Teresa Broudreaux's Death Explained: What Happened To The Pregnant Mother

Summary Homicide: Los Angeles tackles brutal murders in Tinseltown, focusing on challenging cases like that of Teresa Broudreaux.

The docuseries offers real-life homicide cases in gritty detail, with a focus on interviews over reenactments for authenticity.

Teresa Broudreaux's husband was the prime suspect in the case, but it took years to apprehend the actual killer, Robert Yniguez.

Created by Dick Wolf (Law & Order), Netflix's Homicide: Los Angeles docuseries tackles some of "the most brutal and complicated murders" to unfold in Tinseltown, including the death of pregnant mother Teresa Broudreaux. The five-episode miniseries focuses on LA-based detectives and prosecutors as they revisit some of the most troubling homicides of their careers. The third episode in the docuseries, "Murder at the Beach," centers on the shocking discovery of a woman's body. Once she's identified as Broudreaux, suspicion falls on her new husband, Ronnie Fematt, with whom she'd reportedly gotten into an argument with before her death.

Homicide: Los Angeles comes in the wake of Wolf's previous docuseries, Homicide: New York. Billed as a real-life Law & Order, the New York-set series featured ripped-from-the-headlines crimes — but, unlike even Law & Order's best episodes, the gruesome cases were wholly real. The harrowing series garnered praise from critics for its attention to detail — no matter how grisly — and its ability to transport viewers into the minutiae of real-life homicide cases. Unlike other true-crime docuseries, Homicide's seasons benefit from interviews over reenactments, shedding light on cases that shaped lives.

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Teresa Broudreaux's Death In 1980 Led To Her Husband Being The Top Suspect

The Murder Occurred After Teresa & Ronnie Fematt Had A Heated Argument

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A non-fiction entry in Dick Wolf's TV universe, Homicide: Los Angeles episode 3 delves into the details of Teresa Broudreaux's death as well as what led to her husband becoming the case's prime suspect. Back in March 1980, the then-newly married Teresa Broudreaux left home after a heated argument with her husband, Ronnie Fematt. Reportedly, she just needed some space and decided to head to Malaga Cove Beach, just outside of Los Angeles. However, the 20-year-old woman, who was pregnant at the time of her death, never came home from her tragic trip to the beach.

With very little evidence, the detectives assigned to Broudreaux's case turned their suspicions toward Fematt.

The following morning, a surfer found Teresa Broudreaux's body, which was naked aside from a pair of socks. Later, the medical examiner on the harrowing homicide case found that Teresa died of blunt-force trauma to the head before being dumped on the beach. With very little evidence, the detectives assigned to Broudreaux's case turned their suspicions toward Fematt. Not unlike in a true-crime TV show, even people who knew the couple were quick to believe that it had to be Fematt who murdered Broudreaux. As chronicled in Homicide: Los Angeles, police finally apprehended the actual killer decades later.

Related Jana Koklich's Death Explained: Why Bruce Koklich Killed His Wife The murder of Jana Koklich by her husband, Bruce Koklich, is explored in Homicide: Los Angeles, but there are still significant unanswered questions.

Who Really Killed Teresa Broudreaux

40 Years Later, Police Apprehended Robert Yniguez

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Nearly 40 years after Teresa Broudreaux's murder, police finally apprehended the real killer: Robert Yniguez. The Homicide Bureau's Unsolved Unit, essentially the cold-case division of the LA County Sheriff's Department, was able to use DNA evidence to determine that Yniguez had, in fact, murdered Teresa in 1980. Although the team was able to connect Yniguez to the murder of Teresa Broudreaux in 2013, it took them years to compile enough evidence to form a solid case against him. Now incarcerated in a San Diego-based correctional facility, Robert Yniguez was sentenced to 15 years to life in October 2019.

All five episodes of Homicide: Los Angeles are streaming on Netflix.