Brenda Delgado

Speaker 1 On the night before Halloween in 1975, 15-year-old Martha Moxley was murdered, but police failed to make an arrest. Until, in 2000, her one-time neighbor, Michael Scakel, was arrested.

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Speaker 6 She was a beloved pediatric dentist who had just met the love of her life.

Speaker 3 She found someone fondly that she can really enjoy and connect with.

Speaker 10 They had already started putting money away for a wedding fund.

Speaker 6 But their future together is ripped apart in a hail of gunfire.

Speaker 11 I heard a loud noise and a girl screaming.

Speaker 10 He saw this horrific scene, a young woman on the ground with this pool of blood.

Speaker 6 Investigators track down an array of suspects, and each one has a vastly different tale to tell.

Speaker 12 I didn't expect this girl to get shot.

Speaker 13 I really didn't.

Speaker 14 She had to pay the cartel any money. This is a picture of the young lady that got killed.

Speaker 16 I've never seen her.

Speaker 17 I was like, what did you do? He's like, shut up or I'll kill you.

Speaker 6 Within days, the homicide investigation escalates to a hunt for an international fugitive.

Speaker 18 I won't discuss or speculate as to where she might be.

Speaker 19 She pushed buttons to get what she needed to get done without getting her hands dirty. And I'm going to

Speaker 14 have to let go to

Speaker 10 she did everything she could to keep him engaged. She could not be tossed aside.

Speaker 6 September 2nd, 2015. It's a quiet evening in Uptown Dallas as two friends leave Gable 17, a luxury apartment complex.

Speaker 1 It's kind of the hip spot of the

Speaker 2 central business district of Dallas. And it's new, clean, neat, nice.
Walk around, you are totally safe.

Speaker 20 I was with my friend, and you know, normal day we were getting to our car in the garage.

Speaker 6 But suddenly, the pair hears a terrifying commotion echo through the parking garage.

Speaker 20 You just heard screaming.

Speaker 20 It was pure fear. And then I just heard pop, pop.

Speaker 20 Right when we heard that, we just ran straight to our car because we didn't know what that was.

Speaker 20 And then I heard the screeching of the car immediately. I was just looking in my rearview mirror and, you know, just saw the Jeep Cherokee.

Speaker 10 I wait for him to go and then just go right after him and we just took that first opportunity basically to leave when he backed out the Jeep Cherokee had gone the wrong way down the garage there wasn't another exit so the Jeep Cherokee had to turn around was now behind him

Speaker 20 as I was going out of the ramp you know I could see her body

Speaker 20 I just knew she had passed at the time just because of how she was on the ground. So that's why we just kept going.

Speaker 20 Everything was just

Speaker 20 very very quick. I think it's just almost because it was shock.

Speaker 10 He pulled over, called 911, told him what he knew.

Speaker 11 Hi, someone just got shot in the parking lot of the Gables Parks MP in P1.

Speaker 7 Okay, did you see someone that was shot?

Speaker 11 I saw her laying on the floor and it was like red, like blood coming out of her neck.

Speaker 10 Then that prompted the police to arrive. As they were doing CPR, the professionals noticed that it wasn't doing any good, so they stopped.
There was no way to save this person.

Speaker 6 With first responders unable to save her, police survey the scene for any indicator of the victim's identity.

Speaker 19 The victim was laying on the ground next to this white Toyota Camry. We were able to determine that the owner of the Camry was Dr.
Kendra Hatcher. After pulling a photograph of Dr.

Speaker 19 Hatcher from her driver's license, we were able to confirm that she was the individual that was deceased.

Speaker 19 At this point in the investigation, Dallas Homicide's primary objective is to get more information about who our victim is, why she was murdered, and find out who's responsible.

Speaker 6 Illinois native Kendra Hatcher was known for her stunning good looks, intelligence, and heart of gold.

Speaker 3 Kendra, a very beautiful person, inside and out.

Speaker 3 She was always smiling and very, very, you know, approachable.

Speaker 3 She was such a good person with an amazing heart. You know, she had that compassion, that love, and just caring for people.

Speaker 6 The Midwest beauty had attended DePauw University, where she had discovered her true passion.

Speaker 24 Dr. Kendra Hatcher did pediatric dentistry of

Speaker 25 children.

Speaker 3 She just had that connection with the young kids, and she just enjoyed working with them.

Speaker 6 In In early 2015, the 35-year-old landed a job in Dallas at a pediatric dental office focused on community outreach.

Speaker 26 Dr. Hatcher worked for a practice that I knew the practice owner.

