S03.E07: Little League Dad (Arlington, TX)

[maraleia]

When a Little League coach from Arlington, Texas, is bludgeoned to death in his own bed, Kelly and Yolanda must figure out who would possibly want to kill such a beloved figure in the community.

[attica]

Little League coach from Arlington, Texas

 

Some underplayed kid's parents? (Little League parents are the worst.)

[SandyToes]

Grrrr. Another unresolved one. I wouldn't be surprised if Martha wasn't gone by now. Although, she hasn't left in the past 7 years, so maybe they'll still be able to get her.

[cooksdelight]

She sure has downsized since the murder, hasn't she? And the mere fact she can't keep her stories straight tells me she's guilty as hell. I do hope they find enough evidence to bring her to trial. I also don't believe Pedro is as innocent or dumb as he tries to make them believe.

[KHenry14]

Well, based upon what we've seen, Martha had a LOT of motive, and she had the opportunity to pull of the murder. Add in the request to a guy to find someone to kill her husband, well it's not a big leap to a guilty verdict. But, they can't specifically put her in the bedroom with a weapon in her hand. And that's a big holeto fill.

One thing about the victim's wounds. If a guy like Pedro had struck him with a tire iron three times, I would have fully expected to see far more damage to the skull. Which lends itself to the theory that a woman was the killer.

While I don't think Pedro is the killer, he clearly knows a lot more than he's letting on. One wonders if they can threaten him with a conspiracy charge to get him to come clean.

I've always wondered what it must be for someone like Martha who gets exposed on national television for likely being a murderer. It has to wreck their life to some extent. Not that I feel bad for them, but I do feel bad for the two boys. Much like OJ's two young kids, it must be hell to come to the realization that one of their parents killed the other.

[Lovecat]

I called it when I heard the 911 call at the top of the episode:

Martha: I don't know what's happening, my house is messed up.

911: Is anyone injured?

Martha: Yeah, my husband!

Way to bury the lede, Martha.

[SandyToes]

I never got the tire iron bit.  Why did Martha/Pedro/whomever leave it there? My money was on one of the many baseball bats in the home. And it got taken away, never to be seen again. Wouldn't wound analysis give them an idea of the size of the weapon? A tire iron is very slim, compared to a bat. Metal fragments? Wood fragments? But then again, I may just watch too much CSI.

 

And I'm with you, KHenry14. So hard on the kids. I was very glad they were not interviewed again.

[Galloway Cave]

I didn't understand why the husband would make a phone call around 9:00am, then go back to bed and be asleep when he was hit. Did his wife entice him to bed with the promise of a little something-something, then come up behind him and whack him on the head? Even though they were having problems in the marriage, they may have still been having sex occasionally. It just didn't make sense that he was in bed sleeping so soon after making a phone call. and that late in the day. It points to the wife, not a random intruder and not Pedro.

 

 

She sure has downsized since the murder, hasn't she?

Not only did she downsize, she completely fell apart physically. I would not have known that was the same woman. She gained weight, her face was full of acne, she definitely wasn't dressing sexy, clickity clacking around in high heel shoes or wearing any make-up. She looked like a meth head. Sounds like she had a baby with Pedro but they lived in different homes so I guess they weren't together.

 

Unless Pedro breaks, I don't know if they will ever make this case. Since he has a child with her, he probably won't ever break.

[Ellee]

Galloway Cave, I could be wrong but I thought the husband worked midnights.  He might not have been to bed yet and that might have been why he was out cold.  On the other hand, maybe he wasn't the one that made the call.  His wife might have and just used his phone.  Did they confirm that he did actually talk to the person that was called?   I don't remember. 

 

As far as Pedro goes, he has already said that his life hasn't been the same since the murder.  The fact that the investigators are saying that they are thisclose to filing charges may push him over the edge to speak up now.

[Galloway Cave]

Ah, OK Ellee, I guess I missed that. And you're right, they had the number he called. They probably had confirmed it was him that actually called.

 

Pedro was definitely a messed up guy about the situation. He knows his girlfriend murdered her husband but she is also the mother of his kid. Unless he is in the position to get full custody, he may not roll just yet. He may not have any choice though if they can develop more information or evidence separate from him.

