The Journals of Maria Muñoz | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[Music] [Music] i1 was the of emergency h i call my wife on responsive she's not
breathing she may have taken to some pills okay what is your [Music] [Applause] address when we get the alert tone they
say it's an overdose they're saying that he's performing CPR oh is somebody [Music]
coming he's on his third fourth fifth cycle three and that's when I get to the house I'm Officer gorio De La Cruz I was
the first officer on the scene hello what's going on M subject shows up at the door and he just turns around and
darts into the residence I can see him heading up the stairs I just see his shadow from the light that's on so I
followed him what's going on he's helping giving CPR he's wearing scrubs so I believe
he's a higher level of care than I can provide and I ask him you want me to help do I help you and he right away
relinquishes giving CPR what did she take I think Flynn has a p she's been pretty depressed lately I
don't see any drugs usually when somebody overdoses on drugs the pills are nearby the needle
nearby the syringe something's nearby and nothing was I'm probably at the scene within the
next 30 to 45 minutes I'm Sergeant Luis Mata Jr I was the lead detective in the case then I
start trying to get information from him and I noticed him not answering fully and when I asked him what's going on Jo
he goes well I live a very private life and those questions are something that I
don't want coming out Maria had been seeking help through the church through a pastor wasn't she
also being treated for severe depression and anxiety she had been getting some medical attention as well but this case
was unique CU she was also expressing her thoughts her feelings her emotions in a
diary my fears are losing my family losing my husband damaging my kids making the wrong choice as the da my job
was putting the right team together to work this case she described that she was going
through a tough time but that she loved those kids and she could couldn't wait to do more in the
future I want to be a good mom a mom that is present engaged and involved with my kids how important how crucial
were those journals very she wasn't a drug abuser she loved those kids she would never leave them
behind there's no way [Music] [Music] in the early morning hours of September 22nd
2020 when Laredo Police Officer gregoria De La Cruz walked inside the home on Canyon Oak
Drive his body camera was is recording the emergency unfolding in front of him what's going on at the top of the
stairs near the main bedroom helel poo dressed in teal surgical scrubs was performing CPR on his wife Maria Munoz D
La Cruz soon took over we sometimes zoom into the body cam footage to avoid graphic
material what kind of shape was she in when you started giving her SE she was warm she was still warm to the
touch while Dill Cruz desperately tried to revive Maria he asked her husband about the drugs Hela told the 911
operator his wife may have taken some pills he stands up he goes to the restroom he opens a medicine cabinet I
can I can tell all this cuz I hear it I'm not really sure upon his return he hands D Cruz a
pill container a Kazaam is a drug that is often used to treat anxiety it had been prescribed to
hoel not to his wife Maria D La Cruz quickly tossed the pill container aside to continue CPR how told D La Cruz that
Maria had been struggling lately she's been super depressed how told the officer that the couple's two young Sons
were still in separate bedrooms nearby here asleep yeah seemingly unaware of what was happening
to their mother Maria she would like to take her children to the park she read to them
before they went to bed just her really dedicated mother yazin Martinez says her
friend Maria adored her boys 5-year-old Alejandro and Valentino who was turning two I am happy I am happy Maria enjoy
being a sad her mom take 1,000 she was learning to play the piano and planning to resume her career
I asked her if she had gone to school and she said yes she was a nurse in Puerto Rico and she's like I'm actually
studying to take my test so I could work here it was in Puerto Rico where Maria met hel peot he was 11 years older and a
nursing student a few years after they married the couple moved to Laredo Texas Howell had landed a lucrative job as a
nurse anesthetist known in the medical profession as a CRNA a nurse anesthetist or a CRNA certified registered nurse
anesthetist and a physician anesthesiologist use the same medication same techniques to provide anesthesia
for people of all ages Tina dores also as CRNA worked with Howell peot at doctor's hospital in Theo did he seem
dedicated to his work yes very much so he he always wanted to be better when I first met him he was very family
oriented a hard worker smart guy he would always talk about Maria and Alejandro and showing pictures of his
son and just talking about family life in general and now at the payot home paramedics and police were struggling to
save the life of the young wife and mother when more help arrived de Cruz sent H peo downstairs to the kitchen and
that's when D La Cruz realized that the pill container he had tossed to the side
earlier hey there was some drugs here was now missing he had a prescription drug where is it I was like he has to
have them so that's when I ask hey does he have pills he comes up to the first landing of the stairs and he tosses them
to me all right so he had taken him now I'm thinking now you're trying to hide something at 3:58 Less Than 3 hours
after helel peota call 911 his wife 31-year-old Maria Munos was declared dead inside their
home what's going on what happened police began asking how what had happened to his wife we had sex we took
a shower then I I thought she was like knocked out and then I go back upstairs and then
she just by now things just didn't feel right to the investigators and there was
