn't sure. I I I felt chemistry. We
definitely had liked each other. >> Weeks later, David moved to New York to be with her and pursue his career.
>> I think we fed off each other. I know I really fed off her. In many ways, they
were an unlikely couple. Catherine grew up in middlecl class comfort with her parents and two younger siblings. David
was raised in foster homes. Being with Catherine made you feel that you had a family again.
>> Yeah, she made me feel confident about myself. I looked up to her so much almost in a way as a parent.
>> How serious were you and Catherine? >> We're real serious. married as far as I'd say we thought about it.
>> But sometime in 2005, the relationship became strained. Catherine was paying David's bills and the money [music] was
tight. Finally, she broke it off with David. Although she allowed him to remain living in the apartment,
>> she told me she wanted him to move out, but she didn't want to kick him out cuz
she would feel bad. >> We still got along. We were still friends. We were best friends. When you
first started dating Catherine, did you know she was living with David? >> Um, no, not at first.
>> Catherine was 20 years old when she met 24year-old Paul Cortez, [music] a trainer at her gym.
>> By early 2005, Paul says they were dating. >> Do you think David knew you existed?
>> I I don't think so. I think, you know, in that situation when one is just breaking up with someone else and, you
know, and you're seeing someone new, I I don't think I I wouldn't think Catherine
would tell him about me. >> That summer, Paul unexpectedly [music] showed up at the apartment while David
was there and told David that he had been dating Catherine for almost a year. >> How did he react?
>> He was upset. He was surprised, >> but Paul got a surprise as well. >> Did you realize that David still thought
they were boyfriend girlfriend? >> Yeah. Yeah, that's what he told me. And I was like, "Okay, well that's not
good." >> Later, David called Paul. >> How would you describe the tone of that call?
>> Oh, he was definitely angry. He was upset. >> Did he threaten you at any point?
>> Yeah, he was like, "Don't see her again or else." >> And what was that or else?
>> I don't know. I don't know what the or else was. [music] For the next four months, Catherine
continued to live with David [music] and secretly date Paul. But according to Katie, Catherine was still searching for
true love. She'd say, "Why do I always get these guys? Why can't I find Mr. Wright who rides up on a on a horse and
comes and picks me up and we go riding off into sunset?" One week after Katie last spoke with Catherine,
Catherine was dead. [music] On the night of November 27th, 2005, Katherine Woods was getting ready to go
to work when David Han says he left their apartment to pick up his car. >> How long were you gone?
>> 20, 30 minutes. When he returned, David says he [music] made a chilling discovery. It
>> was a bad scene. There's blood everywhere. So, it was bad. My first instinct is to call 911.
>> Baby girl. Captain. Captain. Baby girl. Oh my goodness. I don't know what happened.
>> Is she there? >> Yeah. There's blood everywhere. I don't even know if she's alive. I'm scared to
look at her. Catherine was on the bedroom floor face down in blood. I didn't know if it was an accident or
what it was. I really didn't know. I just was really in shock. >> Catherine had been stabbed [music] 20
times, her throat cut twice. >> It was a brutal scene. The manner in which she was killed was absolutely
horrible. [music] >> Did you find any weapon? >> No. >> New York City police detective Steven
Gets led the investigation. >> To be honest with you, the first thing that I remember thinking to myself was,
"This girl is dead on her floor in her bedroom and she has a family out there and they don't even know that she's
dead." Catherine's mom and dad were 500 miles away at home in Columbus when three
police officers arrived. >> I [music] said, "How bad is it?" And he said, "It's bad." And I said, "Is she
dead?" And he said, "Yes." Once I heard [music] she was dead, I was in shock and have trouble remembering
some of that conversation. Wins News Time 5:43. An aspiring Broadway dancer found stabbed to death
nearly decapitated in her Upper East Side apartment last night and police are interviewing the boyfriend who called
them to say he found her. >> At the precinct, police began grilling David Han. >> I really just couldn't believe it was
happening. I kept asking God in my head, you know, why is this happening? >> Detective Get says the killer left what
appeared to be a bloody handprint on a bedroom wall and several bloody bootprints in the apartment, including
one left on Catherine's back. What size of shoe left those prints? >> I believe it was estimated at a 10 and a
half. >> And what size of shoe does David H wear? >> 10 and 1/2. Did the police [music] at first accuse
you? I mean, did they say, "Come on, David." >> Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. >> And what did you say to them?
