Latest / Murder Files Unsealed / New York Woman's Ex Tapes Her Up, Stuffs Her in Suitcase, Leaves Her To Die — Then Empties Her Bank Account

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New York Woman's Ex Tapes Her Up, Stuffs Her in Suitcase, Leaves Her To Die — Then Empties Her Bank Account · Murder Files Unsealed

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Speaker 1: Okay, picture of this. February twenty nineteen. It's a cold,
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crisp morning in Greenwich, Connecticut. Pretty affluent town, right, usually quiet.
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Speaker 2: Right, known for being quite peaceful exactly.
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Speaker 1: And highway workers are just doing the regular thing maintenance
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near Glenville Road. Then they see something odd tucked away
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in the woods, maybe twenty feet.
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Speaker 3: Off the road.
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Speaker 2: Not just trash though, no.
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Speaker 1: It was a big piece of luggage, a large, bright
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red suitcase, just.
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Speaker 2: Left there, completely out of place in that setting.
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Speaker 1: You wouldn't expect it at first glance. Maybe you'd think, okay,
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lost baggage, someone just dumped it. But it was heavy,
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really heavy, and the way it was hidden, shoved into
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the underbrush, it felt wrong.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. That immediately raises alarm bells for anyone finding it.
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Not typical discarded stuff.
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Speaker 1: So authorities get called, They open it up, and well,
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it's the worst possible scenario. It wasn't just luggage inside
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where the remains of a young woman.
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Speaker 2: This horrific.
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Speaker 1: So today we are diving deep into the sources surrounding
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the murder of twenty four year old Valerie Rays. This case,
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it crossed state lines. It sparked immediate outrage and it
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really lays bare the lethal danger of intimate partner violence,
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especially when rejection gets twisted into entitlement. So our mission
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here for you listening is to really get into the
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sources you've provided. We want to understand not just the
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tragedy obviously of Valor's life being cut short, but also
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the sequence of events chillingly deliberate, the red flags that
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were missed or maybe ignored, and also the forensic work.
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It was remarkably efficient, and.
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Speaker 2: That efficiency is really something, isn't it?
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Speaker 3: It really is.
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Speaker 1: It brought justice thankfully incredibly quickly.
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Speaker 3: Okay, let's unpack this.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, what jumps out right away from the sources is
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this kind of duality in the prime. The act itself
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feels intensely personal, brutal, but then it falls a disposal
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of money stuff. It's just shockingly cold, calculated.
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Speaker 1: So Valerie rays she was from New Rochelle, young woman,
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only twenty four, and the prison responsible her ex boyfriend,
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Javier and Rika silver Rosas.
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Speaker 2: And the evidence is just overwhelming. This wasn't like a quick,
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impulsive act. He didn't just kill her. He beat her,
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He bound her, gagged her, and then forced her into
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that suitcase. And the key thing she was still alive
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when he did it, still breathing.
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Speaker 3: God, that's hard to even process.
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Speaker 2: And then he drives across state lines dumps her in
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the woods in Connecticut, freezing cold, leaves her there to suffocate.
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Speaker 1: Which really sets the stage for how meticulous this investigation
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had to be. And you know the language used by prosecutors.
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It wasn't manslaughter or even just crime of passion, which
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you sometimes hear in these domestic cases. The sources, they
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called it a meticulously planned act of depravity. That level
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of violence, the binding, the gagging, It points straight to premeditation, control, punishment,
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and yeah, money too, exactly.
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Speaker 2: That's the other chilling part. The murder happens, and immediately
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he starts trying to profit from it using her bank accounts.
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That just shifts the whole psychological picture, doesn't It not
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just rape, it's exploitation.
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Speaker 1: The calculation is almost as disturbing as the method itself.
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Speaker 2: It really is.
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Speaker 1: So to really understand the loss here, we need to
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look past the crime scene tape for a minute and
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see Valerie Rays as a person. The sources paint this
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picture of someone who was the epitome of quiet ambition
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living in New Rochelle, which you know is just outside NYC,
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busy place.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, and she seemed really focused on self improvement, quiet things.
