The Strange Case Of Jim & Sandra Melgar

thank you [Music] Houston Texas foreign [Music] who would be married for over 30 years and lived in a nice quiet neighborhood on Kelsey Meadows Court Jim Melgar was born in Guatemala but immigrated to the United States when he was three years old his family had decided to settle in Houston where Sandra and her family lived the two had met in school with Sandra saying he was funny and Charming loving to make bad jokes and be a goofball after weeks of him asking her out she finally agreed to go ice skating with him and they said the rest was history they married in 1980 and Jim had started working as a computer programmer and Sandra owned a medical billing and coding business both were very successful but enjoyed a low-key life their friend said the couple shared one daughter Elizabeth who went by Liz and Liz said the three of them were as close as they could be and her parents were best friends and made for each other the three of them were big Travelers and enjoyed things like hiking and fishing but their love of outdoor activities sadly became a distant memory Sandra suffered a lot physically with various conditions she had lupus epilepsy hypothyroidism and she had had hip replacements Liz said she also saw her mother have violent seizures on many occasions which was terrifying for the whole family Jim was desperate to help his wife and spent whole days researching her conditions trying to find treatments and cures one of Sandra's friends said there were times that she didn't feel safe driving she was afraid her seizures might come on so she depended on him for a lot of day-to-day activities on December 22nd 2012 Jim and Sandra were out and about Not only was Christmas just around the corner the couple had recently celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary and decided that today was the day to celebrate they went out for dinner at their favorite Mexican restaurant [Music] at around 9 30 p.m Jim picked up some drink mixes at CVS [Music] foreign after the couple arrived home they made their drinks and snacks and spent some time in the jacuzzi in their bathroom they talked about what they wanted to do with their future whether they would sell their home or not and whether they would hopefully travel one day Jim was just five months away from retirement and was Keen to make lots of plans to fill up his time they also spoke about the following day Jim's Family were coming over for a small party to celebrate their anniversary and catch up before Christmas Sandra recalled that suddenly the couple's four dog started barking so Jim got up to go and see what was going on after about 15 minutes he still wasn't back but the dogs seemed quieter so she decided to get out and start getting ready for bed heading for the closet next to the bathroom December 23rd 2012 7 am one of the melgar's neighbors noticed that the couple's garage door was open which instantly struck him as odd it didn't close all day and no one went in or came out that anyone could see at about 4 30 p.m Jim's Family arrived at the house for dinner Herman Jim's brother knocked on the door but was met with silence Jim's black truck was parked in the driveway as the garage door was still open he could see Sandra's silver car parked inside he went through the garage and entered the house that way and locking the front door for everyone else inside they called out for Sandra and Jim but it was painfully quiet Hermann said all the blinds were still closed the house felt stuffy and there was a strange heaviness to it the couple's dogs then started barking and Herman's daughter turned to her dad and said something doesn't feel right the family tentatively started making their way through the home calling out as they went suddenly Hermann heard Sandra's muffled voice coming from upstairs he ran up and through the master bedroom and the bathroom that tagged onto it near the jacuzzi was a small walk-in closet in front of the closet door was a chair which was propped up under the handle when he moved the chair and opened the door he saw Sandra lying on the floor inside the closet her arms and feet bound by two scarves Herman tried for a minute to untie her before running to get Scissors because the knots were too tight he then discovered his brother Jim in another closet tagging onto the master bedroom about 30 feet away from where Sandra was found he was naked badly beaten and had been stabbed many times blood covered the walls and furniture his legs have been tied with a telephone cord and a rope was Loosely wrapped around his chest [Music] before 5 PM authorities were on scene but just two minutes after they arrived 52 year old Jim Melgar was pronounced dead he had more than 50 injuries in total and was covered in defensive wounds on his hands and arms including 31 knife wounds his skull had been bludgeoned too an expert said that his defensive wounds showed he had attempted to fight off his attacker rather than run away through tears Sandra told the paramedic that she last remembered it being about 1am and after that her mind was totally blank she said she had no idea that 15 hours had passed but as she had woken up with soiled underwear she knew it must have been a significant period of time as authorities started moving through the home which was now a major crime scene they saw that draws had been pulled open jewelry boxes had been gone through and there was a wallet and a purse out and on the bed Sandra and Jim's daughter Liz said there were prescription pills missing and a TV from one of