>> I told them, "No, you have the wrong person. You have the wrong person. I would never never hit that girl.
Not at all. I loved her. I would have did anything for her." >> As the interrogation wore on, David
showed little emotion or grief. >> I couldn't even cry. Even afterwards, the detectives were asking me, "If you
love this girl so much, why are you not crying?" Look at him. I don't know. I really don't know.
>> Now to a murder investigation on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A 21-year-old woman found dead in her
apartment on East 86 Street. >> The brutal end to a beautiful young woman's life and dreams was the lead
story that morning. Iette Cortez heard it on the radio as she was getting ready for work. and they mention a dancer,
Katherine Woods. >> When Avette saw Catherine's picture in the paper, she recognized her instantly.
Her face was there. I bet [music] is Paul Cortez's mother. She knew her son had been seeing
Katherine Woods, which is why the rest of the story [music] sent her into a panic.
>> Wood's boyfriend is still here inside the 19th precinct station house where he's being questioned by police.
>> They just kept on mentioning the boyfriend being held and I didn't know what that meant.
>> Well, you didn't know whether they were referring to Paul >> exactly, but I tracked him down. He was
at work. He didn't even realize what was happening. Evette went to the health club where Paul was working to break the
news to him. >> She told me that um that Catherine was uh killed the night before
just like my I just buckled. I I I remember just kind of sitting on this stoop right almost outside of the club
and and um I just couldn't believe it. I was just in complete shock. Later that day, the police called Paul
and brought him in for questioning. [music] >> How would you describe Paul Cortez?
>> Quiet. He came to the precinct with his mother. He seemed like a very nice person.
>> As police were questioning Paul Cortez in one room of the precinct and David Han in another, they were learning
something else about Catherine's life that could have a bearing on her death. In the months before Katherine was
murdered, she was working as a dancer in a topless club. For the tabloid press, [music] it was
suddenly a sensational story. For investigators, [music] it opened up a whole other line of possible motives and
suspects. >> Probably the sweetest girl that's ever walked in here or the most innocent.
Yeah, definitely. I think >> Chloe hired and managed the dancers at a club called Privilege.
>> I looked at her and I'm like, "What is this girl doing here?" Because she looks
like the girl next door. She needed to have money to live on. >> Catherine, who worked under the name
Ava, danced nights so she could audition and attend classes during the day. She hid that part of her life from her
parents. >> Would you tell your parents if you were doing that? I mean, I certainly wouldn't
tell my parents, >> but Catherine did confide in friends from home like Katie Miller.
>> I just was like, you know, this isn't you. This isn't what she's like, I know.
I know. >> Was Catherine having trouble with one of the customers? If so, she never
mentioned it to anyone. Katie spoke with Catherine the week before she died. >> And did she seem worried about anything?
Not at all. Um, afraid of anyone? >> No. >> Six hours after Paul Cortez and his mother Evette arrived at the police
precinct, they were allowed to leave. >> They just let the two of you go. >> Mhm.
>> And did you think it was over then? >> Absolutely. >> It wasn't though. >> No.
Police discovered that Paul, like David, wears a 10 and a half size shoe. And there's more. A serious [music] problem
with a written statement Paul gave to police detailing what he did the day of Catherine's murder. Where did Paul say
he was at the time Catherine was murdered? >> He said he was home in his apartment.
According to detective Gats, Paul told police he was making calls at his apartment a mile and a half away from
Catherine's. But when police set out to verify his story, Paul's cell phone [music] records indicated something
else. Paul called Catherine a dozen times shortly before 6:00 [music] p.m. the evening she was killed. If he had
been home, his calls would normally go through a cell tower in his neighborhood. Instead, some of those
calls were handled by a tower just two blocks from Katherine's apartment. >> Did at any time, Paul say to any officer
that he was in [music] Catherine's neighborhood when she was murdered? >> No. Paul always had
goals and that ambition [music] to strive for them. >> Iette Cortez always believed her son
Paul was going places. >> He's just does so much with his life and [music] to live vicariously through all
his accomplishments. Evette was a single mom when she was raising her three children in a tough
neighborhood in the Bronx. >> That's my poy. >> Paul, her youngest, earned scholarships
at some of New York's most prestigious prep schools. >> I don't mean to ask a personal question,
but could you have really afforded to send him to these private schools on your own?