Speaker 26 Where their practice was at was a lower socioeconomic area, and their sole vision, their purpose was to take care of this community and take care of these patients.

Speaker 6 As Kendra's career flourished, her love life did too.

Speaker 6 In May of 2015, she fell for a handsome young doctor.

Speaker 10 Ricky Paniagua was living in Dallas, finishing up a dermatology residency, had grown up in a working-class family in California, and then really had the world at his feet.

Speaker 3 She found someone fondly that she can really enjoy and connect with.

Speaker 10 They had only been seeing each other three or four months, but they were ready to take next steps. They had already started putting money away for a wedding fund.

Speaker 3 She was excited, and I was happy for her because it's like she deserves someone, you know, in her life because she's a wonderful person.

Speaker 6 In September of 2015, the happy couple planned a trip to Cancun for Labor Day, but their beach getaway would never come to be.

Speaker 20 It's like you're about to have the time of your life for the first time and

Speaker 20 taken away from you in a span of a millisecond.

Speaker 6 Sadly, instead of packing for her Mexico vacation, Dr. Kendra Hatcher lies lifeless in the garage of her upscale Dallas apartment complex while authorities inspect the scene.

Speaker 24 We were able to examine the back of her head and found that the entry wound came from

Speaker 24 the upper part of the head and exited through the chin. Gunshot residue was found on the back of the hands, indicating that Ms.

Speaker 24 Hatcher may have had her hands up and behind her head at the time she was shot.

Speaker 19 At that point, we believe that she was shot by the shooter standing over the victim, and they executed her.

Speaker 6 Detectives find the victim's phone lying next to her, along with evidence of the murder weapon.

Speaker 19 I noticed that there was a round that had actually hit the victim and it pancaked after it hit the concrete. Also, there was a magazine from a handgun laying next to the victim as well.

Speaker 25 The pistol magazine laying on the floor is rather unusual.

Speaker 24 That would indicate to me that the shooter was nervous,

Speaker 24 in a rush, and

Speaker 24 hit the release on the gun, and that magazine popped out while he was fleeing the scene.

Speaker 27 Unfortunately, no prints were found on that magazine.

Speaker 6 As investigators take inventory of the victim's possessions, there is something notably missing.

Speaker 19 We were unable to find a purse that belonged to Dr. Hatcher.
It raised a red flag.

Speaker 6 Though a missing purse at a crime scene could indicate a mugging, the garage's intense security measures suggest something more calculated.

Speaker 19 One of the first things that I did was just look at the setup on the parking garage, and it had a lot of security features there.

Speaker 19 There was multiple surveillance cameras, and there was a physical rod iron fence. It wasn't accessible to the public, and the only way to gain entrance into this parking garage was to have a key fob.

Speaker 19 This is a very affluent neighborhood, so Dr. Hatcher being murdered just didn't make sense.

Speaker 19 Who would want to do something like this to Kendra?

Speaker 6 Coming up, a prominent figure in Kendra's life appears on the scene.

Speaker 19 I was there when he walked into the lobby.

Speaker 28 Now I'm getting scared, actually.

Speaker 6 And a tip comes in that has detectives scratching their heads.

Speaker 19 It's not every day somebody walks into a police station saying, hey, yes, my car was used in a murder.

Speaker 6 September 2nd, 2015. Dallas detectives are investigating the shooting death of pediatric dentist Kendra Hatcher.

Speaker 24 It appeared as though Dr. Hatcher had been exiting her vehicle, was approached by a suspect and blindsided, put her hands up and behind her head.
The gun was fired.

Speaker 24 She went down to the ground and that's how we found her.

Speaker 6 Detectives ask building management to pull surveillance tapes from the garage, hoping to spot the shooter.

Speaker 6 As they work to secure the tapes, Kendra's boyfriend, Ricky Peniagua, approaches apartment staff inquiring about Kendra's whereabouts.

Speaker 19 I was there when Ricardo walked into the lobby. I introduced myself and asked him if I could speak with him for a second.
At that point, I notify him that Kendra had passed away.

Speaker 6 Ricky appears devastated by the news.

Speaker 19 There were several moments where he just kind of seemed to linger in the situation, not really knowing what to say.

Speaker 6 Although Ricky's reaction seems genuine, detectives proceed with scrutiny.

Speaker 19 So at that initial stage, he was one of the first people that we had to either move forward with as a suspect or either rule him out.

Speaker 6 Detectives ask Ricky to walk them through the hours leading up to the murder. He says he and Kendra had plans to meet up at Kendra's apartment after work.

Speaker 28 So, you know, I text her and I basically say that, you know, I'm here, you know, I'm at your apartment. She was texting me and...

