- FEMALE NARRATOR: When an aspiring YouTube star
marries a brooding gamer,
they prove that opposites do attract.
- I am the biggest dreamer ever.
I'm very free-spirited.
- NATASHA: He was the calm, tame stuff that she needed,
and she was just the right amount of
fun and crazy that he needed.
They were like soulmates.
- NARRATOR: After becoming parents to two sets of twins,
this young Texas couple seemed like a reality show
in the making, until their home turned into
a real-life nightmare.
- She was crying, and through the crying,
trying to say that somebody had kidnapped her husband.
- I can hear her, and at that point,
I start hearing panic.
- NARRATOR: As the investigation begins,
a dangerous conspiracy fueled by
an unquenchable thirst is discovered.
- So much of her behavior was attention-seeking.
- She said, "I can make anybody believe anything.
I'm an actress."
- NARRATOR: When the truth is revealed,
this once idyllic family will land in the spotlight
for all the wrong reasons.
- DAVID: They had hit him in the head multiple times
with the pistol.
They had hit him across the face with it.
They had punched him.
- ROSIE: She said, "I'm really freaking out.
I've never been so scared in my life."
- ♪
♪♪
- NARRATOR: February 20, 2015.
It's just after 2 a.m. in Titus County, Texas,
as Rosie Wohlford is wrapping up a fun night on the town
with her daughter Natasha.
- ROSIE: We were having a karaoke night.
We had walked out of the club and we were standing outside
talking to the owner when my phone started ringing.
- NARRATOR: Rosie answers the call from
her oldest daughter, 26-year-old Samantha Wohlford.
- ROSIE: It was muffled and not clear.
I finally get to a point where I can hear her,
and at that point, I start hearing panic.
- ♪
- My mom just looked horrified,
and I'm like, "What's the matter?"
She's like, "Your sister."
She said, "All I know is, something about they took him."
And I was like, "What's the matter?"
She's like, "I can't understand her."
- NARRATOR: Through her daughter's muffled cries,
Rosie begins to understand that Samantha is talking about
her husband, 29-year-old Ernie Ibarra.
- She said there was intruders
and apparently they have kidnapped him.
I finally managed to hear her say, "I'm tied up."
And now I'm really freaking out.
I've never been so scared in my life.
- NATASHA: She's like, "Get in the car right now."
So I'm like, "Okay," and I jump in the car,
and she said, "Get me to Mount Pleasant."
So I'm literally driving 90 miles an hour in a 40
trying to get her there.
- NARRATOR: Rosie and Natasha rush to Samantha's house
about an hour away.
As they drive, Rosie calls her sister Ginger.
- My sister was clearheaded enough to think,
"Hey, we should probably call 911."
So she immediately had called 911.
- The mom calls Ginger, the aunt, who lived probably
ten minutes down the road,
and told her what Samantha was saying
and then Ginger and Ginger's husband
went over to the house.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Ginger and her husband
arrived at Samantha's home before law enforcement.
- I tell her to holler so they can hear her,
and so they know she's upstairs.
And so they go upstairs.
And when they get upstairs,
she's got her hands tied behind her back,
and her ankles are tied, and she's gagged.
- DAVID: She was crying and, through the crying,
trying to say that somebody had broken into her house,
that they had kidnapped her husband.
- ROSIE: We have no idea what has happened.
Where is my son-in-law?
What is going on?
Where is Ernie?
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Born on Christmas Day, 1985,
in Mount Pleasant, Texas,
Ernie Ibarra was a bright and quiet child.
- He was kind of a bookworm.
At one point, my mom--my mom had to--
she had to ground him from his books
because he would stay up all night reading books
and go to sleep during class.
- NARRATOR: As Ernie got older,
his affinity for books gave way to another passion.
- He loved to mess around with computers, period.
He could tear one apart, put it right back together.
He was very, very good at it.
He did go to college and got some certificates
on technology and computers.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Ernie spent most of his time gaming
and working toward his dream.
Then, in 2008, he met a woman at a local tattoo shop
who would change his life, Samantha Wohlford.
- NATASHA: Sam was a real bubbly person.
Everybody liked her.
She just has that way about her.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Samantha was born in 1989.
From a young age,
she had a strong instinct to nurture.
- ROSIE: Samantha was my oldest.