 

This was the second time in a row we have heard the lead investigator say their ego was not going to get in the way with solving the case and that is why they called Kelly and Yo. Love hearing that! 

[karlbowman]

Hi everyone, I was glad to find this forum. I am Pauls cousin Karl, interviewed in the Car with my wife jenny. We live a par three from the murder house and I walk or drive by it every day. I am grateful that you all have watched it and commented on the show. I can answer a few questions here easily. Paul was working Midnight to 7a at the time of the murder, so he came home used his computer, had an argument with Marta (according to her) and then went to bed. He had told us that he had suspicions she had been stepping out but he wasnt able to tell me that he knew for sure. He was a lot older than her and felt like it was ok for he to go out and have some fun with her sisters or friends. He drew the ine at her dying her hair platinum blonde though.  I never got the tire iron bit either. The murderer would not have left it there. There was no evidence of forced entry so if pedro was in the house when paul got home and hid he COULD have been the killer. That would explain the lack of phone calls from him. I dont know if I would rule him out so easily as a suspect. On the day it happened I was going to play my first ever solo show. Paul had played drums for our band for 25 years. I was up early as always and at one point that morning I had this horrible horrible feeling and I felt so weird i had to sit down or i would have fell over. Now i have playerd a lot of concerts and I don't get stage fright so it wasnt that and it passed quickly. I know now that it was Paul coming over to my house (3 blocks away) and giving me a good bye hug. There were things I could say about her that you may dismiss, but i did not want to believe she could have done it. I even came by the house a few days earlier to give her some CD's i thought she would like. Her family is all really nice people. She is the weird one of the family. DO i think she did it or had it done? sure do, the show didnt change my opinion of anything. And since they only have like 42 min to get everything in there was a lot left out. Things we did not know? Did not know of Mr Bautista. I can guarentee if any of you or me had solicited someone to murder someone and that person turns up dead two weeks later we would all be arrested. Why Marta has not been i have no clue. It stands now that the detive Greisbach told me that it could take a year for the DA to figure out if she would even get a grand jury visit. It's been 6.5 years already. How long did take any of you to think. This needs to go to trial. What the D.A. is afraid of I dont know. But I do know she is living on her survivors bebifits and the kids SS checks. If this bothers you as much as it does me please write or call Sharen Wilson the newly elected DA of Tarrant County. One of her Asst DA's is the one sitting on the case. The APD has presented this case three times I know of and they just want us all to shut up and forget I guess because it just never seems to go to trial. The DA's address and Phone number is

Sharen Wilson

Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office
Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center
401 West Belknap
Fort Worth, TX 76196
817-884-1400

I will bookmark this page and check back if there are any other questions i can answer.

[Ellee]

I imagine the only way Pedro could get a good night's sleep was to live in a separate house. 

 

Was anything said about whether or not the sons were able to see their grandparents? 

Edited February 28, 2015 by Ellee

[karlbowman]

The boys see uncle Paul and his aunts 3-4 times a year....oddly enough, they never mentioned they have a sister or that mom lost a baby 21 days after birth or that she is currently pregnant now? Are they brainwashed? I dont know. Aunt Jane died in November although she knew that Cold Justice had taken the case. No one has ever told the kids negative things about Marta. For the reasons you would expect, and if you notice they didnt have anything negative to say in the show either. If this trashes our relationship woth the kids so be it, but we arent the ones who killed their dad.

[cooksdelight]

Wow, I just cannot imagine what you are going through. Wanting justice for Paul. God bless you.

[Galloway Cave]

Thank you for commenting Karl. This must be so frustrating for your family to deal with the inaction after all these years. Thanks too for answering my question about Paul being in bed at that time too, I guess I missed that explanation during the show.

 

Hopefully now that the show has aired someone will come forward with more information that will break open the case. Marta doesn't appear to be the brightest person around, soliciting for murder just a few weeks before her husband is killed.

[cooksdelight]

I wish that man she'd talked to at the ball game had called police.

[Soobs]

Karl, I am so sorry for your loss and all that you and your family has been through. I agree that Marta doesn't seem like the brightest bulb and if she made the mistake of telling the other parent at the game that she needed her husband to disappear, she probably made other mistakes too. I feel very badly for the kids. She robbed them of an involved and loving father. They'll grow up and have their own questions that she'll have to answer to, someday.

