Introducing: American Homicide

Summary

Burden of Guilt Podcast Episode Summary: "Introducing: American Homicide"

Podcast Title: Burden of Guilt
Episode Title: Introducing: American Homicide
Release Date: November 5, 2024
Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts

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Introduction to American Homicide

In this inaugural episode, "Introducing: American Homicide," host Nancy Glass unveils a new true crime series that delves into some of the most perplexing and gruesome murders across the United States. Produced by Glass Podcasts in partnership with iHeartPodcasts, the series promises a comprehensive reexamination of infamous cases, featuring insights from law enforcement, legal experts, victims' families, and community members.

Notable Quote:

Nancy Glass [00:58]: "American Homicide is a reexamination and a reinvestigation of infamous true crime stories. You are hearing from law enforcement who was behind the investigations, lawyers, judges, victims, and their friends and family."

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Focus on El Rancho: The Father's Day Murders

The first case explored is the tragic "Father's Day Murders" that occurred in the small village of El Rancho, New Mexico, on June 18, 2011. Cherie Ortiz discovered her parents, Lloyd and Dixie Ortiz, along with her adopted brother, Stephen, brutally murdered in their home.

Key Details:

• Victims:
  • Lloyd Ortiz: Owner of a ceramic tile business, found outside the house.
  • Dixie Ortiz: Activities director at a local retirement home, found in the master bedroom.
  • Stephen Ortiz: Cherie's adopted brother with special needs, found in the kitchen.

Notable Quotes:

Cherie Ortiz [04:59]: "I just walked in their house and everybody shot in the head."

Sloan Glass [09:11]: "Stephen lay face down in a pool of blood, wearing only his underwear. Police noted that he took the brunt of the attack."

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The Initial Investigation and Suspicions

The brutality of the murders shocked the tight-knit community of El Rancho. With no local police force, the New Mexico State Police stepped in, led by Officer Paul Chavez.

Investigation Insights:

• Crime Scene:
  • Initially believed to be gunshot wounds.
  • Autopsies later revealed the victims were killed with a blunt object.
• Evidence Found:
  • A five-pound pickaxe with bloodstains, believed to be the murder weapon.
  • DNA from all victims on the pickaxe, but no suspect DNA was found.

Notable Quotes:

Paul Chavez [13:03]: "The magnitude of the violence involved was the worst that I had seen in my career."

Paul Chavez [22:33]: "These were in fact, not gunshot wounds. They were actually lacerations that were penetrating with a blunt object."

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Suspicion Falls on Cherie and Jesse Ortiz

As investigation unfolded, suspicion shifted toward Cherie Ortiz and her husband, Jesse. Several red flags emerged:

• Financial Struggles:
  • Cherie had significant credit card debt and unpaid car loans.
  • She revealed $80,000 was removed from her parents' home three days after the murders.
• Contradictory Statements:
  • Cherie and Jesse claimed to be at a local casino during the time of the murders, but inconsistencies in their alibi raised doubts.
• Community Pressure:
  • The community's demand for swift justice heightened the pressure on the police to find a suspect.

Notable Quotes:

Cherie Ortiz [12:38]: "And all because I didn't have money for a Father's Day gift. I didn't want to go until I finished cooking enchiladas for him." [27:15]

Paul Chavez [30:55]: "Could family gain from the death of the victim? Sure they can. If there's insurance policies in place or property in place, is there something to be gained?"

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Cherie Ortiz's Public Plea and Continued Scrutiny

Facing immense suspicion and financial strain, Cherie took proactive steps to clear her name:

• Public Interview:
  • Cherie granted an interview to local reporter Alex Tomlin, expressing her innocence and sorrow.
• PO Box Setup:
  • She established a PO Box for anonymous tips, hoping to unearth the true perpetrator.
• Community Relations:
  • The family's standing in the community deteriorated as friends turned into suspects, deepening the emotional toll on Cherie and Jesse.

Notable Quotes:

Cherie Ortiz [34:42]: "I really do have hope. I know this is going to get solved." [34:59]

Cherie Ortiz [35:12]: "We had nothing to do with it. My God. That was my mom and my dad and my little brother." [35:06]

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Breakthrough with Ashley Roybal

Sixteen months post-murders, a breakthrough emerged when Ashley Roybal, a local woman, was arrested for unrelated charges and disclosed crucial information about the case.

Key Revelation:

• Ashley's Testimony:
  • Claims to know the true identity of the murderer, offering new insights that could potentially exonerate Cherie and Jesse.