Then I have Natasha, and then I have Darrell.
Sam always had that mothering instinct.
She was mama to the babies below her.
She knew all along she wanted to be a mom.
- NARRATOR: At the young age of 19,
Samantha's dream became a dramatic reality
when she and her high school sweetheart found out
they were expecting.
- DARRELL: She had told me she was pregnant.
She said, "And it's twins."
I was like, "Oh my gosh."
It was just--it's mind-boggling.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: While the pregnancy was a dream come true,
Samantha's relationship with the twins' father was not.
- ROSIE: She was with him for a while, probably two years,
but he was not husband material, so she finally ended it.
- NARRATOR: For the next few months,
Samantha struggled to make ends meet.
- NATASHA: She was a photographer for newborns,
and she also was doing side jobs like selling Mary Kay.
She did little ventures here and there
to try to make money.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Then, in January 2008,
her life turned around
when she met 22-year-old Ernie Ibarra.
- He was in this very dark stage,
Gothic, I would call it.
He had long hair, wore a long black trench coat
and black boots, black pants.
- DARRELL: She liked the persona he put off.
She liked mysteries.
I guess he was a mystery she was wanting to unravel.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: For the first couple of years,
Ernie and Samantha kept their relationship casual,
until 2011, when things got serious fast.
- NATASHA: She found out she was pregnant.
She was like, "Oh my goodness, another set of twins!"
- ELAINE: When they were born, of course,
he was the proud father, as any father would be.
- NARRATOR: With two sets of twins,
Ernie and Samantha were immersed in family life
and grew closer through the chaos.
- NATASHA: He was the calm, tame stuff that she needed,
and she was just the right amount of fun and crazy
that he needed.
I mean, they were like soulmates.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: In late 2013, 24-year-old Samantha
gave birth to her fifth child, and Ernie worked hard
to support his growing family.
- ABIGAIL: He ended up getting a job at D-BAT,
which they make baseball bats, and he ran the machine
that did all the lasering on the bats.
- CHRIS: He was workin' two jobs.
He was workin' as a computer programmer
at a local bat manufacturing company here,
and he was also working part-time at a Little Caesar's.
- NARRATOR: Samantha also looked for a way to bring in
additional income for her growing brood.
- She was really big into YouTube
and she made this series of YouTube videos.
Basically, her videos were just going on and on
about her pregnancy.
- She did hope that she could make some kind of
extra money at it.
- September 21, my babies turn 1 years old.
My youngest twins, I feel-- I'm getting so old, oh my God.
- CARLY: There's one where she's just talking about
tips on how to get your kid ready for school really fast,
like she was trying to help other moms.
- NARRATOR: With every video she posted,
Samantha's confidence and aspirations grew.
- ELAINE: She was wanting to be famous.
She wanted to be seen, she wanted to be known.
- I love you guys.
Bye.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: By March 2014, it seemed there was only
one thing missing-- a ring on Samantha's finger.
- NATASHA: She's like, "It's time, you know.
"I'm sitting here, we're living together.
"I'm ready to become the wife."
I babysat their kids,
and they went out, went to Hope, Arkansas,
and got married.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Now, just shy of their second anniversary
in the early morning hours of February 20, 2015,
Samantha is found bound and gagged inside her home,
crying out that her husband Ernie has been kidnapped.
- ROSIE: She was devastated,
and she was crying uncontrollably,
and she was scared.
She said, "They gotta find him."
- ♪
- CHRIS: As we go into the house,
Samantha and her aunt are coming down the staircase,
and that's where me and the officers
have our first encounter with her.
The kids were asleep.
They were upstairs, so I told Samantha,
"Just leave them where they're at for right now,"
so I could get more information from her about what happened
without having to worry about the children.
- NARRATOR: Investigators know they have to act fast
to find Ernie.
- CHRIS: At that point in time,
Ernie is possibly still alive and we can get to him.
- TIM: We gotta get this solved and get it solved fast
because, you know, we knew something wasn't right.
- NARRATOR: Coming up,
investigators look into a potential family vendetta.
- CHRIS: The subjects made a statement that
they were there to get payback.
- She painted the picture that this was in retribution
for something that Ernie's father might have done.
