The October 1995 slaying of 23-year-old nurse Tina Sandoval in Weld County, Colorado, is the subject of NBC’s “Dateline: The Devil Was Watching.” Even though the police had a person of interest within hours of the murder, they lacked Tina’s body and tangible proof to connect the person to the crime. More than two decades later, in March 2017, the body was found. So who committed Tina’s murder and how did the police identify the killer? Let’s investigate.
How Did Tina Sandoval Die?
On March 17, 1972, Kristina “Tina” Marie Tournai Sandoval was born in Windsor, Colorado, to Michael and Mary Ellen Tournai. She earned letters in track, volleyball, basketball, and the Knowledge Bowl at Windsor High School, where she received her diploma. She sang in the choir and played trumpet in the band. She was the second of her parents’ nine children, and as a little girl, she was responsible for raising her siblings. She therefore naturally gravitated towards helping people, and after finishing high school, she attended AIMS Community College to obtain an Associate’s Degree in Nursing.
She met John Sandoval, a prospective radiology technician, while attending the college to further her education. Working as a licenced practical nurse on the weekends at Northern Colorado Medical Center allowed Tina to earn her B.S. in nursing from the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). She began working at the North Colorado Medical Center’s oncology department in May 1995, having graduated from UNC’s nursing programme in the top 5% of her class. Tina’s evaluator during her hospital training praised her for being a superb nursing student.
But Sarah and John persisted, and on December 31, 1991, they got married in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. However, Tina filed for divorce less than two years after the wedding, indicating that the union did not last long. She was determined to continue living her life and hoped the divorce would be finalised shortly. She relocated to a new flat and began dating once more. Around 7:00 am on October 19, 1995, Tina finished her overnight shift at the Greeley, Colorado-based North Colorado Medical Center.
Susan Tournai, her sister, said Tina had made arrangements to visit John at his house that day after her shift. She needed his signature on a few documents and the payment of an IRS obligation before the divorce could be legally finalised. Tina was reluctant to meet John because of their history and his adamant insistence on staying married. Susan was requested to go with her, but her sister was unable to do so because of work. In order to find out how the meeting went, a worried Susan asked her sister to phone her right away.
Even though hours had passed since the intended meeting, her worry level rose when she had not heard from Tina. She made a call to her mother right away to see how Tina was doing as Susan was still at work. Tina was not in Tina’s flat when Mary went to check on her. Mary visited John at his aunt and uncle’s home because she was concerned for his welfare. John was not at home, the aunt informed Mary. But, Mary discovered Tina’s jacket in the kitchen and made a complaint of a missing person to the police.
The location of Tina’s body was revealed to the authorities on March 31, 2017. In Greeley’s Sunset Memorial Garden Cemetery, she was interred next to the tomb of World War II veteran Arthur Hert. On the day Tina vanished, there were three graves that had been dug and were still open. His was one of them. Tina’s bones were discovered 21 inches below the base of Arthur’s grave, wrapped in a comforter, protected by a tarp, and taped shut. Although the reason of her death was unknown, it was assumed that she had been shot.
Who Killed Tina Sandoval?
The cops visited Tina’s flat after receiving Mary’s complaint and found everything to be in working condition. There was no indication that there had been a break-in, a battle, or any other illegal activity. They discovered Tina’s nurse outfit inside, indicating that she had gone home after the shift to change before leaving once more. They started hunting for her automobile after realising it was gone from the normal location. On October 20, at three in the morning, police discovered the automobile four blocks from John’s house.
A K-9 unit was summoned by the detectives, and the dog followed the scent from the car’s driver’s seat to a nearby house where John lived. He was the main suspect in the suspected disappearance of the missing nurse because Tina’s family had also expressed concerns about him. His prior convictions for harassment and burglary, together with the fact that he had been questioned by law authorities, only served to confirm their suspicions.
The ex-convict tried to flee the police as they arrived at John’s house by jumping out of his bedroom window. He was apprehended, nevertheless, and the investigators saw suspiciously recent scratches on his neck and torso. He was taken to the station for interrogation after being detained on unrelated trespassing charges. The detectives had no evidence against him to hold him accountable for Tina’s disappearance because the investigation was still in its early stages. Another unit of police examined John’s home in the meantime in search of information or leads.
The police discovered a fresh shovel with mud on it and a white 5-gallon bucket. In his car, they also found a rope, a loaded 9mm handgun, and a torch. John, though, was adamant about not speaking to or working with the investigators. The programme claimed that John had voyeurism, a condition in which a person stalks unidentified women. Tina felt upset and decided to file for divorce from him in the summer of 1995 after police routinely showed up at their door to question him on such instances.
Police searched a reservoir and a wooded area among other places for Tina. Some graves in the cemetery where John worked were also combed through. Nevertheless, the authorities were unable to find Tina’s body and were forced to let him go. Although a court determined there was sufficient evidence to pronounce her dead in December 2001, the case became cold. Tina received a death certificate from the State of Colorado in 2002. But nearly 14 years after her passing, in June 2009, a new District Attorney started the case.
John was detained on June 18, 2009, and the prosecution charged him with first-degree murder despite the fact that the detectives had not found any fresh evidence. On August 5, 2010, despite his plea of innocence, a jury found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of release. But in March 2016, the Colorado Court of Appeals ordered a new trial after overturning his conviction because of legal blunders.
John guided the cops to the cemetery where he had buried the body after accepting a plea bargain. He was permitted to enter a guilty plea to a charge of second-degree murder in exchange for the information. He received a 25 year prison term with five years of parole as part of the plea agreement. After he was found guilty of first-degree murder in August 2010, his sentence was retroactively applied.
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