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Her job kind of fit that perfectly, right, working as
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a clerk at Barnes and Noble in Scarsdale, right.
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Speaker 3: And for her it wasn't just like a retail gig.
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It fed this deep love she had.
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Speaker 1: For books, for literature or real passion totally, and her
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dreams reflected that they weren't about fame or fortune. She
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wanted someday to own her own little bookstore, you know,
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a cozy place, a community spot.
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Speaker 2: It's lovely.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, And her social life seemed to revolve around that too,
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coffee shops, reading, getting out in nature. Sources mentioned her
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hiking boots, heading out on trails with a backpack full
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of novels, trying to find some peace.
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Speaker 3: I guess it makes sense.
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Speaker 2: And even her online presence her Instagram, it wasn't the usual,
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so that it was described as this mosaic of quotes
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Rupicau Maya Angelou poets who write about resilience, finding your worth,
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getting through tough emotional times.
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Speaker 1: Which feels significant now looking back, like maybe they weren't
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just random quotes she liked. Maybe they were coping mechanisms,
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reflecting something deeper she was dealing.
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Speaker 2: With exactly, because the sources do reveal she was caring
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a lot. That quiet exterior it hid some real struggles
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diagnosed depression, severe panic attacks.
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Speaker 1: And you think about being young, trying to make it
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on your own, especially near a place like New York City.
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Add those struggles on top, it makes everything feel so much.
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Speaker 2: Heavier, immensely heavier. Her mother, Norma Sanchez, she described her
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daughter so heartbreakingly, called her a gentle soul who wouldn't
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hurt a fly. Just sounds like someone in a really
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vulnerable phase of life, trying to be independent, but also
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managing these serious mental health issues.
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Speaker 1: Which can make you susceptible right to people who seem
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strong or maybe intense.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and that's kind of the tragic backdrop for when
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Javier to Silver Rojas came into her life.
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Speaker 1: They met online January twenty eighteen, both twenty four, both
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kind of navigating displacement, but in really different circumstances.
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Speaker 2: Right. Rojas was an immigrant from Venezuela. He'd only arrived
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in the US in twenty seventeen. Fleeing basically the political
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and economic chaos there under Maduro, trying to start over,
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working whatever jobs you could find, often undocumented, living out
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in Queens.
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Speaker 3: So you can see how they might connect.
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Speaker 1: Initially, shared stories, maybe ambition, trying to find their footing
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in America. Rojas apparently came across as charming, determined.
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Speaker 2: Seemed like it started casually, dates and stuff, but it
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got serious quickly. He started spending a lot of time
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at Valerie's place in New Rochelle. Maybe seemed like stability
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at first, but.
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Speaker 1: The sources suggest that initial connection, that shared struggle, Rojas
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kind of quisted it for him. Maybe Valerie wasn't just
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about love. Maybe she represented stability, piece of the American
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life he wanted so badly.
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Speaker 2: And when she started acting independently, wanting her own space,
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her own life, that's when things started to go wrong.
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That's where the red flags really began popping up.
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Speaker 1: It's just awful watching these stories unfold, where that initial
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connection curdles into something possessive, dangerous. The sources say the
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cracks in their relationship showed up pretty fast once they
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got serious.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, incredibly fast. Right, his behavior It went from intense affection,
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maybe to outright possessiveness. What he probably called caring, turned
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into constant arguments, jealousy, controlling who she saw, what she did,
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her independence. That was the biggest trigger for him.
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Speaker 1: Her wanting to read, or hike or see friends.
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Speaker 3: He saw that as a threat.
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Speaker 2: A direct threat to his control. Yeah, it's a classic pattern.
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Speaker 1: Unfortunately, and Valerie, thankfully, she saw the danger. By late
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twenty eighteen. Her family says she made the brave decision
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their words to end it, cut him off, completely, blocked
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him on social media, everything, trying to draw a clear line.
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Speaker 2: But for Ohas, that rejection wasn't the end. It was
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like flipping a switch. It triggered this obsessive crisis.
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Speaker 1: We need to talk about his mindset here based on
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what came out later core documents, psych evaluations.
