See No Evil: Neighborhood Watch on Investigation Discovery details the horrific rape and murder of Natalie Belmonte, 43, in her Pembroke Pines, Florida, home in February 2011. Using surveillance footage collected from the victim’s neighbours, the inquiry quickly found the killer. We have all the information you need if you’re curious about the case, the identity of the offender, or their whereabouts right now. So let’s get started, shall we?
How Did Natalie Belmonte Die?
On May 29, 1968, in Georgetown, Guyana, Natalie Anne Lopes Belmonte was born to Reginald and Cheryl Lopes. Along with her brother Reginald Lopes and sister Michaela Lopes Teixeira, she was raised in Guyana. When Natalie was seven years old, her family first relocated to Florida and then spent two years in Calgary, Canada. She lived out the rest of her life in Pembroke Pines, Broward County, Florida. Natalie was a bright, outgoing, and a stellar student, according to her family.
Natalie achieved academic success and graduated from Florida International University in Miami with a degree in Elementary Education. Before being married to her high school love, Andre Belmonte, in 1988, she temporarily worked as a teacher. Brianna and Aidan were reared by Natalie as a stay-at-home mother until 2000, when she was hired at Home Depot. She finally got a divorce, and in 2003 she got her real estate licence. Natalie had a friendly disposition and a keen mind, which contributed to her real estate success.
The 43-year-old woman shared her Pembroke Pines home with her adoptive son, Gerard Lopes Belmonte, in February 2011. On July 17, around 7:00 PM, her family reported her missing after Gerard claimed he hadn’t seen her all day. On July 20, the police discovered Natalie’s body in a marshy area close to the 1600 block of Northwest 196th Avenue. According to the results of her autopsy, she had been strangled and had suffered serious head injuries. She had been sexually assaulted before she was slain, the medical examiner also noted.
Who Killed Natalie Belmonte?
Police records claim that on July 16, Gerard and Natalie went to a graduation celebration before going back home together at about 2:30 in the morning. He stated that when he awoke the next morning, his adopted mother had vanished. By the evening, Gerard began to worry because Natalie would never leave the house for so long without telling him. He called his siblings as a result, and when they hadn’t heard from her, he became even more concerned. Unexpectedly, Natalie’s pocketbook, keys, and phone were all still at the house. About 7:00 PM, the family called the police to report a missing person.
While Gerard was only eleven years old, Natalie had legally adopted him in Broward Circuit Court in 2000. When Gerard’s father, her uncle, passed away from natural causes, she made the decision. Natalie would do everything for him, according to Aquila Rodgers, a coworker of hers at a Weston real estate company. He was cherished by her as if he were her own. She recalled how cherished she was to Gerard and said, “She was his lifeblood.” The relationship, however, was not as straightforward as it first seemed.
In accordance with accounts, Gerard had a history of run-ins with the law on allegations of burglary, larceny, and small-time theft. This included an arrest in 2009 for allegedly breaking into a house while the owners were asleep. The police learned Natalie had filed criminal charges against him for allegedly taking up to $20,000 worth of her jewels in 2008, even though most of the allegations were dismissed. According to court papers, she gave the police a taped confession, and Gerard was then taken into custody.
While completing immigration paperwork, Gerard was shocked to learn that an arrest warrant had been issued for him in connection with the theft. He had assumed the situation had been resolved. He was detained for a month after being captured in early June 2011, according to court records. When Natalie stepped in and said she wanted to drop the charges since her son “had put his life together over the past three years,” Gerard was released. He was released on July 14 when she provided his $1,000 bail.
Hence, when Natalie went missing, Gerard was made a person of interest. At roughly 5:08 AM on July 17, the police were able to see video from a neighbor’s CCTV system that showed someone leaving the house and parking the victim’s maroon Lexus in the garage. In addition, the surveillance footage showed a person standing near to the left rear side of the car while carrying two sizable white garbage bags and wearing a white shirt. One second large white garbage bag was brought and placed in the trunk.
Where is Gerard Lopes Now?
The car was captured on camera leaving the house at 6:23 AM and coming back at 6:31 AM, exactly eight minutes later. Also, they witnessed the person in the white shirt leave the house and wipe the bumper and trunk’s interior and exterior. According to the programme, Natalie’s sister reportedly told the police that when she visited the residence, she noticed blood streaks on the floor of the master bathroom. As a result, the cops carried out the search request and discovered evidence of a violent struggle.
The detectives also searched every garbage can within an eight-minute radius that they had designated. At a nearby shopping area, they discovered trash bags filled with blood-stained men’s clothing, towels, bedding, and pillows. The investigators used DNA testing after discovering Natalie’s body to discover Gerard’s sperm there. Also, they discovered that the bloodied clothes he was wearing were comparable to the ones he could be seen wearing on the convenience store’s CCTV film from before the party, where he accompanied Natalie.
On July 20, Gerard was taken into custody and given a first-degree murder charge. He allegedly had a crush on Natalie and raped her on July 17 after coming home from the party; he then killed her out of shame, according to the episode. The prosecution even claimed that Natalie was upset with Gerard for Natalie’s current imprisonment because of the allegations Natalie filed three years earlier. While he admitted guilt at his 2013 trial, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, and he was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The 33-year-old is incarcerated at the Calhoun Correctional Facility in Blountstown, Florida, to complete his sentence.
