Love Triangle: The Murder of Tzatzi Sanchez

Episode # 94 - Love Triangle: The Murder of Tzatzi Sanchez

[John] 

On January 15th, 2001, Tony Mayan and Carlos Rene stumbled out of their home at 5075 East Hayward Avenue, Las Vegas, in a panic. Carlos was bleeding from his head, and both were desperate to get help. 

[Shaun] 

They approached a neighbor and asked him to call 911 because they had just survived a violent home invasion, and they needed medical assistance for their roommate and friend, Tzatzi Sanchez. Who was also a victim of the attack

[John] 

As the investigators untangled what had happened the previous night, they realized that this apparent home invasion was something far more sinister…. It was one of the most horrific crime scenes they’d ever seen.

(Music - Pause for 8 seconds)

[Shaun] 

Hi, and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun

[John] 

And I’m your co-host, John.

[Shaun] 

The case we’re covering today took place over 20 years ago here in Las Vegas and has some pretty wild and shocking twists and turns, but first, we’ll talk about Tzatzi Sanchez, or at least we’ll tell you what we do know, because since all of this took place before the internet and social media, what we know is a bit limited.

Tzatzi Sanchez was born on May 12th, 1973, in Mexico City. Her family was quite affluent, and she was highly educated at a private school. 

Her parents were business owners and well-respected members of the community, who obviously wanted the best for their daughter, so when it was time for her to go to college around 1999-2000, she was admitted to UNLV’s well-known and well-regarded William Harrah School of Hospitality, where she studied hotel management.

She didn't live on campus, though. Her parents bought a nice little single-story home for her at 5075 East Hayward Ave, near the corner with Nellis. 

That’s about 7 ½ miles east of UNLV, so it was a nice, short drive down Tropicana for her to drive back and forth from school.

We’re pretty familiar with that area; it’s just a few miles from us, and it's not a particularly dangerous area. Not the best, maybe, but certainly not the worst.

It’s not too far from Boulder Highway, and also close to a really nice recreation area called the Wetlands Park Nature Reserve.

[John]

People not from Las Vegas might be shocked to learn about the Wetlands, which is just as advertised, and it has a ton of wildlife, trees, and water in it. 

Where else in Las Vegas can you go to see Herons, Egrets, ducks, and turtles?

It's very important to the water system for a lot of the southwest, too. The Las Vegas wash system carries treated water, storm water, and urban runoff right through the wetlands, and all of its dense vegetation acts as a huge natural filter before the water gets to Lake Mead. 

It improves the water quality for the whole Colorado River system, which supplies 90% of the water in Las Vegas, not to mention Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and even Mexico

But back to Tzatzi

She was a great student and very motivated, she was doing well in school, and she was making friends like Tony Mayan and her friend (and roommate) Carlos Rene. 

She was set up really nicely by her parents, but she also wanted to have independence and spending money, so she got a job as a waitress at the Piranha nightclub on Paradise (right near the UNLV campus), which tends to have a very high number of Latinos. Note that 25 years later, that club is still there, and still hosting nightly music events

The other thing she was after was a deeper romantic connection. She’d just broken up with a boyfriend and confided in her friend Tony that she felt like that was something she was missing. 

One night working at the Piranha club, she met a couple, Marcela Whaley and her girlfriend Kimberlyn Estrada. At the time, Marcela was 29, and Kimberlyn was 23 (Tzatzi was 27)

[Shaun]

Tzatzi really hit it off with these new regulars, and they quickly became friends. She told her friend Tony that she met Marcela and Kimbelyn, and she thought Marcela was really great. She had a big, boisterous personality and was a lot of fun to be around.

It wasn't just that they were similar in age and met in the club. Marcela and Kimberlyn had recently moved to the United States from Mexico only two years before, in 1998.

Marcela grew up in very similar circumstances to Tzatzi. She was from Durango, Mexico, and also had an affluent upbringing and childhood. 

Her brother was a high-ranking member of the Mexican government, and while she lived there, Marcela got a degree in broadcast journalism and was pursuing a career in front of the camera as a newscaster

There was a problem, though. When she was 23, in 1994, she met and fell in love with then 17-year-old Kimberlyn, and it's no surprise that as a member of a strict and traditional Catholic family, this was NOT acceptable to them, and it contributed to her decision to leave Mexico and move to California. 

