Women Behind Bars in HD - Season 3, Episode 8 - Jocelyn and Gwen - Full Episode | Forensic Files

NARRATOR: On this episode of "Women Behind Bars," a 17-year-old woman is found guilty in the fatal stabbing
of her lover after an alleged attack. Jocelyn, as she was losing consciousness, being strangled
by Melanie, thought, either I defend myself, or I'm dying right now. When I stabbed her, it punctured her right here.
She let me go. And she took about four or five steps backwards. And she turned around.
She didn't say a word. She just fell flat on her stomach. NARRATOR: Then, Gwen Hendricks tells her story.
She claims voices in her head told her to kill her husband. GWEN HENDRICKS: They wanted me to sacrifice
what was most dear in my life. And I can remember thinking that I have to answer these voices,
because this is coming from God. I've got to sacrifice who I love the most, and that was Jim.
Mrs. Hendricks met with a local banker several months before her husband's death
and had talked to the banker about I'm going to be coming into some insurance proceeds,
several thousand dollars. I want to use this money to buy a ranch. NARRATOR: Two women, two brutal crimes.
These are the stories of Jocelyn Cantu and Gwen Hendricks. [THEME MUSIC] NARRATOR: On the morning of October 14, 2003,
police received a frenzied 9-1-1 call. NARRATOR: On the line was 17-year-old one-time honor
student Jocelyn Cantu, who had been arguing with her girlfriend, 23-year-old Melanie Ramirez.
JOCELYN CANTU: She started choking me. She had never choked me before. Just, the look in her face-- I was just
trying to grab anything from behind me just to hit her with for her to let me go.
And I ended up grabbing a knife. And I stabbed her. She immediately fell to the ground.
And Jocelyn tried to stop the bleeding. The paramedics came. And unfortunately, Melanie did not survive.
NARRATOR: Jocelyn Cantu gave a voluntary statement to police, claiming the stabbing was in self-defense.
But within hours, the teenager was arrested and charged with murder. The whole trial and the question put to the jury was
was use of deadly force immediately necessary to protect yourself from the other's use
of deadly force? CYNTHIA ORR: She knew she was dying then. And she made the decision to live and defend herself.
It was-- she didn't have any choice. JOCELYN CANTU: I never thought that it would get this far.
I never thought that I was actually going to be convicted of first degree murder.
NARRATOR: Did Jocelyn Cantu intentionally kill her girlfriend during a violent fight?
Or was she acting in self-defense in order to save her own life? YOLANDA CANTU: She was a perfect child-- very quiet, very shy.
She was just such a happy baby and a happy little girl. NARRATOR: Jocelyn's mother, Elizabeth Cantu,
was just 16 when she gave birth. But soon, the young single mother began experimenting with heroin.
YOLANDA CANTU: She got in with the wrong people. Pretty much everybody around was dealing drugs or doing drugs.
And she wasn't strong enough to walk away. NARRATOR: Before Jocelyn turned two, Elizabeth left her and her infant brother in the care
of her mother Maddie. Despite her mother's long absences, Jocelyn thrived. JOCELYN CANTU: I always tried to do good in school.
Throughout elementary, I had just straight As, A honor roll. YOLANDA CANTU: She was smart in school.
Her teachers would brag about her. NARRATOR: By the time Jocelyn reached junior high,
the honor student had ambitious plans for the future. I really wanted to be a doctor.
RACHEL MORENO: She had goals. She was going to go to college. And she said, I'm gonna make a lot of money.
I'm gonna take care of y'all. I'm gonna be a doctor. Those were her dreams. NARRATOR: After more than a decade away,
the one person Jocelyn hadn't anticipated taking care of suddenly returned. JOCELYN CANTU: I was 13 years old when my mother
came back into my life. She was a heroin addict. And she tried to be a mother to us then.
But I guess it was kind of too late. NARRATOR: Elizabeth had been diagnosed with cancer and lupus, a painful autoimmune disorder.
Her doctors warned if she didn't quit using drugs, her organs would begin to shut down.
JOCELYN CANTU: She detoxed about three or four times. She would try to go get methadone or Xanax
something to wean her pain off. But if she couldn't find that, then she'd go and take another hit of heroin.
NARRATOR: In November of 2000, Jocelyn celebrated her 15th birthday with a traditional coming out
ceremony known as a quinceanera. Both of her parents were by her side. But Jocelyn longed for her mother to get clean.
She got so strung up where her body just craved it all the time. And it was real difficult seeing her that way.
