1 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:20,920 [man] I'm not saying it was right to take another person's life, but... 2 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,440 sometimes it has to happen. 3 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,000 Being Mexican, there's a certain way we live our life, 4 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:31,640 a certain machismo that we use. 5 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,000 I couldn't sit there and watch some guy beat up on a woman. 6 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:41,840 It's not gonna happen. 7 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:11,800 But when I seen him coming... 8 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:14,560 I looked over at him. 9 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:16,440 Yeah, we're gonna see who... 10 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:18,280 We're gonna see who kills who, huh? 11 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:23,440 It's weird to explain. 12 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,400 You'd think you'd be more nervous, but it was more of a... 13 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:28,000 it's... it's gonna happen. 14 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,400 Almost like getting your first kiss. [chuckles] 15 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:48,040 [man 1] This is a true story. 16 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:51,480 I'll start it off like that. 17 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,040 [man 2] I just wanted to rebel. I wanted to cause chaos. 18 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,880 I looked over at him. We're gonna see who kills who. 19 00:01:57,960 --> 00:01:59,280 [woman] I made the choice. 20 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:01,440 I took his life. 21 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,440 [man 3] It's something that I never intended to do, 22 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:07,120 I wish I didn't do. 23 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,440 [man 4] I knew I was gonna get out of that car and murder those two men. 24 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:19,120 [man 3] As he kneeled in front of me, all I remember is pulling the trigger. 25 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:22,920 [man 5] I'd killed them both. 26 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:25,400 I'd stabbed them to death. 27 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,560 It was early in the morning when I got the call. 28 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,080 Get in the car and drove way out here. 29 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:16,640 This was the furthest south 30 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,800 that I'd had any crime scenes in a while. 31 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,480 I'd been in Homicide for about ten years. You never know what you're gonna find. 32 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,720 You never know what, uh... the surprise is gonna be. 33 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,240 [horn blares] 34 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,560 [Kyle] There was a car up against the concrete center barriers. 35 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:56,640 There was a body of the driver behind the steering wheel. 36 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,160 These drive-by type shootings, 37 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:04,560 road rage type shootings, 38 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,400 often are difficult to solve. 39 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,080 There were shell casings on the ground, 40 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:13,920 which changed... 41 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:16,400 what I had originally thought 42 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,640 of someone being shot at along the roadway. 43 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,480 Someone bothered to come right up to the window 44 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,000 where this person was helplessly behind the wheel 45 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:29,920 and shoot them again. 46 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,480 Whoever it was really wanted this person dead. 47 00:04:58,480 --> 00:04:59,680 [crackling] 48 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:01,680 [man] Can you hear me? 49 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:08,760 All right... 50 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:11,160 [chuckles] 51 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:23,760 My name is Mark Sam Arthur, 52 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:26,240 and I'm, uh, doing a capital life sentence 53 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,920 for capital murder. Uh... 54 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:30,920 It took place in Houston, Texas. 55 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,280 Well, growing up as a kid, I visited family in Mexico and Chicago. 56 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,560 Uh, but most of my life was spent 57 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:54,600 in Houston and the surrounding suburbs. 58 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,440 [distant children's voices] 59 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:01,840 Nowhere near wealthy growing up, but, uh, my mom did the best, you know. 60 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:04,200 She worked hard to take care of us. 61 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:10,240 Uh, my mother's Mexican Indian. 62 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:16,080 She always tried to take good care of me, but I was a bit rebellious. 63 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:21,880 I've never met my biological father. 64 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:43,800 He was real abusive. Didn't like me for whatever reason. 65 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:48,680 He... he hit me with a closed fist. 66 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:51,920 I used to get picked up, 67 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,560 thrown to the other side of the room, kicked around. 68 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:05,600 I seen him beat her up. 69 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:09,600 When I saw it happen in front of the... 70 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,320 That a man or a so-called man would put his hands on a woman like that... 71 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:15,200 He grabbed her hair and punched her. 72 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:20,840 I was too little to do anything about it. 73 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,280 The guy I looked up to that I called my father was Homer Milbourn. 