Speaker 28 saying that she's on her way.

Speaker 28 I text her and

Speaker 28 I say that I'm getting hungry. I'm going to go get some food.
Just text me when you get home.

Speaker 6 Ricky says when he returned to the apartments, he began to fear the worst.

Speaker 9 I mean, there were

Speaker 28 three or four cop cars. The police rope was up.
And now for me,

Speaker 28 now I'm getting scared actually. You know, calling again,

Speaker 28 you know, text messaging to saying, you know, are you okay?

Speaker 28 I kept seeing that

Speaker 28 it just wasn't going through.

Speaker 19 Like, it just wasn't getting delivered.

Speaker 6 Ricky tells detectives the two had planned on leaving for Cancun the next morning.

Speaker 19 I think it almost seems surreal to him. They were unwinding, planning on going on this vacation, and now

Speaker 19 two homicide detectives are there to talk to you about your girlfriend being murdered.

Speaker 6 After taking Ricky's statement, detectives receive the surveillance footage from the garage. And what the cameras picked up is disturbing.

Speaker 19 At approximately 7.15 p.m., our suspect vehicle, the black Jeep Grand Cherokee, they kind of follow one of the residents inside the parking garage and they parked. Somewhere around 7.42,

Speaker 19 the victim, Kendra Hatcher, pulls into the parking garage, driving her white Toyota Camry.

Speaker 19 There was no doubt that that individual was waiting on Dr. Hatcher to get in the garage.
As soon as she pulled in, he began making his move.

Speaker 6 The video shows a suspect exit the Jeep and walk out of frame toward Kendra's vehicle.

Speaker 19 We can see the shots are fired, and the driver of the vehicle puts the black Jeep into reverse as a silhouette walks back to the vehicle and gets into the passenger side.

Speaker 19 Vehicle then goes the wrong way in the parking garage, and they have to loop back around.

Speaker 6 Though detectives aren't able to clearly see the person who shot Kendra or a license plate for the Jeep,

Speaker 6 the cameras did capture a glimpse of the getaway driver.

Speaker 2 They were able to get a still photo, and there you can clearly see that a woman is driving it.

Speaker 19 And we were only able to see one silhouette inside the vehicle, And we believe the shooter was laying down in the backseat of the vehicle as they were exiting.

Speaker 6 The next day, detectives provide images to the media for help in identifying the getaway car and driver.

Speaker 31 So at this point, we're asking for the public's assistance in identifying and locating both

Speaker 31 that vehicle and any occupants that may have been in that vehicle at the time.

Speaker 6 On September 4th, just two days after the shooting, their effort pays off.

Speaker 19 Jose Ortiz called 911 and wanted to report that he saw his Black Jeep Cherokee on the news.

Speaker 19 It was kind of strange. You know, it's not every day somebody walks into a police station saying, hey, yes, my car was used in a murder.

Speaker 6 That morning, Jose Ortiz comes in for an interview.

Speaker 10 Mr. Ortiz knew right away that it was his vehicle because there were special rims on it and also part of the bumper trim was different.

Speaker 19 He was a little freaked out and he wanted to clear his name.

Speaker 6 Jose tells detectives that on September 2nd, he lent his Jeep to a friend, 33-year-old Brenda Delgado.

Speaker 19 Jose provided us the information that Brenda was the one that he gave his actual Jeep keys to, and she was the one to ask to borrow the Jeep.

Speaker 6 But Jose says Brenda couldn't have been the getaway driver or shooter in Kendra's murder.

Speaker 19 He told me he was out having dinner with Brenda at a Chile's restaurant during the time that this offense was being committed.

Speaker 19 After he observed his Jeep on the news involved with his murder, he confronted Brenda about it.

Speaker 10 She said, well, you should leave the police alone. They might ask about your immigration status.

Speaker 19 He had no involvement. She threatened him with being deported.
She offered him to pay for his Jeep to get painted a different color. That was definitely a red flag.

Speaker 19 So that gave us every indicator that she has some information and she has something at stake to lose if he does come and talk.

Speaker 19 We decided we needed to talk to her as soon as possible.

Speaker 6 That same day, detectives track down Brenda and bring her in for questioning.

Speaker 10 She had the demeanor of, oh, I want to help, and I have no idea what's going on.

Speaker 16 How did my name come up?

Speaker 32 Okay, I'll explain all of that to you.

Speaker 15 Yes, yes, I want to know.

Speaker 19 One of the things that we try to do as a detective is get to know these people on an individual basis. Try to figure out what it is that makes Brenda tick to know her as a person.

