The Murder of Melissa Mendoza
For this case, I watched an episode of Hear No Evil. It’s season 1 episode 4, titled ‘Ghost in the Machine.’
A young mom is murdered after fighting for custody of her daughter.
Background
Melissa Mendoza
Melissa Mendoza, or Missy as she was called by those close to her, grew up in Orange County, California. She was described as joyful and the life of the party. Her family said she always had a smile on her face, and was just an all around nice person.
Melissa always wanted to be a lawyer, and in 2002, she was working as a paralegal at a law firm in Irvine, California. While she was working at the law firm, she met the man that would change her life forever.
Dan Roberts
Melissa met Dan at the law firm, he had come in after he got into a bad motorcycle accident. He had crashed after another vehicle swerved into his lane, and he sued the driver.
Dan was described as being very funny and adventurous. He loved motorcycles and even joined the Hell’s Angels.
When he met Melissa, they fell hard for each other and it became serious after only a year of dating. Melissa learned that she was pregnant, and they were both very excited to be parents.
They moved from Orange County to Dan’s hometown of Sabattus, Maine, and their daughter Savanna, was born there. This was a culture shock to Melissa, as there weren’t a lot of Latin people in the area. Melissa’s family was also happy for her, but they had never been that far away from her.
Melissa and Dan seemed happy, and were getting used to parenthood, but their happiness would only last a few years.
A Crumbling Relationship
By June 2005, Melissa was lonely. Dan would stay out late with his biker buddies, and wasn’t a family man like Melissa wanted him to be. Melissa wanted to take Savanna and go back to Orange County, but Dan wouldn’t allow that.
Melissa took Dan to court, she wanted full custody of Savanna. However, Dan filed documents that stopped Melissa from leaving the state. The judge ruled 50-50 custody.
Melissa was upset, and on July 16, 2o05, Melissa showed up at her sister’s house with Savanna. Tania, Melissa’s sister, asked her if Dan knew, and Melissa said no.
Dan kept calling, and would call Melissa names. He also demanded that she brought Savanna home. Melissa would just hang up on him. Eventually, Dan called his lawyer. The police got involved, and they called Melissa and said Dan was in California. They said Melissa needed to surrender her daughter or she’d be taken to jail for kidnapping. Melissa’s sister brought Savanna to Dan, and Melissa was heartbroken.
Melissa said she wasn’t going to give up. Dan returned to Maine, and so did Melissa.
The Murder
On August 15, 2005, two weeks after they returned to Maine, a 911 call came into the Sabattus police department. Dan said there had been a shooting at his home, and the victim didn’t have a pulse.
Detective Jennifer King with the Sabattus State police, arrived around 2am. She said it was strange for this small town to have a crime like this. She walked into the garage of the home, and found the victim on the floor near the door. The victim was identified as Melissa Mendoza.
Melissa’s purse, cell phone and a soda were right in front of her body. A .38 revolver was also found near her feet, and a bullet hole was found in the wall.
Dan was inside the house, and he appeared emotional. Dan said he shot Melissa in self defense. Det. King needed to interview Dan at the police station, and Dan agreed. Dan’s lawyer was present, and the interview was recorded.
Dan’s Story
This interrogation was played in this episode. Dan started off by saying that Melissa had kidnapped Savanna a month ago. He said that Melissa was unstable, and that he was the victim. Dan said he wouldn’t let Melissa see Savanna when she came back, so they went to court for her to get supervised visits. This court date took place two weeks before the murder.
Dan’s step-sister Dawn was the supervisor at first, she even let Melissa stay at her home. Dan said it wasn’t long until Dawn said she had enough. Melissa left the home and went to a nearby hotel.
The supervised visits also changed location, and Melissa had to go to Dan’s with a complete stranger being the supervisor. Melissa had told her family that she felt like a criminal.
On the day of Melissa’s death, she had been there visiting with Savanna. Dan said he arrived home around 5pm that day, and realized his gun, a .38 revolver, was missing. Dan said he became fearful that Melissa was going to do something to him.
