The Murder of Natalie Vasquez Mirabal
For this case I watched an episode of Forensic Files. It’s season 10 episode 25, titled ‘Unholy Alliance.’
A young mother is reported missing by her new husband.
Background
Natalie Jean Vasquez was born on January 25, 1975, in Taos County, New Mexico. She grew up in New Mexico, but later moved to Longmont, Colorado. Natalie worked as a dental assistant, and was an active member of the Apostolic Church.
Natalie was described as very happy and full of energy.
Natalie Vasquez
A New Marriage
The Apostolic Church is described as being very strict, especially with their rules for women. The pastor of the church, Luke Hancock, claimed to have a special relationship with God. He would tell his congregation that he had visions that certain members owed him money. The members would hand him different amounts of money that he would come up with from his so called visions.
One of Hancock’s visions was directed towards Natalie. He told Natalie that his vision was for her to marry a 21-year-old painter named Matthew Mirabal. They went on to marry in November 1996, and together they had a daughter in 1999.
Natalie’s family didn’t like that the church had brought her and Matthew together. They believed the church was becoming more of a cult. But, Natalie stayed with Matthew, and was happy with being a mom.
The Disappearance
In September 1999, Matthew called the police to report Natalie missing. He told the police that Natalie hadn’t returned home after grocery shopping.
That evening, Natalie’s car was found abandoned in the grocery store parking lot. The security cameras revealed that Natalie had never entered the store.
The day after Natalie was reported missing, her body was discovered by hikers in the Rocky Mountains. Natalie’s death was very violent. She had been beaten, strangled and decapitated. A piece of splintered wood was found near her body.
The police believed Natalie had been killed somewhere else as there was very little blood. The area where Natalie was found, Lefthand Canyon, was known to be a “dumping ground.” There had been several other crimes that occurred in Denver, that were similar to Natalie’s case.
The police weren’t able to find any connections between Natalie’s case and the Denver cases.
The Evidence
The police looked into Natalie and Matthew’s marriage, but couldn’t find any evidence that there was domestic violence or any other issues.
The police took a closer look at Natalie’s car. On her car, there was some mountain grass and pine needles. This vegetation could only be found at high elevation.
Natalie’s car also had 3 types of tires on it. The police had taken tire impressions, and all 3 impressions had been found near where Natalie’s body was found.
The entire right side of Natalie’s car had been scratched. The police learned that Matthew had been in a car accident when he was younger and was blind in one eye. They believed that Matthew had been the one who killed Natalie, drove her car out to the mountains, and ditched the car in the grocery store parking lot.
A Motive
The police obtained Matthew’s phone records. They learned that he had been talking to his brother’s wife, Lisa. They had talked about wanting to be together. Lisa’s neighbors told the police that Matthew would be over at her house when her husband was away.
Lisa had also sent Matthew photos after Natalie’s murder. Matthew wrote Lisa a letter saying he loved the pictures, how fun their sex life was, and that he loved her.
Matthew told the police that he had an alibi, and was home with their daughter. The police also spoke to Lisa, and she also said she was at home with her husband, Marcus.
In Natalie’s car, the police had found bloody gloves. The blood on the gloves belonged to Natalie.
The police went to Matthew’s job, to search around. In the trash, they found a plastic Walmart shopping bag. In the bag, the police found a box for a pair of Wells Lamont gloves, which were the same type that were found in Natalie’s car.
The forensics crime lab used heated superglue to test for a fingerprint on the shopping bag, which came back to belonging to Matthew.
The evidence continued to mount for Matthew. In his truck, the police found a piece of wood that matched the splintered wood found near Natalie’s body. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation was actually able to fit the pieces back together.
The Arrest
Matthew insisted that he had no involvement in his wife’s death. The police noticed that during the interview, Matthew was playing with a bandaid on his finger. He had an injury on the webbing between his thumb and index finger. Matthew’s story was that he often used sharp knives at work.
In the gloves, the police found a hole in the same area that was consistent with Matthew’s injury. The DNA on outside of the gloves were Natalie’s, but the DNA on the inside was Matthew’s.
The police learned that Matthew had attempted to take out a $1 million life insurance policy before Natalie died. The insurance company told him that he didn’t make that much, and asked if $250,000 would be okay. Matthew said yes, and the policy was set to expire 3 days after the murder.
Matthew Mirabal was arrested and charged with murder.
It’s believed that Matthew wanted Natalie dead, so he could start a new life with Lisa and get the life insurance money. However, Lisa wasn’t the only woman Matthew was cheating on Natalie with. Matthew had also been having a relationship with Luke Hancock’s wife, Janet. Janet wrote to Matthew while he was in prison.
The police had also found a diaper bag in Natalie’s car, so they believe Natalie’s daughter had been in the car while Matthew killed her.
Matthew was convicted of first degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison.
Matthew Mirabal
FINAL THOUGHTS
Matthew not only killed Natalie in such a brutal and vicious way, but did it while their baby daughter was in the car. I believe Matthew killed Natalie, and don’t really think anyone else could have. Natalie seemed like a loving and happy person, and didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong in her marriage. Hopefully Matthew is rotting in prison right now.
Sources
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102485960/natalie-jean-mirabal