something about Howell's appearance that seemed suspicious he was really sweaty I'm wearing a vest I'm wearing a gun I'm
wearing almost 20 pounds of gear right and I'm not sweating as bad as he is so what went through your mind when you saw
how sweaty he was he's using drugs he may be under the influen of drugs you want to see a fire truck come
on let's go outside the couple's children now in the care of law enforcement what's your name were
escorted outside my name is Alejandro Alejandro authorities immediately launched a death
investigation when I get there um I meet with Officer De La Cruz he runs the information by me lead investigator
Sergeant Lise mat didn't know if Maria had died by Suicide died an accidental overdose or if her husband was somehow
involved Ma knew he needed to search the house but to do it he would have to get
hoel pe's permission and he said well I don't want you going through my stuff cuz I'm a very private man then I said
look Joel I'm not going to force you to this is your right but I'm going to have
to go and get with my da and apply for a search warrant yeah leave Howell eventually gave consent for this search
still ma had a lot of questions to get some answers he directed authorities to put how in a police
cruiser to take him to the station could you see him before you went in I could see him through my
camera everything's there is recorded he's hitting walls he's moving furniture it was scaring some of the people down
the hall in the dispatch room so that's how loud it was holding up around 4:00 a.m. ma begins his
interview with helel peot who claims he had given Maria that container of Kazaam
prescribed to him is it possible that she swallowed them [Applause] all how many pills were there
before I don't know posals I really don't he couldn't remember the minorous things I don't
know how many times I asked him play back to me the minute you got there what did you do and he well what did I do
what did I do what did I do well you know what if you remember the truth you don't have to think about it
what was the time period between the time you got out of the shower to when you noticed say she's not really
responding anymore 10 minute not 100% sure the sudden death of a healthy 31-year-old Woman Like Maria Munoz
didn't make sense to Sergeant Louise Mata and neither did her husband helel pe's explanation
his initial statement was that he went in and took a shower he thought she was asleep and then 10 minutes later he
realizes that she's unresponsive responsive on the bed when a common person showers what's going to
be in the bathroom steam condensation the smell of soap or shampoo that master bedroom shower which
is the one that he alleged to use was as dry as a desert investigators had also discovered a syringe wrapper on the
floor yeah hey there's a needle right here and a needle catheter on the stairs syringes and IV equipment in a medical
bag were found inside the home why would there be syringes in the house so like I
don't know then H makes a hand gesture and Taps his bicep me with h payot at the police
station Maria's close friend Angela Montoya and her husband Louis Ayala rushed over to the house to take care of
the kids Louise A co-worker of H says he had begun to see changes in hel's physique and personality two years
before Maria's death he lose a l weight and then start gaining muscles did you suspect that maybe he was taking
steroids maybe maybe he was changing like more friendly with girls flirting more yeah the family man who had once
bragged to friends and colleagues about his wife and kids began changing his social media post too he deleted the
pictures of Maria or he just started posting everything by himself not with his kids Howell in demand as a nurse
anesthetist was making a lot of money and according to Angela he enjoyed showing off his wealth he has this new
sporty car I bought Maria that one and I bought myself this one bragging about it
but friends say that changes they saw in haah went much deeper in 2018 around the
same time Maria gave birth to the couple Second Son how began pursuing a woman named Janet Arondo a surgical nurse he
met at work Joelle took Janet to like a vacation spree in Europe I don't recall which countries were that he well there
was one trip there was Spain and then the next trip was France and Greece there you go there you go so so Maria
found out about that while he was there with Janet according to Angela Maria confirmed her suspicion about her
husband's infidelity when she found a plane ticket for one of his European trips when her disappointment turned
into deep depression she was prescribed medication but perhaps the best medicine
for Maria turned out to be her daily journals discovered in her home by investigators
I don't want to be sad anymore I don't want my heart to hurt I don't want my mind to be in torture yet at times she
seemed hopeful believing her faith could mend the couple's 10-year marriage Lord this is a lot for me all I
really want to do is see change in him and it seemed to be working just months after her husband had taken his mistress
on those European vacations how treated Maria to a lavish getaway in Las Vegas and she showed me a couple of Louis
Vuitton he purchased for her but what seemed like a second chance for her marriage didn't last H could never quite
leave Janet how long have you been with Janette about 2 years so out of those two years how long has Maria known about
it she for a while for a long while okay in fact Howell told Sergeant ma that he
no longer live with his family and that he had moved in with Janet Arondo 5 months before Maria's death ma wondered
how much The Other Woman knew and asked her to come to the police station to talk what is your relationship with him
I wouldn't have called you at 6:30 in the morning if it was just for for being nosy it's not that I'm trying to be nosy
but I'll get to where I'm going um he's he's my boyfriend ma continued pressing Janet about howow have you ever