NARRATOR: Over the next two years, Elizabeth's condition worsened. During Jocelyn's junior year, the college hopeful
dropped out to take care of her mother full time. She did everything for her. She cooked for her.
She cleaned up after her. Then, in early February 2003, Elizabeth took off again for the last Time
JOCELYN CANTU: She had shot up so many drugs, she developed a fever from it. And the fever got so high she slipped into a coma.
[SIREN] NARRATOR: Elizabeth was taken to University Hospital in San Antonio and put on life support.
Jocelyn, she was the strongest one. She's like, you know what, my mom's dying. And do y'all want to come in?
JOCELYN CANTU: I wish I could have had a closer bond with her. And I wish I could have spent a lot more time with her
than I did. MELISSA REYES: I was asleep at my house, and there was a phone call, and it was Jocelyn.
She was crying on the phone. So of course, we all jumped out of bed, went to the hospital.
Jocelyn's cousin, Melissa Reyes, was joined by 23-year-old Melanie Ramirez, a friend who had been visiting.
JOCELYN CANTU: When I met Melanie, she kind of irritated me. Her and her girlfriend, along with my cousin
and her girlfriend, were joking around and stuff. And I just felt it wasn't the time and place.
Jocelyn asked if she could just go to the house just to clear her mind. JOCELYN CANTU: I went to go stay a few days with my cousin.
And I got to know Melanie. And she was real goofy. She did like to joke around a lot.
And she felt, I guess, attracted to me. They just started being friends, you know?
And it just escalated from there. JOCELYN CANTU: She ended up breaking up with her girlfriend
at the time. And she started calling my house. And by the next month, we were together.
At first, I was kind of shocked when I found out her and Melanie were together. I kind of took a step back and I was just like, OK.
YOLANDA CANTU: I never ever imagined Jocelyn being gay. For her to go from one extreme to another,
I truly believe she was grieving. JOCELYN CANTU: I was bisexual. I was attracted to men and to women.
But I've been attracted to females my whole life. I had never been in a serious relationship with one before.
NARRATOR: Melissa, who was also in a same sex relationship, gave her young cousin a word of caution.
MELISSA REYES: First thing, I said, you know-- not a good idea. Melanie is not a person you want to be with.
NARRATOR: When "Women Behind Bars" continues-- She started choking me. Just the look in her face-- I got so scared
that I urinated on myself. NARRATOR: In February 2003, 17-year-old Jocelyn Cantu met
23-year-old Melanie Ramirez. The teenager was mourning the loss of her mother, a casualty
of the San Antonio drug scene. It was a difficult time. Melanie seemed to ease her pain.
JOCELYN CANTU: She made everyone laugh. Because my mom had just passed away, I think it was more of a comfort thing.
I just needed somebody there. And I think that's really why I ended up in the relationship
with her. Melanie had some issues with her own mother as well. So I believe that they bonded in that way.
NARRATOR: Melanie's mother allegedly disapproved of her daughter's sexuality. Jocelyn's cousin, Melissa, says Melanie confided in her.
MELISSA REYES: Melanie was unhappy. Family didn't accept her. She'd tell me that she didn't want to be alive anymore.
And she was just depressed. She hated her life, pretty much. NARRATOR: Melissa also says she frequently
witnessed Melanie behaving erratically in her previous relationship. There was a lot of shoving around and pushing.
And there was other times when she'd be this sweetheart. NARRATOR: Melanie, who was unemployed,
had recently been kicked out of her family's house. With no place to go, Melissa reluctantly
agreed to let the couple live with her in exchange for taking care of her three children.
Jocelyn says problems began almost immediately. For instance, if we went to Wal-Mart,
she would make sure I was right there by her side. She would constantly be holding my hand.
She didn't want me looking at anybody or anybody looking at me. Apparently, their relationship was pretty volatile,
verbally and physically. And it sounds like-- it seems that it started almost from the very beginning.
NARRATOR: Over the next three months, Jocelyn claims she tried to break up with Melanie repeatedly.
Anytime I tried to leave her or tried to make her leave, she would go into the kitchen and get a knife
and cut on herself, or she'd go and get into the medicine cabinet and try to take like a whole bottle
of painkillers. MELISSA REYES: Melanie punched her hand through the windows because Jocelyn was trying to break up with her.
That was just like the ending point. I just couldn't do it anymore. It was-- I mean, I had kids at home.
I would tell Jocelyn, you can stay here, but I don't want her here anymore. NARRATOR: In May of 2003, Melissa
ordered Melanie to move out. Jocelyn followed her. The two spent the next several months clashing
with various family members. Melanie's outbursts allegedly intensified. YOLANDA CANTU: Whenever anybody asked her or told
her, hey, you have to stop or you gotta go, she'd try to cut herself. We did call the cops.