Notable Quotes:

Ashley Roybal [37:36]: "I know who did it." [37:40]

Sloan Glass [38:23]: "The investigation... would prove to be an understatement." [38:20]

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Ongoing Investigation and Community Impact

Despite the arrest of Ashley Roybal, uncertainties remain:

• Credibility Issues:
  • Investigators have to verify Ashley's claims and determine their validity.
• Community Trust:
  • The prolonged investigation has left the community on edge, fearful of potential future violence and divided in their support.

Notable Quotes:

Paul Chavez [35:24]: "If you don't investigate Jesse and Sherry to the fullest, you make a very easy argument for a defense attorney to create doubt in a jury's mind." [35:24]

Pastor John Trujillo [38:31]: "We just want the truth." [38:31]

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Conclusion and Tease for Part Two

The episode concludes with unresolved tension as the community awaits further details from Ashley Roybal's testimony. The next installment promises to explore her revelations and their implications for the case.

Closing Quote:

Sloan Glass [38:38]: "Find out what Ashley says really happened that night on part two of the Father's Day murders." [38:38]

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Production and Credits

"American Homicide" is hosted and written by Sloan Glass, a seasoned journalist known for covering high-profile true crime cases. The series is produced by Glass Podcasts, with executive production by Nancy Glass and Todd Ganz. The team includes writers Ben Fetterman and Andrea Gunning, alongside associate producer Kristen Melchuri. The podcast features audio editing by Matt D'Alvecchio and additional support from Nick Aruga, Tanner Robbins, Britt Robicheaux, Dave Seah, and Patrick Walsh. The haunting theme song is composed by Oliver Baines of Noiser Music Library.

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Listener Engagement

Listeners are encouraged to follow "American Homicide" on Apple Podcasts and other major platforms, and to rate and review the show to support its growth and reach within the true crime community.

Contact Information:

• Email: [e-mail]
• Website: AmericanHomicidePodmail.com

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This episode sets a compelling foundation for the series, blending meticulous investigative storytelling with emotional narratives, ensuring that listeners are both informed and deeply engaged with the unfolding mystery.

Transcript

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[Sloan Glass]

Download the app today. Hi Burden of Guilt listeners. I'm Nancy Glass. I want to introduce you to a new weekly show that our team at Glass Podcast just launched. It's called American Homicide. This is a weekly true crime series about some of the country's most bizarre and grisly murders. The show was hosted and produced by a very successful journalist who I can honestly say I love because I'm her mother, Sloan Glass. So talk about why American Homicide is unique. American Homicide is a reexamination and a reinvestigation of infamous true crime stories. You are hearing from law enforcement who was behind the investigations. You are hearing from lawyers you are hearing from judges, you are hearing from victims and their friends and family. We're starting in New Mexico. We go back to the east coast where you and I are from. We are going to New Orleans, to Alaska. And I think what makes it so significant and special really plays off of something that you and I both learned when we were out in the field as journalists, that when you are covering a story, it can be the same crime in a different location and it will have a totally different impact depending on the community. When a crime takes place in, let's say, a small town, what comes to mind for me in my personal experience as a journalist, I think of in Delphi, Indiana, there was a case that had gone cold for six years. Two girls had been killed and it was a town of 1300 people. That's different from when a crime like that happens in a city. And the first story that we have in American Homicide, it made me feel that same way. So, Sloan, talk about the episode we're going to share. The episode that the Burden of guilt audience is about to hear is called the Father's Day Murders. Now you just have to imagine it's Father's Day. You go to your parents house for dinner, you open the door and you find your mom, dad and brother beaten to death. And that's what happened to a woman in the small town of El Rancho, New Mexico. And this is a case with no arrest for years. And the daughter was actually a suspect, right? Yeah. The main suspect for a substantial amount of time was the daughter who had found her family. And this is a woman who, like Tracy Raquel, had to fight to find answers to what exactly happened to her family. And meanwhile, everyone is looking at her like she was involved. It just leaves you wondering what was going on here. Thanks, Sloan. Here's the first episode of American Homicide. The Father's Day murders, part one.

[Cherie Ortiz]

This is Santa Fe 911, where's your emergency? They're dead. They have gunshot Once.

[Sloan Glass]

Again, it was Father's Day 2011, when Cherie Ortiz walked into her parents home and found the bodies of her mother and father.

[Paul Chavez]

They had been shot in the head and it had occurred sometime earlier in the day.

