A Pregnant Woman's Body Was Found on a Los Angeles Beach in 1980 — What Happened to Her?
"There was nobody to hear her cry, nobody that heard her scream, nobody that would help her and when she bled out, the baby died."
Jul. 15 2024, Published 4:28 p.m. ET
In March 1980, 20-year-old Teresa Broudreaux was trying to cool off at Malaga Cove Beach in Palos Verdes Estates outside of Los Angeles, Calif. The young pregnant woman wasn't taking a dip. She needed to cool down emotionally.
Broudreaux had just gotten into an argument with her new husband, Ronnie Fematt, and needed some space. Sadly, that was her last day alive. Almost 40 years later, police would finally catch the guy who killed her. Where is Robert Yniguez now?
Where is Robert Yniguez now? Thanks to a little help from DNA, he's behind bars.
Yniguez's crimes are part of Netflix's Homicide: Los Angeles, the Dick Wolf-produced show that dulls the sheen of Tinseltown ever so slightly. His story ended in October 2019, when the then-67-year-old was sentenced to 15 years to life for the murder of Broudreaux, per KTLA-5. A month before his sentencing, Yniguez plead no contest to second-degree murder. He is currently at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego and won't be eligible for parole until July 2026.
The Homicide Bureau’s Unsolved Unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was able to use DNA evidence along with an "innovative technique" to finally catch up to Yniguez, but the process wasn't easy. They made this connection in 2013, but it took six years to put a full and complete case together. Investigators also spoke with prosecutors while conducting various interviews needed to back up what the DNA was telling them.
For decades, Fematt was the only suspect police had and people of the community were inclined to believe that he killed his wife. At a news conference after the arrest, Fematt said he was relieved but wouldn't fully be at ease until Yniguez was convicted. "I’m just glad this day came," he said. Broudreaux had a 4-year-old daughter who also lost her mother that day.
What happened to Teresa Broudreaux?
"There was nobody to hear her cry, nobody that heard her screams, nobody that would help her and when she bled out, the baby died," said Fematt during the press conference. By all accounts, he was probably not too far off from the truth. After she and Fematt argued, Broudreaux went to her sister's house first, then stopped at the beach.
According to Fox 11, Broudreaux's naked body was found the following morning by a surfer. All she had on was a pair of socks. The medical examiner determined she died by blunt force trauma to the head. "We can't actually say if a sexual assault occurred," Homicide Bureau Detective Ralph Hernandez told reporters in September 2017. However, he believed that was the motive because it fit a pattern of attacks by Yniguez.
In 1982, Yniguez was convicted of sexual assault and served eight years in prison out of a 12-year sentence. Almost a year after Broudreaux's murder, Yniguez was arrested on connection with a similar assault. Sadly the alleged victim was unable to cooperate with police, so the charge was dropped. When Yniguez was arrested, he was married with a family of his own. Broudroux's daughter was 43 at the time. Her unborn child would have been 39.
For more on this story, stream Homicide: Los Angeles on Netflix starting July 16.