Speaker 34 This is a personal information sheet. It's a way for me to get to know you a little bit before we get into this, okay?

Speaker 7 Okay.

Speaker 6 Brenda Delgado and her family came to the United States for the American dream.

Speaker 2 She is from a very nice family. She was born in Mexico, but came here legally, grew up in Dallas.

Speaker 6 Brenda was known for her quiet disposition.

Speaker 35 It was just her personality. She just

Speaker 35 didn't have a lot of words.

Speaker 26 She wasn't very outgoing. She was very reserved.

Speaker 35 She was kind. She gave off a kind

Speaker 22 aura.

Speaker 35 Very sweet and considerate.

Speaker 6 Brenda eventually found a passion in dentistry.

Speaker 26 She wanted to become a hygienist. That was extremely important to her.
She was naturally intuitive.

Speaker 26 She was always wanting to get better and she really worked well with all the other students and all the other instructors as well.

Speaker 6 In late summer of 2015, 33-year-old Brenda was in the midst of studying for her certification boards.

Speaker 26 She had a lot of potential. This was someone who knew exactly what she wanted to do, and she was willing to put the work in for it.

Speaker 6 But on September 4th, 2015, this dental hygiene student finds herself being questioned about her connection to a murder.

Speaker 15 Kendra Hatcher was killed on Wednesday, September 2nd.

Speaker 33 This is the picture of

Speaker 14 that lady that got killed.

Speaker 33 Never seen her before.

Speaker 16 I've never seen her.

Speaker 32 I wanted to talk to you a little bit specifically about Wednesday, what you were doing Wednesday.

Speaker 6 Brenda says she and her friend Jose were at Chili's for multiple hours, and she has the evidence to prove it.

Speaker 19 And you said you had a receipt in your bag?

Speaker 37 Yeah, yeah, I can show you.

Speaker 7 Let's get that.

Speaker 19 Having a receipt readily available, you know, pretty much on demand when a detective asked for it, it kind of raised a red flag.

Speaker 15 The way that your name came up in the investigation was linked to the vehicle,

Speaker 7 the Jeep.

Speaker 6 Detectives confront Brenda with a claim made by her friend, Jose Ortiz.

Speaker 15 I talked to him earlier today.

Speaker 33 He said, this week on Wednesday, that you dropped your car off at his shop and that you borrowed a vehicle of his.

Speaker 23 No, it wasn't me. It was Crystal.

Speaker 7 The girl that took me.

Speaker 19 As soon as I asked about the Jeep,

Speaker 19 her response was i gave it to my friend crystal crystal had the jeep we'll give her a call real quick and i'll see if we can get her down here because i would like to get it straightened out today at that moment we got crystal's phone number from her

Speaker 19 called crystal and one of the detectives went to pick crystal up to bring her in for interview

Speaker 6 coming up Crystal describes a harrowing account of the murder.

Speaker 17 He gets in the back seat and he's like, drive, just drive.

Speaker 39 I'm like, I have my son in the back.

Speaker 12 So I said, please don't hurt me.

Speaker 17 Please don't hurt my son.

Speaker 6 As the lies multiply, detectives grow impatient.

Speaker 40 I'm telling you right now, I don't believe this bullshit.

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Speaker 29 Hi, I'm here to pick up my son Milo.

Speaker 35 There's no Milo here.

Speaker 9 Who picked up my son from school?

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Speaker 19 I'm gonna need the name of everyone that could have a connection.

Speaker 30 You don't understand. It was just the five of us.
So this was all planned.

Speaker 5 What are you gonna do?

Speaker 4 I will do whatever it takes to get my son back.

Speaker 30 I honestly didn't see this coming. These nice people killing each other.

Speaker 8 All her fault.

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Speaker 6 September 4th, 2015.

Speaker 6 It's been two days since Dr. Kendra Hatcher was gunned down in the parking garage of her Dallas apartment building.

Speaker 6 33-year-old Brenda Delgado, who reportedly had possession of the getaway vehicle the day of the crime, has just told police it was actually her friend Crystal Cortez driving the Jeep.

Speaker 19 I had Crystal in one room, and I had Brenda in another room, and I was going in between one room to get any information I could get from one and go spin it and use it against the other one to get more information.

Speaker 6 To detectives' surprise, Crystal readily admits she was driving the Jeep the day Kendra was killed.

Speaker 12 My son wanted to go to the park, so I thought, okay, fine, we'll go to the park. Before I pull in, the guy gets in my seat and he puts a gun right here.

Speaker 39 He gets in the back seat, and he sits down and he's like, drive, just drive.

Speaker 12 I'm like, okay, I don't know who you are. Please don't hurt me.
Please don't kill my son.