[Cherie Ortiz]

I just walked in their house and everybody shot in the head.

[Paul Chavez]

The brutality was unspeakable.

[Sloan Glass]

The hunt to find the killer would tear the community apart and devastate Cherie.

[Alex Tomlin]

I really do have hope this is going to get solved.

[Sloan Glass]

My name is Sloan Glass. I'm a journalist who covered the Long island serial killer, the Delphi, Indiana murders, and many Other high profile true crime cases. And now I'm the host of American Homicide, a podcast where we take you across the country to investigate some of America's deadliest crimes. We'll explore how these murders are shaped by their unique landscapes and how these tragedies have shaped the fabric of these American communities forever. Today we're in the tiny village of El Rancho, New Mexico for part one of the Father's Day murders on American Homicide. As a note, this podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable for all audiences. Discretion is advised. Let me paint a picture for you. Santa Fe, New Mexico is called the city different for its rich culture and diverse community. Native American ancestries blend with Spanish culture in a state with one of America's.

[Alex Tomlin]

Richest landscapes, Northern New Mexico in particular. It's a very unique place. It's beautiful.

[Sloan Glass]

Alex Tomlin was a local TV news reporter who lives in the area.

[Alex Tomlin]

It has impeccable weather and the mountains are incredible.

[Sloan Glass]

The region is home to natural hot springs and wild rivers.

[Alex Tomlin]

You can drive an hour north and go whitewater rafting or you can go down to White Sands and enjoy that. But kind of on the outskirts of Santa Fe, you get a lot of the smaller communities.

[Sloan Glass]

And one such place is the tiny village of El Rancho. The predominantly Hispanic community is about 20 miles from Santa Fe and is built around co op farming and churches.

[Alex Tomlin]

It's a lot of people who have kind of grown there, have families there, kind of all know each other, but.

[Sloan Glass]

It'S also a desolate place.

[Alex Tomlin]

One of the things about New Mexico is it's so open. When you go to someone's home, often they have a significant sized property. There's not neighbors very close.

[Sloan Glass]

And even though the homes are all spread out across the des, everyone kind.

[Alex Tomlin]

Of knows each other. But there is an interesting dynamic here. As much as it's known for its beauty, it's also known for the crime.

[Sloan Glass]

The tragic murders on Father's Day 2011 would stretch the fabric of El Rancho to its limits.

[Alex Tomlin]

So June 18, 2011 seemed like any normal night.

[Sloan Glass]

Cherie Ortiz had dinner plans with her parents, Lloyd and Dixie.

[Alex Tomlin]

Cherie Ortiz, she lived on the property with the Ortiz's.

[Sloan Glass]

Her parents and brother lived in a large one story house and Cherie and her husband lived in an RV next door. Even though there's a fence around their spacious property, the family had an open door policy.

[Alex Tomlin]

Anyone could come in, have dinner at their table or spend time with them. They were just kind of a good family in this community that was very tight knit.

[Sloan Glass]

Lloyd Ortiz was a man who loved to use his hands. He owned his own ceramic tile business. His craftsmanship turned up in homes and even luxury hotels all over northern New Mexico.

[Alex Tomlin]

He was an incredibly loving father. A hard working man who provided for his family, his wife, Dixie.

[Sloan Glass]

They sound like a perfect pair. Dixie was passionate about working with the elderly and the disabled. She was an activities director at a local retirement home and she fostered children with special needs.

[Alex Tomlin]

They took in a child who had chicken baby syndrome and adopted him as their own. Raised that child, loved that child.

[Sloan Glass]

That child's name was Steven. Steven had special needs from his early life injuries. His brain never developed beyond that of a nine year old. But he matured into a young man that his family called the Gentle Giant. He loved to play drums, ride his ATV and fish with Lloyd.

[Alex Tomlin]

They were just really giving loving people. Very northern New Mexico. Hard working, you know, love the land, love the culture kind of thing.

[Sloan Glass]

Since it was Father's Day, Cherie Ortiz whipped up a plate of homemade enchiladas for dinner. It was her gift. Just before 7:00 that evening, she took them and walked next door to her parents. Even though it was June white Christmas, icicle lights still hung on the gutters of her parents home. Inside, the walls were adorned with crucifixes and some of Lloyd's handmade tiles.

