You like that, right? Don't don't do anything stupid, okay? >> I'm not. May 29th, 2024. Unfortunately, your daughter is FOUND DECEASED. WHAT? >> [screaming] >> KILLING SOMEONE AND THEN GOING ON WITH YOUR DAY like nothing happened. Farrell Torres really thought it would be okay. But how does it even get to that point where you kill someone you once claimed to love so much? What really happened that morning? The morning looked really normal to the entire neighborhood, but it was kind of intense in one of the households. There was no calm in the morning, no calm after the night before. It's early, around 6:00 a.m. Inside the apartment in Castleberry, Florida, the argument starts again, not from zero, [music] from where it left off. Yes, it has been due. I have another question. Yeah. How long were they together? I don't know. For like Just hearing your sister, this his issues aren't anything new. It's not. He should have been in [ __ ] jail. He should have been in jail, but every time she kept dropping the charges and his family was going to press charges against him and everybody keeps dropping it against him. This is a history. His brother was doing the same thing. Like they're all It's an abusive family. Like he's been doing this for a long time. And we've been trying to get her away from him, but domestic violence is hard. And at this point, it's clear where things are heading. Um sorry for I was going to call you, but I know it's really late. But I just want you to know that I know I wanted to tell you what [ __ ] happened. >> [clears throat] >> I'm like so shaken up. I [ __ ] drove to my house and he was in my neighborhood. So I quickly turned around and he speed chased me down the [ __ ] road. And he almost First he almost hit my car and then I moved and then I went to go turn and he hit the side of my car. It's like and now I'm hiding in a neighborhood with Back inside the apartment the morning of May 29th, 2024, Vanessa Santiago isn't backing down. She's not trying to smooth things over. She's not trying to de-escalate. She's telling him to leave, again. Not the first time it is. That decision, it's already been made. This isn't a discussion anymore. It's final. But weirdly enough during the argument, Farrell Torres moves. Not out of the apartment, but toward the bedroom, toward the place where hours earlier a knife had already been hidden. This isn't him grabbing whatever is nearby. This is him going to a specific place for a specific reason. Vanessa is in the bedroom. She's sitting on the floor, legs crossed, [music] still telling him to get out, still holding that line, and then he comes back with the knife. What happens next is fast, but it's not a single action. He stabs her, not once, not twice, but seven times. First [music] in the chest, deep enough that the blade goes through and reaches her heart. Then again, another stab to the right side of her abdomen, and then more. She's stabbed multiple times, at least seven. There are injuries to her face, to her ear. At one point, the knife is driven into her head with enough force that it becomes lodged in part of her skull. So what did he tell you specifically? >> I didn't even I honestly didn't even want to know how or what happened. He just said he blacked out and I don't want to know. I don't even want to know what happened. I I don't want to No, no, no, I'm not going to say it. Just What did he say like what happened to her or her condition? He just said he just said he blacked out. He blacked out something happened? Yeah, yeah. This wasn't one moment of impact. This was sustained. Because when people talk about violence and arguments, they often imagine something quick, a sudden escalation, one action that spirals out of control. But here, it continues across multiple movements, multiple decisions, each one requiring intention. At some point during the attack, the audio from inside the apartment captures what's happening, the argument, the struggle, and then it stops. Inside that bedroom, everything goes still. Vanessa is left on the floor, the same place where she had been sitting just minutes earlier, and just like that, the argument is over. Just like he wanted. The house is now his. Nothing about it was unpredictable. It didn't come out of nowhere. It followed a pattern that had already been set in motion long before that morning began. Vanessa Santiago was 34 years old, a mother of two. She had a 5-year-old son from a previous relationship and a 3-year-old son with Farrell Torres. [music] They lived together in an apartment in Castleberry, Florida, near San Jose Circle. On the outside, it looked like a regular setup, [music] a couple, two kids, a shared home. Nothing about it stands out, and that's the point. Because when people hear about cases like this, there's this [music] assumption that the danger would have been obvious, that something this violent must have come with clear warning signs. But the truth is, it doesn't always look like that. Sometimes it looks normal, manageable. Sometimes it looks like something you can fix. She knew it. She couldn't. She She had a mental hold on her. He was mentally abusive and physically abusive, but we didn't realize it was to this extent. And you said it's on and off, but how many years including your >> was 3 years old. So at least 3 years? >> 4, okay. Uh how often would she complain about him? She never would complain about him. We just knew because of the boy. He would say it. So the 3-year-old is old enough to say that daddy hits mommy. But there were signs. Back in 2021, there was already a report of domestic violence involving Torres. It didn't come out of nowhere. Then again, in March of 2024, there was another incident, this time involving him taking her phone. No charges were pressed, and that detail matters. [music] Because in a lot of abusive relationships, things don't escalate in a