0:00

I called my mom immediately. I

0:03

just cried. I cried. I couldn't

0:05

feel. My body went numb. I

0:09

told her, Carlin's gone. She's

0:11

gone. She

0:15

was a beautiful young mom, doing

0:17

important work. She was an intelligence

0:20

specialist. Some of her work was very sensitive,

0:23

top secret. I believe she had top secret

0:25

clearance. When she was found dead,

0:27

everyone wondered, did her work cost

0:30

her her life? I remembered him

0:32

telling me, did

0:33

she come into a lot of money that she couldn't explain?

0:36

Maybe she was selling secrets? Maybe. That's

0:38

like out of a spy novel. What about

0:40

other secrets? The personal

0:42

kind? We knew they were having issues. Right

0:45

before they got married, she found out that he

0:47

was cheating. But somewhere out there

0:50

was a stranger keeping secrets

0:52

too. My data guy starts going

0:54

through her Facebook. She made

0:57

reference to firearms in her social media. We

0:59

saw that they were communicating her gas

1:01

mileage. What a weird thing to do. A

1:03

mystery that would drag on for months.

1:06

And then, one

1:09

final secret, uncovered by

1:11

science. You start peeling the layers

1:14

back until the number is visible. A

1:17

puzzling death, a diabolical

1:19

plan, and some determined detectives.

1:22

I'm Lester Holt, and this is

1:25

Dateline. Here's Andrea

1:27

Canning with The Alibi.

1:33

Bye-bye, good mommy.

1:35

Across the spectrum of love, is

1:37

there any more precious than that of a mother for

1:39

her daughter? You are my sunshine,

1:43

my only sunshine.

1:46

Our story tonight is about that maternal

1:48

tie that endures

1:50

from generation to generation.

1:56

It begins in a military town near the Mexican

1:58

border, Del Rio, Texas. Texas, a

2:00

small city anchored by the Loughlin

2:03

Air Force Base. Carlin

2:05

Ramirez grew up there. She was an easy-going

2:07

child, says her mom, Susan Garcia

2:10

Ramirez. Carlin, when she was young,

2:12

she was real calm and quiet. Carlin

2:14

loved

2:15

to sing. She just, she

2:17

would sing all the time. Let me see

2:19

their bands. Whenever

2:22

she was out with her friends, you know, she would sing

2:24

for them.

2:25

Rosanna Flores was one of those friends.

2:28

What was it about Carlin that you

2:30

wanted to be her friend? Her smile,

2:32

her voice, a very big

2:34

heart. I can honestly say she never saw

2:37

any bad in anyone.

2:39

Her friends, Anayice Abara and

2:41

Valerie Mcketchne say it wasn't all

2:43

about singing. We would go to

2:45

the local bar here and

2:48

we would dance.

2:51

And they say the dancing could

2:54

literally happen anywhere. That's Carlin

2:56

in black. Yeah, it was like fun, fun

2:58

times at the Walmart parking lot. Only

3:01

in a small city, right?

3:04

She went to college in Del Rio, started

3:06

a nursing and then transferred to criminal

3:08

justice. Nothing that prepared

3:11

her mom for what she did at 22, enlist in the

3:13

Army. She didn't

3:16

ask me, she didn't get my opinion, she told me

3:18

after she had done it. Your family

3:20

is a military family? We are. My

3:23

dad was Air Force. My

3:24

sister is retired Air Force and

3:27

then I was in the Army Reserves. After

3:29

specialty training in information technology,

3:32

the Army sent Carlin to South Korea. Off

3:35

duty, she found time to give back. She

3:37

found herself volunteering at an orphanage. She

3:41

starts sending me pictures of a little boy that

3:43

she's in love with and she says, Mom, I want

3:45

to adopt him. I said, no.

3:50

In Korea, Carlin found another

3:52

kind of love. She began dating

3:54

a handsome sergeant named Malik

3:57

Kearney. She was attracted to his confidence.

4:00

to his heir the way he carried himself. He

4:02

was a decorated soldier. Yes. Did

4:04

she like that about him? Yes, they worked out

4:06

together and they ran. They're very

4:09

competitive. Karlin gushed about

4:11

Malik to her friends. She said that he was

4:13

a great man, that he treated her right. And

4:15

then she told me they were engaged.

4:17

Engaged and expecting.

4:20

Pregnant, the army transferred her to

4:22

Fort Meade, Maryland, home of

4:25

the National Security Agency and

4:27

one of the nation's most secret and secure

4:29

facilities.

4:31

Was she happy? Was she excited? She was excited.

4:33

She started working and absolutely

4:36

loved it. Top secret, some of it? She

4:38

would say, Mom, I can't share anything about what

4:40

I do. Meantime, the army

4:42

moved Malik to Fort Jackson, South Carolina,

4:45

where he trained recruits in chemical warfare.

4:48

The couple was 500 miles apart. While

4:51

living by herself in Maryland, Karlin

4:53

became friends with another soldier, Marissa

4:56

Manthy. Marissa loved working

4:58

with Karlin. She was the

5:00

light of the office.

