The Other Side of Paradise

Summary

Dateline NBC: The Other Side of Paradise – Episode Summary

Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "The Other Side of Paradise," Dateline NBC explores the haunting true-crime story of Sandra Mendonza's murder in Kauai, a location often idealized as a tropical paradise. The episode chronicles over a decade-long quest for justice led by Sandra's determined father, Larry Mendonza, uncovering layers of mystery, personal anguish, and systemic challenges within the investigative process.

---

The Tragic Murder of Sandra Mendonza

On January 25, 2006, Sandra Mendonza was found strangled in her car in a quiet, working-class neighborhood of Kauai. Her death sent shockwaves through the island community, where such violent crimes are rare. As forensic details emerged, Detective Ryan Shinjo revealed at [09:15]:

“She was slumped to the right, to the passenger seat, face down into the seat.”

This description underscored the brutality of the crime and set the stage for a complex investigation.

---

Initial Suspicions and Darren Gallus Under Scrutiny

Sandra was married to Darren Gallus, whose behavior quickly placed him under suspicion. Initial evidence included Darren’s failure to provide a solid alibi and inconsistencies in his accounts of the morning Sandra was murdered. At [11:20], Ryan Shinjo disclosed:

“He was at work.”

However, this alibi began to crumble when Darren did not pass a polygraph test, prompting Detective Keith Morrison to comment at [11:48]:

"There aren't a lot of murders in paradise. People still talk about this one."

The community's attention intensified as suspicions grew around Darren, especially given their tumultuous divorce and ongoing child custody battles.

---

Larry Mendonza’s Relentless Pursuit of Justice

Unwilling to accept the slow progress of the official investigation, Larry Mendonza took it upon himself to uncover the truth behind his daughter's death. Leveraging his background as a 75-year-old Air Force intelligence analyst, Larry meticulously examined evidence and questioned every lead.

At [12:29], Lester Holt captures Larry's unwavering determination:

“It isn't over yet.”

Larry's efforts led to significant breakthroughs, including the 2009 discovery of touch DNA evidence linking Darren to the crime scene:

Ryan Shinjo at [21:14]: “We got him.”

Despite this seemingly conclusive evidence, Larry remained cautious, understanding that the DNA could also belong to Sandra's children, complicating the case further.

---

Emerging Theories and the Shadow of Drug Trafficking

As the investigation deepened, new theories emerged questioning Darren's sole responsibility. Ryan Shinjo, Sandra's boyfriend, was revealed to be involved in a substantial drug trafficking operation. This revelation introduced the possibility that Sandra might have been inadvertently entangled in criminal activities, potentially altering the motive behind her murder.

At [17:55], Larry mused:

“She may have been smuggling drugs in her new Louis Vuitton suitcases and not even knowing it.”

This angle opened fresh lines of inquiry, suggesting that Sandra's death might have been linked to dangerous criminal networks rather than solely personal vendettas.

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Legal Battles and Political Obstacles

The path to justice was fraught with legal delays and political interference. A change in prosecutors introduced new challenges, with Justin Koller contesting the strength of the case against Darren due to lingering questions about Ryan Shinjo's involvement. At [32:05], Lester Holt summarizes the tension:

“Kauai is a murderer's paradise. If you want to kill somebody, come.”

These political dynamics led to multiple trial postponements, exacerbating the family's anguish and prolonging the quest for closure.

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Final Sentencing and Lingering Doubts

After twelve years of relentless pursuit, January 29, 2018, marked a pivotal moment as Darren Gallus pleaded no contest to assault charges related to Sandra's death. During the sentencing at [42:26], Lester Holt relays Larry's heartbreaking sentiment:

“That was my graveyard promise to my daughter.”

The judge sentenced Darren to 10 years in prison, bringing a semblance of resolution but leaving persistent doubts about the complete truth behind Sandra's murder.

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Conclusion: Enduring Grief and the Pursuit of Peace

The episode concludes by highlighting the enduring pain felt by Larry and his wife, Toshi, who continue to honor Sandra's memory through annual rituals. Reflecting on the complexities of the case, the story serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges faced by families seeking justice against a backdrop of limited resources, investigative setbacks, and emotional turmoil.

Notable Quotes:

• Larry Mendonza at [00:57]:

  “My friend called me and she was hysterical and she said, sandra's been killed... How is this happening? Just keep praying. That's all we can do.”

• Ryan Shinjo at [10:33]:

  “I saw in the back of her neck some literature marks.”

• Lester Holt at [23:00]:

  “The driving force is to get this case solved and put my daughter to rest, because she isn't here.”

• Lester Holt at [38:56]:

  “That was my graveyard promise to my daughter.”

---

Final Thoughts

"The Other Side of Paradise" masterfully weaves together personal narratives, investigative tenacity, and the harsh realities of the legal system. It underscores the relentless pursuit of truth by a grieving father and the profound impact of unresolved justice on a family. This episode not only entertains but also provokes reflection on the broader implications of crime, community, and the human spirit's resilience.

