how did they miss that oh wow how did
they miss that I have no clue it's
Mells continuing into
kitchen we have what appears to be
possible
urgin bone but at this time detective
Diaz and myself are going to back out
what is your gut tell you may have been
or maybe inside the those toads and
those
buckets
by September 25th of 2020 Eddie Joe
artiaga had been missing for an entire
week when Alam mordo New Mexico police
went to conduct a welfare check on
Steven Gonzalez they had no idea that
the two cases could be connected and
much less that they would be walking
into a gruesome crime scene shockingly
so they remained unaware of that fact
for the duration of their visit to the
residents it wasn't until a follow-up
call from Steven's family was was
received that police realized just how
appalling the situation was Sten just
come to the door
please
stepen everything will be
okay stepen
[Music]
stepen Sten to the door the woman
attempting to COA stepen out is his
mother who arrived on scene with his
sister officers have been attempting to
get his attention for at least an hour
but even his mother has no luck and the
officers are forced to consider their
other options as the level of concern
for Steven's safety continues to
increase I'm not liking the clicking
sound I don't know what it is if he's
got drugs in there would he
be trying to Comm that
[Music]
way cuz he kept saying whoever he was
talking to he kept telling them just
remember this you're putting people's
lives in in Jeopardy just remember this
just remember this that's kept saying
that right so I guess he figured
somebody s him in and he called in
and I guess he might but I've never
known stepen be no okay I've supervised
him before okay so the first time I
knocked really hard he was like you see
you hear that that's on
you so I don't know what's going through
his mind right now but I'm not liking it
yeah no
he's fall I don't
trust one to he's got seriously break
damage anyways
but he's follow through the details of
Steven's potential brain injury have
remained confidential but based on
comments his family will later make it's
clear that he has a history of both
behavioral and health issues for now
though the focus remains on trying to
make contact with Steven in a way that
keeps everyone safe but the officers
don't know that they're already far too
late for that
Hey Stephen Steven adult probation just
wants to talk to you you need to come to
the door though right now it's not about
arresting you it's about talking to you
but the longer we stand out here the
more likely that a warrant will be
issued for your arrest don't make it
worse than what it is they just want to
talk to you Steven has a prior record
with law enforcement his previous
charges include driving with a suspended
license possession of a controlled
substance and possession of a firearm by
a felon This Record likely explains why
probation officers are involved please
don't do this to
us don't do it to
yourself he's right there
careful hey stepen come on out you're
good you're good
hey I'm to justify this and this they I
can't reach him look at how much smoke
that look I'm not you can you can you
can officer safety is Paramount in these
types of situations and it's good
practice to stand to the side of a door
when making entry in case the person
inside decides to go on the offensive
however safety concerns quickly go
downhill once officers get inside you
good just can you talk to me oh yes sir
come on out here can I show you my my my
innocence I want to child because I told
him the way you do this they know how to
stop it they know how to block it and
they know how to you know what I mean
stuff like that I have barely learned
how to um like like I I thought I had
finally got all off of me got it okay
and then I realized I was like what what
happened to all the all everything like
a bunch of stuff was still going on and
it was it just kind of messed well let's
talk out here okay yeah you're good okay
you remember me I've doubt with you
you've been good with me every time okay
can we talk out here better out
here you good stepen you're good but
stepen is not good and the the officers
have no choice but to enter the
residence for reasons that will become
obvious later their intrusion makes
Steven even more agitated I'll take this
trial and expose everything talking
about no no no we're just talking to you
right now okay that's all we're here can
you step on out I barely learned how to
stop that like okay will you step on out
with us look like you're getting we're
not worried about that okay like this
man that's fine that's fine in case you
didn't catch that Steven just told his
probation officer that he usually
doesn't smoke meth like this glass pipes
still in hand surrounded by smoke which
is not a great way to avoid being
arrested even though Steven hasn't been
read his rights at this point this
statement would likely be admissible in
court Steven made his statement without
being asked any questions which
categorizes his statement as spontaneous