74 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,440 He took care of my mom and told her after they got married, 75 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:40,120 he didn't even want her to work. 76 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:42,800 He just... He said, "The man takes care of his wife." 77 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,320 In just a few years, he taught me a lot. 78 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,040 [sobbing] Um, I never talked about him since he died, so... 79 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,760 It's weird I break down in front of you. I've never cried since he died. 80 00:07:59,040 --> 00:07:59,880 Uh... 81 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:01,320 Um, he... 82 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,720 He's the one that actually told me to start respecting my mom 83 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,480 and that I should get my shit together. Um... 84 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,240 [distant siren] 85 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:37,360 I wound up joining the Maniac Latin Disciple Nation, 86 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,440 which is a member of the Folks Alliance. 87 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,040 We were a brotherhood, a fraternal bond. 88 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,520 Uh, we believed in the growth and betterment of our neighborhoods, 89 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,520 our... our people, uh, our culture. 90 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:52,520 [distant dog barking] 91 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,960 Mess with one, you mess with all. One love, one hate. 92 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,760 I never was really into using drugs or drinking alcohol. 93 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:07,760 I just... 94 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,520 wasn't very good at sports or anything like that, 95 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,240 so I'd try to show that I was good at fighting or shooting or... 96 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,200 whatever else it took to establish my dominance. 97 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:29,360 When I was about 14, 98 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,440 I got real close with a guy named Esequiel Fonseca. 99 00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:38,760 We were both pretty good at, uh, chasing girls and getting into fights 100 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,560 with some of the same rivals, the same... same gangs. 101 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:44,880 [birds singing] 102 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:49,880 We were both into breaking into cars, breaking into houses. 103 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:54,920 Robbed a few people. 104 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,560 Most of the time, it was my idea. I was like, "You wanna come?" 105 00:09:58,640 --> 00:09:59,960 He was like, "Yeah, sure." 106 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,520 Why wouldn't you want to hang around with a guy that, you know... 107 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,200 was always doing something exciting? 108 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:13,640 I'd sleep over at his place or hang out there for a couple days. 109 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:16,760 His mom was cool with us 110 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,760 and would give us something to eat or let us hang around, 111 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,440 and everybody looked up to her as a mother figure. 112 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:30,680 I was real close to her. 113 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:37,200 She never told his dad 114 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,920 that we were out there getting in trouble and stuff. 115 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:44,360 I pretty much stayed away from my house because there were too many rules there. 116 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:50,520 Me and, uh, "Little Zeke," Esequiel, 117 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:54,800 so we hung out... we hung out pretty well until he went to prison when I was 16. 118 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:57,680 I wasn't there, so I don't know what happened. 119 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:27,320 When I came by his house, his mom was beat up pretty bad. 120 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,960 She had a couple plugs of hair missing out of her head, 121 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,520 she'd been burned with a curling iron, black eyes. 122 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,520 I said, "Let me ask, have you been fighting with a man?" 123 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,560 She's like, "Yeah." That's when she told me she got beat up 124 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,440 by her husband, which is Esequiel Fonseca, uh, Senior. 125 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:49,600 I'm opposed to the physical abuse of women 126 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:51,320 because I kind of felt bad 127 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,400 that I couldn't help my sister when... at that time. 128 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,120 But now I'm big enough that I can help my friend's mom. 129 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,280 So, I stood up for her when I couldn't stand up for my sister. 130 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,280 I guess I could say I tried to redeem myself. 131 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:08,360 [horn blares] 132 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,240 I waited around and went ahead and kicked his ass. 133 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:35,760 I beat him up pretty bad now. 134 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,760 After I beat him up, he told me he was going to kill me. 135 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,880 If you threaten my life, you're surely putting your own at risk. 136 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:54,280 [distant siren] 137 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,880 I think probably about two weeks went by after Big Zeke made his little threat. 138 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:09,120 And I made up my mind 139 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,920 that I was gonna go ahead and get him first. 