- Female narrator: The murder of a beloved social worker
Shatters a midwestern town.
- It was such a shocking violent death.
- She was found face down
And her clothing was disheveled.
- Narrator: Given the victim's line of work,
There's no shortage of suspects
- They immediately began to assume
That it was someone who had a personal animus toward her.
- Narrator: For over a decade
The brutal attack goes unsolved.
Until a guilty conscience finally cracks.
- He had kept this inside for 13 years and I believe
He wanted to tell somebody.
- There had been a violent attack
And sexual assault.
- And she's telling him to give her what she deserves.
- She's a narcissistic, homicidal sociopath.
- For her to die the way she did made our stomachs turn.
- ♪
- Narrator: April 15th, 1990. 10:15 a.M.
It's easter Sunday in kenosha, wisconsin,
And district attorney robert jambois
Is preparing to spend the holiday with family.
- My wife and I were getting ready to
Go visit my parents and then her parents.
So, just as we were getting ready to leave,
I get this phone call of a suspicious death scene,
My office didn't tell me who it was.
We didn't have that many homicides in kenosha county.
But I'd instituted a policy, the preceding year
That I was to be called to the scene
Of every suspicious death.
- Narrator: With limited details,
D.A. Jambois heads to the scene, unsure of what awaits him.
- Robert: When I arrived there,
They hadn't even, um, cordoned off the residence.
I asked the officers to establish
A crime scene perimeter around the entire front yard
And backyard of the residence
So that we couldn't have people coming and going as they chose.
I wanted everybody out of the residence
Until our crime scene crew had gone through there.
- Narrator: As he approaches the victim,
D.A. Jambois stops in his tracks.
- I went inside to inspect the scene
And there was connie reyes on the floor.
I knew connie reyes. I knew her because
I was the district attorney
And my office prosecuted child abuse cases.
She was a very, very, very fine social worker.
I admired her and I very much liked her,
And I was genuinely shocked and horrified to see
That she'd been murdered.
- Narrator: The question now is,
What could have led to this horrific scene?
- I don't know that they definitively ever decided
She had a bite mark or not.
But it looked like she had some marks on her body.
- It appeared to me as though
There was strangulation marks around her neck.
- Narrator: As news of connie's murder spreads,
Her community struggles to understand
Who could have done this to such a beloved woman.
- Connie reyes was a very well-respected social worker.
She loved children. She was just a good person.
She did not get what she deserved.
- ♪
- Narrator: Born in 1932, concepcion "connie" reyes
Was raised in the philippines with her three siblings.
- We lived in san juan in the philippines,
Which is around manila.
- She was born there, she grew up there.
She went to school in the philippines.
She came to the united states to go to teacher college,
And then stayed here and began her career.
- Her career had always been devoted to children.
- She worked in the local schools
Here in kenosha as a teacher.
- Narrator: In the late 1960s,
After teaching grade school in the us for multiple years,
Connie got her master's degree in social work
And began working with the
Department of social services in kenosha.
- She helped children in abusive homes.
She would kind of monitor the situation
To see if the children needed to be taken out of the homes
And I'm sure she saw a lot of not so pleasant things,
But she was dedicated to her job.
- Connie was the kind of person that would
Do everything she could to try to reunify the family,
But she also would do everything she could
To pursue the termination
Of parental rights at the same time.
My office prosecuted child abuse cases,
So, I knew connie reyes and, uh, I admired her.
- She felt very strongly about the mission
Of children and family services. It was her life.
- She was so well respected
As a social worker and an advocate for children.
- Narrator: Connie was also deeply devoted to her family.
And in 1978, she sponsored
Her brother paul and his family for american citizenship.
- We actually lived with her in her two-bedroom apartment.
We are a family of five,
And we lived with her for a good month or two,
You know, and she never complained.
- We didn't have furniture,
You know, we had to leave a lot of our toys behind.
Connie was a tremendous help in really helping us set up
Our household and getting us back on our feet
In a new country.
She was involved in our lives. We were involved in hers.
- Narrator: Throughout the 1980s,
As her nieces grew into young women,
Connie remained a strong presence in their lives.
- We spent all holidays with her.
