Naman Shrestha
When a 21-year-old single mother named Julie Ann Gonzalez vanished into thin air in 2010, it raised flags of concern among her family members and friends. The police and the missing woman’s loved ones joined forces to get to the bottom of the case, leading them to Julie’s estranged husband — George De La Cruz. The episode titled ‘There’s No Peace in My Family’ of Hulu’s ‘How I Caught My Killer’ covers the entire case of the mysterious disappearance of Julie, including the apprehension and conviction of the perpetrator.
George De La Cruz And Julie Ann Gonzalez Struggled Financially as a Married Couple
The son of Victoria DeLaCruz, George De La Cruz attended Crocket High School in South Austin, where he crossed paths with Julie Ann Gonzalez. As sparks flew between the two, they started dating and ultimately moved in together after graduating. Being a bright individual, she scored a scholarship at St. Edward’s University. However, within a year, they discovered they were pregnant. Thus, Julie dropped out of college to focus on creating a loving household and gaining financial stability. Finding it tough to make ends meet, the couple moved out and decided to settle in with George’s mother and his three younger sisters for the time being. In May 2009, George and Julie tied the knot and made their relationship official after the birth of their daughter, Layla.
On one hand, Julie worked hard and took a job as a cashier at Walgreens in East Austin to lead a decent life. She even got promoted to the Walgreens pharmacy after earning her pharmacy tech degree. On the other hand, George did not seem responsible at all and was okay with his unsteady jobs as a security guard and construction worker. Most of the time, Julie would find him playing games on his Xbox for hours on end. She even let him know that his gaming addiction was interfering with his duties as a father as he often neglected to care for Layla while engrossed in gaming. When things still did not improve from George’s end, she moved out and went to stay at her grandfather’s place in Dripping Springs.
Julie Ann Went Missing a Few Months After Filing For Divorce
Just over half a year into the marriage, Julie filed for divorce in December 2009 and soon began dating another man. However, George was reluctant to sign the papers. Layla was with George during the last week of March 2010, and Julie was supposed to pick her up from him on March 25. But he allegedly asked for an extra day with her daughter from her. The very next day, the 21-year-old vanished after she visited George’s place to pick up Layla. When the police got involved and investigated her disappearance, they suspected George to have a hand in it. Upon digging deeper, they found out that he had used Julie’s credit card at several stores on the day she went missing.
On March 29, just a few days after Julie’s disappearance, George signed the divorce papers. During the interrogation, George De La Cruz claimed that his estranged wife had been acting weird and asked him if he could keep Layla through the weekend. According to him, she had plans to leave the town with her new lover over the weekend. Suspicious of George, Julie’s family members got the opportunity to feature on the talk show ‘Dr. Phil’ and cover her story. Not only did he agree to appear on the show, but he also agreed to take part in a polygraph test. He failed the test, and he cried his eyes out backstage, denying any involvement in Julie’s disappearance and marriage.
To leave no stone unturned, the detectives also seized George’s Xbox to analyze the digital data. When the results came, they discovered a 20-hour gap in the gaming sessions on the day of Julie’s disappearance, which had never happened earlier. Since his phone pinged from the same cell tower as the victim’s phone, they concluded that he pretended to be Julie and sent out text messages from her phone plus posted a cryptic message on MySpace. With enough evidence against him, the police were able to arrest George on September 13, 2013, and charge him with the murder of Julie Ann. A few months later, an inmate came forward and testified against George, claiming that he had admitted to knocking Julie unconscious when he confronted her about her new lover.
George De La Cruz is Serving His Sentence at a Texas Prison
About five years after Julie Ann’s disappearance, George De La Cruz’s trial commenced in 2015. While the prosecution presented evidence that connected the defendant to the murder case, the defense countered by emphasizing the lack of concrete evidence, as the body and murder weapon had not been found. As for the inmate’s testimony, the defense reminded the jury that there was no video proof of a conversation between him and George and suggested that the witness could be receiving a deal for testifying against the defendant.
Despite the best efforts of the defense, the pieces of evidence and other facts of the case led to the jury finding George De La Cruz guilty of the murder of Julie Ann Gonzalez. He was sentenced to life in prison without the opportunity of parole. As of writing, George De La Cru is incarcerated at Jim Ferguson Unit at 12120 Savage Drive in Midway, Texas, with his parole eligibility date set for September 2043.
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