When Maria Muñoz died unexpectedly, her husband told police he believed she had overdosed on prescription pills.
But it was the young mother’s journal entries that helped convince a jury that she did not kill herself, but was actually murdered by her cheating husband, according to a new 48 Hours investigation.
Joel Pellot is now serving life in prison after he was convicted earlier this year of the September 2020 murder.
While the medical examiner determined that Muñoz had died from a mixed drug intoxication, suicide was ruled out after a closer look at her journal entries indicated she moving forward from a heartbreaking situation.
“What is it that I want? #1 Move forward,” Muñoz wrote in her journal the day before she died.
Here’s how Muñoz became a key witness in her own murder investigation and how her journal entries led to a murder conviction.
Maria Muñoz was found dead in the early morning hours of 22 September 2020— (CBS News)
Maria Muñoz found dead following ‘heart-to-heart’ with husband
Muñoz was a stay-at-home mother living in Laredo, Texas, with her two young sons before her husband, a nurse’s anesthetist, called 911 to report he had found her dead in the early morning hours of 22 September 2020.
The two met when she was a nurse in Puerto Rico and he was a medical student. They married in 2011, and moved to Texas, where she gave up her career to support her husband.
But as it was later revealed in her journal, Muñoz discovered Pellot had been cheating on her when she found an airline ticket for a European vacation he planned with his colleague.
The situation escalated when she saw his car outside the home of his alleged lover and threatened to divorce him. Pellot yelled at his wife, cursed at her and punched the windshield, smashing it, phone call records later revealed in court.
Hours before Muñoz’s death, Pellot went to his former home after pleading to meet with Muñoz so they could have a heart-to-heart conversation about the state of their marriage.
But their meeting ended in tragedy.
Despite multiple attempts by first responders to save her, Muñoz was declared dead at 3.58am.
Suicide was ruled out after a closer look at her journal entries indicated that she moving forward from a heartbreaking situation— (WEBB COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE)
Joel Pellot’s ‘suspicious’ behavior
Gregorio De La Cruz was the first officer on the scene. He told 48 Hours that Pellot’s behavior seemed suspicious and that there were certain details that did not make sense – like his explanation of the events that led to his wife’s death.
Pellot was sweating profusely through his nurse scrubs and was unable to answer simple questions about when and how he found Muñoz, the officer said, with body cam footage recording the interaction.
He had told police that Muñoz may have overdosed on the drug clonazepam, but an autopsy would later reveal no pill residue in her stomach.
When De La Cruz was on the scene, he asked for the pills Pellot said Muñoz had taken, and found it odd when he heard him pull a container from the medicine cabinet.
He explained to 48 Hours that in his experience, when someone overdoses on drugs, they are usually found near the person, not in a medicine cabinet in another room.
Pellot is later seen on camera grabbing the pill container from the floor and putting it in his pocket.
He was transported to the police station where the suspicious behavior continued in another interview that was recorded. Cameras captured Pellot crying and screaming.
While he was alone, he could be seen “hitting walls, moving furniture … It was scaring some of the people down the hall in the dispatch room,” lead investigator Sgt Luis Mata told 48 Hours.
During the interview, Pellot revealed to Sgt Mata that he was separated from his wife and currently living with his girlfriend. He had only been at the house because they were talking about the state of their marriage.
Joel Pellot was sweating profusely through his nurse scrubs and was unable to answer simple questions about when and how he found his wife, the responding officer said— (WEBB COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE)
Pellot told Mata that his wife took the clonazepam pills after they talked, and the medication found at the home had been prescribed to him, not Muñoz.
Inside the home, investigators also found a syringe wrapper on the floor, a needle catheter on the stairs, syringes and IV equipment in a medical bag.
The medical examiner ruled that Maria Muñoz died of a combination of drugs in her system but could not determine how they got there.
It was also revealed that there was no residue of clonazepam, the drug Pellot claimed Muñoz had taken, in her stomach.
A bombshell toxicology report
Another puzzling aspect of the case was the red pinprick mark on the crease of Muñoz’s right elbow.
But Pellot could not explain the red mark and this, along with phone calls from concerned friends, family, is what led officials to request a toxicology screening.
When Dr John Huntsinger, an anesthesiologist and Pellot’s former boss, learned of the autopsy results, he immediately became suspicious and alo urged the toxicology screening.
The report revealed seven other drugs in her system, most of them typically used during surgery and one of them can only be administered with an IV. These included morphine, Demerol, Versed, Propofol, ketamine, lidocaine, and Narcan.
He told 48 Hours’ Erin Moriarty, “I was very shocked to see propofol ... One of the things about propofol, it relaxes you greatly, but it doesn’t last very long. It makes you stop breathing if you have too much.”
Prosecutors believe Pellot slipped some of the drugs into Muñoz’s drink to sedate her and then he injected the propofol into her arm and waited to call 911 so that first responders wouldn’t be able to resuscitate her.
Dr Huntsinger added, “Hers was the highest level I’ve seen ... I believe this was death by propofol.”
Propofol is what was found in Michael Jackson’s system following his June 2009 death.
‘Maria’s team’ used journal entries to fight for justice
An all-women prosecution team called “Maria’s team” used Muñoz’s journal entries to build a strong case against Pellot and to show the jury what kind of wife and mother she was.
They described Muñoz to 48 Hours as being a great mother, loving and bright. They said they could feel her energy through her journals.
The journals are what helped them understand what she was going through and motivated them to fight for justice in her case, the prosecutors said.
On 30 March 2023, a jury found Pellot guilty of murdering his wife.
