The Valentine's Day Murder: Gregorio's Controversial Story

Ever wondered about the dark side of Valentine's Day? We take you through a gripping exploration of its history from the erotic festivities of ancient Rome to the heartbreaking tale of Saint Valentine, and a chilling Valentine's Day murder case. Love and romance aren't the only things in the air on February 14th, and this episode will show you why. 

Our episode rounds off with the inspiring yet controversial life story of Gregorio León, the founder of Midlands Restaurant chain. His life, full of ups and downs, is the focus of our deep dive into the dark side of his family's success, and the aftermath of his tragic death. We also take a look into the compelling trial that ensued, shedding light on the complex reality behind the glamour of success. Don't forget to leave us a review on your preferred podcast platform and check out our Patreon page for exclusive content! Stick around for an episode that promises to thrill, chill, and provoke thought.

Transcript

Tiffany: 0:13

Welcome to Rogue and Wicked. Guess what I found out. What'd you find out? I found out who they think the Jack the Ripper killer is. No way They've been saying this shit for years that they think they know who Jack the Ripper is and there's like a million suspects.

Wendy: 0:32

True, so what's this new thing though?

Tiffany: 0:35

According to the Jerusalem Post, the former police volunteer, sarah Bax Horton, who's great-great-grandfather was a policeman, on the investigation and she believes she's found compelling evidence that matches witnesses' descriptions of the serial killer who went on the killing spree in Whitechapel on the east end of London in 1988. She says that her detective work letter to a man named Hyam Hyams who lived in the area where the Whitechapel murders happened, that is a mouthful yeah, it's like literally H-Y-A-M, h-y-a-m-s. Hyams was a cigar worker, which means that he likely would have known how to use a knife, says she to the telegraph. And there was a bunch of similarities because he supposedly suffered from like epilepsy and he had like a gate in his walk and that was like the main thing. Like with witnesses. He said that the guy that they thought Dejecta Ripper was walked with a gate so he like dragged his foot and for those who don't know that, apparently this guy had that same walk, so they think that that is the killer.

Wendy: 1:38

I'm sure that there'll be more to it right.

Tiffany: 1:40

No, that's it. That's all there is to it. There's no evidence. There's no like forensic evidence.

Wendy: 1:45

That's what I was waiting for. I was like, okay, because there have been some compelling stories that allude to more evidence and that I feel in the past, don't you?

Tiffany: 1:55

For other cases, yeah, like there's.

Wendy: 1:57

Yeah, like there still seems like a big, a vast area of wonder and speculation and not enough to solidify in my brain. It's not enough for me.

Tiffany: 2:08

Yeah, me either. Like I don't feel like that solidifies anything but one of my friends.

Wendy: 2:12

My leg falls asleep. I fucking do that.

Tiffany: 2:15

Yeah, one of my friends brought that up to me and he was like, did you know? They figured out who Jack the Ripper was. And I was like I'll know about that and I was like do they have? Forensic evidence and he's like I'll know, but here's the link and he sent it to me and I was like I'll bring it up because it's worth bringing up.

Wendy: 2:33

I picture your face. I know I'm right about your face. Ah yeah, you had glasses. You would have tilt them down and lifted like one eyebrow, like hmm.

Tiffany: 2:45

Yeah, that's exactly what happened, Shit.

Wendy: 2:48

That's great Thanks.

Tiffany: 2:49

Yeah.

Wendy: 2:50

It's been a day we had some flash floods in the area, and so I had a lot of exercise with a shop vac in my back, and that was proof. To work with old people part-time, which I'm really excited about. Poor old people no, just kidding. I love them so much I can't even begin to tell you. And I love babies and I love old people and I think they have a lot of very similar traits and require a lot of similar treatment.

Tiffany: 3:19

They definitely do have the same traits elderly people and infant children and I love them both.

Wendy: 3:29

So I'm excited about that, especially because I miss being a mom and I miss my adopted mom. That's for those two reasons right there. I hope that I'm right. What will say? Tiffany's got a 50-50 on that one.

Tiffany: 3:45

They're hard to deal with elderly people, so I'm not sure how that's going to play out for Wendy, and I keep saying well, because I've been taking care of one myself and it ain't easy.

Wendy: 3:56

Yeah, you know what You're right, because when I think of the elderly ones that I love like your grandma and my adopted mom and her mother, like grandma Sally and on and on and on these are some really hyper-independent elderly people most of them. I hope that I can help for real. I loved being a mom and I feel like if you integrate those two things, it's somewhere. It's a good bridge to start with. So we'll see what happens.

Tiffany: 4:24

Well, that's good. I mean, I could never do it, but that's because I just I know I couldn't.