She was a great cook.
- She was really our only family in wisconsin.
She was aunt, she was grandmother,
She was uncle, you know, she was everything to us.
- Narrator: With a career she loved
And her family behind her every step of the way,
Connie was living the life she'd always imagined.
- She was certainly highly regarded by the judges
And by the prosecutors and by the defense bar
In kenosha county.
She was a really wonderful, warm human being.
I really enjoyed working with her
And I found her to be inspiring.
- Narrator: As kenosha investigators
Stand over connie's lifeless body,
They can't fathom who could have
Viciously murdered this pillar of the community.
- I remember because it was easter Sunday
That's when I heard the news.
I had expected to see her that night.
- Connie reyes was very deeply loved by those people
Who knew her, especially by her family members,
And her friends.
- Narrator: Outside the residence,
Detectives arrive and turn to the person
Who called 911, connie's friend and coworker,
Joanne slater.
- Joanne slater and her husband were very close to connie,
And they hadn't talked to her in a day or two,
So, they went to the house and that's when they discovered
Her body in the house.
- Joanne had indicated that connie reyes was diabetic
And that she was aware that she had gone home early
From work on Thursday, April 12th.
She had fallen ill,
Maybe due to the diabetes or something else.
- Narrator: Joanne tells investigators
She had a spare key to connie's house
And went to check on her.
- The paperboy, as I understand it,
Left some papers between the screen door and the front door.
- Joanne went to the front door,
And all the newspapers had fallen out,
So, it's obvious nobody had opened that door.
She unlocked the front door, and she went in,
And found connie reyes' body.
- Connie reyes was found face down
And her clothing was disheveled.
Her friend who found her, called 911
And reported her death.
- Narrator: Though joanne is unable to provide
Any further details, investigators suspect
She was the last person to see connie alive
On Thursday, April 12.
- At that time, "kenosha's news" was delivered in the afternoon,
So, they were able to pinpoint that from the time
She left work, which was around 11:00 or so,
To uh, 4:30 in the afternoon, would have been the timeframe
That uh, she was murdered.
- Narrator: After speaking to joanne,
Investigators begin documenting the crime scene,
Starting with connie's body.
- It was readily apparent that connie reyes had been murdered
And looked like she had been strangled.
And the way her clothing was,
It just looked to me like she'd been sexually assaulted.
- She was wearing a little blouse and a sweater up.
With the sweater over her head, the blouse up, the bra up.
- Detectives found a pubic hair and uh,
A partial fingerprint on her glasses.
- The presence of the pubic hair was consistent with their belief
That it had been a male assailant.
- Narrator: Detectives fan out across the home
In search of more evidence.
- The police conducted the examination of the home
And determined that there was no evidence
That there were things taken from the home.
Her purse and wallet was still there and undisturbed.
- There was no sign of any forced entry.
So, that tells you right away it had to be someone
That she knew, and she let into the house.
- The assumption was that it was not a property crime.
It was something that was motivated by
Personal animus toward connie reyes.
- For her to die the way she did,
And go through what she went through
Was shocking, and made our stomachs turn.
- Narrator: Coming up:
Investigators uncover a string of possible suspects.
- Connie was assigned the toughest cases.
- They were satan worshipers.
They were all confessing to killing connie.
- ♪
- Narrator: Investigators in kenosha, wisconsin
Are desperate for a lead in the 24 hours
Following the discovery of social worker, connie reyes,
Murdered in her own home on easter weekend 1990.
- It pretty much sent shock waves
Through our department because she was
A very well-liked and very well-respected woman.
- Narrator: Adding to the shock of connie's death,
Is the brutal way she met her end.
- There had been, uh,
A violent attack and sexual assault.
- Narrator: Unfortunately,
There isn't much at the scene for detectives to work with.
- The physical evidence showed that she was murdered,
But we didn't have dna testing available.
- A lot of times in a case like this,
The focus would be on some, uh, disgruntled former partner
Or someone of that nature
And there wasn't anybody like that to focus on.
- She was never married.
And as far as any romantic relationships,
I was not aware of any.
- Narrator: Knowing connie was dedicated to her job,
Investigators begin their search for potential enemies
By looking at her most difficult clients.