[Alex Tomlin]

Cherise said she walks in and realizes something's very wrong. She found her mother in bed. Her mother's head was pretty damaged. She thought someone maybe had shot her. She then went into the kitchen area and found what she thought was her father on the kitchen. The body was just so impacted by what was used against them. There's these two bodies, there's blood everywhere. She goes screaming out of the house and for her husband again. They lived on the property so it was pretty close.

[Sloan Glass]

Cherie's husband Jesse ran right over to investigate.

[Alex Tomlin]

Her husband then comes in the house and he realizes it's not her father on the kitchen floor. It's actually her brother. And that's when he starts searching around and finds her father outside. Right outside the back door, kind of in the field there.

[Sloan Glass]

Lloyd's body was found on a cinder block path that connected the Ortiz back porch to their fenced in yard. He was face down, wearing only his underwear. His eyeglasses sat just inches away. Covering his head was some green shrubbery. By now Sheree was on the phone.

[Cherie Ortiz]

Santa Fe 911, where's your emergency? They're dead. Dead, dead, dead, dead. They've been dead since the Party. What is your name?

[Sloan Glass]

Cherie frantically told the 911 operator that her mother, father and brother were shot to death.

[Cherie Ortiz]

I just walked in their house and everybody shot in the head. My brother, my dad and my mom still in bed.

[Sloan Glass]

This was Cherie's second attempt at a 911 call. Since Cherie and her parents homes were out in the middle of the desert, her cell reception was spotty. Imagine the panic, the fear that your call would drop again when you're trying to get emergency help for your family. And she didn't know where the perpetrator was or if they were still on the property.

[Cherie Ortiz]

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I am freaking out. I can't even walk away because I lose service.

[Sloan Glass]

And then there's another problem. El Rancho is way off the beaten path which delays the response time for law enforcement.

[Cherie Ortiz]

Oh my gosh. You have to hurry. They're on the way. You have to tell them to hurry. They're on the way.

[Sloan Glass]

With no local police force of their own, the New Mexico State Police were dispatched to investigate.

[Cherie Ortiz]

I can't believe they're already dead. I can't believe I didn't come check earlier this morning. Oh my God. God, oh my God, oh my God. Why? You know, and all because I didn't have money for a Father's Day gift. I didn't want to go until I finished cooking enchiladas for him.

[Sloan Glass]

Right.

[Cherie Ortiz]

Oh my God.

[Sloan Glass]

Cherise stayed on the phone for nearly 20 minutes before officers arrived.

[Cherie Ortiz]

All the units are going as fast as they can to get there. I'm going to walk to the gate and wait for them. I'm like too nervous just sitting in my yard.

[Paul Chavez]

My name is Paul Chavez. I was a member of the full time crime scene unit as an agent with New Mexico State Police.

[Sloan Glass]

The 200 homicide cases officer Chavez worked in his career didn't prepare him for what he saw inside the Ortiz house.

[Paul Chavez]

In this case, the magnitude of the violence involved was the worst that I had seen in my career. The brutality was unspeakable. Share your teeth. Had found her parents and her adopted stepbrother dead within the residence. She reported that they had been shot in the head and it had occurred sometime earlier in the day.

[Sloan Glass]

It turns out that although Cherie said she didn't see who committed these murders, she did hear something.

[Paul Chavez]

There was reportedly gunshots heard the previous night in the area.

[Sloan Glass]

Now hearing gunshots isn't entirely unusual in New Mexico, but Cherie and her parents homes sit on a dead end street in the Rural New Mexico desert. It's a remote area with unpaved roads and no nearby streetlights. Their nearest neighbor is about 50 yards up the road. Inside the Ortiz home, Officer Chavez and his team assess the situation.

[Paul Chavez]

Once I enter into the residence, there is a master bedroom immediately to the left as you walk in. And that is where the first victim, identified as Dixie Ortiz, is in her bed in her nightgown, under the blankets.

[Sloan Glass]

Dixie was found clutching her pillow, her.

[Paul Chavez]

Upper extremities, and her head is completely saturated in blood where she had sustained apparent trauma. From that bedroom, there's a drip trail which extends to the kitchen area where we have our second victim, a young man identified as Steven Ortiz.

[Sloan Glass]

Stephen, her adopted brother, lay face down in a pool of blood, wearing only his underwear. Police noted that he took the brunt of the attack.

[Paul Chavez]

This scene was absolutely brutal.

[Sloan Glass]

Stephen was 21 years old at the time of his murder, and based on his injuries, police believe that he tried to fight off the killer before ultimately losing that battle.

