WEBVTT 00:00:02.382 --> 00:00:05.719 A beautiful 16-year-old is viciously executed 00:00:05.760 --> 00:00:09.305 in Atlanta's quiet suburb of Marietta. 00:00:15.854 --> 00:00:20.442 They had a young female down in a mom-and-pop jewelry store. 00:00:20.483 --> 00:00:22.569 It upset the community. 00:00:22.610 --> 00:00:25.613 The location and the age of the victim 00:00:25.655 --> 00:00:26.948 just seemed so senseless. 00:00:26.990 --> 00:00:29.200 No broken glass. 00:00:29.242 --> 00:00:32.746 There wasn't any sign of a struggle. 00:00:32.787 --> 00:00:34.664 This could have been a snatch robbery, 00:00:34.706 --> 00:00:36.583 but what didn't fit was, 00:00:36.624 --> 00:00:40.128 there was a sizable amount of cash in the safe 00:00:40.170 --> 00:00:42.922 and the fact that she was shot in the head. 00:00:42.964 --> 00:00:44.215 But who would want to kill 00:00:44.257 --> 00:00:46.009 an innocent teenage girl? 00:00:46.051 --> 00:00:48.595 The witness saw this male 00:00:48.636 --> 00:00:51.139 lower a pair of binoculars 00:00:51.181 --> 00:00:54.726 that he was using to look at the shopping center. 00:00:54.768 --> 00:00:57.353 The mother has a connection to Vietnamese gang members. 00:00:57.395 --> 00:01:01.941 This could be a hit in the Vietnamese community. 00:01:01.983 --> 00:01:05.195 The investigation spreads across seven states 00:01:05.236 --> 00:01:08.448 as the prime suspect stays just out of reach... 00:01:08.490 --> 00:01:10.950 Trying to match what we were looking for 00:01:10.992 --> 00:01:12.285 is a needle in a haystack. 00:01:12.368 --> 00:01:15.246 And circles back very close to home. 00:01:20.585 --> 00:01:23.046 She said, "That's him," and I'll never forget it. 00:01:23.088 --> 00:01:26.841 The jury was like, "Wow." 00:01:44.692 --> 00:01:46.152 Marietta, Georgia, 00:01:46.194 --> 00:01:49.364 a charming picturesque haven just a few miles north 00:01:49.405 --> 00:01:51.032 of the booming, fast-paced bustle 00:01:51.032 --> 00:01:51.991 of metropolitan Atlanta. 00:01:52.033 --> 00:01:53.576 A lot of people move to Marietta 00:01:53.618 --> 00:01:55.912 because it is a family area. 00:01:55.954 --> 00:01:58.790 I live around Atlanta because I love the country here. 00:01:58.832 --> 00:02:00.458 Seasons change. 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:01.501 The weather's great. 00:02:01.543 --> 00:02:03.169 People are nice. 00:02:03.211 --> 00:02:04.462 It's home. 00:02:06.214 --> 00:02:07.674 Yeah, back in 1994, you know, 00:02:07.715 --> 00:02:09.926 Marietta felt safe on the streets. 00:02:09.968 --> 00:02:11.761 It was typical that you would drop your kids off 00:02:11.803 --> 00:02:13.721 to walk around the mall, go shopping, 00:02:13.763 --> 00:02:14.973 and not worry much about them 00:02:15.014 --> 00:02:16.724 and not worry what might happen to them. 00:02:18.226 --> 00:02:20.687 So yeah, it's certainly a very safe town. 00:02:20.728 --> 00:02:21.104 Like most of Atlanta, 00:02:21.104 --> 00:02:22.063 Like most of Atlanta, 00:02:22.147 --> 00:02:24.899 Marietta boasts a burgeoning ethnic diversity 00:02:24.941 --> 00:02:28.111 as the center of the New South welcomes cultural immigrants 00:02:28.194 --> 00:02:31.948 from across the country and around the world. 00:02:31.990 --> 00:02:35.160 I met Anh in the military in Saigon, 00:02:35.201 --> 00:02:38.454 where she was a secretary for the army. 00:02:38.496 --> 00:02:41.291 I got out of the army in '73, 00:02:41.332 --> 00:02:43.751 started to work for Southern Bell, 00:02:43.793 --> 00:02:49.090 and I transferred to Marietta in 1983. 00:02:49.132 --> 00:02:52.510 We got to know the neighbors, the neighborhood, the schools. 00:02:52.552 --> 00:02:53.928 Very comfortable. 00:03:13.556 --> 00:03:17.435 I was monitoring the radio, and I heard a call go out 00:03:17.476 --> 00:03:19.228 that a person had been shot 00:03:19.270 --> 00:03:23.065 in the Chastain Corners Shopping Center. 00:03:23.107 --> 00:03:25.901 Paramedics are first to arrive on scene 00:03:25.943 --> 00:03:27.862 at the upscale shopping center, 00:03:27.903 --> 00:03:30.406 but homicide detective Eddie Herman 00:03:30.448 --> 00:03:31.949 isn't far behind them. 00:03:31.991 --> 00:03:34.160 When I got out of the car, 00:03:34.201 --> 00:03:37.038 I was met by a couple of the uniform officers. 00:03:38.998 --> 00:03:42.668 They told me they had a young female 00:03:42.710 --> 00:03:45.921 down behind one of the jewelry display counters. 00:03:45.963 --> 00:03:48.716 The victim had a single gunshot wound, you know, 00:03:48.758 --> 00:03:50.718 to the back of the head. 00:03:50.760 --> 00:03:54.388 Fire EMS were--they were there attending to her. 00:03:54.430 --> 00:03:59.310 We've got four or five witnesses that saw a shorter, 00:03:59.352 --> 00:04:01.228 younger Asian male running, 00:04:01.270 --> 00:04:02.855 you know, from the jewelry store, 00:04:02.897 --> 00:04:06.692 and then a couple of the witnesses had chased him 00:04:06.734 --> 00:04:10.363 to a white Isuzu Rodeo. 00:04:10.404 --> 00:04:13.658 So we made sure that we had the BOLO, 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:15.993 the lookout, on the vehicle, 00:04:15.993 --> 00:04:20.665 white Isuzu Rodeo, possible Asian male driving. 00:04:21.666 --> 00:04:24.752 While police search the area for the suspect's car, 00:04:24.794 --> 00:04:28.547 EMTs rush the victim to the hospital. 00:04:28.589 --> 00:04:29.840 We cleared the way. 00:04:29.882 --> 00:04:32.802 EMS transported her from the scene. 00:04:32.843 --> 00:04:35.388 I dispatched one of the detectives in the unit 00:04:35.429 --> 00:04:38.391 to the hospital to meet the ambulance 00:04:38.432 --> 00:04:40.893 and to meet the family. 00:04:42.770 --> 00:04:45.690 I walked in with our crime scene tech, 00:04:45.731 --> 00:04:50.653 and it really was kind of unremarkable. 00:04:50.695 --> 00:04:52.697 No broken glass, 00:04:52.738 --> 00:04:55.116 no sign a forced entry on the door. 00:04:55.157 --> 00:05:00.079 We had the blood from the victim on the floor, 00:05:00.121 --> 00:05:04.709 and we had the jewelry that was on the floor, 00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:06.168 but really other than that, 00:05:06.210 --> 00:05:08.629 there wasn't any sign of a struggle. 