They took her. They literally put her in the car. Jocelyn would beg them, please don't arrest her.
JOCELYN CANTU: I knew she didn't have anybody. And I loved her. I cared a lot about her.
And I knew she had a problem. I really just wanted to help her. CYNTHIA ORR: It seems shocking that Jocelyn would
remain in this relationship. It's really hard to understand that until you meet her and you see the emotion she has and how,
to this day, how deeply she still cares for Melanie. She was just really invested in that woman.
And so she took it. NARRATOR: According to Jocelyn, four months into the relationship, Melanie resorted to violence.
She would punch me. She would kick me. If I would try to get out of her hold and go to another room,
she would just hold me down. And she actually wanted me to fight her back. NARRATOR: Jocelyn says during one argument,
she finally struck back. She pushed me so hard that I almost fell into the tub. I caught myself on the ledge.
But when I got up, I hit her twice. And that was the first time that I'd ever hit her.
It made her nose bleed and it busted her lip. NARRATOR: Despite the constant fighting,
the couple remained together. In August of 2003, Jocelyn asked if she and her girlfriend
could move back in with Melissa. MELISSA REYES: Melanie's mom didn't want them there.
My grandma didn't want Melanie at her house. And I said, well, as long as she's going to behave,
she can come stay. NARRATOR: Melissa says she had no idea just how bad things had become.
MELISSA REYES: A couple times, I saw bruises on Jocelyn's arm. And I'd ask her, does she hit you?
And she'd tell me, no, she doesn't hit me. And I'd just take her word for it. NARRATOR: In fact, no one from the Cantu family
ever saw Melanie hit Jocelyn. She had bruises on her legs. She had bruises on her arms.
She never told me that Melanie hit her, ever. But we knew it. There were allegations by Jocelyn that she suffered abuse
from Melanie, but there wasn't really anything to corroborate that. NARRATOR: According to former prosecutor Libby Wiedermann,
there is another side to the story. Melanie was seen being pushed by Jocelyn numerous times,
to the point that she was being pushed so hard that her head was snapping back. There was concern on the part of Melanie's family
that she was suffering abuse by Jocelyn. And there was physical marks to back that up.
She would show up one time with a black eye, another time with some kind of bite mark on her shoulder.
JOCELYN CANTU: That bite mark that she had, it was from me. She had me in a bear hug, and she was slamming
my head up against the wall. And I couldn't get loose. So I bit her on her shoulder.
And that's what that was from. NARRATOR: What Wiedermann doesn't dispute is that despite the violence, Melanie was
desperate to stay with Jocelyn. It does appear that Jocelyn was trying to break things off with Melanie.
Melanie was wanting the relationship to stay in tact. I think that she felt the alternative to being
with Jocelyn would have been to return home and maybe not be able to freely live her life the way she
wanted to because her family didn't really approve. She was supposed to go to some interviews that day.
I heard her on the phone talking to the manager of Sonic. And she was telling him that she wasn't
gonna be able to make it. Melanie had a job interview that morning and, for whatever reason, had decided not to go.
JOCELYN CANTU: I told her that I'd heard her conversations and I knew she was lying to me.
So she started arguing with me because I wouldn't let her leave in my cousin's truck.
MELISSA REYES: I said don't fight. Don't argue with her. Don't argue in front of the boys.
She was like, OK, I won't. It'll be OK. NARRATOR: Sometime after 10:00 AM, Jocelyn drove her cousin to work.
JOCELYN CANTU: When I got back, Melanie was still trying to leave in my cousin's truck.
And I wouldn't let her. So she started arguing with me. I said, I don't want to do it anymore.
And she just went ballistic. CYNTHIA ORR: Melanie didn't want the relationship to end,
but clearly got the message that this was it. She was yelling at the top of her lungs like a madwoman,
to where the kids even came out of their room and walked into the kitchen. I begged her to stop.
I said, the kids are right there. I said, please don't do this. She yelled at me and she said that she didn't care.
And she told me that if I didn't want to be with her, nobody else was gonna have me.
LIBBY WIEDERMANN: According to Jocelyn's statement, they started getting into a physical altercation.
And Jocelyn describes being pushed up against a wall numerous times. JOCELYN CANTU: She started choking me.
She had never choked me before. Just the look in her face-- and I got so scared that I urinated on myself.
Jocelyn as she was losing consciousness, being strangled by Melanie, thought, either I defend
myself or I'm dying right now. NARRATOR: I just reacted. I was just trying to grab anything from behind me
just to hit her with for her to let me go. And that's when she reached for a knife and stabbed her.