- Connie was assigned the toughest cases.
She was very deeply committed
To the protection, safety, and welfare of children.
- She would occasionally have to remove the kids from a home,
For their benefit as well as
Trying to get the parents back in line,
It was kind of a last ditch "this is what I got to do".
- So, they immediately began to focus on the possibility
That it was one of her former clients
And particularly a male,
Given the nature of the sexual assault.
- There was so many different possible directions
Based on connie's caseload,
You know, people that she's had to deal with
And this could go over a period of years,
Not just who she was working with currently.
- Their suspect list dwindled to about four or five people
That she had, had some tension with families
At work, as far as removing kids from the home.
That of course, would be one of the top priorities
To, uh, bring these people in and talk to them and find out
Where they were, what they did
That particular day or timeframe,
And if they had any alibi, and then follow up on the alibi.
Some people, uh, interviewed
Were able to provide viable alibi's,
Eventually, uh, they were dismissed
As, uh, potential suspects.
There was no new viable information.
- Narrator: As much as investigators dig,
They're never able to gain traction.
- After about 48 hours,
You're starting to work a cold case,
Detectives had interviewed just about everyone
That they needed to and uh their alibi's
Either checked out or they had a reason
Why they were there and after about two years
It just dried up and with no new leads coming in,
It goes to the back burner.
- Narrator: As days turn to months,
Turn to years with no leads,
Connie's loved ones struggle to cope
With the lack of closure.
- Not knowing what happened to her
Was extremely frustrating. This didn't happen in a vacuum.
Obviously, there were people that went in there
And did this to her. Why is it difficult
For anybody to figure this out?
What are the police doing? What leads do they have?
What are they following? What are they doing?
You know didn't get a lot of answers
- The previous detective bureau captain
Kept this case closed but open in that if a new lead came in.
And some of the detectives that worked on the case originally
Retired and they were a little upset
That they were never able to solve that crime.
- Narrator: In June 1995, five years after the murder,
The connie reyes case lands on the desk
Of newly minted detective kristine fonk.
- I was just promoted to detective
And my supervisor at the time said,
"well, just work on it when you have time.
"or see what you can do with it.
Look into some of the old suspects,"
And so forth.
So, I did that in my spare time
And I did try to develop a couple different suspects.
She had this group of kids she was trying to help
That were satan worshipers.
So, I investigated that with another detective.
We worked that together and tried to see if
We could get anything out of these kids.
- Narrator: When detective fonk speaks to friends of the teens,
She learns an alarming accusation.
- They were all confessing to killing her.
- Narrator: Investigators immediately bring
All 4 teens in for questioning,
But it's clear they have a ring leader.
- Erick sanchez was the main one.
After speaking to him and speaking to a lot of people
Who were his friends, he was also confessing to them
That he had killed her, but he didn't have
Any of the pertinent information.
He didn't do it.
- Narrator: As another lead dries up,
When interviewing neighbors of connie reyes,
Detectives get a promising new suspect.
- Sergeant brody lived across the street
From uh, the reyes residence
And when he was interviewed by lieutenant fonk,
He remembered that there was this person
In the area that was acting inappropriately.
- Sergeant brody said that there was a neighborhood,
Young man who was acting out aggressively
Against a lot of the women in the neighborhood at the time,
Just prior to her murder.
Like chasing them from their cars
With their groceries to their back doors.
- Narrator: The 38-year-old described by the sergeant
Is terry thompson,
Who lived just around the corner from connie's house.
- So, I talked to all the women in the neighborhood
There were several that did state that
They were afraid of him.
He'd be running around the neighborhood
All the time at odd hours.
- Narrator: On Wednesday, November 8th, 1995,
Detectives confront terry.
- We asked him,
"could you please come down to the police station?
"and we'd just like to talk to you about
The connie reyes homicide." and he said,
"oh, of course, I would." so, he came with us
And we had an interview room. He talked to us, uh,
For- for hours actually.
- Narrator: As detectives turn up the heat on terry,
He makes a shocking confession...
- He came right up to the point where he said,
"yes. I went in to connie's house."