140 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:29,240 I was in the passenger side. 141 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:31,440 I had Mason driving the car. 142 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:36,480 I didn't tell him exactly what I was gonna do. 143 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,440 I know that Big Zeke would come home from work not too long after sunset. 144 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,120 I know the kind of location of the place. 145 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:49,840 So, I was waiting for him. 146 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,120 Sure enough, not too long after I drove over there, I see him come by. 147 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,960 Here's my chance to make my bones, you know, do what I'm gonna do. 148 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:07,360 I was mad at him for what he did. 149 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:14,200 Mad at the way he talked to me, at what he did to my friend's mom. 150 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:18,320 And, uh, I pulled next to him. 151 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,160 Our windows were side by side with each other. 152 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:26,240 When I saw the light illuminate through the moon roof, 153 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,160 I got a good look at him. "Yeah, that's him, huh?" 154 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:34,760 Mason was surprised when I pulled out a handgun. 155 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,080 And I turned a round into... into the handgun... 156 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,880 and, uh, unloaded the clip onto him. 157 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,560 Kept going until there wasn't no bullets left. 158 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,200 Pretty much didn't have no choice but to keep driving. 159 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:01,920 I didn't want to focus on it. I mean, what's done is done. 160 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,960 It's an "either him or me" type of deal. And he was my enemy, so... 161 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:07,400 to hell with him. 162 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:41,600 We all got arrested. 163 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:46,480 The police in Harris County came by there when they found out I was in custody. 164 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:48,960 They took me to Harris County. 165 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:52,600 I knew I was caught red-handed, 166 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,440 so I went ahead and told them everything that I did. 167 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:37,160 It was a misconception of the newspapers, saying it was a relationship type of deal, 168 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,480 but really it was more... I looked at her more like a home girl. 169 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,640 The Harris County Sheriff Department said that she told me, 170 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,520 "Go ahead and kill Esequiel and we'll split the money." 171 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,160 And I'm... That's not anything that took place. 172 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,360 The reason I offed the guy is he told me he was gonna kill me. 173 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,400 And I just... I didn't like him. 174 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:06,200 I found out I could make an affidavit 175 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:08,760 and let them know she had nothing to do with this. 176 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,720 So, I tried my best to... 177 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:13,920 If you had nothing to do with this, 178 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,680 there's no reason for me to get her involved in my wrongdoings. 179 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:28,040 [birds singing] 180 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:32,040 [woman] Good job, dear. 181 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:34,760 You're a good girl. 182 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,480 I met Mark in 1993, January. 183 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,040 He was 14 at the time. 184 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:51,680 I was 18. 185 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:56,080 Interesting young man. 186 00:17:58,120 --> 00:17:59,200 He was still a kid. 187 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,200 But he joined us in... in things that we did, 188 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:06,800 so he kind of felt like an adult. 189 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:12,440 Put off the aura of, "I'm a tough guy." 190 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,160 I never met any of his friends 191 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:19,760 that he talked about. 192 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,000 "Oh, yeah, we're gangsters, 193 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:23,560 part of a gang." 194 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,600 But we never saw any of them. 195 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,800 So, I didn't quite believe him in that sense. 196 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:33,760 He thought he was... 197 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:36,920 I don't know, a gangster. 198 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:58,880 [dog pants] 199 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,560 Suddenly, out of the blue one day, 200 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,240 I just get this letter in the mail from Mark. 201 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:12,160 He didn't know my new address. 202 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:14,800 And somehow he found me. 203 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,880 But I guess if you want something on the inside, you can get it. 204 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,720 He had written that he had gotten into some trouble, 205 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:29,760 and... 206 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:33,120 uh, would I write to him? 207 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:35,600 Would I help him in any way, 208 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:37,680 write to him, talk to him, 209 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:39,040 see if I can get him out? 210 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:40,120 [laughs] 211 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:43,240 I was very surprised. 