Former School Friend, Giselle Esteban, Charged With Murder of Michelle Le/Michelle's Body Was Found by Amber Dubois' mother, Carrie McGonigle/Esteban Found Guilty of First Degree Murder!

(05-31) 16:28 PDT HAYWARD -- The family of a missing nursing student from San Mateo has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to her safe return.

Michelle Hoang Thi Le, 26, has been missing since Friday night, when she went to her car during a break from a class at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward.

Le is a nursing student at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland. She is about halfway through a 12-month accelerated program, a campus spokeswoman said.

Hayward police have assigned six investigators to the case, but so far have unearthed few leads, police Lt. Roger Keener said Tuesday.

Police are examining video from hospital security cameras, Le's cell phone records and the contents of her car, a 2010 white Honda CRV that was found in the Glen Eden condominium complex a few blocks from the hospital.

Lab results from items found in her car could take at least two weeks, Keener said.

Le told classmates that she and a friend were going to Reno Friday night after class, which ended around 10 p.m. At 7 p.m., during a break in class, she headed to the parking garage, Keener said.

"She grabbed her keys and cell phone and never came back," Keener said. "She didn't call to cancel her trip and she never showed up to meet her friend."

Le has no criminal or psychiatric history, nor did she appear to be distraught, police said. She has no boyfriend but does have a wide circle of friends, none of whom is a suspect in her disappearance, Keener said.

"She's kind of an angel," he said. "She's very interested in her chosen career and where that was going to lead her."

Le is Asian American and 5 feet 6 inches tall. She was last seen wearing white hospital scrubs.

Anyone with information is asked to call Hayward police at (510) 293-7000.



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Cellphone records, car being scrutinized in case of nursing student who went missing in Hayward


HAYWARD -- The investigation into the disappearance of nursing student Michelle Hoang Thi Le continued Tuesday, with officers looking into cellphone records and scrutinizing the interior of the 26-year-old's car among "hundreds of other things," police said.
The previous night, relatives -- many of whom have traveled to the Bay Area to help with the search -- announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the missing San Mateo resident.
Le was seen last about 7 p.m. Friday at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward, where she was shadowing health care workers on the job as part of nursing curriculum at Oakland-based Samuel Merritt University.
She told colleagues that she intended to drive to Reno later that evening to meet with friends, but she left on a break to get something from her car and wasn't seen again, police said.
"She didn't take all her stuff with her, and the indication is that she had the intention of returning," Lt. Roger Keener said. "But she did grab her cellphone. Maybe she got a call saying she needed to be somewhere right away. Maybe she received some bad news and was distraught. We don't know."
Keener said investigators are getting Le's phone records and intensely scrutinizing video captured by cameras in the Kaiser parking structure, where her car is believed to have been parked.
Le's white 2010 Honda CRV was found a half-mile away on Ponderosa Court, police said. There was a laptop in the car and no obvious signs of foul play.
"It could easily take a couple of days to go over the interior of the car," Keener said. "We could be looking for microfibers."
Calls to her cellphone have gone unanswered, Keener said. While the phone was initially transmitting from locations in Fremont, Union City and Oakland, Keener said it has been silent since Saturday.
Le is 5 feet 6 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes, and was wearing white nurse's scrubs at the time of her disappearance.
The case bears similarities to the disappearance of Phuong Le, who was found slain in May 2010 after she last was seen studying at a Fairfield book store. In addition to having the same surname, Phuong Le had a similar description, was a year younger than Michelle Le, went to nursing school and drove a white Honda.
"We can't ignore the similarities," Keener said. "It may very well be all a coincidence, a strange set of circumstances you couldn't reproduce."
Keener said they have contacted police in Fairfield to discuss the cases.
Michelle Le's brother, Michael Le, told reporters Monday that her disappearance is "very unusual," and that she is "very responsible" person.
Le is not known to have any medical or psychiatric conditions that could account for her disappearance, police said.
Elizabeth Valente, a spokeswoman for Samuel Merritt University, said Le's classmates are devastated and the school has brought in counselors.
"Students and faculty are deeply concerned about Michelle," she said. "It's a difficult time for all of us, and we're keeping her in our prayers and thoughts."
Police have set up a hot line for information regarding Le at 510-293-5051.
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Reward Offered In Missing Nursing Student Case

SAN DIEGO -- A $20,000 reward is being offered by the family of a missing nursing student and San Diego native.
Family members of 26-year-old Michelle Le said they fear her disappearance is linked to foul play because they are convinced she would never walk away without telling her family.
"I don't have words to express how we feel," said Thuy Le, Michelle Le's aunt, who helped raise her after her mother died more than a decade ago.

