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The murder of Jesse Valencia in 2004 landed the Columbia Police Department Patrolman Steven Rios in prison for murder charges. Rios had arrested Jesse from a party and had struck a s*xual relationship with him but never dropped the charges, leading to friction.
Steven Rios reportedly slit Jesse's throat after he put him in a chokehold in June 2004. With DNA evidence and testimonies, Steven was sentenced to life in prison and underwent trial twice.
The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode titled Before Daylight showcased the murder of Jesse James Valencia as it aired on July 24, 2024, at 8 pm EST on Oxygen. The official synopsis reads:
"A college student is found murdered in a residential neighbourhood; as police search for the truth, they are stunned to learn that one of their own might be involved."
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How was Steven Rios arrested?
Jesse James Valencia was found dead on the afternoon of June 5, 2004, by a couple of college students. Jesse had been found seven houses down from his off-campus residence with his throat brutally slit. The college students who found him alerted 911 when the responders arrived and concluded that the killer had known him to commit such a heinous crime.
As the investigation began, the detectives interrogated Jesse's friends when one of his romantic partners, Andrew Schermerhorn, divulged key details to the case. Schermerhorn went to the police station and identified the officer Jesse had been s*xually involved with - Steven Rios.
Schermerhorn reportedly identified Patrolman Rios from the Columbia Police Department’s yearbook. He was a 27-year-old married man with a child at the time who had arrested Jesse Valencia at a party when the latter asked him for probable cause on April 18, 2004, per Oxygen.
Rios had been using Jesse for s*x and had allegedly coerced Schermerhorn into s*xual acts as well but never dropped the charges against Jesse. Steven Rios initially denied any involvement but later admitted to having a s*xual relationship with Valencia as he was presented with the testimonies.
In the following days, Rios made a troubling phone call to Capt. Zim Schwartze of the Columbia Police Department, during which he mentioned purchasing a shotgun and showcased signs of suicidal ideation. He was subsequently placed in protective custody but soon after, DNA evidence of his arm hair on Jesse's chest came back.
Where is Steven Rios now?
Steven Rios was arrested on July 1, 2004, and charged with the murder of 23-year-old Jesse James Valencia. Rios pleaded not guilty to his charges and underwent his first murder trial in 2005. The jury found him guilty and convicted him of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, per Oxygen. Rios was sentenced to a life sentence without parole and another ten years additionally.
Rios was granted a retrial by the Missouri Western District Court of Appeal in 2007. While the judgment of the first trial was overturned due to hearsay being admitted into evidence, he was retried in 2008 where the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. He was sentenced to a longer sentence of life with the chance of parole and an additional 23 years.
Steven Rios is incarcerated at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, and will be eligible for parole in 2035.
Catch all the details of Jesse James Valencia's murder as the Dateline episode streams on NBC.