- NARRATOR: And Samantha recounts the chilling details
of the attack.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On February 20, 2015,
investigators with the Titus County, Texas,
Sheriff's Department have just arrived
at the home of Ernie Ibarra and his wife Samantha.
- Samantha described who had broken into her house,
that they had kidnapped her husband.
She said she was taken upstairs and tied up
with her hands behind her back and her ankles tied.
- She is just pale as a ghost
and she's just distraught and she looks like
this scared little girl not knowing what's going on.
- NARRATOR: As deputies work to calm Samantha,
they can hear the couple's children
growing restless in an upstairs bedroom.
- By the time they got through
photographing the home and everything,
they did get the kids for me and everything
and bring them out so we loaded them
into our vehicle.
- NARRATOR: While Samantha helped settle her children,
investigators look for any clues that might lead them to Ernie.
- There was nothing missing.
The extent of valuables would be flat screen televisions,
and there's nothing there that would give us
an indication that somebody broke in that home
for the purpose of taking property out of it.
- CHRIS: There was some kind of struggle
because there is damage upstairs to a wall
that looks like somebody got pushed into the Sheetrock
and the Sheetrock is damaged.
There's some blood on the wall,
which probably happened during a scuffle.
Right by the door was a lock of hair.
- The front door is laying in the living room
as you come up the front porch, and it's just shattered
in about four to five pieces.
There's blood all over the place,
so you know something's happened here.
We're trying to piece this together.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: While a team of officers
continues to process the crime scene,
investigators escort Samantha back to the station
for additional questioning.
- NARRATOR: After their evening together,
Samantha says the couple went to bed,
but they weren't asleep long.
- WAYNE: She said something to the effect that
Ernie was actually holding his own pretty good
until one of the intruders hit him in the head
with a pistol, and at that point,
she said the fight was pretty much all out of him.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Samantha says before the men dragged Ernie
from the home, they paused to send
a chilling message.
- They told her, "You can keep that
"'cause that's all you're gonna have
"to remember your husband."
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Samantha says one of the attackers
then took her back upstairs where he tied her up.
- NARRATOR: Detectives ask Samantha if she can recall
any identifying details about the attackers.
- She described somebody with a Hispanic voice,
somebody with a voice that sounded like
he might be African-American.
- CARLY: She told the investigators that
it was these three guys, she had no idea who they were,
that they had took off with Ernie in this vehicle.
She didn't know-- she couldn't give
any description of the vehicle whatsoever.
- NARRATOR: Investigators ask Samantha if there was anything
about the attack that hinted at a motive.
- She said the guys made a statement that
they were going to Ernie's father's house.
- She painted a picture that this was in retribution
for something that Ernie's father might have done.
- NARRATOR: According to Samantha,
Ernie's dad has a reputation for running with a rough crowd,
and the men hinted that he might be in over his head.
- CHRIS: The subjects made a statement that
Ernie's father had narced on somebody,
which is giving narcotics information,
and I guess got somebody else arrested for it,
and they were there to get payback
for what Ernie's father had done.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: With Ernie's life at stake,
detectives waste no time acting on the lead.
- We know where Ernie's father's house is,
so I tell my deputy that's with me,
"Hey, go ahead and start heading toward Ernie's father's house."
- WAYNE: They had to get to that location to,
one, make sure that he was okay,
two, maybe locate these attackers,
and possibly, first and foremost, find Ernie.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: As deputies race to Ernie's father's house,
Samantha tells detectives Ernie may still have
his cell phone on him.
- WAYNE: The phone was really key.
They asked for a phone number for him
and said that they could get a location on it.
- CHRIS: I can then provide that phone number
to my dispatcher who can contact the cell phone provider
and do what's called a phone ping,
which will give us the location of the phone.
- NARRATOR: Moments later, investigators get word that
Ernie's phone has been located in a town just 20 minutes away.
- DAVID: Around 3:20 a.m. that morning,
the location came back to a residence in Pittsburg.
- NARRATOR: The location of the ping is nowhere near
Ernie's father's house.
- CHRIS: I started having officers
respond in that direction.
- It came through Chris Durant's radio,
and he--at that point, he was with Samantha,
and Durant asks her,
"Do you know anybody in Pittsburg?"
And she says no.
- WAYNE: The deputies went to the location
and were unable to locate anything,
where it last pinged.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Deputies check back in with the dispatch
only to learn troubling news about Ernie's phone.
