The city of San Jacinto, California was left petrified when police discovered Eddie Leal had been shot in his car. Family members grew concerned when the promising boxer failed to show up at his home on May 31, 2011 and in turn informed authorities of his disappearance. Investigation Discovery’s “Web of Lies: The Honeytrap” chronicles the horrific murder and follows the ensuing investigation that uncovered a fatal attempt to catch catfish. If this case piques your interest and you want to know the current whereabouts of the killer, we’ve got you covered.
How did Eddie Leal die?
Eddie Leal was a promising boxer who had a few pro fights under his belt. Besides being quite close to his family, Eddie was closely involved in his community and ran a boxing training program that helped keep kids off the streets and out of trouble. Moreover, he even trained police officers as well as firefighters in the art of boxing and was known as a generous person.
When Eddie failed to show up at his San Jacinto home on May 31, 2011, anxious family members began searching for the missing boxer and even notified authorities. While driving through nearby areas, police came across Eddie’s Toyota Corolla, which had crashed into another vehicle on Roanoke Street. Inside they found Eddie’s deceased body in the driver’s seat, while an initial investigation revealed numerous gunshot wounds to the victim’s body. Later, an autopsy determined that gunshot wounds were the cause of death, and authorities ruled it a homicide.
Who Killed Eddie Leal?
According to the show, Eddie’s family mentioned that on May 30, Eddie was in a good mood when he left his computer and walked out of the house. The police immediately went to his computer and saw that he had been chatting on Facebook with a girl named Rebecca Santhiago. Eddie and Rebecca seemed quite close, and the latter had even asked Eddie to meet her at the time of her murder. Deeming this to be a viable lead, cops traced Rebecca’s profile to the IP address where it was stored and discovered that the address led to a house less than 100 yards from the murder scene. However, the house belonged to the Guzmans and no one was called Rebecca Santhiago.
As the Guzmans were taken to the sheriff’s office for questioning, police found a computer in seventeen-year-old Manuel Edmundo Guzman’s bedroom and immediately began scanning it. Computer forensics experts performed a RAM dump on the still-running laptop and found concrete evidence that the messages Eddie received from Rebecca’s profile were sent from Manuel’s laptop. On the other hand, although Manuel denied any knowledge of a fake profile, he insisted that no one else was using his computer.
Police didn’t have enough to charge Manuel at the time, but further investigation showed how Manuel had inserted himself as a figure into Rebecca’s messages telling the victim his brother might be waiting at the meeting place. However, according to the show, the final nail in the coffin was driven when cops found a witness who claimed Manuel confessed to her about a fake Facebook profile under the name Rebecca Santhiago. So, armed with a witness statement and computer forensic evidence, authorities arrested Manuel Guzman and charged him with murder.
Where is Manuel Guzman now?
Manuel Guzman was seventeen, which saved him from the death penalty, but the jury eventually found him guilty of murder. Although reports indicate that Manuel was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2013, his prison documents show him as being eligible for parole in 2036. Nevertheless, Manuel is still incarcerated at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo County, California. .
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