5:01

She was loving. Everyone

5:03

loved her. Marissa was a single

5:05

mom with a young daughter. So when Karlin

5:08

was nearing the end of her pregnancy, they decided

5:10

to share a house together. At a backyard.

5:14

It had a decent sized kitchen

5:16

and it was right by base. Did you ever have

5:18

security concerns about the townhouse

5:21

or the area? We did have. Karlin had

5:23

mentioned that she came home one day and

5:26

felt like stuff was moved around in the house. Really?

5:28

Yeah. If somebody says

5:31

that

5:31

to me, I'm getting worried. The two

5:33

women kept the doors and windows locked and

5:35

worked together to make their townhouse a home.

5:38

Marissa helped Karlin set up a nursery. And

5:41

then

5:42

on April 23rd, 2015, Catalaya,

5:45

Vail Ramirez was born. Grandma

5:48

Susan was on the first flight from Texas.

5:50

What was it like for you seeing Karlin

5:53

and her new daughter, Vail, together? Your

5:55

baby's now had a baby. Yes, it was amazing.

5:58

I got her and I...

5:59

I wouldn't share her with anyone. Vale

6:03

was healthy and beautiful, Carlin

6:05

radiant. Their townhouse

6:08

was filled with the joyful sounds of Carlin

6:10

singing to Vale. She particularly

6:12

loved, You Are My Sunshine. You'll

6:15

never know dear, how

6:18

much I love you.

6:19

She was happy. It looked like she found her purpose

6:21

in life. Three months after Vale

6:24

was born, Carlin and Malik married

6:26

in a small ceremony in South Carolina.

6:29

After the party, Carlin went back home

6:31

to Fort Meade in Maryland with the baby.

6:33

She said it was hard the distance and

6:36

not seeing him all the time. Susan

6:39

stayed in touch with her daughter. I spoke with Carlin

6:41

every day, sometimes twice a day. But Tuesday,

6:44

August 25th, would be different. Susan

6:47

called Carlin that morning. And

6:49

she doesn't answer. And is that,

6:51

I mean, even too much. That's unusual. Such a close

6:53

relationship. So I waited. And I called her

6:55

again. And she didn't answer. So

6:58

I sent her an email to her work email.

7:00

Then we got a response to that. Called her on

7:02

my lunch

7:03

break. And she didn't

7:05

answer. I said, if you do not call me back

7:08

or message me, I'm going to call the police. A

7:10

now frantic Susan reached Carlin's

7:12

commanding officer at his home. He

7:15

promised to have someone on the base find

7:17

her. I hang up with him. And

7:20

I put the phone down. And

7:22

I hear a ruffle. Our front yard, we have

7:25

River Rock. And so I looked

7:28

out.

7:28

And I saw three uniformed soldiers. Oh,

7:31

gosh. And I knew. That's just made me. Yeah.

7:35

Sick. That's what I did to me too. It's

7:38

what any relative of

7:41

somebody in the military dreads. I mean, I'm a

7:43

Marine Corps wife myself. That's

7:45

the last thing. You don't ever want to have to see

7:47

that.

7:48

And I yelled my husband's name.

7:51

And I just dropped to my knees. And I said,

7:53

something happened to Carlin. And

7:56

then they knocked.

8:00

something had happened to Carlin. What

8:02

did they say? We regret to inform you. Just

8:06

like they always say. When we return,

8:09

what the soldier said next would leave

8:11

this mom horrified and

8:13

confused. I couldn't even

8:16

imagine what could

8:18

have possibly happened.

8:32

In Del Rio, Texas, Susan

8:34

Ramirez's husband opened their door to

8:36

an Army casualty notification team.

8:39

And the worst news imaginable, their

8:42

Carlin was dead. What did

8:44

they say? We regret to inform you.

8:48

Just like they always say, saying words.

8:50

They had a chaplain with them and couldn't

8:52

give me any specifics. I asked

8:55

for the baby. They said that she was

8:57

in the hospital. So what scenarios are

8:59

running through your mind? I couldn't even

9:02

imagine

9:03

what could have possibly happened. The

9:05

answers would come 1,700 miles

9:08

away at Carlin's townhouse in Maryland.

9:11

Homicide detectives Kelly Harding and

9:13

Dan Myers of the Anne Arundel County

9:15

Sheriff's Office were on the case. A

9:18

maintenance person saw

9:20

a dog walking around into an open back

9:22

door of the townhomes he called 911. And

9:25

the officers got there and Carlin

9:28

Ramirez had been murdered. Patrol

9:30

officers led the detectives to a second-floor

9:32

bedroom

9:33

and an appalling scene. It

9:35

was Carlin and her four-month-old daughter

9:38

together. She was laying in the master

9:41

bedroom and a little girl

9:43

was, they thought initially

9:45

also hadn't been murdered. But it turns

9:47

out that she was just sleeping alongside

9:50

her mom. The baby was unharmed. The

9:52

investigators began their search for clues

9:55

with Carlin's body. She was laying

9:57

on the floor near

9:59

the crib.

