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Sam.
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Narrator
It was 1986. On the night of Friday, November 7th, at 8:52pm, a call came into the police department in Garland, Texas, a large suburb in the Dallas Fort Worth metro area. A Mike K reported that his neighbor was at his home and had been tied up. He said something had happened to his wife. The dispatcher broadcast a possible disturbance call and Lt. J.K. allen was the first to respond to 3613 Colbath Drive. When the lieutenant arrived at the freestanding home, Mike and his neighbor, Domingo Villareal, were waiting for him. Domingo had blood on his hands and the sleeve of his sweater. He said that something happened to his wife, who was inside their home next door at 3609 Colbath. I know she is dead, he said. Mike, the neighbor handed Lt. Allen some brown twine. He said Domingo had come to his door with his pants down below his buttocks and his hands tied with the twine. And Mike had untied the guy. Lt. Allen noted that Domingo's affect was calm. He didn't appear very upset or anxious. He asked Domingo, what's going on? Domingo said, two men were in my house. They tied me up, and I could hear my wife Barbara, screaming. When the men left, Domingo said he ran straight to the neighbors and called the police. Domingo said he did not check on Barbara before running out of the house. He didn't go to see if his wife was okay before summoning help. She was not okay. Lt. Allen cautiously entered the Villareal home, not certain whether intruders were present. The house was silent. There was no movement. Walking through the rooms, the lieutenant found Barbara lying on a floor in a very bloody scene. She had multiple stab wounds. Firefighters arriving at the scene were granted access and pronounced Barbara dead. Her husband, Domingo, was going to have some splaining to do. Garland police, crime scene technicians and CID investigators arrived at the home at 3609 Colbath, where Barbara lay dead. Dr. Irving Stone from the Dallas County Forensic Institute also arrived. Detective Gaines and Lt. John Turner entered the house. The paramedics were packing up their stuff and departing. Since there was nothing they could do, Barbara lay face down on the carpeted floor in a game room at the back of the house near the door to the garage. She was clothed, wearing a sweater, dark pants and black pumps, or at least one of them, as if she'd worn them to work. One of her shoes was off and was near the pool table. Barbara had suffered numerous stab wounds and had defensive wounds on both hands. Blood spray was on the carpet and walls near her body. A pool of blood was around her head. The tan wall to wall carpet in the game room was smeared absolutely all over with blood, indicating a dynamic crime scene. The incident report reads, quote, evidence in the game room appeared to show that a struggle occurred there. Well, that was an understatement. A pool cue was on the ground, indicating that Barbara was possibly trying to defend herself with it. But she had lost that battle. Blood cast off was all over the wall. Behind a tiered wooden table. A large white ceramic cat figurine was sprayed with blood. A large kitchen knife, covered in blood, lay on the floor near Barbara's body. In the crime scene photos, this thing looks lethal with its thin, long, dark blade bent at an angle that implies great force meeting resistant matter such as bone. Dr. Stone examined Barbara and made A formal declaration of death, observing that that she'd been dead for more than an hour. The investigators, meanwhile, interviewed Barbara's husband, Domingo. He told the following tale to Officer I.C. hale and later to Detective Dennis Wheatley. He and his wife Barbara had gone out to dinner at the Blue Goose, but they'd driven separately, as they had come from different places. After dinner, they each drove home, But Domingo hit a little traffic on his route, so Barbara beat him home by a few minutes. When he pulled in, her car was already parked in the garage, and the garage door was open. He assumed she'd gone into the house. He parked his truck in the garage, but he didn't go into the house. Instead, he went into the backyard to get their Pomeranian Sammy and bring him inside. While he was in the backyard, he heard Barbara scream. Domingo hurried into the garage and through to the house. Two men were inside. A black male was doing something to Barbara, perhaps taking her to another room. But Domingo couldn't focus on his wife. A white man was standing there, pointing Domingo's own.45 caliber handgun right at him. The white male rapidly approached and put the gun to Domingo's head. He then propelled him toward the guest bedroom. Domingo wisely did not resist. No doubt Domingo feared that he was being isolated, so the two men could take their time, rob the place, and do whatever they wanted to his wife. But that wasn't all they wanted. The white male held the gun trained on Domingo and said, pull down your pants. He complied, and the man tied Domingo up. He then held the gun to his head and said, suck my dick, God damn it, or I'll kill you. Domingo never gave any more details about this traumatic event, although he made sure to say that he did as the man commanded and the man did not ejaculate. After he was done, the white male left the room. Domingo could hear his wife Barbara, screaming somewhere in the house. After a time, Domingo heard nothing but silence, and he got brave enough to stand up and make his way out of the house to the neighbors. His hands were still tied and his pants around his upper thighs when he got to Mike's house next door. Again, Domingo admitted he had not checked on his wife before fleeing the scene. Well, investigators were thinking exactly what you're thinking. Come on, buddy. You can't seriously expect us to believe this story. They noted how unusual it was if he had really witnessed what he said he did, that Domingo had said, no. Nah, I'm not going to check on my wife. I'm going to get the heck out of here. Further they noted with interest the blood on his clothes and hands. If he hadn't checked on Barbara as he repeatedly stated, how did he get blood on him? He himself had not been injured. Domingo said that the white guy had gotten the blood on him when he tied him up, but that was questionable since fingernail scrapings taken from Domingo tested positive for blood. We've talked about the scene in the game room with blood on the walls and floor. There were some things in the crime scene that didn't make much sense. A white towel lay on the bloody carpet near the ceramic cat. Blood was smeared on the carpet, particularly near the entrance to the living room. It appeared someone had tried to clean up with the towel but gave up when they realized that was absolutely futile. Inexplicably, on top of the towel was a large blue hat, like the kind a train engineer wears. Blood droplets from the carpeted game room led into the living room, down the hallway and into a guest bedroom. In the guest bedroom, a new pair of women's jeans lay on the bed and appeared to have had blood wiped on them. There were also blood drops on a ledge of the heater door in the hallway from the guest bedroom into the master bedroom. In the master bedroom, drawers in the dresser were open and a pair of brown men's shoes sat on the floor with blood drops on the outside and inside of the shoes. A pair of men's blue jeans lay on