Cops Search Home, Somehow Miss Dead Body & Blood Everywhere

how did they miss that oh wow how did they miss that I have no clue it's Mells continuing into kitchen we have what appears to be possible urgin bone but at this time detective Diaz and myself are going to back out what is your gut tell you may have been or maybe inside the those toads and those buckets by September 25th of 2020 Eddie Joe artiaga had been missing for an entire week when Alam mordo New Mexico police went to conduct a welfare check on Steven Gonzalez they had no idea that the two cases could be connected and much less that they would be walking into a gruesome crime scene shockingly so they remained unaware of that fact for the duration of their visit to the residents it wasn't until a follow-up call from Steven's family was was received that police realized just how appalling the situation was Sten just come to the door please stepen everything will be okay stepen [Music] stepen Sten to the door the woman attempting to COA stepen out is his mother who arrived on scene with his sister officers have been attempting to get his attention for at least an hour but even his mother has no luck and the officers are forced to consider their other options as the level of concern for Steven's safety continues to increase I'm not liking the clicking sound I don't know what it is if he's got drugs in there would he be trying to Comm that [Music] way cuz he kept saying whoever he was talking to he kept telling them just remember this you're putting people's lives in in Jeopardy just remember this just remember this that's kept saying that right so I guess he figured somebody s him in and he called in and I guess he might but I've never known stepen be no okay I've supervised him before okay so the first time I knocked really hard he was like you see you hear that that's on you so I don't know what's going through his mind right now but I'm not liking it yeah no he's fall I don't trust one to he's got seriously break damage anyways but he's follow through the details of Steven's potential brain injury have remained confidential but based on comments his family will later make it's clear that he has a history of both behavioral and health issues for now though the focus remains on trying to make contact with Steven in a way that keeps everyone safe but the officers don't know that they're already far too late for that Hey Stephen Steven adult probation just wants to talk to you you need to come to the door though right now it's not about arresting you it's about talking to you but the longer we stand out here the more likely that a warrant will be issued for your arrest don't make it worse than what it is they just want to talk to you Steven has a prior record with law enforcement his previous charges include driving with a suspended license possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a felon This Record likely explains why probation officers are involved please don't do this to us don't do it to yourself he's right there careful hey stepen come on out you're good you're good hey I'm to justify this and this they I can't reach him look at how much smoke that look I'm not you can you can you can officer safety is Paramount in these types of situations and it's good practice to stand to the side of a door when making entry in case the person inside decides to go on the offensive however safety concerns quickly go downhill once officers get inside you good just can you talk to me oh yes sir come on out here can I show you my my my innocence I want to child because I told him the way you do this they know how to stop it they know how to block it and they know how to you know what I mean stuff like that I have barely learned how to um like like I I thought I had finally got all off of me got it okay and then I realized I was like what what happened to all the all everything like a bunch of stuff was still going on and it was it just kind of messed well let's talk out here okay yeah you're good okay you remember me I've doubt with you you've been good with me every time okay can we talk out here better out here you good stepen you're good but stepen is not good and the the officers have no choice but to enter the residence for reasons that will become obvious later their intrusion makes Steven even more agitated I'll take this trial and expose everything talking about no no no we're just talking to you right now okay that's all we're here can you step on out I barely learned how to stop that like okay will you step on out with us look like you're getting we're not worried about that okay like this man that's fine that's fine in case you didn't catch that Steven just told his probation officer that he usually doesn't smoke meth like this glass pipes still in hand surrounded by smoke which is not a great way to avoid being arrested even though Steven hasn't been read his rights at this point this statement would likely be admissible in court Steven made his statement without being asked any questions which categorizes his statement as spontaneous utterance additionally no one requests that Steven sets the pipe down to ensure the safety of everyone on the scene it would be in the best interest of the officers to quickly remove all items from his hands and Pockets then clear the rest of the residents another concern is that there is a civilian on scene Steven's mother has not been escorted out or separated from the officers it would not be uncommon for the civilian to join in and help Steven if it ever came to a fight which poses yet another safety risk to the officers okay is anybody else in the house she kept on interrupting you're good you're good you're good you're good can we step up no I don't I want to justify my my stuff before you forget you think I'm crazy sir I don't think you're crazy you're czy that's Stephen you're good can you close that we'll close it we'll close it we'll close it no I want to prove my innocent I that wi Steven is being arrested and apparently expressing his concerns about being accused of Witchcraft the other officers on the scene make a cursory search of the premises and when we say cursory we really mean it R I think they're not while searching the master bedroom the flashlight beam skims right past what appears to be a hacksaw before continuing on in