Milagros Nieves (3 of Clubs, Connecticut)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Deck

Episode Title: Milagros Nieves (3 of Clubs, Connecticut)
Host: Ashley Flowers
Date: June 10, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Deck investigates the brutal unsolved 1993 murder of Milagros Nieves in Bridgeport, Connecticut. By reexamining the case using new leads, interviews, and family recollections, host Ashley Flowers and her team hope to generate information that could finally bring justice for Milagros—over 30 years after her death. The narrative weaves together investigative details, personal stories, and family revelations, highlighting the enduring impact of the case on those left behind.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crime Scene and Initial Response

• First Officer Experience
  • Rookie cop Frank Papalucha describes the scene as “the most horrific thing that I saw.” The memory remains vivid after decades ([00:23]).
• Crime Scene Details
  • Milagros was found face-up on the kitchen floor in a red nightgown, her throat slashed, stabbed 33 times, with a broken plate and shattered glass nearby.
  • Her baby granddaughter, alive but traumatized, was present at the scene, amplifying the horror ([03:48]).
• Memorable Quote:

  “You could watch all the scary movies you want... but when you actually go in life into see it for real, it changes everything in your whole life.”
  — Frank Papalucha ([00:23])

2. Victim Background & Family

• Milagros was a dedicated Puerto Rican grandmother and caretaker, loved by her family.
• The episode highlights her nurturing nature and her significant role in her grandchildren’s lives ([04:08]).

3. The Investigation & Suspect Pool

• Timeline Establishment

  • Milagros’s partner, Edwin Rivera, left for work at 6:30am; the murder is estimated to have occurred between 8:30 and 11:00am ([09:33]).
  • Three coffee mugs at the scene suggest possible company, but details are unclear ([10:26]).

• Neighborhood Factors

  • Building access was poor, meaning anyone could enter. Neighbors reported nothing suspicious; police speculate fear of retaliation may have stifled reports ([11:22], [12:16]).

• Key Suspects Explored

  • Edwin Rivera (Boyfriend): Ruled out due to alibi; remained devastated after Milagros' murder ([14:09]).
  • Wilfredo Padilla (Ex-husband): Possible prior relationship indicated by family rumors but no evidence placing him at the scene; conflicting statements about his contact with Milagros ([15:24], [28:27]).

4. The “Upstairs Neighbor” Lead

• Prison Letter Tip
  • Years after the murder, police received a letter from a Massachusetts inmate claiming Milagros' upstairs neighbor confessed to the killing ([18:23]).
  • Police investigate but find no usable evidence, and the neighbor denies involvement during an interview ([20:53]).

5. Family Memories and New Revelations

• Vanessa Lind’s Perspective
  • Milagros’ granddaughter Vanessa recalls her grandmother’s warmth—and the trauma following her murder ([22:01]).
  • She reveals a family bombshell: her grandfather Wilfredo told her that Milagros's boyfriend, Edwin, had an affair with Miriam Beltran, who later became his wife ([24:42]).
    • Memorable Quote:

      “After my grandmother died, Edwin married Miriam.”
      — Vanessa Lind ([25:29])

• Edwin and Miriam’s Move
  • Both Edwin and Miriam relocated to Puerto Rico weeks after the murder—a detail family members found strange ([26:43]).
• Wilfredo’s Testimony
  • In a new interview, Wilfredo confirms he planned to see Milagros on the day she was killed—contradicting his earlier statement to police ([28:52]).
  • Family cleaned Milagros' apartment after the murder, adding another layer to police timelines ([30:35]).
• Dentures Observation
  • Vanessa notes Milagros wore dentures for company—implying she was expecting someone, reinforcing the idea her killer may have been known to her ([32:22]).
    • Memorable Quote:

      “If my grandmother had her teeth in, by the time she was having coffee and cooking, she knew somebody was coming.”
      — Vanessa Lind ([32:22])

6. Investigators' Perspective on Community & Case

• Detective Holt encourages anyone with information, no matter how minor, to come forward—circumstances and motivations change over decades ([33:09], [34:14]).
  • Memorable Quote:

    “Life circumstances change… Maybe something that prevented that person from coming forward in the past may be different now.”
    — Detective Holtz ([33:09])

• Frank Papalucha remains haunted, calling for closure for Milagros and her family ([34:22]).

