Maria Muñoz, a young and healthy Texas mother, died unexpectedly. A toxicology report later revealed seven different surgical drugs were found in her system. Was it murder or a terrible accident? The evidence presented at Joel Pellot’s trial for the murder of his wife tells a different story from what he told police happened the day Muñoz died.
Munoz, 31, a stay-at-home mother, lived in Laredo, Texas, with her two young sons and her husband, Pellot. On Sept. 22, 2020, Pellot called 911 saying Muñoz may have taken some prescription pills and was not breathing. First responders tried to save her but after failed attempts, Muñoz was declared dead at 3:58 a.m. that day.
The first officer on the scene, Gregorio De La Cruz, told “48 Hours” that Pellot’s behavior seemed suspicious and certain aspects about the scene didn’t quite make sense.
When Officer De La Cruz from the Laredo Police Department responded to the 911 call, his bodycam was recording. Pellot, a nurse anesthetist, is seen dressed in teal surgical scrubs. The video captured some key moments that made De La Cruz suspect that Pellot may have had something to do with his wife’s death.
One of those key moments was when De La Cruz asked for the pills Pellot said Muñoz had taken. Pellot went to the bathroom and De La Cruz says he heard him pull a container from the medicine cabinet. De La Cruz thought it was odd because in his experience when someone overdoses on drugs, they are usually found near the person. In this case, the clonazepam pills prescribed to Pellot, were in another room. Later, Pellot is seen on camera grabbing the pill container from the floor and putting it in his pocket. De La Cruz wondered, why would he take the pills back? Was he hiding something?
In addition to Pellot putting the pills in his pocket, there was something about his appearance that De La Cruz said seemed suspicious. De La Cruz observed Pellot sweating profusely through his scrubs, and De La Cruz said he seemed like he may have been under the influence of drugs.
Before Pellot’s trial, a pinprick mark was discovered on Muñoz’s right elbow crease, the type someone would get after getting an IV. This, along with phone calls from concerned friends, family, and colleagues of Pellot telling authorities that Pellot may have killed Maria, led to a request for a toxicology screening.
In January 2021, Mata and De La Cruz finally got the toxicology test results they had been waiting for. There was no clonazepam, the drug Pellot claimed Muñoz had taken. But there were seven other drugs in Muñoz’s system: morphine, Demerol, Versed, Propofol, ketamine, lidocaine, and Narcan. Most of them are typically used during surgery.
Based on the evidence collected at the scene, the extensive writings in Muñoz’s journals, interviews with friends, and expert accounts, the prosecution was convinced Pellot killed his wife.
The all-women prosecution team built a strong case against Joel Pellot, and showed the jury the type of wife and mother Maria Muñoz was. On March 30, 2023, after nine days of trial, a jury found Joel Pellot guilty of murdering his wife Maria.
The prosecution team claims that Muñoz’s journals were instrumental in the case, allowing them to understand what she was going through and motivated them to fight for justice in her case. They describe her as a great mother, loving and bright.