LIBBY WIEDERMANN: It was just one stab. It wasn't in any way a superficial wound.
It was a very, very serious deep, deep stab wound. I don't know how serious the injury was except I
knew that it was very serious whenever she started gasping for air. NARRATOR: But prosecutors maintain Jocelyn was never
in fear of losing her life. LIBBY WIEDERMANN: I think it was just a moment of frustration.
I don't believe that it ever got to the point where her life was in danger and that she had to use
deadly force against Melanie. A stabbing is considered a very personal type of way
to injure somebody. When I stabbed her, it punctured her right here. She let me go and she took about four or five steps backwards.
And she turned around. She didn't say a word. She just turned around and fell flat on her stomach.
NARRATOR: Coming up on "Women Behind Bars"-- JOCELYN CANTU: I try to block everything out so that I
won't drive myself crazy, because to this day, I still love her. NARRATOR: And later--
I was hearing these voices saying they wanted me to make a perfect sacrifice of all that I loved
and held the dearest to me. And that's when I shot him. NARRATOR: On October 13, 2003, 17-year-old Jocelyn Cantu
dialed 9-1-1 after getting into a violent altercation with her 23-year-old girlfriend, Melanie Ramirez.
Jocelyn claims Melanie was strangling her when she grabbed a knife to protect herself.
JOCELYN CANTU: Dispatch was talking to me and asked me what had happened. And I told her, my girlfriend and I had been fighting,
and that I had stabbed her. I told them that she was unconscious. She went unconscious immediately.
They told me just to hold onto the line. Somebody would be there. And those few minutes, it felt like forever.
She grabbed some kind of t-shirt and tried to put pressure on the wound. All I wanted was for them to hurry
up and get there to help her. I knew that it was very serious when she started gasping for air.
I threw the phone off to the side and I held her nose closed. And I started trying to give her CPR.
That's when the first officer arrived. He stood me up and pulled me away from her.
LIBBY WIEDERMANN: As soon as she stabbed her, I do think she probably regretted what she'd done.
But unfortunately, it was a very fatal wound. CYNTHIA ORR: The police came. The paramedics came.
And unfortunately, Melanie did not survive. JOCELYN CANTU: I didn't think she was going to pass away.
But when we finally got that phone call, it was just a shock to me. CYNTHIA ORR: Jocelyn then was charged for the killing
of Melanie Ramirez. NARRATOR: Jocelyn was arrested, but later released when her father [INAUDIBLE]
posted $50,000 bond. As she awaited trial, the teenager struggled to come to grips with Melanie's death.
YOLANDA CANTU: You'd find her crying sometimes in the living room by herself. And I'm like, what's wrong?
And she's like, I still miss Melanie. RACHEL MORENO: I said, Jocelyn, you just got
involved with the wrong person. And she goes, but I killed her. And I said, no, we know, and we're
going to get through this. NARRATOR: In the spring of 2004, Jocelyn sought comfort
in a new relationship with a guy named Jimmy, whom she met through mutual friends.
He started calling me like just about every day. Within a month, he and I were in a relationship.
Two months after that, I ended up pregnant. I was in limbo what I wanted to do-- whether I
wanted to have the child or not-- because I knew I was pending trial. I don't believe in abortion.
So I went ahead and had my child. NARRATOR: Jocelyn's son Damian was three months old when
her trial began in May 2005. The whole trial and the question put to the jury was
was the use of deadly force immediately necessary to protect yourself? And did that justify taking a knife
and stabbing her in the chest? NARRATOR: The prosecution relied on testimony from a neighbor,
who had witnessed Melanie and Jocelyn arguing outside shortly before the murder.
Jocelyn pushed Melanie in the back right here, pushed her pretty good to where it made her head whip back.
And then Melanie was telling her, you know, knock it off. Jocelyn didn't seem scared of Melanie.
She was just goading her on, pushing her, and trying to antagonize her, get underneath her skin.
Jocelyn is 5'2" and weighs 160. Melanie, on the other hand, was taller and weighed 120.
The defendant was a stronger built individual than the deceased. It was not a reasonable situation for her
to take a knife and stab her. NARRATOR: The prosecution also argued that the evidence did not back up Jocelyn's version of events.
LIBBY WIEDERMANN: There was no physical evidence to support that she had been choked.
She had no markings, no bruisings on her neck, on her throat, or anything to back up her self-defense claim.
The kitchen was undisturbed. There was no evidence that a fight had taken place in this very small kitchen.