"Come back soon, very soon. We all miss you," Thuy Le said as she choked back tears.
According to authorities, on Friday night, Michelle Le was doing clinical rotations at Kaiser Hospital in Hayward, which is south of Oakland. During a break, she told someone she had to run down to her car.
Authorities said Michelle Le was supposed to head to Reno with a friend after her shift, but never met the friend. The next day, her locked car was discovered in a residential area about a half-mile away. Sources said Michelle Le's laptop computer was inside the car.
"It's not like Michelle to leave and not tell anybody," said Thuy Le. "She's very, very happy. She's just a happy person."
At age 15, Michelle lost her mother -- a nurse -- to breast cancer. Thuy Le helped raise her in Mira Mesa, before Michelle left for college.
Michelle Le is set to graduate from nursing school, a chance to follow in her mother's footsteps.
"That's what Michelle dreamed," said Thuy Le.
Her determination to achieve that dream is one reason her aunt does not believe she left willingly. She also points to Michelle's trusting nature.
"She doesn't think anybody's bad in this world. She doesn't believe there's evil in the world," said Thuy Le.
Thuy Le fears foul play, and she made this appeal to her niece: "You have to be strong. Fight back if you need to get away and come back to us."
10News learned a 26-year-old woman was arrested and later released in connection with Michelle Le's disappearance. Hayward police searched the East Bay home and car of the woman, who was a former classmate of Michelle's at Mt. Carmel High School. Police took a computer and a cell phone. They said the two women recently had a falling out but that she is not a suspect at this time.
Police said a few calls were made from Michelle Le's cellphone, but that has not produced any leads. Police believe the phone is now either off or out of battery.
Police are continuing to review surveillance video from the parking garage and only said there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Hayward police are also comparing notes with police in Fairfield, where 25-year-old nurse Phuong Le disappeared last year. Phuong Le's body was later discovered in Napa, but her killer is still on the loose.
"They have the same last name. They are both nursing students… They both disappeared mysteriously," said Keener.
Both young women drove white Hondas but Phuong Le's was found unlocked.
"In our case, the vehicle was secured. It was locked up as if the last person to drive that vehicle wanted to make sure the interior was protected," said Keener.
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Here we go again!!! Another young girl missing.

Thank you for posting this, Raine.

Several questioned in missing Calif. student case

HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) — Authorities have issued search warrants and interviewed 15 to 20 relatives and acquaintances as they search for a Northern California nursing student who went missing five days ago during a break from a clinical rotation, police said Wednesday.

Some of those questioned in the disappearance of 26-year-old Michelle Le were considered persons of interest, but no arrests have been made, Hayward police Lt. Roger Keener said.

One person was brought to the police station for questioning and later released. Keener did not identify the person.

"Our overarching goal here is to find Michelle and to find out why she's missing," Keener said, noting that former boyfriends were among those interviewed.

Le was last seen Friday evening heading to a parking garage at Kaiser Hospital in Hayward. Her locked Honda SUV was later found a few blocks away.

Investigators were examining footage from the parking structure's security cameras. Police believe Le had her cell phone with her when she disappeared, but calls to the number have gone unanswered.

Michelle Le's father traveled from Vietnam to assist in the search. The family has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to her safe return.

Keener played down a possible connection to another case that remains unsolved in a city about 55 miles from the spot where Le disappeared.

Authorities in Fairfield are investigating the April 25, 2010, disappearance of nursing school graduate Bichphuong "Phuong" Le, who was 24 at the time and no relation to Michelle Le.