and then told her about Maria the reason that I'm here is because last night H's wife passed away
it doesn't appear to be right now any type of Foul Play we're still pending on autopsy let's get with how did you and
hel even start dating I'm sorry um I understand take your time I know it's all kind of thrown at
you so you know I I told you at the very beginning I'm going to be honest with you so I am arming thing that was
obviously what happened um I'm sorry about this your question how when how long have you and ho been
dating um almost 2 years now okay did Maria and his wife did she do drugs not that I'm aware of he just told me that
he she was very depressed when Sergeant ma mentioned Maria may have overdosed Janet seemed
surprised are are you saying she overdose we all know yet the main thing is this Janet is when we tell her family
they're going to think that either Joel did killed her or that you had something
to do with it that's why we have to rule you out okay has Joel ever confided in you that he was that he wanted to do
something to his wife no haa told believes that may have overdosed on the drug Kazaam he thinks she took these but
when the autopsy was conducted 8 hours after Maria was declared dead the medical examiner found no pill residue
in her stomach and there was something on Maria's body at the scene that puzzled both the medical examiner and
investigators a tiny Mark am Maria's right arm it was a little little prick kind of like whenever you the common
person draws blood or has their blood checked when they go to the doctor one little dot that's it on her right elbow
crease no other signs of drug use or anything like that the autopsy report states that
Maria died from a mixed drug intoxication while the medical examiner couldn't say how the drugs got into her
system she did rule out suicide after talking to Maria's friends and reading her journal on the day day before she
died Maria wrote what is it that I want move forward so could Maria's death have been
an accidental overdose or was it murder when Dr John Hunsinger an anesthesiologist and Howell's former
boss heard the autopsy results he immediately became suspicious and I called detective Ma and
I told him my concerns he urged sergeant mat to order a detailed toxicology screening to determine which drugs had
killed Maria and how they got there did you inject her tonight no with anything authorities would have to wait
nearly 4 months to get the answers they needed on a Sunday afternoon at the First
Baptist Church in Laredo the Victorious Life is is also a life of service all of
our lives were impacted by the precious life of Maria a large crowd of family and friends came to mourn Maria Muno
including her estranged husband how her funeral was really really sad o was there and he was crying he seemed very
upset very sad but to Maria's friend Yasmin Martinez he seemed a little too upset too sad what made me feel angry
with him near the casket crying over her giving her kisses like why now you have
made her suffer and cry so much and you're doing this now helel pe's display of grief hey you got
a with defibrator did nothing to deter the investigation into his wife's death Sergeant Luise mat and Officer gregoria
De La Cruz say the footage captured by the body cam on the morning Maria died shows something curious remember the
pills in a container that Howell said his wife had taken D La Cruz tossed it aside when he was giving Maria CPR you
had a prescription drug where is it at some point it disappeared yeah I see it's still here
right now exactly and here's how it happened they say how grabs the pill container and puts it in his
pocket reach it and put it in he just reached over and put it right back in the shirt if that's really what she took
why would you want to hide that they were also suspicious of that needle catheter hey there's a needle right here
so the kind used for IVs discovered at the scene remember Maria had a tiny mark on her right arm Sergeant ma shared his
concerns with the Webb County District Attorney's office we have a 247 phone and law enforcement can contact us with
any questions Chief assistant DA Marisella Joan and district attorney idro Alan knew the case would be tough
to prove since even the medical examiner wasn't sure exactly how Maria died the medical examiner is saying I can't say
for a fact this is homicide I remember having this conversation with the Med medical examiner early on and I I
remember her saying look I wasn't there and neither were you all we know is that
she has this combination of dangerous drugs in her bloodstream we don't know who gave them to her if she had some in
her system already if she took some later on either accident or murder accident or murder investigators began
to question Maria's friends and discovered that the Saturday before Maria died there was a confrontation at
Janet's house when Maria saw H's car there so that's when she stepped out of the car and then she rang the doorbell
according to Angela Maria seen on Janet's doorbell camera gave hoel an ultimatum do you choose her you choose
me and then he says I choose Janet Janet called the police and when a responding
officer arrived at her home he called Maria who had by then left with Howell when Maria answered her cell phone the
officer's body cam recorded the sound of H berading her in the background hey I'm
talking to you right now head up I guess that's your boyfriend yeah according to angelaa Maria told her that
H became violent and he got so frustrated with everything that he punched the windshield he broke it he
broke it yes he broke it on Sunday morning Maria texted her husband about hiring a divorce lawyer and he replied
we can do this with minimal lawyer intervention it's too much money how then seems to have had a change of heart
and sends Maria this email I'm so sad I'm hurting inside I want to sit down with you to talk without arguing a heart