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Important Timestamps

• [00:04–03:13]: Introduction, Papalucha’s first-hand account of discovering the crime scene
• [04:08–05:29]: Victim background and crime scene brutality
• [07:55–11:22]: Examination of the kitchen, timeline reconstruction, building security, and community response
• [13:13–14:32]: Edwin Rivera ruled out as a suspect
• [15:24–16:24]: Wilfredo Padilla as a person of interest
• [18:23–20:53]: Prison letter implicating Milagros's upstairs neighbor
• [22:01–25:35]: Vanessa Lind’s recollections and family revelations about affairs and sudden moves
• [28:52–30:35]: Wilfredo’s interview, conflicting accounts, and family role in aftermath
• [31:33–32:34]: Vanessa’s deductions from crime scene details
• [33:09–34:48]: Detectives’ appeals for information, reflection on the case’s stakes

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Notable Quotes

• “When you take an object... and plunge it into a person 33 times, it’s a completely different mindset.”
  — Detective Holtz ([05:29])

• “It doesn't matter how much time has gone by, somebody did lose their life in a horrific way... that woman deserves to have some closure, and the family deserves to have closure.”
  — Frank Papalucha ([34:22])

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Tone and Language

• The tone is somber, empathetic, and persistent—reflecting determination to keep the story alive and honoring both the victim and her family.
• First-person and family voices give the episode a deeply personal, emotional resonance.
• Investigators balance transparency with necessary discretion, especially around ongoing leads.

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Conclusion

This episode powerfully reconstructs the day Milagros Nieves was killed, explores decades-old investigative threads, and presents new, potentially game-changing family observations. The combination of official records, family interviews, and persistent questions illustrate how both trauma and hope endure. The episode ends with a direct appeal to anyone who might hold the missing piece of evidence: even small details could finally break the case open.

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If you have information on the murder of Milagros Nieves, contact Bridgeport Police Department at 203-576-TIPS.

Transcript

[A]

Our card this week is Milagros Nieves, the three of clubs from Connecticut. The first homicide that a police officer is called to gets burned into their brain forever. For then officer Frank Papalucha of the Bridgeport Police Department, this case was his first.

[B]

People always want to know what is like the worst thing you ever saw in your whole career. And this is it. This is the one case that never gonna go away from my mind. And it was the most horrific thing that I saw. You could watch all the scary movies you want, horror movies you want, but when you actually go in life into see it for real, it changes everything in your whole life. The way you look at it, where you look at things.

[A]

Whether because of or in spite of the horror he saw that day, Officer Papalucha would go on to become Detective Papalucha. But he was never put on Milagros case. He climbed the ranks and became a financial fraud detective. And for 33 years he assumed that the murder of Milagros Nieves was a closed case. That might sound strange, but when you hear about Milagros murder, the violence of it, the brutality of it, you'll understand why even the most hardened investigators would want to erase it from their memories. But it's time to start talking about her again. I'm confident that's how we're going to get this case solved. And you want to know why I'm so confident? Because in the short time that we've been reporting on this case kicking up dust, new information has surfaced that Milagros family never knew in all the years since her murder. And I believe this is just the beginning. I'm Ashley Flowers and this is the deck. Frank Papalucha was a Rookie Cop on September 22, 1993 when he and his partner got a call. There was a possible break in at an apartment complex on arneston Avenue, number 223. They arrived at the three story building overlooking the picturesque Long island sound at around 3:48pm you know, you get out

[B]

of the police car, you don't know what you're ever going to expect. A lot of times too, you're dispatched with certain details that don't match what you're walking into. So we never know like what we're going to go into as an officer. So we walked in and it was just horrific. It was like a shock to me.

[A]

Alongside our team, Papalucha, who is now a detective, retraced his steps from that day back in September 1993. He walked down Arneson Avenue recalling every detail of what he saw after he walked up the two flights of stairs and entered apartment A7. There was a woman lying face up on the kitchen floor with blood smears beneath her legs. She was motionless, dressed in a red nightgown.

[C]

And.

[A]

And contrasted to all of that horror was a baby girl present. Mercifully, she was alive.