Wendy: 4:29

I'm fascinated by them.

Tiffany: 4:31

Yeah, well, I think that nurses are like fucking angels that take care of elderly people.

Wendy: 4:36

I'll tell you that because and they do some shit I couldn't with syringes and having to put them to sleep. Put them to sleep, ah, okay, let's see. So let's get into this, because this one's going to be. I can't wait to get to the end of this one because I found out new shit as recently as 24 hours ago, so I'm super stoked about this.

Tiffany: 5:01

All right, Kvorkian, let's get it going.

Wendy: 5:05

Oh, we definitely have to have a conversation about that, like during the intro at least of one of the ones that we do.

Tiffany: 5:11

Well, we'll have to have that conversation when you're not taking care of elderly people anyway?

Wendy: 5:15

Oh my God, All right. So, as you know, I and I've often publicly expressed that my subjective love and objective disdain for Valentine's Day Valentine's Day's mind of my better half is 23 year thing, including the fact we got back together this year and moved in together and all that other shit. But the earliest version of the story dates back to ancient Rome and the pagan festivals, and one of the highlights of the festival came on February 14th with an erotic tribute to Juno, the goddess of feverish love. The names of maidens were drawn randomly by young men and the resultant couple would become partners, often for life. It was not just a day for humans either. In the Middle Ages, birds were believed to choose their partners on Valentine's Day and poets often rejoiced in the link between lovebirds and lovers. I love those versions of Valentine's Day don't you?

Tiffany: 6:11

Yeah, I do.

Wendy: 6:12

I love pagan Valentine's Day because I love pig and everything.

Tiffany: 6:16

Everybody just had sex everywhere and we're naked.

Wendy: 6:22

Yes, it's like a pick-a-partner in a hat, and then if it works out chemically, then they're like alright, we're together forever, you mad.

Tiffany: 6:28

We're multiple partners too, because they were into that also.

Wendy: 6:32

Ah, the kudaltes, which I think we and I were probably hanging out then too. Alright, so meanwhile, there are dark connotations beyond the murder we're about to delve into. Covering murderous crime is relevant, and Valentine's Day has plenty, including from which it originally drives. And I wanted to mention those things because Valentine's Day has some dark shit attached to it pertaining to crime, and this is a Valentine's Day crime. So here we go.

Wendy: 7:03

Um, saint Valentine of Valentine's Day was one of two guys preaching what was clumsily referred to as the good word in Rome during the third century. Whenever Rome is attached to a date within the last two millennia, it seems that pre-Rome knowledge falls to the wayside of their notorious rewriting history skills that often berate beautiful pig and traditions and recreate darker, holier than thou propaganda to cover their tracks. So when they're like, oh, he was preaching the good word, I'm like I'm Rome's behalf. I don't know, man, I don't know if I'm buying that. Yeah, for instance, by some account, saint Valentine was a Roman priest bishop, if you will, and physician who suffered during the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Claudius. I love this Gophicus.

Wendy: 7:51

In about 270, via beheading on February 14th for hosting secret weddings by others. The Emperor Euralius in prison, valentine in 272 AD, for secretly marrying Christian soldiers. In prison, the bishop cured his jailer's daughter of blindness, and the pair fell deeply in love at first sight. Ultimately, their desires were frowned upon and he was killed on February 14th the following year. On the eve of his death, the condemned man allegedly sent his beloved passionate letter, signing it simply yours, your Valentine. I suggest looking into the history, because it's pretty interesting on both accounts, speaking of interesting as well as brutal. Let's get into it, shall we? Yes, so today we will discuss what is referred to as a Valentine's killer, not to be mistaken, for the 1929 massacre that transpired in Chicago, which is, by the way, another dark moment in Valentine's day history worth looking into.

Tiffany: 8:58

Do you know about that? Yeah, that was mafia related. You're talking about the Valentine's Day massacre, right?

Wendy: 9:05

Yeah, early 20th century in Chicago. Yeah, I actually heard.

Tiffany: 9:09

I think I heard a podcast about that. Off the top of my head I can't really remember, but I do remember it was mafia related.

Wendy: 9:17

Yeah, you know what I learned about that this week while I was learning about this case? Because while I was researching online, I was like what?

Wendy: 9:26

is that squirrel moment, really, and I'm like I'm gonna add this just in case in the future we talk about it, but this particular tragedy occurred on Valentine's Day in 2016. Get this the trial where he was found guilty is only one week fresh. As a result, some of the information was prolific, but thereafter I had to scrape for the rest of it. 56-year-old Gregorio León, who will call Greg henceforth to minimalize having to work with so many syllables throughout, is sometimes referred to as royalty in the form of a restaurant boss and business pioneer who founded the Midlands Restaurant chain in San Jose, mexico.