212 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:46,680 Capital murder is a... 213 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:48,600 is a big... 214 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:50,600 That's a big crime. 215 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:51,520 [laughs] 216 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:56,400 I did write to him. I wrote back. 217 00:19:57,800 --> 00:19:59,480 And then he explained 218 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,280 that he was in love with a woman 219 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:05,680 that was older than him, named Carmen. 220 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:09,960 And that he would never be with her again. 221 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:12,400 And that was the saddest part... 222 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,880 of his life at that time. 223 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:19,760 The saddest part. 224 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:22,840 I don't know. 225 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,120 Your first heartache, your first... 226 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:30,720 your first love... 227 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:33,880 uh, that never goes away. 228 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:10,960 [barking] 229 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,680 My name is Jesse Sanchez, Senior, 230 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,760 and my relationship to Mark is I'm his uncle. 231 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:18,800 His mom is my sister. 232 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,600 Mark didn't get the attention from his mom. 233 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:26,920 He didn't have a father around, 234 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,040 so he didn't get the attention from his mom either, because she was... 235 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:34,880 leaving him with babysitters and relatives 236 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,360 because she was in relationship and relationship. 237 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,280 She, uh, pretty much pushed him aside. 238 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,240 So, that, uh, I'm sure, affected Mark. 239 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,280 He didn't believe anybody really loved him or cared for him, 240 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,600 and I'm sure he was looking for acceptance, 241 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:59,600 in addition to affection outside the... the family. 242 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,440 Carmen used her body for sex, and then the money. 243 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,000 She didn't pull the trigger, but she influenced him 244 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:12,960 to the point where, uh, she got him to do... 245 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,200 what she wanted him to do. 246 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,160 He felt like... "Well, she's accepting me, she loves me, 247 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:24,360 so I'm going to do this for her." 248 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:29,360 And he got manipulated into doing something that... 249 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,840 you... you know, he's paying, uh... 250 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:34,640 he's paying with his life. 251 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:39,320 [birds singing] 252 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,760 [dog barking] 253 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,280 [Mark] Once I was sitting in prison, I thought about my friend's mom, Carmen. 254 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:04,720 It was a misconception of the newspapers, saying it was a relationship type of deal. 255 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,240 I looked at her more like a home girl. 256 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,040 The Harris County Sheriff Department said that she told me, 257 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:13,840 "Go ahead and kill Esequiel and we'll split the money." 258 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:16,680 And I'm... That's not anything that took place. 259 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,880 The reason I offed the guy is he told me he was gonna kill me. 260 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:21,840 And I just... I didn't like him. 261 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:26,480 [sighs softly] 262 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:29,880 He... he's not telling the truth. 263 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,120 It's hard to understand why somebody would do that 264 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,640 after spending this many years behind bars 265 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,680 and still saying, "No, she had nothing to do with it." 266 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:44,600 To me, it's just like, uh... 267 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,320 he's just trying to be... 268 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,160 uh, do the honorable thing and just take the whole rap 269 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,240 and not implicate nobody else. 270 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:54,040 But it's not... 271 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,800 it's not very honorable to protect somebody that used you 272 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,560 and manipulated you to do something like that. 273 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:03,120 If he's still saying that today, then... 274 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,080 it's hard to understand why. 275 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:09,880 [birds singing[ 276 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:19,400 For him to continue to say that it was just him... 277 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:21,920 uh, it just doesn't make sense. 278 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:23,200 You know, he needs to... 279 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:24,520 um... 280 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,600 come clean and tell the truth. 281 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,360 Because loyalty and honorable is no good behind bars. 282 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,200 My name is Patrick McCann. I'm a criminal defense attorney 283 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:35,000 and I was one of the two counsel 284 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,600 that represented Carmen Fonseca at her trial. 