Transcript

[Tom Yamas]

Taking over the helm of NBC Nightly News, a 75 year old broadcast, It's a great responsibility. Good evening, I'm Tom Yamas. You have to go out there to.

[Lester Holt]

Bring people at home closer to the story.

[Tom Yamas]

Wildfires continue to be a threat. With that massive hurricane comes the massive response. The best reporters in our business know how to listen. And when you listen, you get the truth. For NBC News. For NBC News, I'm Tom Galmas. That's what we do every night. NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. Evenings on NBC.

[Jenna Bush Hager]

Hey, everyone, it's Jenna Bush Hager from Today with Jenna and Friends, reminding you to check out my podcast, Open Book with Jenna and this week's episode, I sit down with Ellen Hildebrand live at the Read with Jenna book festival to discuss her book adaptations, writing with her daughter and why Nantucket has always been such a special setting for her stories. You can listen to the full conversation now by searching Open Book with Jenna. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Larry Mendonza]

My friend called me and she was hysterical and she said, sandra's been killed. I was like, oh my God. As soon as she was killed, we all knew who did it. As the months went on, we just realized that this guy's gonna get off. How is this happening? Just keep praying. That's all we can do.

[Keith Morrison]

There aren't a lot of murders in paradise. People still talk about this one.

[Larry Mendonza]

Just a darling girl with two darling.

[Keith Morrison]

It's a story Keith Morrison followed for more than a decade.

[Tom Yamas]

How?

[Lester Holt]

When I got a call from her boss, said she hadn't showed up for work.

[Larry Mendonza]

They found her in the car.

[Ryan Shinjo]

I saw in the back of her neck some literature marks.

[Larry Mendonza]

Just didn't deserve that.

[Keith Morrison]

A small island, a small pool of suspects. Ryan, her lover with a past.

[Larry Mendonza]

I had no idea he was a drug dealer.

[Keith Morrison]

And Darren, the soon to be ex husband.

[Ryan Shinjo]

That morning he called in sick.

[Tom Yamas]

Was Darren polygraphed?

[Ryan Shinjo]

He didn't pass.

[Keith Morrison]

And the lover?

[Ryan Shinjo]

He didn't do that.

[Keith Morrison]

Without much else to go on, this case was growing colder by the day.

[Larry Mendonza]

Nothing. Just nothing happens.

[Keith Morrison]

But a father doesn't forget.

[Lester Holt]

I have to have justice for my daughter.

[Keith Morrison]

After all these years, are there still secrets to uncover?

[Tom Yamas]

It's been quite a journey for you.

[Lester Holt]

It isn't over yet.

[Keith Morrison]

This father finally got his answer. But is it the one he wanted?

[Lester Holt]

Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine what we're going through now.

[Keith Morrison]

I'm Lester Holt and this, this is Dateline. Here's Keith Morrison with the other side of paradise.

[Tom Yamas]

Wandering through this land, you wonder if You've been transported to the beginning of biblical time, to a garden free of want, temptation or betrayal.

[Lester Holt]

Tropical paradise.

[Tom Yamas]

In a land so distractingly beautiful, tourists who ebb and flow like the tides could be forgiven for looking past this lone tormented father begging for help for a terrible reason. To solve the murder of his precious daughter, Sandy.

[Lester Holt]

I really appreciate it, Dave.

[Tom Yamas]

No, no, no.

[Lester Holt]

Anything we can do, we're just takes time, Doug. We hope, we hope we give them a rest this year. This is how close they are. We are 90%. It's all good. Hey.

[Tom Yamas]

We first came upon Larry Mendonza, well, on another dateline assignment way back in 2009, which is when we shot this video. He was 68 years old then. Alone, he worked handing out flyers, gruff and stoic, except when the pain was just too much.

[Lester Holt]

Just that. Three years.

[Tom Yamas]

It's still rough. Larry took us to Sandra's grave, told us how he promised to bring her killer to justice.

[Lester Holt]

She won't be forgotten as long as I'm alive.

[Tom Yamas]

We had no idea then where this meeting would lead us. That our journey would last a decade. A case that would expose evil lurking in this garden paradise and bring Larry to the edge of his own mortality. Andy on Kauai knew Sandra. Even watched her as a teenager dancing at a local marketing video. Later as a 20 something at the head of a parade float. Look at the beautiful palakka right over there, gang. Like many here, she was multiracial, growing up in a household that was half Japanese, half Portuguese, all Hawaiian and a devout Catholic who attended St. Catherine's School. Best friends Alma Umala and Joni Morita. So when people ask you what was Sandy like? We'd tell them she was absolutely a go getter. Like she was teacher's pet. Oh, really? Perfect.

[Darren Gallus]

She always had her hair nicely done.

[Tom Yamas]

You know, she was always focused. In high school, Sandra was an athlete, a cheerleader, very popular. She was the complete package. And her home life, old fashioned, traditional family, you know, Catholic, play by the rules type of people. Yeah, discipline, a very important thing to Larry. He the 20 year Air Force veteran.