the bedrooms despite the state of the home and what she said nothing was listed as missing or stolen in the police reports inside the jacuzzi was a white blouse and a kitchen knife they determined to be the murder weapon police also found Jim's loaded gun in the closet where he had been found and the couple's safe which was still locked but had blood on the handle Sandra said that her head was pounding and her body was aching as if she had had a seizure a feeling she said she knew all too well she was checked over but they found no signs of her head being hit they couldn't find any significant marks or abrasions to her arms or hands either something the police found a little odd given how tight the knots were and how long she would have been tied up his arm murder has a Northwest Harris County neighborhood on edge this Christmas Eve a couple celebrating a wedding anniversary found tied up in separate closets the husband had been stabbed to death tonight investigators have plenty of questions about this that happened as we see on this map at a home on Kelsey Meadows Court and Village Terrace and that's where local 2's Andy Sirota is joining us live at the latest on this story Andy built residents in this quiet community still baffled over a bizarre mystery involving two of their neighbors like police they too have so many questions we're just trying to get a statement Sandra Melgar sought Comfort today in the arms of a friend in the wake of her husband's bizarre murder she was unable to speak from the back seat of this car where we saw her wrapped in a blanket laying down still in shock after her 52 year old husband was found dead and tied up in a closet relatives who arrived at the couple's home for Sunday dinner also found Sandra Melgar tied up in a separate closet 32 years was the anniversary they were celebrated it distraught family members tell local to the couple had been happily married for 32 years and recently celebrated their anniversary deputies say Melgar told them she can't remember who tied her up or who may have hurt her husband his brother told us he'd been stabbed to death they were in the bathroom together her and her husband at approximately 1am this morning and that sometimes she blacked out and the next thing she remembers is waking up in the closet relatives told us off camera the melgars are devout Jehovah's Witnesses on some rental properties and insist there was nothing going on in the couple's lives to indicate trouble was on the horizon now tonight we're still not sure what caused Sandra Melgar to black out but relatives tell us she does have a medical condition and they say it appears that she may have been hit over the head with something investigators haven't released information on any possible suspects they took Sandra Melgar to homicide headquarters to interview her Andy thank you sir relatives got to the Melgar house yesterday they said they noticed that the garage door was open investigators haven't said anything yet about any possible signs of forced entry or about whether the couple's home had possibly been ransacked or if anything was missing she was taken to the hospital for further checks but quickly discharged herself and after this she was taken to the Harris County Sheriff's Office to answer some questions it was a very odd scene and police suspected that something was off about Sandra's version of events I need to do a statement from you okay that's why we're here and I will record and do a little statement and get some questions from you answer she said she had no idea what happened past getting out of the jacuzzi and couldn't remember a thing she said she definitely didn't see or hear anything happen to Jim and had no idea that he had been killed and did you immediately get into the jacuzzi at that time when you got home we made drinks and went straight to the jacuzzi he got once to go get ice and then came back and then said he was gonna put the dogs move the dog because they were barking too much he got out and said he was moving the dogs to the office because when they're too loud you know what the neighbors to complain it's taking a while so I got out and was gonna get dressed for a change in my closet and then I went in there and I started to change and that's all I remember until I woke up and then I remember I woke up and okay I thought I had a seizure because of my muscles hurt in my head it was just hurting real bad several hours later I woke up and realized I was tied up that's all I remember that's it I mean I would tell you more if I remembered why I just don't so you turn it on because it was making noise it was pretty loud you couldn't hear anything over that I didn't hear anything hear anybody scream no hear the dogs all you could hear the dogs bark yeah because they were right outside our window so he had to go outside to get them I don't think so usually he just calls them they come they come in the doggie door yeah so you don't have to open the door sometimes yeah because some of the little ones don't want to come in they're not that he opened the door last night you would have heard that right I don't think so the front no you mean the back door she told police that she had headed into her closet started applying some lotion and then completely blacked out putting it down to either hitting her head or being struck by someone an unknown amount of time later she came around and realized she was bound she called for help and then must have passed out again after having what she thought was an epileptic seizure she said the reason she felt this