to heart they agreed to meet Monday night before how arrived Maria messaged her friend Yasmin Martinez to pray for
her I just asked if you can pray for me tonight we're going to talk and then I answered her and I told her that I would
pray for her Maria's request for prayers that night would be her final message to
Yas she died early Tuesday morning nearly 4 months after Maria's death sergeant maada and officer Dilla
Cruz finally get the Toxicology test results they had been waiting for zero Clen
aapam zero Clen aapam the drug how claim Maria had taken instead the toxicology report revealed seven other drugs in
Maria's system so positive for morphine Demerol veret propal ketamine lidocaine Naran most of these medications are
typically used during surgery and one of them can only be administered with an IV
what was your reaction he killed her this guy killed his wife authorities got a warrant officer
Cruz who had tried to save Maria's life returned to hoel's home he knew why we were there to make the arrest by the
time we knock on the door and we announce our presence you the right to remain silent just like the way you do
the movies comes out I'm here I'm here puts his hands behind his back lets us cuff him doesn't put up a
fight H beot was taken to the police station and booked you can call my uh my attorney oh you could call him
prosecutors believe he was the one who gave his wife the deadly mixture but can they prove he wanted her to
[Music] die what do you think was the most suspicious aspect of Maria's death see
more evidence from the case at 48 hours.com when helel pe's former boss anesthesiologist Dr John Hunsinger saw
the list of drugs found in Maria Muno seven different medications he was surprised by One Drug in
particular I was very shocked to see propal where would he get that propal you can't just go to the drug store to
get propol you have to get it from the hospital While most of the drugs found in Maria's system could be consumed by
mouth Pro propal is usually injected by someone else with an IV one of the things about propal it relaxes you
greatly but it doesn't last very long it makes you stop breathing if you have too
much I think most of us when we hear about propol we think of Michael Jackson correct singer Michael Jackson's death
in June 2009 was blamed in part on an accidental overdose of propal and after Maria munoz's death a highly elevated
level of the drug was found in her system hers was the highest level I've seen and what does that say to you I
believe this is death by proall with helel peot now under arrest authorities were convinced that pe's
girlfriend Janet Arondo knew more than what she shared in that first interview so they got a search warrant
for her home then they offered her a deal in exchange for more information Janet would get immunity from
prosecution Janet agreed to a second police interview and accompanied by attorneys she now seemed ready to talk
did goel ever bring home any medical drugs yes Janet told police that peot had often brought drugs to her home some
for his own recreational use including ketamine morphine lidocaine Fentanyl and more
prop Janet's information about propal kicked the case into high gear district attorney a cidro Alan selected a team of
attorneys led by Marisella Jackman I am Karina riio my name is Anna Caren carza my name is Christal Calderon we are
Maria's Team all four prosecutors were convinced that Maria's husband had methodically planned her murder and that
the devoted mother and wife had suffered in the months before her death I've heard of emotional abuse I've seen it
I've worked around it but I never realized how prevalent it is even in our lives where you can relate to some of
the things that Maria was experiencing on the face of it this is a couple having problems
he's having an affair but to you this is domestic violence how well I think it goes so much further than just being a
spouse you could see the power struggle that existed or the the lack thereof assistant district attorney Karina Rios
Maria had no power in this relationship and the evidence of that prosecutor say is found in Maria's own journals
prosecutor Jackman read one of those entries life is so unfair my husband the man I love so much is
causing me so much pain I want to know what is it that you want me to do Maria also left evidence on her cell phone
that she secretly recorded approximately 4 months before her death what are the expectations you have on this this
marriage and she gave us this very powerful video you walk out that door we're getting a dose all right fine
got it she was having a discussion with him and that was so painful to watch but
prosecutors would need much more than that video and Maria's journal entries how do they believe that H peot dosed
his wife with all those drugs that was a million-dollar question we kept saying how did he get her to submit to
this during Janet arad's second police interview she said peot had told her about the night Maria died he had gone
there he said to have that heart-to-heart talk and then injected her not to kill her peot said but to
calm her down why did he tell you that he injected her cuz she was tic right he wanted to um just Cal it out so he did
it with medication but investigators believe the sedatives were part of pe's plan to kill Maria
that before peot put an IV needle in Maria's arm he could have slipped several sedative drugs into her favorite
drink coffee ketamine veret morphine and Demerol those four could have been put in her
coffee she then passes out after that they say peot injected Maria with a deadly dose of propa fall then Chief
assistant district attorney Anna Karen Garza Gutierrez says the peot deliberately waited to call for help I
believe he waited until she was dead to call 911 to make sure that no one can bring her back did you play any role in
Mar's dead at all no Janet said peot did admit to her that got rid of some of the medical equipment
he used to inject Maria before First Responders arrived he just told me she got rid of them peot was out on bail so