[Lester Holt]

I was trying to toughen her up, if you want to put it in that expression, to know what the real world was like.

[Tom Yamas]

That was why Larry insisted Sandra leave Kauai to go to college. She ended up in Honolulu. But for a small island girl, it felt as big and lonely as New York City. She missed Kauai, her family, and would come home as often as she could. That's when she got involved with Darren. And Darren was here. Darren was here. Darren Gallus, a little older, made good money at his highway construction job. Sandra was crazy about him. And soon after she moved home, they got married. Son Austin came nine months later, and Braden two years after that. So by the age of 24, Sandra was the matriarch of her own little clan.

[Lester Holt]

She loved the boys to death. I mean, she, you know, that was, they were the apple of her eye.

[Tom Yamas]

Life was good until April 2005, when Sandra came to her parents very upset.

[Lester Holt]

As she told us. She was cleaning out her husband's backpack and two papers fell out, two phone numbers. So she called the phone numbers and it turned out to be two different married women.

[Tom Yamas]

Sandra confronted Darren.

[Lester Holt]

He would never admit it. They just kept saying they were friends.

[Tom Yamas]

They were friends, and she knew otherwise.

[Lester Holt]

She knew what it was.

[Tom Yamas]

By June, Darren had moved out and Sandra moved on, got a job at the beach house restaurant, an island landmark. It was a life changer.

[Larry Mendonza]

She was just a darling girl, you know, with two darling children.

[Tom Yamas]

Krista hall was a waitress at the beach house and saw firsthand Sandra's transformation from quiet island girl to young working woman.

[Larry Mendonza]

And she wore her hair back in a ponytail and she was very prim and proper and very, you know, subdued. And then as soon as she got away from Darren, she was like, cut her hair in a bob and it was really cute and stylish.

[Tom Yamas]

All of a sudden, Sandra started going out with friends and as is pretty obvious in this concert video, she was enjoying her new life. Before too long, Sandra started getting friendly with one of the chefs, a recent transplant from Oahu named Ryan Shinjo.

[Larry Mendonza]

He wined and dined her and, you know, took really good care of her. And he was, I mean, he was really nice to her. I mean, they were always, you know, doing all kinds of fabulous things, going.

[Tom Yamas]

On Honolulu shopping trips, for instance, where Ryan would lavish expensive gifts on Sandra like Louis Vuitton luggage. Larry and Sandra's mom, Toshi, knew little of this relationship. And on January 25, 2006, were in Dallas visiting their son when they got an odd call from Sandra's boss.

[Lester Holt]

I said she hadn't showed up for work. It's very unusual for her.

[Tom Yamas]

Hours later, the phone rang again. It was 3am A time when bad news comes calling. Larry's son answered the phone and this.

[Lester Holt]

Is basically how it goes. Hello, you know, oh, hi. Hi, cousin. Uh huh.

[Tom Yamas]

No.

[Keith Morrison]

When we come back, she was.

[Ryan Shinjo]

Slumped to the right to the passenger seat, face down.

[Keith Morrison]

Who wanted Sandra dead?

[Lester Holt]

From what we're told, he went ballistic. He just Flipped up.

[Tom Yamas]

She was beyond the Eden the tourists see, out of sight of the rich and verdant estates of the wealthy few. She was in a neighborhood more working class suburbia than Polynesian paradise. In her own small ranch house, in her garage, in her car. She'd been strangled to death. It was Sandra's new boyfriend, Ryan Shinjo, who called the police. Said he found her that way.

[Ryan Shinjo]

And she was slumped to the right, to the passenger seat, face down into the seat.

[Tom Yamas]

Roy Asher was one of the original investigators. We spoke to him in 2009. This was three years after Sandra was murdered.

[Ryan Shinjo]

I saw in the back of her neck some literature marks. We didn't find the court itself. We have an idea what could have been used.

[Tom Yamas]

What?

[Ryan Shinjo]

Thin, thin cord, like a fishing line.

[Tom Yamas]

Sandra's shirt and bra were askew. Her lip was split as if she'd been punched in the face. Ryan, the boyfriend, he's the one on the right of the screen, told investigators he discovered Sandra's body around 9pm but the cops could see she had been dead for a while by then.

[Ryan Shinjo]

Probably eight to 10 hours, which would.

[Tom Yamas]

Have put the time of death about in the morning. Could you get any more exact? No. Given that the estranged husband Darren used to live with Sandra and Ryan was now dating her, their fingerprints could certainly be explained. Nothing suspicious there. But Ryan finding the body, well, that was potentially suspicious. Did he have an alibi?

[Ryan Shinjo]

Yes.

[Tom Yamas]

Ah. And it checked out?

[Ryan Shinjo]

Yes.

[Tom Yamas]

Do you remember what it was?

[Ryan Shinjo]

He was at work.

[Tom Yamas]

So who else? Well, there was Sandra's estranged husband, Darren, of course. And this was interesting.

[Ryan Shinjo]

That morning he called in sick.