the floor in front of the dresser, and these had blood soaked knees and blood all over them, appearing as though whoever was wearing the jeans had knelt in a pool of blood. A pair of men's Trax brand tennis shoes, size 7 and a half, were on the floor in a shoebox. These shoes were blood soaked and there was blood in the box as well. As Detective Gary Sweet later told Filmrise television quote, In 25 years of working homicides, I've never seen a scene where the killer brought his extra clothing and shoes in a shoebox. Police also found a gray sweatshirt was lying on the floor beside the bed. Its sleeves had been tied together in a knot. The sweatshirt was covered in blood. Twine consistent with that loosely tying Domingo's wrists was found on a workbench in the house. Barbara's purse lay on the kitchen floor and her car keys near her body. Blood drops were on the floor in the entryway near the front door of the home and leading out onto the front porch near the entrance mat. A blood smear was also on the wall near the door. The drops on the porch pointed the police to the Point of egress taken by the killer of Barbara Villareal. The CSI's measured, documented and photographed everything, dusted for prints and collected a bunch of stuff into evidence. This included a bunch of the blood samples, the navy cap and the bloody knife near Barbara's body. It included the tennis shoes, the brown shoes with blood drops, the pool cue, Barbara's errant shoe and so on. The bloody white towel on the game room floor was collected with thoughts that the person who stabbed Barbara might have wiped his hands on it. Two segments of bloody carpet were collected from the pool room where Barbara lay and the master bedroom where Domingo said he had been held by one of the suspects. A pair of very worn brown leather Everlast handball gloves that was saturated in blood was found in a bedroom in the house. There was a long deep cut along the lower part of the fingers of the right hand glove that was consistent with the killer wearing them and cutting himself during the attack. Two of Domingo's guns were also missing, he said. Both purchased at Glenn's Sporting goods in Irving. His.45 caliber Colt was purchased on January 24, 1986 and his Browning.380 was purchased on May 24, 1985. The serial numbers to the missing guns were provided by Glenn's sporting goods. An auto fired.32 caliber cartridge casing was also found on the floor in the master bedroom. Domingo had not mentioned any shooting and the casing was not consistent with the missing guns. The relatedness of the casing to this incident remains a question to this day. This was not in the official report, but I found it in handwritten detectives notes. Two wet towels were found in the bathroom as though someone had recently taken a shower. After the crime scene was processed, Barbara's body was removed to the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office. Barbara was brought into the autopsy suite wearing the clothing she'd been found in. Black slacks, a yellow, white and black long sleeve sweater, white bikini underwear, pantyhose, a white bra and one black dress shoe on her right foot. All the clothing items were bloodstained. Barbara also wore a gold ring with two small white stones, another gold ring with one clear stone, a wristwatch and a pair of contact lenses. A gold metal earring was found next to her body, but the report doesn't say whether the other earring was in her ear. She weighed in at just 118 pounds and 5 foot 2 inches tall. An autopsy on 27 year old Barbara by Dr. Terry Welke concluded that she had suffered multiple stab wounds of the head, neck, torso and extremities she'd been stabbed multiple times in the face near the left and right jawline, where it appeared her assailant was going for her neck, eventually managing to sever blood vessels there and impact the thyroid and trachea. She was also stabbed in the right breast and left upper chest. Numerous cuts on the fingers of both hands and one through and through cut of the left hand were indicative of defensive wounds. Her left forearm, left leg and right lower leg were cut also, but the cuts did not contain blood pointing to postmortem injuries. The pathologist declared that no one wound was fatal, but Barbara's cause of death was exsanguination due to multiple stab wounds. The manner of death was homicide and there was no evidence of sexual assault. Me again here to encourage you to explore the offerings of Masterclass While you're waiting for the next DNA ID episode to drop, Enrich your life by using Masterclass. Want to step up your chess game? You can learn from none other than Garry Kasparov struggling to find success in the workplace. Study values driven leadership with the most esteemed coach of all time, Duke's Coach K. Concerned about the planet, Jane Goodall teaches about practical conservation. The point is, there is something, in fact a lot of things for everyone with Masterclass you can learn from the best to become your best. For me, I'm making the 10 session yoga class with Donna Farhi a daily routine that will really help me break up my workday of sitting at my computer. And it costs less than you think to start bettering yourself. With plans starting at $10 a month billed annually, members get unlimited access to over 200 classes taught by the world's best business leaders, writers, chefs and more. What's great is that you can use Masterclass to learn on your own schedule with thousands of short, easy to digest lessons you can learn from on your own time. Even pausing and resuming whenever works for you. And it's risk free. Every new membership comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. 83% of survey members have applied something that they've learned from Masterclass to their own lives. Right now, our listeners get an additional 15% off any annual membership@masterclass.com DNAID that's 15% off@masterclass.com DNAID masterclass.com DNAID let's talk about our victim. Barbara Fay Carr was born on December 23, 1958 in Peru, Indiana. Her parents were Donald Carr and Janet Skinner Carr. She had two older sisters named Deborah and Kathy and an older brother named Stephen. Donald was part owner of the skinner store at 12 mile owned by Janet's parents. Barbara, known by everyone in her family as Barbara, grew up in a rural area outside the town of twelve Mile with her grandparents living right across the street. One of her older sisters, Kathy Browning, told the Dallas Morning News they had a simple but happy childhood in the 50s and 60s. This from the Dallas Morning News article. Quote they rode bicycles to their grandparents corner store to get candy, went fishing and swam in a pond near their house, and spent most Sundays and every holiday with the extended family that included a sizable gaggle of cousins. End quote. Kathy told the News that their nuclear family was more reserved rather than super social. Quote but as far as once you get to know us, we're very friendly and are loyal friends, browning said. And as typical for introverts, we don't have lots of friends but deeper relationships with fewer friends. End quote the family attended twelve Mile Methodist Church. The kids enjoyed the trappings of small town life and knew everyone at school and church. All that from the Dallas Morning News. But in 1962, Donald died at just age 31 from an unspecified illness. Barbara's mom Janet remarried Doug Dunderman and added Barbara's half siblings Mark