00:05:08.671 --> 00:05:12.174 None of the other display cases looked like 00:05:12.216 --> 00:05:13.718 they had been disturbed. 00:05:14.552 --> 00:05:16.971 There was a lot of jewelry scattered around, 00:05:17.012 --> 00:05:19.849 but didn't look like we had anything missing. 00:05:22.351 --> 00:05:23.686 And I can remember thinking, 00:05:23.728 --> 00:05:25.521 "What are we dealing with here?" 00:05:25.563 --> 00:05:29.525 Detectives look for answers as they turn their attention 00:05:29.567 --> 00:05:32.319 to the witnesses who called 911. 00:05:32.361 --> 00:05:35.823 We delegated the different witnesses to be interviewed. 00:05:35.865 --> 00:05:39.994 I was focused on the lady, Ms. Brooks. 00:05:40.077 --> 00:05:42.538 She owned the business right next door 00:05:42.580 --> 00:05:44.457 to the jewelry store. 00:05:44.498 --> 00:05:47.626 I remember her telling me, "I've been trying to call. 00:05:47.668 --> 00:05:48.919 I've been trying to call." 00:05:49.003 --> 00:05:51.422 She said that to me several times. 00:05:51.464 --> 00:05:54.800 And when I asked her who was she trying to call, 00:05:54.842 --> 00:05:57.261 she said, "I was trying to call, you know, Anh Puckett." 00:05:57.303 --> 00:06:01.932 And she hadn't had any luck in talking with her. 00:06:02.016 --> 00:06:04.143 Anh Puckett, detectives learn, 00:06:04.185 --> 00:06:06.520 is the woman who owns the jewelry store. 00:06:06.562 --> 00:06:10.274 She is a Vietnamese immigrant and mother of two. 00:06:10.316 --> 00:06:15.362 The victim is her daughter, 16-year-old Amanda Puckett, 00:06:15.404 --> 00:06:18.699 a sophomore at nearby Sprayberry High School. 00:06:19.141 --> 00:06:22.227 Ms. Brooks told me that one of Anh Puckett's 00:06:22.269 --> 00:06:25.147 part-time jobs was as interpreter, 00:06:25.189 --> 00:06:28.525 and on the days that Anh Puckett 00:06:28.567 --> 00:06:30.485 was not there at her store, 00:06:30.527 --> 00:06:34.406 she would ask Ms. Brooks to keep an eye out for Amanda, 00:06:34.448 --> 00:06:37.284 who was working at the store by herself. 00:06:37.326 --> 00:06:39.536 Investigators ask the witness 00:06:39.578 --> 00:06:42.998 to describe exactly what she saw. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.667 She said it was around 2:00. 00:06:45.709 --> 00:06:47.502 She heard a loud pop. 00:06:47.544 --> 00:06:51.840 She walked in on the suspected killer. 00:06:51.882 --> 00:06:55.552 She described him as an Asian male in his 30s 00:06:55.594 --> 00:06:57.846 raised up from behind the counter. 00:06:57.888 --> 00:06:59.473 He had the handgun, 00:06:59.514 --> 00:07:03.352 and he was waving for her, "Come in, come in." 00:07:03.393 --> 00:07:07.773 She closed the door and ran 00:07:07.814 --> 00:07:09.983 and called 911. 00:07:11.235 --> 00:07:13.403 Shortly after the 911 call, 00:07:13.445 --> 00:07:15.656 the local media quickly spreads the word 00:07:15.697 --> 00:07:17.115 about the shooting. 00:07:18.200 --> 00:07:21.662 I got a call from a friend of mine. 00:07:21.745 --> 00:07:24.289 I went straight to the hospital. 00:07:24.331 --> 00:07:28.835 So we were all there. My father was there, my mother. 00:07:28.877 --> 00:07:32.714 My mother was very, very hysterical. 00:07:32.756 --> 00:07:37.135 It seemed surreal, like it was a nightmare 00:07:37.177 --> 00:07:38.804 that I couldn't wake up from. 00:07:38.845 --> 00:07:41.932 She was being kept alive from the machines. 00:07:41.974 --> 00:07:43.892 She was unable to do it on her own. 00:07:43.934 --> 00:07:47.896 So we had to make the decision. 00:07:47.938 --> 00:07:51.316 We had to turn off the machines to let her pass. 00:07:54.778 --> 00:07:56.655 That was it. 00:07:56.738 --> 00:07:59.199 I was holding her hand when she died. 00:08:04.746 --> 00:08:07.374 Amanda was very helpful, kind, 00:08:07.416 --> 00:08:09.209 just a loving person. 00:08:09.251 --> 00:08:12.004 Very joyful, very playful. 00:08:12.045 --> 00:08:16.925 She grew up faster than any mother can imagine 00:08:16.967 --> 00:08:18.510 with her maturity. 00:08:25.642 --> 00:08:29.062 Amanda's tragic passing means the case is changed 00:08:29.104 --> 00:08:33.275 from an assault to a homicide. 00:08:33.317 --> 00:08:35.193 I got a call from the hospital 00:08:35.235 --> 00:08:38.155 and was told that she was deceased. 00:08:38.196 --> 00:08:41.033 So I just kind of went into stand-down mode a minute. 00:08:41.074 --> 00:08:43.160 She was 16 years old. 00:08:48.373 --> 00:08:50.917 Inside the store, the forensic team 00:08:50.959 --> 00:08:53.837 scours every corner, looking for clues, 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:57.424 and they uncover a promising piece of evidence. 00:08:57.466 --> 00:08:58.842 Our crime scene techs, 00:08:58.884 --> 00:09:01.136 they were going an elaborate fingerprint 00:09:01.178 --> 00:09:03.138 of the display case 00:09:03.180 --> 00:09:05.474 and of the doors, 00:09:05.557 --> 00:09:09.603 anything forensically that we're gonna be able to use. 00:09:09.644 --> 00:09:12.022 The lead crime scene tech lifted a palm print, 00:09:12.064 --> 00:09:14.441 good identifiable palm print 00:09:14.483 --> 00:09:17.444 taken from the top of the jewelry case. 00:09:19.071 --> 00:09:23.116 It was positioned in a way that fit with what, you know, 00:09:23.158 --> 00:09:25.827 Miss Brooke said where she saw him at, 00:09:25.869 --> 00:09:29.373 but the palm print was lifted up off the display case 00:09:29.414 --> 00:09:31.875 as if he may have gone whoop, he's, reaching over, 00:09:31.875 --> 00:09:32.751 as if he may have gone whoop, he's, reaching over, 00:09:32.751 --> 00:09:34.211 as if he may have gone whoop, he's, reaching over, 00:09:34.252 --> 00:09:36.380 reaching for the tray, 00:09:36.421 --> 00:09:39.424 and it was a nice impression. 00:09:39.466 --> 00:09:41.676 Despite the quality of the print, 00:09:41.718 --> 00:09:42.761 there isn't much investigators can immediately do with it. 00:09:42.761 --> 00:09:45.263 there isn't much investigators can immediately do with it. 00:09:45.305 --> 00:09:47.349 But it wasn't a system where you could take 00:09:47.349 --> 00:09:50.435 a good identifiable palm print 00:09:50.519 --> 00:09:53.397 and put it into a system and come up with a match. 00:09:53.397 --> 00:09:57.067 Plus, in 1994 also, if we're dealing with somebody 00:09:57.109 --> 00:10:00.112 that has never been in the system 00:10:00.153 --> 00:10:01.488 or ever been arrested, 00:10:01.571 --> 00:10:04.157 then we weren't gonna get a hit anyway. 