was because her body felt the same way it always did after having one she said the only thing that had been odd about that day was as they were driving home just hours before a car they didn't recognize looked like it was trailing them CVS there was a car following us because when we came in our neighborhood it was still behind us and he was really close and I don't know I'd get upset with him because he he would drive slower to when someone was tailgating him and I tell him don't do that because you know dangerous but the guy turned left then we turn right and so we thought it was just coincidence and I keep remember trying to remember but investigators were still dubious about her story they couldn't understand how she hadn't seen or heard anything especially given how violent the scene was and how loud Jim likely would have been he was fighting off whoever the attacker or attackers were for a while given his defensive wounds and this could not have been quiet they also couldn't fathom why someone would kill Jim but leave her alive and virtually unscathed with just a few bruises and small scratches it was such a different scene in both closets nope had no disagreements you're having fights usually they were because my daughter but she's been gone for five years now so I don't know part of our job is what we do is We Gather witness statements okay we also search for video cameras okay and a couple of neighbors had video cameras they wanted to get your house pretty well okay your front door is locked your back door is locked nobody came in through the garage okay we were hundreds and hundreds of murders sometimes we we work cold-blooded Killers they're just on the street that would just kill somebody for nothing and sometimes we work murders that you're an argument and something happens okay there's two different types of people at one point Sandra said she thought she needed to talk to a lawyer given the way the questions were going but the interview continued on because if you argue with somebody and you lose it your temper and an argument that's not what happened that's not what happened and I think I'm gonna stop talking about this because I think I'm really a lawyer because I know how this works and it hurt all over it my head hurts how often do you have seizures like that I'm not able to drive anymore how frequent um at least once a month maybe when was the last time you had one of those before today um about a month ago none of the neighbors reported hearing a commotion all the dogs barking either there was nothing out of the ordinary to them one neighbor was even outside working in his garage until 1am and said he didn't hear or see anything suspicious near the house or on the streets no noise no cars no dogs nothing he was surprised that a home invasion had actually happened right under his nose especially while feeling he was more of a Target to be honest if anybody was going to get robbed it would probably be me because the garage door was wide open I'm there it was just me messing with my stuff if somebody were going to come down and try and rob somebody they'd be like look at that dude let's just go in there time up and take all his stuff he said officers said that there were no signs of a forced entry and the draws inside looked like they had been neatly pulled out emptied and placed around as opposed to someone opening them in a hurry and hunting for valuables they found it odd that the murder weapon was left at the scene in the jacuzzi the murder weapon that had come from inside the melgar's kitchen they also thought that she could have very easily pulled the chair against the door using a bath mat or a pillowcase and they noted that neither Jim nor Sandra had any ligature marks something they would have expected to see this indicated to them that Jim had been tied up after death as opposed to being restrained before being killed despite the fact that things were missing according to Liz and Sandra authorities and experts overall conclusion was that the evidence was inconsistent with the home invasion and the scene had been staged by Sandra they asked if she would take a voluntary polygraph test which she declined she said that she was freezing cold and shaking and was worried that this would work against her we're not trying to cause you trouble or cause you pain but we have a procedure are you familiar with the polygraph exam we uh have a person that's going to come here he's probably here now I'm just a nervous wreck right now okay well let me explain let me explain this and I'd rather get it talk to a lawyer about it because I already I already feel like you know I know where this is going okay I want you to understand yeah I understand that you're upset understand that you've been through a lot this person that does this is a professional and is able to filter for that and I want you to meet with him and talk to him no matter if you take the exam or not we're not trying to pin something on you we're not trying to get you to say that you've done something that you haven't done I'm asking you to also you know try to dig deep understand that you said that you were you were struck that you went unconscious understand that but I'm asking you to really do dig deep because you know you were there I don't think I wanna be conscious okay I mean I think having a seizure different from going I mean it's the same I understand it's the same you said that you when you've had those experiences that you forget things and we understand that but you know and I'm not a doctor but I'm asking you