addition to the oversight it's concerning that the officers don't announce that they're the police as they proceed into the trailer and make no commands for others in the residents to make themselves known and come out with their hands up this is a very good way for the officer to get shot if such an altercation were to occur the homeowner could just say this guy just walked into my bedroom holding a gun and I shot him in many states the homeowner would be deemed Justified we're on the [Music] it's water the totes and buckets found in the closets will be deemed critically important but for now they go unnoticed what officers do find is a loaded firearm along with more drugs and paraphernalia in Steven's pockets and strewn about the living room all of these items constitute violations of Steven's parole eliminating any question of whether or not he'll be arrested you may be wondering why police are conducting a search without a warrant Steven along with most other offenders are typically placed on what is called searchable parole or probation meaning that warrants and probable cause are not needed for administrative searches of a probationer or their home a warrantless search of a parole Le only needs to be based on a condition which The Prisoner agreed to observe during the balance of his sentence often these conditions are written broadly and include terms like shall not violate any laws or regulations therefore it seems that in this situation the in-depth search is legal not that it does much good however police still manage to miss the V majority of the evidence sitting in plain sight understand I'm innocent you know I have to and let me explain everything my cousin has a history don't not I could explain for everything I I know they did some drink I first got into this drink some water first and I wanted to kill them like with the p that's why I did not want to risk my life and let that happen again okay well I'm glad you did that and the stuff that you're going to find in here you're going to think I'm looking in very guilty I'm just I'm just explaining you know what I mean so like you know like people were going excuse me if not you who else huh who else let me get some water and I can show you for myself poly dipsia or increased thirst can be a side effect of drug use perhaps explaining Steven's incessant requests for water throughout the arrest process however there is also a common theory that drinking an entire gallon of water before a drug test will allow a person to pass though it is possible to get a false negative on such a test it's usually not this easy also of note is the fact that Steven doesn't mention what he's trying to explain police probably think he's talking about his obvious drug use but the truth is far darker so Jitter I think I think you guys are going to kill me bro no no no no that's what last thing we want like why did they let them bang on the window you know what I mean because all you have to told the only way to find the truth about is this is if you guys calm down and she kept banging banging banging I said calm down calm down bang bang bang and then they were running all over the place and I was like I was like I'm not going to risk my life and all these like can you shut the door so I could show you paranoia like Steven is showing here is also a common sign of drug use although in this case it'll eventually come out that Steven really was trying to show police something horrifying his concerns for his life however don't appear to be based on reality let's go talk to here okay in uh privately out here no I have to show you because I not okay bro come on Stephen you're good you're good let's just talk out here okay while police are doing a good job deescalate the situation it would serve them best to promptly remove everyone from the scene they clearly don't want to fight Steven and for good reason considering the substances he's on but the longer they spend at the house the more potential danger they could face you won't regret it I'm sorry and it sounds so stupid I have to smoke that before it gets I think I think it's before it gets too far because I barely learned how to I barely learned how to I guess you could say control it uhhuh you to to explain this in court what is it exactly that you're trying to explain cuz you still haven't said that I have I am innocent because they kept on denying me as my fa I I panic but I had a gun to my head and had PTSD unfortunately even when one of the officers directly questions what Steven is talking about he's in no state to give a comprehensible answer as a result they take Steven away blissfully unaware that their colleagues would soon be summoned to the house again this time under markedly worse circumstances it was determined that Steven was too high to go straight to booking so he was first assessed at the hospital he had high blood pressure and an increased temperature which can both be symptoms of drug use he also spent a decent amount of time seemingly talking to himself but despite this and an apparent injury to his knee he was deemed in suitable condition to be placed under arrest police likely thought the case was closed but just a few hours later they received a distraught call from Steven's family requesting they return you remember me from earlier okay what's going on hi singer a puppy dog how did they miss that oh wow how did they miss that I have no clue it's blood yep looks like it it smells like it let me call what you call let me call Sergeant real quick the question of how the police missed the two very obvious JS of Blood on the counter is a good one the question of why the blood is being kept in a jug and a bottle is yet to be answered though the implication could be stomach churning the officer goes outside to privately speak with the sergeant which is the the right thing to do but he should have removed everyone especially family members from the scene before stepping out as a result of having left family members unattended inside the residence the scene is not secure and will become increasingly difficult to prosecute oh there's quite a bit of blood in the jugs in The Jug yeah I don't know what to do what do you think contact contact Rodney tell the missing person there's the missing person everything in case you missed it the sergeant just said