prosecutors had him rearrested and along with murder he was charged with tampering with evidence again he may
bail and would wear an ankle monitor in March 2023 2 and 1/2 years after Maria munoz's
death her her husband went on trial for her murder 48 Hours made several interview
requests to H pe's defense team but never received a response who peot declined our request for an interview
the evidence will show that H po the motive he had the intent and he had the means to kill myia
prosecutors presented 15 witnesses to prove to a jury that the peot had carefully and intentionally selected the
drugs to kill Maria their star witness Janet Arondo who told the jury what she had shared with police did Mr Po
indicate to you that he dumped or discarded the I CER on the bio yes when the defense case begins H pay's lawyers
admit their client injected his wife but they say he wasn't trying to kill her he
was trying to save [Music] her H peot wearing a blue suit and a dark gray tie listen carefully as his
defense team presented his C now Maria died and there's no question the Joel was there defense
attorney Roberto Bali claims Maria was terribly depressed and had been drinking and abusing drugs for months when Joe
arrived Maria was already on something according to the defense H peo didn't intend to kill his wife and the
proof his attorneys say is is in that toxicology report they admit po gave his wife medication to calm her down and
then when he found her unconscious they say he gave her Naran a drug used to reverse an opioid overdose someone tried
to bring her back to life and it wasn't the paramedics it wasn't the police it was O so he did not want her
dead this was a terrible accident a terrible accident that argues that was caused by a combination of
whatever Maria had taken and the medication peot used to inject her how do you know that naram wasn't there
because he tried to save her that he went too far realized he had gone too far Naran is not a reversal agent for
propol and propal was What stopped her heart at the end the defense never explained to the jury how the propal got
into Maria's system but Pro uors say that the level of drugs discovered in Maria's body could not have been
accidental it was enough medication to survive two major surgeries it was so much and why do you think he gave her so
much to be sure while peyote himself didn't testify his emotional mother did Miriam carisio
told prosecutors during cross examin mintion that Maria had talked about how sad she was about her marriage you were
aware that PO was weren't you yes she told who told you I and did you encourage her to stay in
the marriage I I told her that everybody have a limited and she have a limited when she decided that she don't want to
be no more with him I have my house open for her but prosecutors insist as sad as Maria may
have been about her marriage there's no evidence that she abused either drugs or
alcohol they believe peyote's motive was money and that he murdered Maria because
he didn't want to pay for a divorce and split his assets after 8 days of testimony the jury got
the case it took them less than an hour to decide how pe's fate guilty of murdering his wife Maria and tampering
with the evidence many members of the medical community attended the trial pe's former
colleague Tina dores he's not dumb I mean he's a smart guy so I don't know if he just got caught up with his God
complex that he thought he was smarter than everyone and that he was going to outsmart
them just hours after the guilty verdict peot was sentenced to life in prison cuffed and escorted out of the
courtroom she loved him and she adored him Maria's friend Angela Montoya she just loved them too
much prosecutors got Justice for Marie but it's a tragic ending for the family she loved and fought so hard to keep
together I think sometimes the worst injuries don't even leave a mark the injuries on your heart on your mind we
could never see those on Maria but she told us about them she carried a lot of scars with her from this
relationship Maria's team say the most important witness of trial ended up being Maria herself self and that her
journals showed those scars were healing I want a life that's mine different and
unique A Life That's balanced with every emotion but a happy fulfilling life she was a wonderful
soul and she was a great mother she was just an amazing person and that energy we felt it
[Music] [Music] she disappeared off the face of the earth I started believing she was
murdered the dogs went into the backyard we found a little girl shoot no trace of
her for 22 years and then I got a phone call hey uh Captain he says you sitting down 48 hours Saturday at 109 Central on
[Music] CBS welcome to 48 Hours postmortem where we discuss your biggest questions coming
out of each new 48 Hours episode I'm CBS news anchor and 48 Hours correspondent and Marie green now you've probably just
watched or listened to the journals of Maria Munoz and today I'm joined by longtime 48 Hours correspondent Aon Mori
arti again along with producer Marcy Spencer for an inside look at what it was like to report on this case welcome
Aaron Marcy great to be back hi Amry I'm happy to be here do you always have to put the long time respond that I've been
here a long time yes but then let me point out that this case did stand out to me this is an unusual case and it's
one of those that has just stayed with me so I'm thrilled to talk about this today okay we're going to get into it um
we want to talk about what makes this case unique uh the possible motive the evidence but first a little background
on the case in the early morning hours of September 22nd 2020 Laro Police Officer
gregoria De La Cruz responded to an emergency Call at a home on Canyon Oak Drive d h peot dressed in teal surgical
scrubs was performing CPR on his 31-year-old wife and stay-at-home mom Maria Munoz she was warm she was still