and Laurie Dunderman to the family. So Barbara's mother had already suffered through tragedy with the death of her first husband at a young age. Then in 1969, her 13 year old son Stephen, Barbara's brother, was killed in a hit and run. Steven was walking home from school when he was hit so hard that the impact was heard in an office 150ft away. His neck was broken along with his left leg and pelvis and he died instantly. Witnesses actually saw the boy rolling across the concrete onto the grass on the side of the road. The driver sped off but had been seen weaving and driving very fast and was believed to be intoxicated. The day after the accident, a 24 year old man named Gary Schipper appeared at the Peru State Police post saying he thought he had struck something while driving on Friday after he'd fallen asleep at the wheel. He was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and was eventually sentenced to one year in prison. Unfortunately, I have no information on Barbara's life in her teens and twenties. I reached out numerous times to her family and they never responded. Her sister Deborah has described Barbara as quiet and sweet. Photos of her show a young woman with short, curly dark hair, conservative clothing, glasses and a shy smile. I did learn from various articles that at age 9, Barbara and her sister Kathy won a 4H talent show. One of her prized possessions was an autograph from Patrick Duffy, the TV show Dallas actor, her favorite show. Little did she know Dallas county would be her place of death. And speaking of Dallas, I don't even know how Barbara met her husband Domingo Villarreal, who was five years older than she. The impression I got was that Barbara was somewhat sheltered and naive and it's unclear to me how she ended up hitched to Domingo and living in Texas. She was introduced to Domingo when she was living and working in Galesburg, Illinois. He was apparently living in Sterling, Illinois. Barbara was fluent in Spanish and Domingo also spoke perfect English. Barbara's older sister Deborah has given some insight on Domingo and Barbara's early relationship. She told Filmrise Television that Barbara was very happy when she started dating the man they knew as Jesse, his nickname. The family was told he told the cars that he was from Mexico, had 15 siblings and grew up in a dirt floor shack. At their wedding, Barbara's niece Carrie Clauson was the flower girl. She had fond early memories of Domingo, AKA Uncle Jesse. She spent a lot of time around the young newlywed couple and Jesse was the fun uncle who spent time coloring with her. Then the couple moved to Texas. They lived on Homestead Place for a couple of years in Dallas and then moved to the Colbath home a few months before Barbara's murder. In the home. She was 27 when she was killed. When she died, Barbara was working full time in the accounting department at Dallas petroleum consulting firm DeGoliar McNaughton. Barbara's sister Deborah recalled the night Barbara died. She had called to talk to her sister but hadn't been able to get her on the phone. Then the Garland PD called the South Bend police. South Bend police came to Deborah's and Barbara's parents door at two in the morning and informed them of Barbara's passing. The parents called Deborah who had to send home all the 13 year old girls who were at a sleepover at her and her daughter Carrie's home. The family was in shock and had nothing but questions. Barbara's funeral was held in Denver and she was buried in twelve Mile. Her obituary requested that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to MAD or sad, the anti drunk driving organizations I imagine in memory of her brother Stephen. The car has continued to honor her memory over the years. Cooking her favorite recipes and keeping up with the family who adopted her beloved Pomeranian Sammy. One of Barbara's nieces even named her daughter a middle name that started with the letter B in honor of the aunt she never got to know. Okay, back to our murder investigation. Garland investigators were suspicious from the Gecko about Domingo's story because he said he had never touched his wife, but he had blood on him. He said he didn't check on her, but was also certain that she was dead. There was more. Domingo screwed up his stories. He told the police the story I related earlier about coming home from dinner minutes after his wife and being led into a bedroom and forced to perform fellatio on a white male. But apparently he told the neighbor, Mike K. The one who untied him and let him use the phone, that he and Barbara got home at the same time. He came into the house with Barbara and then he went out back to check on the dog. When he got back inside, a black man was holding a Colt.45 to Barbara's head. Then the same black man put the gun to his head and told him not to move or say anything. There were more suspicious inconsistencies. Domingo specified that the gun supposedly used by the white male or the black male, depending on the story, was Domingo's own. He recognized the pearl handled grip on armed burglars don't usually rely on the homeowner's firearms to commit their crimes. Further, responding officers had asked Domingo if anything had been stolen. Yes, he said, my wallet and money. But his wallet was found in the bedroom with cash in it. Also, it seemed to the investigators that someone had used the towel found at the scene to try to clean up the blood on the game room carpet. That was not something it was felt that a stranger would do, a homeowner would. And the stabbing of Barber, which seemed motiveless, screamed personal crime. Finally, interviews with neighbors Mike and Nancy were revealing about the state of the Villareals marriage. They reported that the two argued constantly. And Mike even reported that on one occasion, Domingo had held a gun to his wife's head, demanding money at the scene. Garland PD Commander McGraw felt that there were enough inconsistencies that they amounted to probable cause to arrest. He ordered Lieutenant Allen to place Domingo Villareal under arrest for the murder of his wife. He was arraigned the following day and held on $100,000 bond. Let's go back to the statements of the VRL's neighbors, Mike K. And Nancy S. They said specifically that earlier in the very week Barbara died. She had been very upset. She had an appointment for a GI procedure on Tuesday. But on Monday, she came home and Domingo and a bottle of booze were both gone. She knew this meant that he was drinking and. And he would stay away for a while. And she was right. Domingo had not returned until the next day, Tuesday. Barbara didn't know where he had gone to overnight and he wasn't interested in telling her, saying he was at a friend's. He apparently left pretty often on drinking bidges to Mineola or similar cities and would leave Barbara in the dark. Mike also reported that that week Barbara had hidden Domingo's guns, the Colt.45 and Browning.380, because she was afraid of him, especially when he drank, and Domingo became extremely angry with her about this. Barbara told both Mike and Nancy that she wasn't speaking to Domingo. However, the two had come over to Nancy and Mike's on Thursday for a quick visit and everything seemed normal between them. Barbara had told Mike in a phone call from work on Friday, November 7, the day she died, that she had returned the two guns to her husband. Guns were an issue between the two. Mike stated in his sworn affidavit that several years