Speaker 19 Crystal said that she was forced at gunpoint. by this individual to drive into this parking garage.

Speaker 6 Crystal says she tailgated into the garage behind another vehicle.

Speaker 34 So you show up there a little after seven.

Speaker 19 You pull in, you park.

Speaker 34 You sit there for a while and this car drives in.

Speaker 17 He got off the vehicle.

Speaker 34 What do you hear?

Speaker 14 That's what I heard the gun.

Speaker 17 I don't know if it was one or two shots. I just heard the echo.

Speaker 19 He got back in the vehicle and forced her to drive him to area town called Oakliff where he got out of the vehicle and left left her and her son be.

Speaker 10 The surveillance states did not catch her son in the Jeep, so the investigators pretty easily proved that her son wasn't there. She obviously flat out lied to the detective.

Speaker 6 And that detail is not the only thing that fails to add up.

Speaker 19 She had every opportunity to drive off once he exited the vehicle, but she didn't. She drove off after the shots were fired and she waited for him to get back in.

Speaker 11 Not one time did you honk your horn.

Speaker 40 Not one time did you flash your lights. Not one time did you make any motions for anybody to try to help you.
So I'm telling you right now, I don't believe this bullshit.

Speaker 6 As detectives turn up the heat, Crystal delivers another version of events and this time admits it was a planned attack.

Speaker 19 The story that she presented was that, yes,

Speaker 19 I was there with this individual. It was just supposed to be a person acting.

Speaker 13 He was just gonna to check her.

Speaker 13 That's it.

Speaker 13 I don't know this dude.

Speaker 14 I really didn't know he had a gun.

Speaker 12 He was just supposed to go in, get her purse, and suppose leave.

Speaker 19 She said the shooter got out of the vehicle. He walked over to snatch the purse, and Dr.
Hatcher just didn't comply.

Speaker 17 I heard, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 17 That was it. And I was like, what did you do? He was like, shut up or I'll kill you.

Speaker 37 And he knows where I stay.

Speaker 6 When detectives ask why Crystal participated in this crime, she says it was all her friend Brenda's idea.

Speaker 34 What was her beef with this girl?

Speaker 17 I think that they were

Speaker 12 going back and forth between the same guy.

Speaker 17 I think that's what happened.

Speaker 19 What I learned about Ricky and Brenda was they dated somewhere about two and a half years. They ended up breaking up

Speaker 19 in June of 2014. In December of 2014, they decided to rekindle their relationship to see if they could work it out.
And by February of 2015, they decided to call it quits for good.

Speaker 6 By May, Ricky had moved on.

Speaker 19 With Kendra, you know, their relationship developed pretty fast. And I think he was head head over heels with Kendra.
And he changed his Facebook profile picture to a picture of him and Kendra.

Speaker 19 So I think that also kind of set Brenda off.

Speaker 13 Brenda just told me she just wanted me to go take her purse in that with him.

Speaker 34 How much was she going to pay you for doing that?

Speaker 12 $500 just to take her purse.

Speaker 19 The big thing she told me about Brenda's involvement is that Brenda was willing to pay for the purse. She said it was all about stealing the purse.

Speaker 19 It was never murder for hire, it was never a planned hit.

Speaker 6 When detectives confront Brenda with Crystal's story, she denies any knowledge of Kendra Hatcher.

Speaker 15 When did you learn about

Speaker 33 Kendra?

Speaker 16 I don't know who the girl is. Like, I have no idea.

Speaker 33 Do you know who she dates currently?

Speaker 16 I just got a message from my

Speaker 16 friend, my Ricky.

Speaker 33 He was just very sad.

Speaker 16 I have no idea

Speaker 16 Like this, as far as

Speaker 16 who he was seeing.

Speaker 6 Detectives obtain consent to search both of the women's cell phones and soon find damning photos.

Speaker 19 On the day after the murder occurred, Brenda and Crystal met up to have lunch. During that time, Crystal was paid the $500.

Speaker 19 And there was a selfie that Crystal took with the $500 folded together in the shape of a heart.

Speaker 6 In Crystal's interrogation room, investigators try to make sense of the photos.

Speaker 15 See that?

Speaker 15 What are you doing in the picture?

Speaker 7 I'm fine.

Speaker 39 I was so upset that this woman was killed that you can drive around with a smile on your face and get paid money. And you still say you don't think you did anything wrong.

Speaker 13 I didn't shoot the girl.

Speaker 15 I didn't mug the girl.

Speaker 13 I just drove.

Speaker 17 And I didn't expect this girl to get shot.

