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The Cartel, the Mistress, and the Mastermind: The Gruesome Truth Behind Four Murders · 10 Minute Murder | Bingeable True Crime Stories

• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Maybe the story today is a twisted game of cat
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: and mouse that makes even the wildest soap operas look
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: like polite disagreements over brunch. Imagine this. A cop knocks
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: on the door of Ierma Linda Palomo, a fifty year
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: old woman who might as well be a character plucked
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: straight out of a telenovella. The CoP's got that stern
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: you know what this is about look on his face,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: and he's about to drop the bomb that he's there
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: to investigate a murder. Little does she know he's not
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: talking about one body, but four. What unraveled inside that
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: house was the kind of tangled web where years of jail, deception,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: and some seriously unhinged online personas conspired to end in
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: the merciless killing of an entire family. Yeah, we're diving
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: into a plot involving fake cartel accounts, a secret lover,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: and a puppet master who just couldn't stand to lose
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: control of her personal soap opera. And did I mention
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: that it all starts unraveling because of a guy named Turtle.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: To really understand this bloodbath, you've got to go back
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: a few years when Ermelinda started playing a dangerous game
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: with her fiance, Nathaniel Huey Junior. Think catfishing, but with
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: an extra dash of paranoia and a side of fake
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Mexican cartel threats. It was all fun and games until
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: a secret affair came to light, one that would spiral
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: from a love triangle into a full blown massacre. So
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: buckle up as we followed the breadcrumbs left by Turtle,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: an assassin who gives new meeting to working remotely. Welcome
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: to ten minute Murder. I know you know what's going
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: on and why we're here. An officer spoke to the
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: person who just opened the door he'd knocked on. We're
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: investigating a murder. The woman he was talking to was
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: fifty year old Ermelinda Palomo. But what the officer didn't
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: tell her in that initial conversation was that they weren't
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: there to investigate just one murder, but four. The foundations
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: for those incredibly shocking and devastating murders were laid years before,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: and almost unbelievably when one of the victims had been
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: only five years old. But to understand how years of
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: planning and calculations ended in the cruel slaying of innocent children,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: we have to understand the role of their parents and
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: how that played into their demise. It started around twenty
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: twenty two when Ermelinda Palomo realized that her fiance, thirty
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: one year old Nathaniel Hughey Junior, was having yet another affair.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: This was by far not the first, but if Ermalinda
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: would have her way, it would most certainly be his last.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: About a year before she'd discovered his latest fling, Ermalinda
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: set up a series of online accounts under different pseudonyms.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Through these, she'd convince Nathaniel that he'd been recruited and
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: was now directly working for the Mexican cartel. Ermalinda used
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: social media accounts and phone numbers, and often used them
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: to coerce Nathaniel into treating her quote better. She would
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: then force his hand into acting the way that she
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: wanted him to by feeding him details and information about
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: his life and routine, giving Nathaniel the impression that these
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: dangerous cartel bosses had people constantly watching him. For the
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: most part, Nathaniel did as he was told, but the
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: delicate balance and tentative hold that Ermelinda had on her
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: fiance became endangered when she found out about thirty eight
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: year old Zorida Bartholome. Zorida was in a long term
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: relationship with thirty two year old Alberto Rolone, and together
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: they had two sons, nine year old Adriel and seven
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: year old Diego. For about a year, Zorida had been
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: in a secret relationship with Nathaniel, a relationship that would
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: tear her entire life apart. That's because, unbeknownst to Zorida
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: or even to Nathaniel himself, the man behind the curtains
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: of the Mexican cartel was none other than Erma Linda,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: and she wasn't about to take Nathaniel's latest affair. Lying
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: down the accounts that Nathaniel was communicating with then began
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: ramping up the pressure. Now it wasn't enough for them
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: that Nathaniel was treating Erma Linda better, but someone close
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: to Nathaniel was a mole and had directly targeted him
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: for information. These accounts then went silent for days, leaving
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Nathaniel to stew and grow increasing paranoid. He knew that
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: the cartel was not to be messed with, and he
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: knew that if he had knowingly or unknowingly fed information
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: to a mole the cartel would be coming for him next.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: By the time these accounts came back online, Nathaniel was
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: in a complete panic and was tearing his hair out
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: desperately trying to figure out who it was in his
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: life that was the mole. But finally the accounts had
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: an answer for him, and with it they would provide
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: a solution to his problem. It turned out that the
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: mole was Zoraida, and her entire relationship with Nathaniel had
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: all been a ruse. She'd only had an affair with
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: him so that she could draw information about the cartel
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: out of him, and now his bosses needed Nathaniel to
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: get rid of her. To help him do that, they
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: put him in contact with the cartel assassin who went
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: by the name Turtle. Turtle would help Nathaniel put together
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: a plan to rid themselves of this potentially dangerous mole
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: before she could do any damage to the cartel or
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: maybe even just attack Nathaniel now that her cover had
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: been blown. A police report detailed the steps that Nathaniel
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: and this mysterious Turtle aka Ermalinda, using yet another online
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: fake account, would take next. They the report reads, researched
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: Zorida's house to determine the layout within. They researched the
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: neighborhood to locate cameras, planned how to get in and