9:59

Her pants and her

10:02

underwear had been removed. Did

10:04

that suggest to you that there may have been a sexual assault?

10:07

It's something that you have to consider. The

10:10

crime scene investigation ramped up.

10:13

CSIs dusted for fingerprints and

10:15

collected hair and DNA samples.

10:18

Carlin had been shot three times.

10:21

Ballistics experts traced the bullet's trajectories

10:24

and recovered a bullet from the floor. They

10:26

were able to narrow down the weapon to a few

10:28

different models.

10:30

The caliber of the projectile was 357,

10:32

38 special. Of

10:35

course, a hard look at the spouse is

10:37

homicide investigation 101. So

10:40

the day after they found Carlin's body,

10:42

detectives flew to South Carolina to talk

10:44

with Malik. He'd been placed in an interview

10:47

room and he was waiting for us. They

10:49

started by asking about Carlin. What

10:52

can you tell

10:52

us about her? She

10:56

was just living her life. Malik's

10:58

superior officer had given him only

11:01

the vaguest of details about what happened

11:03

to Carlin. Can I tell you how she passed

11:05

away? I missed it. You guys couldn't

11:08

answer all my questions. I don't know what happened.

11:10

I

11:12

don't know what happened to her.

11:15

I'm going to shoot her. Why?

11:25

Because we're open. You can help us with it. I

11:34

didn't know anybody that didn't like her. I

11:37

didn't have anything against her.

11:40

They wanted to know Malik's whereabouts

11:43

the day of the murder. He told them he

11:45

worked his usual shift Monday, leaving

11:47

around 2 p.m. He said he

11:49

stayed in his apartment until he reported

11:52

for duty Tuesday morning. Did

11:54

you go out on a Monday night, going to work and talking

11:56

about it? No, I'm not staying

11:58

on text on my phone or something like that. The

12:00

questions got personal. Detectives

12:03

had been told Carlin was planning to divorce

12:05

Malik. I'm telling you as an outsider,

12:08

it looks like y'all

12:10

were done. She was done

12:12

with you. Right? She

12:15

didn't go. I didn't know. They'd

12:18

learned about a brief relationship Carlin

12:21

had with another soldier at Fort Meade

12:23

shortly before she married Malik

12:26

and asked him how he felt about that. It

12:28

was before we married. I thought

12:30

I forgot. Did you ever cheat on

12:32

her when you were in an exclusive

12:34

relationship with her? Cheating

12:37

on her. The

12:38

detectives cut to the chase. You didn't

12:41

kill her, right? Did you have somebody else

12:43

kill her? Was he being really

12:45

cooperative with you? He appeared to have nothing

12:47

to hide. Malik let them download

12:50

his phone. And that wasn't all. He

12:52

volunteered his bank records, offered fingerprints,

12:55

and provided a DNA sample. He

12:57

gave police permission to search his apartment

13:00

and car. The detectives got to

13:02

work. Right away, we talked

13:04

to neighbors in his apartment building.

13:07

They said that his car never left. Malik

13:10

Kearney's apartment and car, a

13:12

distinctive Jaguar XJL,

13:14

came up clean. And all his electronics,

13:17

his cell phone and Netflix account put

13:19

him at home that night, 500

13:21

miles from the crime scene.

13:24

Police checked toll plazas and license

13:26

plate readers between South Carolina and

13:28

Maryland. There was no sign of

13:30

Malik's Jaguar anywhere on what

13:32

would have been a 15-hour round trip.

13:35

Would you say that he had a good alibi?

13:36

Yes. Malik

13:39

Kearney was free to go. The

13:41

Maryland detectives were back to square

13:44

one. At the beginning of what would

13:46

become an incredibly complex homicide

13:48

case, an investigation that

13:50

would span a half dozen states, involve

13:53

hundreds of witnesses, multiple

13:55

government agencies, and a mountain

13:58

of forensic evidence.

13:59

Coming up, could

14:02

Carlin's top secret work have

14:05

cost her her life?

14:06

I wondered if she was targeted or

14:08

knew something she wasn't supposed to know. When

14:11

Dateline continues.

14:24

A little more than a week after she was killed,

14:27

Private First Class Carlin Ramirez

14:29

was buried with full military honors.

14:33

Flags were presented to her parents, husband

14:35

and daughter. Susan

14:39

had little time to mourn. She was busy

14:41

caring for Carlin's daughter Vale in Texas,

14:44

while her father Malik was on active

14:46

duty in South Carolina. Susan

14:48

was also doing everything she could

14:51

to help solve the case.