>> Of course not. >> He actually had to win those [music] spots. >> Absolutely. He worked really hard for
everything that he has. But it meant Paul had to rise before dawn each day for the 2-hour ride to school. He
>> was this tiny [music] little thing carrying a book bag that was probably twice his weight in his little suit.
>> He didn't just thrive academically. Paul also stood out on the stage, starring in high school productions of
Pippen [music] >> and Westside Story. He has done such amazing pieces [music] that it blows me away.
>> Paul got a scholarship at Boston University where he majored in theater, the first in his family to get a college
[music] degree. He sounds like in some ways he was really kind of the future of your family, the hope of your family.
>> Absolutely. We always saw him that way. At 24, Paul replaced show tunes with rock.
>> He was the lead singer and lyricist for a New York band, Monolith. [music] >> He's got a great voice. He's a fantastic
singer >> and he had lots of ideas. [music] >> Paul also had a day job. He worked as a
trainer in the gym where he met Katherine Woods. >> She was playful. That's what I liked
about her. She's really like open and you could see like a compassion in her eyes and I I love that about her.
>> Within a couple of months, Paul and Catherine were dating. >> We would just talk to each other [music]
all night for like hours on end, just about everything. aspirations, [music] you know, our our dreams, our, you know,
how much we cared about each other. And >> but when Paul learned [music] Catherine
was dancing on the side in topless clubs, he insisted that she stop when you told her you didn't want her dancing
in these clubs, how did she react? >> Well, basically like, uh, you know, I know what you're saying, but it really
isn't any of your business, and I I'm going to be careful, and nothing's going to happen [music] to me. But in April
2005, something did happen while Catherine was working at Privilege. >> In the middle of the night, Catherine
called me and she was crying and she was like, "Please come. Please come here." >> Paul went to the club to get her.
>> I had never seen her like that, just stumbling. And her eyes were just like pins. She She looked like she was on
drugs or really drunk. >> Catherine believed [music] a customer slipped drugs into her drink and that
she might have been molested. >> I told her, "I can't [music] have anything like that ever happen again."
>> When she told him she planned to go back to work, Paul went through her cell phone and found her father's telephone
number. >> It was in the morning, wasn't it? >> It may have been in the morning. Paul
called Catherine's father and told him where Catherine had been working and what had happened that night.
>> Did you tell her you were going to call her dad? >> No. >> When he told me as a father, I thought,
"Wow, you know, thank you for this information." And >> John took the next flight to New York to
confront his daughter. But Catherine told her father the story wasn't true. >> How did Catherine react to the fact you
called her parents? >> Oh my gosh, she was so mad. She was really mad. >> They broke up. Paul says, but not for
long. >> We realized that we loved each other. We always were thinking about each other
and and we got back together. >> But just how serious a relationship it was is in dispute.
>> Playing the best music on earth, monolith. >> Catherine did go to one of Paul's
performances that summer and he introduced her to his mom. >> He he did mention that he loved her.
Yet, apparently, Catherine never told her friends or family that she was even dating Paul.
>> If the two of you were in love with each other, why didn't she tell any of her
friends she was dating you? >> I don't know. I I thought she did. >> As for Catherine's other boyfriend,
David Han, P believed he was out of the picture. >> I had moved out for a few weeks. I went
to her friends. I met >> But in fact, David moved back in with Catherine not long before she was
killed. >> You didn't know that he had actually moved back in with her? >> No, I didn't.
>> She never told you. >> I believe that he loved her, but I do believe that there was [music] a certain
obsession there. Lead detective Steven Gets says Paul's obsession and jealousy is [music] plain to see in the journals
he wrote. And so is something else. The writings were very violent. Spoke about slashing people's throats.
>> Police point to some of the songs and poems Paul wrote as proof that he had a
deep-seated anger towards women [music] and Catherine in particular. At one point, Paul, you wrote, "She wipes clean
the shaft that cuts her throat and then Catherine's throat is cut. That's how she dies."
>> It's a poem. I mean, >> Paul says he wrote that poem 8 months before Catherine's murder after she told
him she had once been sexually assaulted at knife point. I >> mean, to say I was plowing this thing 8
months before, it's ridiculous. I didn't know what was going to happen to her that night.
You can take anything out of context and [music] make it sound the way you want it to fit and tailor it to your needs.