[Paul Chavez]

The blood continued from that area out the back door where the third victim, Lloyd Ortiz, was found. Outside the back porch, there was a significant amount of bloodshed, indicating that he did sustain some massive trauma. And there was also shrubbery from a nearby bush that was covering his head.

[Sloan Glass]

That's two bloodied bodies inside the home and one outside. And then something else stood out to law enforcement.

[Paul Chavez]

There was a small marijuana grow on the property. It was fenced off and padlocked. They did have a medical marijuana card for Steven for some of the medical conditions he has.

[Sloan Glass]

But none of the 17 marijuana plants appeared to be disturbed. In fact, nothing seemed to be stolen or even out of place. On the kitchen table, in plain view, sat Lloyd's wallet containing hundreds of dollars.

[Paul Chavez]

This did not look like a robbery. It looked like a case of anger, a lot of anger based on the brutality that occurred.

[Sloan Glass]

It was a Father's day to forget for residents in this tiny suburb of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Lloyd and Dixie Ortiz were pillars of the tight knit El Rancho community. They were quick to lend a helping hand to others in need. So who was angry enough to harm them and why? Now, I'd like to introduce you to Meaningful Beauty, the famed skincare brand created by iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford. It's her secret to absolutely gorgeous skin. Meaningful Beauty makes powerful and effective skincare simple, and it's loved by millions of women. It's formulated for all ages in all skin tones and types, and it's designed to work as a complete skin care system, leaving your skin feeling soft, smooth and nourished. I recommend starting with Cindy's full regimen which contains all five of her best bestselling products including the Amazing Youth Activating Melon Serum. This next generation serum has the power of melon leaf stem cell technology. Its melon leaf stem cells encapsulated for freshness and released onto the skin to support a visible reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. With thousands of glowing five star reviews, why not give it a try? Subscribe today and you can get the Amazing Meaningful Beauty system for just $49.95. That includes our introductory five star system, free gifts, free shipping and a 60 day money back guarantee. All that [e-mail].

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[Sloan Glass]

Shuri Ortiz lived in an RV right next door to her parents house on the same property. Both homes sat on a sprawling lot surrounded by hills in the dusty el Rancho, New Mexico desert. On the evening of Father's Day 2011, Cherie walked into her parents house and found her mother, father and brother savagely murdered. Like many others in the community, Pastor John Trujillo was in shock.

[Pastor John Trujillo]

I get a phone call. They call me pj. Pastor John says, pj, they found Stephen, Lloyd and Dixie dead. I said, what are you talking about? Was it a car accident? What happened? He says, no, they're. It seems like they were murdered in their home. You need to get down here right away. And as I drive up, the community is already showing up. State police are there. And about that time, Cherie made her way out and she was just in tears and tears and tears and just. Pastor John, my family's dead. My family's death. Somebody murdered my family. Somebody killed my family. How do you handle that? What do you do? I mean, can you imagine the emotional and physical and just spiritual distraught that you would face? Nobody can prepare for that. I don't care. Nobody's prepared to walk into a scene like that, especially the daughter. The family was grieving and they were mourning. It's all Rancho. This isn't supposed to happen in a community like this. People are, you know, speculating that, could this have happened from the community? Did somebody come here from somewhere else? Was it a family member? Was it a friend? Was it a robbery that went wrong? You know, why, why, why? It was like, okay, we need some answers.

[Sloan Glass]

Since El Rancho didn't have a police force of their own, the New Mexico State Police handled the investigation. By morning, the police still didn't know much. We're still unsure as to what happened out there.

[Paul Chavez]

The guys are still working it, working.

[Sloan Glass]

Very hard to determine what exactly happened. But at this point, we still don't know.

[Pastor John Trujillo]

How in the world could something like this happen? You know, one person dead, okay, but when there's three, it raises a lot, a lot of questions.

[Sloan Glass]

Police believe that three victims were shot to death inside their home, but nothing appeared to be missing. Investigators wondered if, if it was a murder or a murder suicide. Officer Paul Chavez was one of the first responders.

[Paul Chavez]

My role primarily is to process and document the crime scene and try and make sense of what occurred there.

[Sloan Glass]

But the severity of the crime scene limited what he was able to do.

[Paul Chavez]

You can't disturb the body much. And with the amount of bloodshed that was present, we weren't able to assess the wounds as well as we would like to have been able to.

[Sloan Glass]

So originally, the police believed all three victims were shot to death. But the results of the autopsies for each victim revealed something far more personal.

