Crime Beat

In this special episode of Crime Beat, you will meet Janine Madera, a fierce advocate for justice who works as a homicide prosecutor in the Orange County District Attorney's Office. She has tried 72 trials and won 57 convictions without hearing a word of testimony. Madera is deaf and operates in the courtroom with strategically placed sign language interpreters. But her deafness isn't the most important part of her story. Janine Madera was raped as a child, and she decided as a pre-teen that she was going to someday work to put criminals behind bars.

The "Crime Beat" team offers insight into Season 2 at a Coast Conversation event, and we wrap the season with updates on what is going on with key people you met along the way.

Xavier Lopez gave a final statement that proved truth still wasn't part of his defense strategy.

You will hear the entire interview with Sam Lopez from the day Cathy Torrez's body was found.

Detective Daron Wyatt takes us on a tour of Placentia to show where and how Cathy's murder took place.

Was Cathy Torrez pregnant? One of the witnesses makes an incredible revelation.

After 13 years, police arrest four suspects in the murder of Cathy Torrez.

The Cathy Torrez murder investigation is dead. No one is investigating. Mary Bennett and Daron Wyatt can't seem to find anyone who cares.

Rebecca Lavoie, host of "Crime Writers On," talks with Crime Beat host Keith Sharon about podcasting, journalism and some of the best true crime podcasts of all time.

Police finally find a fingerprint and some DNA evidence, but neither belongs to Sam Lopez.

WARNING: This episode includes details from Cathy Torrez's autopsy report that might disturb some listeners. Skip to 9:40 to avoid those details. Police believe Sam Lopez is lying about his movements on the night Cathy disappeared. But they can't arrest him because they don't have probable cause.

Cathy doesn't come home after working a shift at Sav-On. People from her family and the community send out search parties trying to find her.

In the months before she died, Cathy was dating Albert Rangel, who wanted more from the relationship than Cathy could give him.

Sam Lopez takes Cathy on a date, and she comes home drugged with slashed tires and no panties.

We reveal the content of 18 letters between Cathy and Sam. The letters were discovered after Cathy died.

We meet Cathy Torrez, Mary Bennett and the people in their neighborhood. The last person we meet is Sam Lopez, who lives across the street. About Season 2: On Feb. 12, 1994, Cal State Fullerton honor student Cathy Torrez didn't come home after working the evening shift in the photo department at Sav-On. A week later, her body was discovered stabbed to death in the trunk of her own car. “Crime Beat,” Season 2 focuses on Cathy's mother, Mary Bennett, and her extraordinary quest for justice. It took 21 years for Mary's wish to come true: The man who lived across the street was convicted of Cathy's murder. In this season, we will take you behind the scenes of the investigation, playing old interviews from cassette tapes taken from the 1994 police archives, conducting new interviews with people involved in the case and reporting new stories that have never been published.

After Cathy Torrez was murdered in 1994, Girl Scouts planted a tree to honor her. To Cathy's mother, Mary Bennett, that tree only served one purpose.

The body of 20-year-old honor student Cathy Torrez was found in the trunk of her car. For more than 20 years, her mother fought for justice. And for most of that time, the suspected murderer lived across the street. Would justice ever be served?

A former getaway driver and the writer who captured his story have a big week. And find out what a master thief thinks of the movie about the biggest bank heist in U.S. history.

Master thief Amil Dinsio loses his edge late in his career ... and his freedom. One of the stars of the movie based on the heist, Rachael Taylor, chokes up about the real story. And “Crime Beat” becomes the podcast the Nixon people don’t want you to hear.