straight line. They move in cycles. There are moments where things get bad and then moments [music] where they seem fine again, enough to stay, enough to hope it'll get better. Statistically, [music] most victims don't leave the first time things go wrong or the second. It often takes multiple attempts to actually get out. Not because they don't see the problem, but because leaving is complicated. There's fear, there's emotional attachment, there's children involved, there's the question of where to go next, and sometimes there's the belief that the person will change. And even that like it's terrible to say this, that relationship or bond they have that attachment is like it's I know I It's a unfortunately it's a more common thing. I I understand and I tried to get her to therapy. I tried to get her away from him, but Unfortunately it doesn't work unless she wants it to. So what you're looking at here is not a relationship that suddenly turned violent. It's one that had already crossed that line before. And by May 2024, something had changed. This time, Vanessa wasn't trying to work through it. She wasn't waiting for things to calm down. She was done. So she had made the decision to break up with Torres. And not just that, she was making him leave the apartment, the same apartment she leased, the same place she was paying for. And that changed everything. Because in situations like this, the most dangerous moment isn't always during the relationship. It's when it's ending, when control starts slipping, when the person on the other side realizes they're not in charge anymore. For Torres, this wasn't just a breakup, this was rejection, loss of control, being pushed out of a life he was still inside. And that kind of shift doesn't always stay contained. Because when someone is used to control, losing it can feel like everything is collapsing at once. And that's when things escalate, not out of nowhere, but out of something that's been building the entire time. This didn't start that day, it just ended there. Vanessa had leased the apartment, she paid for it, and now she was telling him to get out. What were you arguing about? What was it about? Sometimes it's bills. Sometimes it's you know just stress of life. Sometimes it's just an argument over the relationship itself. Anything like that? Was there anything like that? Was it one of those? What happened during the argument? Okay. All right, Farrell. Now in this case, there's another detail that seems small at first, but it's not. The arguments between them weren't just about the breakup. [music] They were also about the cameras inside the apartment, security cameras inside the home. At some point leading up to May 29th, those cameras weren't working properly, and that became another source of tension between them. Arguments about why they weren't functioning, what was wrong with them, [music] who had touched them. How you doing, man? Are you Farrell? All right. My name's Detective Caruso, okay? I want to talk to you a little bit about kind of what's going on over there, right? What happened today, man? Tell me a little bit what's going on. Okay. >> [laughter] >> She was getting ready. You said she was getting ready? Yeah. Okay. For work? And then doing her And doing the morning. >> [laughter] >> She was mad. She was mad? Yeah. What was she mad about? Because the camera wasn't working. The You said the camera? Yeah. Which which camera wasn't working? The room camera. The room camera? And that's What room is that? Is that the the master bedroom or the main bedroom? >> [cough] >> The master bedroom. The master bedroom, okay. >> [laughter] >> Okay, what What happened after that? You say good morning and she was mad cuz the camera wasn't working. So she was mad about the camera, is this something that happens often the camera doesn't work? No? Okay. So what happened? What did she do when she was mad? Did she yell at you? Did she scream at you? Did she Did she try talking to you about it? What's that? >> [laughter] >> On the surface, it sounds like a technical issue, something minor, but in hindsight, it becomes something else entirely because those same cameras would later capture what happened next. The night before the murder, nothing looks normal anymore. Whatever was holding things together, it's gone. The arguments don't stop. They stretch into the night and then into the early hours of the morning. This isn't a quick fight that burns out. This is prolonged, ongoing, the kind that drains everything and the cameras are there for all of it, recording pieces of what's happening inside that apartment. some point, something changes. Not in what's being said, in what he's doing. Farrell Torres starts moving the cameras. Not randomly, weirdly very specific. He adjusts their positions in ways that would prevent them from clearly seeing certain areas, areas like the kitchen, where the knives are. And it doesn't stop there. At some point, a camera in the master bedroom, the place where Vanessa would later be found, is interfered with. The SD card is removed, taken out, hidden along with other items, including a knife. That's not something you do in the middle of an argument. heat of the moment. That's not confusion. That's intentional. When people talk about losing control, they usually imagine chaos, something explosive, unpredictable, but this, this doesn't look chaotic. It looks more calculated because while the arguments are still happening, while everything on the surface feels messy, there's something else happening underneath, preparation, something that had been building and then moving step by step toward a very specific outcome. And by the time the sun comes up on May 29th, whatever line was still there has already been crossed and that [music] was that. Things happened in the early morning, but during the things that happened, there were two innocent lives