285 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:44,840 The state tried to portray her 286 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,480 as sort of an evil, seductive mastermind. 287 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,400 Their theory was that she had put Mark up to this 288 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:55,840 in return for, um, 289 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:57,440 either sexual favors or... 290 00:25:57,880 --> 00:25:59,400 um, part of the money. 291 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,120 Our theory was that Mark wanted Esequiel dead, 292 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,680 so he could have his woman, his house and his car. 293 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:12,240 It made no sense whatsoever. 294 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:14,600 The story that they concocted, 295 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:17,360 although fun and interesting 296 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,520 and maybe a good subject for a movie, 297 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:20,600 was not real. 298 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:23,760 If you genuinely hate the guy... 299 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:27,280 then there should have been some evidence of that 300 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:30,120 um, in the family history, and there really wasn't. 301 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,440 I mean, there was evidence that the marriage was not going well. 302 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:35,440 Um... 303 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:37,840 But, you know, that... 304 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,880 that sums up probably half the marriages in the country. 305 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,360 And if you knew Carmen, she wasn't... 306 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,160 she may not have been the most sophisticated person, 307 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,000 but she was also, um, not a person who had any violence in her. 308 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,200 I believe Carmen Fonseca was innocent of this crime. 309 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:20,960 I... I think, clearly, Mark was the driving force. 310 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:27,080 He decided that this would be his somehow oddly... 311 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:30,960 sickly romantic gift, um, to Carmen 312 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,560 to give her a new life that he could be part of. 313 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,600 But that was his fantasy, not hers. 314 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:52,360 [birds singing] 315 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,600 [Nicole] Every birthday, I get artwork. 316 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:08,120 "Happy Halloween." 317 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,760 Uh, he likes Valentine's Day, 318 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:12,440 he likes Halloween. 319 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:14,400 [laughs] 320 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,040 I don't know why he would send this to me. 321 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:18,800 [laughs] 322 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,200 But it looks like a vampire woman... 323 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:24,880 biting another woman's breast. 324 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,040 Three hundred and fifty letters. 325 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,000 He writes to me a lot more than I write to him, though. 326 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,080 And I'm sorry about that. It's just... 327 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:52,960 life does get in the way out here. 328 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:55,840 He has more time to write than I do. 329 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,400 It tells, basically, the story of his life in prison. 330 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:05,480 I believe it... 331 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,360 gives a good account of what's going on in there, 332 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:11,440 only it's from one perspective. 333 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:14,080 It would be from Mark's perspective. 334 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,280 July 19th of 2001... 335 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,280 he says, "Say, your postcards are fine with me. 336 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,000 Hell, at least you send something 337 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:26,840 and you write once every week. 338 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:28,360 Thank you. 339 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:30,960 My existence would sure really suck 340 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:32,560 if not for you. 341 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,880 And so don't feel bad, because I know that you love me." 342 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:42,200 Interesting choice of words. 343 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,680 He's like, "I really appreciate, over the years, 344 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,160 just you sticking by my side." 345 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:54,520 That was in there. 346 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:56,680 That was important to me too. 347 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:03,720 So, over the years, 348 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,160 Mark has written to me 349 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,320 and he has disclosed to me 350 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:15,680 the events that led up to the murder of Esequiel. 351 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,000 What he told me was that, basically, 352 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:24,960 he was seeing an older woman named Carmen, 353 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:27,960 who was married to a man named Esequiel... 354 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:33,440 and that he had been seeing Carmen for a while, 355 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,560 and that she had gotten pregnant... 