[B]

It was a bad situation to come look at. I've never had to see anything or experience anything like that in my life. Where her throat was slid open and she was stabbed throughout her whole body. Blood all over the place, broken glass. And then you have this little baby walking around. It was really bad.

[A]

Papalucci cleared out the apartment and stood guard by the door until investigators descended on the scene to take over. They would learn that the woman lying on the kitchen floor was Milagros Nieves. She was a 49 year old Puerto Rican woman who had moved to Connecticut decades prior. And that little girl that was in the apartment with her was her granddaughter, a mother of six. Milagros looked after her grandkids so that her children could keep working and go to school. She was a full time caretaker. It was a role that she adored.

[B]

Recently, this all came back out into the open. So I didn't even know. I thought that they solved this case way back when, so. But I always talk about it and it's never going to go away. Even if they solve the case, that doesn't change what I saw that day.

[A]

Papalucci's colleague, Detective Jeffrey Holtz, was assigned Milagros case in 2025. As part of his review of the case file, he was tasked with looking through the crime scene photos and the reports that documented what Papalucci saw in real life. And it was brutal. Along with the cut to her throat that Papalucha saw. Milagros had been stabbed to death 33 times in her neck, chest and torso.

[C]

A stabbing, when it comes to a manner of death is a lot different even than a gunshot wound because it takes a certain kind of psychopathic mentality to take an object and stab it into somebody's flesh and internal organs. When you shoot somebody with a gun, you're shooting it from a distance and the bullet is penetrating the body. But when you take an object being a knife or anything else and plunge it into a person 33 times, it's a completely different mindset. The stab wounds, the position of the stab wounds, the photographs that were taken, because photographs are taken at the autopsy, they're horrific to look at, you know, I wouldn't want the family to see them. I wouldn't want your viewers to see them. I wouldn't want anybody other than investigators to see them because they're absolutely horrific.

[A]

Detective Holt did let our reporter Laura Frater look at those photos when she was at the Bridgeport Police Department. He wanted her to understand how brutal Milagros death really was. And Laura said that the photos show Milagros lying face up on the floor of the kitchen, arms limp above her head, and her legs were splayed out with her right foot touching a broken panel on the oven door. And there was a broken dinner plate between her legs, a white plate with blue trim. And lying just below Milagros's groin, there was this grayish green beanie with a tear on it. Laura said that if there wasn't a huge blood smear across the white kitchen floor, it honestly would be hard to tell that Milagros was bleeding because the blood from her injuries blended into her red night dress. The rest of the kitchen, though, it was pretty tidy. In the sink, there were three coffee cups, all white with blue trim to match the broken dinner plate on the floor. Two of the cups were empty, and then one was full of watery coffee. It was as if Milagros had been standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes in the moments before she was attacked, seemingly by surprise, evidenced by, if nothing else, the fact that her granddaughter was there and left alive.

[C]

I think maybe it was a situation where something went wrong. It wasn't a very premeditated attack, because when you think about it, if it was premeditated, the person would probably make sure that the child. Child was not there. And I think in those, we've had similar cases where a child has been at a crime scene and, you know, when you look at it, it's. The perpetrator just doesn't really know what to do.

[A]

While the scene in the kitchen was horrifying but fairly contained, Milagros bedroom suggested a whole nother story when it came to the suspect's intentions.

[C]

The bedroom of the apartment was ransacked. You know, drawers were opened up, there were items on the floor. Investigators back then believe, and we do believe, that that may have been part of a ploy by the suspect.

[A]

Detective Holt has been trying to figure out who could have been in Milagros apartment that day by piecing together a timeline with a fresh set of eyes.

[C]

The circumstances were that Milagros lived there with her live in boyfriend. He had gone to work very early in the morning. And eventually Milagros and her granddaughter were supposed to meet with family members at a nearby housing complex that Meetup never occurred.

