The Murder of Michael Dojaquez

For this case I watched an episode of A Time to Kill, it’s season 2 episode 4 titled ‘Who Killed the Yogi?’

A beloved yoga teacher is killed in Arizona.

Background

Michael Dojaquez

Michael Dojaquez was born on March 26, 1958. He was a 45 year old yoga teacher and machinist, who lived in Tucson, Arizona. Michael had been married before, but was divorced and had children.

Michael was described as a free spirit, a very calm and quiet person. His friends all said that yoga was perfect for him, and he loved to teach it. His students said he never missed a day of class, so when he didn’t show up one day, they became concerned.

Michael is Found

On Friday, September 26, 2003, a 911 call came into the Tucson PD came in around 5:20am. The caller was one of Michael’s neighbors, and they said they saw him laying on his front porch, not moving.

The police arrived almost an hour later. Michael was laying face up outside on his front porch. It was clear that Michael had been shot in the head, he had a wound on his forehead. There was a pool of blood near his body, and he had blood on his legs and clothes.

The evidence suggested that Michael had been standing when he was shot, and that the shooter was 2-5 feet away from him. Michael also had scratches on his arms, and the police believe there had been a struggle.

The medical examiner was on the scene, and he said that Michael had been killed 5-8 hours before he was found. He wasn’t in rigor mortis yet.

The Investigation

The police wanted to look inside Michael’s home to see if there was any evidence inside. There was broken glass and a broken plate on the floor. The police believe that the struggle started in the kitchen, and Michael was eventually shot outside.

The house hadn’t been ransacked, and the police didn’t believe it was a robbery. Michael had quite a few instruments inside, an amplifier, guitar, violin and mic stand were all found. The police couldn’t rule out the theory yet, and they suggested Michael was killed because he walked in on a robbery.

The police searched the database for any robberies in the area. Two men had in fact been arrested the weekend before, and had stolen some music equipment. The two men were in jail, and the police wanted to interview them.

The First Lead

The two men were Joseph Keyes and David Winn. They both had been arrested prior on drug charges. They also lived together, just a mile from Michael’s home. It was a low income area, where property crime and robberies are common.

The police interviewed both men separately, and they were not cooperative. They both denied it, but they revoked their rights.

The police obtained a search warrant for their home, and inside they found bloody clothes and shoes. David Winn’s bloody jeans were sent in for testing, but it ended up not being blood at all, it was a chemical.

The robbery theory ended up being a dead end when more information came out about Michael’s personal life.

A Love Triangle

The police obtained Michael’s phone records. His cell phone was very old, and he didn’t use it much, but the most recent person he talked to was a woman named Amber.

Amber Trudall was a 28 year old, originally from New York. Amber was one of Michael’s yoga students, and their relationship turned into more. There was one problem, Amber was married to a man named Justin. The police wanted to talk to Amber and Justin, but they struggled to track them down. Amber wasn’t answering her cell phone, and they weren’t home.

The police decided to go to Amber’s job to talk to her boss. Amber was a bookkeeper at a Child and Family Center. Her boss told the police that Amber had called her on Thursday morning, saying she had a family emergency and would be back on Monday. By Tuesday, the police and Amber’s boss couldn’t get a hold of her.

Amber’s boss did tell the police that she drove by Amber’s house after she couldn’t get in contact with her, and saw a moving truck in the driveway. She also saw Justin and another man loading furniture into the truck.

A SWAT team and detectives went to Justin and Amber’s house, and confronted Justin. He was carrying a gun, so the police took it in for testing, and brought Justin to the police station.

Justin was asked if he knew Michael, and Justin said yes, but Amber cheated on him a lot. He also said he and Amber were separating, but he also said they were both moving for a fresh start.

The police told Justin that Michael had been murdered, and they asked him when the last time he saw Amber was and where she was now. Justin said Amber came home really early on Thursday morning, and told him something bad happened. Amber had clearly been drinking, and they left around 7am. Justin said he took Amber to his parent’s house in Show Low, Arizona. He said he returned Friday morning after dropping her off because he had to work. He told the police that he hadn’t seen Amber since Thursday.

Where is Amber?

During the investigation, another police officer came in and told the detectives that Justin’s phone kept going off. The number was traced to a motel in Tucson. When the police arrived at the motel, they found Amber and she was brought in for questioning.

Amber was very evasive and had an attitude when talking with police. They asked her when she saw Michael last. She said she hadn’t seen Michael in several days, and last saw him at yoga. The police asked Amber if she owned a gun, and she said yes. The police asked her where the gun was, and she said she didn’t have it with her. This contradicted Justin’s story, he said she always had it in her purse.