356 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:37,720 by Mark. 357 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,240 Esequiel found out and beat her 358 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:45,720 to the point where she miscarried at eight months. 359 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:50,880 So, the interpretation I get out of his letters... 360 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:56,600 is that he wanted revenge for killing his child. 361 00:30:57,680 --> 00:30:58,880 A life for a life. 362 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:28,440 My name's Kyle Brown. 363 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:30,840 I investigated homicides. 364 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,840 My role in this case was as the lead investigator. 365 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:44,760 During the course of our investigation of the murder of Esequiel Fonseca, 366 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:49,000 we found that the person who killed him, Mark Arthur, 367 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:51,960 had a relationship with Esequiel's wife, Carmen. 368 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:56,480 Esequiel's wife convinced Mark... 369 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,480 that if he would kill her husband, 370 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:04,320 he would get Esequiel's brand-new car, 371 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:06,760 he would get to live in the house, 372 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,920 he would get to continue to be her boyfriend, her lover. 373 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,960 He would get access and the ability 374 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,240 to not have Esequiel looking over him 375 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,320 and just be able to continue his little... 376 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:21,720 life of crime, coming and going, living there in the home. 377 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,240 Her motivation was to get rid of Esequiel 378 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,000 and there was insurance money involved. 379 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,800 They had a detailed plan, they had worked it out together. 380 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,280 And the reason we know this is, uh, Mark Arthur told us. 381 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:45,680 Somewhere else... 382 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:49,000 [indistinct conversation] 383 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:50,320 The officer's here. 384 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,520 [indistinct conversation] 385 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:56,560 You're good. That's fine. 386 00:32:57,320 --> 00:32:58,720 -I'll get closer. -Okay. 387 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:01,840 [Kyle] When we interviewed Mark... 388 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:07,240 Mark immediately told us everything that he had been doing. 389 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:12,160 Mark told us all about his motivation, 390 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:16,360 all about the setup of Esequiel Fonseca, 391 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:19,160 all about being asked to do this crime. 392 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:22,640 [Kyle] How many times has she asked you to kill him? 393 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:24,000 [Mark] This is the first time. 394 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,360 She brought up the idea that she wouldn't mind him being killed. 395 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,840 She never actually brought anything to my attention until that day. 396 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:37,200 He immediately, immediately went to that as his motivation... 397 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,560 that... that she'd asked him to do it. She'd asked him to do it, 398 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,880 and he was going to be rewarded for doing it. 399 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,920 There's no question. As a matter of fact, we, uh... 400 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,600 I referred to this constantly, 401 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,120 throughout years when people would refer to this, 402 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:53,840 as more of a contract killing... 403 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:56,960 than any crime of passion. 404 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:00,800 I was like, "When?" She said, "Now." 405 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,400 I said, "What?" I told her, I said, "When he gets off work?" 406 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,920 She's like, "Yeah, he gets off at 7:00 and takes the Beltway." 407 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:07,920 "All right, cool." 408 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,800 [Kyle] He was very, very straightforward with us, 409 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:16,640 and told us about his participation with our victim's wife. 410 00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:19,440 He told us about it being a plan. 411 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,880 He told us about everything to do with their setup 412 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,200 of our victim, of her husband. 413 00:34:27,240 --> 00:34:28,800 Couldn't stop him from talking. 414 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,120 [Mark] He was moving in the car, so I let off a few more shots. 415 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:35,080 [Kyle] Did you see any blood at the time? 416 00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:37,040 [Mark] I seen the hole in his temple. 417 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,280 I reached in there and I put one leg alongside of the car. 418 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,840 I've got long, skinny legs. I was sitting in between, like a saddle. 419 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:46,800 I was pushing his ass up. 420 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,520 I got another hand and I was pushing the wallet out. 421 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:53,120 -Did anybody promise you anything? -No. 422 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:56,320 [Kyle] He liked to brag. 423 00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:01,920 He liked to talk about how he had done his crimes and, uh... 424 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,280 almost as if it was a badge of honor. 