48 Hours - Mystery in Room 813

On November 13, 1996, Sandra Orellana was on a business trip with her boss, Robert Salazar, when she went over the balcony at her hotel and died. Salazar reluctantly admitted to police about having indiscretions with Sandra, but insisted her death wasn't his fault. He was totally caught off guard when, years later, police came to arrest him for murder. “48 Hours" Correspondent Bill Lagattuta reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 8/1/2003. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.

Duration: 37m
Broadcast on: 13 Nov 2025
Audio Format: other

(upbeat music) It happened in the middle of the night in November, 1996. At a Sheraton Hotel just east of Los Angeles, a woman went over a balcony and met her death. If she screamed, no one heard her. If it was murder, there were no witnesses. If it was an accident or suicide, the circumstances sure seemed strange. When I first got on the scene, I knew that this was gonna be a complex case. The young woman's death would be homicide detective Ray Rodriguez's last case in a long 33-year career. It was just after 8 a.m. The morning of November 13th, 1996. They call came into the desk there that there was an apparent suicide at the industry, Hill Sheraton that a woman had jumped from a hotel room balcony and that she was deceased. The woman lay in a pool of blood 104 feet down from the balcony of her hotel room. That morning, another guest at the hotel saw the body from his balcony and called police. I don't mean to get in detail, but how did it appear to you? What did it look like had happened? The body appeared like a lot of trauma. There was a lot of trauma. The only thing that I've ever seen close to that is like when someone has been hit by a train. The body was naked except for a little camisole top that was on the body. That was kind of concerning to me right then and there at the initial time that I first saw the body. Why? It's only been like once or twice that I've ever encountered a naked suicide. And so the investigation began. Officers located the room identified the victim as 27-year-old Sandra Oriana, a single woman from Houston, Texas, and then the officers waited for backup. Deputy Gonzalez comes outside the room and closes the door to secure it until homicide detectors can arrive so nobody will disturb anything. Once that happens, he's outside and then a 15s door opens and out comes Robert. Robert Lee Salazar was 33 years old and executive also from Houston, a married man with two children.

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