00:10:04.999 --> 00:10:08.127 But the palm print does give investigators insight 00:10:08.169 --> 00:10:11.380 into what possibly may have occurred. 00:10:11.422 --> 00:10:13.591 And I remember thinking, you know, 00:10:13.633 --> 00:10:16.344 this could have been a snatch robbery where a guy comes in, 00:10:16.427 --> 00:10:18.054 is just gonna snatch the tray-- 00:10:18.095 --> 00:10:20.306 that happens at the malls a lot-- 00:10:20.348 --> 00:10:23.184 and hightails it out of there. 00:10:23.267 --> 00:10:27.271 But what didn't fit was, there was a safe, 00:10:27.355 --> 00:10:31.567 and there was a sizable amount of cash in the safe. 00:10:31.609 --> 00:10:34.779 And so if he didn't want any of that money, 00:10:34.820 --> 00:10:36.489 what's he interested in? 00:10:38.032 --> 00:10:39.742 From an investigative standpoint, 00:10:39.784 --> 00:10:42.870 still we were not sure what we were dealing with. 00:10:42.912 --> 00:10:46.666 The FBI was involved in a federal trial 00:10:46.707 --> 00:10:49.669 involving a Vietnamese gang leader. 00:10:49.710 --> 00:10:52.713 Amanda's mother was a translator for the case. 00:10:52.755 --> 00:10:56.884 Anh Puckett was very vocal that Amanda's murder 00:10:56.926 --> 00:10:58.511 was a hired hit. 00:11:07.395 --> 00:11:12.191 In the summer of 1994, 16-year-old Amanda Puckett 00:11:12.275 --> 00:11:15.820 is brutally gunned down in her family's jewelry store 00:11:15.861 --> 00:11:17.655 just outside Atlanta. 00:11:17.697 --> 00:11:21.826 It upset the community that this murder happened 00:11:21.867 --> 00:11:24.996 and the nature of the crime, the location, 00:11:25.037 --> 00:11:28.749 and the age of the victim just seemed so senseless. 00:11:28.791 --> 00:11:30.418 You work on a case with a young child like that-- 00:11:30.459 --> 00:11:32.920 I mean, she was 16-years-old. 00:11:32.962 --> 00:11:36.841 I mean, you know, that was part of what motivates you. 00:11:36.882 --> 00:11:39.010 With no surveillance cameras 00:11:39.051 --> 00:11:41.762 nor solid description of the assailant, 00:11:41.804 --> 00:11:43.764 the pressure mounts on detectives 00:11:43.806 --> 00:11:46.225 as they desperately search for answers. 00:11:46.267 --> 00:11:49.770 Was this a botched robbery or a planned attack? 00:11:51.105 --> 00:11:54.483 They focus on a key piece of evidence, 00:11:54.525 --> 00:11:56.277 the killer's car. 00:11:56.319 --> 00:11:58.696 We had seven or eight witnesses 00:11:58.738 --> 00:12:00.865 that were fairly consistent: 00:12:00.906 --> 00:12:02.867 Asian male running through the parking lot 00:12:02.908 --> 00:12:06.620 and the vehicle itself, the white Isuzu Rodeo. 00:12:06.662 --> 00:12:10.499 Through a grocery bag boy, we learned that 00:12:10.541 --> 00:12:14.337 the Isuzu was there for up to two hours 00:12:14.378 --> 00:12:19.050 before he entered the jewelry store, 00:12:19.091 --> 00:12:23.804 parked at the extreme opposite end of the parking lot 00:12:23.846 --> 00:12:27.183 in kind of a remote area. 00:12:27.183 --> 00:12:30.061 Another witness saw not only this person 00:12:30.144 --> 00:12:33.773 sitting in that location in that car, 00:12:33.814 --> 00:12:37.568 but she saw him lower a pair of binoculars 00:12:37.610 --> 00:12:41.405 that he was using to look at the shopping center. 00:12:41.447 --> 00:12:45.326 And that was about 1:00, 1:15. 00:12:45.368 --> 00:12:48.788 She said this guy, they've been sitting in for two hours 00:12:48.829 --> 00:12:51.957 watching with binoculars where people are seeing him, 00:12:51.999 --> 00:12:55.669 but it scared her because as soon as she saw him, 00:12:55.711 --> 00:12:57.671 he jerked and he pulled them down, 00:12:57.713 --> 00:12:59.673 and it worried her, because I remember her saying 00:12:59.715 --> 00:13:01.217 she didn't know what he was doing. 00:13:01.258 --> 00:13:04.220 Was the suspect scoping out the store, 00:13:04.261 --> 00:13:08.182 waiting for the right time to strike? 00:13:08.224 --> 00:13:10.643 We were not sure what we were dealing with, 00:13:10.684 --> 00:13:14.438 but we felt like that Isuzu Rodeo, 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:17.233 that white Rodeo was the key. 00:13:17.274 --> 00:13:20.111 We had a very good identification 00:13:20.152 --> 00:13:21.904 on the automobile, 00:13:21.946 --> 00:13:25.366 except we did not have a license plate number. 00:13:27.443 --> 00:13:31.739 I wanted to get any and all white Isuzu Rodeos 00:13:31.780 --> 00:13:32.948 that had been sold. 00:13:32.990 --> 00:13:34.992 It was gonna be virtually impossible 00:13:35.034 --> 00:13:36.702 to say in the United States, 00:13:36.744 --> 00:13:38.871 so let's pinpoint it to the southeast. 00:13:38.912 --> 00:13:41.665 Needle in a haystack, but we'll try it. 00:13:41.707 --> 00:13:43.792 As the local hunt for the Isuzu 00:13:43.834 --> 00:13:45.919 becomes a multistate search, 00:13:45.961 --> 00:13:49.131 homicide detectives turn to the Puckett family 00:13:49.173 --> 00:13:52.468 for insight into what happened to Amanda. 00:13:52.509 --> 00:13:56.347 I didn't know anything about the family history, 00:13:56.388 --> 00:13:57.765 what the circumstances were. 00:13:57.806 --> 00:13:59.266 We wanted to get them interviewed, 00:13:59.350 --> 00:14:03.687 so we met the family members later on that night. 00:14:03.729 --> 00:14:08.609 We sat down in the interrogation room, 00:14:08.651 --> 00:14:10.694 and they told us what they knew, 00:14:10.736 --> 00:14:13.656 but then they asked us questions about our family. 00:14:14.531 --> 00:14:15.491 Anh's family was in the jewelry business in Vietnam, 00:14:15.532 --> 00:14:18.160 and she wanted to join the business. 00:14:18.202 --> 00:14:20.537 And so we opened our own jewelry store. 00:14:20.579 --> 00:14:22.706 I probably started working there when I was 12, 00:14:22.748 --> 00:14:26.001 13 years old, so that would've made Amanda around 8. 00:14:26.043 --> 00:14:27.252 We'd show jewelry. 00:14:27.294 --> 00:14:29.421 We would get repair out of the back. 00:14:29.463 --> 00:14:31.423 I did not like working in the jewelry store. 00:14:32.925 --> 00:14:35.386 Amanda was much more easygoing than I. 00:14:35.427 --> 00:14:37.930 She never complained. 