he didn't know what to do a sergeant should never think out loud like this as it doesn't show much leadership when the leader says I don't know what to do Additionally the sergeant should be responding to the scene immediately back inside another officer arrives to supervise the family members but he also appears to struggle with the protocols intended to keep a scene secure I understand how they missed that was like right there in the cner that's where it was sitting the whole time I looked at it and I was like didn't have like definitely looks like blood to me shockingly the officer continues to allow Steven's sister to handle the evidence while his mother and grandmother move about the residence even though the sister is wearing gloves that evidence can almost certainly be considered contaminated now the family should have been removed immediately as they have every reason to try to contaminate the scene to help Steven's case even the officers themselves shouldn't be inside at this point at the very least they should not be touching anything so far this is exactly how not to handle a scene have you guys been in here cleaning or what was what was going on I here trash there was it was trash there was glass on the floor that's all we picked up I mean all the bags are outside you didn't throw anything but BR the glass out of the way there [Applause] wasen down there it doesn't look like it looks like that that maybe I didn't see under the V I open it okay well if you can leave that like that just leave it open like that we're goingon to have to take pictures of all of this yeah oh my God just right is it gel most of the time I I understand I was just asking if it gelled up like blood when it coagulates it does yeah BBE it's not so that's what I'm going to check so what do you see it's hard to tell but it it looks like there's some kind of a formed Clump in there now the officer is actively contaminating evidence himself instead of passively allowing it to happen DNA and trace evidence have certainly been transferred left and right a defense attorney would be able to destroy the case in court but despite the mishandling of the scene and the shock value of what is discovered semi coagulated blood in a water bottle is far from the worst thing that will be discovered in Steven's house yeah that's that's a lot yeah and he started cleaning up a little bit and I that I just noticed that and then show you something else oh yeah that's and then I don't know I don't know but I can't open I can't open it I I can't oh yeah let's let's not touch that cuz there's just I don't knowen here s did you huh did you go back there I've got back as far as I right go to the back corner over here there's a plastic tart and buckets with blood on them clearly the contents of the plastic totes are disturbing enough to Rattle the officer as well as Steven's sister because he finally mentions that they should stop touching the evidence not that he enforces the suggestion though but if there is something so obviously concerning about the bends it raises the question of how they were overlooked by the first round of police then again if they failed to notice a jug of blood in plain sight it's not exactly surprising that they weren't interested in the totes for now the police leave the plastic bends and buckets alone likely to preserve whatever evidence remains after the family cleaned and multiple officers tromped through the house but before a team arrives to inspect the contents officers are in for yet another surprise while this one is less gory it's no less concerning a wallet containing an ID and credit cards belonging to Eddie Joe artiaga is found on the table in Steven's house Eddie Joe had been reported missing a few days prior by a cousin who claimed he'd not been heard from since September 18th note that Steven's mother places the wallet on the table to be photographed it should have been documented where it was found in the residence not moved to a different location as a result we'll likely never know exactly where the wallet was found which could seriously impact the validity of the evidence Steven's cousin shared that Eddie Joe had recently been hit by a semi TR and received critical injuries including severed fingers and a broken pelvis since that time she stated he hadn't been the same and she suspected he'd started using drugs to cope she was worried he might have done something to harm himself however the presence of blood and Eddie Joe's wallet and Steven's house present a potential alternate reason why Eddie Joe had fallen out of contact along with what whatever will soon be found in the totes the situation looks grim and it only gets worse you know we have a lot of family for my was that what the original call out here earlier was can't believe I don't want to believe it how did they miss that we haven't touched you I wasn't here I don't know how they got through their stuff earlier my brother I don't think I don't see anything think he would be capable of doing this I just can't this is your brother and nephew that were here my brother and my cousin your cousin okay so your brother got arrested today and your cousin is missing okay in a Twist police likely never predicted they learned that Eddie Joe and Steven are cousins Steven's mother is Eddie Joe's aunt and she and Steven's sister have spent the past few days looking for their missing family member when last camera recording started sat on Saturday okay was that here that's what somebody said they dropped him off okay I seen him I seen him here on Friday you saw Eddie here on Friday okay so a week ago week ago today and when we came here on Monday we noticed that his bag was on the account um and his girlfriend everybody start looking wondering why hasn't he contact nobody yeah police were able to confirm that a different one of Eddie Joe's cousins had dropped him off with Steven on the previous Friday or the Saturday that followed just a handful of days before he was reported missing so when you dropped Eddie off did you go in with him M okay so you just Dr oh it's that bad um like I can't explain it man but like uh he's just liable to flip out hear me over the few days that follow police are able to speak with more members of the family and they learn more about both Steven and Eddie though they attempt