THIS is the chilling moment that helped solve a wife’s murder after an abusive husband’s murder plot to save a costly divorce.
The doctor, Joel Pellot, fatally injected his wife, Maria Munoz, in Texas after she expressed her desire for a divorce, triggering a furious response from him.
The Ring doorbell video shows Maria angrily confronting her adulterous husband outside of his lover’ Janet Arredondo’s house on September 19 2020.
The haunting clip became one of the key pieces of evidence that allowed police to rule out suicide, which is what Joel claimed after he murdered her.
Maria gave him an ultimatum, either her or Janet, which led to Joel smashing their car windscreen and screaming at Maria.
Janet, called the police, who in turn phoned Maria as she travelled home with her husband, according to CBS’ true-crime show 48 Hours.
Joel reportedly said: “Hey, I’m f***ing talking to you right now.
“Hang up the f***ing phone.”
Maria’s decision to end the marriage led to a violent outburst from Joel, despite initially discussing a divorce without legal complications due to cost concerns.
Within a matter of hours, Joel emailed her saying: “I am so sad, I am hurting inside.
“I want to sit down with you to talk, w/o arguing. A heart to heart.”
The following Tuesday, Joel phoned the police to report that Maria was not breathing and may have taken some prescription pills.
They found him dressed in surgical scrubs and performing CPR on his now dead wife, as the couple’s two young boys slept in the next bedroom.
Joel deceived the authorities by hiding the bottle of clonazepam he had used to inject Maria as they attempted to revive her, leading to tragic consequences.
He was taken to the police station for interview where surveillance cameras caught him crying, screaming and pushing furniture around when left alone.
It was later admitted that the syringes and intravenous equipment found in the house were his but they were part of his everyday work equipment.
How the truth came to light
It took four months for the toxicology report to come back, which revealed the high levels of Propofol, which is the drug that is thought to have killed her.
During this time, Joel attended Maria’s funeral and was seen weeping over the casket.
There was also no clonazepam in Maria’s system, which directly contradicted Joel’s statement on the scene.
Police were able to use this, the Ring footage and Maria’s journals to rule out suicide.
She wrote in one entry: “Life is so unfair. My husband the man I love so much is causing me so much pain.”
In another she said: “I don’t want to be sad anymore, I don’t want my heart to hurt, I don’t want my mind to be in torture.”
Joel’s boss at the hospital, anaesthesiologist Dr John Huntsinger, was suspicious at the results and urged police to investigate further.
But it was four months before the toxicology report revealed there was no clonazepam in Maria’s system.
Dr John said: “I was very shocked to see Propofol. Hers was the highest level I’ve seen. I believe this was death by Propofol.”
Propofol is the active chemical used in general anesthesia.
Janet had been interviewed by police and admitted that Pellot had routinely brought drugs, including Propofol, back from the hospital.
She also revealed that Joel had admitted to injecting his wife on the night she died.
He was sentenced to life in March 2024, with the jury taking less than an hour to reach their verdict.
Prosecutor Marisela Jacaman said the most important witness at trial was Maria herself.
She commented: “I’ve heard of emotional abuse, I’ve seen it, I’ve worked around it but I never realized how prevalent it is even in our lives where you can relate to some of the things that Maria was experiencing.
“And she was a great mother, she was just an amazing person.
“And that energy? We felt it.”
Maria’s friend Angela Montoya said: “She loved him, and she adored him.
“She just loved him too much.”
Maria had met her husband when she was a young nurse in Puerto Rico, and he was an ambitious medical student 11 years her senior.
They married in 2011 and made their home in the Texas border town, where she gave up her career to support her husband.