- All of a sudden, the phone gets turned off.
I just thought that was very strange.
- CHRIS: Once the phone was turned off,
we can't get a updated location.
- It's frustrating, but we just keep trying.
We were not gonna stop
'til we hopefully find Ernie alive.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Coming up,
investigators uncover a new wrinkle in the case.
- CARLY: She was saying,
you know, that it was cartel involvement.
- NARRATOR: And a shocking confession changes everything.
- He told her, "So if you wanna do it,
"just leave your door unlocked."
- ♪
- NARRATOR: After a failed attempt to track down
29-year-old Ernie Ibarra's cell phone,
detectives refocus their efforts back onto
his wife Samantha's claim that the abductors
might have taken Ernie to his father's house.
- CHRIS: The detectives went to the house,
but they didn't find Ernie Sr.
No one was there at his house.
They didn't see anything that made them feel like
there had been like any kind of signs of a struggle.
- CHRIS: So that's when I had the guys come back
to my location.
- NARRATOR: Back at the station,
investigators pull Ernie's father's records.
- CHRIS: Ernie Ibarra Sr. and his uncle
had reputations in the community.
They had been arrested numerous times,
but we hadn't dealt with him in quite a long time.
He'd gotten older and kind of seemed to
amended his ways.
My gut feeling was this is not what we're dealing with.
- CARLY: That was their biggest lead,
because she was saying it was cartel involvement.
It was obvious to law enforcement
that he had no kind of
involvement with drugs whatsoever,
so that didn't make any sense.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: As investigators continue to dig,
they uncovered nothing on Ernie's father,
and he is ruled out.
Ernie, however, is another story.
It seems less than a year earlier
in the summer of 2014, Samantha called the police
to report that Ernie attacked her.
- DAVID: Ernie was brought in for questioning
and he was ultimately arrested on that charge.
I think the allegation is that he hit her with a box.
As part of that arrest,
an emergency Magistrate's Protective Order
was issued against him.
- NARRATOR: The discovery of a protective order
has investigators wondering why Ernie was even at
the couple's home the night of the attack.
To find out,
investigators turn their attention back to Samantha.
- WAYNE: She knew that we knew
there's a history of domestic issues between them,
but they were back together.
When asked about money situation, finances,
she said, "That's not an issue for us."
She really painted a pretty rosy picture,
a picture of bliss.
- NARRATOR: Detectives ask Samantha to once again
walk them through her day leading up to the attack.
- CHRIS: She goes into the story about,
"Well, I was at the hospital with my friend.
She's having a baby."
- DAVID: And then she came home,
and then she was home when Ernie came home,
and they had a nice evening and went to bed.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Then, in the middle of the interview,
Samantha's demeanor dramatically changes.
- She just has an epiphany.
"Oh my goodness.
"There's this guy I met yesterday,
"his name is Johnny Reb.
"That's all I know him by.
He--he could have done it."
- NARRATOR: According to Samantha,
Johnny Reb was also there
visiting her friend at the hospital.
Samantha says Johnny didn't have a car,
so she agreed to loan him her Chevy Equinox.
- This mutual friend of theirs was supposed
to get out of the hospital that next morning,
and he was going to use Samantha's car
to give her a ride home.
- NARRATOR: Samantha admits that while at the hospital,
she said something about her husband
that Johnny took offense to.
- She said, "Well, I told these guys
that my husband, you know, abused me."
- WAYNE: He said he would take exception
to someone hitting a woman or something like that,
and that he kind of offered to
somehow intervene in her situation.
- DAVID: She says, "Oh my goodness,
"he has my car, too.
What if he's the one that did this?"
- ♪
- DAVID: She looks at her phone
and says, "Oh my gosh, I just got a message.
"They're at the hospital now because they're supposed to be
picking up this mutual friend."
- CHRIS: We found his Facebook page.
We were able to figure out,
okay, his real name is Jonathan Sanford.
Turned to find out he had recently gotten out of prison.
- ♪
- The detectives that we had, they got on it really quick.
- TIM: We were walking in,
and these two guys were walking out.
I'd never seen 'em,
but one of the guys just matched the description.
So I turned around and I yelled, "Sanford!"
And when I did, they split, tried to run.