earlier, Domingo held a gun to Barbara's head for an entire hour, demanding money. Ever since that time, she had been scared of guns and him. As for the night Barbara died, Nancy said she'd tried to call Barbara at home at 6.10pm on Friday night and very strangely received an automated message that the line was temporarily out of service. She sent Mike over to knock on the door, but there was no answer. He noted that there was only one light on in the house, in the living room. She and Mike went out to dinner, returning home around 8:30. When they got back, Mike tried to call Barbara and Domingo's house again and got the same recording that the phone was out of order. So he walked back over and knocked on the door. Quote from the report. After getting no answer, he went to the side of the house and attempted to look in a window, thinking that maybe the couple was watching TV and could not hear him at the door. Mike stated that he heard nothing in the residence and could not see in the blinds on the side of the house and assumed they were not home yet and went back to his residence. End quote. About 10 minutes later is when Domingo was over at Mike and Nancy's house, beating on the door with his pants down and his hands tied. Mike opened the door and said, what's going on? And untied Domingo, who pulled his pants up. He asked Mike if Mike had just been over to his house, meaning that he either saw or heard Mike or both. Mike said later that Domingo said, Barbara is dead. A black man and a white man killed her. Mike yelled at Nancy to call the police. She did and reported her neighbor had been tied up and his wife was hurt. That's what Mike and Domingo had told her. But really, Domingo told Mike that Barbara was dead. This was all so, so weird. If Mike had knocked on the Villareal's door and Domingo was tied up and needed help, why didn't he shout help. Help. They all waited in Mike and Nancy's house for police. Mike said in an affidavit that Domingo wanted to go back home, but he, Mike, made him stay with them. Nancy could see blood on the sleeve of Domingo's sweater and said he wandered around the house as they watched out the windows for police. Nancy said he didn't cry, but she did hear him mutter, oh my Barbara with his face in his hands. When the police arrived, Domingo and Mike went out and spoke with them. And before too long, Domingo was placed under arrest. That night, Detective Dennis Wheatley interviewed Domingo at the police station. In a custodial interview, he told the same story that he told to Officer Hale at the seam, with some inconsistencies, such as the Colt.45 wielding white Intruder had confronted him at gunpoint in the garage. This time he was led into the house at gunpoint and could see the black intruder standing by his wife, who was lying on the floor with some blood on her. Domingo said he walked through some blood on the floor, down the hall and into the master bedroom. Earlier, he had said the guest bedroom. This was when the suspect made him remove his brown shoes and lower his pants and get on his knees and perform oral sex. After that, the man made him lie down on the floor beside the bed. The intruder tied his legs with an unknown item. And then he could hear him opening drawers in the bedroom. He could also hear somebody knocking on the front door. Then the intruder left the room. Domingo said after a few minutes, he was able to free his legs from whatever was restraining them, which turned out to be the bloody sweatshirt. And he got up, banged on the window with his head to make his dog bark, but then realized no one was coming to help, so he ran next door. The interviewer, Detective Wheatley, noted that Domingo seemed to recall more the more he talked about the incident. Besides all these inconsistencies in his story, there was a lot more circumstantial evidence that tended to incriminate Domingo. Commander McGraw contacted Barbara's stepfather, Allen Dunderman, in South Bend, Indiana. He notified Allen that Barbara had been found dead. In the conversation, both Allen and Barbara's sister, Kathy schrader, informed Commander McGraw that Barbara and her husband, whom they called Jesse, had a long history of arguments and there was some indication of domestic abuse going on on the part of Domingo. Kathy said at one point, when they were living in Indiana, Jesse had threatened Barbara and had chased her around the house with a knife. Barbara's mother, Janet, told the Garland PD that she knew of two people who would be willing to testify if necessary that Domingo had threatened Barbara in the past. One of them was the man who had introduced them named Pete M. Of Galesburg, Illinois. The other was Barbara's former boss in Plano, Illinois, named Delphine C. And a friend of Barbara's named Linda C. Said that Barbara had told her that Domingo threatened her with a knife. And on one of these occasions she stayed somewhere else for two weeks because he was so violent when he drank. Detectives also learned quite a bit about Barbara and Domingo from another set of neighbors, Nancy and Dennis B. This is a different Nancy than the one who lived next door to the Villareals when Barbara died. Nancy S. The Villareals had previously lived at 1734 Homestead Place in Garland, where they were neighbors and friends with the B's for two years. Dennis was buddies with Domingo and had gotten him a job as a punch press operator at Mark Corporation, where Dennis worked. But to be clear, this is the only reference I ever saw to Domingo working a normal job, which supposedly lasted less than a year before he got laid off in October of 1986. According to Barbara's family, Domingo lived off Barbara's income. She wasn't the primary breadwinner, she was the only breadwinner. Barbara controlled the money and paid the bills, and Domingo did God knows what. Anyway, Nancy B. Reported that she and Barbara were very close and Barbara had confided in Nancy that she was afraid of her husband, especially when he was drinking. Barbara told her that her husband was very jealous and had accused her of having affairs on numerous occasions, which she was not. Further, Nancy said that during the two years when they were neighbors, she had seen Barbara with bruises on her arms from Domingo manhandling her. Barbara confided in her friend that she was afraid of Domingo when he got to drinking and said that he had threatened to kill her several times. All this information was not making Domingo look any better to police, especially because Domingo told them he and Barbara had no problems in their marriage whatsoever. Interviews with Barbara's co workers at DeGolier McNaughton provided more testimonials implicating Domingo and his wife's death. Barbara's co worker, Lisa and Her husband David confirmed that Lisa had called Barbara on Tuesday and Barbara and Domingo were arguing. This next excerpt is from the Jealous Morning News. Quote One of Villareal's closest friends was Lisa Nugent, who Villarreal met after moving from Illinois to the Dallas area with her husband. The women worked together at oil consulting company de Goyer and McNaughton in Dallas. Nugent said Villareal was in the accounting department down the hall from where she was an assistant to upper management. The two would eat lunch together almost every day, and when Villarreal mentions missing her family, Nugent went out of the way to invite her to spend time with hers. Barbara was sweet, kind, smart, a great friend, a great employee. Honestly, I