you know of course for you and for us for your husband's sake you know if you can dig down and try to remember anything [Music] how you feeling how did the meeting go I guess okay did you take the polygraph no how come I needed to wait because I'm just just shaking right now you know something I want you to understand is that we go to all extremes you know we don't quit you're going to say a lot of me you're going to see a lot of my partner we're going to learn everything else too because it's not me we're processing this you're seeing your house too and you know we didn't just walk into this ball game yesterday I did ask you to take a polygraph test yes I did and I know I took shaking and I'm freezing and what's your what's your explanation though what's your excuse for not taking one it's not golden water Sandra I'm just going to be honest with you I just don't want to take it and then it's used against me that's not possible yeah it is it is because those are not even a muscle in court what do you think should happen to the person that if we catch that did this to your husband what do you think is punishment or her punishment should be do you think they should get a second chance no what do you think should happen to him for her you should go to prison you know what they normally do they go to prison do you love your husband yes I love my husband just care about him yes she wants to finally kill her of course I don't think you do did you kill your husband no I didn't did you have anything to do with your husband's death no foreign [Music] detectives had made their mind up about what had happened that night and on December 24th they called the Harris County District Attorney's office requesting to file murder charges against Sandra Melgar but the DA's office declined saying there was a lack of evidence testing from the scene was starting to come back and it showed there was no blood apart from Jim's present which was unusual but an expert said they could not exclude the possibility of someone leaving the home essentially clean there were male and female DNA profiles discovered on some door handles dresser drawers the handle to the safe and the scarves that had been tied around Sandra these profiles did not match any members of the Melgar family but they weren't fully tested to determine who the DNA was linked to detectives then received a message from Liz saying she had found a backpack with an Xbox in it in the garage she said the only explanation for this was someone had bagged it up to steal it and then dropped it or left it on the way out an unknown female DNA profile came back on this as well a few days later someone called in with a tip saying after thinking about that night long and hard they had recalled something they said they had seen a man acting strangely around the neighborhood that night it turned out that this man was Chad Sullivan a convicted Thief who was just out of prison on assault charges although police knocked on his door twice to talk to him and left a card asking him to get in contact he never responded never opened the door and thus he was never questioned a few weeks later Sandra said her memory was finally starting to come back in bits and pieces and she had a flashback to a young hispanic woman in the closet talking to someone behind her that Sandra couldn't see but investigators were still not convinced They carried on building their case against Sandra over the next 18 months believing that it just didn't add up didn't make sense and didn't seem plausible for this to have been a robbery gone wrong in the summer of 2014 almost two years after Jim was killed Sandra Melgar was indicted on first-degree murder charges development here a woman who once claimed to be the victim of a home invasion that ended up killing her husband is now charged with his murder you may remember this story Christmas Eve of 2012. Sandra melger claims somebody broke into her Northwest Harris County Home tied her up in the closet and murdered her husband well now authorities say that was all an elaborate lie milgar says that uh they were in the bathroom together her and her husband at approximately 1am this morning and at some time she blacked out and next thing she remembers is waking up in the closet tied up it just seemed like something was really strange with how it all came down with with uh them being tied up and just one person being killed a year and a half later 54 year old Sandra Melgar is charged with her husband's murder we were wondering I mean it was so weird that what happened and how it happened nothing was didn't seem like we heard anything like anything had been stolen or anything like that now curious neighbors want to know what information LED investigators to charge Mrs Melgar and why it took so long they have after all been unnerved for over a year thinking a home invasion on their street was the work of Ruthless thieves her defense team argued that there was no physical evidence against her and that everyone was missing a very key part there was simply no motive at all they said this idea that something must have happened and then she went crazy and subjected him to over 50 blunt force and sharp force injuries is just impossible they maintain that someone or several people broke into the house via the back daughter Robert and Jim ended up dead in the process they questioned why Sandra was found with none of Jim's blood on her if the attack had been as violent as it was surely she would have something on her but her hands and nails were clean and her nails were unbroken she