14:53

Investigators asked again and again,

14:55

who would want Carlin dead? I would say,

14:58

you know, I am racking my brain and

15:00

I wish I could tell you, but I just

15:03

cannot think

15:03

of anyone. Detectives

15:06

cast a wide net. They spoke

15:09

with Carlin's roommate Marissa multiple

15:11

times. They were curious

15:13

about the soldier Carlin had the brief relationship

15:16

with before she married Malik. Could

15:19

her death have been the result of a love triangle

15:21

gone bad? The line of questioning

15:24

made me think that they were looking at the

15:27

soldier that she was involved with. The guy

15:29

she was having the

15:30

fling with at work. Yes. What

15:33

kind of questions did they ask about him? What the relationship

15:35

was like. Did he love her? Did she

15:37

love him? Did Malik know? Did

15:40

you have to check into the soldier that

15:42

she had the little side thing with? Certainly.

15:46

And he was devastated that

15:48

this happened. He provided his

15:50

phone, his whereabouts. We concluded

15:52

that he was telling the truth where he was during

15:55

the time. With the boyfriend

15:57

cleared, some of Carlin's friends and family

15:59

thought the murder might be connected to her

16:02

top secret work at Fort Meade. I

16:04

wondered if she was targeted or knew

16:06

something she wasn't supposed to know because

16:09

of her job. The detectives were looking

16:11

for any sign that Carlin might

16:13

have been recruited as a spy by foreign

16:15

agents.

16:16

I remember specifically them telling

16:18

me, did she come into

16:20

a lot of money that she couldn't explain to me?

16:23

No, she didn't. Maybe she was selling secrets?

16:25

That's like out of a spy novel. Yes,

16:27

yes. That theory. What did you learn about Carlin Ramirez's

16:30

role in the military?

16:31

She was an intelligence specialist. Did

16:33

you have to explore the fact that maybe this

16:36

has something to do with her job? There was no evidence

16:38

of a handler or any

16:41

sort of misbehaving with her

16:43

information. Espionage

16:46

was ruled out. Weeks went

16:48

by without a break in the case.

16:50

Homicide detectives are still conducting several

16:52

interviews, still processing evidence from the scene. The

16:55

crime scene investigation intensified.

16:58

They had my house taped off for almost

17:00

a month, just going through evidence,

17:02

going through the house, trying to find things, trying

17:05

to find leads. And

17:07

Marissa lived in fear,

17:10

remembering Carlin's concerns about

17:12

someone creeping around their townhouse.

17:14

Carlin had said she thought maybe somebody

17:16

had moved things around. Did your mind go at all

17:19

to the possibility that it could have been

17:21

someone random? It even almost seemed

17:24

like a hitman had did it because

17:26

it was so meticulously planned

17:29

out. Carlin's roommate told us that they had

17:31

security concerns, that someone had maybe been in the

17:33

townhouse at some point.

17:35

It was always something we kind of kept in the back of

17:37

our minds. Did you have to consider the possibility

17:39

that maybe Carlin had a stalker, someone

17:42

who was watching them, watching her? Yeah,

17:44

it looked extensively into her

17:47

background and into her communication.

17:49

Investigators

17:51

pursued the few leads they had. All

17:54

the while, Susan was pushing them

17:56

for answers.

17:57

Two or three times a week, you know.

18:00

hear from me. It must have been getting frustrating that

18:02

she was murdered, her killer is out there.

18:05

Yes. And her daughter is

18:07

with you. You must have just felt

18:10

that fear. Constant fear.

18:12

Vale was not out of our sight.

18:15

But she heard nothing.

18:16

On

18:18

what would have been Carlin's 25th birthday,

18:20

the family took Vale to visit

18:22

her grave.

18:26

By that time, Malik was living nearby.

18:29

The Army had allowed him to transfer from South

18:31

Carolina to Fort Sam Houston.

18:34

He had gotten orders to get closer to the

18:36

baby and as close as he can get was San

18:38

Antonio so he can come and spend time with the baby

18:40

on the weekends. The

18:42

Ramirez family struggled to find normalcy.

18:45

Back in Maryland, the investigation seemed

18:47

to have stalled. Anne Arundel

18:50

County offered a $20,000 reward for information

18:53

about the case. The reward

18:55

generated no promising leads and

18:58

homicide detectives wondered if Carlin's

19:00

death could be part of a larger, even

19:02

more sinister crime.

19:04

Coming

19:06

up, investigators pursue

19:09

a stunning new theory. There's

19:11

no likely suspects. So the

19:13

first thought is serial killer or some unknown

19:15

individual. And then an eyebrow-raising

19:18

revelation about Carlin's estranged

19:21

husband.

19:22

She said that they had been intimate for several

19:25

years.

19:39

It had been months since Carlin Ramirez

19:41

had been found murdered at home with her infant

19:43

daughter in her arms. With

19:46

all leads exhausted, homicide

19:48

detectives wondered if Carlin's death

19:50

might be part of a pattern. They

19:53

reached out to profilers with the FBI's

19:55

Behavioral Analysis Unit.

19:59

and Shafer would join the team. The

20:02

stories that the husband's in South Carolina, there's

20:05

no apparent likely suspects.

20:07

So the first thought is serial killer

20:09

or some unknown individual, that's where

20:12

they'd requested the profilers.