On such and such a day. It was near easter time,
He couldn't remember the day, but he said
He pounded on the door and he got her to open the door
And he said, he did step into the house,
And that's as far as he would go.
- Narrator: Coming up:
Just as they are about to break the case,
Detectives are stonewalled...
- I actually received a letter
Saying I can never talk to him again.
- Narrator: And a seemingly random crime,
Uncovers a long-buried secret.
- I called, the ke-kenosha police department
And I had asked if they had ever solved
Connie reyes's case. They said, "no, we have not."
And I says, "well, I might be able to help you."
- ♪
- Narrator: Five and a half years
After connie reyes was strangled to death,
One of her neighbors, terry thompson
Has admitted to forcing his way into her house
Around the time of the murder.
- What he said was, "I was angry with her,
Because she refused to help me learn to read,"
He knew she was a social worker,
And he was trying to get her to help him to read.
But this is as far as we got
Because his family had an attorney show up
At the police department for him, so we had to stop.
And then, I actually received a letter saying
I can never talk to him again.
He did have some emotional and mental issues.
Yet we couldn't tie him to the crime.
We had no probable cause to charge him.
- Narrator: Investigators' hands are tied.
- We couldn't have access to him.
At the end of our um, dealings with terry thompson,
We could not rule him out as a suspect
Because of his admission
Of going into the house and his behavior.
- Narrator: At yet another dead end,
Detective fonk decides to keep tabs on terry
While revisiting the evidence from the crime scene.
- I did run everything that was available to me
Through dna again when I got the case,
But it was degraded over time
Because the way they stored it back then was not proper
And things got moldy and useless.
The hair guy at the fbi did whatever he could with that.
And because it was a fragment, we couldn't match it to anybody.
So, there was actually no dna evidence that we could use.
- Narrator: As years tick by,
Connie's family remains haunted by her death.
- Eliza: I remember, um, for several years
After my aunt's murder, I would have dreams where
I would be in a room with her
And she'd say, "I have something very important to tell you."
And then I would wake up
And I would never know what she was trying to tell me.
I believe she wasn't at peace
Until this question could be answered
About what really happened to her and who did this to her.
- Narrator: Finally, 13 years after the murder,
On February 25th, 2003, a call comes in
From a woman named linda gulan
That shakes the dust off this cold case
Once and for all.
- I called, the kenosha police department,
And, I had asked if they had ever solved connie reyes's case.
They said, "no, we have not."
And I says, "well, I might be able to help you."
- Narrator: Linda is a former kenosha resident
Who recently moved to mississippi
With her husband, chester.
- In February of 2003, they were staying with
Their good friend, sandra bobo.
She had taken them in because they were out of a job,
They had no money.
- Narrator: According to linda, things got rocky
When chester stole sandra's silverware
To try to make some quick cash.
- She threatened to go to the police
Then he finally came to and- and told her that he pawned it.
- Sandra gave him an opportunity to go get it back,
But he didn't do it. So, sandra bobo
Called the monroe county sheriff's department
And they actually brought chester in
And were gonna charge him with theft.
- Chester was afraid of being arrested,
Uh, in mississippi for the theft and somehow in the conversation
He admitted that he had been involved in this homicide.
- He started stating things like,
"the police in kenosha are after me.
"they want to know about that homicide
"or that murder of the social worker.
I can't go back there. They can't know about me."
- Narrator: After hanging up with linda,
Detective fonk springs into action.
- I then went to captain mcnamara
And I said, "we gotta go to mississippi."
- Narrator: On March 9th, 2003,
Detective fonk arrives in aberdeen, mississippi,
And decides to speak with sandra bobo first.
- Narrator: Sandra says it was then
That chester brought up two of their mutual acquaintances
From back in wisconsin.
Gaylord gomaz and linda dancer.
- Sandra was friends with chester,
But she knew gaylord gomaz, and she knew linda dancer
From the past, but she stayed away from them.
She says, "I really didn't like them."
- Narrator: According to sandra, linda and gaylord
May have had a motive for wanting to harm connie.
- Narrator: Sandra says linda had lost custody
Of her daughters for putting them
In dangerous situations with adult men.