[Tom Yamas]

So in other words, he didn't have an alibi.

[Ryan Shinjo]

No.

[Tom Yamas]

Based simply on that lack of an alibi, the police arrested Darren.

[Lester Holt]

When they first said, you think her husband could have done it? And I said my first reaction was no.

[Tom Yamas]

But even as Larry tried to wrap his mind around that idea, a detective called him the following day.

[Lester Holt]

And he says, we gotta let him go. We don't have enough. We've talked to the prosecuting attorney and.

[Tom Yamas]

We don't have enough Meaning what? Was Darren involved or not? Hit by grief and impatient for answers, Larry launched an investigation of his own.

[Lester Holt]

It was like a. I don't know, a panic. I mean. I mean, you know, I've got so many things to do and I've got to get it done. Now.

[Tom Yamas]

As a native Kauaian and veteran Air Force intelligence analyst, Larry had both the connections and the skills to piece together the details surrounding his daughter's murder. For instance, he found out that two days before the killing, Darren, while working on a road crew, saw Sandra and Ryan together.

[Lester Holt]

She goes driving by with her boyfriend in the car. And from what we're told for his co workers at the time, he went ballistic.

[Tom Yamas]

He just flipped on at that time. And this is important to the case. Sandra and Darren's shared custody of their two sons. But remember, she worked evenings at the restaurant. So the boys slept over with Darren. And at six o' clock in the morning, she would show up, pick them up, take them off for breakfast, get them ready for school and daycare. But Larry discovered that on the night before she was murdered, Sandra stayed over at Ryan's house. Her boyfriend, he dropped her off at her place at 6am and then the neighbors told Larry they saw her leave in her car soon after that, apparently heading to pick up the boys. And neighbors confirmed they saw Sandra's car return a short while later, but without the children. Larry learned through his contacts that Sandra had a 10 o' clock appointment that morning to get her nails done at a salon about 45 minutes away.

[Lester Holt]

She never made the appointment. So this is how we narrowed down the time of death before about 9 o' clock, where she would have had to leave to make her appointment.

[Tom Yamas]

The cops didn't tell him, but Larry learned from his own sources that boyfriend Ryan had an alibi. Well, husband Darren did not. All of which got Larry thinking the same thing as the police. Must have been Darren who murdered Sandra.

[Lester Holt]

Right now, I'm driven by the case. I mean, I've got to get that done.

[Tom Yamas]

Many of Sandra's friends, like Christa hall, also thought Darren was guilty.

[Larry Mendonza]

I think everyone thought that Darren would be arrested immediately and it would, you know, he would be going to jail and the children would be going to the grandparents or her brother and everything was going to be okay.

[Tom Yamas]

And exactly one year after the murder, there was indeed an arrest. But it wasn't Darren.

[Keith Morrison]

Coming up, a new theory about Sandra's murder.

[Larry Mendonza]

She may have been smuggling drugs and not even knowing it.

[Keith Morrison]

And a threat from her father.

[Lester Holt]

If I ever figure out a way.

[Keith Morrison]

To get away with it, it'll happen when DATELINE continues.

[Tom Yamas]

Hey, guys, Willie Geist here, reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro to talk about his lead in the buzzed about new Wes Anderson movie the Phoenician Scheme and his path from a childhood in Puerto Rico to the heights of Hollywood. You can get our conversation now for free, wherever you download Your podcasts.

[Keith Morrison]

I'm Josh Mankiewicz and I hope you'll join us for season four of Dateline Missing in America. In each episode of Dateline's award winning series, we will focus on one missing persons case and hear from the families, the friends and the investigators, all desperate to. You will want to listen closely. Maybe you could help investigators solve a mystery.

[Tom Yamas]

Search Dateline Missing in America to listen on Apple Podcasts.

[Jenna Bush Hager]

Hey everyone, I'm Jenna Bush Hager from the Today show and I'm excited to share my podcast Open Book with Jenna. It is back for season two. Each week, celebrities, experts, friends and authors will share candid stories with me about their lives and new projects. Guests like Rebecca Yarros, Kristin Hannah, Ego Wodom and more. Like a good book, you'll leave feeling inspired and entertained. Join me for my podcast Open Book with Jenna. Listen now on Apple Podcasts.

[Tom Yamas]

Kauai is unique in many ways, not the least of which is this. It's almost a media free zone. Most information spreads here as it has for generations, by word of mouth, where facts, opinions and gossip all swirl together as one. And the news swept across the island like a rogue wave. Ryan Shinjo had been arrested, but not by the island cops, by the FBI.

[Larry Mendonza]

Then we hear that Ryan is gone to jail and we're like, oh my God, what did he do?

[Tom Yamas]

It could that.

[Larry Mendonza]

And then we hear, no, no, he went to jail for drug dealing, which none of us knew. He was a drug dealer. I had no idea he was a drug dealer.

[Tom Yamas]

Ryan, it turned out, was a player in a big money drug trafficking ring, running meth from the mainland to Oahu to Kauai. Well, when people, when people found out about that, rumors started to fly. Was Ryan using Sandra as an unwitting drug mule when he took her to Honolulu? Was she bringing back meth with her?