It’s not clear how estranged, if at all, she was from her family at that time, but it’s certain that she and Kimberlyn left Mexico in 1998 in search of a place that would be more accepting of them.

That put a big damper on her career ambitions of being a newscaster, as you might imagine.

[John]

In 2000, they moved again, this time to Las Vegas. They were both living in that same area east of UNLV, and they were both working at the same factory at 1900 Aerojet Way in North Las Vegas

Marcela was driving a forklift in the warehouse and Kimberlyn worked in the front office (I went down a bit of a rabbit hole researching that, and ill talk a bit about that in the Swing Shift episode so make sure to get subscribed so you can hear it! sinspod.co/subscribe) 

Regardless, though, they were working at the factory, and after work they had a great time in Las Vegas together, exploring the club scene, and that's how they eventually ended up at the Piranha club, and of course met Tzatzi. 

The three of them became good friends, but Marcela and Tzatzi started getting VERY close. It was pretty clear to Tzatzi’s coworkers and friends that Marcela was interested and she was putting the moves on Tzatzi. 

Kimberlyn noticed all of this, but didn't have proof until she overheard a conversation one night that made it clear that, although before this, Tzatzi had only dated men, she was involved with Marcela now… behind Kimberlyn’s back. 

Kimberlyn and Marcela had a fight, and Marcela broke up with Kimberlyn, and told her she wanted to be with Tzatzi.

In the summer of 2000, she moved in with Tzatzi at her house on Hayward Ave, and they lived together in the primary bedroom.. While  Carlos Rene was still living in one of the other bedrooms.
 

[Shaun]

Marcela moving out really left Kimberlyn in a tough position. She was young, didn't have a replacement roommate, and Marcela was the gateway to a lot of the people she knew with her big, outgoing, boisterous personality; they were basically family, having been together for 6 years.

It seems like Marcela must have realized this and felt guilty, because just weeks later, she asked Tzatzi for a HUGE favor.

She asked if she’d allow Kimberlyn to move into the other spare bedroom in the house and be their roommate.

To me, that seems like a bad idea, but Tzatzi, being a nice, giving person, allowed Kimberlyn to move in.

Everything seemed to be going fine for the roommates and their close friends, but as we mentioned at the top of the episode, that brings us to their neighbor making that 911 call on the morning of January 15th, 2001, after they had been the victims of a home invasion.

When the police arrived, they entered the home, not knowing exactly what to expect. When they entered the primary bedroom, they found Tzatzi partially covered by a sheet in her bed in a pool of blood.

She had been tied up with the power cable ripped from one of her lamps, and she had an article of clothing shoved in her mouth and another one tied around her head to hold it there. 

She’s been brutally beaten, strangled, and based on the presence of a condom on the floor, raped as well.. It was horrific, violent nightmare of a scene. 

The medical examiner later determined her cause of death to be asphyxia by strangulation, and without any defensive wounds, he thought that it was likely that she was attacked while she was asleep, which seemed to track with a home invasion.

[John]

Paramedics pronounced her deceased at the scene, and the police brought in the crime scene investigators. They quickly noticed that it looked like the roommates had thrown a huge party the previous night. 

There were dirty dishes in the sink, dozens of bottles of beer and other alcohol everywhere, and everything was pretty trashed based on the photos we were able to find..

Not the primary bedroom, though. That room didn't look like it had been partied in. It looked like it had been tossed, as if whoever did this was looking for something. Her purse was emptied onto the floor, drawers were out of the dresser.. The room had just been ransacked.

They initially thought it must have been a burglary gone wrong, except for the brutality of the murder; that part didn't seem to fit with a home invasion burglary gone wrong. It was too brutal.. Too personal.

She’d obviously been brutally attacked and raped, which they thought suggested she might have known whoever did this. In an interview, the police emphasized that the chances that a crime scene like this is the work of a stranger or a random attack are very small.

They initially focused on Tony and Carlos, who were the only two people in the home at the time. They initially interviewed them at the scene after the paramedics bandaged up Carlos’ nasty head wound. 

Tony explained to the investigators that they had had a barbecue at the house the previous night (which explains why it looked like it did), and that after the party was winding down, the two of them went out to a bar together, but didn't plan to come back to the house after. They were both going to stay at a friend’s house.