[Paul Chavez]

That these were in fact, not gunshot wounds. They were actually lacerations that were penetrating with a blunt object.

[Sloan Glass]

Clearly, something was missing. When the police returned to the scene of the crime, they found a five pound pickaxe lying on the ground just over the fence of the adjacent property. And the pickaxe contained bloodstains.

[Paul Chavez]

What the pickaxe did provide us was DNA from all three victims. So we unequivocally had our murder weapon. However, we were unable to forensically link a suspect to the pickaxe.

[Sloan Glass]

So what does that mean? A murder weapon with DNA of the victims but nothing to indicate a suspect?

[Paul Chavez]

It could mean a number of things, that maybe they were wearing gloves or they covered their hands in some way or shape or form and just sometimes the lab just can't find it. It's not 100% certainty that they're going to be able to find DNA. When something is touched, there's a chance that we will, but it doesn't always work out that way.

[Alex Tomlin]

So the one thing about the Ortiz murder was really the pressure on the police.

[Sloan Glass]

Reporter Alex Tomlin covered the story for a local TV station.

[Alex Tomlin]

There was an incredible amount of pressure from that small knit community, but also the surrounding communities. And so there was a lot of pressure on them to get who did it, make it a clean investigation and let's get this person behind bars. And I'm sure at times that pressure was overwhelming.

[Sloan Glass]

The people of El Rancho couldn't shake the fear that they could be next.

[Alex Tomlin]

Nobody wants to think that they're going to go to sleep and somebody who's pickaxed a couple and their son to death is going to come into their home next.

[Sloan Glass]

They even refused to talk to TV reporters, not because they felt pestered, but they were fearful of their own safety.

[Alex Tomlin]

And that's the other terrifying thing. Think about the strength it takes to push that pickaxe back multiple times and pickaxe someone to death. That is cold blooded, that is calculated, that is incredibly scary for a community because that person is dangerous. You know, when you can't easily tie up a case like this, when you can't say, oh, it's, you know, a scorned lover or it's, you know, a drug deal gone wrong or different Things like that. Then it becomes a, well, am I next? You want to find who did this because you don't want the community looking at you and saying, what are you doing? Why aren't you protecting us? Why don't you have the answers?

[Sloan Glass]

With no suspects, a weapon and murder seen free of any DNA, investigators started to look at the person who first discovered the bodies. That person was Sheree Ortiz.

[Alex Tomlin]

When something this horrific happens, the community wants answers, and they want them quickly. Right. So you want to be able to tie a nice bow on this thing and be done with it. And Cherie and her husband seemed like that nice bow. They lived on the property. You could come up with a motive.

[Sloan Glass]

The police wondered if Sheree and her husband Jesse knew more than they were saying, especially after they listened back to Cherie's original 911 call.

[Alex Tomlin]

She's very frantic in that 911 call. As you can hear, they're dead.

[Cherie Ortiz]

They have gunshot wounds in the head. They're dead, dead, dead, dead, dead.

[Alex Tomlin]

She made some Comments on that 911 call about, you know, they must have been shot because of how they looked.

[Cherie Ortiz]

I just walked in their house and everybody shot in the head. My brother, my dad, and my mom still in bed.

[Alex Tomlin]

It wasn't later until the office of the medical investigator determined that actually they had been pickaxed to death.

[Sloan Glass]

And you have no idea who would have done that.

[Cherie Ortiz]

Do you see anybody around? No, I didn't look. I just freaked out. Oh, my God. They were such good people. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. We have to hurry.

[Sloan Glass]

Desperate and upset, Sheree spent 17 minutes on that 911 call. But as investigators listen back, they zeroed in on a comment Cherie said. Now, listen closely to what Cherie told the operator, Dave.

[Cherie Ortiz]

And dead since the party.

[Sloan Glass]

So Cherie said her parents had been dead since that morning. How did she know that? And why didn't she call 911 till 7 that evening?

[Cherie Ortiz]

I can't believe I didn't come check earlier this morning, but. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Why? You know, and all because I didn't have money for a Father's Day gift. I didn't want to go until I finished cooking enchiladas for him.

[Alex Tomlin]

They 100% thought she was a main suspect.

[Cherie Ortiz]

I can't believe this is happening.

