Page 24 - Torrez Case News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

It was 1996. two years had passed since the gruesome murder of cathy torrez in placentia, california. >> i had been to several places, had knocked on many doors. and all i ever wanted was the truth to come out as to what had happened to cathy. >> reporter: the case had gone cold, but its memory still clung to the breeze in this small town. daron wyatt was a patrol officer back then, and one afternoon his shift brought him to this park just across the street from where cathy had grown up. daron was about to bust a drug suspect when the guy started talking. >> he's playing the game of, you know,...

And one more thing also seemed clear. >> most likely the attack started in the car. there were pieces of the gearshift that were broken, pieces of the center console that were broken, as if a struggle had occurred. and then there was blood within the interior of the car. >> reporter: orange county prosecutor matt murphy later reviewed the case. he noted blood on everything the killer must have touched -- the steering wheel, above the glove compartment, the driver's side armrest and, of course, the trunk release. but one noteworthy place where there was no blood? the driver's side seat lever. 4...

Know. that -- that was basically it. that they became estranged. >> reporter: which made it difficult for tina, who was still married to sam's older brother, armando. police continued to work the case, but the fact was, they had no solid leads. they weren't even close to arresting anyone. but then two years after cathy torrez was murdered, an unexpected meeting put this investigation in the fast lane. an explorer scout with a familiar last name inspires a renewed search for a killer. >> that is a weird convince coincidence. >> we don't believe in coincidences. mary had a little lamb whose flee...

Accountable for exactly what he did. >> reporter: the very first witness matt murphy put on the stand was cathy's mom, mary. it seemed a safe way to start. >> there is a cardinal rule that you don't ever do a hard cross-examination on a mother. >> reporter: but matt's mentor broke that rule. >> he really pressed her on some of the details. >> and scored some points. >> scored big points. i mean, scored big-time points. >> reporter: mary initially told the jury sam only responded to one of her pages, but under cross-examination mary revealed he'd actually returned three pages. >> they were tryi...

>> there was one thing that was important that sam didn't display that you would expect to see in a case like this. >> reporter: which is? >> emotion. he showed more emotion over the contents of a coke can. he picked it up when they left the room and reading the coke can and the ingredients and the number of calories. and at one point he puts that down and picks up a baseball hat he had been wearing, sees dirt and brushes it off and starts swearing about the fact that there's dirt on his hat. >> oh [ bleep ]. >> but he never shows any emotion about the fact that this gal has been brutally murd...