[Larry Mendonza]

Who knows? She may have been smuggling drugs in her new Louis Vuitton suitcases and not even knowing it, you know.

[Tom Yamas]

And the final act of that story, Sandra found out about the drug ring and was killed before she could go to the police. But that was just a rumor in a sea of rumors. Police didn't seem any closer to finding Sandra's killer. Whoever it was, the case grew colder with each passing year. Larry still thought Darren killed Sandra. And it seemed wherever Larry went on this small island, there he was.

[Lester Holt]

This is the house here with the boat and the truck in there. It's not easy giving by here and knowing that he's still running free. We've got to get this case solved.

[Tom Yamas]

On this day, Larry and Sandra's mom, Toshi, had to see Darren at grandson Austin's little league game. That's Darren on the field coaching and in the dugout with his girlfriend Shireen, a woman he'd known since before Sandra's murder. And it was at this point, 2009, three years after Sandra's murder, when Larry felt the time had come for him to go from investigator to avenger. He was seriously thinking about killing Darren.

[Lester Holt]

If I ever figure out a way to get away with it, it'll happen.

[Tom Yamas]

Fortunately, the arrival of a new Kauai police chief put his plans on hold. Darrell Perry, a 30 year veteran of the Honolulu PD, agreed to meet with Larry and listen to his theories about the case.

[H]

He showed me the scene and he explained to me what happened. And I could feel his grief.

[Tom Yamas]

I mean, it wasn't of any forensic value to you to be there to look at it, was it?

[H]

No, not at all.

[Tom Yamas]

It was. The point was what?

[H]

The point was I wanted him to realize that there is somebody there that's listening to him.

[Tom Yamas]

What'd you do next?

[H]

We went to her grave site. We stood there and what were you thinking about? I was thinking about the sadness in the loss of a child.

[Tom Yamas]

There's nothing, nothing, nothing like it. Nobody can understand unless they've been there.

[H]

Not unless you've lost a child.

[Tom Yamas]

Chief Perry was struggling to tell us that he did know what it was like to lose a child. He came out of retirement and took the job as head of the Kauai Police Department after the sudden death of his 26 year old son, Erickson.

[H]

I feel in a way that I'm working through him, that he motivates me. I believe that things happen for a reason. And in fact, I told Larry this. I told him there's a reason why we met. I don't know what the reasons are, but I'm here for you.

[Tom Yamas]

So after meeting with Larry, Chief Perry sent Sandra's file to a couple of friends in Honolulu. Investigators with the State Attorney General's cold.

[H]

Case unit, I asked them to see if they can find anything else that we may have missed.

[Tom Yamas]

And they did indeed find something. Using what was breakthrough science for that time, early 2009, cold case investigators extracted touch DNA from Sandra's shirt and bra. Chief Perry called Larry with the news.

[Lester Holt]

And he said they got something. They rescanned their clothes and they found two. How did he put it? Two microscopic particles of a male origin coming up.

[Keith Morrison]

Sometimes it's what you find and sometimes it's what you don't.

[Ryan Shinjo]

Going through the calendar, it's pretty detailed from January 1st every day.

[Keith Morrison]

But on the morning of Sandra's murder, you got nothing.

[Tom Yamas]

It took a scientific breakthrough to finally get Larry Mendonza the help he was pleading for. Touch DNA. Microscopic skin cells on Sandra's shirt and bra. It was a match to Darren when that result came in. Tell me what your first thoughts were.

[Ryan Shinjo]

We got him.

[Tom Yamas]

But Larry was wary.

[Lester Holt]

It isn't over yet.

[Tom Yamas]

Because what seemed like great evidence to the cops did not to the newly elected prosecuting attorney, Shailene Aseri, for one simple reason. The DNA did not exclusively match Darren. It could have come from the two children. Larry, though, refused to be discouraged.

[Lester Holt]

The driving force is to get this case solved and put my daughter to.

[Tom Yamas]

Rest, because she isn't here.

[Lester Holt]

Hopefully, it'll be this year. Hopefully, it'll be 2009. We're close.

[Tom Yamas]

But 2009 ended as it had begun, with the case in stasis. No breaks, no leads, no arrests. And 2010 was no different. Same for 2011. Nothing. It's fair to say Sandra's murder investigation was very much cold. So 2012, now, six years after the murder and three years after that DNA test, Chief Perry gave the case to a new detective named Bryson Ponce, who reexamined the physical evidence. Like Sandra's car, undisturbed since the day she was murdered.

[Ryan Shinjo]

She was sitting down in the driver's seat, and from her waist up was pulled, slouched over into the passenger seat.

[Tom Yamas]

You said pulled. Did it appear that it had been yanked over that way?

[Ryan Shinjo]

It appeared that way, yeah. We believe that there was a struggle outside of the vehicle in the garage. And that's due to some evidence that was on the outside front of the vehicle. Smudge marks, some hair. When you look at how this homicide happened, it wasn't sexually motivated or it wasn't a robbery. It really was focused on anger.