20:13

Had there been any serial killers in

20:15

the area that could possibly tie to this

20:17

then? No, there wasn't at

20:20

that time. It was a long shot. Did this

20:22

lead anywhere, contacting the BAU?

20:24

Their opinion was that probably somebody close

20:26

to her did this. With

20:29

no obvious progress in Carlin's case,

20:32

friends began to despair. It

20:34

scared me that Carlin was never gonna

20:36

get her justice.

20:37

But what they didn't

20:39

know was Maryland detectives and

20:41

the Army's Criminal Investigation Division

20:44

had been quietly collecting a massive

20:46

amount of electronic information. Of

20:49

course, police had initially talked to

20:51

Carlin's estranged husband, Malik, but

20:54

his phone records had indicated he was at home,

20:57

500 miles away when Carlin was murdered.

21:00

But months after they'd asked for it, police

21:03

finally had not only Malik's data,

21:06

but the data of everyone who had been contacted

21:08

from his phone. We then requested

21:11

and received information from

21:13

the people that Malik was communicating

21:15

with. All their tedious

21:18

digital searching paid off. It

21:20

was a development that took them in a whole

21:22

new direction.

21:24

Buried in Malik's phone records were

21:26

numerous calls and texts with a woman

21:28

named Dolores Delgado,

21:31

a former soldier living in Florida.

21:34

When investigators poured over her

21:36

phone records, a dramatic discovery.

21:39

We had learned that Dolores was actually in

21:41

South Carolina during the time of the murder. That

21:45

phone data not only had Dolores in

21:47

South Carolina, it placed her

21:49

in Malik's apartment complex. This

21:52

must have been a big break. This was a huge

21:54

break. On a Wednesday afternoon

21:57

in March 2016, Detective

21:59

Harvey

21:59

turned up unannounced on

22:02

Dolores' doorstep in Cocoa Beach,

22:04

Florida. Knock on the door, and

22:06

I say, Hi, I'm Detective Harding. I'm

22:09

from Anne Arundel County, Maryland. I'd like

22:11

to talk to you. And... That's a shock.

22:13

And she was very shocked. She said

22:16

about, what, Malik? And

22:19

I said, yes, actually. In

22:21

an interview room at the sheriff's office, the

22:24

detective asked Dolores about the night

22:26

of the murder. If she was in Malik's

22:28

apartment and

22:29

if he was with her. She

22:32

admits that she was there that

22:35

night. What happened at Malik Kearney's house?

22:37

She was in the living room, and he went

22:40

to bed as far as she knew he was there

22:42

the whole time. Was this a sexual relationship?

22:44

She said that they'd been intimate, you know, for

22:46

several years. So she's

22:49

the long-time paramour. They definitely had a long

22:51

relationship. The detectives

22:54

now knew one thing for sure after talking

22:56

to Dolores Delgado. Malik

22:58

Kearney had lied to them about

23:01

being

23:01

faithful to Carlin for starters.

23:04

Do you have a girlfriend now? But

23:07

most critically, about what happened

23:09

the night of Carlin's murder.

23:11

Didn't go out on any night, going to work and

23:13

talking about it. No, I'm not staying

23:15

on the text of my phone. If you have

23:17

somebody that can account for your whereabouts

23:20

during the time of the murder, why

23:22

wouldn't you offer that to us? Why

23:24

would you keep that secret? The

23:27

detectives had to consider that maybe

23:29

Malik just didn't want to admit he

23:31

was cheating on his wife with Dolores.

23:34

They took a closer look at this girlfriend

23:37

who told them she and Malik hooked up

23:39

when they were both serving in Kuwait years

23:41

earlier.

23:43

Then, when Harding and Myers examined Dolores's

23:45

phone data, they learned she also

23:47

lied

23:48

about owning a gun. She

23:51

told me that she was

23:54

almost ignorant about firearms, and

23:56

her phone. I could see that she was looking for

23:59

a very particular On

24:01

her phone, there was a text that read, My last .357 I

24:03

paid .400, so I want to stay in that range. Detective

24:09

Myers dove deeper into Dolores'

24:11

life. My data guy here

24:14

starts going through her Facebook.

24:16

There was some things going on with firearms, some

24:18

information about where she purchased firearms previously.

24:21

This is the woman who had no knowledge of firearms. Right. The

24:24

posts led Myers here to

24:26

a gun shop near Dolores' home. The

24:29

shop had a sales receipt and a federal

24:31

firearms transaction record for a Taurus .357

24:34

revolver. Both

24:36

forms were made out to Dolores

24:38

Delgado. The

24:40

revolver Dolores bought matched

24:42

the caliber of gun that had killed Carlin.

24:45

We saw that his gun was one of the ones on the

24:47

list.