NARRATOR: Cynthia Orr, who is handling Jocelyn's appeal, argues that the lack of bruising did
not mean Jocelyn wasn't choked. And all the murder cases I've seen, you don't always have bruising around the neck
when you have a strangulation, especially when the hands are used. NARRATOR: Orr maintains the jury was given a skewed
version of what took place. CYNTHIA ORR: There is one witness who testified at trial who is an anomaly.
There were many more witnesses who tell the same story that Jocelyn was meek and never an aggressor.
These witnesses didn't come forward at trial. JOCELYN CANTU: When they came back with 20 years,
I didn't want to look at my grandmother and my aunts, because then it would have been hard on me,
you know, to face them, knowing that I wasn't going to be home with them for a while.
All I could do was just put my head down and pray. YOLANDA CANTU: Jocelyn is too young to be in there
just for defending her life. That is the saddest thing. She's in there just because she defended her own life.
LIBBY WIEDERMANN: Certainly, no amount of time was going to bring the back to the Ramirez family.
Although she could have received substantially more, she received a 20 year sentence, which seemed
reasonable considering her age. NARRATOR: Jocelyn's attorney is hoping witnesses
will finally come forward. She's also trying to get access to Melanie's medical records.
The writing was on the wall that something terrible was going to happen with Melanie and someone
at some point. And unfortunately, it turned out to be with Jocelyn. LIBBY WIEDERMANN: I think it was just a moment of frustration
coupled with some feelings of insecurity about their lifestyle. I think it's basically what drove her
to feeling that this might be the only way out of her relationship. NARRATOR: Jocelyn, who is serving time at the Hilltop
Unit for Women in Gainesville, Texas, is eligible for parole in 2015. Although still struggling to come to terms with her murder
conviction she draws strength from frequent visits with her family and son Damien, who is now five.
Being here, I can't just really deal with things. So I try to block everything so that I won't drive myself
crazy, because it's hard. To this day, I still love her. NARRATOR: Next up on "Women Behind Bars"--
a woman hears voices commanding her to kill her husband. GWEN HENDRICKS: I said, Lord, I surrender to you.
I'm hearing voices from God. And if this is what God wants, then I have to give it to Him.
So I went out and I bought a gun. NARRATOR: For more information about "Women Behind Bars,"
go to wetv.com. NARRATOR: On August 17, 1991, Jim Hendricks, a sergeant in the Air Force,
failed to show up for work. The following day, his wife filed a missing persons report.
SEASON HENDRICKS: They found him by the side of the road in his car, and he had been murdered.
It was the worst moment of my life. He had been shot numerous times in the chest
with a small caliber handgun. NARRATOR: Days later, when a secret diary surfaced,
Jim's 36-year-old wife, Gwen, became investigators' prime suspect. The diary was important, including
admissions that she had forged the insurance papers. She talked about her husband's impending death.
NARRATOR: Gwen gave a bizarre partial confession, and would later claim voices in her head drove her to kill.
GWEN HENDRICKS: I was hearing these voices saying, you know, I want obedience. They wanted me to make a perfect sacrifice of all
that I loved and held the dearest to me. And I thought, well, if I sacrifice him now,
it won't hurt. And that's when I shot him. NARRATOR: But police and family members
didn't buy Gwen's defense. I have a very hard time believing, oh, I was crazy, yet planned this out so meticulously.
NARRATOR: Was Gwen Hendricks experiencing a severe psychotic break when she murdered her husband?
Or was this part of an elaborate and cold-blooded ruse to cash in on a $300,000 life insurance policy?
GWEN HENDRICKS: My father was a Naval officer, and my mother was a homemaker-- captain
of his ship, our little family. My mom is like an executive officer. NARRATOR: Every few years, the large military family moved.
GWEN HENDRICKS: We weren't afraid of new challenges. Our home was never a house.
Our home was Mom and Dad, my brother and my sisters. NARRATOR: In addition to her strong faith in God,
the devout Catholic also possessed an appetite for adventure. In 1980, at the age of 25, Gwen left home
and joined the Air Force. 24-year-old Jim Hendricks was her instructor at the academy.
GWEN HENDRICKS: Well, it was kind of instant attraction. You know, there was a bit of a lust
there because he was a very tall handsome man. And the Air Force can tell you you can't date,
but they can't tell you who to marry. So I went to the JAG office and asked if I could marry my STA.
And they said yes. NARRATOR: Marrying Jim also meant becoming a stepmother to his five-year-old daughter, Season.
SEASON HENDRICKS: I was excited. I'd never really had a woman in my life before.