to question Steven himself confronting him about the disturbing contents of his house he declines to answer without a lawyer present still his family has some telling information to share perhaps some of the most interesting stories come from one of Steven's ants just like that one nobody trust around and I always tell her I always told her how can you don't get in help you try to get him help I can't I can't she scared scar but I used to be he was young stabbed his sister in the he a long time ago you know he chased me with the knife a long time ago you know there there is violence but ever since then back then I would tell her give him some help you know give him some help he needs help I don't want to believe Ste go so you don't want to believe it but on the same term have your opinion that stepen could have if they were that's he done wor we know for a fact that Steven had recently been high and if what his aunt is saying is true perhaps the drugs pushed him over the edge and caused him to do something terrible his sister is able to provide some additional Insight so you're saying that he's been doing really good meaning everything has seemed pretty normal pretty chill up until the last few weeks well yeah pretty much but like um aside from his mentalness this is what I'm talking about when I say mentalness okay Stephen I could take him to the store and he'll go into the store like three times to get one thing and he'll stayed there like I even recorded him because I was like this is so sad you know and he's like oh I forgot I forgot I was R there for 12 and he's like oh I need ice and he stays in the store and he'll just be looking like like he can't remember like he zones out yeah like he Z out and is that a recent development or it's gotten worse recently to the point where like nobody wants to even give him a ride no more because he takes like one trip to take him to do one like run one errand will be like your whole afternoon it's unclear how much of Steven's struggles were a result of drug use or mental illness the way his sister first describes as symptoms it sounds like ADHD however methamphetamine use literally eats holes in your brain like dementia which also fits the symptoms described it's entirely possible that everything described is related to his ongoing drug use lending Credence to this theory is the fact that according to Steven's other sister getting high only worsened Steven's symptoms well Steven's a good person too and he's gotten better but when he's high I can tell he starts looking around he'll hear stuff and like like he'll be like stuff on him and I can just tell when he's on I just hate drugs like and sometimes Stephen would do them and he would be so paranoid like saying he was possessed notably the behavior Steven's sister describes as very reminiscent of how Steven was acting during his arrest the officer soon shift the conversation to the subject of her cousin Eddie Joe what's your what's your fears you talked a little bit about it earlier um whenever you were at over there by the house my cousin's dead why do you think that because it's been a week and he hasn't called us is that abnormal he would have called my sister or his girlfriend in addition to interviewing the family investigators speak with a friend of Stevens who came forward to share a rumor he heard note that he refers to someone named Nam Shadow this is Eddie Joe's nickname and uh couple people I around with uh said that uh they were on post with Stephen and Shadow and something happened they got an alocation or something and one of them shot Shadow when this happened I don't know when but they said that uh those two had left and that Stephen was supposed to stay there and take care of it he said that of his family while this Theory isn't impossible possible it doesn't appear that it was ever considered a significant lead with a better understanding of Steven's background and mental state it was finally time for police to see what Horrors were hidden in his closet right into the living room backpack k numerous hand guns continuing into kitchen jug what appears to be blood there's the vent here to be blood right up on the bottom near The Blood Stained vent the investigators also found Blood on the kitchen chairs and door to the master bedroom this was where the true Horrors would be found tucked away inside the plastic tubs if the first set of police had looked just a little harder they might have pieced together the Sinister implications of the contents right back into the [Applause] bedroom outad with like hecka raise your blades sore motion though the investigator doesn't comment on the last item listed this combined with the presence of the blood and the saw suggests a horrifying reason that Steven might need a fridge ASAP what they find next isn't going to soothe any of the rising concerns M tub not sure what that is at this point close with what appears to be a bunch of Nets blood shoes plastic bag here appears to be some sort of bone unknown at this time just yet but this time we have what appears to be possible organs bone and at this time detective Diaz and myself are going to back out and await for the arrival of New Mexico State Police evidence t Team it was quickly determined that the buckets did in fact contain human remains DNA results would take time but to all involved the answer seemed hauntingly obvious is yorica tell you may have been or maybe inside the those toads and those buckets tragically she was right in March of 20 23 Steven Gonzalez was found guilty of second deegree murder for killing his cousin Eddie Joe among other charges Eddie Joe had been shot once in the head likely with the gun police discovered in Steven's house before being dismembered and decapitated his head was found in one of the five gallon buckets while the rest of his remains were distributed among the plastic totes because the murder took place during the peak Co era it took nearly 2 years for the case to be closed police never did determine a motive but suspected Steven's history of drug use and paranoia might have been factors

Channel: EWU Bodycam

Views: 3,698,397

Keywords: documentary, true crime documentary, educational, news, police procedures

Id: pBEhVFityiw

Length: 32min 2sec (1922 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 15 2023