Wendy: 10:07

Greg was from a dynasty of transplants from San Jose and a village of about a thousand people in the Mexican tequila growing region that dominates the South Mexican restaurant scene. He and his family migrated to Atlanta to join his father, who opened the first San Jose Mexican restaurant in 1981. The family runs 14 of them now, but things were originally difficult. They had to work diligently as a family before finding themselves living in a good life. The Atlanta Constitution once reported that Greg Sr, his father, would eventually turn it intoa chain, and that's precisely what happened. Only, the Neon family relocated their ambitions to Columbia, south Carolina, in 1989. What a great immigrant success story. So far alright.

Tiffany: 10:56

Yeah, that's friggin' crazy. I mean, it's an American dream, right. So like come up here, start a business, make it succeed, flourish, keep it going, try to pass it along with the family. That's amazing. Well, you said that they were tequila farmers too, weren't?

Wendy: 11:12

they oh yeah, wait until I get into all the shit they did. It's amazing. I mean, like there's some dark shit that happens, don't get me wrong, but overall, this family are simply fucking incredible. What they were able to achieve a lot of it was awesome. I don't agree with what everyone did, but there's shit bags in every pile when you're doing business with a lot of people.

Wendy: 11:32

That's just the way it is. Greg owned many properties, including a 30 acre farm. Weight raised horses, including my favorite Frisians. That's a gorgeous breed, known for brisk high-stepping trots, and what's crazy is my sister rescues and trains horses and has worked with so many breeds mustangs, arabic horses but I've yet to meet a Frisian and actually be able to touch one which, if she ever works with one, I'm gonna be like please let me touch it.

Tiffany: 12:02

They sound expensive.

Wendy: 12:03

Oh, yes, they are. I cannot wait to show you a picture. They look like unicorns without the horns.

Tiffany: 12:10

Seriously, I love the unicorn.

Wendy: 12:12

And they're black like solid. Oh fucking gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. Anyway, I'm getting all excited, lucky Greg. Greg had to give out this passport. I'm lucky Greg. But his siblings and his children continue to return to their ancestral hometown to enjoy themselves on the family dime, which is a lot of dimes. They had the work ethic to make it big, but they used that restaurant money to go back to Mexico for over-the-top parties, flaunt their cars and houses and constantly try to one-up each other. Now Tiffany and I have discussed okay we, how they got the money. Hell fucking yeah, what they're doing with their money. Maybe not so much, but who's to judge? I just, I guess I loathe people keeping up with the Jones mentality, especially Mexicans who come from such a wonderfully rich culture and that's more of a modern hedonic treadmill worshiping ritual, which I believe is below their culture. I think a lot of that American consumer culture is below them.

Tiffany: 13:15

Yeah, I mean I never was into like the middle class keeping up with the Jones's bullshit, but at the same time, like if I worked really fucking hard and I built something for myself and I went down to Mexico, where I was from, and say the people that said, oh, you're not going to make it, or maybe doubted me I might flaunt it a little bit, yeah, but you just like show them you know I did it yeah.

Wendy: 13:41

I can totally see that, but what really got me when I read it was the one-up-each-other thing. Trying to one-up somebody to me is just incredibly petty. I'm going to get a Prada purse so I can one-up you. You know that I can't even wrap my mind around that shit, but I've seen it in Palm Harbor, west Palm Beach, some of Saratoga, oh, most of fucking Nantucket, lots of New York City. That's a part of those places that I don't like.

Wendy: 14:08

Yeah, anyway, politicians and their media puppets have publicly recognized San Jose immigrants as a model of integration and success in a new and diverse self. Greg had became so integrated to South Carolina society that he regularly donated to Republican political candidates and he stared clear of liberal politics. I'll do my damnedest to avert jumping into a political opinion about Mexican immigrants who voted against the less privileged that make up the majority of his people, because that's a subject of its own. I also know that the tax breaks and how financially advantageous it is to sell out in such a way yet he was able to employ so many people and restaurants do so much for the economy.

Wendy: 14:52

It's been estimated that the hospitality industry accounts for 10.4% of the global GDP. For those who don't know what that is, that's gross domestic product and the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period. The hospitality industry not only contributes money to the national GDP, it's also important for local economies because it precipitates other forms of hospitality, such as retail areas, dining and drinking areas, entrance fees to entertainment venues and more. In this way, his family has undoubtedly given back, and then some. That's why I think they're awesome too.

