Release

ON "48 HOURS": COULD A FLORIDA MAN HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH MURDER IF HE HAD ONLY EMPTIED HIS TRASH?

48 Hours” Investigates in “The Ring: The Murder of Patrick De La Cerda”

Saturday, Nov. 13

(L-R) Patrick De La Cerda and Jessica Devnani

Watch a Preview

A young Florida couple was planning a wedding and their life together when the future groom was shot and killed at his front door. Patrick De La Cerda was expecting a delivery of the engagement ring for his fiancée, Jessica Devnani. Instead, say investigators, when he went to the door on Feb. 27, 2018, he was met with a hail of bullets. Peter Van Sant and 48 HOURS report on the shooting and the unexpected twists in the investigation in “The Ring: The Murder of Patrick De La Cerda,” to be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 13 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.

The case shocked the Deltona, Fla., community, and set off an investigation that would expose a meticulous murder plan crafted, say investigators, by a man jealous of the couple’s relationship. 48 HOURS features interviews with Devnani, De La Cerda’s family, a sheriff’s detective, and prosecutors.

De La Cerda was found by Devnani, who went to his home after he didn’t answer her calls.

It was just the worst thing you could ever see in your entire life,” Devnani tells Van Sant.

De La Cerda was hit multiple times, says Volusia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Detective Chad Weaver. “It appeared that he was killed, like, ambush-style.”

My whole future was taken away from me,” Devnani says. “My whole world was taken away from me.”

Why would someone want De La Cerda dead? Detective Weaver quickly learned from Devnani about her jealous ex-boyfriend, Gregory Bender, who she says had been harassing the couple.

He was always shadowing my life,” Devnani says of Bender.

Where the investigation led, however, surprised everyone. Turns out the key piece of evidence was several handwritten pages with a map of the murder scene and details of how to conceal the crime. What stunned investigators was where they found it: in a trash can at Bender’s home.

I was in shock. There’s no way that we just found this murder plan,” Weaver says.

48 HOURS: “The Ring: The Murder of Patrick De La Cerda” is produced by Chris O’Connell. Tamara Weitzman is the development producer. Jordan Kinsey is the field producer. Marlon Disla, Ken Blum and Grayce Arlotta-Berner are the editors. Kayla Laine is the associate producer. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

48 HOURS is broadcast Saturdays at 10:00 PM, ET/PT, on CBS and streams on Paramount+. Follow 48 HOURS on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Listen to podcasts at CBSAudio. Stream 48 HOURS on Paramount+.

* * *

Press Contact:

Richard Huff

 

huffr@cbsnews.com