24:49

Of itself, this purchase of a gun

24:52

wasn't a smoking gun, but

24:54

the detectives had to wonder why Dolores

24:57

would lie to them about owning a weapon. And

24:59

there was something else. Myers

25:01

soon learned that Dolores had put a box

25:04

of .38 caliber ammunition up

25:06

for sale on Facebook. Now

25:07

that's obviously, you can't say it's the same bullets,

25:10

but it matched all the characteristics. All

25:13

this sleuthing took months. And

25:15

while the detectives were working, Dolores

25:18

moved to San Antonio, Texas into

25:20

an apartment not far from Malik

25:23

Kearney. 150 miles

25:25

west, on their farm in Del Rio, Carlin's

25:28

mom knew nothing about this new person

25:31

of interest, despite staying on

25:33

the detectives. It's me again.

25:35

I just don't want you to forget my daughter because

25:37

she was very much loved. The

25:40

investigation now encompassed a half

25:42

dozen states. But Maryland detectives

25:45

and FBI agents were homing in on Dolores

25:47

Delgado. What were you all learning about

25:49

the relationship between Malik Kearney

25:52

and

25:52

Dolores Delgado? Just how, for lack

25:54

of a better term, weird it was. They were

25:56

friends. They were friends with benefits. They were lovers,

25:59

but not really.

25:59

romantically involved. They were just sort of best

26:02

friends with a romantic

26:04

bent. There was another

26:06

weird thing. Dolores Delgado's

26:09

phone was full of texts between her and

26:11

Malik Kearney that weren't on his

26:13

phone. And what a twisted

26:15

story those texts would tell.

26:17

Coming

26:20

up, a tip from

26:22

a complete stranger could blow

26:24

the case open.

26:25

He said, one night we got rid of

26:27

a gun. I think that was

26:29

your murder weapon. When

26:31

Dateline continues.

26:45

It was a bittersweet day in August 2016

26:49

when Karlyn Ramirez's loved ones celebrated

26:52

her life on the first anniversary

26:54

of her murder. Back

27:02

East,

27:02

lead detectives Kelly Harding and

27:04

Dan Myers had developed two

27:07

prime suspects. Karlyn's

27:09

husband Malik Kearney and

27:11

his longtime mistress Dolores Delgado.

27:14

As they studied the couple's text messages,

27:17

the detectives found something curious.

27:20

Malik had wiped a lot of texts off

27:22

his phone that still existed on Dolores's

27:25

phone. Her texts made

27:27

them look at the night of Karlyn's death in

27:30

a whole new light. We saw that

27:32

they were communicating her gas mileage.

27:36

What a weird thing to do.

27:38

Not only that, they were talking gas cans

27:41

as well.

27:42

The detectives had Dolores's bank records

27:45

which showed a purchase at this Florida Home

27:47

Depot. We were able to get a copy of

27:49

the receipt of their purchase which included two gas cans.

27:51

Finally, they saw the pieces

27:54

of their puzzle coming together. At

27:56

the start of the case, Harding and Myers

27:59

thought it was unlikely. that Malik would

28:01

have been able to travel all the way to Maryland,

28:03

kill Carlin, and return undetected.

28:07

But this new evidence changed everything.

28:10

Take us through what you believe

28:12

happened

28:13

that night. Delores is providing

28:15

all the tools, the firearm, the

28:17

ammunition, a vehicle, and

28:20

really the important alibi of her staying and using

28:22

his phone.

28:24

The detective saw it as an elaborate

28:26

plot.

28:27

Delores was in Malik's apartment,

28:30

pretending to be him, texting

28:32

on his phone and streaming his Netflix

28:34

account, creating an electronic alibi,

28:37

while he killed Carlin. This

28:40

scenario explained why they didn't find Malik's

28:42

Jaguar on any license plate readers.

28:45

If he did that long drive in Delores's

28:48

car and carried extra fuel

28:50

to avoid gas station security cameras,

28:53

there wouldn't be any trace of him. So

28:56

he drives straight there. You believe

28:58

he kills Carlin Ramirez relatively

29:01

quickly?

29:02

At the most, he would have been there for 10 minutes. And

29:05

then turns around and... And goes back

29:07

and only stops the one time. It's just on the

29:10

roadside in a dark area to fill

29:12

up the car and then immediately gets back in

29:14

the car and continues to drive.

29:16

13 months after

29:18

Carlin's death, Malik Kearney and

29:20

Delores Delgado were arrested

29:23

in San Antonio. Out of the

29:25

blue, I get a phone call at work and

29:27

they asked me if I could come to San Antonio that evening

29:30

and I said, for what? They said there's been

29:32

an arrest in your daughter's case. But

29:34

he didn't tell me who. Susan

29:38

and her husband made the long drive across

29:40

West Texas. That's when

29:42

I first met the federal prosecutor. They're

29:45

the ones that told me that

29:47

Malik had been arrested and

29:50

his girlfriend. What were you learning about Delores?

29:53

I didn't know anything about her. She

29:55

was no one. She was no one to me.

29:59

Clark met with Dolores and Malik.

30:02

I introduced myself to Mr. Kearney. And you

30:04

also got a chance to speak with Miss Delgado.

