Man Blames Cartel After Admitting Murdering His Wife and Two In-Laws | Crime Alert 9AM 06.13.25

A 77-year-old Indiana man stands accused of killing his wife and two of her family members, saying they were tied to a Mexican drug cartel. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Drew Nelson, a seventy seven year old Indiana man,
stands accused of killing his wife and two of her
family members, saying they were tied to the Mexican drug
cartel and claiming he was tricked into signing away his
home before the shooting. On May twenty ninth, Patrick Waite
called nine to one one from his house in Habstadt.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Patrick Waite said, I sought them all. I'm certainly not
proud of that fact at all.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Gibson County Sheriff Bruce Fano and telling Wfie they found
him waiting in the driveway. Inside, they found three dead.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Alma Wait. She was shot in the head. Luria Tapia
Garcia was shot in the head. Fernando Tapio Ramirez Senior
was shot in the head. Juan Tapyo Ramirez Junior was
shot in the chest and the neck.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
A child witnessed the attack and hit upstairs with two
other relatives.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
The officers were shell shocked, the witnesses were shell shocked.
Mister Waite was taken into custody without incident.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
There.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Wait was charged with three counts of murder and one
kind of attempted murder.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
He pleaded not guilty, but.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Also told detectives quote, I'm as guilty as guilty can be.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
He later said, quote, God will never forgive me.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
No one should have to view someone doing such a
horrific event, and this juvenile witness could be the key
that brings this whole case to closure.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Waits defense team filed a civil complaint accusing Alma and
her heirs of elder abuse, fraud.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
And using threats to force him out of the house.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
He claims Alma deceived him into signing a deed that
gave her sole ownership of the home he had bought
with his first wife in nineteen ninety eight. The house
had been in his name until Alma filed paperwork in
April of last year to transfer it to her daughter.
Court records show that the house was listed for sale
the day after the killings. A judge has since halted
the sale. Weight met Almah in September of twenty twenty

(01:45):
two through an online dating service. Within weeks, she moved in.
They married in March of twenty twenty three without telling
his children. Waite's lawyers say Alma slowly cut him off
from his family blocked his kids from communicating with his
phone and began pushing for control of the house. The
lawsuit claimed she told him she needed to be added
to the deed, but instead he unknowingly signed over full ownership.

(02:08):
Almah had been released from federal prison in twenty twenty
after a meth trafficking conviction. DEA records shows she helped
move large amounts of myth across the country and worked
with law enforcement. After her arrest, she was under federal
supervision until August of twenty twenty one. The complaint says
Wait had no knowledge of her past or alleged ties

(02:28):
to the Sinaloa cartel. His lawyers now claim that both
her sons were also involved in trafficking and violent acts.
The complaint says the family made threats against Waite's life
and that he feared leaving the house because he believed
they would steal from him. On the night of the shooting,
Waite told detectives he had killed a snake with his
forty five earlier in the evening.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
He left the gun in his back pocket.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
When he returned, he said, he and Alma argued about
the gun and then about the house transfer. He said
that's when Almah told him she had placed the home
in her daughter's name. When she turned to face him
in the kitchen, he shot her right there. Then he
walked into the den and fired at the others. At
least one shot hit Gloria Garcia, who was bedridden. Police
found the gun on a lawnmower in the garage. Bullet

(03:12):
casings and fragments found throughout the kitchen and living room.
Waite told detectives he regretted everything and said he didn't
deserve to live. He had no criminal history before the killings.
The home had been known as the Wait Estate and
was used for years to host family and church gatherings
with his late wife, Nancy, who died in twenty nineteen.
Wait remains in jail without bond. A court hearing has

(03:33):
been set for next Friday to address the civil suit
over the house. More crime and justice news.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
After this.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
August eleventh of nineteen eighty nine, to Want a Cheatam
was last seen near her home in the Balltown community
north of Ake and South Carolina. She had argued with
her mother about going back home after visiting relatives.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
She was eight.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
She took some change from a jar in the kitchen
and left on foot. At around five thirty pm. Two
neighbors saw her at a nearby quick stop convenience store.
That was the last anyone saw of her. The next day,
her family reported her missing. Aichin County deputies began searching
the area. Bloodhounds followed her scent towards Highway nineteen. No
other sign of her was found. Two weeks later, her

(04:20):
grandmother was arrested for obstruction of justice. Police said she
lied to them several times. They believed she was hiding
something about what happened, but she was not charged as
a suspect. At the time, Tijuana was four feet tall
seventy five pounds. She was black, wore her hair in
braids or a ponytail, and had a dark patch on
her left arm. She was last seen in a white shirt,

(04:40):
red flowery shorts, and white tennis shoes. Tijuana was an
honor roll student at North Aiken Elementary. She had run
away before, but not for long. Police said it was
possible she was abducted. Her case remains unsolved. She would
be forty four today. Anyone with information should contact the
Aikin County Sheriff's Office at eight o three six four
to two seventeen sixty one. There is a one thousand

(05:02):
dollars reward for the latest crime and justice news. Follow
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this crime Alert.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
I'm Drew Nelson.