Speaker 9 I really didn't.

Speaker 19 I still didn't feel that she was being 100% honest about her involvement, but I wanted to take some of the pressure off of her and focus on who our shooter is.

Speaker 38 Who is this guy? Who is this shooter?

Speaker 17 I know him by Lamar.

Speaker 13 That's honestly what I know him by. We met each other at the bar in downtown, okay?

Speaker 14 How long ago is this? About a month ago.

Speaker 30 Hasn't even been that long.

Speaker 19 She was able to give up a name Lamar. and that Lamar drove a Blue Chrysler Sebring.
Obviously, there were so many inconsistencies in her story that we didn't know if Lamar

Speaker 19 was a real name or not. She was able to identify a cell phone number that was associated with our shooter.

Speaker 6 Following her interview, Crystal is arrested for her role in the crime.

Speaker 19 She admitted that Brenda paid her to be the getaway driver. So we had enough to arrest her that night for murder.
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough evidence to place Brenda in custody.

Speaker 19 So the only thing that I I had to work with was an unpaid traffic ticket. And we did arrest her for the unpaid traffic ticket to kind of figure out what our next step was going to be.

Speaker 6 Coming up, police pull out all the stops to bring the co-conspirators to justice.

Speaker 24 It then became a federal offense and Dallas police were able to join with the FBI.

Speaker 14 She said that she took some dope and shit out of her house. She had to pay the cartel they money.

Speaker 6 And damning evidence reveals a mastermind's desperate plan.

Speaker 10 She's on the phone trying to buy a silencer for the exact type of gun that was used to kill Kendra.

Speaker 11 No, a silencer for a 40.

Speaker 6 Two days after the murder of Kendra Hatcher, Dallas investigators have arrested the getaway driver, Crystal Cortez. Brenda Delgado is also in custody, but she won't be for long.

Speaker 10 They were trying to hold her while they find more evidence.

Speaker 10 So they legally arrested her for this parking problem.

Speaker 6 With Brenda in custody, detectives turn back to Ricky Peniagua, whose prior relationship with Brenda and current relationship with Kendra raises suspicions.

Speaker 34 I'm not asking you about anything outside of your relationship with Brenda, your relationship with her, and your relationship with Kendra.

Speaker 28 Am I, um, I mean, am I considered a suspect right now?

Speaker 7 No.

Speaker 38 Here's the thing. Nothing in this investigation has pointed towards you being a suspect.

Speaker 6 Before detectives can rule Ricky out, they want to inspect his cell phone.

Speaker 41 I can't search your phone until I get a search warrant, but with the search warrant, I can't search your phone.

Speaker 14 Okay.

Speaker 28 So then I am a suspect then?

Speaker 7 No.

Speaker 34 You don't have to be a suspect in order for me to write a search warrant. Although that is very important because you are the boyfriend she was meeting up with you.
You were at her apartment.

Speaker 6 Ricky turns over his phone and what investigators find inside fully clears him from suspicion.

Speaker 19 There was no financial motive. There was no bad blood in the relationship.
The biggest factor that helped me rule out Ricardo from this investigation was the fact that he stayed around waiting on her.

Speaker 19 And I felt like if he would have been involved, he would have left.

Speaker 6 With Ricky in the clear, detectives set their sights on finding the shooter, a man Crystal Cortez identified as Lamar.

Speaker 19 We start researching our databases to see if we could figure out who this Lamar guy is.

Speaker 6 But after an extensive search, nothing comes up.

Speaker 19 We were able at that point to determine that Lamar is probably not going to be this individual's name.

Speaker 6 With a fake name and a dead end, detectives investigate the phone number Crystal provided.

Speaker 19 The FBI was able to come in and conduct phone pings on the cell phone number that was identified as being the phone number used by the shooter.

Speaker 6 The FBI tracks the phone to a nearby apartment complex and in the parking lot is a blue Sebring.

Speaker 6 The same vehicle Crystal had associated with the shooter.

Speaker 6 FBI agents keep eyes on the vehicle and on September 30th they pounce.

Speaker 19 The Blue Chrysler Sebring started moving and so did a cell phone. They were pulled over in a parking lot close by and at that moment FBI decided to make contact with the driver.

Speaker 6 Authorities identify the man as 31-year-old Christopher Love and he's no stranger to law enforcement.

Speaker 19 We found out that he was warranted out of Memphis, So we were able to bring him in, place him in custody for the warrant.

Speaker 19 The vehicle was then transferred to our autopound and the subject was brought down to our headquarters for interview.

Speaker 6 During a search of the Sebring, authorities find a weapon hidden in a side compartment.