00:14:37.971 --> 00:14:39.640 The only thing she say, 00:14:39.682 --> 00:14:43.143 she said to me, "I like helping you, Mom." 00:14:43.185 --> 00:14:46.188 I suppose there's no other choice. 00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:48.482 She did what she did 00:14:48.524 --> 00:14:52.444 according to the environment that she was raised by. 00:14:52.486 --> 00:14:55.197 Amanda didn't mind working at the jewelry store. 00:14:55.239 --> 00:14:56.865 She didn't mind. 00:14:56.949 --> 00:14:59.034 I don't remember her being afraid of anything. 00:14:59.076 --> 00:15:02.454 I think probably the thing that she would be afraid of 00:15:02.496 --> 00:15:04.707 would just be, you know, her family breaking up. 00:15:04.707 --> 00:15:06.166 my parents got divorced and when that happened, 00:15:06.208 --> 00:15:07.793 it was tough on everybody. 00:15:09.002 --> 00:15:10.629 So after the divorce, 00:15:10.671 --> 00:15:13.424 my mother took the ownership of the store. 00:15:13.465 --> 00:15:15.384 I would not say it was customary for us 00:15:15.426 --> 00:15:17.469 to run the jewelry store by ourselves. 00:15:17.511 --> 00:15:18.804 On occasion, you know, 00:15:18.846 --> 00:15:21.098 if my mom needed to take off for an appointment, 00:15:21.140 --> 00:15:23.058 then we would run the store. 00:15:23.100 --> 00:15:26.520 As time progressed, that-- those appointments 00:15:26.562 --> 00:15:27.688 may have gotten longer, 00:15:27.730 --> 00:15:30.399 so, you know, myself or my sister 00:15:30.441 --> 00:15:32.484 would be left in the store to run it. 00:15:32.526 --> 00:15:35.529 I had expressed my concern about Amanda 00:15:35.571 --> 00:15:37.614 being left alone at the store. 00:15:37.656 --> 00:15:40.033 16-year-old children should not be in charge 00:15:40.117 --> 00:15:43.412 of $50,000 worth of gold. 00:15:58.419 --> 00:16:00.797 After I finished talking with the family, 00:16:00.838 --> 00:16:04.133 there never was really any strong suspicion 00:16:04.175 --> 00:16:08.262 that they'd had in any way anything to do with this. 00:16:08.304 --> 00:16:12.517 In fact, unlike a lot of murder cases, 00:16:12.558 --> 00:16:15.311 there really wasn't any reason to suspect 00:16:15.353 --> 00:16:17.271 anybody in the family. 00:16:18.398 --> 00:16:21.609 We're into, you know, early morning, 00:16:21.651 --> 00:16:23.528 and we're starting to get a little more 00:16:23.569 --> 00:16:26.531 from Amanda's mom, you know, Anh Puckett, 00:16:26.572 --> 00:16:31.035 and she told me that she had been working on trial 00:16:31.077 --> 00:16:32.912 in the federal system in Atlanta 00:16:32.996 --> 00:16:35.039 with some gang members. 00:16:36.082 --> 00:16:40.169 And part of her job was as an interpreter, 00:16:40.211 --> 00:16:41.921 as a Vietnamese interpreter, 00:16:41.963 --> 00:16:46.843 and Anh Puckett was very vocal with me 00:16:46.843 --> 00:16:50.054 that Amanda's murder 00:16:50.096 --> 00:16:51.681 was a hired hit. 00:17:02.233 --> 00:17:05.611 Detectives investigating the 1994 murder 00:17:05.653 --> 00:17:08.114 of 16-year-old Amanda Puckett 00:17:08.156 --> 00:17:10.450 have just learned that her killing 00:17:10.491 --> 00:17:14.078 may have been a ruthless act of retaliation. 00:17:14.120 --> 00:17:16.539 Anh Puckett's main job other than the jewelry store 00:17:16.581 --> 00:17:20.126 was as an interpreter, as a Vietnamese interpreter, 00:17:20.168 --> 00:17:23.838 and she was working in a trial involving some gang members. 00:17:25.298 --> 00:17:28.342 The time of Amanda's murder, 00:17:28.384 --> 00:17:31.929 the FBI was involved in a federal trial 00:17:32.013 --> 00:17:33.514 in downtown Atlanta 00:17:33.556 --> 00:17:35.850 involving the Lee gang, 00:17:35.933 --> 00:17:38.394 which was named after Tran Lee. 00:17:38.436 --> 00:17:40.146 He was a Vietnamese gang leader, 00:17:40.188 --> 00:17:42.565 and half a dozen or so of his gang members 00:17:42.607 --> 00:17:45.401 were on trial for racketeering charges. 00:17:45.443 --> 00:17:50.865 Amanda's mother was a translator for the case. 00:17:50.948 --> 00:17:54.452 Once that came to light, we felt like 00:17:54.494 --> 00:17:57.538 maybe one or two of them that were on trial 00:17:57.580 --> 00:17:59.791 had ordered that she be hit 00:17:59.874 --> 00:18:01.834 or somebody in her family be hit. 00:18:01.918 --> 00:18:05.838 So as soon as the next day after Amanda is murdered, 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:08.132 it comes to our attention that the mother 00:18:08.174 --> 00:18:10.468 has a connection to a federal trial 00:18:10.510 --> 00:18:12.428 where there are Vietnamese gang members, 00:18:12.470 --> 00:18:14.180 and a description of the subject 00:18:14.222 --> 00:18:16.349 inside the store is Asian. 00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:19.644 It does make all of our gears flow into the fact 00:18:19.685 --> 00:18:22.855 that this could be a hit 00:18:22.939 --> 00:18:25.233 in the Vietnamese or the Asian community. 00:18:25.274 --> 00:18:31.405 The police started getting a whole raft of telephone calls 00:18:31.447 --> 00:18:33.116 from individuals 00:18:33.157 --> 00:18:36.285 saying that they feel that the perpetrator 00:18:36.327 --> 00:18:39.413 may be this member of an Asian gang. 00:18:39.455 --> 00:18:43.334 There may be some revenge because of Anh's involvement 00:18:43.376 --> 00:18:45.128 as an interpreter, 00:18:45.169 --> 00:18:47.755 and maybe they were taking it out on her 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:49.924 or sending her a message. 00:18:49.966 --> 00:18:52.760 We thought, well, maybe they thought she misinterpreted 00:18:52.844 --> 00:18:55.471 or had somehow set them up, 00:18:55.513 --> 00:18:58.599 and maybe they had come after my mother 00:18:58.641 --> 00:19:00.893 and mistaken my sister 00:19:00.935 --> 00:19:03.896 or just took her as well just out of retaliation. 00:19:06.190 --> 00:19:09.610 When the mom is actually working on a federal trial 00:19:09.652 --> 00:19:13.322 with Vietnamese gang members and her daughter was killed 00:19:13.364 --> 00:19:16.284 and nothing appeared to have been stolen, 00:19:16.325 --> 00:19:19.871 you can't do away with that as a coincidence. 