- Narrator: After wrapping up her interview with sandra bobo,
Detective fonk brings chester's wife,
Linda gulan in for questioning.
- Any information that I got, I put together on my own
Through all this time.
I just told them that weird things was happening,
And I told them that since we've been down here,
My husband had been acting real funny.
- Narrator: According to linda, while she and chester
Lived in kenosha for the decade after connie reyes' murder,
He was always a little on edge.
But once they moved to mississippi in 2003,
He seemed even more paranoid.
- You know how you are when you have to watch
Over your back because you're afraid
If you mess up, they're gonna get ya?
Well, that's how he used to be,
Once we got moved to mississippi.
- Linda gulan told me things that only someone
At the homicide would've known,
For instance, that she was sexually assaulted.
We never put that in the paper.
A couple of other details about
What clothing she had on, he was saying things like that
And he could've only known that if he was in there.
- Narrator: Detective fonk immediately tracks down
Chester gulan a few towns away in tupelo, mississippi
To hear his side of the story.
- I ask him to come with me, to talk to me
And he said, "sure."
I talked to chester for probably four hours,
Just asking him, "what's going on here?
"tell me what- what you told your wife,
And tell me what you told sandra"
And, he wasn't giving up a lot. He was just saying,
"oh, I just heard this," or, "I heard that."
And he was very nervous, very uptight.
- Narrator: Finally, after hours of intense questioning,
Chester begins to crack.
- We talked and talked, and I got him to tell me
What happened that night and how it happened.
He had kept this inside for 13 years,
And I believe he wanted to tell somebody.
- Narrator: Coming up.
Investigators finally hear the horrifying details
Of connie reyes' last moments.
- When she opened the door,
He put his foot in the door and then forced his way in.
- Connie hits her head on the counter,
Falls to the floor,
And then she's telling him to get her,
Get her, give her what she deserves.
- ♪
- Narrator: Thirteen years after the unsolved murder
Of connie reyes, chester gulan's guilt
Has finally consumed him
And he's ready to tell his story.
Chester tells detective fonk
That connie reyes was the social worker
On his friend, linda dancer's, child custody case.
- Linda dancer had three daughters,
Three little girls, who were removed
From her custody by connie reyes
But she was allowed supervised visitation.
- There were some issues between gaylord and linda in the home
And connie apparently felt it was imperative
To remove the children
Until they resolved some of their issues.
- Linda was very upset and had been very upset
With connie reyes for a number of months
Because of her children being taken away.
- Narrator: According to chester,
Gaylord and linda were scheduled to have a visitation
On Thursday April 12th, 1990 until connie became ill.
- So, later on in the evening now,
They hookup with chester gulan, they pick him up at work.
Linda is so angry
About this no visitation
That she's telling them that we're going to go get connie,
She's gonna get what she deserves
For not letting her see her children.
- The decision was made that they were gonna go over there,
And they needed chester gulan to knock at the door
Because uh, connie reyes won't open the door
For either gaylord gomaz or linda dancer.
These three losers sitting in a restaurant,
Drinking coffee, and planning a homicide.
- Narrator: Chester says he reluctantly agreed,
And rode with linda and gaylord to connie's home that evening.
- When she opened the door,
Gaylord gomaz put his foot in the door
And then forced his way in.
- Linda shoves connie
To where connie hits her head on the counter,
Falls to the floor, and then she's telling gaylord
To get her, to get her, give her what she deserves.
- Narrator: According to chester,
Gaylord did as he was told.
- Gaylord is now on top of her,
And linda's down on the floor,
Gaylord punches her in the face.
We always thought connie was bitten,
That someone bit her left thigh.
Well, that turned out to be boot kicks
From either linda dancer or gaylord gomaz.
- Narrator: Chester claims the scene was so brutal
He eventually went back to the car
And waited for linda and gaylord.
- So, chester gulan inculpated himself in the homicide,
But he denied that he actually murdered connie,
And he also denied that he sexually assaulted her.
- He was gonna be under arrest and I informed him, you know,
Chester, you were there, you're part of this.
There was plenty of evidence to charge first-degree homicide.
- Narrator: Kenosha police are now eager to question
Linda dancer and gaylord gomaz,
But first, they pull linda's file
From the department of social services
And discover a deeper connection between linda and connie.