425 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:06,600 Almost as if it was, um... 426 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:08,840 that it made him a tough guy. 427 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:14,760 As a matter of fact, he said it casually. He said, "I've been on my little, um... 428 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,960 I've had my fun and I'm gonna go do a little time now. 429 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:21,440 And then I'll... 430 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:23,280 get out." 431 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:26,280 [indistinct conversation] 432 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:31,560 [door closes] 433 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,760 [Kyle] I didn't get the impression from him 434 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:40,400 that he was anybody's rescuer or savior. 435 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:45,800 I got more the impression that he was the person that came up to people 436 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,480 and took what he wanted from them when he wanted it 437 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:50,480 at whatever cost it was to them. 438 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:00,600 [operator] Thank you. 439 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:02,800 -[Mark] Hey. -[Carmen] Yeah? 440 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,000 [operator] You have a collect call. 441 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:17,000 [Mark] Let's cut the bullshit. You know I did it. 442 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,200 -[Carmen] What? -[Mark] You know I did it. 443 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:22,160 You know I did this shit for you. 444 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,560 [Carmen] You say a lot of shit, Mark. And a lot of it has been lies. 445 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,960 [Mark] Don't fuck me around. If you try to fuck me, I'll fuck you with me. 446 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:32,560 [Carmen] I'm not trying to do anything. 447 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:35,120 [Mark] I ain't gonna take this bullshit by myself. 448 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,320 I know you can get me the fuck out of here. 449 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:41,920 [Carmen] How am I gonna get you out? 450 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:44,120 [Mark] I don't know. Find some fucking way. 451 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:48,480 [Carmen] You didn't tell me anything. What will I tell them? 452 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:49,720 I don't know anything. 453 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,640 That's all I told them. I don't know what else to do. 454 00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:54,440 I don't know how else to help you. 455 00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,240 You listen to this, he's clearly guilty. 456 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:01,400 He's clearly trying to implicate her. 457 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:02,880 She's not having it. 458 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:06,800 As soon as his hide was on the line... 459 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:10,120 then he goes from being, you know, 460 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:14,120 this romantic savior to what he actually is, which is, um... 461 00:37:15,720 --> 00:37:19,480 an animal that no one has ever disciplined or trained. 462 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:26,080 He turned on that woman... 463 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:34,600 almost immediately in order to gain some... some better deal. 464 00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:37,640 And that is why she's still in jail today. 465 00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:57,880 [bell rings] 466 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,040 [birds singing] 467 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:48,240 [Nicole] I think he'll get out, eventually. 468 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:53,760 But I don't know if he'll ever be sorry for what he's done. 469 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:56,880 He's just sorry he's in jail. 470 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:07,600 Without remorse in his heart... 471 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:09,960 I don't think... 472 00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:14,240 that anyone who's in prison, 473 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,800 much less Mark, should get out. 474 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:30,520 The mentality he has is still, uh, as a young man, I think, 475 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:32,040 even from his writings. 476 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:34,920 And from his writings... 477 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:37,720 the mentality is, 478 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:40,040 "I want, therefore I get." 479 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,120 And that's not how life works out here. 480 00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:46,880 Okay? You can't just want something, 481 00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:48,640 somebody gets in your way, and... 482 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:53,120 Buzz. You know, take care of that and then I get what I want. 483 00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:56,920 It doesn't work that way. He should've learned that long ago. 484 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,560 He was a violent person as a young kid. 485 00:40:04,720 --> 00:40:08,080 He's still violent in... in the prison system. 486 00:40:09,240 --> 00:40:13,000 That doesn't mean that when he gets out, he's suddenly not violent anymore. 487 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:15,880 And that scares me. 488 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:23,160 He'd never hurt me. 489 00:40:23,720 --> 00:40:24,560 No. 490 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:27,040 No, he'd never hurt me. 491 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:28,760 I don't believe that. 492 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:33,400 But that doesn't mean he couldn't hurt others around me. 493 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:38,960 That's scary. 