The Tourniquet - Burning Desire

Cold Case Files

A&E / PodcastOne

True Crime, Society & Culture, History, Talk Radio

3.8 • 8.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

DNA evidence found on a murder victim whose body had been dumped in a Dairy Queen drive-thru leads to the arrest of Houston’s notorious tourniquet killer. A young woman is found shot and burned in a California olive orchard.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.co.
0:05.5	com.uk-w-wondery. That's audible.combe.uk slash wondering.
0:11.9	Hi, cold case listeners. I'm Marissa Pinson. And if you're enjoying this show, I just want to remind you that episodes of Cold Case files, as well as the A&E Classic Podcast I Survived, American Justice, and City Confidential are all available ad-free on the new A&E Crime and Investigation Channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple Plus for just $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. And now onto the show.
0:35.9	This program contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners.
0:39.7	Listener discretion is advised. There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only 1% are ever
0:50.1	solved. This is one of those rare stories.
1:00.0	Thank you. ever solved. This is one of those rare stories. It's April 16, 1992. Ron Horowitz is a crime scene investigator for the city of Houston.
1:07.0	I was in the homicide office when the call came down that there was a DLA behind a
1:13.4	dairy queen on West Ham. The young lady's body was laying approximately right here.
1:21.2	On a spring morning, he responds to a murder call. Her panties were dropped, pulled down to her knees.
1:28.5	The victim lies in the drive-through lane of the local Dairy Queen.
1:32.9	And she had this little rope tied around her neck with a piece of, I believe, dowel or wood.
1:40.3	Horowitz documents the scene on film, then turns his attention to physical evidence.
1:46.0	Investigators recover semen from the young woman's mouth and scrapings from under her fingernails,
1:52.2	and begin with a simple question, who is the victim?
1:56.7	One hour later, at 11 a.m., 23-year-old Rosa Agrada turns on a local news broadcast.
2:03.7	The lead story is about the woman found dead at the Dairy Queen.
2:07.7	Rosa spots something familiar about the victim, whose feet are peeking out of the sheet that covers her.
2:14.2	I looked at the TV, and the only thing I could see was her shoes.
2:19.7	Rosa recognizes the white and gold shoes as identical to ones owned by her friend Maria
2:25.0	Del Carmen Estrada.
2:27.3	Maria was supposed to meet at Rosa's house earlier that morning, but never showed up.
	...

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