warm to touch Howell a nurse anesthetist had told the 911 operator that he found
his wife unresponsive and that she may have taken pills Kazaam a drug often used to treat
anxiety she's been super depressed Maria who had been prescribed medication was seeking help through the church she was
also writing in journals I don't want to be sad anymore I don't want my heart to
hurt I don't want my mind to be in torture after Maria Munoz died an autopsy was done no pill residue from
Clen aipan was found in her system but a toxicology report would later reveal the
presence of seven other drugs mostly used for surgery Sergeant Louis mat so positive
for morphine Demerol verset propal ketamine lidocaine Naran a team of prosecutors
led by attorney Marisella Jackman was assigned to the case it was enough medication to survive two major
surgeries it was so much was Maria's death a suicide an accident or murder authorities turned to her journals for
help how crucial were those journals very so Aon you've been at this for over 30 years yes you were a longtime
correspondent you should own that but how is this case different from other crimes you've covered well one of the
major things is the weapon if the prosecutors are correct and they believe that she was murdered um the weapon was
unusual a combination of drugs that are normally used in surgeries um I I've never worked on a case where this many
drugs were involved and drugs that we don't get from the pharmacy these are drugs that you would get in a hospital
another thing that was really interesting is that this individual might have gotten away with murder if
not for his colleagues um because Maria's husband told police look she took these pills I found them here and
he was an expert but it was his colleagues who worn police you know what take a deeper dive you know take a look
get a real toxicology screen and that's how they discovered these drugs and not just medications but these medications
that are normally used in surgery the medical examiner did not initially rule this a homicide couldn't because even
though the medical examiner did not think that Maria had taken her own life there was no way of knowing whether she
had taken these medications early on all the medical ismer knew initially was that there was mixed drug intoxication
did not know how she got those drugs in her system so you know that's why it was
a big mystery so let's talk about propop fall uh it's probably most associated with the death of Michael Jackson I've
had propa fall before for a minor medical procedure and it's a very powerful sedative you don't even
remember falling asleep you just remember waking up the average person does not have access to this drug now
there are cases where people use propol and they take their lives with it but in
this case the little needle point for the IV in Maria's arm was in a right arm and she's right-handed that made it less
likely that she did it to herself very unusual it would be very difficult to you know put an IV in your if you're
right-handed to put it in your right arm you think about it that would be really
difficult to do mhm but um if someone else is doing it that might be a little easier now when police first arrive on
the scene they didn't know if they were dealing with a suicide an accidental overdose or if coell was somehow
involved it's a very chaotic scene they see a woman laying on the floor unconscious uh the husband is trying to
give her CPR and um the first officer on the scene noticed that helel peot was wearing scrubs and said this guy can
probably do better CPR than I can and I think ho peo when you think about it thought everybody's just going to take
my word for it she took Bill's end of story but they didn't and the officer on the scene asks what she take where are
the drugs and hoel gets up goes into the bathroom goes into the medicine cabinet
comes back and shows the officer a bottle of pills it's a bottle of pills of claz aam which are prescribed to him
not her and his behavior seemed unusual to investigators is it me or did he just
not seem as upset as you would expect him to be I agree with you amemory but I kept thinking he is a medical
professional so he is used to emergencies so I kept thinking that's not really the part that bothers um
investigators I think it's the fact that normally when there is some kind of Overdose the medication's right there
and it's not in this case hel peot had to go up and get the the bottle of pills that he thought his wife had taken that
was weird that was weird hoell tells the police uh that he's a private man and you know he
doesn't want people to search the home doesn't want anyone searching the home he also told police that he and his wife
had had sex and he took a shower but then we heard from sergeant mat I want to play some of that sound when a common
person showers what's going to be in the bathroom steam condensation the smell of soap or
shampoo that master bedroom shower which is the one that he alleged to use was as
dry as a desert I mean I don't know if he thought this whole thing out I clearly didn't no that would be so
obvious there was another thing that was actually very unusual is that hoel peot
said that he had found his wife in the bed unconscious and when First Responders
arrived her body's in the foer and so anyone who's um had any experience where they've had to
administer CPR you immediately if someone's in a bed you put them on the floor right next to the bed you don't
move them several feet from the bed I mean it's a chaotic scene but they found that
very odd mhm um and you know by the way I had talked about how I didn't think he
was very emotional until I saw his reaction at the police station in the interview room where suddenly he becomes
incredibly emotional and compared to his behavior at the house I just for me as a
viewer I thought something's off here's Sergeant Luis Mata again I could see him
through my camera everything's there is recorded he's hitting walls he's moving furniture
