Prosecutors vows to seek justice for Maria Muñoz after Texas wife's suspicious death
CBSN
In January 2021, Marisela Jacaman, chief assistant district attorney for Webb County in Laredo, Texas, was assigned to prosecute Joel Pellot, who had been charged with killing his 31-year-old wife Maria Muñoz. Jacaman was joined by Ana Karen Garza Gutierrez, chief assistant prosecutor for the 406th district court, and assistant DAs Karina Rios and Cristal Calderon. The all-female prosecution team would have the daunting task of proving to jurors that Pellot had the means and motive to murder his wife and the mother of their two young sons.
Some of the most unique pieces of evidence in this case were Muñoz's daily journals, where she had been pouring out her feelings. Maria's own words provided investigators with a window into her life in the months leading up to her death.
"We were able to show her character, her personality, her struggles, the joy she had as being a mother ..." Jacaman tells "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty in an interview for "The Journals of Maria Muñoz," airing Saturday, Dec.16, at 10/9 c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
