Where is John Sandoval now? Details explored ahead of Oxygen's Dateline: Unforgettable

The highly anticipated Dateline: Unforgettable on Oxygen is all set to bring forth the gripping mystery of Tina Sandoval's death at the hands of her husband, John Sandoval. The case dates back to 1995, but it took decades before the perpetrator was punished and even longer to determine the case's final outcome.

Dateline: Unforgettable season 3, episode 3 is titled The Devil Was Watching. It will premiere on Oxygen on February 8, 2024, at 8 pm EST. The synopsis for the episode reads:

"When Tina Sandoval disappears, her parents and loved ones spend years searching for her; Dennis Murphy takes a fresh look at the secret Tina kept and at the demon who forced her loved ones to make an agonizing decision."

John Sandoval was the prime suspect in Tina Sandoval's disappearance in 1995 for over a decade. But, due to near-perfect execution, the police did not locate the body or find any physical evidence that tied John to the case.

It was only after he was convicted without physical evidence that John revealed the body's location. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and five years on parole, which he continues to serve. His expected release date from the Trinidad Correctional Facility is 2032.

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Who is John Sandoval, and what did he do?

John Sandoval met the victim, Tina, at AIMS Community College in Greeley, Colorado. Though not much is known about John from before he met Tina, he was studying to be a Radiology Technician at the time. Tina and John started dating and maintained their relationship as they got out of college.

They married in 1991 in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Though they seemed to be a perfect couple, things changed rapidly as Tina discovered John's dark secrets.

Tina allegedly told a few of her colleagues that John suffered from voyeurism, where he would stalk and look at other women obsessively. He even entered the homes of those he stalked and stole women’s underwear and brought them home. This also brought the police to the Sandoval house.

This culminated in their divorce, but John Sandoval was not as willing. Tina allegedly revealed to her family how John had dramatically put a gun to his head in a desperate bid to save their marriage. She even suspected him of stalking her.

So when she disappeared after meeting him, the suspect was pretty clear. Police also spotted some fresh scratches on John's chest and even found a muddy shovel at his house. But with no physical evidence, the DA did not press charges, and despite murdering his wife, John Sandoval walked out free.

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How was John Sandoval caught?

John Sandoval nearly escaped prosecution, and the case went cold, but a new DA in 2009 decided to press charges against Sandoval. He was arrested on June 18, 2009, and sentenced to life without parole on August 5, 2010, despite no physical evidence. Nearly eight years after the sentencing, the Colorado Court of Appeals overturned John’s guilty verdict in 2016 due to some technical snags.

After a new trial was proposed, John Sandoval took a plea deal to reveal the body's location. In exchange, he was allowed to plead guilty to second-degree murder. He had hidden the body at Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Greeley, where he buried it below another dead body, making it impossible to locate.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison with time served. He has been eligible for parole since 2020. His next parole hearing is reportedly set for January 2026. He continues to remain incarcerated at the Trinidad Correctional Facility.

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The upcoming episode of Dateline: Unforgettable will cover this case in more detail.