So we chased 'em and jumped on 'em
and put 'em in the car.
- NARRATOR: Investigators quickly identify the two men
as 25-year-old Jonathan Sanford and 26-year-old Jose Ponse.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Detectives bring both men back to the station
for questioning.
- Jonathan Sanford's personality was very cooperative
and forthright once he was caught.
He just kind of seemed to have the attitude of,
"They got me, I might as well help."
- NARRATOR: According to Jonathan,
it all began the day before when he'd met Samantha
at the hospital with his friends Jose Ponse and Octavious Rhymes.
Jonathan claims that after Samantha opened up
about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband,
he felt the urge to act.
- DAVID: Jonathan Sanford just said that
a man shouldn't treat a woman that way,
a man shouldn't raise a hand against a woman.
- NARRATOR: Jonathan says
Jose and Octavious felt the same way,
and offered to help Samantha get rid of Ernie
by landing him in jail.
- The plan they come up with that afternoon
is that they are going to get some methamphetamine
from somebody that Octavious knows
and plant it in Ernie's truck
and then make an anonymous phone call to law enforcement.
- NARRATOR: Jonathan claims Samantha agreed to the plan.
- WAYNE: Samantha went with them to the next to the west
of any size--Mount Vernon.
They purchase this methamphetamine,
and loaded up and headed back to Pittsburg.
- NARRATOR: After taking Samantha home,
the three men continued to talk about the plan over dinner.
- DAVID: At some point, Jonathan Sanford said,
"What if we got rid of him permanently
and didn't involve the cops?"
- CHRIS: It changed from, you know, planting drugs on him
to, "Let's just kidnap him and kill him."
- NARRATOR: According to Jonathan,
they kept Samantha mostly in the dark
about this new and fatal detail of their plan.
- WAYNE: Sanford indicated she was aware that
there's a change of plans from this initial drug set up.
- Now the plan was they were gonna beat him up.
She was part of it,
but they weren't supposed to kill him.
- DAVID: Jonathan Sanford asked her,
"What about the kids?"
And she said, "Don't worry about the kids.
"I can give them something to make them go to sleep.
They'll never hear a thing."
- NARRATOR: Finally, Jonathan told Samantha
that if she wanted Ernie out of her life,
all she had to do was one thing.
- DAVID: Jonathan told her,
"So if you wanna do it, just leave your door unlocked."
And she left the door unlocked.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: In the early morning hours of February 20,
Jonathan says the three men viciously pulled Ernie
from his bed, beat him, and drove him in Samantha's car
to a remote area in neighboring Camp County.
- DAVID: The initial plan was for Jonathan Sanford
to pull the trigger and shoot Ernie
once they got him out there.
Then Sanford changed his mind
and said that he had decided to slit Ernie's throat.
But before they got to that point,
Ernie trips and stumbles over some briars.
When Jonathan reaches down to pull to him back up,
Ponse just reaches out behind him
and pulls the trigger and shoots him
in the back of the head. - [gunshot]
- ♪
- NARRATOR: As they wrap up their interview with Jonathan,
detectives learn Jose Ponse is telling a very different story.
- NARRATOR: Coming up, two suspects face off.
- WAYNE: Jose Ponse and Jonathan Sanford
wanted to blame the other one.
- NARRATOR: And the details of
an explosive relationship are revealed.
- She would fight with him because if he wasn't working,
he was on that game.
- ROSIE: Once it started,
she would go out of her way to push his buttons.
He would got out on his way to push her buttons.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Less than 12 hours
after Ernie Ibarra was kidnapped from his home,
Texas investigators have two suspects in custody--
a 25-year-old ex-con named Jonathan Sanford
and his 26-year-old friend Jose Ponse.
- There's no indicators that Jonathan fired a shot.
Jonathan in his interview said he really wanted to it his self,
but said ultimately Jose Ponse did it.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Jose, however, is eager to point the finger
back at Jonathan.
- Jose Ponse and Jonathan Sanford
wanted to blame the other one for actually firing the shot
that killed Ernie.
- NARRATOR: While investigators can't prove one man's statement
over the other, they have a hunch
as to which story is likely true.
- DAVID: We all feel like Sanford's version was accurate,
especially given his willingness to testify that, you know,
he was gonna slit the guy's throat.