And she was very nice. I took to Season as if she were my own daughter. NARRATOR: Two years into the marriage, Gwen
gave birth to a son named Ben. The new mom quit the Air Force and accepted a 9:00 to 5:00
job with the Internal Revenue Service. Then in 1989, Jim was reassigned to Guam.
Gwen and the children followed. I figure we had a pretty normal family until, I would say,
we moved to Guam. Things started to change. She would pick fights. She was jealous of time that my dad
and I used to spend together. She'd been unemployed, and that had been a hardship for the family.
Their income was below what they were used to. NARRATOR: After less than a year, Gwen and the kids
returned to the US while Jim finished his assignment in Guam. GWEN HENDRICKS: I came back to Colorado.
We found a place in Littleton. Then Jim came home, and he stayed for a month. And that was great, you know, to have him
home and have the kids home. The hardest part was taking him to the airport, saying goodbye.
NARRATOR: Gwen resumed her job at the IRS. To help ease her loneliness, she joined the Junior Chamber
of Commerce, where she quickly made new friends with a woman named [INAUDIBLE] and a man named Terry Knaack
[INAUDIBLE] was into taro cards. And Terry was into new age occultism. My religion and my faith was still very meaningful to me.
I wanted to do Bible study with them to get them out of what I considered witchcraft.
Rochelle, she said she wouldn't do Bible study with me unless I did the cards with her,
and same with Terry. So I think I opened up the door to Hell. Right after I started, everything went wrong.
NARRATOR: Gwen says she began experiencing nausea, dizzy spells, and fatigue, and was diagnosed
with Meniere's syndrome, a rare disorder that affects the inner ear. My guess is it may have played a role in sort
of shifting her reality a bit. NARRATOR: In the fall of 1990, Gwen invited her friend Terry to rent a room
to help pay the mortgage. She secretly began fantasizing about starting a new life with him.
Terry would talk a lot about wanting to have a ranch for children with special needs.
And I started having delusions that he and I would start this ranch together for the children.
And she develops this very delusional belief system that she's got a love relationship with him.
NARRATOR: Gwen's delusions got worse. GWEN HENDRICKS: I had had this really bad dream over and over
again where Jim had died in a plane crash. And I was thinking, well, after Jim died,
that I would marry Terry and we'd start this ranch. But of course, Terry didn't know anything about it,
because it was all in my head. NARRATOR: Gwen says she had also begun hearing voices.
They wanted me to sacrifice what was most dear in my life. I can remember thanking that I have to answer these voices,
because this is coming from God. You know, I've got to sacrifice who I love the most,
and that was Jim. DR. ELISSA BALL: Command hallucinations are the most dangerous hallucinations.
It fit, unfortunately, to some degree with her value system, that you obey God. Those are bad signs, in terms of what's
going to happen with somebody. NARRATOR: Evidence shows that Gwen then began to plan
for a life without her husband. While Jim was still in Guam, she took out a $300,000
life insurance plan. CHRISTOPHER MACAULAY: Mrs. Hendricks met with a local banker several months before her husband's
death and had talked to the banker about I'm going to be coming into some insurance
proceeds, several hundred thousand dollars. I want to use this money to buy a ranch.
NARRATOR: Investigators also point out, as long as Jim was alive, Gwen would never be
able to collect on the policy. She went and she forged a doctor's note claiming that she
had multiple sclerosis and submitted that to the Red Cross and made a humanitarian request that they
be responsible for bringing her husband back from Guam. NARRATOR: Gwen admits to forging a letter,
but claims it was simply a cry for help. Oh, I was very desperate to have him back.
I felt like I was at my limit, and not really realizing that I actually was having a breakdown.
NARRATOR: In the spring of 1991, Jim returned from Guam and asked Terry to leave.
He then confronted his wife about her secretive excessive spending. My brother said that she had apparently
taken several of the credit cards and had maxed them out to the limit. And he was furious with her at that point.
He did confide in me that he was thinking about leaving Gwen. NARRATOR: That summer, family members report no obvious signs
of mental illness. However, Gwen describes the voices as becoming more frequent and more violent.
She claims she finally agreed to kill her husband as a sacrifice to God. GWEN HENDRICKS: I said, Lord, I surrender to you.
I'm hearing voices from God. And if this is what God wants, then I have to give it to Him.
So I went out and I bought a gun. NARRATOR: When "Women Behind Bars" continues--
I just laid next to him, and then when I could feel that he was deeply sleeping,
that's when I shot him. NARRATOR: During the summer of 1991, Gwen's marriage to Air Force Sergeant Jim Hendricks
was in serious trouble. The 36-year-old mother alleges that she had also begun hearing voices-- voices that told her
she needed to kill her husband. On August 16th, Gwen decided it was time to follow through.
