5 key details about Valerie Zavala Wilson's murder

The upcoming episode of Murder Under the Friday Night Lights is all set to cover the brutal murder of Valerie Zavala Wilson, a young college student with a seemingly bright future ahead of her. Though the murder dates back to 2003, the case remains just as horrifying today as it was then, primarily because of the people who were involved in the crime.

This case is set to be the subject of Murder Under the Friday Night Lights season 4 episode 3, titled A Cheerleader's Reject. This episode is set to premiere at 9.00 PM EST on January 22, 2025, on Investigation Discovery. The synopsis for the episode reads:

"Former cheerleader Valerie Zavala is invited to a party with high school football players and cheerleaders; she is found dead; investigators collect home video from the party to find clues to identify her killer."

This case is filled with chilling details that would be appealing to all true crime fans. Ahead of the episode, let us go over five such details.

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5 chilling details about the murder of Valerie Zavala Wilson

1) Valerie Zavala Wilson lost her life trying to give a lift to a 17-year-old boy

Valerie Zavala Wilson attended a New Year's Eve party on the last day of 2002 and left it early to drop off her friend and a 17-year-old classmate of her sister. This young man was Samuel Puebla, who it turned out tried to assault her and ended up killing her.

She was found by a passer-by the next morning in a roadside drainage culvert, partially nude and with evident signs of injury.

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2) Valerie's ex-boyfriend was initially suspected of the murder

There were multiple suspects in the case (Image via Pexels)

When the investigation began, it was ascertained that she was strangled to death. She also showed signs of being hit with something blunt. As the authorities scrambled for leads, they discovered that she was supposed to meet her ex-boyfriend, Isaac Flores on that night.

He initially became the suspect in the case, but he claimed he was expecting her but she never turned up. With no other evidence linked to him, this lead was dropped.

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3) A prior conviction of Samuel Puebla opened up the gates to solving Valerie Zavala Wilson's murder

Samuel Puebla's prior conviction helped the case (Image via Pexels)

When the case started to get cold, the police turned their attention back to Puebla. As they dug deeper, they discovered that he was involved in a robbery in December 2022 and that he had dumped the unwanted things from the robbery at a dumpyard at St. Francis of Assisi church.

Following this pattern, the police searched the dump yard for evidence of Valerie Zavala Wilson's murder and ended up finding more than enough.

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4) Samuel Puebla tried to take the investigation elsewhere by claiming he had physical interaction with Valerie Zavala Wilson

Samuel Puebla had many inconsistencies in his story (Image via Pexels)

When a DNA test was done and saliva was found on Valerie's body, the police tried to link it with Puebla. When this was a match, Puebla claimed that he had allegedly made out with Valerie on then right before she dropped him off.

However, as the police found evidence of Puebla's perversion and evidence that Valerie was going to meet her ex-boyfriend anyway that night, this story did not sit right with them.

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5) Samuel Puebla was sentenced to life for the crime

Samuel Puebla remains in prison (Image via Pexels)

Samuel Puebla was eventually arrested and charged with the murder. As he was a star student and the prom king, it sent shockwaves across the community. But it did not take long for the jury to determine that he was indeed guilty of the crime.

He was sentenced to life in prison, where he remains as of now.

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The upcoming episode of Murder Under the Friday Night Lights will cover this case in more detail.