Tiffany: 15:35

Well, yeah, giving back to the community and everything is great.

Wendy: 15:38

Mm-hmm, it is. And you know, as we stressed earlier, that's the beauty of the restaurant industry too. There's the culinary arts involved, there's the people and psychology and presentation and ambiance that's involved, and every one of them is unique to the next. And there's just something to me very magical and honest and almost innocent about the energy in most restaurants. You know, family environment restaurants. Yet some of the darker aspects of Greg's mentality did come through. He became notoriously known to have run-ins with the law as time passed. In 2002 he got caught up in cock fighting scandal that brought down the South Carolina's then agricultural commissioner. Let's pause and reflect on that.

Tiffany: 16:24

I hate cock fighting.

Wendy: 16:25

Can you imagine being an agricultural commissioner and cock fighting? It shows you have no empathy for animals but that you're in charge of that faction. To me that is sick.

Tiffany: 16:37

Yeah, I was gonna say fuck the commissioner. I just don't like the fact that he's cock fighting.

Wendy: 16:42

Fucking asshole. Yeah, he's supposed to be protecting agriculture and he's out there fucking doing evil things like that I just can't. In 2012, greg, his father and two brothers collectively paid over a half a million dollars in back wages. Two years later, a state grand jury indicted him for paying off Lexington County Sheriff James Metz to release some of San Jose's undocumented workers arrested by his deputies. Greg also collaborated with prosecutors to nab Metz. For his service, he received punishment of 200 hours of community service and five years of probation.

Wendy: 17:19

Those are just a few known roaches in his closet. But what does that mean? When one finds a few roaches, there's usually plenty more. I couldn't find much about his wife, save for pictures and her part in the affair murder trial. I'm certain more information has surfaced and will continue to surface since during my research, because the verdict is relatively new, but for now she's an enigma to me, with whom I want to learn more. So Leon and Raquel were married for 26 years, have seven children together and rent several San Jose Mexican restaurants in the Midlands, which he has since handed over to their children. Lucky kids, you, lucky kids. It's a lot of work, you know so they're not gonna have it easy, but I wouldn't love to have had a relative be like here you go, here's a restaurant. I'd be like all right, friends, yeah, this is our car wash now. Alright. So the murder On Valentine's Day 2016,. Greg and Raquel left separately following a family dinner at Carabas. I love Carabas, don't you?

Tiffany: 18:25

I don't think I've ever been to Carabas. I don't go to chain restaurants, really.

Wendy: 18:28

Carabas and Olive Garden have a very similar menu to each other.

Tiffany: 18:32

Oh, okay.

Wendy: 18:33

And I know because the chef that I worked with Adamiches. He worked at Carabas and Olive Garden and so he mixed some of those recipes into what we were doing at the time, which was awesome. He used to get high and teach me how to cook. He was the fucking bomb. After family dinner, leon went by his San Jose restaurant and checked the tracker he put on his wife's white Mercedes SUV. The pinpoint location was four parking lot off an interstate, so he followed it to the parking lot and found himself at the John Deere dealership off of interstate 21 after leaving the restaurant and driving around for about 10 minutes in what's called the park and ride empty lot.

Tiffany: 19:13

Why was he following his wife around?

Wendy: 19:15

I'd be pissed if I found out.

Tiffany: 19:16

My husband put a tracker on my fucking car.

Wendy: 19:18

I believe you're correct. You know, you might not feel that way if you know why you did it.

Tiffany: 19:23

Well, yeah, but I mean, I don't know that yet. So this is how I'm feeling right now.

Wendy: 19:27

Yeah, we're about to get into it. It's kind of getting spicy. Okay, all right. So when he got there, he found his wife's Mercedes parked next to Santos $40,000 silver Toyota Tundra where the pair were together in the backseat. He opened the door to the Toyota Tundra purchased by his wife for her 28 year old lover and found her naked with him. Dang, he knew what the fuck was up.

Tiffany: 19:55

She knew what the fuck was up she was in that young boy Anyway. Well, yeah, she's a cougar.

Wendy: 20:04

So Vian's camera footage shows Leon walking around the front of the pickup truck and pulling out his revolver. Leon fired three shots through the open door of the pickup, strike in Santos, who fell out of the truck and onto the pavement. Bravo lay dying on the asphalt, raquel remained in the Tundra, greg left her at the scene and then came a 911 call. I shot my wife and her lover. Leon said they were sitting in the car messing around and I pulled up and I found them and I shot him. Keep in mind that the state also walked through a call log extracted from Rachel Leon's phone or Raquel, if you will showing communication between her and Santos Multiple missed calls from her husband just minutes before he pulled up to the parking lot and fatally shot Santos. That's because he knew what the fuck was going on when she was in answer.

