The Murder of Liz Reiser

What was supposed to be a night of movie-watching and fun, quickly turned deadly after Liz Reiser, 17, and her friend Brandi Hicks, 18, gave a ride to a stranger.

In May of 2000, Liz and Brandi left their choir banquet to go to a video store in search of movies to watch that night at Brandi’s house when they were approached by an older man who said he needed a ride.

After talking it over, Liz and Brandi hesitantly agreed. The man provided the girls directions, however, after driving for about a mile, the man changed his directions, and the girls asked for him to exit the vehicle. Suddenly, the man, later identified as 27-year-old Matthew Vaca, pulled out a gun and forced the girls to drive into a desolate area.

Vaca then used her shoe laces and tied her hands to the steering wheel before taking Liz. This was the last time the girls would ever see each other.

Vaca killed Liz by slashing her throat, almost decapitating her. He then went back to retrieve Brandi, where he showed her Liz’s body and attempted to sexually assault her. He then used her shoe laces in an attempt to strangle her. Regaining consciousness, Brandi played dead. Her assailant then pushed her body into a river, where she continued to play dead for about an hour until Vaca left the scene.

After leaving the water, Brandi was able to flag down a motorist and was rushed to the hospital where she told police the chilling details of what happened.

After Brandi’s testimony and information from Jeff Mulinix, a friend of Vaca’s who he confessed to, police had enough evidence to arrest Vaca, who had a history of violence.

He was charged with 11 counts and sentenced to 96-and-a-half years in prison.