utterance additionally no one requests
that Steven sets the pipe down to ensure
the safety of everyone on the scene it
would be in the best interest of the
officers to quickly remove all items
from his hands and Pockets then clear
the rest of the residents another
concern is that there is a civilian on
scene Steven's mother has not been
escorted out or separated from the
officers it would not be uncommon for
the civilian to join in and help Steven
if it ever came to a fight which poses
yet another safety risk to the officers
okay is anybody else in the house she
kept on interrupting you're good you're
good you're good you're good can we step
up no I don't I want to justify my my
stuff before you forget you think I'm
crazy
sir I don't think you're crazy you're
czy
that's Stephen you're good can you close
that we'll close it we'll close it we'll
close it no I want to prove my
innocent I that wi Steven is being
arrested and apparently expressing his
concerns about being accused of
Witchcraft the other officers on the
scene make a cursory search of the
premises and when we say cursory we
really mean
it R I think they're not
while searching the master bedroom the
flashlight beam skims right past what
appears to be a hacksaw before
continuing on in addition to the
oversight it's concerning that the
officers don't announce that they're the
police as they proceed into the trailer
and make no commands for others in the
residents to make themselves known and
come out with their hands up this is a
very good way for the officer to get
shot if such an altercation were to
occur the homeowner could just say this
guy just walked into my bedroom holding
a gun and I shot him in many states the
homeowner would be deemed
Justified we're on
the
[Music]
it's
water the totes and buckets found in the
closets will be deemed critically
important but for now they go unnoticed
what officers do find is a loaded
firearm along with more drugs and
paraphernalia in Steven's pockets and
strewn about the living room all of
these items constitute violations of
Steven's parole eliminating any question
of whether or not he'll be arrested you
may be wondering why police are
conducting a search without a warrant
Steven along with most other offenders
are typically placed on what is called
searchable parole or probation meaning
that warrants and probable cause are not
needed for administrative searches of a
probationer or their home a warrantless
search of a parole Le only needs to be
based on a condition which The Prisoner
agreed to observe during the balance of
his sentence often these conditions are
written broadly and include terms like
shall not violate any laws or
regulations therefore it seems that in
this situation the in-depth search is
legal not that it does much good however
police still manage to miss the V
majority of the evidence sitting in
plain sight understand I'm innocent you
know I have to and let me explain
everything my cousin has a history don't
not I could explain for everything I I
know they did some drink I first got
into this drink some water first and I
wanted to kill them like with the p
that's why I did not want to risk my
life and let that happen again okay well
I'm glad you did that and the stuff that
you're going to find in here you're
going to think I'm looking in very
guilty I'm just I'm just explaining you
know what I mean so like you know like
people were going
excuse me if not you who else huh who
else let me get some water and I can
show you for myself poly dipsia or
increased thirst can be a side effect of
drug use perhaps explaining Steven's
incessant requests for water throughout
the arrest process however there is also
a common theory that drinking an entire
gallon of water before a drug test will
allow a person to pass though it is
possible to get a false negative on such
a test it's usually not this easy also
of note is the fact that Steven doesn't
mention what he's trying to explain
police probably think he's talking about
his obvious drug use but the truth is
far darker so Jitter I think I think you
guys are going to kill me bro no no no
no that's what last thing we want like
why did they let them bang on the window
you know what I mean
because all you have to told the only
way to find the truth about is this is
if you guys calm down and she kept
banging banging banging I said calm down
calm down bang bang bang and then they
were running all over the place and I
was like I was like I'm not going to
risk my life and all these like can you
shut the door so I could show you
paranoia like Steven is showing here is
also a common sign of drug use although
in this case it'll eventually come out
that Steven really was trying to show
police something horrifying his concerns
for his life however don't appear to be
based on
reality let's go talk to here
okay in uh privately out here no I have
to show you because I not okay bro come
on Stephen you're good you're good let's
just talk out here okay while police are
doing a good job deescalate the