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Speaker 2: Right, the analysis points to this powerful sense of entitlement,
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a really toxic, almost narcissistic belief that Valerie belonged to him,
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that her stability, her life was his. So when she
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chose autonomy, chose to leave, it wasn't just hurt feelings,
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it was an attack on his ego. This fragile sense
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of selfeed.
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Speaker 1: Built and that rejection turned into rage directed right.
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Speaker 2: At her exactly, and it wasn't just internal rage. It
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became actions stalking.
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Speaker 1: The sources are specific about this, right. It wasn't just
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a few angry texts.
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Speaker 2: No, far from it. He started repeatedly showing up at
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her apartment building uninvited, bombarding her phone, dozens of messages
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pleading one minute, angry accusations the next, classic manipulation tactics.
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Speaker 1: And then the workplace Barnes and Noble.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's incredibly chilling. He started monitoring her there, friends,
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coworkers they noticed Valerie apparently started calling him the creepy
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X who just wouldn't take no for an answer. This
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wasn't just someone heartbroken. This was persistent, intrusive.
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Speaker 1: Harassment, which is the textbook red flag, isn't it, right
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before things escalate to violence?
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, And then there's that conversation, the one that just
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sends chills down your spine.
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Speaker 1: Days before she disappeared, she talked to her mom, Norma,
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and the quote is documented. She said, Mom, I think
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someone's going to kill me.
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Speaker 2: Just imagine hearing that from your child. It's terrifying. She
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didn't just feel unsafe, she felt a specific, deadly threat
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tied to a person, and you have.
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Speaker 1: To wonder when she first went missing, was that statement
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taken seriously enough or because she had anxiety panic attacks,
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was it maybe initially dismissed as just generalized fear.
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Speaker 2: That's the tragic question, isn't it. She knew she was
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in danger, she voiced it, but the situation just escalated
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so fast.
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Speaker 1: Let's look at Rojas's background again for a second. Fleeing Venezuela,
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trying to make it in Quans, probably undocumented, maybe isolated,
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facing financial.
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Speaker 2: Stress, right, and none of that excuses violence, obviously, but
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the sources suggest that maybe the combination of all those pressures, immigration, stress, isolation,
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the relationship, failing, money problems piled on top of whatever
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underlying issues he had. When Valerie rejected him, it just
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caused a complete breakdown.
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Speaker 1: The psychological evaluations later they didn't give a formal diagnosis,
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but they pointed to strong narcissistic traits, poor impulse.
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Speaker 2: Control, yes exactly, severe attachment issues too. He was described
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essentially as a ticking time bomb, built on this foundation
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of entitlement. When his perceived property Valerie asserted her freedom,
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he couldn't.
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Speaker 1: Handle it, and investigators landed on a motive that was
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twofold revenge and theft.
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Speaker 2: Yes, intercrined. It wasn't just punishing her for leaving. He
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was unemployed, struggling financially. He knew she had some savings,
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not a lot, but some, so robbing her became part
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of it. A desperate grap for cash, yes, but also
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maybe the ultimate act of control, dehumanizing her even after
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death by taking her money.
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Speaker 1: The US attorney emphasized that didn't they that the theft
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wasn't an afterthought, It was immediate part of the plan,
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or at least an immediate follow through.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, it showed his mindset wasn't one of panic, but
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of polled, calculated exploitation.
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Speaker 1: Okay, let's walk through the timeline now. January twenty eighth,
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twenty nineteen. Valerie finishes her shift at Barnes and Noble,
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texts some friends, goes home to her apartment in New Rochelle.
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Seems like a normal.
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Speaker 2: Night, right, but then things take a turn around three am.
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That's the critical point.
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Speaker 1: The sources indicate Rojas got into her apartment around then,
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maybe lying in way, maybe he tricked his way in.
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We don't know the exact entry method. But he got inside.
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Speaker 2: And this is where that digital footprint becomes so important.
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Around three am, her phone stops transmitting normally.
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Speaker 1: It didn't just die or get turned off. It was
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manually switched to airplane mode.