[Sloan Glass]

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[Nancy Glass]

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High Five Casino When Lloyd Dixie and Stephen Ortiz were brutally murdered in their El Rancho home, their daughter Cherie and her husband Jesse appeared to investigators to be the only people with motive and the access to execute such a violent crime. For months, Cherie and Jesse felt the same stairs and heard the whispers. Their pastor, John Trujillo tried to be the voice of reason.

[Pastor John Trujillo]

I think when you have to go through that like Jesse and Cherie did, I think it was just a reassurance that said, listen, you know you need to do this, you need to go through this. Just cooperate with the state police investigators, whatever you need to do, because it's just a process of elimination. They're looking for answers just as much as everybody else's and they need a starting point somewhere. Just go through the process, answer the questions, be honest, be truthful, and let them eliminate you and then they can move forward from there.

[Paul Chavez]

So there were a number of red flags that required us to investigate Cherie and Jesse to the fullest.

[Sloan Glass]

State Police agent Paul Chavez towed the difficult line of questioning a mourning Cherie.

[Paul Chavez]

Could family gain from the. From the death of the victim? Sure they can. If there's insurance policies in place or is there property in place. Is there, is there something to be gained? That's definitely something that was going to be looked at.

[Sloan Glass]

Investigators asked about Cherie's credit card debt and the fact that she didn't pay her car loans or even the rent on her rv. And then there was this. Cherie also told investigators that she had removed $80,000 in cash from her parents home. But she didn't tell this to police until three days after the murders.

[Paul Chavez]

Jesse and Sherry involvement couldn't be ruled out.

[Sloan Glass]

Jesse and Cherie told detectives that they were at a local casino on the night of the murders.

[Paul Chavez]

But there was some conflicting statements between Cherie and Jesse.

[Sloan Glass]

The triple murder that rocked the close knit village of El Rancho turned friends into enemies, families into suspects.

[Alex Tomlin]

At the time, there was a lot of speculation about her and her husband and whether or not they had been involved in this crime.

[Sloan Glass]

Alex Tomlin worked as a reporter for a local TV station.

[Alex Tomlin]

The case was a little bit cold at this time and we got a call saying she's willing to talk to you.

[Sloan Glass]

Cherie was on the defensive and wanting to publicly clear her name. So she scheduled an interview with Alex.

[Alex Tomlin]

Cherie offered to show me the home where her parents had lived and had been murdered.

[Sloan Glass]

Alex met Sheree at her home and interviewed her just steps away from where Lloyd, Dixie and Steven were murdered.

[Alex Tomlin]

I remember distinctly being in the kitchen and we were talking about her brother Stephen. And you know, when the autopsy came out, he had held about a dozen or so blows, I think about maybe 17 blows. And I remember her talking to me about how he was such a big guy, that he was kind of a teddy bear, but he was such a big guy. And it's such a weird sensation where you're standing in someone's kitchen and you're seeing marks on the floor and you know their body had been there. And you know, she cried a lot during that interview, understandably, but really thinking about this young man coming out who didn't really have the cognitive ability to understand what was happening, you know, very much. Still a child kind of in a man's body, and to have that many blows to him. My only thought in that moment was, he must have been trying to protect his parents. He must have been really scared. He must have really fought back. And that was just so sad. It was so sad to think about those final moments and what that must have been like for him, either knowing that he was dying or knowing that something had happened to his parents. It was just really traumatic standing there and knowing this is where he died, and he died in such a violent way.

[Sloan Glass]

With the cameras rolling, Alex asked Cherie about the investigation.

[Alex Tomlin]

I believe they're going through it with.

[Sloan Glass]

Tunnel vision, just specifically focusing on us.

[Alex Tomlin]

Instead of the real people, or I know it had to be people.

[Sloan Glass]

How could one person do that?

[Alex Tomlin]

So it left this very weird sensation in the community where some people were still speculating, Other people really believed them. Why would they do this?

[Sloan Glass]

Cherie said her parents had life insurance, but she could not collect that money since she and her husband were considered suspects. And without that money, Cherie said, they couldn't pay their bills and worried their homes would be foreclosed.

[Alex Tomlin]

So it was really this sense from her of trying to advocate for herself, but advocate for her parents and her brother to say, I need to know who killed them, and at the same time, I need people to know it wasn't me. And so that was really what the conversation centered around.

[Sloan Glass]

We could lose everything my dad worked so hard for.

[Alex Tomlin]

I actually saw, like, marks on the floor and different things like that where this had happened. It was a really horrific experience.

[Sloan Glass]

Something has to give.

[Alex Tomlin]

I really do have hope. I know this is going to get stopped.

