A Texas mother’s own words became a key part of the testimony in her murder trial — helping convince jurors that she was killed by her husband, according to a new “48 Hours” investigation.
Joel Pellot is serving a life sentence after he was convicted last March for the September 2020 murder of his 31-year-old wife and mother of his two sons, Maria Eugenia Muñoz.
Muñoz’s death appears to be a suicide by an overdose of pills at first glance, but pages and pages of his journal entries show he had no suicidal thoughts.
Instead, the journal reveals a woman who can’t wait to move on with life after the husband she loves so much has cheated, the CBS show revealed.
Pellot, a nurse anesthetist, called 911 in the early morning hours of September 22, 2020, to report that his wife of 10 years was unresponsive and may have overdosed on pills.
Pellot has been cheating on his wife for the past two years with a woman from work. CBS News Maria Eugenia Muñoz was killed by lethal injection by her husband in September 2020. CBS News
But immediately, the police were suspicious of Pellot’s behavior and explanation of the events that led to his wife’s death. The man was sweating profusely and could not answer a simple question about when and how he found his Muñoz.
They also found a syringe wrapper on the floor and a needle catheter on the stairs.
Investigators soon learned that he had been seeing a woman from work named Janet Arredondo for the past two years and was living with her during that time.
She told police that Muñoz knew about their relationship “for a long time,” according to “48 Hours.”
Later they learned that the medical examiner found no pill residue in his stomach but found a small puncture mark in the crease of his right elbow.
The medical examiner found no pill residue in Muñoz’s stomach but found a small puncture mark on his right arm. CBS News
The medical examiner determined that Muñoz died of drug intoxication but ruled out suicide after looking through the young mother’s journal entries and talking to her friends.
The day before he died, Muñoz wrote: “What do I want? #1 Moving forward,” according to the news show.
Pellot’s former boss, anesthesiologist Dr. John Huntsinger, learned of the autopsy results and called the chief detective on the case to let him know he was suspicious. He advised investigators to perform a full toxicology examination.
Four months later, the results came back and revealed Muñoz died from a lethal combination of morphine, Demerol, Versed, propofol, ketamine, lidocaine, and Narcan – almost all drugs commonly used in surgery and drugs accessible to nurse anesthetists.
Propofol was the only drug in his system that was only given by injection.
There was so much in his system that it would cause him to stop breathing, according to Huntsinger and the toxicology report.
It was also one of the drugs that Pellot would bring home from work for recreational use, according to Arredondo, his mistress, “48 Hours” reported.
Pellot’s behavior and statements to police shortly after his wife’s death appeared suspicious, investigators said. LAREDO POLICE DEPARTMENT
Prosecutors believe Pellot first put some medicine into Muñoz’s drink to calm him down and once he passed out, he injected propofol into his arm and waited to call 911 so first responders couldn’t revive him.
A few days before his death, Muñoz and Pellot argued after he saw his car parked outside Arredondo’s house. Pellot scolded his wife, cursed her and punched the windshield, breaking it.
The next morning, Muñoz texted her husband about hiring a divorce lawyer and he replied: “We can do this with minimal lawyer intervention. It’s too much money.”
But he later sent her an email asking to sit down to talk without protesting in a “heart to heart.”
“I’m so sad I’m heartbroken,” she wrote in an email.
The couple agreed to meet on Monday night. Muñoz died early the next morning.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