Jim, was working late, and he asked me to bring him something to eat. NARRATOR: Jim, who was stationed at Peterson Air Force Base,
had been working around the clock to prepare for an inspection. She told me that she was going to make
a nice little picnic for them. They were going to make a night of it, that she wanted him to feel good before his inspection.
NARRATOR: Gwen left her stepdaughter Season and son Ben with a friend and made the 75-mile drive from Littleton,
Colorado, to the base. According to Gwen, upon her arrival, Jim decided to return home that night after all.
His truck was in the lead, and I was in the car behind. I remember him pulling over.
He said, you know, I'm so tired. I can't go on anymore. I just want to take a quick nap.
And let's get in the back of the truck. NARRATOR: But investigators believe Gwen lured her husband to a lonely stretch of highway
with the promise of sex. We have evidence that going Gwen him to drive this road
and to pull off the side of the road to where she could initiate her plan to kill him.
This location would be a great place for romance. It would also be a great place to commit a murder,
because no one's going to be here to see you. NARRATOR: Gwen insists that even though she
was intent on killing her husband, she wanted him to go peacefully. I took the gun out from underneath the seat of the car
and got into the truck and laid next time. And then when I could feel that he was deeply sleeping,
that's when I shot him. CHIEF TONY SPURLOCK: He was shot multiple times in the chest.
And if you're going to shoot him five or six times, it's overkill. You want that person dead.
It was like I was outside of myself looking in, watching what I was doing. I felt very numb, very cold, like I was on autopilot.
I got back into my car. And I took apart the gun, and I was just throwing the parts out the window.
And I was driving around just in a fog, not knowing what I was doing, where I was going.
I stopped at a roadside rest stop, fell asleep, and I woke up and I didn't remember
a thing that had happened. NARRATOR: Two days later, Gwen filed a missing persons report with the County Sheriff's Office.
CHIEF TONY SPURLOCK: It was a standard missing persons report. Husband failed to show up for home,
wife calls law enforcement, and the investigation started from there. NARRATOR: It was one of Jim's coworkers
who discovered his truck on the side of the highway. Well, initially, it looked like he
was asleep in the back of his truck, and then upon further investigation, it was clear that he had been shot.
His wallet was missing. NARRATOR: Also missing was Jim Hendricks's watch. Investigators paid a visit to his wife,
who was the last known person to see him alive. It seemed like her state of mind
was that of a wife of a missing husband. When she was telling the story, she couldn't
stick with the same story. And that's a clue, obviously, to law enforcement. NARRATOR: It was Gwen who broke the news
to Jim's daughter Season. Gwen said they found him by the side of the road in his car
and he had been murdered. I do remember she wasn't crying. It was the worst moment of my life.
NARRATOR: Investigators say Gwen gave a diary to Terry Knaack, the man she'd secretly been in love with.
After reading it, he promptly notified authorities. CHRISTOPHER MACAULAY: The diaries
said a couple of things. Number one, they talked about her love for Mr. Knaack and her desire to marry him and move to a ranch
in southern Colorado with him. Number two, they talked about her husband's impending death.
NARRATOR: On August 25th, investigators paid another visit to Gwen Hendricks. CHIEF TONY SPURLOCK: That is when the sergeant
saw Jim Hendricks's watch. They started asking heavy questions. And then Gwen broke down, sobbing and saying,
I just want it to end. She started making statements that only a person that had seen the crime scene would know.
NARRATOR: Gwen was arrested and charged with murder. Rather than plead not guilty by reason of insanity,
Gwen presented an unusual defense. She claimed the body found at the crime scene was not Jim's.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Elisa Ball examined the alleged killer. DR. ELISSA BALL: We were suspicious of her.
And there was a question, I think initially, of whether she was malingering, making this up.
She was very fixated on the fact that she didn't do it. Her husband was still alive.
He was out there somewhere, and she was being falsely accused. NARRATOR: Dr. Ball confirmed Gwen was in fact
suffering from delusions. But at the same time, she understood the charges against her.
Gwen was found fit to stand trial. Attorney Lloyd Boyer argued that it was physically impossible for Gwen
to have murdered her husband. The lack of gunshot residue inside the cab of the vehicle
indicated that the murder had not occurred in the vehicle. Mr. Hendricks was quite a bit larger than Gwen.
She was small, not especially strong, and could not have moved the body into the vehicle.
