Netflix Why Did You Kill Me?: Belinda Lane Went *In* On Crystal's Murder Suspect In Unaired Court Speech
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Belinda Lane, the mother of Crystal Theobald, gave a scathing speech in court after the final suspect in her daughter's murder case - which is explored in Netflix's documentary Why Did You Kill Me? - was finally sentenced.
William Sotelo, who went by the name "Jokes", was tracked down in Mexico 10 years after Crystal's murder in 2016 where he was living with his wife and four children and working as a chilli farmer. He was sentenced to 22 years in jail in 2020 after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter along with gang and firearm allegations.
William Sotelo's sentencing was not shown in the Netflix film, but Lane was allowed to address the him in a victim impact speech during the court case last year. Lane went in on him for more than 16 minutes where she called him a "coward", a "monster", a "punk" and "despicable", The Press-Enterprise reports. She also told Sotelo she hoped that other gang members in prison "snuff your life out".
"I don't think you'll last long," she added.
Lane then turned her attention to Sotelo's family and accused them of helping him hide in Mexico and evade justice. Superior Court Judge John D. Molloy told Lane to only address Sotelo or himself to which Belinda apologised.
Crystal was just 24 years old when she was shot in the head in 2006 by 5150 gang member Julio Heredia. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2011.
The documentary explores how Lane and Crystal's teenage cousin Jaimie McIntyre set up two fake Myspace accounts. The accounts were designed to attract the gang members around the Riverside County neighbourhood in California who were involved in the shooting to bring them to justice.
One account, which was named "Angel" and used pictures of Crystal, was used by Lane to speak with Sotelo. The account helped the authorities find out he drove a white Ford Expedition which was linked to the shooting.
When Sotelo appeared to start 'falling' for who he believed to be Angel that Belinda broke her cover and told Sotelo she was coming for him. He then went on the run.
Why Did You Kill Me? Is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: TV and Film, True Crime, TV News, Documentary, Netflix
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