[A]

Milagros boyfriend, Edwin Rivera, left the house at around 6:30 that morning, and Milagros granddaughter was dropped off by her mom sometime between 8 and 8:30am that family meetup that Milagros missed was supposed to take place at 11:15am When Milagros never showed, they got in touch with Edwin and asked him if he could drop by the apartment and see if everything was okay. Edwin told investigators that he left work and arrived back at the apartment on Arneston avenue at around 3:30pm and he told police that when he entered the apartment, he found Milagros on the kitchen floor and described the baby running around screaming, and it was him who called 911. Police estimated that Milagros had been killed sometime between 8:30 and 11 that morning. What wasn't quite as apparent is whether they should be looking for somebody who found a target of opportunity or someone Milagros knew knew. Remember, there were three coffee cups in the sink. Now, perhaps one was used by Milagros and the other by Edwin. Now, what I do know is that it wasn't the baby's mom who was drinking the third cup of coffee. She was running late for work that day. And while she normally did drink coffee with Milagros in the morning, that was the one day that she didn't. Our reporter asked Detective Holtz more about the coffee cups, but he said that he didn't know for sure if the cups were from that morning or they could have been from days prior. But even if those cups are all accounted for, that still doesn't rule out the possibility that Milagros's killer was someone known to her. Coffee cups or no coffee cups, the truth is just about anyone could have gotten into Milagros building because even though the main entrance had a lock, Detective Holtz wouldn't exactly call it secure.

[C]

A lot of these buildings, through my experience, and I'm sure police officers and detectives will tell you this, people come in and out. You know, there's no security guard. People hold the door for people. They prop the door up, they let people in.

[A]

Detective Holt said that none of the neighbors reported any red flags the day that Milagros died. No screaming, no sounds of anyone in distress, no. Just absolutely nothing. And while that might sound strange, given how viciously she was stabbed, it actually might make sense. Remember, investigators estimated that Milagros was killed sometime between 8:30am and 11am on a Wednesday. I think a lot of neighbors were probably at work. But Detective Holtz also thinks that people may have been Hesitant to talk to police in the first place. Maybe the neighbors in 1993 knew more than they were willing to say.

[C]

People are used to the TV shows and the movies where the detectives go out and everybody talks to them and gives a statement. The reality of that is far from that. You know what I mean? And either because people just don't want to get involved, are fearful of retaliation, or maybe have something to hide. Check all of the above. But as investigators, that's something we have to work through. It's part of the job, and we totally understand that. But that presents another challenge to this case. And just because somebody doesn't want to talk to you doesn't mean they're involved or has something to hide. In the big cities, especially in the inner cities, retaliation and people's feeling that they and their families want to remain safe is a big concern. And we totally understand that.

[A]

It's also very possible that every neighbor was being honest and no one heard or saw anything suspicious because there was nothing suspicious to see or hear. In which case, it would seem far more likely that Milagros knew her killer. And when examining those closest to her, we discovered a tangled web that wouldn't reveal itself fully until this very year. Because Edwin Rivera was Milagros current boyfriend and the one who called 911, he would naturally get increased attention from police. Thing was, though, Edwin had an easy alibi. Milagros was seen alive after he left for work, and he was accounted for at work during the time investigators believed Milagros had been killed.

[C]

I'd be pretty confident in saying that he's been ruled out. He was talked to. The family loves him. Detectives in the past have interviewed him. He was devastated by this. And according to the family members that I spoke to, he is still devastated by this. He's never gotten over it.

[A]

In fact, he was so distraught that he couldn't even stay in town. He eventually packed up and left Bridgeport before moving back to Puerto Rico. The family said that he was never quite right after Milagros murder. So with investigators pretty confident that they could rule out Edwin, they shifted their attention to other people in Milagros life. Who was she close with? Who had she been close with? And at the top of their list was Milagros's ex husband of 12 years, Wilfredo Padilla. Milagros and Wilfredo met in 1966 in Bridgeport. Their marriage was a common law marriage, meaning that they never had a legal union, but they previously lived together. Investigators learned that despite their separation, they were possibly still friendly.

[C]

So there's different stories that have come out of this case. Some of them we can corroborate. Some of them we can't. There are reports that she had an ex husband over for coffee that morning the day that she was murdered.

[A]

Detective Holtz couldn't tell us where those reports came from, but it's possible, based on the crime scene photos, that Milagros had coffee with someone before she was murdered. But according to Detective Holtz, Wilfredo said that there was no way it was him drinking coffee in her apartment that morning.