00:19:19.912 --> 00:19:23.374 Maybe Amanda was unfortunately at the wrong place 00:19:23.416 --> 00:19:24.709 at the wrong time. 00:19:27.628 --> 00:19:30.006 The leadership of the police department 00:19:30.047 --> 00:19:32.925 was really encouraging Detective Herman 00:19:32.967 --> 00:19:35.052 to get with the U.S. Attorney's Office 00:19:35.094 --> 00:19:38.389 and to really start investigating the angle 00:19:38.431 --> 00:19:43.978 of a possible revenge murder and Asian gang involvement. 00:19:44.020 --> 00:19:46.564 With this new theory, local law enforcement 00:19:46.606 --> 00:19:48.941 and the FBI join forces, 00:19:48.983 --> 00:19:51.068 pressing their web of informants, 00:19:51.110 --> 00:19:54.947 looking for links between the gangs and Amanda's murder. 00:19:54.989 --> 00:19:58.367 We interviewed informants that were in jail to see 00:19:58.409 --> 00:20:02.038 if we really could determine if it was a hit, 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.165 if it was an initiation into another gang 00:20:04.207 --> 00:20:05.249 that was unrelated, 00:20:05.291 --> 00:20:07.585 or if it was an attempted robbery. 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:11.756 We learned from an inmate 00:20:11.797 --> 00:20:13.841 at the U.S. penitentiary in Atlanta 00:20:13.883 --> 00:20:17.220 who was a cellmate for Tran Lee, 00:20:17.261 --> 00:20:20.681 one of the defendants in the Vietnamese case. 00:20:21.515 --> 00:20:26.020 The information was that Tran Lee had actually bragged 00:20:26.062 --> 00:20:29.398 that he had killed a girl 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:32.109 and it had to be done. 00:20:32.151 --> 00:20:35.363 So we immediately, with the U.S. Attorney's Office, 00:20:35.404 --> 00:20:38.366 started a murder-for-hire case. 00:20:38.407 --> 00:20:41.244 As the FBI digs deeper into the possibility 00:20:41.285 --> 00:20:44.664 that the shooting was a hit, Cobb County investigators 00:20:44.747 --> 00:20:47.166 receive Amanda's autopsy report. 00:20:47.208 --> 00:20:51.462 The projectile was recovered by the medical examiner 00:20:51.504 --> 00:20:57.051 and immediately taken to the GBI crime lab. 00:20:57.093 --> 00:20:58.386 They were able to tell us what kind of gun 00:20:58.427 --> 00:20:59.637 we were looking for, 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:02.431 a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver, 00:21:02.473 --> 00:21:05.351 which is a common handgun. 00:21:05.393 --> 00:21:10.606 Cobb County detectives pass the information on to the FBI, 00:21:10.648 --> 00:21:12.817 who say they've just received intel 00:21:12.858 --> 00:21:15.861 about the same kind of weapon. 00:21:15.903 --> 00:21:20.950 The FBI received a tip that a gun, a .38-caliber, 00:21:20.992 --> 00:21:24.287 the same caliber as the gun that was used to kill Amanda, 00:21:24.328 --> 00:21:27.248 this gun was going to be placed in a restaurant 00:21:27.290 --> 00:21:28.582 in the Vietnamese community. 00:21:28.666 --> 00:21:30.543 That was a .38 revolver, 00:21:30.584 --> 00:21:32.128 Supposedly a gangbanger or Somebody 00:21:32.169 --> 00:21:35.256 had left this pistol at the business. 00:21:35.298 --> 00:21:37.133 We executed a search warrant, 00:21:37.174 --> 00:21:40.886 and there was a .38-caliber handgun 00:21:40.928 --> 00:21:43.222 that was recovered at that restaurant. 00:21:47.226 --> 00:21:48.936 We took it straight to the lab. 00:21:52.148 --> 00:21:54.442 And I can remember a couple of guys saying, 00:21:54.483 --> 00:21:56.777 "Yeah, see, huh, it's gonna be a hit." 00:22:01.198 --> 00:22:03.826 She said that she had been told about his dad 00:22:03.868 --> 00:22:05.077 committing the murder. 00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:07.330 That's the push that we needed. 00:22:07.371 --> 00:22:12.084 He did not seem to have any real gainful employment, 00:22:12.126 --> 00:22:15.838 and he was relying on his parents to support him. 00:22:15.880 --> 00:22:18.966 When she took the stand, she said, "That's him." 00:22:20.384 --> 00:22:21.969 And I'll never forget it. 00:22:31.228 --> 00:22:32.938 1994. 00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:35.399 Cobb County investigators are on the hunt 00:22:35.441 --> 00:22:39.195 for the killer of 16-year-old Amanda Puckett. 00:22:39.236 --> 00:22:42.990 Acting on a tip from the FBI, the team has just recovered 00:22:43.032 --> 00:22:45.201 a .38-caliber revolver 00:22:45.242 --> 00:22:47.495 stashed in a Vietnamese restaurant. 00:22:47.578 --> 00:22:50.206 Could this weapon have been used to kill Amanda 00:22:50.247 --> 00:22:52.917 in a gang retaliation? 00:22:53.358 --> 00:22:56.361 The Georgia crime lab came back a few days later 00:22:56.403 --> 00:22:58.280 after comparing ballistics 00:22:58.322 --> 00:23:01.992 from the revolver recovered in the restaurant 00:23:02.075 --> 00:23:04.703 to the round that was recovered from Amanda, 00:23:04.745 --> 00:23:07.664 and it was determined not to be the actual gun 00:23:07.706 --> 00:23:10.083 used in the murder. 00:23:10.125 --> 00:23:12.795 It's a setback for the detectives' pursuit 00:23:12.836 --> 00:23:15.839 of a local underworld leader, Tran Lee, 00:23:15.881 --> 00:23:18.801 who was incarcerated during a federal gang trial 00:23:18.842 --> 00:23:20.260 when he told his cellmate 00:23:20.302 --> 00:23:23.764 he had recently killed a young girl. 00:23:23.806 --> 00:23:26.767 It was a pretty intensive investigation. 00:23:26.809 --> 00:23:30.062 We went back to prison and interviewed informants 00:23:30.103 --> 00:23:31.355 in jail from the trial. 00:23:31.396 --> 00:23:34.316 By the end of July of 1994, 00:23:34.358 --> 00:23:37.736 from witness interviews in the U.S. penitentiary 00:23:37.778 --> 00:23:39.279 and at the courthouse, 00:23:39.321 --> 00:23:42.533 it was decided that what they were talking about 00:23:42.574 --> 00:23:45.160 was not the Amanda Puckett murder. 00:23:45.202 --> 00:23:48.205 It was in reference to some other murder 00:23:48.247 --> 00:23:51.583 that had occurred in the metro Atlanta area 00:23:51.625 --> 00:23:53.877 and had nothing to do with Amanda. 00:23:53.961 --> 00:23:57.631 After numerous dead ends, investigators decide to return 00:23:57.673 --> 00:24:00.759 their focus to key evidence in the case, 00:24:00.801 --> 00:24:04.263 the white Isuzu Rodeo from the crime scene. 