>> But the meaning of Paul's writings wouldn't have mattered at all if Paul could prove where he was when Catherine
was murdered. On the night that Catherine was killed, did you go to her apartment?
>> No. >> You love this woman. She had lied to you over those months. Did you in fact that night just snap and
kill her? >> No, I would never do that. >> Paul could have had an alibi. >> We had rehearsal scheduled for 6:00
[music] p.m. that Sunday night and uh Paul didn't show up. >> Alex RDE was one of Paul's bandmates in
Monolith. >> Was that normal? Did he? >> No, he usually showed up. >> So that night he just didn't show up at
all. >> No. Alex says Paul's performances have been getting erratic and he had planned
to ask Paul to leave the band that night. So, where was Paul? >> I called him around 8:00
and I asked him why he wasn't there and he said that he had overslept. >> One of the few times you'd ever miss a
practice happens to be at the time that Katherine is killed. >> I didn't go to rehearsal because they
were going to tell me, "You're [music] not part of the band anymore." And I didn't want to have that whole
conversation that night. >> Are you troubled though by the fact he didn't come to your rehearsal at 6:00
p.m. that very night? >> If he had come, then there would be no problem. [music] We would all vouch for
him. There would been no problem at all. It's like, no, he was with us. It's impossible.
He would have been 100 blocks away. We're convinced she knew this person and that this person knew her.
The two men who knew Kathern Woods best are both suspects. [music] But as days passed, Detective Steven
gets focused less on David Han and more on Paul Cortez. >> My feeling is if Paul Cortez had nothing
to do with this, then he had no reason to lie. >> Police say Paul hid from them the fact
that he was in Catherine's neighborhood at the time of the murder, leaving it out of his written statement.
in here. You never mentioned that you were right down in her neighborhood, just blocks from her house. Why not? I
>> I just remember that point just being a haze. Just I I was still in shock. I just found out that someone that I love
dearly was killed, that [music] I was a suspect for it as well. And I didn't know what to do or what what to think or
what to really put in. >> And then police got a big break. In the midst of this bloody crime scene,
they say they were able to isolate one single fingerprint. >> We were able to match that fingerprint
to Paul Cortez's fingerprint. >> Paul Cortez has been indicted [music] now on murder charges.
>> Paul Cortez was arrested and held [music] without bail. >> That person had nothing to do with the
Paul Cortez I know. >> Margarite Shannona had met Paul just a few months earlier on a yoga retreat. He
had been at my house a couple of weeks before Catherine was killed. And he was flirty. He was fun. He was warm.
>> She is so sure of Paul's innocence. She used her own money and borrowed thousands more to help pay for his
defense. >> Don't some of your friends say, "Margarite, why would you put yourself
out on the limb so much for this guy?" >> Yeah, some of my friends do say that. So, uh, they seem to fall into two
camps. The one camp thinks I'm crazy and the other camp thinks I'm a saint. Over
the next year, Margarite created a website to build support for Paul Cortez. >> Let's just go through like the DD5s
>> and helped hire lawyers. How confident are the two of you in this case that you'll be able to get Paul Cortez
acquitted? >> I'm confident. >> We believe we have somebody who's innocent. >> Defense attorneys Don Florio and Laura
Miranda. >> He has a very gentle, caring soul about him. I can't even imagine that somebody
like this could have committed um such a vicious crime. >> We really need to focus, you know,
because of her profession, she was exposed to so many people who could have done her harm.
>> They say there could be any number of other suspects that a customer from one of the topless
clubs could have killed Catherine. >> Catherine, baby girl. Catherine, baby girl. I'm scared to look at her.
>> They also believe police were too quick to clear David Han. David is the one who gave up his life.
He came from Ohio to live with this woman. Catherine [music] was kicking David out of the apartment. So, if
anyone had a motive, I'd say it was more David than Paul. Her reasoning, a neighbor testified
hearing [music] screams coming from Catherine's apartment about 20 minutes before David said he left the apartment.
But police investigated David's movements that night, and they believe he was out of the apartment for a much
longer time and couldn't have been there at the time of the murder. John Woods was the first person to take
the stand in his daughter, Catherine's murder trial. >> 14 months after Catherine's death, Paul
Cortez goes on trial for murder. The people's case is designed not to prove that Paul Cortez is the kind of person
who would have done this, but that in fact he was the person who did this. >> Manhattan Assistant District Attorney
Peter Castillo paints Paul Cortez as an obsessed boyfriend who didn't want to share Catherine with anyone else.
