Latest / The Mind of a Man / She Was Murdered On Her Way Home From Work _ The Lori Bray Case

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She Was Murdered On Her Way Home From Work _ The Lori Bray Case · The Mind of a Man

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Local authorities asking for your help tonight to find a
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Laurel woman who's been missing for more than 40 hours.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: A friend says Lori Bray was last seen leaving work
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: around 12.30 Tuesday morning. Now we've heard from several people
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: in the community concerned there could be a killer walking
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the streets of Laurel.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: This is the last known footage of 57-year-old Lori Bray.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: And it was the first clue law enforcement had to
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: help them solve her sudden disappearance. The problem was... they
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: had absolutely no clue who the man getting into the
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: car with her was. Little did they know, a web
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: of security footage would uncover the horrible truth, that the
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: man behind her disappearance was intent on finding a victim
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: that night, no matter what. And unfortunately, that victim happened
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: to be Lori. The level of violence and brutality suffered
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: by Ms.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Ray is astonishing.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: These are the mountains and valleys of Montana that Lori
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Bray called home for her entire life. Born in Billings,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: she spent her youth moving between cattle ranches with her
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: parents and four siblings, who she remained close with until
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: her last days. It's no wonder that Lori grew into
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: a woman who loved nature and animals. By the time
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: she was 57, she was a fierce advocate and foster
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: parent for so-called bully breeds of dogs, like pit bulls, boxers,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: and American bulldogs.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: Did you get yourself all muddy? Did you go roll.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: In the mud? Yes.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: When she wasn't cleaning mud off her pups, Mac and Nikki,
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: she was spending quality time with her son, Justin, and
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: her five grandchildren. She was a fixture at rescue organizations
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: in the Billings area and was a favorite employee at
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Cedar Ridge Casino, where she worked as a dealer. It
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: was there on September 30th, 2019, that her life took
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: a horrible turn. Lori worked the closing shift with her
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: friend and manager, Kathy. She spent the majority of the
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: night finishing up drinks for lingering customers at the slot
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: tables and making conversation and tidying up. Upon leaving, she
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: had no plans but to cuddle up with her pets
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: and get some sleep. She had the opening shift the
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: following morning, which started at 8am, so she wanted to
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: get as much rest as possible before another long shift
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: on the floor. She closed down the casino, armed the
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: security system, and began making her way out to her
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: car on the dark autumn night at around midnight. Really,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: it was like any normal Sunday working at the casino.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: The next morning, her son Justin was surprised when he
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: didn't receive his usual morning call from his mom. The
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: two were incredibly close. His mother didn't just call once
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: a day. They usually spoke when they woke up and
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: before they went to bed. Not getting a call or
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: text from her made him extremely uneasy. When his phone rang,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: his heart leapt. Thinking it was his mom finally calling,
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: he picked up the phone. On the other end, wasn't
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: his mother, but Kathy. She asked Justin if He had
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: seen or heard from his mother. He feared then that
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: something was deeply, deeply wrong. When he raced to her
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: home to check on her, that fear was confirmed. Inside,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: her two pups were hungry and clearly hadn't been cared
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: for since the previous morning. He knew there was no
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: possible way his mom would leave the dogs alone. They
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: were her pride and joy. To him, it was clear
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: that his mother hadn't arrived home after she left work.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Kathy told Justin that on her drive to work that morning,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: she had seen a car haphazardly parked on the corner
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: of Buffalo Trail and Laurel Airport Road, a remote part
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: of town. The car looked just like his mother's, but
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: it was so far from the normal route Lori would
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: take to work that Kathy assumed it hadn't been hers.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: After checking his mother's house, Justin quickly drove to the
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: location of the vehicle. Immediately, he knew the car was
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: definitely his mother's. And a peek inside made things much,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: much worse. Justin managed to refrain from opening the car doors,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: knowing that it was paramount to protect the integrity of