00:24:04.304 --> 00:24:05.681 Things I remember thinking: 00:24:05.722 --> 00:24:07.558 we're gonna hear about a white Isuzu Rodeo, 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:10.719 because it was all over the news 00:24:10.761 --> 00:24:12.095 that we were looking for this vehicle 00:24:12.179 --> 00:24:14.765 in the shooting of this 16-year-old girl. 00:24:14.806 --> 00:24:18.810 We were months in, and this white Isuzu Rodeo 00:24:18.852 --> 00:24:20.729 still had not surfaced. 00:24:22.731 --> 00:24:24.858 I double-checked with the state and made sure 00:24:24.900 --> 00:24:28.528 that we still had the BOLO, the lookout, on the vehicle. 00:24:28.570 --> 00:24:32.824 White Isuzu Rodeo, possible Asian male driving. 00:24:32.866 --> 00:24:35.827 It's either got out of the area and away, 00:24:35.869 --> 00:24:39.331 or it's somewhere where we can't see it. 00:24:39.372 --> 00:24:43.168 What puzzles investigators is, how did the car get away 00:24:43.210 --> 00:24:47.589 so cleanly the afternoon of the shooting? 00:24:47.631 --> 00:24:50.884 Granted, the interstate was two miles from the store, 00:24:50.926 --> 00:24:52.177 but I just felt like 00:24:52.219 --> 00:24:54.262 if that vehicle had got on the interstate, 00:24:54.304 --> 00:24:57.349 given the lookout and the time frame that we had, 00:24:57.390 --> 00:24:59.184 that we would have seen it 00:24:59.226 --> 00:25:02.562 and that we would have been able to get the vehicle there, 00:25:02.604 --> 00:25:05.107 but we never found it. 00:25:08.068 --> 00:25:09.861 I remember this distinctly. 00:25:09.903 --> 00:25:11.988 It's like, I don't know, I used to get that-- 00:25:12.072 --> 00:25:14.491 get those-- I call it a gut punch. 00:25:14.533 --> 00:25:17.202 And sometimes I'd be at home. Sometimes I'd be at the office. 00:25:17.244 --> 00:25:18.662 I'd get a gut punch saying, 00:25:18.703 --> 00:25:20.080 "There's just something telling me 00:25:20.122 --> 00:25:21.790 "that this car didn't get out of here. 00:25:21.832 --> 00:25:25.710 It's--we're gonna find this vehicle close by." 00:25:25.752 --> 00:25:28.880 Not only did authorities fail to track down the vehicle 00:25:28.922 --> 00:25:31.299 the day of the murder, but the hunt for it 00:25:31.341 --> 00:25:35.762 throughout the southeast hasn't yielded any leads. 00:25:35.804 --> 00:25:37.597 We got to the end of the year. 00:25:37.639 --> 00:25:40.142 I still felt like we would get it. 00:25:40.183 --> 00:25:44.312 But as time goes on, the trail gets colder and colder. 00:25:45.188 --> 00:25:47.524 You start going back over what you did before, 00:25:47.566 --> 00:25:49.693 double-checking, and sit down and say, 00:25:49.734 --> 00:25:52.612 "Okay, let's try this, this, and this." 00:25:52.654 --> 00:25:55.991 Reaching out to the witnesses, "Hey, don't forget about us." 00:25:56.032 --> 00:25:58.410 That's always important in that kind of case. 00:25:58.451 --> 00:26:02.789 The months roll by, and the leads dry up 00:26:02.831 --> 00:26:05.709 as Amanda's family wrestles with the pain 00:26:05.750 --> 00:26:07.919 of such a tragic loss. 00:26:07.919 --> 00:26:10.881 I think all of us carry some kind of guilt. 00:26:10.922 --> 00:26:13.258 My mother blames herself every day. 00:26:13.300 --> 00:26:16.970 I'm sure my father blames himself every day. 00:26:17.012 --> 00:26:19.598 As a big brother, that guilt is there. 00:26:19.639 --> 00:26:21.808 You got to understand, you want this thing solved. 00:26:21.850 --> 00:26:25.353 You want justice for Amanda. 00:26:25.395 --> 00:26:26.855 I mean, it doesn't bring her back. 00:26:26.897 --> 00:26:31.026 It doesn't help with that pain or that hurt at all, 00:26:31.067 --> 00:26:36.198 but it does help your mind not have to worry about, 00:26:36.239 --> 00:26:38.658 "Is it ever gonna happen? 00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:40.785 Are we ever gonna know?" 00:26:42.204 --> 00:26:45.040 The community's heart went out to the parents. 00:26:45.081 --> 00:26:49.419 I think that really helped in our investigation 00:26:49.461 --> 00:26:50.712 that so many of the people 00:26:50.754 --> 00:26:53.924 who were there at the shopping center 00:26:53.924 --> 00:26:58.511 were willing to come forward and help try to solve this. 00:27:00.972 --> 00:27:04.893 Finally, nearly a year after Amanda Puckett's murder, 00:27:04.935 --> 00:27:07.646 investigators get the breakthrough in the case 00:27:07.687 --> 00:27:09.522 they've been hoping for. 00:27:11.191 --> 00:27:14.861 So at 11 months, 00:27:14.861 --> 00:27:17.489 May of 1995, 00:27:17.530 --> 00:27:19.574 I got a call from a detective 00:27:19.616 --> 00:27:21.826 with the Smyrna Police Department 00:27:21.868 --> 00:27:25.413 whose daughter was friends with another girl 00:27:25.455 --> 00:27:30.043 who confided that she had been told about the murder. 00:27:30.085 --> 00:27:31.419 The teenager who says 00:27:31.461 --> 00:27:33.755 she has information about the murder 00:27:33.797 --> 00:27:37.050 is a schoolmate of Amanda's named Beth. 00:27:37.092 --> 00:27:40.262 So we started a process 00:27:40.303 --> 00:27:41.763 and went and interviewed the girl 00:27:41.805 --> 00:27:44.975 and got her on record about what they knew. 00:27:54.474 --> 00:27:56.264 She said that she had been in a relationship 00:27:57.420 --> 00:28:00.756 with a young male by the name of Gabriel 00:28:00.798 --> 00:28:04.260 and had been told about his dad committing the murder. 00:28:13.736 --> 00:28:16.072 A year after the horrific execution 00:28:16.114 --> 00:28:17.907 of teenager Amanda Puckett, 00:28:17.949 --> 00:28:21.244 investigators finally have a break in the case. 00:28:21.285 --> 00:28:22.870 A 19-year-old girl 00:28:22.912 --> 00:28:25.498 who attended the same high school as Amanda 00:28:25.540 --> 00:28:29.836 tells police she knows who took Amanda's life. 00:28:29.877 --> 00:28:33.256 We interviewed the girl, and as it turned out, 00:28:33.297 --> 00:28:36.300 she had been in a relationship 00:28:36.342 --> 00:28:41.973 with a young male by the name of Gabriel Quijano, 00:28:42.014 --> 00:28:46.519 and she had been told about his dad committing the murder. 00:29:34.108 --> 00:29:35.443 had gone to Sprayberry, 00:29:35.485 --> 00:29:37.612 but there wasn't ever any indication 00:29:37.695 --> 00:29:40.072 that they knew Amanda Puckett. 