He just didn't get to fast enough.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Jonathan agrees to direct investigators
to a remote area known as Sand Crossing
in neighboring Camp County, Texas.
- Sanford get out, he walks them far enough
that they can see Ernie's body out in the woods.
- DAVID: He was laying on his stomach.
His hands might have still been behind his back.
He was in his underwear and there was some kind of,
like, Sheetrock tape that they had used
to wrap around his mouth.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: As CSI examine the body,
Ernie's injuries tell the story of his attack.
- They had hit him in the head multiple times
with the pistol.
They had hit him across the face with it.
They had punched him.
But the death came from being shot in the back of the head.
- WAYNE: It was just a--
just a really gloomy dreary place to die.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: News of Ernie's death quickly reaches
his loved ones.
- ABIGAIL: I kept asking my dad what was wrong,
and he just looked at me and he said,
"Somebody killed your brother."
And my jaw hit the floor.
It just--it was like a dream.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Officers put out an APB for the other
alleged co-conspirator named by Jonathan and Jose--
28-year-old Octavious Rhymes.
Meanwhile, detectives continue
to determine Samantha's actual role in the crime.
- One of our considerations would be:
did she really want to go as far as to contribute
to his murder?
- NARRATOR: When investigators talk to friends and family
of the couple,
they learn the marriage was rife with tension,
centering over Samantha's online obsessions.
- I guess her dream was to be a YouTube star.
- He didn't care to be on her channel.
He was a very private person.
She would do all kinds of stuff on there:
venting about his family,
venting about their relationships.
- ABIGAIL: As much as she wanted to be internet famous, you know,
she never really told a lot of people in our family
that she did it because
she knew that my brother didn't like that kind of thing.
- He is definitely out there working two jobs
and she's just kind of hanging out
complaining about her problems on YouTube
that was really frustrating to deal with.
- I just wanted to post this video for all those women
who think that having a child as a teen
would be something smart to do.
For starters, you do not have a life anymore
after you have a baby.
- She felt like this was going somewhere.
She kinda stopped paying less attention to her kids,
and she acted like her so-called job
was just more important than that.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: For their part, Samantha's family says
she had her own set of grievances
when it came to Ernie's gaming.
- That's where a lot of their fights came from,
because the minute he walked in the door,
he was playing a game.
- NATASHA: She would fight with him because
he was literally day in and day out.
The minute he woke up to the minute he goes to bed,
if he wasn't working, he was on that game.
- NARRATOR: Samantha's family says her frustration
came to a head when Ernie's avatar became involved
with another woman.
- ROSIE: Their characters or their avatars got married.
She got a little upset about that
and threw a big enough fit that he said, you know,
"Well, I'll marry you in real life."
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Family says
the wedding didn't solve their problems.
- She would go out of her way to push his buttons.
He would go out of his way to push her buttons.
- NARRATOR: Ernie's family claims Samantha's favorite way
to push Ernie's buttons involved making allegations of abuse.
- Samantha had tendency towards
attention-seeking behaviors.
She typically used her description of Ernie
being abusive towards her or not treating her right
to get that attention.
- NARRATOR: According to Ernie's family,
the incident involving the restraining order
was questionable at best.
- The worst that he had ever done to her
was he told me that he had chucked a cardboard box at her,
and he said that box would not have caused no bruise.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: The details of a troubled marriage
still don't prove whether Samantha knew Ernie's kidnapping
was actually a death sentence.
But that all changes
when investigators obtain Samantha's phone records.
- CHRIS: Samantha sends a text message to the people
that have Ernie and advised them,
"Hey, the cops are tracking the phone.
Ditch it and move."
- DAVID: It was obvious of her choice to participate.
She's trying to help them
get away with killing her husband.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On February 23,
3 days after Ernie's kidnapping,
detectives ask Samantha to come back to
the Titus County Sheriff's office.
- WAYNE: I think she thought she was coming
to get Ernie's phone, and she showed up,
and she was not gonna be leaving that day.
- DAVID: Samantha was charged
with aggravated kidnapping and murder,
and she was indicted on each of those charges separately.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Coming up,
prosecutors face an uphill climb.
- CARLY: That was kind of the million-dollar question:
What was the motive?
- NARRATOR: And Samantha pulls a last line of defense in court.