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Speaker 2: Exactly, and that's huge. Switching to airplane mode isn't accidental, deliberate.
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It cuts off GPS, Wi Fi cell signals instantly, makes
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tracking impossible. It tells investigators the attacker knew what they
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were doing, knew about modern surveillance. It completely undermines any
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later claim of just panicking.
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Speaker 1: So rohaskitson his later confession, though partial, admitted the intent
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was confrontation and theft.
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Speaker 3: What happened next was a fight.
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Speaker 2: A violent, desperate struggle. The evidence collected later told that
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story loud and clear. Valerie had severe defensive wounds on
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her hands, her arms. The sources say she fought back fiercely.
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Speaker 1: And crucial evidence came from that fight.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely crucial. They found his DNA significant amounts under her fingernails.
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That kind of transfer only happens in close, violent contact.
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It's irrefutable proof he was there, that he attacked.
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Speaker 3: Her during the struggle. He hit her hard, yes.
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Speaker 2: Struck her in the head, caused a severe hematoma, lots
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of bruising. The injuries were clearly from an assault, not
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an accident, not a fall. That was established early on.
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Speaker 3: And then the suitcase.
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Speaker 1: This is where it gets justly calculated.
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Speaker 2: Right after overpowering her, he sees this large red suitcase.
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Sources think maybe a neighbor left it out for trash
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or was moving. Whatever the reason, he saw it and
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seized it as the container.
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Speaker 1: Just describe the method here based on the sources, because
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the level of cold calculation is staggering.
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Speaker 2: It is Valerie was still alive, that's critical. He bound
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her hands behind her back, tied her legs at the
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knees and ankles, twined packing cape made it physically impossible
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for her to move or escape.
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Speaker 3: And then the tape over her mouth.
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Speaker 2: And nose, multiple layers heavy duty packing tape, completely sealing
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her airways, silencing any sound she could make. Then he
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forced her alive but subdued, bound, gagged into that suitcase
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and zipped it. Shit.
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Speaker 1: Oh god.
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Speaker 2: Then the disposal. He had to get rid of the evidence.
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His phone briefly came off airplane mode, which allowed investigators
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to trace.
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Speaker 3: Him cell phone ping exactly.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, they showed him driving east from New Rochelle pretty quickly,
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pinged again briefly in Harrison, US York, then crossed into Connecticut,
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heading towards Greenwich, looking for somewhere secluded.
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Speaker 1: And by about six point thirty that morning, just a
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few hours after the attack, he.
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Speaker 2: Dunked the suitcase in that wooded ravine off Glenville Road, hidden, isolated.
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He clearly hoped it wouldn't be found for a long
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long time.
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Speaker 1: And the weather played a role here too, didn't it.
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Speaker 2: The coal a terrible role, The expert analysis confirmed. Temperatures
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dropped below freezing that night. This extreme coal inside the
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airtight suitcase with no oxygen, it just accelerated the suffocation process.
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Speaker 3: So she wasn't just dumped.
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Speaker 1: She was left to die from lack of air, made
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worse by the freezing cold.
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Speaker 2: Precisely asphyxiation compounded by hypothermia. The cold wasn't just incidental,
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It was an active factor in how quickly and horribly
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she died.
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Speaker 1: So Valerie's missing her mom, Norma Sanchez, files the report
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the very next day, January twenty ninth, understandably frantic. Initially,
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police have to consider everything right, including her history with
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panic attacks.
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Speaker 2: Maybe she left on her own procedure. You have to
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rule out voluntary departure, especially with the history of anxiety.
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And there was that confusing piece early on the bank surveillance.
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Speaker 1: Right from a Chase bank near Radio City in Manhattan,
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someone using her ATM card for the family. That must
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have been a flicker of hope. Maybe she's alive, just.
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Speaker 2: Hiding a brief, cruel flicker of false hope. Because on
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February fifth, after the suitcase was found in Greenwich, the
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body was identified, fingerprints confirmed it.
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Speaker 1: Was Valerie, and then the autopsy delivered the final awful truth.
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Speaker 2: Homicidal asphyxia, death by suffocation, intentional, no question.