[Tom Yamas]

And so Ponce circled right back to those original two suspects. Husband Darren, boyfriend Ryan. But which one? From the file, Ponce learned Ryan, in addition to being a drug trafficker, had also been convicted of domestic violence. And was there something fishy about how he found Sandra's body? He told the cops he went to Sandra's house. Doors were locked. Said he peered through these ventilation slats at the base of her garage wall. Said he saw Sandra in her car.

[Ryan Shinjo]

And calling out, sandra, Sandra. And then he says that he couldn't get into the door. He called a friend to come and help him open the door.

[Tom Yamas]

Call the friend, friend to help him. Find a body. Wouldn't be the first time a guilty party did that. And did Ryan remain here at the scene, wait for the police officers and talk to them there? Was there anything in the report about his demeanor that night?

[Ryan Shinjo]

You know, initially, investigators thought that maybe he wasn't saying everything that happened.

[Tom Yamas]

He was holding back a little.

[Ryan Shinjo]

Yeah, and maybe he was a little bit nervous.

[Tom Yamas]

But Ryan had an olive. He was at work when Sandra was killed. Well, Ponce found out the estimated time of Sandra's death was really more of a rough guess, and that Sandra could just as well have been murdered hours earlier when Ryan wasn't at work. And then there were the results from Ryan's 2006 polygraph exam. What was the result of that?

[Ryan Shinjo]

He wasn't viewed as past, which didn't.

[Tom Yamas]

Look good for Ryan. Except Darren's polygraph result didn't look so great either. How'd he do?

[Ryan Shinjo]

He didn't do that good. He didn't pass.

[Tom Yamas]

Now, that was interesting. Both suspects failed the polygraph. So now Ponce looked at the evidence against Darren, who gave police two entirely different accounts of the morning of the murder. First, he said Sandra came by to get the kids, then a minute later said she didn't. Now, remember, Darren and Sandra were going through a divorce in a heated child custody battle. So Darren apparently thought it'd be a good idea to take note of run ins with Sandra. Like the time she was late in picking up the boys, hoping it would one day help him in court.

[Ryan Shinjo]

You know, going through the calendar, what I found really interesting is that it's pretty detailed from January 1st every day all the way up until the 24th is the very last entry. And on 25th, you got nothing.

[Tom Yamas]

Why is that important? Because Sandra was murdered that very morning. The morning of the 25th, about the time when she would have been picking up her sons.

[Ryan Shinjo]

You would expect Darren to have wrote down in there that Sandra never showed up to pick up the boys, that he had to take off from work.

[Tom Yamas]

But he didn't. Nor did he call her to find out why she was a no show. Ponce theorized that Sandra actually did go to Darren's house to get the boys, but there was an argument of some sort, and she left without them. Darren, still angry, followed her home, parking his truck on a street behind Sandra's cul de sac.

[Ryan Shinjo]

This path, you know, basically leads to the cul de sac, and her house is just three houses down.

[Tom Yamas]

Right.

[Ryan Shinjo]

When you come to the end of this walkway, very, very close, easy access.

[Tom Yamas]

So you think that Darren came up Followed her, had the confrontation there, killed her with a ligature, choked her to death. Then what did he do?

[Ryan Shinjo]

You know, I think after the incident, incident happened over here, he went back is where he came and just took off and headed back home.

[Tom Yamas]

And nobody saw him.

[Ryan Shinjo]

You know, it was still dark.

[Tom Yamas]

Ponce also found this email Sandra sent her lawyer just three weeks before her murder. Darren started asking me about my boyfriend, as he calls him Ryan. He got really upset and started swearing at me. He started shaking me, telling me to tell him the truth and don't ever call him again. Ponce worked the investigation for close to a year. And as he weighed and reweighed the evidence, he always came back to Darren, who lacked an alibi, who called in sick to work, who gave conflicting accounts about the morning of the murder, who left blank the diary entry for the 25th, who failed a polygraph, who was jealous of Ryan, who never called Sandy to find out why she didn't pick up the boys. Ponce delivered his final report to Chief Perry and prosecutor Aseri and a handful of fellow investigators. We all believed it was proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the case was not going to get any better than what we had. And prosecutor Aseri finally agreed to present the case to a grand jury. And in October 2012, the grand jury indicted Darren for Sandra's murder. So was Larry's quest for justice finally over? Oh, no, not by a long shot. Coming up, we've got a problem here.

[Keith Morrison]

A new prosecutor, a new delay.

[Lester Holt]

Kauai is a murder spur. If you want to kill somebody, come.

[Keith Morrison]

To Kauai when Dateline continues.