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: out of the house, and learned that the house behind
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Zorida was vacant. In messages, Turtle advised Nathaniel on what
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: order he should take care of his victims, and that
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: he should mess up the scene to make it appear
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: to be a burglary committed by kids. Just three days
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: after he'd been informed that Zorida was in fact a mole,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Nathaniel and Ermalinda drove to Sarida's home in the dead
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: of the night. Ermalinda stayed in the car with a
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: walkie talkie that she and Nathaniel used to communicate with
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: each other while he went in and did what he
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: believed he'd been sent there to do. Nathaniel used a
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: knife to cut through two screens and then walk through
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: the kitchen to unlock the door. But further inside the house,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Alberto had heard Nathaniel coming, and he went to investigate.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Alberto only made it a short way towards Nathaniel before
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Nathaniel spotted him and opened fire. Alberto managed to turn
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: around and start heading back towards his bedroom where Zorida
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: and the children were sleeping, but all the while he
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: was being struck with bullets. Alberto died before he could
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: protect his family. Nathaniel then moved on to the bedroom
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: where Zorida and her boys had been sleeping. They'd all
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: woken up from the sounds of the gunfire and had
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: closed the door, but by then it was already too late.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Nathaniel shot through the door, hitting Zorida several times, killing her.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: Now with all of the adults out of the picture,
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: Nathaniel was able to force his way into the bedroom
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: and shot both Adriel and Diego together. Zorida and her
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: family were shot a total of twenty times. Nathaniel then
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: moved throughout the house and set the scene. He shot
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: and killed all three of the family dogs, tossed furniture about,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: and spray painted things on the walls, all in an
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: attempt to throw the investigators off of his trail. It
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: was after Alberto failed to show up for work and
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: riot as family members grew concerned that they couldn't reach
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: her or the boys, that the police were called to
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: perform a welfare check. They found the family butchered in
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: their home on September seventeenth, twenty twenty three. The discovery
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: shocked the community and fueled the investigator's drive to track
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: down the person capable of massacring an entire family, including
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: two small children. Using door bell cams, cell towers, and
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: camera systems, the detectives were able to spot a car
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: traveling between Streamwood and Romeoville on the night of the murders,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: and driving that vehicle was none other than Nathaniel himself.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: And it was through a series of online investigations and
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: just old fashioned police work that the detectives were able
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: to uncover a dark, complicated web of lies and deceit
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: that had culminated in a quadruple murder. While Ermelinda had
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: been convincing Nathaniel that he was now working for the
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Mexican cartel, she had also reached out to Zorida and
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: her family three months before the killings, and in a
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: direct message to Alberto Rmalinda had actually warned him that
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Zorida was having an extramaro affair with Nathaniel. When Alberto
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: didn't break up with Zoraida, Vermalinda then ramped up her
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: warnings even further in messages and handwritten letters. Ermelinda told
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: both Zorida and Alberto that Nathaniel was a dangerous member
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: of the Mexican cartel and that they should stay clear
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: of him for their own safety. I don't believe she
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: believes my warnings. Rmalinda wrote in a message to Alberto
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: about Zorida and for the safety of your family, she
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: really needs to be honest with you. Nathaniel has rifles
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: and guns he carries with him. Mother of your children
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: is putting them in danger and she knows this. Just
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: two weeks before she would drive with Nathaniel to Alberto's home,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: she sent one last message. This will be the last
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: I say of this, Alberto. This stupid girl would be
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: the reason you have no children. The police then tracked
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Nathaniel down at his place of work and confronted him.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: In the report, they state Nathaniel admitted to his relationship
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: with Zorida, but denied any involvement in the murders. He
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: refused to allow police to search his GMC Yukon at
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: this time. Later this day, he was seen transferring a
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: bag containing firearms from his GMC to another person. From there.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: The officers then went to Nathaniel's house, where Ermalinda opened
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: the door, only to be told that the officers were
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: there to investigate a murder. Ermlinda feigned ignorance, and that
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: night she and Nathaniel slipped away. They first stopped at
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: a nearby target, where Nathaniel met up with his mother
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: and confessed. He told his mother that he had killed
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Zarrida and her family because people were after him. When
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: asked why he killed the children, Nathaniel's response was because
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: he believed the kids were better off dead than alive
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: without parents. Shortly after all that, Erma Linda's family reported
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: her as missing and expressed concerns to the local police
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: that she'd been taken away by Nathaniel against her will.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Using cameras, the investigators were able to track them to
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: a wal mart in Oklahoma. The pair of them were
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: confronted by local police in the parking lot, but they
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: managed to get away and began recklessly involved in a
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: police chase a short distance later. The police report read,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: the GMC drifted to the center divider and crashed. Before
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: coming to a stop. Nathaniel shot Ermalinda in the head,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: killing her. He shot himself under his chin, but that
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: gunshot didn't kill him, so he shot himself again in
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: the head. Both died. It was later determined that Ermlinda
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: had been the mastermind behind the entire plot, and that
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: she had willingly left with Nathaniel that day. That is
• 12:13
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