00:29:40.114 --> 00:29:42.492 Detective Herman steers the interview 00:29:42.533 --> 00:29:44.327 towards the alleged killer, 00:29:44.368 --> 00:29:48.414 Gabriel's father, Eugenio Quijano Jr. 00:29:53.252 --> 00:29:53.419 Eugenio did not seem to have 00:29:53.461 --> 00:29:55.797 any real gainful employment, 00:29:55.838 --> 00:29:59.467 and he was relying on his parents to support him. 00:29:59.509 --> 00:30:02.094 Didn't really have anything major in his background. 00:30:02.136 --> 00:30:03.513 He had some thefts, and he--you know, 00:30:03.554 --> 00:30:05.431 he didn't hold a steady job. 00:30:05.473 --> 00:30:06.766 The house they lived in, they were renting 00:30:06.808 --> 00:30:08.559 from another family member. 00:30:08.601 --> 00:30:10.144 It is probably fair to say 00:30:10.186 --> 00:30:13.564 that he was not a very successful person, 00:30:13.606 --> 00:30:16.776 and I think that led to the motive 00:30:16.818 --> 00:30:20.780 of why he attempted to rob the jewelry store. 00:30:20.822 --> 00:30:22.657 With a motive in mind, 00:30:22.698 --> 00:30:25.076 detectives move on to the murder weapon, 00:30:25.117 --> 00:30:29.497 which introduces yet another generation of the family. 00:30:57.984 --> 00:31:00.570 and immediately checks out her story. 00:31:00.611 --> 00:31:02.488 We just got what she knew 00:31:02.530 --> 00:31:05.241 and went straight to our Isuzu list 00:31:05.283 --> 00:31:07.451 with the Quijano name, and there he was. 00:31:05.954 --> 00:31:08.704 It turned out that Gabriel Quijano and his sister 00:31:08.911 --> 00:31:13.541 The address: 2 1/2 miles from the crime scene. 00:31:13.583 --> 00:31:16.919 So we were spot on as to why we couldn't-- 00:31:16.961 --> 00:31:19.046 we didn't find a vehicle before. 00:31:19.088 --> 00:31:20.882 He commits the murder. 00:31:22.758 --> 00:31:26.095 He's got that vehicle parked inside a garage 00:31:26.137 --> 00:31:28.222 2 1/2 miles within minutes. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:34.270 Once we identified the vehicle and the name, 00:31:34.312 --> 00:31:36.355 it was enough to get an arrest warrant 00:31:36.397 --> 00:31:37.940 and charge him with the murder. 00:31:37.982 --> 00:31:40.234 Ten months after the murder, 00:31:40.276 --> 00:31:42.111 investigators have what they need 00:31:42.153 --> 00:31:45.239 to arrest Eugenio Quijano Jr., 00:31:45.281 --> 00:31:46.949 but when they go to pick him up, 00:31:47.033 --> 00:31:50.703 they discover that all three generations of the family 00:31:50.745 --> 00:31:52.204 have disappeared. 00:31:52.246 --> 00:31:55.207 And as it turned out, 00:31:55.249 --> 00:31:59.211 shortly after the murder in June of 1994, 00:31:59.253 --> 00:32:00.755 you know, the family knew-- 00:32:00.796 --> 00:32:03.716 Quijano's family knew about what had happened, 00:32:03.758 --> 00:32:05.593 so they up and moved. 00:32:08.429 --> 00:32:11.849 We learned that Quijano, his son, 00:32:11.891 --> 00:32:14.018 and father fled the area. 00:32:14.101 --> 00:32:15.853 The entire Quijano family 00:32:15.895 --> 00:32:20.566 relocated to Seattle, Washington. 00:32:22.068 --> 00:32:24.737 Investigators learn that the Quijano family 00:32:24.779 --> 00:32:27.949 returned to Georgia six months after the murder 00:32:28.032 --> 00:32:31.619 because Beth was pregnant with Gabe Quijano's baby. 00:32:31.661 --> 00:32:34.747 The fact that she was going to have a baby, 00:32:34.789 --> 00:32:36.791 that turned out to be a blessing for us. 00:32:36.832 --> 00:32:41.170 That's what brought them back to the state of Georgia 00:32:41.212 --> 00:32:42.755 from Washington. 00:32:42.797 --> 00:32:45.383 Our investigation seemed to suggest that they felt 00:32:45.424 --> 00:32:49.345 that nobody was looking at the Quijano family. 00:32:49.387 --> 00:32:55.101 They were not aware of the investigation into the Isuzu 00:32:55.142 --> 00:32:57.603 was going on. 00:32:55.846 --> 00:32:58.276 Detective Herman ends the interview 00:32:57.645 --> 00:33:00.231 When I got this lead, it was kept within 00:33:00.272 --> 00:33:03.150 two or three people within the office. 00:33:03.192 --> 00:33:04.652 It was so critical and so important, 00:33:04.694 --> 00:33:06.737 because we had people that looked like 00:33:06.779 --> 00:33:08.990 they helped him get out of the state, 00:33:09.031 --> 00:33:13.452 so we didn't want any of that getting out. 00:33:13.494 --> 00:33:16.956 We determined that they had moved into a condo 00:33:16.998 --> 00:33:18.457 over in Smyrna somewhere. 00:33:20.001 --> 00:33:22.420 We got together one morning and hit the house. 00:33:22.461 --> 00:33:26.674 At 8:00 a.m. on May 11, 1995, 00:33:26.716 --> 00:33:29.719 after almost a year of investigation, 00:33:29.760 --> 00:33:33.055 police arrest Eugenio Quijano Jr. 00:33:33.139 --> 00:33:35.641 for the murder of Amanda Puckett. 00:33:35.683 --> 00:33:38.853 Eugenio Quijano elected not to talk to the police 00:33:38.853 --> 00:33:41.522 when we took him into custody. 00:33:41.564 --> 00:33:44.900 On the day that the defendant was arrested, 00:33:44.942 --> 00:33:46.152 several family members 00:33:46.193 --> 00:33:48.779 were asked to come to police headquarters 00:33:48.821 --> 00:33:51.032 to give a statement as well. 00:33:51.073 --> 00:33:52.533 During his interrogation, 00:33:52.575 --> 00:33:55.453 Eugenio's father and Gabriel's grandfather, 00:33:55.494 --> 00:33:59.248 Quijano Sr., is careful not to reveal anything 00:33:59.290 --> 00:34:02.460 that would implicate himself or his son. 00:34:04.712 --> 00:34:06.422 After being stonewalled by Eugenio's father, 00:34:06.464 --> 00:34:11.135 detectives pin all their hopes on Eugenio's son, Gabriel. 00:34:11.177 --> 00:34:14.055 Now the quest for justice for Amanda Puckett 00:34:14.096 --> 00:34:16.390 hangs on the willingness of a son 00:34:16.432 --> 00:34:20.352 to implicate his father in murder. 00:34:20.394 --> 00:34:23.189 You can imagine the position he was in. 00:34:23.230 --> 00:34:25.566 We tried to help him as best we could 00:34:25.608 --> 00:34:30.529 get through what is an unimaginable nightmare. 00:34:55.054 --> 00:34:57.014 One year after the fatal shooting 00:34:57.056 --> 00:34:59.350 of 16-year-old Amanda Puckett, 00:34:59.391 --> 00:35:02.937 detectives have identified Eugenio Quijano Jr. 00:35:02.978 --> 00:35:04.688 as their top suspect. 