[Tom Yamas]

Dateline, True Crime Weekly. Andrea Canning and the Dateline team cover breaking crime news around the country. And now a special series with daily updates from the trial of Sean Combs. I'll be talking to NBC News correspondent Chloe Meloss every day after court about what she's seeing inside the witness, the evidence, and what it all means. Dateline True Crime Weekly. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. On October 31, 2012, Darren Gallus was charged with the murder of his wife Sandra. He pleaded not guilty, was released on bail. Six and a half months later, on May 15, 2013, Sandra's dad, Larry and mom Toshi held this memorial dedication service outside Kauai's domestic violence center. Chief Perry was there, as was Bryson Ponce. But Darren stayed away, as did Sandra's two sons.

[Lester Holt]

As most of you know, today is Sandy's birthday.

[Tom Yamas]

This is why it's a very, very special day for us on Mahalo. At this point, Larry, and toshi thought they were in the home stretch. The Darren's trial was just months away. But the prosecuting attorney who indicted Darren lost her bid for re election, defeated by this man, Justin Koller, who flat out accused his predecessor of bringing charges against Darren to make a splash and help her chances of re election. Though the case, he said, wasn't ready for trial.

[Darren Gallus]

This case is the textbook example of why you do not insert politics into people's lives.

[Tom Yamas]

Gotcha.

[Darren Gallus]

And into their families.

[Tom Yamas]

So now Larry's quest for justice was mired in a political battle with the new prosecutor saying he couldn't proceed because the alternate suspect, Ryan Shinjoe, had never been completely eliminated.

[Darren Gallus]

If you've got cases where you have multiple suspects and you're gonna charge one of those suspects, you better be sure you've excluded the other suspect.

[Tom Yamas]

Former prosecutor Shailene Asery fired back, saying the entire investigative team voted to seek an indictment. The team decided unanimously. It wasn't Shailene's decision. It was the team's decision. I definitely feel that there was more than overwhelming evidence to convict Mr. Gallus. You could have gotten that conviction. Oh, I didn't believe Saul. She's dreaming, said Caller. She never would have won. So caller reopened the investigation again and delayed the trial again while his office tried to strengthen the case. And the result was one trial delay after another. And three years later, 2015, now Larry was one furious 74, four year old man.

[Lester Holt]

Kauai is a murderer's paradise. If you want to kill somebody, come to Kauai. And you, you've got probably about 80, 90% chance of getting away with it. And I firmly believe that there was.

[Darren Gallus]

Never any point during this process where the file was just sitting on a shelf getting dusty. There's always something that was being done, another piece of evidence that was being tested, another witness that was being looked for.

[Tom Yamas]

But you must have been ready to let it go at some points. You know, we can't do this. Just forget about it.

[Darren Gallus]

That conversation happened any number of times over the years, but at each time, we said, no, there's got to be a way to move this forward.

[Tom Yamas]

It was Larry's kind of constant input, part of the thing that kept you going here.

[Darren Gallus]

Of course, I mean, none of us wanted to get that call saying, hey, Larry's, Larry wants to see you right away, and he's not happy.

[Tom Yamas]

When we spoke to Larry in 2015, Darren's trial was on the calendar for March of the following year. And the odds Larry gave of that.

[Lester Holt]

Happening, I would say probably A little better than 50 50.

[Tom Yamas]

But even that was optimistic. The trial was delayed again until November 2016. But as that trial date approached, the defense requested another delay and the judge granted it. The case was continued to August 2017. And as that date approached, we look back on what Larry said to us in 2015.

[Lester Holt]

Someday this is going to get going, to end one way or another, and maybe I can rest a little bit.

[Tom Yamas]

Early in the morning of 14th February 2017, Larry Mendonza, age 75, went out to play a round of golf, wasn't feeling well, called his son Lawrence in.

[Lester Holt]

Texas and told me he was having a heart attack and he was going to the emergency room.

[Tom Yamas]

What was that like?

[Lester Holt]

It was pretty intense, but being as stubborn as my dad is, oh, don't worry about it. I'll be fine. They're just going to put a stent in me. I'll be fine. I don't think he knew the magnitude of the situation at the time.

[Keith Morrison]

Coming up, a father fights for his life.

[Lester Holt]

To see him in that hospital bed is tough, very tough.

[Keith Morrison]

What will happen to his fight for justice?

[Darren Gallus]

It's all about what you can prove in a court of law.

[Tom Yamas]

Larry Mendonza didn't comprehend what was happening to him as he walked this fairway, played his round of golf. It was only later when the doctor intervened, rushed him by air ambulance to Honolulu. Heart attack, then quetuple bypass surgery and then a stroke.

[Lester Holt]

It was difficult for me to see how vulnerable he was at that time.

[Tom Yamas]

Because he'd always seemed like the invulnerable man.

[Lester Holt]

Correct. I mean, he was superman to myself, my sister. And to see him in that situation, in that, that hospital bed is tough. It was very tough.

[Tom Yamas]

It was sheer cussedness probably that pulled him back from the brink.

[Lester Holt]

My cardiologist says the whole thing was due to the 10, 12 years of stress.