Carlos ended up drinking a lot at the bar, so Tony, instead of visiting that friend, he ended up driving Carlos home, and they crashed in Carlos’s room.

Early the next morning, according to Tony, Marcela and Kimberlyn would have left for work at the factory (around 7 am, as they always did).

[Shaun]

The next thing Tony knew, he was awakened by the sound of a bottle breaking. Two intruders had smashed a bottle (of which there were many) over Carlos’ head, and they were pointing guns at the two of them, telling them to shut up and comply, or they were going to get shot.

The men tied them up with lamp cords and left them in the room, with Carlos bleeding from his head. Tony says he heard them get to Tzatzi’s room and heard her scream. He said that the men told her that if she didn't do what they said, they’d kill her friends, so she did. That was the last sound Tony heard her make.

After what must have seemed like hours, they eventually heard the intruders leave and were finally able to free themselves.. Running into the bedroom to check on Tzatzi.. Tony lifted the sheet and immediately knew she was hurt badly. He shouted to Carlos that she was unconscious and they had to call 911

They both ran out of the house, and Tony found his cell phone in his car, but wasn't able to call 911 because the call kept failing (which wasn't very uncommon in 2001).. Which brings us to the two of them running down Hayward Avenue and finally finding a neighbor who they begged to call 911.

They also explained to the investigators who was living in the house and how they all knew each other (remember at the time it was Tzatzi, Marcela, Kimberly,n and Carlos. 

It turns out, though, that there had been some changes. Tzatzi and Kimberlyn started getting closer once she moved in, and eventually, they started up a romantic relationship. 

Tzatzi let Marcela know it was over, and Marcela and Kimberlyn swapped rooms. Marcela moved into Kimberlyn’s room, and Kimberlyn moved into the main bedroom with Tzatzi.

[John]

Carlos told investigators that, of course, Marcela seemed upset at first, but eventually she seemed okay with the situation, and she was actually the one who suggested they have a party, and it seemed like that was at least partly to show that she was okay with it.

Marcela had even met a new woman she was dating, and brought to the barbecue, so it seemed like there were no hard feelings.

Their story seemed to all add up, and it was obvious the two were genuinely distraught over what happened, but they still had nagging questions about why Tzatzi was murdered so brutally while these two were spared. Could they have staged this? All Carlos and Tony could tell them about their attackers was that they sounded Hispanic.

The other thing they told police that seemed weird was that the two home invaders demanded to know, “Where are the drugs?” “Where is the money?” “Where are the motorcycles?”

That stood out to them because or course, there were no motorcycles… no hidden money.. And Tzatzi wasn't involved with drugs at all. 

Next, the police called Marcela and Kimberlyn at the factory and asked them to come home so they could break the news to them. 

When they arrived and police told them what had happened and that Tzatzi was dead, they were both extremely shaken up and horrified.. 

They couldn't believe their friend Tzatzi had been murdered in a home invasion like that.. And right after they left for work. Police said they couldn't even interview the women initially because they were so upset. 

Continuing the investigation, and trying to determine if this was really a robbery they kept searching, and determined that some expensive items like a video camera, computer, jewelry, and a watch were missing from Tzatzi’s room which seems to support he idea of a robbery, and after looking in the garage they realized that the assailants had taken her car as well, a white 2000 Nissan Pathfinder

[Shaun]

It seems strange to me that tackable items like that would be stolen. You’d have to realize that it's likely the police could find something like a stolen car, which could easily tie them back to the murder

This all seems very strange, and like these home invaders didn't really know what they were doing. They came, apparently looking for drugs, money, and, strangely, motorcycles? 

At that point in the investigation, they couldnt rule out that they the home invaders might have even been in the wrong house, and just grabbed what they could.. But that didn't address the brutal murder inside

The police checked on Kimberlyn and Marcela and found video proof of them at work just as they expected, clocking in and then working until they’re seen leaving after getting calls from the police in investigators asking them to come home, so they really had no suspects originally, and that’s reflected in the newspaper articles at the time. 

The police put out a BOLO for her car and shared the story and the description of the car on  the evening news that night, and VERY quickly started receiving tips (possibly partly because there were likely quite a few white Pathfinders) 

One tip really stood out to them, and I think you'll see why that is.. 