Tiffany: 20:56

Oh yeah, well, you knew what was happening, but damn, and how do you spell her name? Is it R-O-C-H-E-L-L-E?

Wendy: 21:04

See, that's just a thing. His is Gregorio and I'm saying Greg, right. And so when I read it earlier today to my better half, I was reading this information to him and he's like, am I turning these into white names, like Rachel, leon and fucking Greg instead of Gregorio, leon and Raquel? So I'm like, fuck it, even if I'm fucking up, I'm going to give it more of a Spanish twang while I'm doing it.

Tiffany: 21:30

You know you can't win them all, so just give it your best shot.

Wendy: 21:34

No, I'm all. I'm reading all this information.

Tiffany: 21:36

Yeah.

Wendy: 21:37

I'm going to make it sound like this in my head. Okay, I go with it, all right. So then Leon ditched his gun off the side of the road. Investigators found Santos' body lying face down, wearing nothing but his socks. Inside the truck they found Valentine's gifts chocolate, stuffed bear and flowers. They also found clothes and some fake IDs. The video surveillance from the restaurant shows him checking his phone for several minutes, which lines up with the data suggesting that Leon was tracking his wife's location. The victim was Arturio Bravo Santos. He was a 28-year-old cashier who worked Friday nights at one of Leon's restaurants. That's a hot name. You think that?

Tiffany: 22:23

Arturio yeah, I love it. I can see why she was slaving with Arturio, because he's got a hot name, but it's really sad what happened to him. Like that's fucked up that her husband shot him. I get it that she was cheating on him, but damn, like you got to give that far.

Wendy: 22:36

I wouldn't say here how much of a wild child this guy was. Just to All right.

Wendy: 22:41

He was a 28-year-old cashier who worked Friday nights at her husband's restaurants, and there were many details that emerged about their relationship. They found photos, text messages and Facebook posts. South Carolina law enforcement division agent Britt Dove that's another name. I, like Britt Dove testified that the screenshots and the photos were stored in a keepsafe, a phone application that Leon was using to password protect, and she was presumably hiding evidence of her relationship with him. The two appeared to have taken trips together and exchanged solo pictures to one another. However, raquel Leon wasn't the only one with this relationship with Bravo. He was said to be a jiggalo and had other women given him gifts for sexual pleasure, and so the plot thickens.

Tiffany: 23:32

Yeah, he knew what time it was, he knew that the date and the cooters could get you some free swag.

Wendy: 23:38

And a $40,000 truck.

Tiffany: 23:40

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

Wendy: 23:43

Mm, hmm. Plus she was actually a really hot older lady too.

Tiffany: 23:47

Oh was she.

Wendy: 23:49

I didn't see any pictures of her yet so. No, I you know their court pictures aren't flattering of anybody at all Well, no court ones soft. Yeah, exactly. So when you see her like in her natural element, I'm sure like she's a boss lady, she's got that Spanish, you know that Spanish swag going on. I would probably be into her, Um anyway, the evidence.

Wendy: 24:13

Not, I'm not. She was married, especially not married to a restaurant boss Like you. Gotta have some courage to do that Right. The evidence was cut and dry regarding the fact that Greg Leon murdered Bravo. He admitted it. There was a clear motive, the bullets came from his 357 revolver and there was video footage. I'm unclear as to why the trial took until the summer of 2000 fucking 23, though. So how many years passed, god? It was 2016, on February 14th, all the way until a week ago today, in 2023.

Tiffany: 24:52

Wow, seven years. That's crazy.

Wendy: 24:54

Mm, hmm, mm, hmm. I was mind blown by the amount of time If Leon proved to be in a fit of rage rather than premeditated. There's a huge difference in sentencing in the Carolinas. So defendant Greg Leon had to prove that it wasn't something called malice of forethought, which means this is not a spur of the moment type of activity. An impulsive lover's rage would be considered manslaughter, like if one unknowingly stumbles upon an affair and reacts violently, versus premeditated intent to kill somebody, which is considered murder. So like if you stumbled in and you found your lover doing that and you became to be in a fit of rage and impulsivity and temporary insanity. It's considered manslaughter because it's not premeditated. Yeah, but if you know that this is going on and you had the forethought to, you know what I mean planned to like as he clearly did. You know the amount of time that it took him to get to the truck. It's just, it definitely had premeditation written all over it.