The police finally told Amber that Michael had been killed. Amber showed no emotion, and was more concerned with her being a suspect than she was about Michael’s death. The police also knew she was withholding information because of her body language and the fact that she wouldn’t make eye contact with them.

Amber was asked where she was on Thursday morning. She told them she and Justin drove to his parent’s house. The police went to Show Low to speak to Justin’s parents, and they confirmed their alibi.

The police didn’t have any proof that Amber or Justin killed Michael, so they were released.

Re-Examining the Case

The day after Justin and Amber were interviewed, the police received a new lead. One of Michael’s friends named Eli Curiel came into the station and told the police that he had been with Amber and Michael on Wednesday night, and he learned about Michael’s death on the news.

Eli was interviewed in this episode, and he told his story. He said he went with Michael and some other yoga students to a bar in downtown Tucson. Michael had also invited Amber. They arrived at the bar around 7pm on Wednesday night. Everything seemed fine for awhile, until they decided to go to another bar. They drove their separate cars, and Amber got angry when Michael wouldn’t walk her to her car. Eli said that Michael didn’t want a serious relationship, but Amber did.

They arrived at the second bar around 8:30pm, ordered a few more drinks and everything seemed fine. However, it didn’t last long because Amber brought up the situation from before. Eli had enough, and he said he last saw Michael and Amber at 10pm.

The police decided to re-examine Michael’s body, because they thought maybe their timeline for Michael’s time of death was off. They were correct. They had put Michael’s time of death at Thursday to Friday morning, when really he was killed between 10:30pm on Wednesday to 3:30am on Thursday. Michael had also had larva in his eyes that proved this. The police thought Michael was killed later because there was no rigor mortis, but they said that a body can in fact go into rigor and then go out of it. Arizona is very hot and sometimes humid, which is what caused the confusion.

The police now believed that Amber Trudall was the killer, they just needed more proof.

The Evidence Against Amber

Just when the case was going cold, the police received a tip. The tip was from Justin’s stepdad, who was a retired police officer. He told the police that Amber had been acting strange when she was at their home. He had seen her taking walks, which he had never seen her do before. He decided to trace her steps, and when he did he found a gun. The gun was buried in dirt and hidden by some rocks on the property. The gun was .357 revolver, and when the police did a ballistics test, the bullet matched Michael’s wound on his forehead.

The police had enough evidence to arrest Amber, but there was only one problem. When they went to arrest her, she was gone. An nationwide arrest warrant was put out for Amber.

Nationwide arrest warrant for Amber

The police spoke to her brother that lived in Connecticut. He said she had been there, and traded in her truck for a different car and left. The police received word that Amber was most likely going to her grandma’s house in upstate New York, close to the Canadian border.

Amber was eventually found in New York, and was planning to flee. The police found thousands of dollars on her. Luckily, they found her in plenty of time and she was arrested. She was extradicted back to Arizona.

Trials and Conviction

The police’s theory is that Amber had gotten drunk on Wednesday, September 24, and had left the bar with Michael. They returned to his home and the fight escalated. Amber threw a glass and a plate at Michael, but missed. Michael most likely told Amber to leave, they went outside and she pulled her gun out and shot him. She returned home and told Justin they needed to leave, so they went to his parent’s home. If Eli hadn’t come forward, then Amber would’ve gotten away with murder.

Amber’s first trial ended with a hung jury. At her second trial, she was found guilty. On October 18, 2005, Amber Trudall was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Amber Trudell at trial

One of Michael’s daughters was distraught over the sentencing. Amber will one day go free and they don’t have their dad.

Eli Curiel ended this episode by saying he hopes he will see his friend again one day, and that he’s happy he helped solve this crime.

FINAL THOUGHTS

13 years for murder???? That’s the lowest sentence that I’ve ever covered. She killed him for no reason and fled the area several times. I don’t understand how this is a fair sentence. I don’t think she planned it, but she’s capable of killing someone after they reject her. I believe she will kill again, especially if someone makes her angry enough. Michael’s family deserves better than this.

Sources

https://thecinemaholic.com/michael-albert-dojaquezs-murder-how-did-he-die-who-killed-him/

http://murderpedia.org/female.T/t/trudell-amber.htm

https://www.kold.com/story/3592676/trudell-murder-trial-once-again-lands-in-the-hands-of-a-jury/