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Speaker 1: But there was one detail from the autopsy, wasn't there
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something incredibly specific and damning.
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Speaker 2: Yes, utterly horrifying, but forensically definitive. The medical examiner found
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fluid in her lungs, but because of the extreme cold
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she was exposed to, that fluid had frozen solid.
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Speaker 1: Okay, explain why that's so significant. Frozen fluid in the lungs.
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Speaker 2: It's direct physiological evidence of how she died. It means
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terminal aspiration occurred as she was suffocating. Her body went
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into convulsions, desperately trying to gasp for air. In those
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final moments, fluid, mucus, saliva, maybe stomach contents gets drawn
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into the lungs because the external temperature was freezing and
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her internal body temperature plummeted quickly Inside that suitcase in
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the cold woods, that aspirated fluid literally crystallized, it froze.
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It proved beyond any doubt that she was not only
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alive when sealed in the suitcase, but actively physically struggling
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to breathe as she died, slow, painful, and absolutely deliberate.
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Speaker 1: And that finding just completely destroys Rojas's initial story, doesn't.
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Speaker 2: It absolutely demolishes it. He initially tried to claim it
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was an accident, that they had rough sex, she fell
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off the bed, hit her head and died. He said
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he only panicked after she was dead and bound her
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up to make it look like something else, like a kidnapping.
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Speaker 1: A grotesque fabrication, the sources called it.
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Speaker 2: And forensics proved it was. First, a head injury wasn't
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consistent with a fall, it was a beating. Second, the
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frozen would proved she was alive when bound and suffocating. Third,
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the defensive wounds showed a fight, not consensual activity. The
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evidence pointed to a savage assault followed by calculated confinement
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and murder. No other explanation fit.
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Speaker 1: So once the body's identified, this immediately becomes a big deal.
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Right cross jurisdictional New Rochelle police kinetic authority is the FBI.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, everyone had to coordinate seamlessly. The crime started in
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New York and ended in Connecticut. It required a major
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joint effort.
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Speaker 1: And this is where modern forensics really shines. The sources
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talk about two key streams of evidence coming together perfectly.
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Speaker 2: Creating this undeniable timeline of Rojas's actions. First, the cell
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phone data.
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Speaker 1: We talked about the airplane mode at three am that
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established the start time and his intent to hide.
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Speaker 2: Right. But then when he did briefly turn his phone
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back on in Harrison later in Queens, the cell towers
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pinged his location. Investigators could map his movements. They matched
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the pings from his phone to the tom window when
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the suitcase must have been dumped near Glenville in Greenwich.
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It put him in that exact area right after the murder.
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Speaker 1: Okay, so sell data locks down his location. What was
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the second stream?
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Speaker 2: Financial forensics, the money trail, which confirmed the motive wasn't
17:11
just rage, it was also theft, and it showed just
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how callous he was.
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Speaker 3: Brazen, the sources.
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Speaker 2: Said, incredibly brazen. Bank records showed five three hundred and
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fifty dollars drained from Valerie's account in the days right
17:24
after he killed her. He wasn't hiding or panicking. He
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was going on a spending spree with her.
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Speaker 1: Money atm withdrawals and queens, buying electronics.
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Speaker 2: Trying to upgrade his life, basically using his victim savings.
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And maybe the most chilling detail, he sold her iPad
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almost immediately, just pawned off for quick cash.
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Speaker 1: And they caught him on camera doing this.
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Speaker 2: Wearing a distinctive black hoodie, yes making those withdrawals. Plus
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they traced the rental car he used during the disposal
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and the theft spree, So you had this perfect storm
17:57
of evidence. His DNA on the suitcare handle and under
18:00
her fingernails, the sell pings tracking his route to the
18:03
dumb side, and the financial records showing him spending her
18:06
money right after it was airtight.
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Speaker 1: Left him with absolutely nowhere to hide exactly.
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Speaker 2: The capture was quick February eleventh, less than two weeks
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after Valerie's body was found, police arrested him in Queen's
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and guess what he was doing, don't tell me. Trying
18:18
to make another withdrawal another one thousand dollars from Valor's account.