[Sloan Glass]

With tears in her eyes, Cherie then looked into the camera to try to clear her name and her husband Jesse's as well.

[Alex Tomlin]

We had nothing to do with it. My God. That was my mom and my dad and my little brother.

[Sloan Glass]

It was no secret that the two were being looked at in the Tribble murder. But were they that desperate for money that they would murder their own family? Paul Chavez investigated.

[Paul Chavez]

If you don't investigate Jesse and Shirley to the fullest, you make a very easy argument for a defense attorney to create doubt in a jury's mind. And that's exactly what have happened if we had not followed up on all of the red flags that came up during the course of the investigation.

[Sloan Glass]

But as the investigation dragged on, Cherise shifted the blame back on the state police. She claimed that they botched the investigation and said casino security guards or even children could have done a better job. Against the advice of law enforcement, Cherie even set up a PO Box where people could anonymously submit information about who might be responsible. A year after the murders, the police promised a press conference to share some breaking news on the case. But that press conference never happened.

[Paul Chavez]

There was a lot of leads that came in that were followed up on, but none of them panned out.

[Sloan Glass]

A billboard even went up along a local highway with a picture of Lloyd, Dixie and Steven that offered a $1,000 reward for information. But still there were no arrests.

[Paul Chavez]

That was the hardest part of this case for me was was knowing that we have not been able to bring justice for this family.

[Sloan Glass]

And it wasn't just Cherie who was pressuring the New Mexico State Police. Police. Here's TV reporter Alex Tomlin.

[Alex Tomlin]

There was an incredible amount of pressure from that small knit community, but also the surrounding communities and pretty much all of the state saying, you've got to find who did this. You could not take a family who more people said nice things about and have a more awful thing happen to them. I mean, they are bludgeoned to death with a pickaxe.

[Sloan Glass]

Publicly, the police didn't reveal much about other potential suspects, but behind the scenes, it was a different story. Aside from Cherie and her husband Jesse, investigators interviewed numerous people. Then, 16 months after the murders, a local 23 year old woman named Ashley Roybal got arrested. While she's in custody, she tells the police something astonishing. Is it okay to call you Ashley?

[Alex Tomlin]

All right.

[Nancy Glass]

I understand that you know some details.

[Sloan Glass]

I know who did it. Ashley tells detectives that she knows who killed Lloyd, Dixie and Stephen Ortiz.

[Alex Tomlin]

It isn't until Ashley Roybal gets in trouble that all of a sudden she's willing to tell police what happened.

[Sloan Glass]

I'll just let you go ahead and.

[Pastor John Trujillo]

Tell me the story.

[Alex Tomlin]

It was almost like the answer everyone had been waiting for.

[Sloan Glass]

Ashley Roybal kept quiet for 16 months. During that time, Cherie juggled losing her mom, dad and brother while being looked at by everyone as a suspect, all while she couldn't collect their life insurance money and was scared she'd lose everything. But now, 16 months later, Ashley was finally ready to talk.

[Paul Chavez]

Well, this was the turning point in.

[Sloan Glass]

The investigation, but would anyone believe Ashley?

[Alex Tomlin]

There's things that kind of don't match up. There's shifting stories.

[Pastor John Trujillo]

We just want the truth.

[Sloan Glass]

They say the wheels of justice move very slowly, and in this case, that would prove to be an understatement.

[Alex Tomlin]

And I remember thinking, oh God, here we go again. This poor family has been through the wringer.

[Pastor John Trujillo]

I would have never suspected that it was going to come down to this.

[Sloan Glass]

Find out what Ashley says really happened that night on part two of the Father's Day murders. That's next time on American Homicide. You can contact the American Homicide team by emailing [e-mail] that's AmericanHomicidePodmail.com American Homicide is hosted and written by me, Sloan Glass and is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with I Heart Podcast. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Todd Ganz. The series is also written and produced by Todd Ganz with additional writing by Ben Fetterman and Andrea Gunning. Our associate producer is Kristen Melchuri. Our I Heart team is Ally Perry and Jessica Krynchak. Audio editing and mixing by Matt D'Alvecchio Additional editing support from Nick Aruga, Tanner Robbins, Britt Robicheaux, Dave Seah and Patrick Walsh. American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Baines of Noiser Music Library, provided by My Music. Follow American Homicide on Apple Podcasts and please rate and review American Homicide. Your five star review goes a long way towards helping others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nancy Glass]

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