Tiffany: 26:05

Yeah, it definitely did, because you don't track somebody if you didn't think they were cheating on you. So you already kind of knew they were cheating on you and you brought a gun to the scene. So obviously, like you, it was premeditated because you thought to bring a weapon and number three like but yeah, like there there are plenty of people that get off scot-free and I don't mean like acquitted, but like in crimes of passion, where they get manslaughter charges for things that they should get murder, one for which, to me, if you killed somebody, I don't care if it was in a fit overage or not, I still think you should be charged with more than 10 to 15 years for that, because you murdered another fucking human being allegedly.

Wendy: 26:53

It's like he made the choice to be with her. You know, and I can understand getting that angry. I truly can't. I agree with you. It's like walking away, you know, with dignity. It's hard. It's hard, but it's also better than killing somebody. The trial jury, made up of seven women and five men, deliberated for more than two hours to reach a judgment. During the three week trial Five days after Bravo's killing, greg sat in Lexington County courtroom. Raquel, her six children, greg's father and nine siblings and family were members. Among 75 people who showed up in support of him, only seven people appeared for the victim. Once I get a little bit more into the trial and what they say about him, you'll understand why that many people showed up.

Tiffany: 27:40

Yeah, I was going to say like if he was manipulative and like kind of a shitty person, I could see why not many people would show up for him, because you said seven showed up for him.

Wendy: 27:48

Seven showed up for the victim. 75 showed up for the perpetrator. Right, yeah, that's yeah.

Tiffany: 27:55

Okay, all right, I'm waiting to hear what you got to say now. Okay.

Wendy: 28:00

During the trial the wife wasn't called to the stand. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. A December metam random filed in court by his attorney, dick, claims that so-called victim Bravo had ties to the Zeta's drug cartel and repeatedly and secretly had forced sex with Raquel for nearly two years. And, explaining the Leon's fractured marriage, swirling spoke ill of Bravo. He was referred to as a jiggler and accused of taking advantage of her. He took advantage of her. Swirling said he milked her, he took her money from her. He had Raquel buy him a Toyota Tundra and pay for his insurance.

Wendy: 28:40

Meanwhile, on Leon's end, before the sentencing, seven family members and friends, including his two adult sons, testified to what they call Leon's good character.

Wendy: 28:51

One of his sons, a former Lexington town councilman, said his father saved his home from foreclosure. Bland, a longtime friend who has represented Leon since 1999, said that the restaurant owner is one of the most giving people I've ever met, who often make silent contributions, families that suffer from catastrophic injuries and automobile accidents. He gives money to, bland said, people who've had their houses burned down, people who don't have a place to live. He has rental properties and he's provided people with many, many times free tenancy. Now, if that's true on top of the fact that he did as well as he did at employing so many people, as he did in the restaurant industry, and the fact that he fathered seven children and he was good to them, good enough where they're like advocating on his behalf in court. He had some great qualities about him. It's a damn shame for the kid and it's a shame for him that he ended up in prison, because everyone has their faults, but it does seem altogether he put more into this world than he took out until he took somebody's life.

Tiffany: 30:02

So if he was part of the drug cartel then he would have had a lot of money. So there had been no issues with him having to buy his own vehicle.

Wendy: 30:11

Yeah, he wouldn't have to have hustled women if he was really part of the drug cartel.

Tiffany: 30:16

Exactly so that defense is kind of weak to me.

Wendy: 30:20

Well, I mean, he might have been a drug dealer. I can see that a 20-year-old drug dealer but he was a fucking cashier at a restaurant, yeah, but if he was a drug, dealer like a real drug dealer, like a drug cartel drug dealer, like he's claiming he was.

Tiffany: 30:38

He would have a lot more money than to hustle women for things like cars and money.

Wendy: 30:45

Or maybe he would run like a cigar shop or a small shop and make it seem like his money, drug money, was coming from there, instead of working at a fucking cashier as a cashier on a Friday night, just saying.

Tiffany: 30:59

Yeah well, if you're going to launder money, you'd probably open up a business, not like work as a cashier.

Wendy: 31:03

That's what I just said.

Tiffany: 31:03

yeah, yeah for some other dude.

Wendy: 31:06

Yeah, exactly, exactly, fuckin' real, I don't know something just don't seem right with that defense.

Tiffany: 31:12

Like it, just if he was a jiggalo, which is possible. But to say he worked for the drug cartel and was a jiggalo, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, unless he was one of like his hose or something which, if he was a jiggalo, he'd be like a pimp. And if he was like a pimp then he would have hose yeah, and he would have drugs. Yeah, but that's a whole different type of person than a person who works for the drug cartel.

Wendy: 31:36

Yeah, it just yeah. It doesn't add up. It seems like they're just taking a bunch of random things he did and they're ad-libbing on them potentially, I don't know.