[C]

He said he hadn't seen her in a while. I don't want to go too much into his statement, but I think just generally speaking, when you look at an ex, whether it be a boyfriend or a husband, there was some reason why the relationship ended.

[A]

Whatever the reasons behind Wilfredo and Milagros's breakup, it's important to note that investigators have never provided any evidence showing that Wilfredo was inside Milagros's apartment that day. But to be fair, based on the evidence they have, I don't think they can prove that that anyone was in her apartment that morning. I know they did collect some evidence from the crime scene. Investigators found a palm print on the door. They tested some evidence for DNA, But Detective Holt said that the print analysis didn't lead to anything. And the only DNA that they found belonged to Milagros. So all we know today is that whatever evidence they have hasn't led to an arrest. If you're a little unclear about what they do or don't have, DNA wise, it's because I am, too. Law enforcement is cagey in this case, like we see in so many ongoing investigations. But if they did have foreign DNA, the one thing I can tell you is that it didn't come from a sexual assault kit, and that's because apparently one was never performed on Milagros. Why you asked? Well, we asked Detective Holtz, and he couldn't tell us. He said that he wasn't on the original investigation, so he doesn't know why they made those decisions. So without any solid suspect or any evidence connecting someone to the scene of this crime back in 1993, Milagros case went cold fast. And in the years that followed, much of her family left Bridgeport, including Wilfredo, her ex husband. He moved back to puerto Rico around 1998, just like her boyfriend Edwin did. Despite many of the remaining family members putting pressure on police, nothing seemed to be happening until out of the blue, investigators received a new lead in the

[C]

form of a letter years back. The detectives in the homicide unit received a correspondence from an inmate at a correctional facility in Massachusetts. And one of the other women that was in that facility was the upstairs neighbor to Milagros Nieves. And the correspondence stated that that woman had received a confession just in talking with the neighbor that she had committed this homicide.

[A]

Detective Holtz wouldn't name the woman who wrote the letter or the upstairs neighbor who supposedly confessed to the killing. He would only tell us that the prior investigators did go to the prison in Massachusetts to talk to said neighbor. And I guess nothing came of it. But it's hard to say for sure because Detective Holtz hasn't been able to locate any documentation about the interview that took place. Detective Holt noted one strange thing about the neighbor, though. A detail that was equal parts surprising and disturbing.

[C]

So the woman who was the upstairs neighbor who allegedly confessed to this other inmate had also been arrested for committing a crime much like the murder of Milagros Nieves, which makes it very interesting. I don't want to go too much into it because it's not my case, but I believe it was a stabbing.

[A]

That woman is out of prison now. And while Detective Holtz has not been in touch with her yet, it's something

[C]

that we're still looking into. When you think about it on the surface, you know you have somebody in prison that just contacted the agency where this homicide occurred and said they had information about it in Massachusetts, and a person mentioned in the investigation is in that facility. Could it be true? Sure, it could be. Could it be the person that forwarded the tip just read about it and put two and two together? It's not off the table for us. It's something we're still looking at.

[A]

Our reporter, Laura Frater looked at that too, and she actually tracked this neighbor down. The neighbor said that she didn't know who Milagros was and said repeatedly that she'd never met her. But she did confirm that police questioned her about Milagros death while she was incarcerated. When Laura questioned her about her supposed confession, she point blank denied it. She said she never even confessed to killing Milagros. But that is not the most interesting interview Laura got. You see, Laura had been trying to reach anyone and everyone who could shed light on Milagros life and the time after her death. But it wasn't until the very tail end of her reporting, after she met with Detective Holtz in Bridgeport, that something unexpected happened. Laura got a message from one of Milagros granddaughters, not the one found at the crime scene. This granddaughter Was nine when Milagros died. And her name is Vanessa Lind. And Vanessa was extremely close with her grandmother. She saw her all the time.

[D]

You know, life in Bridgeport is a little chaotic, but my grandmother created a space where it didn't feel that way. And she was very routine. So I always knew what was to come. And I love that about her. And she was funny. And my favorite memory is probably the last memory I had with her was my birthday is September 3rd and hers is September 8th. And we spent our birthday on her kitchen floor. And she poured an adult drink in a. In a. In a glass. And I had a different glass but with like a malt, something called Malta that Hispanic people drink. And we just sat there and listened to music and had our birthdays together. And I made her a picture at school and she hung it on the refrigerator. And then, you know, she died a couple weeks later.