[Ellee]

Marta has to be sweating a little bit today.  After the airing of the show, I doubt that there will be much that she can get away with now.  She'll be wondering what everyone is thinking when she walks down the street.  It might not affect her the way it would you or me but I do believe that it will affect Pedro.  Whatever part he played in this changed him and he openly admitted it on the show.  I'm hoping he ends up being the one who spills sooner rather than later.  I'm not saying he's innocent by any stretch. 

[SandyToes]

Hi, Karl, Thanks for joining us and sharing what must be painful information. Know that many people are saying prayers for your family. I certainly hope the DA is able to develop something and get this to trial. I do know that many times, prosecutors wait until they feel they have a 100% winnable case, because if there's an acquittal, then it's all over. Hopefully you will all get the justice your family (and Paul's children) deserve very soon.

[karlbowman]

Mr Bautista did come to the police right after Paul was murdered. He was reinterviewed by the show as well. And the Det. Griesbach said his english had improved greatly making him a much better witness.....

[mbutterfly]

Thank you, Karl. You have brought the very realness of this case to us. You must have a wonderful family who has stood together and done what it takes to continue a relationship with the boys. At least from this time forward, Marta will know this evidence is widely known. That will put her in a kind of prison. And it puts pressure upon the District Attorney's office that wasn't there previously. Do please post again as things go forward. 

[attica]

One of the other things I loved about this was that the family totally was a fan of the show ("Oh, we watched you all the time!"). When it's sometimes hard to imagine anything you have in common with people, there's always TV. :)

 

One of the lessons we can take from this episode is that when your spouse wants a divorce, nothing good will come of not granting it. Not wanting the kids to come from a broken home? Well, here seems to be the choices: 1) divorced parents; 2) a fucking misery of a home to live in with un-divorced parents; 3) a murdered parent.  Seems to me a broken home is the best of these outcomes, right?

 

Karl, please accept my condolences on your loss. It certainly must be difficult, even these many years later, and with so little legal progress.

What the D.A. is afraid of I dont know.

 

The DA is afraid of losing. Now, it's not that I don't think some DAs are chickenshit, but in this case, I'm willing to allow that she may well understand the strengths and weaknesses of presenting this case as is better than I do at this moment. And, not for nothing, if television viewers can see holes in the evidence with just 42 minutes, a trained prosecutor can see them too. I hope the team can continue to assemble the jigsaw so that there are fewer (and less reasonable-doubt-y) spaces.

[walnutqueen]

karlbowman - thank you so much for sharing with us. 

[karlbowman]

I want to thank everyone here for their good vibes....one of the many amazing things that has happened was a bunch of friend requests on facebook from people I had no clue who they were. Well one of them was in a facebook group of his class of 75 in Bryant AR. No one had known he was dead. Imagine finding out with this tv show. The upsode is they are all fired up and going to pepper the DA with letters as well as one of them is a lawyer who is wanting to drive up from houston and talk to the DA personally about this. It really does make me happy to hear so many people are willing to make their say to to the DA.

 

Than being said, there is a lot of stuff they didnt show on tv, they dont show the whole deck you know. I still think if you put it in front of jury and they check the facts they will convict her. If not I will say thank you to the DA and walk away. I wont even feel bad for long I promise, I just owe my cousin his day in court and Im going to do the best I can to give it to him.   Paul was a real good guy. He didnt smoke or drink, took care of his body and his family and Im telling you he did not deserve to go like this.

 

When i think back now I really only think about the good times. All the shows we played all over Dallas in the 80's and 90's and how much dang fun we had. 

the link is to one of music videos. I was out of town when i twas made, but Paul is in the white suit. He just had a blast making the movie and it won a prize as a short film in the Q international film festival. If I remember correctly Paul came to the screening in a tux....LOLOLOL

 

so I know Im getting long winded here, but it really is true that they watched the show. My late aunt Jane, told donna how cool would it be if kelly and yolanda could take pauls case?  And donna wrote to them and they took it. Aust jane died in early november before ay filming was started on this show but I feel her prescence all through it. She was absolutly the most loving person I have ever met. and I never called her on the murder day but always on pauls birthday but it didnt matter because our conversation always came back to Paul. SO yes it is true that they watched the show. and God bless Kelly and yolanda for doing the best they could here. I still dont hold any hope that the DA will do anything about the case as they have had three times and keep saying we need more. I really think it is time to arrest one or both of them and squeeze them till the truth pops out.