Tiffany: 31:44

Slander campaign. I get it. They're trying to break this dude's character down, so they like get a lesser sentence.

Wendy: 31:50

Right, and of course they're going to fail that way because he was sleeping with dude's wife. Yeah because you know he had a lot of partners and he also lived with a roommate who had issues with it too, who was also his lover, and a bitter one at that. There was a lot of. You know I didn't want to get too much into the tea spilling, like as it pertains to the shit he was doing as a jiggalo.

Tiffany: 32:11

You can't trust any of the shit that they say.

Wendy: 32:13

Yeah, that's exactly why and I just don't condone it. You know I had to mention it because it was brought up, but like I'm not going to get into the particulars as far as I'm being, they're sitting on his character like six years after he dies, which is almost too much for me and I don't like it when they shit on a victim's character.

Tiffany: 32:34

Anyway, I mean I do get why they do it, but like I just feel like it's like let's sleep and dogs live.

Wendy: 32:41

And I don't think it's fair to paint the one who's having the affair as a victim here either, like if she was giving him trucks on her and her husband's dime. That doesn't make her look like the victim. That Looks like a person who is supplying something to get what she wants in return.

Tiffany: 33:02

She was manipulative because she knew what she was doing, she was older and all that. I'm not gonna give too many opinions here about her character because I don't know the woman, so I'm not gonna say anything about her. We're just going by what her husband's saying about her, what the defense is saying about her, because of the fact that he's on trial for her the murder of her lover. So I'm not gonna shit on this woman's character. But what I will say is is that seems like a manipulation thing and she was cheating on her husband.

Wendy: 33:32

It is right.

Tiffany: 33:32

It's not this boys fault the 23 year old man that was killed, right 23. He was 20, 28. He's young, regardless. It's not his fault that he was murdered. You know, just because he was banging some dude's wife, it doesn't mean they deserve to die.

Wendy: 33:50

And that's all smear campaigns they do in these friggin court cases and I'm Imagine imagine this too she was like married to her husband for 26 years. This boy was only three years old. I mean like sorry, he was two years old when her and her husband she made a promise to be faithful to her husband and this boy like she's got almost as much marriage experience as this boy had on this earth.

Tiffany: 34:19

Yeah, she's old enough to be his mom pretty much Ex she yeah, she really, she definitely is.

Wendy: 34:24

And even if that like weren't the case, when you think of, like an 18 year old, you know they're there at the very first year of having adult experience. They're an adult but they haven't experienced it yet. So therefore, they're an inexperienced adult. By the time you're 28, you are a more experienced adult, but you haven't learned what you've learned at 35 and and certainly have not learned what this woman knew. And so she was all the wiser, the more experienced, and she had the financial advantage and she was deceiving her husband and she was Grooming, if you will, this this young man. In my opinion, because of her level of experience and compared to his, and I think that the husband and this this guy were both victims of being caught in this love triangle that she procured. Now, I understand, I understand what you know. I'm not judging her either, but these are the dynamics that befell her decisions and while I'm not gonna, you know, judge her either, I will just say it doesn't. Those overtones to me do not solidify a victim campaign that is believable. I can't, I'm just gonna move on from there. So Johnson described that the forensic documentation process in detail and displayed several exhibits of the vehicle Interior and the jurors. Mcleod has asked members of the media to reframe from taking Photographs of such exhibits on the projector screen, but provided some exhibits for journalists to photograph.

Wendy: 35:57

After the court concluded, during closing arguments, 11th Judicial Circuit solicitor Rick Hubbard told the jury that there was clear evidence of malice, which is needed to convict somebody of murder. He had malice in his heart when he pulled the trigger and killed Mr Santos. Hubbard said. Judge Walton McLeod read the verdict, allowed his family and friends of Leon, including his two adult sons, sat in the courtroom. The 12th panel jury deliberated for about two and a half hours before reaching a unanimous decision finding Leon guilty of both murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. The judge sentenced Leon to 30 years in prison, which is the minimum sentence for murder in South Carolina. He also was sentenced to an additional five years for weapon possession.

Wendy: 36:47

So listen to this right. I was pretty done with this case at this point, but I was inclined to like go and check for new updates because the verdict is still pretty new and I found Articles that said he'd already died in prison Last night, when I was like going through my notes, I'm like I had a feeling there was something more would pop up, and you're the one who taught me that that happens. You're like, always like. Well, you know if you do in a fresh case there's always new things that unfold. Older cases are more like in hindsight and we're speaking of the past, and so you were totally right with this one WIS TV article headline was like Midlands restaurant owner dies one week after murder trial. News 19 Lexington restaurant owner convicted of murder dies just days into prison terms. Gregorio Leon died after found ready hanging in an SCDC prison cell. That is the story of Greg Leon and either Rachel or Rick L, but I like Rick L sounds sexy.