[A]

Vanessa remembers the day of the murder well. She still thinks about the moment when one of her relatives passed her baby cousin to her, the toddler found in Milagros apartment. And she remembers holding her in a yellow blood soaked onesie. What Vanessa wanted to tell Laura wasn't about the day of Milagros murder, though. It was about her grandfather Milagros ex husband, Wilfredo. Now maybe the timing was a coincidence, or maybe all the reporting Laura had been doing was kicking up dust. Either way, on April 21, 2026, Vanessa texted Laura and said that she and her grandfather had a conversation. And what she says he told her had Vanessa questioning everything she thought she knew about her grandmother's case. Vanessa was only nine years old when her grandmother Milagros was murdered. So when she found out that her grandfather Milagros ex husband Wilfredo was coming into town from Puerto Rico to visit, Vanessa knew that she wanted to ask him about Milagros murder for the first time ever. And that conversation lasted six hours. Vanessa recounted that conversation to our reporter Laura over a fuzzy phone line, starting with a bombshell and a name Laura hadn't heard before.

[D]

Marianne Beltran and Edwin, my grandmother's boyfriend, were having an affair.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[D]

And nobody knew this until yesterday.

[A]

Edwin Rivera and Milagros Nieves had been together for about four years at the time of her murder. And while this allegation of an affair Edwin had with Miriam Beltran was brand new, the name Miriam Beltran was not. You see, she was Edwin's best friend's sister. She was also friends with Milagros. But what troubled Vanessa even more was that after Milagros was killed, the Relationship between Miriam and Edwin didn't seem to end.

[D]

After my grandmother died, Edwin married Miriam.

[A]

We reached out to both Edwin and Miriam. We wanted to hear their side of the story and ask them more about their alleged affair and to confirm that they're married, common law or otherwise. We couldn't find official records, but several family members confirmed that they are a married couple. But neither Miriam nor Edwin responded to our outreach. Our reporter also circled back with detective holtz to see if all of this had ever been on police's radar, because it sure didn't come up in our interview. And he said that he couldn't confirm whether Edwin was having an affair or not. Back in 1993, investigators didn't have things like text messages that we use nowadays to confirm that type of allegation, but detective holtz did confirm that the name Miriam beltran was, quote, familiar to investigators. Our reporter had more questions, though, for vanessa, Namely about edwin. When exactly did he leave bridgeport after her grandmother was murdered.

[D]

He moved to Puerto rico right after my grandmother's death, as did miriam.

[E]

Are we talking, like, Are we talking days, weeks after, months after? Do we know?

[D]

Weeks?

[E]

Weeks. So. So Miriam and Edwin both move back to Puerto rico weeks after your grandmother dies?

[D]

Correct.

[E]

Did anyone find that strange? Did your grandfather remember people's reaction to that?

[D]

Well, they didn't find it strange that Edwin went to Puerto rico because, you know, he was distraught for. Or, you know, so they said, but. But nobody knew about Miriam.

[A]

Vanessa said there was one other thing that stood out. During her conversation with her grandfather.

[D]

He described the day of my grandmother's death, and we are all just learning this. He. My grandpa was going to take my grandmother in the evening that day to go grocery shopping. My grandmother did not drive, and before he could do that, Edwin went to his house to tell him that my grandmother was dead.

[A]

According to Vanessa, her grandfather Wilfredo's recollection of the day milagros was murdered is pretty different from what he told investigators back in 1993. Remember? According to detective Holtz, he. He said that he hadn't seen milagros in a while. But based on vanessa's account of their conversation, it sounded like wilfredo and milagros were in regular contact. Why else would he agree to take milagros grocery shopping?

[E]

Were they on speaking terms? Were they. Was it a good relationship?

[D]

Yes. They were like, best friends.

[E]

Okay. And do you know, like, how often they saw each other?

[D]

Frequency.

[A]

Obviously, we wanted to talk to wilfredo. There could be all kinds of reasons for his conflicting statements. We Wanted to get to the bottom of it. And in May 2026, he agreed to talk to our reporter through a translator because he speaks Spanish.