30:07

We presented to her the facts

30:10

that we had and the evidence that we had compiled

30:12

against her at that point

30:13

in time.

30:15

After the arrests came a new lead,

30:18

a tip to detective Harding from an ex-

30:20

boyfriend of Dolores's in Florida.

30:23

He called me and said, hey,

30:26

one night I was hanging out with

30:28

Dolores and we

30:30

got rid of a gun. And he said,

30:32

I think that was your murder weapon.

30:35

I mean, do you get calls like this

30:37

every day? This is pretty remarkable.

30:39

I

30:39

wish, but we don't. Investigators

30:44

met with the tipster in Merritt Island,

30:46

Florida. He said that not long

30:48

after Carlin's murder, he and Dolores

30:51

Delgado had burned some clothing and

30:53

sneakers here. And that wasn't all.

30:55

He told them he destroyed a revolver

30:58

for her, dismantled it. And

31:01

that the two of them threw the pieces of the gun

31:03

off this pier. An FBI dive

31:05

team out of Miami was soon on the scene.

31:09

The water was gin clear that day and

31:11

divers found forensic sunken

31:13

treasure. There on the bottom,

31:16

rusted, covered with seaweed and encrusted

31:18

with barnacles, were the pieces

31:21

of a handgun. The parts were

31:23

rushed to the FBI crime lab in Quantico,

31:25

Virginia. Dateline was

31:27

given rare access to the FBI's

31:30

world-renowned crime lab. In

31:32

his first ever interview, firearms

31:34

expert Brett Mills told us

31:36

how he examined and reconstructed

31:38

the weapon. First, he carefully

31:41

cleaned the frame of the gun.

31:42

When I finished cleaning it, there

31:44

was no serial number there. From my reference

31:46

collection, I knew where the serial number

31:49

should be.

31:50

It was gone because Delgado's ex-boyfriend

31:53

had grounded away, totally

31:55

obliterated it. Or so he

31:57

thought. Mills had

31:59

a plan.

31:59

We call it serial number restoration.

32:03

There are still compressed layers

32:05

underneath that still has that impression

32:07

of the serial number. Using

32:10

acid, we can restore that

32:12

number.

32:12

He demonstrated the process on a

32:14

gun from the FBI collection. Once

32:17

you've polished it, you go in and you

32:19

literally start peeling the layers back

32:22

with the acid until the number

32:24

actually is visible.

32:25

It's amazing how it just reappears,

32:28

serial number. Sometimes it does

32:30

so other times you might not be able to restore any

32:32

type of number at all. There

32:34

was another way to determine if they had found

32:36

the murder weapon. Mills would

32:38

try to match the telltale markings on

32:40

the bullets that killed Carlin to the

32:43

gun from the river.

32:45

These fine striations that you

32:47

see are the equivalent of

32:49

a human fingerprint. But there

32:51

was no way the recovered weapon would

32:53

ever fire again. So Mills

32:56

removed its barrel, gently cleaned

32:58

it, and attached it to a working

33:00

revolver for a test firing. He

33:03

demonstrated that process with a similar

33:05

revolver.

33:09

Mills was able to do six test

33:11

firings with the recovered gun. Everything

33:14

he found was added to the evidence. Now

33:17

prosecutors would have to see if it would hold

33:20

up when the defense pointed the finger

33:22

at someone else in Baltimore

33:25

federal court.

33:26

Coming

33:29

up, trial begins.

33:32

Could a major twist tip this

33:34

case?

33:34

It was right before Christmas. So it was like an

33:36

early Christmas present? Yes. And

33:39

then the verdict

33:40

and the emotional fallout.

33:53

In August of 2018, Malie Kiereni's trial

34:00

began in federal court in Baltimore.

34:02

He was charged with interstate travel for

34:05

the purpose of domestic violence resulting

34:07

in death. The trial would

34:09

be the culmination of a three-year investigation

34:12

that had gathered thousands of pieces of electronic

34:15

and physical evidence in an extraordinary

34:18

forensic effort. Prosecutors

34:21

Jim Warwick and Ken Clark wanted

34:23

jurors to see Malik Kearney, not

34:26

as a superstar army sergeant, but

34:28

as a killer, a soulless executioner

34:31

who took Carlin's life because she wanted

34:33

to divorce him and endangered

34:36

his baby daughter by leaving her in

34:38

her dead mother's arms.

34:40

He was used to getting what he wanted. Relationships

34:43

could end with Malik Kearney, but they had

34:45

to end on his terms.

34:46

The government showed jurors their digital

34:49

evidence. There was a tremendous amount

34:51

of electronic data, including text

34:53

messages and photo messages

34:56

that she shared with Mr. Kearney.

34:57

Including photos Delores had sent

34:59

Malik of her car's odometer to

35:02

demonstrate its driving range and

35:04

critical correspondence about what they said

35:07

was the murder weapon.

35:08

One particular text message was

35:12

very important. He's test firing

35:14

the gun, and he texts her

35:16

saying, this gun is so darn loud.