Tiffany: 37:54

She's a brick, yeah like Rick L better yeah.

Wendy: 37:56

Mm-hmm. Well, you know, again, I couldn't believe it. The white just bled out of me in the beginning While I was reading this. At first I was like Gregorio was a lot of syllables, so I'm just gonna make it Greg. That makes perfect sense. But he's Hispanic and they have like a sexier swap to their names than most English speaking names to do. Yeah. So I was like I made it so ugly. I was like Leon, because that's what you know, that would be a fucking white man's pronunciation. And then my better half is like you mean Leon. I'm like, oh, that sounds better. I'm gonna say we're Kellen instead of Rachel. Now too. So yeah, but anyway, what did you think of that?

Tiffany: 38:38

I think that's a stupid loophole in the wall and I'm glad that they gave him a heavier sentence, because I think that that is a beautiful thing, because he deserves to be in prison for what he did. I'm sad that he didn't get to serve out his sentence and they took I don't want to say the easy way out, but he didn't want to live out his sentence and he took his life and that's a shame. But I guess that's one less dude in the world that is a undesirable murderer, so good riddance, I guess I agree with you completely.

Wendy: 39:11

I feel really bad for those who are relied on him, like you know, his adult children, perhaps grandchildren, all the employees and things like that, because I know he handed the business this over, yeah, but that's his decision.

Tiffany: 39:23

He ruined his children's lives by killing somebody and by taking his own life. That's very true, and both of those are decisions conscious decisions that he made that affect everyone else around him.

Wendy: 39:37

One of the biggest tragedies are the people that are supposed to be protected by the victims and I'm not the victims, but the victims as well as the murders in these cases, because anyone that allows themselves around another human being is doing so at the risk of being hurt. When a lot of people rely on you, the responsibility can be really tough sometimes. But he seemed like he was at the hierarchy of his family and so he didn't just take away somebody else's son, but he kind of abandoned, and he abandoned those who relied upon him as their patriarch of their family, which is what he seemed like to me, and that sucks for those people, because a strong patriarch is no joke to lose. Outside of maybe some of the pettiness like them competing with each other and things like that, they really do put a lot back into the community and I hope that, for the sake of what good he did in spite of the bad that he's done, that they keep the ball rolling for their community.

Tiffany: 40:45

He didn't only make Artorio a victim, but he also made his children and his family a victim too by what he chose to do, and hopefully they can move forward and maybe put back into the community something to honor their family name, because I know that's very important to Mexican Americans is honoring their family name and I think that the actions of Rachel, or how did you say it?

Wendy: 41:17

Raquel.

Tiffany: 41:17

Raquel. Her actions caused a lot of pain for a lot of people too, and I feel really bad for the victim's family, even though you know most of them didn't show up. But you're saying that he was also a Mexican American, so maybe some of his family couldn't attend his trial.

Wendy: 41:33

And of course, there was so much time in the interim. I think maybe and I could be wrong it's traumatizing. They don't really. You know, I can see while they want this man to go to prison, reliving through a murder of somebody that you love and detail in court, when you're on the victim's side, that can be a rigorous, torturous thing too, and if you've already dealt and buried that, you might crave peace more than you do vengeance in this case, because sometimes when you go to court and I spent a lot of fucking time there they'll act the shit out if they know, and that's intense when you lose somebody, that's fucking intense.

Tiffany: 42:15

Yeah, but I mean we can't even speculate that they didn't come because it was hurting them too much, because we don't know.

Wendy: 42:21

Exactly. And well, I mean we can speculate, but that doesn't mean it's true, Exactly.

Tiffany: 42:25

That's what I mean.

Wendy: 42:26

And the other reason too, is they could have been intimidated and I use the word could have perhaps very heavily when I say these things because we can't know. We can't know, but it feels like it's possible that if family that has that much power is going to come in such a large number that you might want to stay away for that reason too.

Tiffany: 42:49

You may. Yeah, I mean it could be a lot of factors.

Wendy: 42:52

You know who knows.

Tiffany: 42:53

So true.

Wendy: 42:54

So, true?

Tiffany: 42:55

No, we don't know. I'm sure that it'll come out at some point and we'll find out more information about that, but in the meantime that's all speculation. You can't really say either way. So I want to thank you for doing the research on that. That was a really good case. Glad that you brought that up and you did a good job.

Tiffany: 43:12

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