 

To this day i still don't know "Why"?  ANd marta will in all likelyhood tell whatever lie is handy when she is forced to come clean. If ever.

[cooksdelight]

What a great video!! It really shows the harsh reality of Hollywood that most people see when they go out there seeking fame and fortune. Only the lucky few never have to experience that.

[Ohmo]

Karl, please accept my condolences on your loss. It certainly must be difficult, even these many years later, and with so little legal progress.

The DA is afraid of losing. Now, it's not that I don't think some DAs are chickenshit, but in this case, I'm willing to allow that she may well understand the strengths and weaknesses of presenting this case as is better than I do at this moment. And, not for nothing, if television viewers can see holes in the evidence with just 42 minutes, a trained prosecutor can see them too. I hope the team can continue to assemble the jigsaw so that there are fewer (and less reasonable-doubt-y) spaces.

 

I'd also like to thank karlbowman for coming to this forum.  I agree with attica that the DAs hesitation comes from the fear of losing.  With the way that double jeopardy works in this country, there's what you know to be true and what can be proven to be true.  I do think that Marta did it (or at the very least was part of a plan to have Paul killed).  However, I'm not so sure about Pedro.  At this point, I tend to believe him that he didn't do it.  So, from that perspective, I can see the DA's hesitation.  I think that Marta was involved, at the very least, but the evidence could be stronger.  If I were a juror, I'd need more to connect Pedro.  I can buy that he's a sap.  I can buy he's a cheating husband who sleeps around, but I'd have a hard time connecting him to the murder with what we've heard so far.  The cell phone records are favorable to him, and if he was somehow already at the house, what proves that?

 

My best to your family karlbowman as the legal process continues.

[Calamity Jane]

Karlbowman, I can't even begin to imagine what you and your family have gone through.  I can only say that once in a while when something I know about or have witnessed makes it into the news, I barely recognize it.  Things get left out or distorted or somehow changed until there is almost no resemblance to the original situation.  I'm sure it could only be all the more so for a story this big and complex.  Hoping for the best in the long run, but it does seem it may be a while yet.  

[psychoticstate]

Karl, thank you for posting.  Please know that your family and Paul are in our thoughts and prayers in the hope that justice will finally be served for your cousin.

[RIVERSANGEL]

 I am a huge fan of this show, however this episode always troubled me. If they estimated the time of death of this man at around 9:30 AM and they believe he was sleeping, how did he fall asleep in 15 minutes after logging off his computer? With the facts that we were given, I would say his time of death would’ve probably been closer to 10 AM, which would’ve fallen in line with Martha calling her nephew just before 10 AM. Has this nephew been investigated ? He’s obviously going to be younger and maybe she turned to him and some of his friends to commit the crime? Has this angle ever been investigated? Could it be that phone call was to see if the deed had been done?  I mean if she is at the bakery with her supposed illicit boyfriend  shopping for bread...why would she be calling her nephew?  Just a thought!  Clearly there is another angle to this that is not being overturned for the truth. 

[RIVERSANGEL]

@karlbowman  this story has always touched my heart. What an amazing father he looked to be! Reminds me so very much of my own. I get so choked up and there is such a lack of info on the net  in regards to this case! It is not even listed under the cold cases with Arlington PD? Or was this a county case and I miss that fact?  What a tragic loss for this family and community  for such an upstanding man. Thank you so much for the information you’ve posted in this forum it is seasoned with so much heart and posting the music video in which he was a part of.  Your thoughts and sentiments made this man come to life even more and remind people that he is more than a character on a television show that he was an actual victim in someone’s loved one!  He was obviously a man of many wonderful layers and this man deserves justice!!! Would you happen to know in regards to my thoughts posted above in regards to Martha’s nephew?