cannot think of any fault she had, nugent said. We had fun together. She was a wonderful friend to me and I was blessed. End quote. Lisa was interviewed many times over the years and she had some interesting information to relate. On the night she was killed, Barbara had been happy because she had made up with her husband. He had made a plan to pick her up at work, something Lisa, her co worker, said he had never done. And Barbara was excited as Domingo told her he had a surprise for her. Apparently that involved dinner at the Blue Goose and shopping at the mall. Lisa said Barbara would have insisted on being home in time for her favorite show, Dallas, which aired from 8 to 9. The two of them typically talked over every episode on the phone afterwards. But on that Friday night, Lisa could not get hold of Barbara when she called at 9. That's because Barbara was was already dead. Lisa said that Domingo would often disappear for days at a time and Barbara would go track him down in a Mexican neighborhood of South Dallas or Mineola. Domingo had even failed to show up once to take Barbara home from a hospital after she had a procedure. Lisa felt that Domingo was a chronic liar, both to Barbara and to everyone else. Barbara's supervisor, Bill Nugent, told the investigators that Barbara had been working with the company for about four years and and had a profit sharing account in the amount of $38,000 and a life insurance policy that would pay out $50,000 if something were to happen to her. It turned out that Barbara had policies on herself with outside work as well. They amounted to $170,000. Well, that was interesting. Finally, investigators learned that Domingo was generally a hothead who had pulled a gun on at least two people in the neighborhood. One one man whom he accused of splicing into his cable service and another he claimed had called him a very derogatory term for a Mexican Living in the United States. Investigators tried to piece together the timeline for the Villareals. Last evening. They talked with Connie, the waitress at the Blue Goose, who had waited on the couple. She confirmed they had arrived at the restaurant around 5:25pm and left around 6:30pm Then the couple had gone to Richardson Square Mall to purchase a tie tack for Domingo. And at Joskes, retail workers and waitstaff at both of these establishments recalled a completely normal couple and witnessed no arguments. The couple had made the purchase around 7:30pm and had a 10 to 15 minute drive home from the mall. The Garland investigative report states, quote, by talking with the sales clerk at Joskeys and what Domingo Villarreal had stated in his interview, it was determined they should have arrived home between 7:30 and 8pm end quote. Police had not been called until 8:52. Had the whole attack on Domingo and his wife taken as much as an hour and 20 minutes? Not even close. Domingo had told the investigators he estimated the whole thing had gone down in 10 to 15 minutes. So as you can hear, there was a lot of evidence pointing to Domingo being untruthful in his statements to police and multiple motives that he could have had to kill Barbara. They argued a lot. She had hidden his guns, he was the beneficiary of her life insurance policy and so on. But there were problems with the police case against Domingo. As much as circumstantial evidence pointed to his involvement in the death of his wife, Certain pieces of physical evidence said otherwise. For one thing, Domingo wore size nine and a half shoes. The blood stained size seven and a half sneakers found in the house were not his. Second, the bloodied jeans found in the house were also not his size. They were too small. And the kicker, Domingo did not have any cuts on his hands whatsoever. Remember that A pair of blood soaked leather gloves were found in the house. They were believed to have been worn by the man who stabbed Barbara numerous times. Because of the cut along the fingers of the glove. The cut was deep enough that it would have sliced the skin of the glove wearer's fingers. The little finger in particular. In the jail, 32 year old Domingo was checked for cuts on his body and and none were located. He didn't play handball and the bloody gloves, last manufactured in 1977 could not be connected to him. It was a glaring deficiency in the state's case against Domingo. After several days, charges were dropped and Domingo Villareal was released. Now that the holidays are over, you might be feeling like you've got a big spending hangover. The flowing drinks, the decadent holiday food, the over the top gifts. It all adds up. Luckily, Mint Mobile is here to help you cut back on overspending on wireless this January with 50% off unlimited premium Wireless the last thing we need as we reckon with those holiday bills is another whopping bill like the ones I used to get from my previous cell provider. Ahem. You know who you are and this is important, so listen up. 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See mintmobile.com, even though they remained highly suspicious of Domingo, detectives had to try to follow up on other leads as to the identity of the person who had actually stabbed Barbara. On November 17th, 18th and 19th, they made the rounds of various hospitals in the Dallas area searching for anyone who had been treated for a laceration of the little finger of his right hand. At Community Hospital of Garland, they found a report of a Frank Yu, a 21 year old white male who had been treated for what he said was a sheet metal cut on his right little finger. On November 8th around 2:30pm at Mesquite Community Hospital, a 16 year old had also been treated for a cut finger. He had snagged it on a fence, he said. Both men's stories checked out and these leads dried up. Police were keeping tabs on Domingo and learned that since his release from jail he had not returned to the home when where his wife's murder took place. He was staying with a friend, Gary C. At the Cliffwood Condos, number 7911 Investigators attempted to contact him there, but found him not at home. And they learned from his friend Gary that Domingo had hired an attorney named Kenneth Bounds to represent him. On November 18th, Investigator Gaines and Lieutenant Turner returned to the Cliftwood condos to try to speak to Domingo. He wasn't there. Once again, and Gary warned them that Domingo would not talk to them without his attorney present. While they were still at the location, they called the lawyer, Bounds, and he advised he would contact the officers the next day to discuss cooperation between Domingo and the police department. He didn't call. And so on the 21st, they called the attorney again, and he said as long as Domingo was still considered a suspect, he would be derelict in his duty as his attorney to let him speak with police. In other words, you're not getting another crack at Domingo. Around this time, the third week of November, the Garland investigators spoke with Carolyn Van Winkle of the serology department at the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences. Known in the area as Swifts. It's basically the Dallas area crime lab. Ms. Van Winkle was the one doing the testing on all the blood samples collected at the scene. She had determined that Barbara was blood type O, the most common kind. But Ms. Van Winkle was able to detect some blood that did not come from Barbara. She found some blood drops that showed an RH factor that she called Little C. Apparently, this