Speaker 19 It was a.40 caliber, which matched our crime scene.

Speaker 19 So now our detectives rush from the autopound over to our firearms trace lab and conducted a test fire of this firearm to see if the shell casings match.

Speaker 19 And within an hour, hour and a half, we were able to get a positive confirmation on that.

Speaker 19 I showed Christopher Love a picture of the firearm that we found in his vehicle. He looked at the firearm for several moments and he told me that was his gun.

Speaker 6 Though Christopher admits the weapon is his, he claims he is not the shooter.

Speaker 19 He told me that Crystal was the one that was responsible for shooting Dr.

Speaker 21 Hatcher.

Speaker 14 Coming over there, she stands up first.

Speaker 38 So she backs out as you snatch it.

Speaker 33 Then what happened?

Speaker 14 I jumped in the truck and I heard the shot. Bam.

Speaker 38 So she had to put the truck in park as she's backing up and she shoots her.

Speaker 33 How hard is that?

Speaker 6 Like Crystal and Brenda before him, Christopher points the finger at someone else in the group. But for detectives, the evidence doesn't lie.

Speaker 19 I knew that Crystal was was the one driving the vehicle.

Speaker 19 From the surveillance footage, there was no way possible that the driver was able to get out and shoot because the vehicle was moving at the same time as the silhouette was approaching the vehicle.

Speaker 19 So I knew that wasn't the truth.

Speaker 6 Christopher says, like Crystal, he was also promised compensation from Brenda.

Speaker 14 She was asking me what kind of drugs I wanted.

Speaker 32 And she told you she was from the cartel. With a conversation about the drugs, was she quoting prices to you?

Speaker 14 What no prices?

Speaker 7 I don't have to pay for shit.

Speaker 36 But she said she would get you whatever you want.

Speaker 33 Yeah.

Speaker 14 I did ask what the girl did. She said that she took some

Speaker 14 dope and shit at her house. She had to pay the cartel they money.

Speaker 38 They ran some game money.

Speaker 6 Detectives tell Christopher the real connection, that Kendra was actually dating Brenda's ex.

Speaker 32 She didn't have nothing to do with any cartel.

Speaker 38 She was just a dentist that goes to work every day, just a regular person.

Speaker 14 I thought they didn't need to go to jail with me. No, I'm going to jail.

Speaker 7 They might as well go to.

Speaker 19 We were able to charge him with capital murder and we booked him into the Dallas County jail.

Speaker 6 With Crystal Cortez and Christopher Love in custody, detectives set their sights on Brenda.

Speaker 2 They were obviously able to hold her for a while there, but she posted the paid the fine off and then she walked out to jail.

Speaker 19 During this investigation, I learned that September 5th, after Brenda was released from custody, she got on a bus and then she fled the country.

Speaker 26 Authorities are now on the hunt for Delgado, who faces charges of capital murder.

Speaker 18 I won't discuss or speculate as to where she might be, or

Speaker 18 all I will suggest to her specifically is that she turn herself in as quickly as possible.

Speaker 24 When Ms.

Speaker 25 Delgado crossed the border into Mexico, it then became a federal offense, and Dallas police were able to join with the FBI in looking for her in Mexico.

Speaker 6 While authorities search for Brenda Delgado, detectives do a deeper dive into her phone to strengthen their case against her.

Speaker 19 We'd received some information throughout the investigation that Brenda was using some type of app to kind of track where Ricardo was at so she had access to the location of where his iPhone was at all times.

Speaker 6 To detectives, it seems it was through the phone stalking that Brenda first discovered Ricky's relationship with Kendra.

Speaker 10 She did everything she could to keep him engaged, to, you know, follow him, to stalk him, all that stuff. And she could not be tossed aside.

Speaker 6 Detectives also discover one video on Brenda's phone that seems particularly damning.

Speaker 10 The video was Brenda and Crystal driving around being happy. And while Brenda's filming it, Crystal's on the phone trying to buy a silencer for the exact type of gun that was used to kill Kendrick.

Speaker 11 Yes, a 40.40.

Speaker 19 Why would you need a silencer for a.40 caliber firearm, which is the same caliber that was used in the offense, unless it was a planned hit?

Speaker 24 At that point, our homicide guys knew that it was, in fact, not a robbery.

Speaker 27 It was in fact a murder for hire.

Speaker 19 I believe in Brenda's mind, if she could somehow remove Kendra from Ricky's life, that she would have a shot at this dream life that she hoped she would have with Ricardo.

Speaker 6 Finally, in April of 2016, after nearly seven months of searching, authorities locate Brenda.

