Page 4 - Linking Sam News Today

Thing -- cathy was still alive when she was placed in the trunk of the car. so, if javier put her there, he could be charged with murder. why not grab javier up that day and say, "okay, your dna and fingerprints were at the scene. we didnt know that until just now. youre going away for murder unless you start talking"? >> well, lets say that we did that and we bring him in and he says, well, yes, my fingerprint was there because i helped her push her car out of the street a week before. or when ...

Memory of what had happened, but she was able to tell everybody who she had been with that night. >> reporter: the person cathy had been with that night? sam lopez. when police asked sam about that night, he remembered something very specific. >> a hickey. >> on her neck? >> on her -- right here. covered up with her bra. >> you mean way down here on her shoulder? >> right here. right here. >> reporter: sam claimed it was no big deal. >> i didnt want to hit her up, like, tell her, "hey, you know,...

Sams cousin javier was also arrested and charged with murder. police also arrested sams older brother, armando, who was once married to cathys sister tina, and had helped search for cathy. >> its just a tragic loss. it hurts. everybody loved cathy. >> reporter: armando was charged with being an accessory after the fact for allegedly helping cover up the murder. >> we believe that he was telling people who had information that could help convict sam not to cooperate with the police. >> reporter: ...

It too. he was still living in the same home police had searched after cathys murder. a search that had turned up nothing. and sam was also moving on with his life. in may 1994, just months after cathys murder, sam walked into a local restaurant. >> he walked in with his friend. and i just remember thinking that he was cute. >> reporter: tina montelongo was a hostess then. >> so, i offered him some free food. and then we started talking. >> reporter: she felt the spark right away. >> i did think...

>> im sure there probably were. but there -- they didnt have my attention. >> reporter: they dated for a year, and then married. >> 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 c...

>> reporter: police briefly detained sam, but he was back home by morning. now daron wyatt focused on javier. >> and we really approached it very low key. "we think that you can really provide some great information for us. would you mind coming down with us and talking." >> reporter: they brought him down to the station and listened patiently as he distanced himself from cathy torrez. >> hed never been shopping with her, never changed a tire on her car, never carried groceries. we went through ...

Cause when youre depressed you do things. >> remember, this interview happened while cathy was still missing. sam seemed to be implying she might have hurt herself or that another boyfriend might be involved. >> i mean, look, she, shes had, i know shes had a lot of problems in the past with boyfriends. >> reporter: then there was the second interview, the day cathys body was found. detective wyatt studied that tape, too. >> there was one thing that was important that sam didnt display that you w...

Sams claim that cathy never tried to contact him after she disappeared. >> i thought she was going to page me on friday. she goes somewhere, and she never paged me on friday. >> we know that cathys mom paged him 20 or 25 times in a matter of at least a couple of days, trying to get him to contact her because hes so close to cathy and shes missing. >> reporter: montgomery noted a key detail about those pages. marys home phone and cathys home phone are the same number. >> theyre the same numbers. ...

Dont receive botox® if theres a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. with the botox® savings program, most people with commercial insurance pay nothing out of pocket. talk to your doctor and visit botoxchronicmigraine.com to enroll. back in 1994, police suspected sam lopez of killing his sometime girlfriend, cathy torrez, but they couldnt make the...

Were saturday night, this last saturday? >> sure. >> were asking everyone. >> no. thats fine, thats fine, i understand. i was up in corona. i was helping my friend, a friend of mine moved. >> reporter: sam told police how he and his cousin javier helped their friend move in the afternoon, and then he said he dropped javier off at his home. >> whered you go from there? >> from there i went to my girlfriends store. and i was there till, shoot, till they closed, which was around 8:00, a little bit ...