>> Failure in love often leads to anger and murder. And that's that's precisely what
happened here, ladies and gentlemen. Castillo says that after months of Catherine seeing other men, Paul was
like a volcano ready to erupt. And on that night, Paul waited outside the apartment,
watched David leave, and then slipped in to kill Catherine. >> It's the defendant's persistent use of
his cell phone that puts him in hot water. here. >> Castillo introduces the phone records
that prove Paul was in Catherine's neighborhood, calling her numerous times right before she was killed. And then
the phone calls stop. >> He never ever ever calls Katherine Woods again. Is that a
coincidence? Is that why he stops calling her? Or is it because he already knows she's
dead and there's nobody to answer the phone? >> How do you explain that? >> And there's nothing to explain. I I
called her many times and I left messages and >> that was before 6:00. >> Yeah. And I figured after I left the
last message of, "Hey, call me when you get out of work." I figured that was it.
>> Did Paul have any injuries after? >> None at all. >> None. Was there any DNA of Paul's found
underneath Katherine's fingernails? >> Absolutely none. >> No DNA found in the apartment
whatsoever. >> There is little physical evidence that connects [music] Paul to the murder, but
what does exist is incriminating. >> His fingerprint is in her blood put there at the time of the murder, and
there is no innocent explanation for that. >> But the defense attorneys say there is
other evidence that points to someone other than Paul. And look at his hair. Take down your hair.
>> Unidentified strands of hair found in Catherine's hand that didn't belong to Paul and were never tested by police.
>> Catherine had hair in her hand. And there were hairs that were never tested for DNA.
>> The last piece of really critical evidence are the footprints. The footprints are undoubtedly left by the
killer. Those bloody footprints in Catherine's apartment, say the prosecutor, were left by a man wearing
Sketcher boots, size 10 and a half. Do you own any Sketcher boots? >> No. >> And police never found any,
but they did find a surprise witness. His name is Spencer Liberowitz. He knew Paul from the gym. Spencer testified
that he saw Paul at this bar the night Catherine was murdered and that Paul was wearing Sketcher boots.
>> Why would Spence say that? >> I don't know. I don't know why he would say that. Honestly, I don't.
>> Surprising testimony because a year earlier, Spencer told 48 hours that he had no memory of what Paul was wearing.
>> Did you get a close look at Paul? >> No. >> How was he dressed? Do you remember?
>> No. >> Paul claims that he was wearing these Johnston and Murphy shoes. >> You're sure that that afternoon you were
wearing these Johnston and Murphy shoes? Shoes, not boots of any kind? >> And Paul's attorneys say they have video
that will prove it. This surveillance tape from a store that shows what Paul was wearing just [music] hours before
the murder. As the trial comes to an end, it's the evidence that the defense hopes will
convince the jurors that Paul Cortez is innocent of murder. Paul [music] Cortez stabbed Catherine 20
times. He slit her throat and then stabbed her larynx. [music] There is no doubt in my mind that he's a
monster. >> John and Donna Woods don't need to wait for the verdict. They are already
convinced Paul Cortez killed their daughter. >> Did you in fact kill Catherine Woods?
>> No, I didn't. >> But what will the jury think? I worry about everything that might give the
jurors [music] reason to doubt. >> For Paul's family, there's nothing but doubt. [music]
>> How can you have a crime scene with hair samples and not follow up on that? That
doesn't make sense to me. >> How could you brutally murder someone like that and walk away clean?
>> What do you think the verdict's going to be? [music] >> Not guilty. >> Not guilty.
>> Not guilty. >> Paul's lawyers are feeling confident, too. >> We think that there is no way that this
jury will be able to convict him. As one day of deliberations rolls into two, >> there could be a hung jewelry.
>> The pressure on everyone intensifies. >> I was very nervous. I couldn't concentrate.
>> I didn't really eat. I didn't really sleep. >> Anything and everything is a possibility
when it comes to the jurors. >> He's this creative person. He worked very hard with his life. He had no
history of violence. He had a loving family. >> [music] >> Behind closed doors, jurors were
fighting it out. >> I really thought he was innocent. >> Guilty. Especially with the fingerprint.
>> At the beginning, the majority believed Paul Cortez was guilty. >> It was seven guilty, five innocent.
