The murder of Lynette Marie LaFontaine-Trujillo in Los Angeles, California, in September 1996 is the subject of the documentary titled “The Killer Closer: Deadly Dessert,” which airs on Investigation Discovery. Her untimely demise was precipitated by an unexpected series of occurrences, and the courtroom proceedings referred to it as “a Kafka story with its darkness, with its twists and with its turns.” The spectator is taken on a journey through the intricate chain of events and the investigation procedure that led to the capture of the perpetrator in this episode. We can provide you with information regarding the identify of the offender as well as their current location if you so want. Then, shall we dive right in, will we?
How Did Lynette LaFontaine-Trujillo Die?
Cynthia Berken, who taught second grade in Sherman Oaks, was Lynette Marie LaFontaine-mother. Trujillo’s Lynette Marie LaFontaine-Trujillo was born on December 14, 1961, in Westwood, which is located in Los Angeles County, California. In addition, Lynette had a younger sister named Nicole Garza who worked as a lawyer specializing in family and divorce law. In 1989, Nicole was Lynette’s attorney during the divorce proceedings she initiated against her husband, Miguel Trujillo. It was said that her younger sister exerted an excessive amount of influence over Lynette, which is the precise factor that led to Lynette’s passing a few years later. At the time of her passing, Lynette was the mother of three sons, all of whom were residing with their respective fathers.
In 1991, Nicole wed Jose Garza, a seasoned prosecutor for the city of Los Angeles, and the couple went on to have three children with ages ranging from 18 months to 4 years. According to the show, Nicole and Jose allegedly had sexual relations on September 25, 1996. After the alleged encounter, Nicole reportedly asked her husband to retrieve a diet ice cream bar from the freezer located in the garage of their Sylmar property. It was almost 11 o’clock at night when Jose made his way down to the garage, but he grew suspicious when he heard the dogs in the home barking.
Jose went into the garage armed with a revolver that had a semiautomatic firing mechanism, but he was immediately ambushed and shot at. In spite of the fact that the assailant missed Jose with all three of his shots, Jose was able to eliminate the threat by shooting the assailant to death. When the police got at the scene, they discovered the assailant unconscious and wearing a dark sweatshirt with a hood, a black wig, and glasses that resembled goggles. They brought the masked figure to the Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, where the investigators were shocked when they were able to recognize the perpetrator of the attack.
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Who Killed Lynette LaFontaine-Trujillo?
Lynette LaFontaine-Trujillo, Nicole’s sister and the suspected assailant, was found dead in her apartment with a fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen. Lynette did not regain consciousness before passing away on October 7, 1996, approximately two weeks after the incident that occurred in the garage of her brother-in-home. law’s Her death occurred at the hospital. Lynette used to lived in a Sherman Oaks apartment with her mother, Cynthia, at the time of the event, and worked as a server. Blood and Lynette’s gun were found on the floor of the garage by the investigators who were called to the scene of the incident.
In addition to that, they discovered a wristband with a key attached to it that fit a Ford Bronco. The neighborhood was thoroughly searched by the police in the hopes of locating the suspect vehicle and gaining additional information that might be useful to their inquiry. During this time, the authorities eventually learned the assailant’s name and identify. After being taken into custody, the Garcia couple had been transported to the local police station, where they were being questioned in separate rooms. According to the episode, when their interrogators also learnt out the assailant’s identity, they did not immediately share it to the couple after they had discovered it themselves.
Instead, the authorities started leading inquiries about Lynette, which left Jose perplexed. He continued wondering why his sister-in-law was even a topic of conversation in the first place. On the other hand, Nicole was lazing around lazily in the interrogation room and seemed unfazed by the surprising line of questions, which led the detectives to view her as a possible suspect in the case.
The police were taken aback when they discovered many notes in the passenger seat of Lynette’s car. These papers contained specific directions on how to carry out the murder of Jose, and their discovery came as a complete surprise to them. The notes were wet and damaged, and neither a signature nor a salutation could be seen on them. The notes were put together like a jigsaw puzzle by forensic analysts, and handwriting analysis was used to determine whether or not they were written by Nicole. On September 27, 1996, she was taken into custody on suspicion of attempting to murder her husband, and on October 8, 1996, after Lynette had passed away, the attempted murder allegation was upgraded to a murder charge.
Where is Nicole Garza at this Current Time?
Nicole Garza initially pled not guilty to both accusations; but, in January 1997, she changed her plea to one of “no contest” on both counts in the hopes of having her case resolved more quickly and to shield her children from any additional notoriety. On the 23rd of January in 1997, she was given a sentence that included a minimum of six years in prison for the conviction of voluntary manslaughter and a sentence that ranged from fifteen years to life on the charge of attempted murder. She is currently in her late 50s at this point. Nicole was granted her freedom once she had finished completing the entirety of her sentence. According to several accounts, Nicole has remarried and relocated to Arizona, where she now resides with her family and leads a private life.
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