00:35:04.730 --> 00:35:07.608 They're hoping his son, Gabriel, will come clean 00:35:07.650 --> 00:35:10.778 with what he saw the day of the murder. 00:35:28.963 --> 00:35:33.050 It was his son that told us about the murder weapon. 00:35:33.092 --> 00:35:38.347 Gabriel said that a day or two after the homicide, 00:35:38.389 --> 00:35:43.227 his grandfather and him went to his aunt's house. 00:35:43.269 --> 00:35:46.147 It was a revolver and that he dismantled it. 00:35:49.525 --> 00:35:51.735 and he showed us the exact location. 00:35:51.777 --> 00:35:56.699 We spent days up there with bush hogs, metal detectors. 00:35:56.740 --> 00:35:59.243 We never found it. 00:35:59.285 --> 00:36:01.871 Without a murder weapon, Detective Herman knows 00:36:01.912 --> 00:36:04.999 he'll need the material evidence from the crime scene 00:36:05.040 --> 00:36:07.710 to pin down his suspect. 00:36:07.751 --> 00:36:09.837 Well, at the crime scene, we had the palm print 00:36:09.879 --> 00:36:13.215 from the top of the jewelry case, 00:36:13.257 --> 00:36:16.177 and when we arrested him for the homicide, 00:36:16.218 --> 00:36:18.345 Eugenio Quijano Jr., 00:36:18.387 --> 00:36:20.306 his case prints were not on file, 00:36:20.347 --> 00:36:23.058 but we took major case prints, 00:36:23.142 --> 00:36:24.852 including the palms, 00:36:24.894 --> 00:36:27.354 and it was matched. 00:36:28.856 --> 00:36:31.984 Convinced they have the right man in custody, 00:36:32.026 --> 00:36:36.113 investigators now know the who, when, and how, 00:36:36.155 --> 00:36:37.907 but the question remains, 00:36:37.948 --> 00:36:40.784 why did Eugenio Quijano Jr. 00:36:40.826 --> 00:36:43.871 savagely murder Amanda Puckett? 00:36:43.913 --> 00:36:47.666 Quijano, he's a dime-store thief. 00:36:47.708 --> 00:36:48.876 He didn't have a job. 00:36:48.918 --> 00:36:50.502 He'd got in some trouble up-- 00:36:50.544 --> 00:36:53.464 over a theft up in Seattle, but other than that, 00:36:53.505 --> 00:36:55.591 never really been in any major trouble. 00:36:55.633 --> 00:36:57.927 He got himself a gun. 00:36:57.968 --> 00:36:59.637 No telling how many times, if any, 00:36:59.678 --> 00:37:02.264 he's handled a handgun. 00:37:02.306 --> 00:37:04.433 He thinks it's an easy hit. 00:37:04.475 --> 00:37:08.312 She's a little girl working in a mom-and-pop jewelry store. 00:37:09.021 --> 00:37:11.148 I think he was thinking he could go in there, 00:37:11.190 --> 00:37:12.942 confront her, get some jewelry, 00:37:12.983 --> 00:37:16.111 get some cash, get out of there, it's over. 00:37:17.279 --> 00:37:21.575 I think he got spooked and killed her. 00:37:24.328 --> 00:37:26.622 It's a moot point 'cause it's still malice murder. 00:37:26.664 --> 00:37:29.166 He went in there, committed a robbery, killed her. 00:37:29.208 --> 00:37:30.751 It doesn't lessen the crime. 00:37:30.793 --> 00:37:32.294 I'm just not convinced 00:37:32.336 --> 00:37:34.213 that he went in there with the mindset 00:37:34.296 --> 00:37:35.547 that he was going to shoot her. 00:37:38.092 --> 00:37:40.010 They had found him. They had arrested him. 00:37:40.094 --> 00:37:43.222 It was extreme relief. 00:37:43.264 --> 00:37:46.725 I had faith in that they would find it, and they did. 00:37:46.767 --> 00:37:49.311 In October of 1996, 00:37:49.353 --> 00:37:51.438 two years after Amanda Puckett's 00:37:51.480 --> 00:37:52.856 ruthless killing, 00:37:52.898 --> 00:37:55.901 Eugenio Quijano Jr. goes on trial 00:37:55.943 --> 00:37:59.280 for malice murder and aggravated assault. 00:37:59.321 --> 00:38:01.407 We had the palm print that matched. 00:38:01.448 --> 00:38:05.035 We had seven or eight witnesses 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:07.413 that were fairly consistent: 00:38:07.454 --> 00:38:09.581 Asian male running through the parking lot 00:38:09.623 --> 00:38:11.834 and the vehicle itself. 00:38:11.875 --> 00:38:14.878 And we had Ms. Brooks, the eyewitness, 00:38:14.920 --> 00:38:17.589 and when she took the stand, 00:38:17.631 --> 00:38:19.091 she said, "That's him." 00:38:20.259 --> 00:38:22.845 And I'll never forget it. 00:38:22.886 --> 00:38:26.015 I mean, you could see-- you could see the air 00:38:26.056 --> 00:38:27.683 get sucked out of the room, 00:38:27.725 --> 00:38:31.729 and the jury was like, "Wow." 00:38:33.647 --> 00:38:36.191 The jury went out and was not out very long 00:38:36.233 --> 00:38:41.196 and came back and convicted Quijano of both counts, 00:38:41.238 --> 00:38:43.866 and he was sentenced to life in prison. 00:38:43.907 --> 00:38:47.036 A lot of these killings we deal with, 00:38:47.119 --> 00:38:48.746 you can attach an explanation, 00:38:48.787 --> 00:38:54.335 but in that case, it was just so senseless, 00:38:54.376 --> 00:38:57.629 and it's just really sad. 00:38:57.671 --> 00:39:01.717 The guilty verdict is a victory for Amanda's family 00:39:01.759 --> 00:39:05.179 but provides little reprieve for the devastating loss 00:39:05.220 --> 00:39:08.724 they will feel for the rest of their lives. 00:39:08.766 --> 00:39:10.601 They always say that you go through 00:39:10.642 --> 00:39:12.478 the different stages of grief, 00:39:12.519 --> 00:39:14.396 and I am stuck on anger. 00:39:14.438 --> 00:39:17.024 Anger, completely. 00:39:17.066 --> 00:39:21.236 I can't forgive, and I won't. 00:39:21.278 --> 00:39:23.697 This time of year, you know, when it gets closer to her-- 00:39:23.739 --> 00:39:26.450 when she died, we all think about it. 00:39:26.492 --> 00:39:29.745 I know my dad gets quiet, doesn't say a whole lot. 00:39:31.663 --> 00:39:34.792 My mother's the same thing. She'll get tears in her eyes. 00:39:34.833 --> 00:39:37.878 It still feels just as painful. 00:39:40.714 --> 00:39:42.841 Impact me where I cannot see 00:39:42.883 --> 00:39:45.427 how many children she would have 00:39:45.469 --> 00:39:48.430 and who she would marry to, 00:39:48.472 --> 00:39:50.682 where does she live, 00:39:50.724 --> 00:39:53.352 what kind of life she developed for herself. 00:39:55.187 --> 00:39:58.857 Impact me to know that this earth, 00:39:58.941 --> 00:40:02.069 this world needs her. 00:40:02.111 --> 00:40:05.364 This life needs her, not only just me. 00:40:05.406 --> 00:40:07.408 Where's my daughter's life? 00:40:08.617 --> 00:40:11.912 Didn't she deserve a life also?