5 chilling details about the Michelle Le murder case

Michelle Le was a 26-year-old nursing student who went missing on May 27, 2011. The nursing student was studying at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in California. She was found brutally murdered at a nearby canyon area on September 17, 2011.

The chilling details about her case are explored in the NBC series Dateline: Secrets Uncovered. Each episode of the series looks into mysterious murder cases like the one of Michelle Le and looks into the investigation for the killer and how they finally get prosecuted. Michelle Le's case is showcased in Season 3, Episode 13 of the series. The official synopsis reads:

"Young nursing student Michelle Le had disappeared. Something drew her out to her car. As her loved ones launched a very public effort to find Michelle, investigators began their own methodical search. Was she missing or murdered? "

Dateline: Secrets Uncovered is currently re-airing episodes on the true-crime streaming channel Oxygen.

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Five shocking details about the Michelle Le Murder Case

1) Michelle Le went missing very suddenly

A still of Michelle (Image via NBC)

26-year-old Michelle Hoang Thi Le was a nursing student at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in California. Le's white Honda SUV was discovered parked on Ponderosa Court, approximately half a mile from the medical center, on May 27, 2011, the morning after she vanished, at around nine in the morning. Her family became concerned and even put up billboards in search of her. She was not found for almost four months since disappearing suddenly.

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2) Only remains of her were found after a long search

Numerous organizations that hunt for missing people joined the effort. On September 17, 2011, the seventh search discovered decaying human remains in a secluded canyon area. Michelle Le's remains were confirmed identified by the Alameda County coroner's office on September 19, 2011.

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3) She was murdered by a friend, Giselle Esteban

A mugshot of Giselle Esteban (image via Oxygen)

Giselle Esteban was found guilty of murdering Michelle Le, who was previously a very close friend to her. After graduating from San Diego's Mount Carmel High School, Esteban, 28, and Le lived close to one another in the San Francisco region.

However, trial testimony indicates that this friendship ended when Esteban started to believe Michelle and her former partner, Scott Marasigan, were having intimate relations. He is the father of Esteban's child, and she believes Le was the reason for their breakup. (Marasigan stated in court that although he and Le dated for a month in 2003, they never had intimate relations with each other).

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4) There was enough to charge her with murder even before the body was discovered

Esteban during her trial (image via San Diego Union Tribune)

Before Le's body was found, investigators declared they had sufficient evidence to hold Esteban accountable for the murder. Le's DNA was discovered on one of Esteban's shoes, and traces of Le's blood were discovered inside Esteban's car, according to Hayward police. Surveillance footage saw her at the crime site both before and after Le vanished.

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5) Esteban showed no remorse when she was convicted

A still of Michelle and her brother, Michael (image via Oxygen)

Butch Ford, the deputy district attorney for Alameda County, contended that Giselle Esteban spent months organizing her assault on Michelle. Ford said the following about her:

"Sociopath, that's what we have here; she's laughing as she is talking about killing people. This is a well-thought-out, calculated attack on an unprepared target."

He then played a tape recording of Esteban talking to Marasigan six months before the killings, saying,

"You deserve to die for your lies, as does she,"

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Season 3 episode 13 of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered explores the Michelle Le murder in detail. The series is currently streaming on Oxygen.