Hands Tied – Episode 4: Suspects and Suspicions

Podcast: Hands Tied
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz (iHeartPodcasts & BBC Studios)
Original Release: August 27, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the aftermath of Jim Melgar's violent 2012 murder and the police investigation that followed. Listeners are taken through a web of suspects, suspicions, and missed investigative opportunities, as narrated by Jim's daughter, Liz Melgar Rose, whose fascination with true crime becomes a real, personal ordeal. Host Maggie Robinson Katz and journalist Tiffany Craig help unpack Liz's efforts to uncover the truth, her skepticism toward the police, and the devastating turn when her own mother, Sandy, is charged with Jim’s murder.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crime Scene and Early Investigations

• Neighborhood in Shock:
  • Tiffany Craig, a local reporter, describes the unusual number of neighbors at the scene and a mysterious person lingering nearby.
    • “There was someone out there that didn't belong out there...and then it's as if they just vanished.” (04:44 — Tiffany Craig)
• First Suspect: Local Ex-Convict:
  • Police briefly consider a recently released neighbor with a burglary record but drop the tip after he doesn't answer the door.
    • “Not even question this guy with a criminal record...makes anyone wary of the police investigation.” (05:05 — Maggie Robinson Katz)

2. Searching for Clues and Missing Evidence

• Home ‘Ransacked’:
  • Liz revisits her cleaned and altered childhood home, noting missing tools and valuables.
    • “The toolboxes had all been rummaged through. Some of them were empty.” (07:12 — Liz Melgar)
  • Finds stolen items listed cheaply on Craigslist, suspects external involvement.
    • "They were all being sold for like $200, which is just nothing...very suspicious." (07:22 — Liz Melgar)

3. The Tenant Lead

• Suspicious Ex-Tenant:
  • Liz contacts a former tenant, finds evidence of violence in his vacated rental, and relays her suspicions to police.
    • "He had the most melodramatic reaction...screaming and shouting and acting like his own mother has died. It just seemed very suspect to me." (10:05 — Liz Melgar)
  • Detective Carrizel does a perfunctory early-morning interview, rules out this lead quickly.
    • “It was 7:03am...the end of the interview.” (13:26 — Det. Carrizel)

4. The Safe and the Robbery Theory

• Overlooked Clue:
  • Liz discovers her father’s safe still had blood on the handle. Detective says to simply clean it.
    • “You can just clean it like we processed it. It's fine.” (14:21 — Det. Carrizel, relayed by Liz)
  • Believes the motive was robbery, not murder.
    • “The point of breaking into my family's home was not to kill anyone. It was to take money. And then things just went sideways.” (14:57 — Liz Melgar)

5. Patterns: Home Invasions in Houston

• Multiple Similar Cases:
  • Liz and journalist Tiffany Craig note increasing violent home invasions in the area, with methods echoing the Melgar case (tying up occupants, searching for safes).
    • “Multiple cases where the people are tied up...Are they related somehow?” (21:34 — Tiffany Craig)
  • Liz pinpoints one gang led by a Colombian woman targeting immigrants, with links to a high-profile local case.
    • "She [my mom] does look a lot like the person that I saw. And then I just kind of went down that rabbit hole." (24:08 — Liz Melgar)
• Dead End:
  • Liz's efforts to connect this gang to her father’s murder are inconclusive.

6. Suspecting the Unlikely: Personal Connections

• The Theory of an Acquaintance:
  • Police refocus on the likelihood of someone with knowledge of the family and home.
    • “The police said, you know, this seems more likely like it was somebody you...knew, somebody who knew the family and deliberately targeted them.” (26:23 — Maggie Robinson Katz)
  • Liz recalls a figure from her troubled youth—an ex-boyfriend with a history of drug use and a violent falling out with her father.
    • "He basically told my dad to go fuck himself very loudly on the front lawn..." (34:35 — Liz Melgar)
  • She alerts the police but isn’t sure if they ever followed up.
    • "He was never interviewed by the police." (36:01 — Liz Melgar)

7. Fractured Trust and Letdown by Police

• Being Left Out:
  • Liz grows increasingly frustrated as she hears nothing from detectives regarding leads she supplied.
    • "I was constantly calling, asking for updates...It's been months since she last heard from Detective Carousel." (36:11–36:14 — Liz Melgar & MRK)
• Turning Point: The Shocking Indictment
  • Liz receives a mailbox full of lawyers’ advertisements, realizing Sandy has been charged.
    • "As Liz sorts through the piles of mail, it dawns on her none of her detective work...mattered.” (38:05 — Maggie Robinson Katz)
  • Liz is devastated the police ignored other suspects and leads, focusing only on convicting her mom.
    • “I really started panicking when she got charged, when they started ignoring all this other evidence just to make their theory fit.” (38:52 — Liz Melgar)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Crime Scene's Oddities:

  • "There was someone out there that didn't belong...but they were there that night. And then...vanished."
    — Tiffany Craig (04:44)

• On Distrust in Police:

  • "Makes anyone wary of the police investigation. Not even question this guy with a criminal record."
    — Maggie Robinson Katz (05:05)

• On Pursuing Leads Herself:

  • "I felt like I had to kind of check their work or do their work for them...to be taken seriously."
    — Liz Melgar (09:19)

• On Frustration with the Justice System:

  • "I don't even know why they they wasted either of our time because they did nothing with what I gave them. They just ignored all of it because they'd already made up their minds."
    — Liz Melgar (38:25)

• On Her Independent Investigation:

  • “I got in touch with the victims of that crime, and talking to them...it just sounded exactly the same. No forced entry, right? Just pushing your way in ...”
    — Liz Melgar (25:20)

Important Timestamps

• 03:03: Tiffany Craig describes being called to the scene
• 04:44: Discussion of a mysterious, out-of-place person at the crime scene
• 06:28: Liz revisits ransacked family home, missing valuables
• 10:05: Liz’s suspicion of ex-tenant and the police interview sequence
• 14:21: Discovery of blood on safe—police dismiss the evidence
• 19:39: Sandy Melgar recovers memory fragment about the assault
• 20:32: Liz connects missing drugs and cash to possible robbery motive
• 22:03: Liz uncovers Houston gang, striking similarities to Melgar case
• 24:08: Sandy tentatively identifies possible suspect from mugshot
• 34:35: Liz recounts the explosive argument between her ex and father
• 36:01: Liz notes that police never interviewed her ex-boyfriend
• 38:05: Mailbox full of lawyer ads—realization that Sandy is indicted
• 38:52: Liz’s heartbreak at the focus on Sandy as the only suspect

Tone and Style

The episode is emotionally candid and investigative, mixing Liz Melgar’s raw, personal storytelling with Maggie Robinson Katz’s clear-eyed reporting. It blends descriptions of family trauma, police procedural missteps, and the heartbreak of seeking justice against a relentless investigative wall. Liz’s voice is analytical, vulnerable, and frequently frustrated; Maggie and Tiffany contextualize and amplify her suspicions and findings.

Conclusion

Episode 4 of "Hands Tied" lays bare the confusion, misdirection, and grief shadowing the Melgar homicide investigation. Despite Liz’s determined amateur sleuthing and the apparent existence of alternative viable suspects, police focus remains narrowly (and, she feels, unjustly) on her mother Sandy. The episode ends with Liz’s devastation as Sandy is formally charged, reinforcing Liz’s conviction that a grave miscarriage of justice has occurred. The narrative leaves listeners with a sense of systemic failure, and a family shattered not just by loss, but by the machinery meant to protect them.