He said that night he was sitting on the couch, and heard her pull into the driveway. He said he grabbed another gun, and met her at the door. He said she walked in and was already pointing the gun at him. She walked toward Savanna’s room, and he shot her. He said he panicked and was “scared to death.” He then said the baby started to cry, and he called his dad to pick her up. He then made the 911 call.
Dan was able to walk out of the police station that night and returned home. In Maine, you’re allowed to defend yourself if someone enters your home to cause you harm. The police needed some time to investigate this case.
The Investigation
The police began their investigation by looking at the items that Melissa had on her that night. Inside her purse, they found a tape recorded with a cassette in it. The police listened to it, and were shocked at what they heard.
In the recording, Melissa and Dan were talking on the phone. Dan told Melissa she could come and live there to be with Savanna, but she couldn’t take her back and forth to Orange County. This recording sounded like both parties were frustrated with each other.
Melissa’s family had come to Maine after they were told that Melissa was dead. The police told her mom and sister that Dan said he shot Melissa in self defense. They didn’t believe that for a second, they said Dan was abusive, and that Melissa would have never handled a gun. They also couldn’t believe that Dan hadn’t been arrested.
Next, the police listened to the 911 call again. In the background, they could hear the baby in the background. Dan had originally told the police that Savanna wasn’t in the room, and didn’t see her mom after she was shot. This clearly wasn’t the case.
The Tapes
The police went into Melissa’s hotel room. Her suitcase, clothes and pictures of Savanna were in the room. Melissa also had additional cassette tapes, and the police collected them and listened to them back at the station.
In the first tape, Melissa told Dan she was going to contact her attorney. Dan was heard yelling at her, and saying sexual things to her too. Dan appeared to be the aggressor.
In the second tape, Melissa asked Dan why he started beating her. Dan said she had started it, and deserved it. While Melissa was in California with Savanna, she had admitted to her family that Dan was abusing her, which is the reason she left with Savanna. She was afraid of Dan, and even reported him to another police department in Maine. In her police report, she said that Dan had choked her when she tried to take Savanna.
The police were starting to get a different picture of Dan Roberts, and they wanted to go back to the crime scene for one more look.
The Crime Scene
A second search warrant was obtained to search the garage of Dan’s home. The police now believed Melissa never handled that gun, and the gun was sent in for testing. Melissa’s DNA and fingerprints were not on the gun.
The police also recreated the crime scene. They measured the height of Melissa’s wound and the bullet hole in the wall. They realized Melissa had been shot as soon as she entered the garage door. Dan had been waiting for her to enter, and shot her. Melissa had also been carrying quite a bit of items in her hands, so it would probably have been hard for her to aim a gun right at Dan.
Dan Roberts was arrested.
Dan Roberts
Trial and Conviction
At Dan’s trial, the defense stuck with Dan’s self defense story. They said Melissa was angry and aimed a gun at Dan when she entered.
The prosecution said Dan was waiting for Melissa, with the lights off. She entered and he shot her in the head.
On February 28, 2007, Dan was found guilty of first degree murder, and sentenced to 55 years in prison.
Tania, Melissa’s sister said:
“We will never get my sister back but I will sleep better at night knowing he will spend the rest of his life behind bars. I don’t want him to get away with what he did to her.”
He appealed his sentence, but it was upheld in 2014.
Other
Melissa’s mom was award full custody of Savanna, and Dan hasn’t seen her since his conviction.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I hate to question police, but to me it seemed like it took the police along time to actually do an investigation. I don’t know if Dan was that charming and could just fool everyone. This case made me so angry, especially that Dan was able to just convince the police that Melissa was the aggressor. I’m glad that Melissa recorded her phone calls with Dan, if she hadn’t I 100% believe Dan would be a free man right now. He’s a piece of shit and deserves to rot for longer than 55 years.
Sources
https://www.ocregister.com/2005/12/08/ex-boyfriend-charged-in-slaying-2/
https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20070630/NEWS/70630003
https://www.sunjournal.com/2019/07/11/sabattus-man-seeks-new-trial/
