Episodes
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Keeping a Killer Incarcerated
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Jennifer Ann Crecente, 18, was a high school senior and preparing to graduate with honors. On Feb. 15, 2006, she was shot to death by a former boyfriend. Friends and family knew he was controlling, manipulative and later, learned about how he was verbally abusive.
Despite having a felony criminal history and evidence showing he planned the shooting, Justin Crabbe was granted a plea deal of 35 years behind bars. His first parole hearing was in Aug. 2023.
Jennifer's family, including her grandmother in El Paso, now works to prevent more dating violence among teens, as well as fights to keep the killer behind bars for his full sentence.
February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.
Learn the warning signs and help spread awareness among teens by visiting Jennifer Ann's Group: jenniferann.org
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the El Paso Center Against Sexual & Family Violence at (915) 593-7300. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 799-7233.
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
"I want my mother's story known:" The murder of Mary Corral
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
El Pasoan Maria Luisa Corral was found dead on April 29, 2005.
The 20-year-old had been beaten and strangled; her lifeless body was shoved inside a bedroom closet of the Lower Valley home belonging to the mother of Corral's boyfriend, 19-year-old Richard Flores.
Flores had thrown himself a birthday party at the house the night before, and was nowhere to be found.
With a history of violence between the couple, El Paso police suspected Flores killed Corral.
He ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
This is a tragic case of dating violence. The couple had been together off-and-on for four years. They had three children, all under the age of three at the time of the murder, who were suddenly without parents.
Nearly 20 years since Corral's murder, one of their daughters, now 21, opens up about her mom, and why she wants people to know what happened.
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the El Paso Center Against Sexual & Family Violence at (915) 593-7300. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 799-7233.
Monday Dec 04, 2023
The Final Punishment: An eyewitness account of a killer’s execution
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
ABC-7 anchor and Borderland Crimes podcast producer Stephanie Valle served as a media witness to an execution in Huntsville, TX.
On Dec. 4, 2001, the man behind a chilling crime that stunned the El Paso community was arrested. David Renteria was charged with capital murder in the death of Alexandra Flores, 5, who had gone missing more than two weeks earlier from the Lower Valley Walmart.
Renteria was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death. That sentence was carried out on Nov. 16, 2023.
The only English-language broadcast journalist from El Paso to be in the prison chronicled the lead-up to the lethal injection and the aftermath.
This is an update to Borderland Crimes Podcast 11: Lured from the Toy Aisle - The Kidnapping and Murder of Alexandra Flores.
Monday Nov 20, 2023
The Wait for Justice Ends
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
At long last, there is a conclusion in the case centered around a deadly shooting outside an east El Paso bar in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2017. The suspected shooter, Moises Galvan, was arrested at the scene. Galvan was accused of murdering RJ Franco, 22, and gravely wounding Franco's friend, David Ortega.
Galvan claimed the shooting happened in self-defense.
It took nearly 7 years, two trials -- one of those, a mistrial -- a trial judge recusal, and several rotations of both defense and prosecuting attorneys for an El Paso jury to finally deliberate and deliver a verdict.
This is an update to the Borderland Crimes podcast episode 12: "A Murder Investigation, a Mistrial, and Misconduct Allegations."
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Abduction at an ATM: The Murder of Sophia Martinez
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Sophia Martinez, 18, headed out to a blind date on Friday, March 10, 2000. But she never made it to the dance club in downtown El Paso. Sophia’s body was found in the desert just north of the city limits the following day; she had been shot numerous times. The only clue to what happened was a grainy ATM surveillance video showing someone shooting her while she pulled cash. The man in a black beanie then climbed into her car and forced her to drive off at gunpoint. The months that followed were a terrifying time for her family as well as the community, as the killer remained at large. Police managed to track down her killer when a witness could no longer keep the dark secret.
Monday Nov 21, 2022
Attacker Shoots Couple, Kills Wife in Act of Suspected Political Extremism
Monday Nov 21, 2022
Monday Nov 21, 2022
The peace and quiet in an affluent, historic Central El Paso neighborhood was shattered by gunfire during a violent attack in Nov. 2020. Georgette Kaufmann, a respected state attorney and beloved mother and wife, was killed. Her husband Daniel was shot, but survived. The gunman escaped into the night, not to be found for almost a year. The suspect’s alleged motive leads investigators – and many in the community – to believe he targeted the couple for their political beliefs.
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
“We Want to Find Her Body:” The Disappearance and Death of Erika Gaytan
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
The date between Erika Gaytan and Ricardo Marquez to a concert ended with Gaytan not returning home. Her family immediately believed something terrible happened to the 29-year-old woman; her mother said there was no way she would abandon her 7-year-old son. Continuous searches throughout El Paso – including in the sprawling desert east of the city – did not yield her remains. Despite her body not being found and a cause of death unknown, police arrested and charged Marquez with her murder. Could the 28-year-old’s behavior leading up to and after Gaytan’s disappearance be enough to convince a jury he is a killer?
Thursday May 05, 2022
“We Feel Victimized All Over Again:” Veteran’s Murder Unresolved After Five Years
Thursday May 05, 2022
Thursday May 05, 2022
An Army vet who survived combat in Afghanistan was murdered in El Paso. Tyler Croke was in the shower at a friend’s apartment when he was ambushed, held at gunpoint, then brutally killed.
A total of five people – some of them soldiers – were arrested and charged with Tyler’s murder. El Paso police investigators said they had wanted to rob Tyler of the drugs he had been selling.
And five years later, only two suspects have been sentenced.
The family of the murdered veteran fears justice may be out of reach as concerns emerge from on all sides of the case.
Thursday Feb 10, 2022
32 Years Later and Still No Resolution in Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre
Thursday Feb 10, 2022
Thursday Feb 10, 2022
In this special episode of Borderland Crimes, ABC-7 talks with one of the survivors of the massacre at Las Cruces Bowl on the 32nd anniversary of the crime.
Ida Holguin recounts the morning two men held her and six others at gunpoint, shooting them and leaving them for dead. Three of the five who died were children.
If you have information in the case, you can call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.
For a full retelling of this case, listen to episode #6 of Borderland Crimes called "Massacre at Las Cruces Bowl: America's Largest Unsolved Mass Shooting."
Monday Jan 24, 2022
A Murder Case, a Mistrial and Misconduct Allegations: The Death of RJ Franco
Monday Jan 24, 2022
Monday Jan 24, 2022
RJ Franco was shot to death outside of a bar in east El Paso on Jan. 29, 2017. The moments leading up to the shooting, as well as the shooting itself, were caught on surveillance camera and the suspect was arrested at the scene. The suspect, Moises Galvan, told police he shot Franco in self-defense. Nearly 5 years after the shooting, Galvan remains in jail as both he and Franco’s parents await justice. There was a mistrial in 2019, and no retrial date is on the calendar. Now, the state of Texas is officially investigating the judge’s handling of the case.