They got an anonymous tip that said he knew not only where the Pathfinder was, but also that he knew the man who parked it there (someone he worked with) 

He told them that his coworker also bragged to him that he had killed a woman, stolen her car.. And even showed him the gloves he was wearing during the crime, and the blood stains inside the gloves… even explicitly describing what he did to her.

[John]

The man was identified as 23-year-old Luis Barroso. The Police followed up on the tip, and immediately found her car, which even contained some of Tzatzi’s belongings. 

They also realized a couple of important, possibly coincidental things in quick succession. First, the car was parked very close to the factory where Marcela and Kimberlyn worked… and something about Barrosso too

Luis Barroso worked with Marcela and Kimberlyn at the same factory.

It seemed to them there were two possibilities, one, that all three were involved.. And two, that Marcela and Kimberlyn might also be in danger. 

They reached out to Kimberlyn and explained that they had a suspect and named him, and while talking to her, Kimberlyn told them that she did know him, but not well, but she thought Marcela DID know him well.. She’d seen Marcela and Luis talking a LOT recently… and also had no idea where Marcela was.

She’d disappeared, and she hadn't seen her since the day of the murder when they came home to talk to the police. She was just gone. In the wind.. And she’d taken Kimberlyn's car.

They brought Kimberlyn in to get more details on what exactly they were missing here in their investigation.. Because obviously they were missing some really important piece of information

[Shaun]

They were missing something. A lot, in fact. When they spoke to the women the day of Tzatzi’s murder, they learned a few important bits of information from Carlos and Tony about the love triangle going on in the house.. And life in the house in general, which didn't seem that important at the time, but given what they’d now learned, they seemed VERY important.

To recap.. initially, Marcela was with Kimberlyn, then Marcela moved in with Tzatzi, then Kimberlyn moved in, then Tzatzi started up a relationship with Kimberlyn.. But there’s some extra context here that they needed.

When Marcela moved in, everything wasn't as ideal as it seemed between Marcela and Tzatzi. Marcela quickly started showing some classic forms of manipulative behavior .. including telling Tzatzi who she could talk to, where she could go, and generally started acting possessive and paranoid.

That wasn't something Tzatzi had really dealt with in the past, so she decided to talk to the only person around who might know what it was like to be in a relationship with Marcela, Kimberlyn. They were still friendly even after all that had happened, so she confided in her about what was going on.

It turned out that, according to Kimberlyn, Marcela had done all of those same things to her while they were together. In many ways, it was worse because their relationship started when Kimberlyn was only 17 and they found themselves in another country with only each other far from their friends and family, who could have supported Kimberlyn leaving Marcela.

[John]

As they bonded over their similar experiences, they got closer and closer, and eventually they started a romantic relationship. Tzatzi told Marcela it was over with them, and the two swapped rooms. Marcela moved into the extra bedroom, and Kimberlyn moved into the primary bedroom with Tzatzi.

According to Carlos, he thought that Marcela was upset at first, but accepted the situation quickly, but it turns out he was wrong. 

Kimberlyn said that Marcela was VERY upset with them, often, and didn't allow them to show any affection at all around her… She said Marcela would stay in her room alone for weeks, until one day a very strange thing happened.

She came out of her room and asked the group, Tzatzi, Kimberlyn, and Carlos, what they thought would be the most terrifying way to die would be.

Kimberlyn told Marcela that for her, it would be being tied and gagged, and raped and strangled. After the dark little game was over, it was only then that Marcela seemed to lighten up.

Just after that she came out of her room one day and suggested they have a BBQ party and invite all their friends. That was January 14th., 2001

The fact that Kimberlyn also told the police that she didn't know Luis very well, but she saw Marcela chatting with him a lot recently and Kimberlyn had no idea why, now seemed like a key fact in the investigation

[Shaun]

All of this was more than enough for the police to get a warrant to search Luis Barrosso’s home, so they got that warrant and headed to his house. 

Luis wasn't home, but his brother let them in, and he also told them he was really confused about where the white Pathfinder he was driving came from.

They found a video camera under his bed.. And on the videotape inside, partially overwritten, was video of Tzatzi and her roommates at Thanksgiving.. It was clearly Tzatzis' camera. Even more important and damning, they found the bloody gloves their tipster had told them about.