it was scaring some of the people down the hall in the dispatch room so that's how loud it was and I'm sure those
people in the dispatch room have seen a lot of odd behavior in the interview room if it's scaring them it must have
been sort of out of the ordinary even under the circumstances it might have just occurred to him that he didn't
cover his tracks well enough he might have been more upset about himself we don't know what was making him upset
right um during the police interview hoel was asked about a syringe wrapper and a catheter left on the stairs of the
house hoel told the police that they were used for when he took steroids yeah he was enhancing his physique and so yes
he admitted to taking steroids I mean that was actually part of this story he had been very devoted to his wife and
and his first son because this was at a time before his second son was born and then he suddenly changed and that that
included um the use of steroids that's what what most of his friends thought um Hela Maria had an elaborate security
system as well a very elaborate security system um they had cameras everywhere in
this house including cameras in the closets and that footage disappeared really but even though it disappeared it
picked up movement and that was that was important in this investigation too if anybody has a security system they
usually get alerts on their phones if there's Motion in the home and the uh motion sensor was going off between the
upstairs and the garage and this went off several times between the hours of 9:30 at night and
1:32 in the morning which is when hoel po called 911 did hoel have an explanation for that movement it's an
odd thing to do go back and forth between the upstairs and the garage no he did not have any sort of explanation
for that but certainly um that was one of the things that definitely the um law enforcement was very curious about what
did they think getting rid of any evidence you know why wasn't there more why was there
so much movement in the house and why wasn't there more like if in fact she had propol in her system where was that
IV and IV system you know where was it so um you know he was uh and we'll talk talk about that but he was later charged
with um tampering with evidence okay so when we come back we're going to talk about the possible motive and then the
other things that made this case really stand out the all female prosecution welcome back to postmortem
I'm here with correspondent Aaron morard and producer Marcy Spencer so let's talk
about the motive uh hoel was seeing another woman Janet while married to Maria and there was talk of divorce
Janet says Ho had been living with her for 5 months and Maria did confront both of them shortly before her death we
actually saw that video well and to me he had the best of both worlds because he took his his girlfriend on two
European trips and um but then also took Maria on a great trip so it was at that
time the rip for death where I think it seemed that Maria was really becoming serious about okay you're either in or
you're out and I'm going to go for a divorce and prosecutors believe that the motive was the fact that even though
hoel was making a lot of money um he would have to split his assets and uh you know they're two kids and um and he
didn't want to do that unbelievable I want to go back to the propal why did prosecutors think hell
used this drug drug of all the choices why this drug well it's interesting prosecutors believe that um it was a
kind way of killing her and that and it is anyone who's had propal it's uh you know a very gentle way to go into sleep
I think that was probably one of the hardest things to hear um in this case is that it was a kind way of killing her
can we talk about this prosecution team right the made up entirely of women um there's that amazing shot of them
walking down the hall together and they look like this dream team I am Kina riio
my name is Anna Karen Garza my name is Calon we are Maria's team okay I love that they refer to themselves as Maria's
team absolutely it's so funny when we first got the story I started looking at it and I'm like oh my gosh they're all
female prosecutors not only were all the prosecutors women but um their support staff
all women and I said Aaron this is how we're going to do this story we're going to interview all four
of these women well I was worried oh my gosh they no one will have enough time to talk but they were all they work so
well in concert and it actually was a really fun interesting interview but I have to admit Marcy would tell you I did
object when I heard I had four prosecutors to interview um yeah cuz lawyers can can be verose um but what
you get from listening to them all is that this was not just another case for them not just another victim for them it
they I felt like they were doing what I was doing watching the hour which was identifying with Maria I you know I
think many women can think about that one person that one guy that you dated that you wanted to be something that he
wasn't and you were hanging on to hope that he would be nicer as nice as he was when you
first started dating or more committed or and at some point you just go oh he's never going to be that person because he
never was and I felt like those women they connected with Maria in a way that a woman connects with another woman if I
make it any sense you are and they were speaking for her they were absolutely absolutely I think every woman knows
someone like Maria or has met someone like Maria in their life and they did connect with her yeah um Aon you know
you mentioned in the broadcast that the 48 Hours team of course made several interview
requests to speak to Ho's defense team not even to him but at least to the defense team never received a response
meanwhile hoel declined obviously to sit down and have an interview as well it it
was a big disappointment we we definitely wanted to hear because at trial his defense was that he didn't
