John Sandoval killed his estranged wife, Kristina “Tina” Marie Tournai Sandoval, in Weld County, Colorado, in October 1995, according to NBC’s “Dateline: The Devil Was Watching.” Before being given a life sentence, he was the main suspect for more than a decade. He filed an appeal and got a plea agreement to shorten his sentence. So tell us about John and his background. Here is what we know if you’re interested.
Who is John Sandoval?
In the middle of the 1980s, Tina and John met at Greeley, Colorado’s AIMS Community College. He was enrolling in studies to become a radiology technician while she was pursuing an Associate’s degree in nursing. On December 31, 1991, they got married in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. But, as Tina learned about John’s dark side, the marriage did not continue for very long. In less than two years after the wedding, she filed for divorce. She even relocated to a new flat and began dating once more in the hopes that the divorce would be finalised shortly.
According to the programme, Tina revealed to a handful of her coworkers at the Greeley, Colorado, hospital’s North Colorado Medical Center that her divorced spouse had voyeurism. He allegedly stalked women for a few days at a time by following them to random convenience stores. He used to sneak outside after hours to look through their windows. In order to have a better look without being seen, Tina even claimed that he broke into the houses of his victims and lurked in closets and under beds.
John is accused of stealing women’s pants and bringing it home. After receiving complaints, the police routinely visited the Sandoval home to question John. In the summer of 1995, Tina had had enough when the police arrived at the door and filed for divorce. She also revealed to her coworkers how she frequently noticed John’s car parked outside her new flat and voiced concern that he might potentially be stalking her. John allegedly threatened to commit suicide and did not want to get a divorce.
Tina told her family about how, in a dramatic and extreme measure, he held a gun to his head to preserve his marriage. She had even confided in her doctor about her concerns for John’s safety. John consequently became the prime suspect when the Greeley nurse vanished on October 19, 1995, following a meeting with her divorced husband. On October 20, the cops kept an eye on him and observed him come home around 5:46 am. After he attempted to elude the authorities, they detained him on unrelated trespassing charges. In addition to a dirty shovel in his car, they discovered muddy garments at his house.
Where is John Sandoval Now?
To uncover Tina’s credit cards in John’s house, the investigators used a search warrant. Since four days before to her abduction, there were no planned events. The investigators spotted multiple brand-new fingernail scratches on John’s face, neck, chest, and shoulder when they brought him to the station. He tried to destroy the evidence during the interrogation by scrubbing and chewing his fingernails. Police never discovered a body, murder scene, or witnesses despite the high level of suspicion, and he steadfastly refused to provide any details concerning her disappearance. At the time, the district attorney chose not to press charges.
Before a new District Attorney reviewed the file and determined there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to charge John with first-degree murder, the case went unsolved for nearly 14 years. He was detained on June 18, 2009, and on August 5, 2010, he was given a life-without-parole verdict. Jesse Martinez, John Sandoval’s cousin, was one of the prosecution’s key witnesses. He reportedly started seeing Tina a month before she ended her relationship with John. When Jesse said John pursued Tina and killed her, the jury was persuaded.
The evidence against John, including testimony from his previous victims and the officers who investigated those cases, helped to convict him. But, there was still a problem because the police were still looking for Tina’s body. On March 17, 2016, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed John’s guilty judgement, nearly eight years after the sentencing. There were some technical difficulties, according to court documents, and a new trial date was established. After John made the decision to reveal the location of Tina’s body in exchange for a plea deal, the district attorney’s office began getting ready for the new trial.
He revealed to the authorities how he had hid his ex-body wife’s at Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Greeley on March 22, 2017, about 22 years after Tina went missing. On March 31, the officers discovered Tina’s decayed remains in the aforementioned burial. John was permitted to enter a plea of guilty to second-degree murder in 2017 as a result of the revelation, and he was given a 25-year prison term with five years of parole. After he was found guilty of first-degree murder in August 2010, his sentence was retroactively applied.
By the time he is eligible for parole, which is in 2020, he would have spent 12 years behind bars after taking time served into account. Kelly Fryan, one of Tina’s sisters, stated, “We weren’t even anticipating parole until 2028. We are currently addressing this two years after this plea agreement. Though qualified for parole, it does not guarantee that he would receive one, according to experts. John, 58, is still in Trinidad Correctional Institution serving his term. His next parole hearing is scheduled for January 2026, and his anticipated release date is 2032, according to his inmate records.
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