[E]

Tell him we're recording now.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

During that call, Wilfredo confirmed that he did have plans to take Milagros grocery shopping the day that she was murdered. But those plans, he said, were for sometime between 8 o' clock and 9 o' clock in the morning, not the evening like he told Vanessa. He said that he drove over to Arneston Avenue with his wife and also with Milagros, now deceased sister. And he said the sister went up to get Milagros. According to Wilfredo, she knocked on the apartment door, but normal, no one answered. After a while, she went back to the car and she told Wilfredo and his wife that Milagros must have left. So they drove off and went shopping without her. Wilfredo said that the sister witnessed nothing out of the ordinary when she was outside Milagros's apartment. She didn't hear anything either. No screaming, no baby crying inside, and she certainly didn't see anything like blood. Wilfredo said that later that day, it was Edwin who broke the news to him that Milagros had died. He said that the police never even interviewed him about Milagros's murder, But that directly contradicts what they told us now. During his interview with our reporter, Wilfredo's daughter Annette, was present. Now, we had our own translator, but Annette helped relay our questions. Wilfredo is a little hard of hearing, and our reporter Laura wanted to check something that she had heard from Vanessa.

[E]

This is a hard question, Annette, to ask, but I just want to make sure. So Vanessa told me that I think Wilfredo helped clean up the apartment after Milagros passed. And I'm just wanting to hear that from Wilfredo because I know that's just an important detail.

[D]

Right, right, right. Okay.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Because. Yeah. So they went and they cleaned up, and then Edwin grabbed his thing.

[A]

The next few weeks for the family were a blur. Vanessa missed school for a long time as her nine year old self processed what had happened. She's still trying to understand what unfolded that morning in her grandmother's apartment. During one of her conversations with Laura, Vanessa asked her something that seemed out of the blue. It was about the crime scene photos that Laura looked at with Detective Holtz.

[D]

I do have just a question for you, and it's a little. It's a weird question, but I just need to. In the photos, were you. So my grandmother wore dentures. And do you know if she had

[E]

them on she did, yeah. Yeah, she did. Yeah. I could see. I could see, at the very least, her top teeth. I mean, again, I don't want to describe anything too graphic for you, but I. I can tell you, like, I can I give you more detail on that.

[D]

Yes.

[E]

So her. Her eyes were open, and her mouth was sort of like. It was partially open as well, but I could very clearly see her top teeth. At the very least. I couldn't see any blood or anything on the teeth, but her mouth was. Was open.

[D]

Okay. And I say that because if my grandmother had her teeth in, by the time she was having coffee and cooking, she knew somebody was coming.

[A]

This comment from Vanessa sticks with me. She is confident that her grandmother knew someone was coming over. And her having her nightgown on, I thought maybe that contradicted it, but according to family, no. Milagros always got dressed late in the morning, maybe like 10 or 10:30. Now, maybe all this means is that Milagros knew Wilfredo was coming over to go grocery shopping. Maybe she was in the process of getting ready when someone stopped her. It'll be up to Detective Holtz to figure this thing out.

[C]

The family of Milagros Nieves was in this city for a long time. And there are people living in Bridgeport who may have lived in Bridgeport who have moved out that know these people, and they may know something about this case. And what I always like to say to those people that might be watching or listening. Life circumstances change. People get older. Their perspective on what happened in the past has changed. And maybe something that prevented that person from coming forward in the past may be different now. And we're asking, we're pleading with those people to come forward and give us some information. It could be a very minor thing, you know, a car you saw leaving at that time or an individual you saw walking out of that apartment building that you remember from that day.

[A]

Frank Papalucha is still haunted by this case and hopes Milagros family can finally get the closure they deserve.

[B]

It doesn't matter how much time has gone by, somebody did lose their life in a horrific way. So it would be time to. If you have anything related to that case, bring it, because that woman deserves to have some closure, and the family deserves to have closure to what happened on that day. And right now, it's out in the Open. And 30 something years later, we're still trying to figure it out.

[A]

If you have any information about the murder of Milagros Nieves, you can call the Bridgeport Police Department at 203576 TIPS. The Deck is an Audio Chuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis. To learn more about the Deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com I think Chuck would approve.