Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
“The Devil Was Watching” is an episode of Dateline: Unforgettable and revolves around the murder of Tina Sandoval and the subsequent arrest and conviction of her husband, John Sandoval. The episode follows her family and friends’ quest for Tina’s remains after she disappeared in 1995. The episode will be aired on Thursday, February 8, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET on Oxygen.
John Sandoval is currently serving time at the Trinidad Correctional Facility in Colorado. Although he was sentenced to life in prison after his conviction in 2009, the Colorado Court of Appeals ordered a retrial in 2016. Then, he was again found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He will also serve another five years on parole. The reason for the reduced sentence was that Sandoval had agreed to reveal information about the location of Tina Sandoval’s remains.
When did Tina Sandoval disappear?
Tina Sandoval disappeared on October 19, 1995, after she met John Sandoval to settle a debt before making their divorce official. Tina also informed family members of the threat she felt from John. According to the Weld County District Attorney, she warned them that John was to be suspected if anything untoward happened to her.
The police reviewed the surveillance at John Sandoval’s home. The Greeley Police Department reportedly found him entering his home at 5:46 a.m. on October 20, 1995. A wet and muddy shovel, alongside muddy clothes, was discovered at his residence. Detectives also found Tina Sandoval’s credit cards, which had last been used nearly four days before she went missing. Scratch marks on John Sandoval’s face, chest, neck and shoulder created further suspicion.
Despite his brief arrest at the time, authorities could not find Tina Sandoval’s body. They couldn’t prove that John Sandoval killed his estranged wife. The couple had been married for three years at the time of her death.
What was John Sandoval convicted of?
In 2016, John Sandoval had been serving a life sentence after he was convicted of first-degree murder on August 5, 2010. This was nearly fifteen years after Tina’s disappearance. The 2010 guilty verdict was overturned in 2016, and a retrial was ordered. A year later, John Sandoval, who was 52 at that time, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Tina Sandoval. He agreed to reveal the location of Tina’s remains in exchange for a reduced sentence of 25 years in prison and an additional five years of parole.
In his admission during his retrial, John Sandoval told authorities that he buried Tina at the Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery at 3400 W 28th Street in Greeley. He found out that a burial at the cemetery was scheduled for the afternoon of October 20, 1995. NBC News reported that an open grave was dug for that burial, so he further dug two feet below into the pit.
He then buried Tina Sandoval’s body, which was already wrapped in several layers of industrial-grade plastic. The scheduled burial followed as planned, and Tina’s remains stayed buried under the grave of a World War II veteran. Years later, the Greeley Police Department recovered Tina’s remains from the location after John Sandoval’s admission.
The upcoming episode of Dateline: Unforgettable will be aired on Oxygen on Thursday, February 8, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET.
