Stay updated with breaking news from Lizz doesn t. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Photographed a bloody swipe on the handle of the closet safe, just a short distance from jaime s body. the defense told the jury how detectives never ran it for a possible print, nor had it swabbed for dna. isn t that the kind of evidence you d wanna have available to consider? why wouldn t you at least test it? reporter: the defense ticked off more examples of what they regarded as inept detective work, they never brought lizz s ex-husband in for questioning. or that neighbor with a history of petty burglaries, the one fresh out of jail. the police go to his house, knock. he doesn t answer and they leave their card. call us if you get the time ? right. and, and, they never followed up on it. reporter: and, the defense thought they knew just how the investigation got so bungled. look at the man who led it. what kind of murder investigation would you have where you knowingly, intentionally, and willfully don t bring the lead investigator to court? reporter: the defense, ....
Talking to witnesses who had personal knowledge. reporter: it was now up to a harris county jury to decide sandra s fate. the first day of deliberations ended with no decision. when the jury is off do you have to go back to your office and pretend to work or what? you can t work. you try to do other stuff but you can t. finally on day two there was a verdict. we were all everything s going to be fine, this is joke, no worries. surely the jury will see it the way we the family. exactly. we the jury find the defendant sandra jeanne melgar guilty of murder as charged in the indictment. sandra collapsed into her chair sobbing. lizz beyond devastated grasped for her mother as she was led away. it sucked the life out of me. i just felt the room spin and i just felt like my world was ....
absolutely, i was constantly worried. and how was her health at that time? she had started having seizures. and you know she was traumatized. she had post-traumatic stress, she had anxiety, she had depression. she was a mess. reporter: lizz clung to the hope that one of those leads she gave detectives would eventually pan out. but for now anyway it looked as though law enforcement was playing its cards close to the vest. according to prosecutor colleen barnett of the harris county district attorney s office, that was because they d made some early observations about the crime scene. officers have investigated burglaries and robberies for many years before they get in homicide. and they thought that the scene looked kind of suspicious. so what was off kilter with this one? the fact that it didn t look burglarized. the drawers were open, i think, right? they were open a little bit, but nothing was tossed. reporter: but what about those items lizz noticed were missing ....
she did. she told me her head was hurting. and i could feel it back there. reporter: lizz insisted her mom get some rest. so the next day, when detectives came by the house where lizz and sandra were staying, the daughter was the one to field their questions. and you flew in, uh, yesterday? yes. that s right. okay. reporter: and lizz, thought it prudent to record the conversation. she updated the detectives on her mother s health. she s just in complete shock, and she has retrograde amnesia at the moment. she has a hard time remembering things as it is because of the seizures. reporter: lizz had witnessed her mom s seizures before. and now she theorized that s what might have kept her alive during the home invasion. i think she, she probably had a seizure and that probably freaked out whoever was there, and maybe they thought they killed her. reporter: the detectives asked lizz to keep them updated on her recovery. because if she could ever remember a suspect, t ....
Investigation dragged into july of 2014, their worst fears were realized, lizz and her mom found out in a most unusual way. i went to the mailbox and it had been absolutely filled with fliers from lawyers trying to get our business for our pending case. did you know what that was about? i had no idea what that was about. and so i got onto the harris county website and i entered my mom s name. and i saw that she had been charged with my father s murder. reporter: a few days earlier, a grand jury had quietly voted to indict her. she turned herself in and posted bond. and then she hired veteran criminal defense attorney mac secrest to defend her. quite frankly, i can smell bs from across the room. and when i sat down and spoke with her, her story was plausible, i didn t hear anything that rang kind of a false note. reporter: allison secrest mac s niece served as co-counsel. she s a sweet person, she ....