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: the scene for law enforcement, but what he could see
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: wasn't good. Inside, his mother's purse was visible, along with
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: her wallet and her cell phone, which was lying on
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: the dirty floor of the vehicle. It still had battery,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: and as he watched, the phone repeatedly lit up with
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: calls and texts from concerned co-workers and friends. He quickly
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: called law enforcement to file a missing persons report and
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: to have the car searched for further evidence. Inside, there
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: was plenty. For starters, the radio dial was caked with mud.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: The driver's side of the vehicle was also covered in mud.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: The backseat, unfortunately, fared much worse. Law enforcement on the
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: scene discovered bloodstains covering more than half of the backseat
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: of the vehicle. Lori's clothes were strewn across the backseat,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: several of which were also splotched with dry blood. Her
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: underwear was torn, indicating that it had been removed from
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: her body against her will. Law enforcement knew they had
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: an endangered missing person at that point. Very quickly, search
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: teams were assembled, including teams made by Lori's friends, family,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: and coworkers.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Sheriff Linder expects the search to go into the evening
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: until about dark. They've been searching all around here. The
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: field's over there. And he says they'll wait for more
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: information to come in and maybe change that up just
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: a little bit.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: But the searches were much more difficult than anticipated. With
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: the location expanding into such a remote area of wilderness,
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: law enforcement had concerns that members of the search party
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: would become lost or injured. Rough weather swept over the land,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: complicating the search even more. Officers knew they had to
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: work quickly for answers, and they knew exactly where they
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: needed to go to get them. With Kathy's help, they
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: accessed the footage from the casino of the previous night.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Being the manager, and it being a slow night when
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: Lori disappeared, Kathy was able to identify nearly every customer
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: that came through the door on the shift. From a
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: bird's eye view, everything on Lori's shift seemed normal. As
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: she was closing down, she cleaned, served drinks, and chatted
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: with familiar customers. Her last customers in the night were
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: all known by Kathy. For quite a while, Lori served
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: drinks to two women who came to the casino and
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: bar weekly. Then, another man came in. He sat at
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: the bar and ordered a drink, even though it was
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: mere minutes from closing time. As he finished his drink,
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Lori seemed to motion to the clock, indicating that it
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: was time for him to leave. Soon after he walked
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: out of the front door, Lori finished her duties, gathered
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: her things, and locked up the casino. But she didn't
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: just leave. Her car is just barely parked inside of
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: the cameras trained on the front doors. She seems to
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: back up to talk to someone soon after she walks out. Then,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: someone is seen moments later getting into the passenger seat
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: of her car. Lori's family and friends were not surprised
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: by this. According to Lori's son, she was an incredibly
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: kind and trusting woman who put her faith in anyone
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: she met. She had a passion for helping people, so
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: her giving someone a ride wasn't terribly unusual. But who
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: was the man she was last seen with? Was he
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: a stranger or someone she knew? It's still unknown to
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: law enforcement how familiar Lori was with the man at
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: the bar. However, Kathy was well aware of him. He
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: was the husband of another one of their regulars, and
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: his name was Diego Hernandez. On October 3rd, 2019, 22-year-old
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Diego's role as the last person to see Lori took
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: on even more meaning.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Some breaking news out of Laurel tonight, where authorities have
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: confirmed that they've located a body.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: At 7.30 p.m., a man riding in an ATV on
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: the eastern side of Laurel made a grisly discovery. He
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: didn't have to get even remotely close to realize that
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: the woman he was looking at, curled up in the
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: fetal position, naked at the bottom of a ditch, wasn't alive.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: She was bloodied and terribly beaten. When police arrived to investigate...