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He literally got caught red handed trying to bleed her dry.
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Speaker 1: With all that evidence piled up, DNA, the frozen fluid,
18:28
the money trail, it's no surprise Rojas didn't want to
18:31
face a jury. He pleaded guilty right February twenty twenty, Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in death. Avoided a trial
18:39
where all those horrifying details would have come out in
18:41
open court. Probably a strategic move by his defense, given
18:45
the mountain of evidence.
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Speaker 1: Sentencing was September twenty twenty one Federal Court in White Plains,
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and the judge, Kathy Seible, she didn't hold back, not
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at all.
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Speaker 2: She gave him thirty years in federal prison, called the
18:58
crime incredibly cruel, called Rojas himself an evil person, made
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it clear this was about spite and greed. Not some
19:05
momentary lapse.
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Speaker 3: Did Rojas say anything.
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Speaker 2: He offered an apology, apparently tearful, said he didn't deserve
19:10
forgiveness from the family, but the prosecution immediately countered that.
19:14
They going straight to his actions after the murder, the shopping,
19:17
the cash withdrawals as proof. It wasn't genuine remorse. It
19:21
was calculation, exploitation, old calculation. Yeah, for Valerie's family, her mother,
19:26
Norma Sanchez, especially, the sentence brought some finality. I suppose
19:31
sources mentioned the burial at Greenwood Union Cemetery, loved ones
19:34
holding pictures of Valerie smiling, holding books justice. But yeah, bittersweet.
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Speaker 1: Doesn't really cover it, and the case itself.
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Speaker 3: It left a mark, didn't it.
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Speaker 1: In terms of public awareness advocacy definitely.
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Speaker 2: Valerie's story really fueled important conversations about domestic violence resources,
19:53
but specifically it shone a harsh light on weaknesses in
19:55
New York's laws around stalking and harassment orders. Before violence happened.
20:00
Oh so well, advocacy groups really seized on this case.
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They argue that even though Valerie was scared, even though
20:06
she blogged him, the system didn't have strong enough tools
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for preemptive action against someone like Rojas, someone engaging in persistent,
20:13
non physical harassment and surveillance refusing to accept boundaries. It
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pushed for clearer lots on enforcing orders of protection, especially
20:20
for non contact violations, trying to intervene before it escalates
20:24
to physical violence.
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Speaker 1: It's a tragic but necessary reminder, isn't it about the
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dangers lurking sometimes right after a breakup, when possessiveness meets rejection.
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Speaker 3: That quote from the lead detective, it sticks with you.
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Speaker 2: This girl fought for her life.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and remembering that fight, understanding the details of what happened,
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how Rojas operated, how she resisted, That's how we.
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Speaker 3: Honor her memory.
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Speaker 1: I think by learning, by demanding better scrutiny of these patterns. Absolutely, so,
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if you take one thing away from this deep dive today,
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maybe it's the power of convergence in solving this. The
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investigation moved so fast because everything pointed the same way.
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The DNA, that horrifying detail of the frozen fluid, the
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digital money trail, they all locked onto. Rojas exposed his
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lies and built the timeline almost instantly.
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Speaker 2: It really is a powerful example of how modern forensics,
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technology and biology working together can bring answers. But it
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also underscores that vulnerability, especially right after ending a relationship,
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and just how quickly. Possessiveness can turn deadly calculated violence
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and exploitation.
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Speaker 1: So here's something to think about for you listening. This
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whole case turned on those three specific types of evidence, right, DNA, cellpings,
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bank records, all pointing to the same person, same time. Now,
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think back, how many other tragic cases decades ago might
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have gone unsolved or ended differently before we had the
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ability to track these digital and biological trails, before cell
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phones and widespread DNA testing.
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Speaker 2: It's a sobering thought.
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Speaker 1: And what does that mean for prevention today? Knowing that
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these digital ghosts, these financial footprints often linger long after
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a crime, how can that knowledge that forensic potential be
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used more effectively before a tragedy like Valerie Rheas happens.
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That's something definitely worth bondering.