refers to the Little C antigen part of the RH blood grouping system. Importantly, the blood drops exhibiting little C were inconsistent with Barbara's blood. The drops were found on several items in the house, namely the jeans and sweater that Domingo Villarreal was wearing on the night of the murder, the blood soaked jeans that were found in the master bedroom, the new pair of ladies jeans found on the bed in the guest bedroom that had blood smeared on them. The sweatshirt on the floor of the master bedroom with the sleeves tied in a knot, the carpet sample containing small blood drops taken from the master bedroom and the blood drop samples taken from the floor inside the front door all showed that the blood type was type O, but that samples from the listed pieces also showed RH factor, little C. This indicates that someone other than the deceased was injured and was bleeding when these items were touched or had drops from someone other than the deceased. Domingo Villarreal was not cut, had no scratches that would have bled, and therefore the blood could not be his. The report stated the investigators put a lot of stock in the pair of blood soaked men's jeans that were found in the bedroom. It was noted that they were labeled size 34 by 30, but that they had been shortened to 34 by 23 and a half. Domingo's own jeans were 34 30, altered to 26 and a half inches. That was a three inch difference in tailoring, which is quite significant. Also, the bloody tennis shoes found in a shoebox in the master bedroom were size seven and a half, and Domingo wore a size nine and a half. The report says, quote, based on this information, Domingo Villareal has been eliminated as a suspect in this offense. I think it's an understatement to say police were surprised when the physical evidence ruled Domingo out. Someone else was clearly at the murder scene and had been cut and bled all over a bunch of stuff. This was very perplexing to the investigators because they totally thought Domingo did it. His story was all over the place. And they had only his word that any intruders with guns and knives had held him and Barbara and stabbed Barbara to death. What was the motive? Barbara's purse had been found at the scene with $83 in cash in it. A not insignificant amount in $1986. Domingo's wallet was also not stolen. Why would these guys break in and kill, but not rape Barbara and sexually assault Domingo and not steal anything but Domingo's handguns? It made no sense. But the investigators had nothing other than their own personal skepticism against Domingo to go on. And to the contrary, there was actual evidence pointing at an unknown third person being involved. Well, things were about to get even more complicated. Unfortunately, this part of the police report does not have a date, but I believe it was fairly soon after the murder. The report documents that Allen Dunderman, the stepfather of Barbara, was called Garland PD and said he'd been contacted by GMAC Financing in Dallas. They told him that Domingo's pickup truck had been impounded in Dallas on November 20, 1986, after it was found abandoned. So the investigators contacted Gary C. The resident of that last known Garland address for Domingo. Gary said he hadn't seen or heard from Domingo since around November 19, and he had no idea where his friend was. A police report states, quote, no further progress on this offense can be made at this time until Domingo Villarreal can be located. End quote. After abandoning his truck in Dallas, Domingo was in the wind. Investigators had no clue where he'd gone. They would later learn that Domingo was pursuing a personal vendetta against the men who had killed his wife. On July 6, 1987, eight months after the murder, investigators again heard from Barbara's stepfather, Alan Dunderman. Allen said that Domingo had called him from Mexico. On July 4, Domingo told him that he had tracked down in Santiago, Mexico, one of the men who had killed his wife and had killed him. His name, Domingo said, was Manuel Torres. He told Alan that he was going after the second guy. Next he'd found out the second guy's last name was Cleosas, and he lived in Monterrey, Mexico. Investigators also received a call from a David R. Around this same time. David was a friend of Domingo's. David said Domingo had called him and said he was in Mexico and had, quote, gotten one of the subjects who had killed his wife, and he was going after the other one who was also in Mexico. Well, all this sounded pretty definitive, that Domingo was in Mexico and he was on a campaign for vengeance, or possibly a campaign to eliminate any witnesses to an arranged murder of his wife. Garland investigators contacted Captain Omar of the Laredo, Texas, Sheriff's Office. He was requested to check with Mexican officials to see if they could learn any information about the murder of a Manuel Torres. He contacted the Mexican consulate and asked them to look into a possible murder in Mexico involving a victim named Manuel Torres. Shortly thereafter, Raymond Plata with the Monterrey, Mexico Federal police called the Garland investigators and told them they had no record of a death of anyone called Manuel Torres. Hmm. What a surprise. On August 24, 1987, Alan Dunderman again called the Garland police and said Domingo had again phoned him, this time on August 21st. Domingo told him that one of the subjects involved in Barbara's murder was Liborio Canales of Rodeo, Mexico. Allen told detectives that he believed this Liborio Canales was the brother of a guy named Juan Canales. Juan was either a brother, cousin, or friend of Domingos. Allen thought Laborio, or perhaps Juan, he wasn't sure, had lived with Domingo and Barbara in the summer of 1985 in their home on Homestead. Police Allen didn't know where police could find this Liborio, but he said Juan Canales lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Commercial Street. Allen concluded by saying Domingo had again told him he was going to take care of the people involved in his wife's murder. And Allen recommended he called the police instead. What a mess. There were too many names being thrown about, too many unsubstantiated claims and uncertainties, and too many games of telephone. Garland authorities had no authority in Mexico, but it doesn't seem that they even followed up on the tip from Allen that the brother of a possible suspect lived in Albuquerque. Four years went by. Now that it's January, we're all trying to eat a little healthier with the excess of the holidays in the rearview mirror, I want a reset. I've made a commitment to eating healthy and consuming food and products with only clean, sustainable ingredients. 