Ep. 6 – Behind the Cold Case Investigation with Det. Zachary Scott

·40 min·4 clips

A suitcase on the side of the road contained a crushed female body, revealing a violent homicide meant to be seen.

This episode details the cold case investigation into the murders of Kimberly Dietz-Livesey, Sia Demas, and Jessica Good in South Florida around 2000-2001. Host Enrique Santos interviews Detective Zachary Scott from the Broward Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit. Detective Scott joined the force in 2000 and has a personal investment in providing answers to victims' families. In June 2000, a passerby found a suitcase containing the body of Kimberly Dietz-Livesey beside a roadway in Broward County. Over a month later, a duffel bag holding the body of Sia Demas was discovered in a similar manner, with her remains wrapped in plastic. Investigators collected a male DNA profile from the handle of each bag and a fingerprint from inside the plastic wrapping on Demas's case. A partial airline ticket stub from a London-to-Miami flight was found in the suitcase with Dietz-Livesey. In August 2001, Jessica Good's body was found in Biscayne Bay; she was also a sex worker who frequented the same area as the first two victims. A 2011 grant for advanced DNA testing in Miami linked Good's case to the two Broward murders through an identical male DNA profile. The DNA match connected the cases to a suspect, Roberto Wagner Fernandes, a Brazilian former police officer and tour guide who fled to Brazil after Good's murder. Fernandes had a history of engaging with sex workers, and a witness said he arrived at work with facial scratches, joking about a fight with a prostitute. Brazilian authorities revealed Fernandes was acquitted of murdering his wife in 1996 and was a suspect in a 2003 rape case where the victim later disappeared. Authorities believed Fernandes faked his death in a 2005 plane crash in Paraguay to escape a contract on his life, as the grave was reportedly empty. The investigation required complex international coordination between U.S. and Brazilian agencies, complicated by the lack of an extradition treaty. Detective Scott explains that early DNA technology was less sensitive, and evidence preservation for future scientific advances is crucial for cold cases. He describes the challenge of avoiding tunnel vision despite strong physical links, noting the task force initially considered if the killer acted alone or with a partner. The detective personally believes Fernandes had other, unidentified victims, given the time gaps between the known murders and his established patterns. The tone is educational and conversational, structured as an interview where the host prompts the detective to explain procedural details and investigative hurdles. Listeners interested in forensic science, cold case methodologies, and complex international police work will find this episode compelling. Those seeking a fast-paced, resolved narrative or who are sensitive to descriptions of violence against women may want to skip it.

As heard by us

A patient cold-case interview that follows a DNA hit from testing to identification.

This episode follows Detective Zachary Scott as he revisits three South Florida murders that stayed open until later DNA testing linked them. It works best when it moves through the grant-funded testing, the database upload, and the eventual identification of Roberto Fernandez,…

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You want the moment a cold case finally clicks into place.

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