witnessing everything that had happened. Inside that apartment, it wasn't just Vanessa Santiago and Farrell Torres. There were their two children, a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old and they were [music] awake. As the argument turns into something worse, the sound carries, raised voices, screaming. The older child hears it first, the 5-year-old. He's in another room, but the door to the bedroom is open and at some point, he gets out of bed. He climbs down, walks into the hallway and moves toward the bedroom, [music] just trying to understand what's happening. And then, he reaches the doorway. He looks inside. He sees what no child should ever see and then he's told to [music] go back. Farrell Torres notices him, tells him to leave, to get out of the room and the child listens. He turns around and walks back down the hallway. He doesn't fully understand what he just saw, but knows something is very wrong. Back in the bedroom, the door is closed and now the children are on the other side. They don't know exactly what's happening, but they can still hear it, their mother's voice, the sounds coming from inside. At one point, the older child goes up to the door, knocks, asks what's going on and from inside, he's told, "Go away. Your mom and I are talking." But by then, she isn't. The two boys stay in the hallway, close to the door, trying to figure it out, trying to see something. At one point, they get down on the floor and try to look underneath the gap at the bottom of the door, just to get some kind of answer. Two children, close enough to hear everything, old enough to understand it. Eventually, it goes quiet. [music] Inside the bedroom, everything stops, but outside, the children are still there, still waiting, still trying to make sense of something that doesn't make sense. They didn't just lose their mother. They were there for the moment it happened and that's something they'll carry long after everything else moves on. What happens next is what makes this case hard to process, not the violence, but what comes after it because inside that apartment, just minutes after the attack, there's no chaos. Instead, things slow down. Farrell Torres is still inside the apartment in the same space where Vanessa Santiago is lying on the floor and the first thing he does is clean himself. He uses baby wipes, just enough to remove what's visible and then, he shifts focus, not to what just happened, but to what comes next. He gets the children ready, the same two kids who were just outside that bedroom. He dresses them, gets them prepared for the day, normal steps, routine actions. Then, he takes them to daycare, no rush, no hesitation, no visible distress. He walks up, signs paperwork, handles the drop-off like any other day. At one point, he pats them on the head, a small, ordinary gesture, the kind you wouldn't think twice about if you didn't know what had just happened and then he leaves. That's it. No breakdown, no sudden shift, just normal. This is where the case starts to feel disconnected because the timeline doesn't match what people expect. There's no immediate collapse, no moment where reality seems to hit all at once. Instead, there's structure, a sequence of actions carried out one after the other. After dropping the kids off, he goes back to the apartment, back to the same place. And what he does next is weirdly very creepy and kind of disgusting. [music] He accesses Vanessa's phone, goes through it, opens her accounts and at some point, he copies her credit card information, transfers money from her bank account to his. That's not something done in confusion. That's not disorientation. That's not someone who doesn't understand what just happened. That's so calculated. Everything about this sequence is controlled step by step. No visible hesitation and that's what makes it unsettling because when people imagine what happens after something like this, they expect collapse, emotion, panic or at least regret, but here, there's none of that, at least not yet. What you see instead is someone moving through a routine, completing tasks, handling responsibilities, as if the day is still continuing. Up to this point, everything has felt controlled, structured. It all followed a sequence, but eventually, that sequence ends and reality starts to catch up. After returning to the apartment, after going through Vanessa's phone, after transferring money, reality hits. Farrell calls his family. His sister and mother? Oh, the suspect? Yeah, she just said that he went to their house and they told him to go back and turn himself in and he's been calling her. So this didn't just happen. Yeah. So. Ma'am, I'm Officer Rodriguez, CPD. Yeah. Uh I I know you guys know what happened here as of now. Uh If you wouldn't mind telling me what what happened? So this is all we know. Um He came earlier to the house. He was just freaking out. And I was like, "What's going on?" And he said I was like, "Did you do anything?" And he was like, "Yeah." And I keep telling him to go find a hospital and turn yourself in. You have to turn yourself in. You have to turn yourself in. And then, at around 9:07 a.m., he makes the call. It's a 911 call and this is where everything becomes direct. [music] No interpretation, no reconstruction, just his own words. "I stabbed her in the head. I stabbed her cuz I was mad." There's no confusion in that statement, [music] no attempt to explain it away. Okay and then he got mad. He got mad or she said he wouldn't say good morning to her? She was really mad at him because the cameras weren't working. And that's where he kind of killed her. He just wasn't putting it all together and then he passed out on the Just a reason, simple, direct. "I was mad." And that's what makes it hit differently because are you for real? Like did you just stab her cuz you hid the knife prior to the argument? So