35:19

This was part of the prosecutor's plan

35:21

to put Delores's gun in Malik's

35:24

hands. FBI firearms

35:26

expert Brett Mills told jurors

35:28

about the results of that serial number

35:31

restoration test he did on the gun

35:33

recovered from the river.

35:34

I wound up pulling up all but one

35:37

of the digits. It wound up matching

35:40

the bill of sale for Ms.

35:42

Delgado's purchase of the revolver.

35:44

Is that like a bingo moment for you when

35:46

you put this stuff to the test and it works?

35:49

Finding out that the number I restored was

35:52

basically the exact same one that was on her

35:54

bill of Layton, that was awesome.

35:57

And Mills had something else to tell the jury.

36:00

Remember, he'd done a test firing, like

36:03

this one, through the barrel of the recovered

36:05

gun. And what happened when you test

36:07

fired those bullets and compared them to those bullets

36:09

from the crime scene? We did a comparison from

36:11

the victim, and we identified

36:14

those three bullets as having been fired from that revolver

36:16

that was recovered from the creek.

36:18

The prosecutors introduced that interrogation

36:21

video of Malik Kearney. I loved

36:23

this woman. I loved her. I

36:25

loved her today. We did that so

36:28

that the jury would realize that

36:30

he was being untruthful. Did you have a girlfriend now?

36:33

No.

36:33

No? OK. And there

36:35

was something on the tape that prosecutors

36:38

wanted to be sure jurors noticed.

36:40

Incredibly stupidly, he never

36:42

actually asked how did my wife die. Do

36:45

you want to know what happened to her? I

36:47

told her that you guys were going to tell me what happened.

36:51

But the US attorneys knew their

36:53

case would hinge on whether jurors believed

36:55

their star witness, Dolores

36:58

Delgado.

36:59

Dolores had agreed to cooperate three

37:01

months after her arrest. It

37:04

was right before Christmas, too. Oh, so it was

37:06

like an early Christmas present? Early Christmas

37:08

present for 2016, yes. Prosecutors

37:12

argued that Malik's longtime mistress

37:15

would do anything for him.

37:17

On the stand, she backed that up. Dolores

37:20

testified about how she gave Malik her gun,

37:23

her car, those gas cans, even

37:26

packed him a sandwich for the drive, and

37:29

provided him with that crucial electronic

37:32

alibi.

37:33

In your directive, Dolores Delgado,

37:35

you said Malik wasn't home that night,

37:38

was he? And she answered no. Was

37:40

that the beginning of the end

37:42

for his alibi? It is placing

37:45

him at a location other than

37:48

where his phone was was critical for

37:50

this case. The

37:52

prosecution rested. The defense

37:55

argued the government had proven nothing.

37:58

They argued someone else's alibi was not home.

37:59

did it, that maybe jurors

38:02

should take a closer look at the government's star

38:04

witness, Dolores Delgado.

38:07

After all, it was her gun disposed

38:10

of by her ex-boyfriend that

38:12

killed Carlin. And with

38:15

Carlin out of the way, she'd have Malique

38:17

alter herself.

38:18

Malique's lawyers

38:20

showed the jury a text from Dolores to

38:23

a friend sent before Carlin's

38:25

murder.

38:26

Crazy bitch is gonna be put out.

38:30

But the jurors didn't buy it. They

38:33

quickly found Malique Kearney guilty.

38:36

Carlin's mother had been in court every

38:38

day. How did that feel? Hearing

38:41

the hearing guilty. I was so

38:43

glad because

38:46

with the guilty verdict, I

38:48

don't have to worry that I'm gonna have to have any

38:50

dealings with him. At

38:53

his sentencing, the judge called Malique

38:55

Kearney a predator and sentenced

38:58

him to life. Plus another 10

39:00

years on top of that. Dolores

39:03

Delgado was sentenced to 17 years

39:05

for her part in the crime. Why

39:07

do you think Malique Kearney and Dolores

39:10

Delgado

39:10

did this? I think Malique

39:12

Kearney killed Carlin because

39:15

she was the first woman in his life that

39:17

was willing and able to stand up

39:19

to him and he couldn't handle that.

39:21

As far as Dolores, she was a pawn

39:24

to Kearney that she would just kind of do whatever

39:27

he said. It was

39:30

important to Carlin Ramirez. It was important to

39:32

the baby. It was important to the Ramirez family

39:35

to bring them some measure of justice. Today

39:39

the Ramirez

39:41

family and

39:43

Carlin's friends are focused on raising bail

39:46

and teaching her about her mother.

39:53

She sang to her when she bathed

39:55

her. She sang to her when she dressed her.

39:58

Vale hears that love. loving voice today.

40:01

Carlin's sister put a recording of her

40:04

singing inside a teddy bear.

40:11

We are at this point the constant

40:13

in her life. We want her to feel protected,

40:16

loved, everything that I know

40:18

her mom would have given her.

40:23

That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt.

40:26

Thanks for joining us.