Naman Shrestha
When a 31-year-old police officer named Daniel Green was found dead inside his house in Goshen, California, the entire community, as well as the police department, mourned deeply. Determined to find the perpetrator responsible for killing one of their own, the authorities launched an extensive investigation and found his former wife, Erika Sandoval, responsible for the gruesome murder. The episode titled ‘The Killing of Officer Green’ of CBS’ ’48 Hours’ chronicles the swift capture of Erika and her motive behind the crime, with the help of insightful interviews with people linked to the case.
Erika Sandoval’s Marriage to Daniel Green Lasted Less Than Two Years
Erika Evelyn Sandoval originally hails from Southern California. When she was in high school, she relocated with her family to Visalia. While growing up in a middle-class household, the family members were sometimes short on finances but never on love and affection. According to her brother, David, being the only daughter in the Sandoval clan led to her being bestowed with extra affection. In late 2009, Erika, who was an aspiring nurse, crossed paths with an Exeter, California, police officer named Daniel Green, and the two began a romantic relationship. As their bond got deeper, the couple got married in Las Vegas, Nevada, within a year. Soon, as per reports, arguments and fights regularly broke out between them, impacting their marriage negatively.
Daniel’s twin brother, Matt Green, described her company as pleasant when things transpired as she wanted them to. In the show, he elaborated, “…It’s only when things went bad or things didn’t go her way that she became nasty and things got ugly between the two of them … And from what I saw, the bad was really bad.” By February 2011, things between Erika and Daniel had gradually become abusive and tense, leading to their arrest for domestic abuse. Eventually, in January 2012, their divorce was official. However, in the spring of the same year, she found out that she was pregnant with Daniel’s baby.
Erika Sandoval Ambushed Daniel Green in His California House
Following the pregnancy, Erika Sandoval moved back in with Daniel Green. Instead of things getting better, the tension and arguments were still constant between them. Erika even allegedly cut the brake lines of his motorcycle, which almost led to him having an accident. She denied cutting the brake lines, and he never reported the incident to the police. On January 3, 2013, she gave birth to their son, Aiden. Despite the addition of a baby into their lives, they struggled to see eye to eye. Thus, six months later, when he asked her to move out, she took Aiden with her. This led to them engaging in a custody battle for their son, fueled by their nasty texts to each other. According to reports, despite it all, the couple used to spend some nights together.
On one of the nights in the fall of 2014, Erika allegedly pointed a gun at his head while he was sleeping. After parting ways for a few months, they reconnected to celebrate their son’s second birthday in January 2015. A few weeks later, Daniel revealed that he had gotten into a relationship with a woman named Brenda Vela. On February 6, 2015, Erika attacked her former husband, Daniel Green, in the bathroom of his house in Goshen, California, and shot him in his hand, chest, neck, and forehead. Given their toxic relationship, the investigators brought her in for questioning. During her interview, she confessed to the murder and even led them to the site where she disposed of the murder weapon. Thus, she was arrested and charged with Daniel’s killing.
Erika Sandoval is Currently Behind Bars at a California Detention Center
Nearly five years after Daniel Green’s murder, Erika Sandoval’s trial commenced on October 1, 2019. The prosecution chose to focus on the fact that Daniel had posted a photo with his new girlfriend, Brenda Vela, on social media just a week prior to his killing. They also showed evidence that Erika had called him 167 times on his cell phone in the following days. Meanwhile, her defense attorney tried to paint a negative picture of the victim by claiming he was violent and abusive towards her. Later, Erika took the stand and stated: “He grabbed me by the shirt, my shirt, and he started shaking me back and forth and as he was yelling in my face, ‘Shut the f— up.’ … And he’s like, you know, ‘I could f—ing kill you and make it look like an accident.’ …That’s when he grabbed me from my ponytail and he slammed my head in the dashboard while I was holding Aiden.”
Erika further claimed that on the fateful day of February 6, 2015, she sneaked inside Daniel’s house when he wasn’t there and found two child pornographic photos. On top of that, she alleged that she suspected he had been abusing their son. According to her, when Daniel came home, she took two of his guns and hid inside her son’s closet. While he was in the bathroom, Erika claimed that she ambushed him and shot him multiple times. After nearly four days of deliberation, the jury couldn’t reach a verdict, and thus, a mistrial was declared. Her retrial commenced several years later on February 6, 2025.
After three intense months of testimonies and arguments between the prosecution and defense, the jury began deliberating on May 6. A couple of days later, on May 8, the jury returned with a verdict and convicted Erika Sandoval of first-degree murder in connection with her former husband’s killing. Less than a month later, on June 5, her sentencing hearing took place. Daniel’s twin brother, Matthew Green, took the stand, stating, “We didn’t lose Daniel, he was taken. He was murdered by Erika for the most repulsive reasons. Her narcissistic and short-sided decisions will affect us for the rest of our lives.” Finally, Erika Sandoval was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for her gruesome crimes. Currently, she is held at Bob Wiley Detention Center in Visalia, California, awaiting her transfer to a prison facility.
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