[Tom Yamas]

Larry spent months in physical therapy to build up the strength to attend Darren Gallas trial, scheduled for the summer of 2, 2017. But it was delayed yet again. And Darren, during all this time out and about this time, we found him at son Austin's soccer game. That's him wearing the black T shirt, gold chain and wraparound sunglasses. And in the blue shirt, his wife Shereen. Larry and his wife Toshi were there at the soccer game too. Always are. And what, what Larry felt in his chest was more rage than physical pain.

[Lester Holt]

Someday I might lose it all. I really don't know what I'm going to do. You never know till it happens.

[Tom Yamas]

Then, late 2017, a breakthrough. The prosecutor felt his investigators had finally and fully eliminated Ryan as a suspect, which now only left Darren in their sights.

[Darren Gallus]

We had done some work over the years that had made the case somewhat better. Maybe Darren looked himself in the mirror and said, I know I did it. I don't know. But they said, we'll plead.

[Tom Yamas]

But plead guilty to murder?

[Lester Holt]

No.

[Tom Yamas]

Darren agreed to plead no contest to assault. You had a murder case here. No contest to assault sounds like not very bad.

[Darren Gallus]

Well, we may think we have a murder case. We may know that he did it. But it's all about what you can prove in a court of law.

[Tom Yamas]

And on January 29, 2018, 12 years after Sandra's murder, we were with Larry outside the courthouse just an hour before the plea hearing. And as you might have guessed, he wasn't happy.

[Lester Holt]

There's no. No justice.

[Tom Yamas]

What are the chances that thing could fall apart over there this morning?

[Lester Holt]

There's a possibility. I'm told he can change his mind at any given time, up to the time he is sentenced.

[Tom Yamas]

But what happened here, you know, drawing your attention to the no contest plea form as Darren formally changed his plea from not guilty to murder two to no contest to assault. Juan, thank you. Was not final resolution, but more delay. The court granted Darren four more months of freedom before sentencing. And Larry.

[Lester Holt]

Well, I'm very mad. I'm very upset.

[Tom Yamas]

There was once a time, just after Sandra's murder, when Larry and Toshi were hoping to raise Sandra's boys.

[Lester Holt]

But now he's been working on them for 12 years. He's been brainwashing them. They hate their mother. They hate their grandparents.

[Tom Yamas]

As he left court, Darren was protected by a phalanx of friends and relatives, which included the two grandsons. Darren declined to speak with us, but his defense lawyer, Michael Green, did stop to talk. There's a big difference between pleading no contest and pleading guilty. It certainly suggests he did something to her. Well, he assaulted her that very day, but he didn't kill her. He doesn't admit that he assaulted her. No contest means he neither admits nor denies the charges. But now for four months, uncertainty because the judge had the power to sentence Darren to anything from 10 years in prison to probation.

[Lester Holt]

What I foresee at sentencing, they're going to ask for leniency.

[Tom Yamas]

Do you think he could actually avoid going to prison altogether?

[Lester Holt]

At this point, I wouldn't put anything past them.

[Tom Yamas]

On May 30, 2018, we were back outside the courthouse with Larry Mendonza. This time, he was the one surrounded by supporters. A 12 year investigation now reduced to just an hour in court that felt as just and tense as any jury trial. Would Darren be carted off to prison? Or will the judge give him probation and send him home? Darren's lawyer, Michael Green, reminded the judge there had been an alternate suspect. This guy sends you who was a person of interest the entire time. Then he told the judge to remember this was not a murder case. There's an agreement that my client will plead guilty to nothing. Nothing. He's offered to plead no contest to an assault charge. And then Larry got his chance finally to let 12 years of pain pour out, starting with that first awful night when he broke the news to Toshi.

[Lester Holt]

How do you tell a woman that the baby she had once nursed fallen asleep in her arms, played on her lips, skipped off to school clutching the lunch that she had made for her, was now dead? We received a life sentence full of pain, sorrow, agony and frustration. A life sentence with no parole. Sending of eternity.

[Tom Yamas]

Darren stoically sat through it all. And then what sentence would the judge impose? She began by quoting Darren's attorney. And that is that he pled no contest to the charge of assault in the first degree. That's what this sentencing is about. Larry's stomach started to tighten.

[Lester Holt]

And my lawyer reached over and she said, this doesn't sound good.

[Tom Yamas]

And then six minutes into her ruling, finally here it was. You are hereby ordered committed to the custody of the Director of the Department of Public Safety for imprisonment for a period of 10 years. 10 years, the maximum she could oppose. And with that, the Mendonza family's 12 year quest for justice came to an end.

[Lester Holt]

That was my graveyard promise to my daughter.

[Tom Yamas]

I fulfilled it.

[Lester Holt]

I believe that. But you'll always be my heart.

[Tom Yamas]

Larry and Toshi follow a series of rituals on the anniversary of Sandra's death. They bring flowers to her memorial outside the ywca, have lunch at the beach house restaurant where Sandra once worked. And they pray by her graveside at Holy Cross Cemetery, where she is surrounded by her. And so Sandra, so homesick when away from this island she loved, is now forever a part of it.

[Keith Morrison]

That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt. Thanks for joining us.