also had no injuries aside from some bruising on her upper arms something they said they would have expected to see a lot more of given the crime they also pointed out Sandra's various physical ailments and said there was no way she could have physically overpowered him in the first place and gotten away and scathed and the fact that there was an unknown male and female DNA found in the house that was not fully tested should be enough to create doubt for the jury and if there was anything that put doubt in the jury's Minds that someone else could have done this they couldn't find Sandra being guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt finally her defense team pointed out that the lead investigator on the case was later forced to resign after backdating a search warrant in an unrelated murder case it was purely a badly put together circumstantial case in their eyes but the prosecutor said her story just didn't make the slightest bit of sense and put forward two motives for murder they said that she had wanted a divorce but due to them both being Jehovah's Witnesses she was worried she would be pushed out if she went ahead with this but Sandra's family and friends said she never made any mention of wanting to separate from her husband the second motive pointed to the 250 000 life insurance policy that Jim had which Sandra would have benefited from they claimed that it was entirely possible that Sandra had tied Jim up before he was stabbed perhaps positioning it as some sort of sex game or she stabbed and bludgeoned him before he was tied up hence the reason the knots were only Loose as they weren't needed to actually restrain him she then spent time staging the scene finishing with tying her hands and feet [Music] they said that one of her nails was slightly cloudy which pointed to a cleanup happening celestina Rossi a blood spatter analyst in crime scene Reconstructionist testified for the prosecution she said that in her experience the crime scene didn't match that of a home invasion there were no signs of a forced entry and dresser drawers weren't scattered throughout the bedroom she also said that the candle on Jim's nightstand was still lit and this was a sign that there was no struggle near the closet where Jim was killed as would likely be expected in these type of situations she agreed with the medical examiners reports that all of Jim's wounds were defensive and noted that his gun was still loaded and untouched just inches away from his body she said as it was his wife that was attacking him he would be Keen to disarm her rather than kill her in self-defense and the chair blocking the door from the outside the prosecution along with police argued it was entirely possible for her to put a pillowcase under the chair to pull it against the door and shut herself in this was not something that needed to be done by someone else [Music] closing arguments have just wrapped up in the case against a woman accused of murdering her husband and then trying to cover it up Channel 2's Leaf felici is joining us live downtown with what we're learning from the courtroom as we wait for a verdict in this case Lee Yes Bill well the prosecutor arguing very strongly that Sandra Melgar did murder her husband the defense saying there were shoddy detective work and the evidence just does not add up now it's up to the jury Sandra melgar's fate lies in their hands thank you closing arguments began this afternoon you guys saw the photos you saw all the ones that you had the 13 stab ones all the other ones that he had in his body and his head certainly that person intended to kill him but that person certainly intended to cause serious volley injury which resulted in death we've proven all of those things in the Sandra Melgar case there's no physical evidence in this case that points to her at all the prosecution graphically painting a picture from their case and while he isn't looking she makes a strike straight up all the way to his neck that's what that first strike is Jamie of course gets up to try and defend himself turns around and that's when she gets him on the on the thumb and that's when the Blood starts spurting out onto the chair the defense criticizing shoddy detective work and saying the evidence is just not there look at what remains no broken Nails no problems with the hands no bruising here where you would expect it if a knife was used so the jury is expected to deliberate for only a few more minutes until about 5 15 then they'll be back at it again tomorrow morning we're live at the Harris County criminal Courthouse leave for Lisi KPRC Channel 2 News in August 2017 a jury spent eight hours deliberating on the first day they were split down the middle in their decisions but on the second day they had reached a verdict Sandra Melgar was found guilty and sentenced to 27 years in prison for the murder of her husband Jim Liz said an audible gasp went through the entire courtroom as the verdict was read out Sandra almost passed out and sat sobbing she said that the thought of her mother killing her father had briefly crossed her mind but she no longer thought this was possible and no one in court thought she would have actually been found guilty both Jim and Sandra's family support her claims of innocence and believe her story completely I tried to look at the evidence I tried to be unbiased about it which is difficult because these are my parents in the end I still want Justice for my dad I want to know who did this and it was not my mother I know that she did not do this I'm going to continue to