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Even they were taken aback by the brutality of the scene.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: This was a violent crime and her end was violent
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: and awful. It didn't take long for law enforcement to
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: reveal that, tragically, it was the body of Lori that
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: they had discovered. On the ground near her body, her
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: favorite cross necklace had been found. Her cause of death
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: was ruled strangulation, though she also endured several blunt force
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: trauma toward the end of her life. The community was
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: in ruins. Candlelight vigils were held in her honor, and
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: rescue groups held events in order to carry out her legacy.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: The public wanted justice, and thankfully, it was Lori herself
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: who would make that happen. Because when Diego Hernandez was
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: brought in for questioning, there was something about him that
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: law enforcement couldn't ignore. Diego's face and hands were marred
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: with scratch marks.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: Significant scratch from.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: This.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: It's Adam's apple.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: It's more than 45 inches.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: And two significant scratches right on his cheek as well,
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: not to mention a mark under his eye and then
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: scratches on his hands. To me, they looked very much
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: like somebody had been.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Trying to get rid of him.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: When officers told him they were concerned with the scratches,
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: he coolly brushed it off, telling him that he had
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: gotten into a fight with his friend days prior. When
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: law enforcement confronted this friend, he revealed that he had
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: indeed gotten into a fight with Diego a few days prior. However,
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: when he was shown photos of the scratch marks, he
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: was appalled. He told police that he had put Diego
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: in a headlock, but he hadn't scratched him anywhere whatsoever.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: In addition, footage was pulled of Diego at the bar
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: hours prior to going to the casino, and it was
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: clear enough for officers to determine for certain that he
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: didn't have scratches on his face then. Diego was shown
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: footage of himself getting into the car with Lori. He
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: didn't deny that it was him in the footage. He
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: told officers that when he told Lori he didn't have
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: a way to get home, she had kindly offered to
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: drop him off. He saw her drive away, and that
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: was the last he saw of her. But Diego's lies
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: and denials were quickly stacking up against him. A search
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: warrant was issued for his apartment, where law enforcement found
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: quite an unusual scene. Diego's small bedroom was littered with
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: dirty clothes, yet the clothes that he was wearing the
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: night of Lori's disappearance had been laundered and bleached. His
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: shoes were soaking wet, having been washed in an apparent
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: attempt to destroy any evidence on them. Little did Diego know,
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: the evidence wasn't on the shoes. It was the shoes.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: The tread on his shoes matched not only a footprint
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: found on the floor of Lori's car, but a footprint
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: in the mud directly beside where her body was found.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: placing Diego at the disposal of her body as well
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: as the disposal of her car. His phone records indicated
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: the exact same path. Both he and Lori's phones were
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: tracked driving to his house soon after midnight, then to
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: the location where her body was discovered, and finally to
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: where her car was found, two miles away from her body.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Then there was the matter of the DNA at the scene.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: The blood on the car seats matched both Lori and Diego,
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: indicating that a struggle had taken place there. Beneath Lori's fingernails,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: skin cells, and blood had been noted and taken for testing,
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: which were also a match for Diego. It was clear
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: to officers that Lori had fought for her life until
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: the very end. However, Diego offered an alternative explanation. He
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: quickly changed his story after he provided a DNA sample.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: He said that he and Lori had had a consensual
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: sexual encounter, and then she dropped him off and then left.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: When this explanation wasn't flying for detectives, he altered the
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: story yet again. This time, he claimed that, actually, he
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: and Lori had been dating for well over a year.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Lori had instructed him to keep their relationship a secret,
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: which is why he had been lying to investigators. There
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: was no record of Lori or Diego ever being in
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: contact with one another, which was no surprise to law enforcement.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: They were well aware that Diego was grasping at straws
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: to come up with some kind of explanation for why
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: his DNA was on Lori. Meanwhile, law enforcement was focused
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: on getting an explanation for why Diego had targeted Lori
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: in the first place. It didn't take long to get
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: their answer. Officers interviewed workers at the bars that Diego
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: had visited before going to the casino and killing Lori.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: A bartender told officers that Diego had tried to coerce
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: her into giving him a ride home. She became so
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: unnerved that she hid in the back room to avoid him.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: And it wasn't just bartenders that Diego was targeting. It
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: was anyone and everyone. He was reportedly approaching women all night,
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: trying to find someone who would get into a car
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: with him alone. The murder had been completely premeditated, and
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Diego was determined to kill that night. So determined, in fact,
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: that he spent hours hunting down potential victims. On October 8th, 2019,
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: just a week after the investigation into Lori's disappearance began,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: Diego was placed under arrest for homicide. It was over
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: a year before the case went to trial. With the
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: immense amount of evidence, it didn't take long for jurors
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: to reach a verdict.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: After two hours of deliberation, 12 jurors find Diego Hernandez
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: guilty of deliberate homicide and the death of Lori Bray.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison. He won't be
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: eligible for parole for 35 years, much to the relief
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: of Lori's loved ones.