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Join Thrive Market with my link thrivemarket.com DNAID for 30% off your first order plus a free $60 gift. That's an incredible deal. That's thrivemarket.com DNAI. In March 1991, Garland police learned that Domingo's stolen Colt.45, for which they had the serial number from the records of the store where Domingo purchased it had recently been recovered by Dallas pd. A black male named Michael Cooper had been arrested on charges associated with dealing cocaine out of a motel. When the room was searched, the gun was found. A Detective Hale looked into this to see whether Cooper had any connection to Domingo or could have been the black suspect who was in the Villareal home the night Barbara died. He could find no connection. Detective Lucas Shoup, the Garland detective who closed this case, told me that guns in Texas basically get passed around like hot potatoes, and it's very common for guns used in crimes to turn up randomly, somewhere or on someone completely unrelated. So while at first glance it seems sketchy that Cooper had the gun reported stolen by Domingo, that alone did not at all connect him with the crime. Hooper got 20 years on the cocaine conviction but was never linked to Barbara's slaying in 1994, Barbara's case got a fresh look from the investigators for reasons that I will get into in a moment. As part of that effort, they reinterviewed various witnesses. In an interview on July 15, 1994, Detective Johns interviewed former neighbor and close friend of Barbara's, Nancy B. She said Barbara confided in her, but she wasn't close with Domingo. She said he drank a lot and would disappear for days at a time. She said she'd heard he was affiliated with a large gambling ring in Mineola or South Dallas. Then Nancy relayed some new information that had occurred to her after the murder. She told the detectives that she and her now ex husband Dennis had had Barbara and Domingo over at the house for pizza on October 12, 1986. Remember, her husband Dennis and Domingo were buddies and co workers. A few weeks later, on Monday or Tuesday of the week that Barbara was killed, Nancy was doing laundry in her garage at her house on Homestead Place when Domingo showed up unexpectedly carrying a shovel. He said he had borrowed the shovel from her husband and asked if Dennis was around. She said she'd go get him. He was asleep. She went in the house to wake Dennis up, and when she came back, Domingo had entered the house and was standing in her kitchen and the drawer where her knives were kept was open. She was a little unsettled by this, but looked past it at the time. Then, sometime after Barbara's murder, Nancy noticed the absence of her large kitchen knife, the one with the black handle that she used to cut pizza and had used while the Villarreals were at their house for pizza on October 12th. The knife was missing and had never turned back up Garland. Detective Johns showed Nancy a photo of the knife that they had found next to Barbara's body. Nancy said that was either her knife or one just like it. It's unclear to me why Nancy didn't mention this to police back in 1986. It's possible that she did report this and the information just didn't make it into the report because Nancy was vocal about her belief that Domingo had lifted the murder weapon from her kitchen. She even told a neighbor, a Mrs. Neff, about her theory soon after the murder and said that the last time she used the knife was when they hosted the the Villarreals for dinner. Anyway, Nancy now told Detective Johns that, quote, her feelings are that Domingo may not have killed Barbara, but she feels he had it done or at least knows who killed her. She thought it might be over his gambling, end quote. Nancy also said she recalled that Domingo and Barbara had gone to Mexico to visit his relatives in September before Barbara was killed. Barbara did not like to go to Mexico and felt that Domingo's family took advantage of her. Nancy said that she and Dennis had ended up divorcing because she didn't trust him. After Barbara died, she had found out Dennis was having an affair with his secretary, whom he ended up marrying. Detectives had heard from interviews with another set of former neighbors that Dennis was having an affair with Barbara. Detectives wondered whether Dennis could have been the man who cut himself while stabbing Barbara. Nancy told the investigators that her ex husband owned a pair of trax brand tennis shoes, size seven and a half, the same as those found at the Villarreal house. But Nancy had alibi Dennis on the night of Barbara's murder by reporting he was at work. He was a night shift supervisor at mark corporation. So detective johns tracked down and interviewed Dennis, who said he wasn't that good friends with Domingo, but he'd gotten him that punch press operator job at a place where he was a supervisor. He said Domingo was not well liked at work because he had a temper and also had a drinking problem. During this interview, detective johns noticed that Dennis appeared to have a scar on his right hand and to have motor problems with that hand. He was also somewhat evasive with his answers and claimed not to remember a lot. Dennis, despite saying that he wasn't that good friends with Domingo, admitted that he had gone to visit Domingo in jail after he'd been arrested for killing Barbara. He asked him, domingo, did you do this? And Domingo just stared at him and would not answer. Although the missing knife, the very small shoe size, the injured hand, and the downplayed relationship with Domingo were mighty suspicious, Police could not link Dennis b. To the murder. There was a very good reason that 1994 investigators were digging around trying to figure out what was going on with this case. They had never been able to track down Domingo, who had lawyered up and then apparently fled to Mexico. In March of 1994, Detective Johns mailed a letter to Barbara's mom, Janet Dunderman, asking if she could help them locate Domingo Villareal. She responded in a May 1994 letter and said the family's last contact with Domingo was September 1987. She said his story about who killed her daughter changed constantly. He said it was two black men, One black guy and one white guy. Domingo's nephew and his brother. Janet wrote that the family was convinced that Domingo had actually set up Barbara's murder. He had not done the deed himself, but they believed that two relatives of his were the killers. One of them was his brother Juan Canales, who lived in New Mexico and who had been turned away from staying at his brother's house because Barbara would not let him. Janet also recalled that another relative of Domingo's. A nephew had been staying at Barbara and Domingo's home for about two weeks before the murder, and he had a key to the house Barbara had asked him to leave and had also refused to allow his father, Domingo's brother, to live with him, too. The nephew ended up getting deported. Janet said the nephew and Juan were both angry with Barbara and were likely responsible. Nancy B. Had also told the detectives that a relative of Domingo had lived with him and Barbara at their home on Homestead Place, but she couldn't recall the name of the person. Barbara's work friend Lisa, also confirmed that one of Domingo's relatives, an older brother, had stayed with them in 1985. Investigators hearkened back to something that Nancy and Dennis B. Had told them back in 1986. Domingo had confided in Dennis that he had shot someone in Chicago and spent six months in jail. The 1986 detectives had never been able to confirm this, but if true, it certainly pointed to Domingo being capable of murder. But of course, 1986 investigators had ruled out Domingo as having direct involvement in the murder because he had no cuts on his hand, and lab testing in this timeframe in the late 1990s and early 2000s showed that blood found inside the right pinky area of the cut glove found at the crime scene was male but was inconsistent with Domingo's. The blood droplets on the front porch of the house were also from a male and were consistent with the blood on the glove. Someone else had stabbed Barbara, cutting himself in the process. So the 1994 investigators were right back where they started.