situation it would serve them best to
promptly remove everyone from the scene
they clearly don't want to fight Steven
and for good reason considering the
substances he's on but the longer they
spend at the house the more potential
danger they could face you won't regret
it I'm sorry and it sounds so stupid I
have to smoke that before it gets I
think I think it's before it gets too
far because I barely learned how to I
barely learned how to I guess you could
say control it uhhuh you to to explain
this in court what is it exactly that
you're trying to explain cuz you still
haven't said that I have I am innocent
because they kept on denying me as my fa
I I panic but I had a gun to my head and
had PTSD unfortunately even when one of
the officers directly questions what
Steven is talking about he's in no state
to give a comprehensible answer as a
result they take Steven away blissfully
unaware that their colleagues would soon
be summoned to the house again this time
under markedly worse circumstances it
was determined that Steven was too high
to go straight to booking so he was
first assessed at the hospital he had
high blood pressure and an increased
temperature which can both be symptoms
of drug use he also spent a decent
amount of time seemingly talking to
himself but despite this and an apparent
injury to his knee he was deemed in
suitable condition to be placed under
arrest police likely thought the case
was closed but just a few hours later
they received a distraught call from
Steven's family requesting they
return you remember me from earlier okay
what's going
on hi
singer a puppy
dog how did they miss that
oh wow how did they miss that I have no
clue it's
blood yep looks like it it smells like
it let me call what you call let me call
Sergeant real quick the question of how
the police missed the two very obvious
JS of Blood on the counter is a good one
the question of why the blood is being
kept in a jug and a bottle is yet to be
answered though the implication could be
stomach churning the officer goes
outside to privately speak with the
sergeant which is the the right thing to
do but he should have removed everyone
especially family members from the scene
before stepping out as a result of
having left family members unattended
inside the residence the scene is not
secure and will become increasingly
difficult to prosecute oh there's quite
a bit of blood in the
jugs in The Jug yeah I don't know what
to do what do you
think contact contact Rodney tell the
missing person there's the missing
person everything
in case you missed it the sergeant just
said he didn't know what to do a
sergeant should never think out loud
like this as it doesn't show much
leadership when the leader says I don't
know what to do Additionally the
sergeant should be responding to the
scene immediately back inside another
officer arrives to supervise the family
members but he also appears to struggle
with the protocols intended to keep a
scene secure I understand how they
missed that was like right there in the
cner that's where it was sitting the
whole
time
I looked at it and I was
like didn't have
like definitely looks like blood to
me shockingly the officer continues to
allow Steven's sister to handle the
evidence while his mother and
grandmother move about the residence
even though the sister is wearing gloves
that evidence can almost certainly be
considered contaminated now the family
should have been removed immediately as
they have every reason to try to
contaminate the scene to help Steven's
case even the officers themselves
shouldn't be inside at this point at the
very least they should not be touching
anything so far this is exactly how not
to handle a scene have you guys been in
here cleaning or what was what was going
on I here trash there was it was trash
there was glass on the floor that's all
we picked up I mean all the bags are
outside you didn't throw anything but BR
the glass out of the way there
[Applause]
wasen down there it doesn't look like it
looks like
that that
maybe I didn't see under the V I open
it okay well if you can leave that like
that just leave it open like
that we're goingon to have to take
pictures of all of this
yeah oh my
God just
right is it
gel most of the time I I understand I
was just asking if it gelled up like
blood when it
coagulates it does yeah BBE it's not so
that's what I'm going to check
so what do you see it's hard to tell but
it it looks like there's some kind of
a formed Clump in there now the officer
is actively contaminating evidence
himself instead of passively allowing it
to happen DNA and trace evidence have
certainly been transferred left and
right a defense attorney would be able
to destroy the case in court but despite
the mishandling of the scene and the
shock value of what is discovered semi
coagulated blood in a water bottle is
far from the worst thing that will be
discovered in Steven's house yeah that's
that's a lot yeah and he started
cleaning up a little bit and I that I
just noticed that and
