A new episode of “48 Hours” investigates the murder of Maria Eugenia Muñoz, a Texas mother who was found dead in her home in the early hours of Sept. 22, 2020.
Muñoz’s husband of 10 years, Joel Pellot, had called 911 claiming his wife was not responding to him and that she might have overdosed on pills.
There were early red flags: Pellot could not answer basic questions. He was sweating profusely. And investigators found a syringe wrapper and needle catheter in the couple’s Laredo home.
Toxicology tests later revealed no pill residue in Muñoz’s stomach, but the tests did show a lethal combination of drugs, including morphine, propofol, ketamine, lidocaine, Demerol, Versed, and Narcan.
How did the drugs get into Muñoz’s system? An autopsy identified a puncture wound on one of her elbows. Significantly, Pellot worked as a nurse anesthetist – someone whose job typically entails access to the same drugs.
Police later learned that Pellot was having an affair with a woman from work and had been living with her at the time of Muñoz’s death.
But what helped clinch the case were the words of Muñoz herself: investigators discovered that the mother of two young boys had kept a journal. Just one day before her death, Muñoz allegedly wrote: “What is it that I want? #1 Move forward,” which suggested to police that she was not suicidal.
Muñoz had expressed interest in divorcing Pellot after she confronted him about the affair and he reacted violently.
A jury convicted Pellot of murder and evidence tampering in March after less than two hours of deliberation, according to KGNS. He was sentenced to life in prison.
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[Feature Photo: Maria Eugenia Muñoz/ Family Handout via CBS News]