NARRATOR: Although investigators failed to locate the murder weapon, prosecutors argued that Jim's missing watch
found at the couple's home was enough to link Gwen to the shooting. CHIEF TONY SPURLOCK: The watch shows us that the crime
scene had been tampered with. There is no way that that watch could have been there
except for by the murderer. NARRATOR: The prosecution also relied heavily on Gwen's journal entries.
Within her diary, she had made representations that she'd prepaid for her husband's funeral.
But when you couple that with the increase in the life insurance shortly before his death,
all made it seem that she murdered her husband in order to collect the insurance proceeds.
I just kept my faith that Jim would come and rescue me and I would be set free from prison.
Of course, that never happened. NARRATOR: As Gwen entered prison, she was evaluated by doctors who classified her as mentally
unfit for general population. She was transferred to the psychiatric unit. They got me on anti-psychotics and anti-depressants.
But it wasn't until 1997 that I started having memories of what had happened. At first, it was like just pictures.
And they hit me like bricks, you know? I killed a great husband, a great dad. I robbed Season and Ben of their father.
I felt lower than dirt. NARRATOR: Meanwhile, legal advocates filed an appeal on Gwen's behalf, claiming she was insane at the time
she committed the murder. NARRATOR: Gwen was ordered to undergo treatment at the Colorado Mental Health Institute.
When she started coming to terms with the fact that she had killed the man that she truly loved and would not
have a relationship with her children again, I think all of the worries about malingering went away.
The mental illness led her to kill her husband. NARRATOR: Not everyone involved in Gwen's case was convinced.
CHIEF TONY SPURLOCK: Mentally ill people don't have the capacity to have a pre-plan.
We just couldn't buy into that defense, because there was just too much premeditation.
NARRATOR: During her time at the state hospital, Gwen, a dedicated Catholic, decided to change her name.
When I lost Jim, I also lost my children. I longed to be a wife and a mother again.
Emi means mother, and I redefined myself as married to Christ and being a mother
to all the people I meet. NARRATOR: In 2005, after four years of treatment, doctors determined the woman now known as Emi Masih was
no longer a threat to society. She was released to a residential program. Emi now spends much of her time helping
the needy at Mercy Ministries. PASTOR SHEILAH ROLLINS: My impressions of her right
away was here's a miracle. She is a symbol of hope to me. Here's the proof that people can change.
NARRATOR: Emi is also faithful to her anti-psychotic medication. GWEN HENDRICKS: I never want to slip back into mental illness
again. I literally thank God every morning I open my medicine cabinet. I've always said justice wasn't done.
Justice, in this case, would have been my execution-- a life for a life. Amen. GWEN HENDRICKS: But it's not about fairness.
It's about recognizing mental illness and knowing that you're not responsible for what you're
doing when you're psychotic. NARRATOR: Emi has had almost no contact with her son and stepdaughter since the crime occurred.
GWEN HENDRICKS: I long to see them. But they've let it be known through family channels
that they don't want to see me. So I respect that. SEASON HENDRICKS: I'm really glad that Gwen
has helped herself enough to admit what she's done. And I hope there's never a time where it gets easy for her
to look in the mirror, because there's never it's time where it's easy to be without our dad.
I wish I could take it back, be a good wife and mom again. But I can't turn the clock back.
So all I can do is give them my deepest apology and ask them to forgive me.

Jocelyn was found guilty of murder in the 2003 fatal stabbing of her lover, 23-year-old Melanie Ramirez. Gwen pled not guilty to murder in the 1991 death of her husband. She claimed she was hearing voices that told her to sacrifice her husband to God, the jury convicted her and she was sentenced to life in prison.

Brief Summary

Jocelyn Cantu stabs her girlfriend in self-defense; Gwen Hendricks claims voices led her to murder her husband.

Key points

Gwen Hendricks' Voices. Gwen Hendricks claims voices in her head compelled her to kill her husband.
Jocelyn's Fatal Decision. A 17-year-old woman stabs her girlfriend during a violent altercation, claiming self-defense.
A Troubled Relationship. Jocelyn and Melanie's relationship was marked by volatility and emotional turmoil.
Jocelyn's Sentencing. Jocelyn Cantu faces 20 years for defending herself, leaving her family heartbroken.
Gwen's Confession. Gwen Hendricks claims voices compelled her to kill her husband, leading to her arrest.
Gwen's Transformation. After years in treatment, Gwen, now Emi, helps others and reflects on her past actions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I never thought that I was actually going to be convicted of first degree murder.

Jocelyn Cantu reflects on her conviction.

3:04WatchSep 23, 2014

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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