>> Four jurors sat down with us. They asked not to be identified by name, but they
were willing to give us a rare look back at the drama that was unfolding inside the jury room.
>> The first time in my life I've ever cried in public. I think >> three of the women thought the cops may
have gotten the wrong guy. For them, David Han, Catherine's other boyfriend, was a much better suspect. [music]
>> At first, I thought he was guilty. >> Actually, I thought he could have done it. I thought he was more likely the
type of personnel to do it rather than the defendant. >> Still, almost everyone on the jury was
concerned that Paul gave police the impression he was at home the night Catherine was murdered. He was in fact
just blocks away. That was so gripping for me. [music] You know, everybody looked at that.
>> Yeah, he lied on there clearly. >> They were even more bothered by the fact that Paul had no alibi for the time
Catherine was killed and never tried calling her after that. >> If you're that worried about her, you
would call, but he didn't call. >> As the hours wore on, two jurors stubbornly refused to convict. If they
didn't change their minds, there was going to be a hung jury and Paul Cortez could go free. And then they decided to
look at one more piece of evidence. This video, the video that Paul's defense put
into evidence at the end of the trial. It's the surveillance tape from the appliance store PC Richards, where Paul
Cortez had gone shopping just hours before the murder. >> I watched that clip by clip by clip.
Paul's attorneys say the video proves Paul was wearing these shoes that day, not these boots, which are similar to
what the killer wore. >> To me, it looked like the Johnston Murphy shoes. That's why I put it in.
>> But what did the jurors see? >> It was very clearly boots. The boots. It was boots there.
>> Right there. That's boots. >> Look at the back leg. Look how thick that sole is right there. Yeah.
>> The bulk of the shoe on top. That's the first thing I noticed. >> Boots usually have a bigger front. This
clearly had a bigger front. >> For the holdouts, it was the tipping point. This grainy, blurred video made
everything crystal clear. They believed Paul was wearing the Sketcher boots. >> That really [music] convinced me.
>> I couldn't hold on to my position any longer. And if I hadn't changed, it would have been a hung jury. The [music]
defense really gave us something against him. >> In a bitter irony, the evidence that
sealed Paul Cortez's fate came from his own defense lawyers. Either they are dumb or they are very careless.
>> They were the ones to help him hang. >> This just in to the WCBS newsroom. >> It was [music] a guilty verdict.
>> Guilty for Paul Cortez. After a day and a half of deliberations, the jury finds
Paul Cortez guilty of seconddegree murder. >> You're heart drops to your stomach and
then you just it just kind of obliterates you. >> What did you think the jury was going to
do? >> I thought at least they they would not be able to decide. What if I told you
that two individuals >> who were on the fence who might have hung the jury changed their mind
>> based on that videotape. >> It would be the mistake of our lives and it's terrible. You know, I'd feel
responsible for him being convicted. >> The verdict [music] changes nothing for Paul's mother, Evette.
>> Paul will always be my baby. I'll always be there for him and his oldest family.
>> But for Catherine's parents, John and Donna, the verdict comes as a relief. Although it is no consolation. There's
no happy ending to this. It isn't like [music] anybody really wins. We've lost a daughter and the Cortez
family will have lost a son. >> But loss is no longer what John and Donna Woods want to focus on. They want
to remember how much their daughter Catherine lived in her very short life. >> She was 20 years [music] old,
independent and strong and going after her dream. >> [music] >> With a little luck, she might have made
it. [music] >> [music] [music] [music]

An aspiring Broadway dancer is murdered. Did her secrets contribute to her death? "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports in this June 2008 episode. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Katherine Woods, an aspiring dancer, was murdered; her relationships and the investigation reveal complex dynamics leading to Paul Cortez's conviction.

Key points

The Investigation Begins. Detective Steven Gats leads the investigation into Katherine's tragic death.
Katherine's Dream. Katherine Woods aspired to dance on Broadway, embodying the dream of many young performers.
A Brutal Discovery. David Han discovers Katherine's body in a shocking scene of violence.
Secrets Revealed. Catherine was working as a dancer in a topless club, a fact hidden from her family.
A Father's Concern. Paul Cortez's actions raise questions about his relationship with Katherine.
The Obsession Unveiled. Paul's obsession with Catherine is revealed through his writings and behavior.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

She just looked like a dancer, looked like a star.

4:22WatchMar 5, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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