- [54:00]
Co-host
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- [55:19]
Narrator
Okay, now for a big twist in this case and one of the reasons the detectives could not let go of the conviction that Domingo was somehow involved in his wife's slaying. At the time of Barbara's murder, detectives had obtained a copy of Domingo's driver's license. As next of kin for Barbara Villarreal, this is standard operating procedure just to make sure everyone is who they say they are. But Domingo wasn't. This was not known to police at the time, but Domingo had stolen the identity of another Domingo Villareal. The first reference I saw in the case file to police discovering this was in the 1994 re investigation by detectives Johns and Gaines. When Detective Johns was trying to track down Domingo, he ran his Texas license information and found that a man named Domingo Villareal was living in Brownsville, Texas. However, the license photo was not the man who had been married to Barbara. Janet Dunderman told Detective Johns in 1994 that she was not sure what Domingo's real name was because she had seen both Domingo Villareal and Jesus Canales on paperwork. Barbara's best friend Lisa told Detective Johns that Barbara told her her husband had changed his name when they moved from Illinois to Texas because he'd gotten in legal trouble in Illinois and and had to leave the state. Barbara often referred to Domingo as Jesse. Lisa also said that at the end, things were really bad between Barbara and Domingo. Detective Johns ran searches on every Jesus Canales and Domingo Villarreal in the state of Texas, but was never able to find the man he was looking for. It doesn't seem that the detective was ever able to get to the bottom of the situation. Modern investigators, reviewing the case file and taking note of several references to Barbara's husband having a different name, set out to figure out who Domingo Villarreal really was. They obtained records maintained by the Texas DPS Department of Public Safety relating to an investigation into dual separate Texas state licenses issued to two men claiming to be Domingo Diaz Villarreal. Here's what happened. In March 1985, the man named Domingo Villareal, who was married to Barbara, had gotten into a car accident in Garland. And when the Texas DPS Driver's License Division went to put points on his license, they became aware that two men in the state had licenses with the same name and the same birth date. In July 1986, just months before Barbara was killed, the Texas DPS Driver's License Division conducted an investigation into this potential fraud. And here is where we see what a smooth operator Domingo Villarreal was. It turned out Domingo had stolen the identity of a man who lived in Brownsville, Texas, who was really named Domingo Diaz Villarreal. The driver's license our Domingo produced in 1985 when he got into the car accident and again in 1986 when his wife was killed, had this man's same name and date of birth. When DPS Dallas East Branch interviewed Domingo on July 18, 1986, he convinced Sergeant Minix that he was the real Domingo Villareal, even though he was unable to produce a birth certificate, saying he had lost it in Mexico. Minix showed Domingo a photo of the other guy who had a Texas license in the same name. And Domingo was like, oh, I have no idea who that guy is. Minix's interoffice memo says, quote, I feel satisfied that this man, meaning Barbara's husband, is indeed the correct Domingo Villareal. And we have renewed his driver's license and recommended that the other one continue to be flagged for possible fraudulent entry into this country. Well, that was not acceptable to the real Domingo Villarreal, the Brownsville man who had a spotless driving record. He had never even been in Garland and did not want this other guy's accident on his record. Coming into the Harlingen DPS License Branch, on July 3, 1987, this man produced a birth certificate showing that he was really Domingo Diaz Villarreal with that date of birth, May 29, 1954. He even brought in his parents who. Who vouched for him, saying he was born on that date in Indiana. They were there on August 9, 1987. He and his mother returned and brought with them all sorts of documentation proving that he was who he said he was. His birth certificate, Selective Service card, Social Security card, and his college ID card. His mother presented her baptismal certificate, her US Documents, his father's birth certificate and her marriage license. Trooper Noe Martinez was convinced that he was telling the truth and he was the real Domingo Diaz Villarreal. And he reported that he had lost his ID card while on a trip to Mexico. And now we know where that ID card was. It had been obtained somehow and used by our Domingo Villareal. And he did not give up, even though Garland police were under the impression he had absconded to Mexico. On October 5th, 1987, he showed up in the Hearst branch of the DPS and met with a Trooper Erickson. Domingo convinced the trooper that he had had a Texas driver's license. But when he moved to Illinois in 1975, he turned it in in exchange for an Illinois license. Then when he moved back to Texas In June of 1982, he went to DPS station number 19 in Dallas and turned in his Illinois license. This time he took a written test and was issued his Texas driver's license ending in 3279. There were records of all this. At this point he was living on Homestead Place in Garland and but In July of 86 he moved to 3609 Colbath. He again told the story that he had lost or had his birth certificate stolen while on a trip to Mexico. He was able to speak about the details of the accident. He again looked at a photo of the other Domingo Villareal and denied having any idea who he was. Once again, the trooper was taken in by Domingo's disingenuousness and recommended that his driver's license be cleared from any alarms. And the other Domingo Villarreal's driver's license remained on alarm status. Domingo once again walked away with a valid Texas driver's license. The jig was finally up in July of 1988 when badass DPS trooper Minerva Pena finally stepped in. Her interoffice memo cites misuse of a birth certificate and declares once and for all that the Brownsville Domingo Villareal was the real Domingo Villarreal. She cites his extensive knowledge of his family tree with a brother and eight sisters. She cites the presence of his parents attesting to his identity and his knowledge of the names of his grandparents. As she put it, the other Domingo, the Garland one, either had no knowledge of his parents and brothers and sisters whereabouts or he simply claimed they were deceased. He also did not know or would not share the names of his grandparents. Quote the trooper who investigated this subject before in North Texas did not at all do a good job. Trooper Pena wrote. She pointed out that especially in cases where the subject claims his parents are deceased, he should be required to produce death certificates to prove his identity. She concludes, quote, subject to is an imposter and is not entitled to a driver's license in the name of Domingo Diaz Villarreal, end quote. Her recommendation was that the fake Domingo's license should be placed under an alarm and he should be required to turn in all documents with the name and date of birth of Domingo Diaz Villarreal. Quote, this subject has caused Subject 1 a lot of problems. Charges should be filed on him for possession of false documents and possession of fictitious driver's license, for he very well knows he is not Domingo Diaz Villarreal, End quote. Okay, so Texas DPS was finally onto Domingo Villarreal for identity theft, but it does not seem that anyone ever went after him for this fraudulent action. Now, the 1990s investigators continue to pursue the this line of inquiry for a time, until they learned some information that halted their investigation. The 1986 investigators had obtained the phone records for the Villarreal house as a routine part of the investigation into Barbara's murder. But they really hadn't done anything with them. Now, the 1990s investigators followed up on this angle and noted that one phone number had repeatedly called and been called by the Villareal household. When they traced back this number, they found it was registered to the wife of Adolfo B. Who said he was from Rodeo, Mexico. The investigators asked Adolfo why he had been calling the home of Domingo villareal back in 1986. Adolfo said he had no idea who that was. The only person he called in Garland was a man named Jesus Canales, who was married to a white girl, as he put it. Adolfo said that his family and the Canales guy's family had been close back in Rodeo, and they remained friends until Canales died in Mexico in 1988. Adolfo said, and I re read the 1994 report a few times to be sure I was getting this right, that this guy, Jesus Canelas, and his wife Barbara, had made an offer to purchase Adolfo and his wife's youngest son because Barbara could not have children of her own. Okay, that's not legal, but that's beside the point. This information from Adolfo was the first confirmation that investigators received that Domingo Villarreal might actually have been named Jesus Canales and that he was dead. Detective Johns worked to confirm this rumored death of Domingo Jesus. And looking into the subject, he learned that Domingo had two FBI numbers and two Social Security numbers. He tried to contact the state police in Mexico to confirm the death, but that seems to have been the end of that for the time being. For a very long time being. Actually, the case did not get another look for nearly 20 years. But Detective Johns took one crucial step prior to closing the case. He made sure physical evidence, the bloody gloves and the porch blood droplets that did not come from Barbara were reserved for future DNA testing. And he confirmed with the crime lab that they still had the frozen samples of the suspected killer's blood droplets preserved in evidence. If they could find a suspect, they could identify him through DNA comparison testing, but they never did find anyone who matched this is the end of Part one of the Case of Barbara Villareal. Part two is available right now.
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