- Linda had a very difficult life.
She had been the product of the foster care system herself.
- It said she had to go to three different foster homes
And at that time, her social worker
Was actually connie reyes.
- She already disliked ms. Reyes.
When she was removed from her mother's home
It was by ms. Reyes so, there was an animosity there.
- Narrator: By the time she was 25 years old,
Linda had three kids with multiple partners
Who did not stick around. Then in 1985,
She met and married gaylord gomaz.
- It was an unstable, dysfunctional relationship
That existed between linda dancer and gaylord gomaz.
- Gaylord and linda were married at the time of the homicide,
Linda, is a very persuasive individual
When it came to gaylord,
She could get him to do anything and everything that she wanted
Or she would really be a nasty person to him
And make his life miserable.
- I had met them in 1985.
Gaylord was always scary.
Chester, he was the shy person.
He was the one that always tagged along, you know.
We did everything together.
- All three of these individuals,
In my personal opinion,
They're all very street-smart people.
Uh, linda had a history of stealing and, being uh,
Kind of a troublemaker.
- Narrator: With chester in police custody
In mississippi,
Detective fonk tells her colleagues in kenosha
To track down linda and gaylord immediately.
- Linda dancer was in kenosha as was gaylord gomaz.
They were divorced at this point in 2003.
I was assigned to go look for gaylord.
I had an address where we last knew gaylord to live.
And sure enough gaylord was there.
I asked him if he would come to the police department
He came, uh, voluntarily.
- In the course of the interview,
Gaylord denied anything about being involved.
Detective strash pinpointed that
I know you're not telling me the truth.
I know this, this and this,
And this is what chester told us.
- Narrator: Like chester, gaylord eventually breaks down.
- He got to the point where he admitted it,
Let it out and he became
Very detailed and graphic in, uh, what happened.
- Narrator: But according to gaylord,
Things didn't happen exactly how chester
Had previously told detectives.
- Gaylord gomaz said that it was chester gulan
That strangled connie reyes.
- Narrator: Gaylord admits to sexually assaulting connie,
But claims he wasn't the only one.
- Chester, he says well, I'm gonna get in on this
And he does the same thing.
- Narrator: With both men
Pointing the finger at each other,
Investigators turn to linda dancer,
Hoping to finally learn the truth.
- When she did her interview, she sat down on the floor.
- She said that gaylord gomaz is the one
That strangled connie reyes and that she, linda dancer,
Had stepped between gaylord and connie
To try to protect connie.
- Linda dancer, of course,
Doesn't accept any responsibility
That was not consistent with chester gulan's testimony
And gaylord gomaz's testimony, was that linda dancer
Was the motivating force behind this home invasion,
Homicide, and sexual assault.
- Narrator: Detectives have heard enough,
And on March 11th, 2003,
Authorities charge chester, linda and gaylord
With first-degree murder.
It's not long before the news reaches connie's family.
- I found out while I was at work
So I quick- rushed home. I was just shocked.
I- I couldn't believe it. After so long, you know.
But I commend this lady that called the police
And turned her husband in.
- It was wonderful to hear that finally we have answers to this,
Or we can now maybe get some answers to this.
Perhaps there can be some justice.
- Narrator: Coming up:
Connie's killers finally have their day in court.
- You could see the jurors at the time were just shocked
At- at some of the information that they were receiving.
- Narrator: And more horrific details
Of connie's final moments come to light.
- It just tore me apart that they did stuff like that to her.
- After they killed her and moved her body,
They sang, "plop, plop, fizz, fizz.
Oh, what a relief it is."
- ♪
- Narrator: After 13 years, kenosha police
Have finally arrested linda dancer,
Linda's ex-husband, gaylord gomaz,
And their friend, chester gulan
For the brutal murder of connie reyes.
- The case was based upon
What we call interlocking confessions,
But we didn't have dna testing, we didn't have physical evidence
That linked any one of these three people
To this crime.
- There was one piece of evidence
That was left and it was a fragment of a pubic hair
And because it was a fragment, we couldn't match it to anybody.
So, um, there was actually no
Dna evidence that we could use.