then show you something
else
oh yeah that's and then I don't
know I don't know but I can't open I
can't open it I I
can't oh yeah let's let's not touch that
cuz
there's just I don't
knowen
here s did you huh did you go back there
I've got back as far as I
right go to the back corner over here
there's a plastic tart and buckets with
blood on
them clearly the contents of the plastic
totes are disturbing enough to Rattle
the officer as well as Steven's sister
because he finally mentions that they
should stop touching the evidence not
that he enforces the suggestion though
but if there is something so obviously
concerning about the bends it raises the
question of how they were overlooked by
the first round of police then again if
they failed to notice a jug of blood in
plain sight it's not exactly surprising
that they weren't interested in the
totes for now the police leave the
plastic bends and buckets alone likely
to preserve whatever evidence remains
after the family cleaned and multiple
officers tromped through the house but
before a team arrives to inspect the
contents officers are in for yet another
surprise while this one is less gory
it's no less concerning a wallet
containing an ID and credit cards
belonging to Eddie Joe artiaga is found
on the table in Steven's house Eddie Joe
had been reported missing a few days
prior by a cousin who claimed he'd not
been heard from since September 18th
note that Steven's mother places the
wallet on the table to be photographed
it should have been documented where it
was found in the residence not moved to
a different location as a result we'll
likely never know exactly where the
wallet was found which could seriously
impact the validity of the evidence
Steven's cousin shared that Eddie Joe
had recently been hit by a semi TR and
received critical injuries including
severed fingers and a broken pelvis
since that time she stated he hadn't
been the same and she suspected he'd
started using drugs to cope she was
worried he might have done something to
harm himself however the presence of
blood and Eddie Joe's wallet and
Steven's house present a potential
alternate reason why Eddie Joe had
fallen out of contact along with what
whatever will soon be found in the totes
the situation looks grim and it only
gets worse you know we have a lot of
family for my was that what the original
call out here earlier
was can't
believe I don't want to believe
it how did they miss that we haven't
touched you I wasn't here I don't know
how they got through their stuff
earlier my brother I don't think I don't
see anything think he would be capable
of doing this I just can't this is your
brother and nephew that were here my
brother and my cousin your
cousin okay so your brother got arrested
today and your cousin is missing okay in
a Twist police likely never predicted
they learned that Eddie Joe and Steven
are cousins Steven's mother is Eddie
Joe's aunt and she and Steven's sister
have spent the past few days looking for
their missing family member when last
camera recording started sat on Saturday
okay was that
here that's what somebody said they
dropped him off okay I seen him I seen
him here on Friday you saw Eddie here on
Friday okay so a week
ago week ago today and when we came here
on
Monday
we noticed that his bag was on the
account um and his girlfriend everybody
start looking wondering why hasn't he
contact nobody yeah police were able to
confirm that a different one of Eddie
Joe's cousins had dropped him off with
Steven on the previous Friday or the
Saturday that followed just a handful of
days before he was reported missing so
when you dropped Eddie off did you go in
with him M okay so you just
Dr oh it's that bad um like I can't
explain it man but like uh he's just
liable to flip out hear me over the few
days that follow police are able to
speak with more members of the family
and they learn more about both Steven
and Eddie though they attempt to
question Steven himself confronting him
about the disturbing contents of his
house he declines to answer without a
lawyer present still his family has some
telling information to share perhaps
some of the most interesting stories
come from one of Steven's
ants just like that one nobody
trust around and I always tell her I
always told her how can you don't get in
help you try to get him
help I can't I can't she
scared
scar but I used to
be he was young stabbed his sister in
the
he a long time ago you know he chased me
with the knife a long time ago you know
there there is violence but ever since
then back then I would tell her give him
some
help you know give him some help he
needs help I don't want to believe Ste
go so you don't want to believe it but
on the same
term have your opinion that stepen could
have if they
were that's he done wor we know for a
fact that Steven had recently been high
and if what his aunt is saying is true
perhaps the drugs pushed him over the
edge and caused him to do something
terrible his sister is able to provide
some additional Insight so you're saying