Phuong Le's body was found in rural Napa County 12 days after she disappeared outside a Fairfield bookstore. Her unlocked car was left in the parking lot.

Despite the similarities between the two cases — including the same last name and the nursing connection — Keener said the information available does not point to a direct connection.

"While we can't eliminate it 100 percent, we are probably not going to focus on that direction," he said.



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The investigation into the disappearance of a Northern California nursing student is reportedly focusing on a former female friend of the missing woman.
Authorities have issued search warrants and interviewed 15 to 20 relatives and acquaintances as they search for 26-year-old Michelle Le who disappeared six days ago during a break from a clinical rotation. Some of those questioned are considered persons of interest, but no arrests have been made.
KGO-TV reported Thursday that Le's former friend, Giselle Estaban, is among those considered a person of interest in the case.
Estaban reportedly attended high school with Le in San Diego. Estaban reportedly claimed Le dated her boyfriend and then ruined her relationship with the man, who is also the father of her 5-year-old child, according to the station.
Police reportedly swarmed Estaban's apartment and confiscated her cellphone and computer after executing a search warrant.
"We know she's a former friend of Michelle's ... They've been disgruntled with each other in the past," Hayward Police Lt. Roger Keener told the station.
"Currently, she's the only one we felt we had enough to pursue further," Keener said. "It doesn't mean that more aren't going to come to light."
Estaban has denied any involvement in Le's disappearance and no charges have been filed against her.
Le was last seen Friday evening heading to a parking garage at Kaiser Hospital in Hayward. Her locked Honda SUV was later found a few blocks away.
Investigators were examining footage from the parking structure's security cameras. Police believe Le had her cellphone with her when she disappeared, but calls to the number have gone unanswered.
Michelle Le's father traveled from Vietnam to assist in the search. The family has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to her safe return.
Keener played down a possible connection to another case that remains unsolved in a city about 55 miles from the spot where Le disappeared.
Authorities in Fairfield are investigating the April 25, 2010, disappearance of nursing school graduate Bichphuong "Phuong" Le, who was 24 at the time and no relation to Michelle Le.
Phuong Le's body was found in rural Napa County 12 days after she disappeared outside a Fairfield bookstore. Her unlocked car was left in the parking lot.
Despite the similarities between the two cases — including the same last name and the nursing connection — Keener said the information available does not point to a direct connection.
"While we can't eliminate it 100 percent, we are probably not going to focus on that direction," he said.
Anyone with information on Le's whereabouts is being urged to call the Hayward Police Department at 510-293-7000.

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Reward grows to $45,000 in case of missing nursing student Michelle Le

The family of missing nursing student Michelle Le, who was last seen at a Hayward hospital on May 27, has increased the reward for information leading to her safe return.

The family announced on a website they have set up for 26-year-old Le that the reward now stands at $45,000.


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Missing Nursing Student: Michelle Le Case Now Considered Homicide

The search for Michelle Le, a California nursing student who has been missing for 10 days, is now a murder investigation, police said today.

"Compelling evidence" found in the investigation led police to reclassify the case as a homicide, the Hayward, Calif., Police Department said in a statement released this evening.

"We realize this is the worst possible news for Michelle's family and friends, and for everyone involved in looking for her," the statement said. "Despite everyone's hopes, our effort to find Michelle is officially an effort of recovery. Our investigators met with the family this evening to inform them of these latest developments."

Le, 26, vanished on May 27 on her way to the garage at Kaiser Hospital in Hayward in northern California. She is a student at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, where she was pursuing an accelerated bachelor's degree combining academic work with clinical training.

Le's locked Honda was found a few blocks away from the garage early Saturday, May 28. Calls to her cellphone have gone unanswered, and she has made no calls since early May 28.

She had been planning to drive to Reno the night of May 27 to visit friends, according to news reports.

Hayward cops served a warrant over the Memorial Day weekend at the home of the former friend, whose name has not been released, and seized her computer and cellphone.

"We ultimately released her and she remains, as do a couple of others, as a person of interest," Lt. Roger Keener of the Hayward Police Department said last week.