intend to kill her he admitted that he did inject her he said to calm her down that when he had gone there to have this
heart-to- heart that the two of them planned that she became upset and he calmed her down but that that he
actually tried to save her if you look at the list of drugs there was also Naran there were a lot of questions we
had and unfortunately we didn't get those answers um so the jury was very quick to come back with a verdict right
in this case hoel was found guilty of murdering Maria and tampering with the evidence he was sentenced to life in
prison their two children are now living with hoel's mother yeah so Maria's um sister and Maria's father both live in
Puerto Rico okay and so um yeah I think that custody situation is complicated yeah
that's got to be tough on all of the people involved eron you know you noted at the end um perhaps the most important
witness in the case ended up being Maria herself because of her journals absolutely and you know what how often
do we get to hear the voice of the victim um Maria got a lot of um you know I guess consolation from writing in her
diary her journals and she wrote all the way up to almost till when she died and
so you you heard how sad she was but you also heard hope she was ready to turn the corner and go on and find out who
she was and raise those two kids with or without how well and so and the jury could hear that M and that's one of the
reasons why the medical examiner ruled out uh suicide because of that journal so in the end Maria did if you want to
say I got the last word she did um I want to play a clip from uh district attorney uh Marisella Jackman she's
reading Maria's words I want a life that's mine different and unique A Life That's balanced with every emotion but a
happy fulfilling life so there you go and as you point out um this is part of the reason why the medical examiner said
it's unlikely it's a suicide this is a woman who was looking forward to the future in some way uh Marcy you know you
also kind of felt connected to her absolutely I think that um you know reading her journals you definitely
learn about someone that you've never met before but I will say that um very early on in this story I did dream about
Maria normally I don't dream about someone but she she definitely creeped up in my dreams just cuz I wondered did
you know what was happening did you feel yourself getting drowsy was one of those
things that I think was very haunting about this but there were many other worldly things that happened like what
um my our colleague Iris Carreras who um was very instrumental in this project H
she was out in Laro grabbing a cup of coffee and when she got her coffee she also got
a little cookie and the name Maria was on the cookie H and we thought okay this interesting maybe it's a coincidence but
an interesting sign and actually when they were out shooting um and they were in front of a girlfriend's house Oh's
girlfriend's house the lights were flickering off and on off and on so we talk about it a little bit but we kind
of Wonder and I just wonder with the prosecutors with Aaron with Iris with myself if somehow Mario is sort of
sending this message to all of us tell my story oh you're giving me chills you're
giving me chills wow um it's a heck of a case and you made Maria's voice all the more
prominent in it you really feel like you knew and liked her I thought it was excellent um Aaron Marcy thank you so
much for joining me today thank you thank you for all of you listening be sure to
join us next Tuesday for another postmortem and make sure you watch 48 hours Saturdays 109 Central on CBS and
streaming on Paramount plus and if you are liking the show please rate and review 48 Hours on Apple podcast and
follow 48 Hours wherever you get your podcast you can also listen ad free on the Amazon music and wondery app or with
a 48 Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcasts [Music]

Investigators turn to a young mother's journals for answers after she dies unexpectedly with a strange mix of substances in her system.

When police respond to a 9-1-1 call at the home of Maria Muñoz, they discover a chaotic scene: Maria, unconscious on the floor, and her husband, a trained nurse anesthetist, performing CPR. Only hours later, Maria is declared dead.

Watch "The Journals of Maria Muñoz" and then catch up with "48 Hours" Correspondent Erin Moriarty and Producer Marcie Spencer on "Post Mortem" as they discuss how this mother of two ended up with a deadly combination of drugs in her system, including propofol, the substance most commonly known for killing Michael Jackson.

00:01 The Journals of Maria Muñoz 41:06 Listen to a post-mortem on the episode

Listen to "Post Mortem" wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/AoUTAvph?sid=YT

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "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

Maria Munoz's suspicious death leads to her husband Howell Peot's arrest for murder amid evidence of domestic violence and drug use.

Key points

Emergency Call. A frantic call reveals a possible overdose situation involving Maria.
The Investigation Begins. Detectives arrive at the scene and begin piecing together the events leading to Maria's death.
Toxicology Results. The toxicology report reveals a shocking mix of drugs in Maria's system.
Maria's Struggle. Maria Munoz documented her emotional pain in journals, revealing her struggles with her marriage.
The Shocking Evidence. Prosecutors presented evidence that Maria's husband had methodically planned her murder.
The Verdict. After a short deliberation, the jury found H peot guilty of murder and tampering with evidence.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I want to be a good mom.

Maria's aspirations as a mother.

3:06WatchJul 19, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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