Linking Sam News Today

>> -- had been nothing but trouble. >> she couldnt tell me what had, happen she was so upset. >> it was about to get much worse. >> my mom would say, if you find, the car you will find kathy. he did not want to be, dark because you wanted to keep looking. >> she had been stabbed multiple times, there was blood in the interior of the car. she was a targeted victim. >> who killed kathy? >> we had no witness, no confession, no dna. >> 20 years went by. >> they still had to keep looking fo...

Somebody. and then she would call me up. and we would just, like -- calling each other, going out to eat, places like that. nothing serious at the time. >> sam definitely was trying to limit his connection with cathy, give the impression that its not that big of a deal. >> reporter: remember cathys sister tina had told detectives sam had proposed to cathy just days before she disappeared. but when police asked sam about that, he denied it. >> you didnt ask her to marry you, then? >> no. >> repor...

Cooperative. >> he voluntarily gave head hair samples, he gave a blood sample, he gave fingerprints. and at the end of that, he ultimately said, you know, "whatever i can do, ill do." >> reporter: but as he read the file, daron learned there were other things sam didnt do. for example, sam lived right down the street, yet cathys family says he never stopped by during that whole frantic week when they were searching. he did speak extensively with police. >> i dont think anybody thought that sam w...

>> the only thing she mentioned about him was that he hung himself and she was sorry for him doing that, because she thought it was his -- her fault, okay? thats -- thats how she said it to me. we never really sat down and talked about it. well, you know what? i think she was trying to hide from her problems by smoking out. >> reporter: meaning she was smoking marijuana. cathys family said that for her, that would be out character. sam told detectives he had last seen cathy the thursday before s...

Their suspicions to the orange county d.a., the outcome was not what they expected. >> coming up, sam has a new woman in his life who soon discovers his old life. you were a little freaked out by that? >> well, yeah. heres your buick sir. actually, thats my buick. your buick doesnt have a roof rack! this is my buick. how are we gonna fit in your moms buick? easy. i like that new buick. me too. i was actually talking about that buick. i knew that. did you? buicks fresh new lineup is full of surpr...

Till they closed, which was around 8:00, a little bit after 8:00. then let me see, what did i do that day? somebody paged me, i think. oh, i picked my cousin up again. >> so if we had to contact everyone that you mentioned, you know, you could get the names and addresses, phone numbers. >> sure. >> they could confirm where you were on saturday night? >> reporter: and sure enough, they did. police spoke with javier who corroborated sams story. >> javier told investigators that he was with sam, th...

Police had their suspicions about sam lopezs involvement in the murder of his neighbor and former girlfriend, cathy torrez. but there was no physical evidence tying him to the murder. and he had a solid alibi on the night cathy was killed. sam was with his cousin, javier. which is why when police took their case to the d.a.s office, the d.a. refused to file charges against sam. police pursued other leads too, like a possible connection to the suicide of cathys boyfriend, albert. did you think th...

>> i was ready. i was, "this is it. this is who i want to be with. this is who i want to grow old with. this is who i want to have kids with." >> reporter: and they did. a year later came a baby girl. and sam embraced his role as dad. >> he was like mr. mom, you know. he stayed home and took care of the baby while i worked. >> reporter: if sam had anything to do with cathys murder, he certainly didnt act like it. he stayed put. living with his wife and baby right down the street from cathys mom,...

>> reporter: to daron wyatt, it felt more like fate. and just months later, in january 1997, his lieutenant suggested daron apply to the homicide unit. >> so i ended up putting in for that job and being selected. >> reporter: it wasnt long before he cracked open the doors that housed the homicide files. >> and i open the cabinet and i see the torrez case. and i remembered the incident with debbie from about a year earlier. so i pulled it out and i started reading just on free time, just reading ...

Cathys older sister was married to sams older brother. >> reporter: they had this long on again/off again relationship in which what, he couldnt let go of her or she couldnt let go of him? >> i think a lot of it was mutual. >> reporter: even after cathy started dating albert and sam had another girlfriend, too, they continued to see each other. and daron found evidence that in sams mind, his relationship with cathy was far from casual. >> mary gave me a shoe box full of letters that were written...