- Narrator: With no concrete evidence to go on,
Prosecutors must rely on the statements
Of each of the defendants to close this case.
- Each of them pointed the finger at everybody else,
And you simply can't try all three of them together.
What you do in a case like that is you prosecute the case
First that has the- the best confession,
That was chester gulan.
- I did talk to chester one more time
With a final attempt to try to get him
To put himself in there and I was able to do that.
He did, later on that afternoon,
He said, "yes, I was in there.
I saw everything that happened."
I said, "chester, they're telling me
You had sex with connie too and after she was already dead."
He would never admit to that.
- So, chester gulan's second statement
Inculpated himself in the homicide,
But he denied that he actually murdered connie,
And he also denied that he sexually assaulted her.
- Narrator: Though he denies his involvement,
Chester does give detectives one final chilling detail
About the murder...
- He said they all sang song after it;
After they killed her and moved her body, they sang,
"plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is."
And they were singing that song as they left the house.
- It's just so dreadful that these people
Are responsible for the loss of a noble person
Like connie reyes.
- I was like, oh my god, I couldn't believe
That linda and gaylord and, and chester
Had anything to do with this.
And I mean, I felt it right down in my heart for ms. Reyes.
It just tore me apart that they did
Stuff like that to her.
- Narrator: As prosecutors head to trial,
Gaylord has a change of heart.
- The idea was to try chester gulan first,
Gaylord gomaz second, and linda dancer third.
Gaylord gomaz threw that off a little bit
Because he decided to plead guilty,
Which is very unusual for someone to plead guilty
To a murder case, but that's what happened.
- Gaylord saw the light and he plead guilty
To avoid going to court.
It was very difficult for him to testify.
- So then, we tried chester gulan,
And I called gaylord gomaz as a witness.
He testified and he implicated chester gulan and, um,
Chester gulan was convicted, and then, we did,
Uh, linda dancer the very next week.
- Narrator: Prosecutors assert that linda
Was the true mastermind behind this brutal crime.
- It was just her personality
That she got what she wanted or she was- she became aggressive.
In the end, I think that's why she snapped that day.
She didn't get her girls for easter
And that's what did it.
- It's not so much that she did this
Out of love for her children, she did this out of resentment
For the fact that somebody else would presume to tell her
How she's gonna live her life or take something away from her
That belonged to her.
- She wanted to get even with ms. Reyes
For taking her children away and then canceling
That last minute visitation.
Another important piece of the puzzle
Was connie was the case worker that pulled linda
And her siblings out of the home and placed into a foster home.
Linda hated connie so much that she wanted her dead.
- Narrator: Between the three partial confessions,
Linda's defense seems bleak.
- You could see the jurors at the time
Were just shocked at- at some of the information
That they were receiving. You can imagine 12 people,
Forced to listen to what was really ugly information.
So, it-it was an uphill battle to defend linda dancer.
I fought as hard as I could given the circumstances.
- Narrator: Like gaylord and chester,
Linda is found guilty of first-degree murder.
- I did not go every day to, um, to the trials,
But I did go to the sentencings; all three.
They let us, um, say some things,
Um, they let us make some comments before sentencing.
So, I did do that, that was tough.
I read some bible verses and then I remember
For gaylord gomez, um,
When he left the room, he yelled fu.
- They all got mandatory life imprisonment.
- When you get involved in a case,
You live it every day until you get to the end,
And I was just so relieved to see them all found guilty
And all sent to prison for the rest of their life.
- I felt relieved and hopeful
That my aunt was finally at peace.
- Narrator: In 2007, 4 years after his sentencing.
Chester dies in prison.
Linda remains behind bars until her death in 2020.
- My biggest regret is that
They weren't convicted more quickly after her homicide.
I regret that they had one day of freedom
After they committed this terrible crime.
- It was a violent, horrible crime,
And she didn't deserve any of it.
She was doing her job.
She was watching out for these children,
What they did to her was inexcusable
And she didn't deserve any of it.
- I will say it's still hard to talk about
Even after all these years. It really is, you know.
And she took a part of our-
They took a part of our family away.
And, um, you just never really get over it.
- ♪