Speaker 19 Once we were able to charge her with capital murder, every piece of this investigation, down to the evidence and the people that were involved, all had ties to Brenda.

Speaker 24 Mexico did agree to extradite her to the United States as long as we would not seek the death penalty for her.

Speaker 6 Coming up, the crime's alleged mastermind goes on trial.

Speaker 35 It could very well be possible that they did know that Brenda would be the one blamed for it.

Speaker 19 This was orchestrated.

Speaker 10 It didn't occur to her at all that there were other lives involved and that she was going to hurt other people.

Speaker 6 Brenda Delgado, Crystal Cortez, and Christopher Love are all in custody for their roles in the murder of pediatric dentist Kendra Hatcher.

Speaker 6 But one of the accused decides to turn state's witness and testify against her co-conspirators.

Speaker 10 Crystal Cortez signed a deal, a plea deal, guilty of murder, and agreed to a 35-year sentence.

Speaker 6 in june of 2019 the trial for alleged mastermind brenda delgado gets underway

Speaker 19 prosecutors call their star witness crystal cortez to the stand she was able to give intimate details of how they planned this offense together how they planned murdering the victim this was orchestrated

Speaker 6 Crystal testifies that on September 2nd, 2015, while Brenda went to dinner to establish an alibi, Crystal and Christopher snuck into Kendra's parking garage.

Speaker 19 They waited on Dr. Hatcher to show up.
When Dr. Hatcher showed up, Christopher Love exited the rear of the vehicle, went over to her, shot her in the back of the head.

Speaker 19 He took her purse.

Speaker 19 Chris entered the vehicle, and him and Crystal exited the parking garage.

Speaker 6 Crystal testifies that she then dropped Christopher off at his home and went to pick up Brenda.

Speaker 19 During that time, Brenda retrieved Kendra's bag and they swapped vehicles and departed for the evening.

Speaker 6 The defense counters by refuting Crystal's testimony, painting Brenda as nothing more than a scapegoat.

Speaker 35 It would appear that Brenda was extremely jealous, but nothing about it lines up with her character. She is absolutely not a master manipulator.

Speaker 35 It could very well be possible that the other two, just from hearing Brenda venting, maybe they were planning a robbery. And maybe they did know that Brenda would be the one blamed for it.

Speaker 2 You could say that while defending Brenda, I was prosecuting Crystal Cortez. She's already demonstrably proven that she will maliciously and willfully lie and accuse someone of capital murder.

Speaker 2 And you have to believe Crystal Cortez beyond reasonable doubt. Otherwise, you cannot convict Brenda Delgado.

Speaker 6 When the trial comes to a close, the jury finds Brenda guilty of capital murder, and she is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Speaker 10 Just looking at the evidence logically and coldly, I totally believed that Crystal was telling the truth. I totally believed that Brenda got her involved in this.

Speaker 6 As for the shooter, Christopher Love is found guilty of capital murder on October 31st, 2018, and sentenced to death.

Speaker 10 She found two people that were gullible enough to help her do it. In her mind, I think it was going to be, these two people are going to do this for me.
And then, you know, they're done, they're away.

Speaker 10 I've got Rickie Elda myself.

Speaker 6 Though Brenda still maintains her innocence, many believe her jealousy simply got the best of her.

Speaker 24 In a case like this, where

Speaker 24 it appeared that jealousy was the cause of her losing her life, this was really one of the worst ones I had seen.

Speaker 10 She either didn't care or was so callous that it didn't occur to her at all that there were other lives involved and that she was going to hurt other people.

Speaker 26 It affected everyone involved. So Dr.
Panawago, who essentially, he was just following his heart with Dr.

Speaker 19 Hatcher, okay?

Speaker 26 And

Speaker 26 unfortunately, he is kind of caught in the middle here because of what Brenda did.

Speaker 6 Those who knew Kendra are determined to keep her memory alive.

Speaker 26 We still remember who she is and what she's done. And so we try to hold on to that good memory.

Speaker 3 They just took a good person from Earth away from us. There's a picture of her looking up and she's smiling up and like she's looking up in the sky.
And it's like, that's her.

Speaker 3 That's what I'm going to remember. Her happiness.

Speaker 3 Her smile.

Speaker 23 Ricky lives in California, where he continues to practice dermatology. Christopher Love remains on death row in a Livingston, Texas prison.

Speaker 23 Crystal Cortez is serving her 35-year sentence in Gatesville, Texas. She will be 56 at the time of her projected release.
Brenda Delgado is serving her life sentence in Falls County, Texas.

Speaker 23 She continues to maintain her innocence.

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