494 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:56,400 [Mark] I... I did something wrong and I've... and I've been punished for it. 495 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:59,760 I did the most horrible thing you can do, is take somebody's life. 496 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:03,560 I can't... 497 00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:07,840 stress enough that I'm not the same person I was. 498 00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:14,040 One good thing about being in prison is you're forced to sit down, 499 00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:18,280 look at yourself, evaluate yourself, like, "Man, if I wanna get out of here, 500 00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:19,680 how do I get out of here?" 501 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:24,600 One thing is I gotta make some changes. 502 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:28,080 Because the stuff that I was doing, this is where it got me. 503 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:47,200 [Jesse] Carmen used her body for sex, and then the money. 504 00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:51,360 She didn't pull the trigger, but she influenced him 505 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:55,240 to the point where, uh, she got him to do... 506 00:41:56,240 --> 00:41:57,800 what she wanted him to do. 507 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,840 To a certain degree, I... I could say that my family is correct, 508 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:04,920 because she's somebody I cared about. 509 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:05,840 Uh... 510 00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:08,760 She was a friend of mine. I mean, um... 511 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:11,360 of course, there's some emotional ties there. 512 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:14,040 So, yeah, I would want you to... to feel better. 513 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:16,360 When I found out that Carmen was hurt, 514 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:20,200 I wanted to do whatever I could to make sure she wasn't hurt no more. 515 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:29,160 The way that people outside of my life would see it 516 00:42:29,240 --> 00:42:32,520 is like, "They really had something going on," and it was nothing. 517 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:36,280 I mean, it's... it's my friend's mom, and I could say we were more friends 518 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:39,280 than any type of girlfriend or lover or anything like that. 519 00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:40,840 We had sex, but it's... 520 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:44,480 a couple times, and then after that, it was over with. 521 00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:49,640 As far as... as far as her asking me to go kill him, no, none of that. 522 00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:53,080 I... I... I don't know where that would come from. 523 00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:00,360 [Kyle] How many times has she asked you to kill him? 524 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:03,160 [Mark] This is the first time. 525 00:43:03,240 --> 00:43:06,400 She brought up the idea that she wouldn't mind him being killed. 526 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:10,000 But she never actually brought anything to my attention until that day. 527 00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:16,040 I saw her lying there. She's telling me that would be a good night to do it. 528 00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:19,520 I... I did make statements. 529 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:21,600 I did let them record me and all this, 530 00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:24,040 but I did it under false pretense. I let them... 531 00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:28,880 mislead me into believing that, "If you help us, we're gonna help you, 532 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:32,040 you might get no more than ten years, you might get probation." 533 00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:36,400 I wish, the moment that I was arrested, I wish I had just shut the hell up and... 534 00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:38,400 whatever happened happened. 535 00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:41,920 These things weren't supposed to go anywhere. They were supposed to be... 536 00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:45,760 uh, it wasn't supposed to be used against her. None of this was... 537 00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:47,760 There wasn't gonna be any punishment towards her. 538 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:54,120 My talking too much got her screwed over. 539 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:56,000 I fell for it. 540 00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:03,400 And I... and I ruined people's lives, my own, my family's, uh, Carmen's... 541 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,640 and anybody that cared about either one of us. 542 00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,040 [Nicole] What he told me was that, basically, 543 00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:20,280 he had been seeing Carmen for a while 544 00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:22,520 and that she had gotten pregnant... 545 00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:24,440 by Mark. 546 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:27,680 Esequiel found out 547 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:32,840 and beat her to the point where she miscarried at eight months. 548 00:44:33,720 --> 00:44:34,560 So... 549 00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:38,240 the interpretation I get out of his letters... 550 00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:43,040 is that he wanted revenge for killing his child. 551 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:45,240 A life for a life. 552 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:51,960 So, that way we get the record clear for this. 553 00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:55,520 The thing that got Esequiel Fonseca killed is him threatening my life. 554 00:44:55,600 --> 00:44:58,880 The thing that got him beat up was him beating up my friend's mom. 555 00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:04,840 As far as the possibility of it being because of, uh, her getting pregnant... 556 00:45:05,640 --> 00:45:08,520 I mean, who wouldn't be pissed off about it? 557 00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:11,760 I don't even know if that was my kid, if she was pregnant by me. 558 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:18,840 If it... if that was my kid, yeah, I'm gonna be mad about that. I mean... 559 00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:22,960 So, I mean, the possibility that might have been my kid is in my head. 560 00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:27,880 I don't know for a fact that was my kid, but if it was, yeah, he deserved it. 561 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:29,960 That would have got him killed.