Luis’ brother also told them that when he came home on the 15th in the Pathfinder, he was with “an old friend” named Obed Marroquin-Vale.

They headed straight to the factory and arrested Luis, but he demanded to speak to an attorney (which is of course, the right thing to do) and then went to arrest Obed at his house.. 

While searching HIS bedroom, they found Tzatzi’s laptop

Obed, unlike Luis, was very, very chatty about that night and didn't bother to ask for a lawyer. He essentially told investigators everything, and the story he told was pretty unbelievable.

Obed told police that Marcela started talking to Luis and “taking an interest in him” which wasnt … common for him. It turned out that Marcela told Luis that she wanted him to kill Tzatzi.

[John]

She told the pair that there was money, fancy vehicles, and drugs in the house, and she promised that they could have all of it, and she also promised she’d sleep with Luis, reminding him that she’d only ever been with women… as long as he killed her.

She also specified HOW to kill her. She told them they needed to bind and gag her, beat her, and rape her, and before she died, tell her it was from Marcela.. 

It was exactly what she described would be the death she was the most afraid of.

They agreed to the deal.

On January 15th they forced their way into the house through a window. They found Tzatzi in the primary bedroom just as Marcela told them.. beating her and tying her up. 

Once she was unconscious, Obed went looking for all of the “loot”, but instead found Tony and Carlos crashed out in Carlos’s room. He tied them up, the two threatened them at gunpoint and Obed went about searching the house while Luis raped and murdered Tzatzi.

With this detailed confession from Obed the two were charged with conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder.

The trial took place for both men a few months later, and they were both brief given the absolute mountain of evidence that Prosecutor Frank Coumou had to work with

Given the circumstances of the crime, and that it was a conspiracy and a murder for hire, the state was considering the death penalty for both men

Obed Marroquin-Vale agreed to plead guilty to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. He’ll be in his 70s when he’s eligible for parole.

Luis Barroso was convicted of TEN felonies, including first-degree murder, sexual assault, and kidnapping. Before being sentenced, Coumou offered him a deal. He offered to take the possibility of the death penalty off the table if Luis accepted the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

He accepted that deal to avoid the death penalty in February of 2004, and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

[Shaun]

One very important loose end remained, and this is probably going to sound familiar to other cases we’ve covered. Where was Marcela?

They finally got a tip that placed her near the Mexican border at Eagle Pass in Texas.. She had crossed into Mexico and fled to her hometown of Durango.

We talked about this with the case of Nethaniel Ozwaldo Perez-Sanches, who (allegedly) murdered Tabitha Tozzi, then fled to Mexico, just like Marcela and while he was there, he also murdered another woman.

Since the death penalty was on the table in the case of Marcela, Mexican authorities refused to extradite her to the United States. 

The Mexican legal system doesn't recognize either life in prison without the possibility of parole OR the death penalty. There were months of legal wrangling and negotiations between the state department, local Las Vegas authorities, and the Mexican government that had apprehended Marcela in Durango

The Americans were having a very hard time convincing Mexican authorities that she wouldnt receive the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole, and in the end, they reached a compromise which seemingly satisfied no one.

She would be tried for the crime in a Mexican court. The LV Prosecutor was VERY concerned that she would just get away with the crime or wouldnt be competently prosecuted, but in 2005 her trial took place.

She was sentenced to 39 years in a Mexican prison and will very likely be released in 2044. She’ll be 73 years old.

[John]

We’ll talk about this a bit more in the Swing Shift overtime episode but Its a reminder that domestic violence can be present no matter the gender of the people involved in a relationship. 

Jealousy, controlling behavior like Marcela showed toward Tzatzi and Kimberlyn is a very big red flag and is often a predictor of a situation that can escalate and lead to murder.

If you or someone you know is in a domestic abuse situation, reach out to the DV hotline. You can find that at sinspod.co/thehotline or of course, just “thehotline.org”. You can find a complete set of resources on our website at sinspod.co/resources

If you have suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover, or feedback please reach out to us on the website, and if you’re enjoying the podcast please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice.

We’ll see you in the swing shift episode and until next time remember what happens here happens everywhere.