that he's been doing really good meaning
everything has seemed pretty normal
pretty chill up until the last few weeks
well yeah pretty much but like
um aside from his
mentalness this is what I'm talking
about when I say mentalness okay Stephen
I could take him to the store and he'll
go into the store like three times to
get one thing and he'll stayed there
like I even recorded him because I was
like this is so sad you know and he's
like oh I forgot I forgot I was R there
for 12 and he's like oh I need ice and
he stays in the store and he'll just be
looking like like he can't remember like
he zones out yeah like he Z out and is
that a recent development or it's gotten
worse recently to the point where like
nobody wants to even give him a ride no
more because he takes like one trip to
take him to do one like run one errand
will be like your whole afternoon it's
unclear how much of Steven's struggles
were a result of drug use or mental
illness the way his sister first
describes as symptoms it sounds like
ADHD however methamphetamine use
literally eats holes in your brain like
dementia which also fits the symptoms
described it's entirely possible that
everything described is related to his
ongoing drug use lending Credence to
this theory is the fact that according
to Steven's other sister getting high
only worsened Steven's symptoms well
Steven's a good person too and
he's gotten better but when he's high I
can tell he starts looking
around he'll hear stuff and like like
he'll be like stuff on him and I can
just tell when he's on I just hate drugs
like
and sometimes Stephen would do them and
he would be so paranoid like saying he
was possessed notably the behavior
Steven's sister describes as very
reminiscent of how Steven was acting
during his arrest the officer soon shift
the conversation to the subject of her
cousin Eddie Joe what's your what's your
fears you talked a little bit about it
earlier um whenever you were at over
there by the
house my cousin's
dead why do you think
that because it's been a week and he
hasn't called us is that
abnormal he would have called my sister
or his girlfriend in addition to
interviewing the family investigators
speak with a friend of Stevens who came
forward to share a rumor he heard note
that he refers to someone named Nam
Shadow this is Eddie Joe's nickname and
uh couple people I around with uh said
that uh they were on post with Stephen
and Shadow and something happened they
got an alocation or something and one of
them shot Shadow when this happened I
don't know when but they said that uh
those two had left and that Stephen was
supposed to stay there and take care of
it he said that of his family while this
Theory isn't impossible possible it
doesn't appear that it was ever
considered a significant lead with a
better understanding of Steven's
background and mental state it was
finally time for police to see what
Horrors were hidden in his
closet
right into the living
room
backpack
k
numerous hand
guns continuing into
kitchen jug what appears to be
blood there's the
vent here to be
blood right up on the
bottom near The Blood Stained vent the
investigators also found Blood on the
kitchen chairs and door to the master
bedroom this was where the true Horrors
would be found tucked away inside the
plastic tubs if the first set of police
had looked just a little harder they
might have pieced together the Sinister
implications of the contents right back
into the
[Applause]
bedroom outad with like hecka
raise your
blades sore
motion though the investigator doesn't
comment on the last item listed this
combined with the presence of the blood
and the saw suggests a horrifying reason
that Steven might need a fridge ASAP
what they find next isn't going to
soothe any of the rising
concerns
M
tub not sure what that is at this
point close with what appears to be a
bunch of
Nets
blood
shoes plastic bag here appears to
be some sort of
bone unknown at this time just yet but
this time we have what appears to be
possible
organs bone and at this time detective
Diaz and myself are going to back out
and await for the arrival of New Mexico
State Police evidence t Team it was
quickly determined that the buckets did
in fact contain human remains DNA
results would take time but to all
involved the answer seemed hauntingly
obvious is yorica tell you may have been
or maybe inside the those toads and
those
buckets tragically she was right in
March of 20 23 Steven Gonzalez was found
guilty of second deegree murder for
killing his cousin Eddie Joe among other
charges Eddie Joe had been shot once in
the head likely with the gun police
discovered in Steven's house before
being dismembered and decapitated his
head was found in one of the five gallon
buckets while the rest of his remains
were distributed among the plastic totes
because the murder took place during the
peak Co era it took nearly 2 years for
the case to be closed police never did
determine a motive but suspected
Steven's history of drug use and
paranoia might have been factors