he already kind of knew that he was going to do the deed. It was anger that had been building a long time ago, over control, over rejection, over the relationship ending. And by the time he says those words, it's already over. When officers arrive at the apartment in Casselberry, Florida, they find him outside. Yeah, I got it. Yeah. Here, here, just chill here for a second. Just so that I'm doing anything stupid. You like that, right? Don't don't do anything stupid, okay? I hear you. All right, brother, you're good to go. And now, the behavior is different, completely different. He's crying, apologizing, visibly emotional. Can you take a couple breaths, big breaths for me, okay? Okay, just take a couple breaths. Big, deep breaths. Of course, the kind of reaction people expect, [music] the kind that usually comes right after something like this happens, but here, it comes later and that contrast is hard to ignore because just a short time before this, he was walking into a daycare, [music] acting normal, composed, unbothered on the surface. Do you know the name of it at all? No. Okay. If you If we had to drive you over there, do you think you could tell us? Let me look for it real quick. I'll be right back, okay? And he doesn't know the name of the daycare his kids go to. Second, let me grab a a different phone and I'll watch your knee, okay? Stay there. Where did all that composure go? When did it become real? Was it real in the moment when it was happening? Was it real when he was cleaning up, getting the kids ready, dropping them off or did it only hit after everything else was done? Okay. There's a lady named She has two kids named uh I'm trying to make sure they're here. >> They are here. They're here, they're safe, they're okay? >> Yes, they are. They're okay. Okay. Is she okay? No. Okay. But, I just need They just need to be here for a couple hours and does she normally come get them in the afternoon? >> She does after work. >> Okay. Okay, good. Um don't give them to anybody. Nobody does. >> Until another police officer comes back and talks to you with the kids. It's going to be a couple of hours. I won't I won't leave you hanging too long, I promise. Somebody will come back. But, in case anybody tries to come pick them up, just say not right now. Okay. And I can give you my cell phone number if you need it. >> Yep. Because the timeline doesn't follow what people expect. The emotion doesn't show up where you think it would. And that's what makes this part of the case feel disjointed. You have a clear confession, you have clear actions, you have a clear outcome. But, the way it unfolds doesn't line up neatly. I was mad, [music] three words, and yet they don't fully explain what happened, not after everything that came before. By the time that call is made, there's nothing left to stop, nothing left to prevent, only something to report, and a reality [music] that can't be undone. By the time this case reaches trial, the facts are already there, >> [music] >> the timeline, the footage, the confession. But, in court, it's not just about what happened, it's about how it's defined. On one side, the defense, on the other, the prosecution, and between them, a single question. Was this a moment or was this a decision? But, before any of that, what's left behind is a family, a mother gone, children without her, a mother who lost her daughter, a family dealing with something that doesn't have a fix. There's no version of this where that changes. Now, in court, the defense builds its argument around one idea, fit of passion, that it happened in the heat of an argument when emotions took over. But, does that give you the right to just kill anyone? But, the prosecution sees it differently, completely differently. They point to the cameras, how they were moved, adjusted, disabled. They point to the SD card being removed, hidden. They point to the knife, not grabbed randomly, but retrieved from a place it had already been placed earlier. The prosecution's argument is clear, this wasn't just anger, this was action taken with awareness, step by step. Someone who is out of control doesn't move like that afterward, and that becomes the core of the case, not just what he did, but how he did it, and what he did before and after. [music] So, now it comes down to the jury. They've heard everything, seen the evidence, watched the footage, listened to both sides, and then they go to deliberate. 14 minutes. They reject the idea of a fit of passion, second-degree murder, that's the verdict. And with that, the legal question is answered. Because to them, the evidence didn't point to a loss of control, it pointed to control used in the worst possible [music] way. After the verdict, sentencing. At this point, the legal question is already answered. What happened has been defined. The jury has made its decision. The sentence is clear, life [music] in prison without the possibility of parole. This is it for him, the timeline stops here. During sentencing, prosecutors return to a theme that's been present throughout the case, not just what happened, but why it happened. Abuse is about control, and when you look back at everything, that pattern is there. Because for someone who relies on control, losing it doesn't feel small, it feels like everything is being taken away at once. And in this case, [music] that loss didn't lead to acceptance, it led to escalation. And now, with the sentencing complete, there's a sense of finality. Legally, the case is closed, but that doesn't mean it's resolved, not in the way that matters to the people affected by it. Because nothing about this outcome brings Vanessa back. Nothing about it changes what those children experienced. Control was at the center of this from the beginning to the end. And when that control was lost, everything [music] that followed came from that moment. But, what do you think?