fight until we can prove that Liz said the prosecution were happy with the results and the sentence given and said she told a story that didn't make sense it didn't add up and the jury didn't believe it the jury Foreman would later say both mine and probably my fellow jurors pendulum guilt or innocent swung back and forth throughout the entire trial what was your first impression of Sandra was how could this diminutive looking middle-aged lady possibly have committed this crime it was it was frankly incredulous to see it at first it didn't compute I didn't didn't think she could have done it at first one I'll say Colleen's the prosecutor's testimony right it all made sense now was it absolutely provable no but it's the only thing that made sense during the the trial the prosecution had acquired all the medical records and showed and just listed the dates up there and everything else of her doctor's visits no seizure no seizure no seizure getting better you know that kind of stuff we watched almost all the police video over again during deliberations and and that's what brought the other people over until we had a unanimous verdict a couple of months later Sandra's team filed an appeal requesting a retrial this was denied new at six a celebrity defense attorney is taking on the case of a Houston woman convicted of murdering her husband Kathleen Zellner who was featured in the Netflix in 2018 Fame defense attorney Kathleen zelner announced she would be taking the case to help Sandra believing in her innocence Kathleen zelner has helped exonerate 19 people who were wrongfully convicted and garnered major attention from the Netflix series making a murderer when she started working with Stephen Avery after he was convicted of the 2005 murder of Teresa halbach we are ready to hear our argument and cause number pd024320 Sandra Gene Melgar versus the state of Texas good morning to the court I'm George McCall Seacrest Jr from Houston and along with Allison Seacrest we represent Sandy Melgar on an appeal and represented her at trial the state did not prove Sandra melgar's guilt Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and I contend based upon a fair and full reading of the record in this case and based upon its unique facts the evidence is legally insufficient as a matter of law yeah let me ask you a question real quick so I know the state doesn't have to prove motive they speculate about what your client's motive might have been but if there's anything in the record or in the briefs I missed is there any evidence of any what what would the motive to kill Jaime have been zero let me no no not for your client I mean for someone else to kill it oh uh I I I I we believe it was home invasion and we the that would be the motive we believe that in fact people entered the home we think this business about no breaking and entering the garage door was up it was an unlockable interior door and there was contrary to the court of appeals opinion there was evidence that property was missing opioids were missing a television set jewelry cash that that is the motive um why would they not have killed your client too I I don't know I I'd have to I'd have to speculate another appeal for Sandra was lodged but this was denied again with one of the judges saying the evidence is legally sufficient to support every essential element of the offense Beyond A Reasonable Doubt in late 2022 the Innocence Project of Texas announced that they too would be picking up Sandra's case she has spoken from prison and tells the same story she always has they got it wrong that they uh they got it completely wrong Sandra did you kill your husband no I did not kill my husband no and you have grandkids and my grandbabies yeah you're missing out on I know I know that really hurts me I miss them so much I mean I'm just gonna keep fighting this until I'm out of here that's all I can do it is a really strange confusing and sad case which has been divisive right from the beginning many believe that Sandra is a killer who masterminded the whole operation and staged the scene to get away with murder whereas many others believe she is just as much of a victim the police decided that it was her from the get-go they created The Narrative and the killer or killers are still out there with numerous groups podcasts and websites campaigning for her release and with others fighting to keep her in it's clear to see just how polarizing this case and conviction has been whatever anyone's thoughts are there are still so many unanswered questions about that night is the real killer behind bars or has someone been wrongfully convicted Sandra malga will be eligible for parole in 2031. if she is not granted parole her release date is August 2044. she will be 85 years old Jim Melgar was a kind hard-working and thoughtful man with a great sense of humor and a big heart he is missed dearly by everyone and with so many questions about what happened still lingering family and friends say it only becomes harder to find closure when that was already so tough to get in the first place [Music] we are so grateful to all of our viewers and all of our patrons and we'd love you to consider joining our little community over on patreon it supports us as a channel and we couldn't be more appreciative of anyone that does so it also gives you behind the scenes extra episodes and Early ad-free Access

Channel: Truly Criminal

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Id: 74s7jg1Fdf4

Length: 39min 17sec (2357 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 25 2023