- DAVID: She had taken an Ambien before she went to bed
and didn't really remember any of the events.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Just three days
after her husband was kidnapped and murdered,
investigators in Titus County, Texas, have arrested
25-year-old Samantha Wohlford.
- That was a huge relief off my shoulders,
knowing that she was a part of it because
I felt in my heart she was.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On February 26, an officer in nearby Pittsburg
tracks down the last suspect in this crime, Octavious Rhymes.
- He was located in the Brookshire's parking lot
in Pittsburg and was arrested there.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Once in custody, Octavious tells detectives
that he didn't know the kidnapping
would result in murder.
- NARRATOR: Octavious and Samantha
stick to their innocence,
choosing to let the jury decide their fates.
In April 2016, their alleged co-conspirators,
Jose Ponse and Jonathan Sanford, both accept plea deals.
- WAYNE: Jose Ponce and Jonathan Sanford
both plead guilty to two 50-years--
50 years for the murder, 50 years for the kidnapping,
I believe, and those run concurrent.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Samantha and Octavious must each face
two different trials for their roles
in Ernie's death.
- Octavious and her both had two trials.
You had to have a trial in Mount Pleasant
for the aggravated kidnapping part,
and then you had to have a trial in Camp County
for the murder portion.
- NARRATOR: In July of 2016,
Octavious is found guilty of kidnapping.
In December, he has his chance to fight the murder charge
in a Camp County courtroom.
- His testimony did not match the statements
he'd given to law enforcement.
He tried to remove himself even more,
and I would say the jury found his testimony unbelievable,
and they convicted him.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: In March 2017,
Samantha is convicted of aggravated kidnapping
and sentenced to 50 years.
- DAVID: The position she tried to take there
was that she had taken an Ambien before she went to bed
and didn't really remember any of the events
and didn't remember sending any text messages.
That's just unbelievable.
- NARRATOR: Seven months later,
Samantha's murder trial gets underway inside
a Camp County, Texas, courtroom.
When Jonathan Sanford takes the stand
on behalf of the prosecution,
he claims that on the night of the murder,
Samantha was on board with the entire plan.
- TIM: Sanford stated that, "She told me, I'm an actress,
"and I can handle the law.
"Y'all don't worry about that.
Y'all just go get rid of him and I'll handle the police."
- NARRATOR: Prosecutors allege that the text Samantha sent
warning her co-conspirators to turn off Ernie's phone
amounted to a death sentence for her husband.
- She could've sent a text, "Don't do it.
"Don't do it."
But instead, she did things purposely
to hide what they were doing.
She wanted it done.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: After establishing Samantha's role
in Ernie's murder,
prosecutors face a more difficult task:
laying out her motive.
- That was kind of the million-dollar question.
What was the motive?
- DAVID: Ernie is dead because Samantha, in seeking attention,
using this rhetoric of Ernie being abusive to her
and not treating her right, she just finally told somebody
who would do something about it.
- I love you guys.
- CARLY: I think she thought
this murder was gonna really put the spotlight on her
and, you know, make her a YouTube star, ultimately.
- NARRATOR: As for her defense, Samantha's attorneys claim
she knew nothing about the kidnapping or murder.
- The only defense I saw that her attorney tried
to put on was that we was trying to sling mud,
you know, we're just putting her in this, there's no proof.
- Her attorneys during the course of her trial
tried to say, "Well, it was the Ambien she was taking
is the reason why she had no idea what was going on."
It was just lie after lie after lie.
- NARRATOR: On Thursday, September 14, 2017,
the jury finds Samantha guilty of murder.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Between the 2 convictions,
she faces 99 years in prison.
- DAVID: The sentences are stacked on each other.
She'll have to make parole on the kidnapping charge
before she even starts serving
the sentence on the murder charge.
She's likely to die in prison.
- ♪
- If she did do this, then she's where she belongs.
But a mother can tell,
and she couldn't go through with the murder.
There is no way.
I'll never believe that.
It hurts that this happened.
It not just hurts that we lost her,
we lost him too, and those kids lost
so much more than I did, so much more than they did.
Those kids lost everything.
- ABIGAIL: Most people will never understand the pain
of losing a family member
like that in such a horrific way.
He should be here.
No amount of time is ever gonna take his place.
- ♪