The Murder of Lourdes Riddle
For this case I watched an episode of Homicide Hunter with Lt. Joe Kenda. It’s season 1 episode 5, titled ‘Secret Life.’
A young mother is killed, and found in the trunk of her car.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find many pictures from this case, and there were only a few articles about it.
Background
Lourdes Riddle was originally from the Philippines, but had been married to her husband Mark for nine years. They each had a child from a previous marriage, and lived on Peterson Air Force base.
Lourdes was described as outgoing, energetic and happy. Lourdes and Mark’s marriage wasn’t perfect, and he said that she was seeing other men. He had asked her to stop, and she promised that she would. Mark never knew that Lourdes’ secrets would lead to her death.
The Murder
On March 26, 1985, a construction worker arrived at work very early in the morning, and noticed an abandoned car at the site. The headlights were on and the car was still running. The construction worker called the police.
The police arrived to find the car had been burned on the inside. A woman’s purse was found on the floor of the passenger seat, and woman’s shoes were in the back. The police turned off the ignition, and decided to open the trunk, where they discovered Lourdes’ body.
Lourdes had been strangled with a pair of pantyhose, and her face was purple and distorted. The police were able to identify Lourdes from her ID in her purse. The car was registered to her husband Mark.
The Investigation
The police found tire tracks near the car, but no footprints.
An arson investigator came out to inspect the burn pattern. The seats indicated that an accelerant was used, and the faint smell of gasoline proved that as well. A large brick was found on the floor of the driver’s side. The police determined that someone had tried to add pressure to the gas to drive the car into the machinery.
While the police were at the construction site, two Air Force investigators showed up to try to take over the investigation. They also said that they already had their suspect in custody: Mark Riddle. Lt. Joe Kenda wanted to speak to Mark first, to determine if Mark was the killer or not.
The Husband
When the police arrived, Mark was in custody. The police told Mark that there had been an accident involving his car that he shared with Lourdes. His rights were read to him, and then they revealed that Lourdes was dead.
The police asked Mark about their relationship, and he said it wasn’t good. He said that Lourdes was seeing other men, and that she didn’t stop even after she promised she would.
The police asked Mark when he last saw her, and he said the previous morning when she took him to work. Mark worked at Norda, a top secret military complex.
Mark said that he had gotten a ride home with a co-worker after work, and that Lourdes wasn’t home when he arrived. Mark said he spent the entire night at home. He said he would never hurt Lourdes, and offered to take a polygraph test. Lt. Joe Kenda said that Mark was being truthful and straight forward, and he was let go.
Mark also offered to let the police search his home. They did find two packages of pantyhose at the home, but the packages hadn’t been opened in a hurry. Mark was officially ruled out.
A Tip
Next, the police looked into Lourdes’ lifestyle. She had a phone book that contained numbers for several of her friends, who were also from the Philippines. The police met with these friends, and they said that Lourdes liked to meet Filipino soldiers at various nightclubs.
Lourdes’ neighbors were also interviewed. They said they didn’t know her well, but that she came and go a lot. She was always wearing heels, dresses, skirts, and always had her makeup done.
Meanwhile, Lourdes case was all over the media. Her killer was referred to as the ‘Pantyhose Strangler.’ This led to a tip from a woman who delivered newspapers. She said that on the morning Lourdes was found, she was out on her route, and saw a black male running just near the area where the body was found. She described him as being very large, around 6’6-6’8.” She said she was startled, and that she almost hit him with her car. She said he stared at her, until finally running away.
Once the police received this information, they went back to Lourdes’ friends, and asked them if she dated a black male. They said no, she only dated Filipino men.
Lourdes’ Double Life
As the investigation went on, rumors started to come out about Lourdes. There was one nightclub that she frequented on Fort Carson. The rumors said that Lourdes would meet Filipino soldiers and extort them for money. She would tell them that she was pregnant, ask for money, and sometimes threaten to report them to their commanding officers. These men were fearful, being kicked out of the military in Filipino culture can lead to being disowned.
There was one soldier in particular that Lourdes was seen with often. His name was Nolly Depadua. The police believed that Nolly and another person were involved, it was just too much of a coincidence that a witness had seen a male so close to the crime scene.
The police interviewed other soldiers about Nolly, and asked if he hung out with a black male. They said yes, Brian Hawkins, a private first class in the Army. Brian Hawkins was asked to come in for questioning.
Brian’s Story
The police asked a very nervous Brian about Nolly and Lourdes. He said he knew Lourdes, but didn’t know anything about her death. Lt. Kenda told Brian that they had a witness, who put him near the crime scene. Lt. Kenda said that Brian was squirming, wouldn’t make eye contact, and his leg was shaking.
Brian was asked to take a polygraph test, which he bombed. They asked Brian to tell them what happened. He started bawling, and agreed to talk.
Brian said that Nolly had asked him to help take care of Lourdes, after she asked him for $1,000 dollars to have an abortion. Nolly refused, and Lourdes took his dress uniform, and threatened to burn it. She also told him that she would go to the commanding officer, if she didn’t get her money.
Brian said that Nolly needed help getting rid of Lourdes. They agreed to take her body out to the construction site, pour gasoline on the car and on Lourdes, put her behind the wheel and put the brick on the gas to drive the car into the machinery. However, Brian wasn’t “the sharpest knife in the drawer,” according to Lt. Kenda, and didn’t do what he was supposed to do. He didn’t even remove Lourdes from the trunk of her car.
Brian Hawkins was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder.
Nolly’s Story
An arrest warrant was issued for Nolly Depadua. He was arrested at his home, after a confrontation with Lt. Kenda.
At first, Nolly denied having anything to do with the murder. However, after the police said that Brian didn’t do what he was supposed to do, it didn’t take long for him to admit that he asked Lourdes to come over. He believed she would bring his dress uniform back over, but she didn’t. Nolly then strangled Lourdes with pantyhose, put her in the trunk of her car and called Brian to get rid of her.
Conviction
Brian’s accessory charge was dropped after he agreed to testify.
On December 12, 1985, Nolly pleaded guilty to second degree murder. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison, and served 7 years.
Nolly Depadua
Other
Mark Riddle Sr., Lourdes’ husband, and Mark Jr., Lourdes’ son, were both talking heads in this episode. They both said they didn’t agree with what Lourdes did, but that she didn’t deserve to be killed in such a horrific way. They also couldn’t believe that Nolly only served 7 years.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While I agree what Lourdes was doing was wrong, she didn’t deserve to be killed. Nolly killed Lourdes, and then planned how to make the crime look like an accident. He should have received way more than 7 years. Brian should have also received time, he was a willing participant in this crime.
Sources
https://militaryjusticeforall.com/tag/lourdes-riddle/