Keener played down possible parallels between Le's disappearance and an unsolved case in Solano County last year, in which the body of nursing student Phuong Le, 24, was found in Napa County 12 days after she disappeared outside a bookstore in Fairfield, Calif.

Fairfield is about a half-hour's drive from Hayward.

He acknowledged that there are a number of similar elements in the two disappearances. Both women drove white Hondas, they had the same last name, similar physical appearance, and both were nursing students.

"We can't discount it in its entirety," Keener said. But he said that after talking to police in Fairfield, where Phuong Le disappeared, investigators felt there was only a "slim chance" the two cases are related.

"You could look at it and go 'Wow," said Sgt. Randy Boggs of Fairfield police. But he added, "It looks like a series of coincidences and nothing more."

In both cases, according to ABC affiliate KGO, the women's personal items were undisturbed. Michelle Le's laptop was not taken, police said.

Her father has traveled from Vietnam to the Bay area and met with police Tuesday along with Le's brother, Michael, and her aunt, who lives in San Diego. Le's mother died about 10 years ago, police said.

The family initially funded a $20,000 reward for information leading to her safe return, which has since grown to $65,000 after Samuel Merritt University and Turner Construction Company pledged a combined $45,000.
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I am so sad! That poor girl and her family. Her Dad traveled here all the way from Vietnam last week and now this! The Mother died ten years ago. That poor family.

Oh, Raine, I was so hoping it would not come to this.

I was hoping too Charm. What's going on here, maybe because it's summer and the weather is hot? We have two new girls who have went missing during the last week! This is so wrong.

Case of Missing Calif. Nursing Student Now a Homicide

SAN FRANCISCO -- Conclusive evidence in the case of missing Northern California nursing student Michelle Le points to homicide, police said Monday evening.
Hayward police Capt. Darryl McAllister said that a forensic examination from the 26-year-old Le's car and the parking garage where the vehicle was found, video evidence from the garage and other evidence have led them to believe she was killed.
No suspects have been arrested, but detectives are questioning people of interest. McAllister said more than 25 people had been interviewed so far in the investigation, and that the Alameda County district attorney is evaluating the evidence.
"My heart goes out to this family for dealing with this ordeal to begin with -- anyone who's loved one suddenly ends up missing under very suspicious circumstances," McAllister said, adding that the family was at the station Monday evening discussing the decision with investigators. "What the family goes through in those times trying to find answers ... is agonizing."
Le was last seen May 27, when the Merritt College nursing student took a work break during a clinical rotation shift at a Hayward, Calif., hospital and never returned. In addition to evidence from her car and the video surveillance system, police said Le's cellphone records and items collected during search warrants also pointed to homicide.

"We have come across several people who have piqued our interest that they may be involved in this case," McAllister said.
Still, McAllister said he did not want to jeopardize the investigation by elaborating further but confirmed that the evidence points conclusively to homicide. Investigators were searching remote areas of Alameda County for Le's body, McAllister said.
The news comes hours after the reward for information leading to Le's safe return increased to $65,000.
On Sunday, Le's family expressed frustration with the pace of the Hayward police investigation and called for the FBI to take over. A Le family spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment about the homicide designation.


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Missing nursing student killed at Hayward medical center parking garage, police believe

HAYWARD -- Police believe that nursing student Michelle Le was targeted by someone and killed in the parking garage at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, where she was last seen May 27.
"This is the worst possible news that the family would want to hear," police Capt. Darryl McAllister said Monday night.
While little specific information was released, police said the determination was based on interviews, cellphone records and forensic examination of Le's car and the parking garage, as well as evidence found through search warrants.
"At this time, we cannot elaborate on specific evidence items," McAllister said. "We can, however, confirm that the evidence now points conclusively to homicide."
McAllister added that police have a number of "persons of interest" among the 25 people who have been questioned in the case. The evidence is being reviewed by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
"We do believe someone specifically intended to go after Michelle," McAllister said. "This was not a case of a stranger jumping out of the bushes."
The FBI and Sheriff's Office are aiding the investigation, and they are searching "remote areas of the East Bay in an attempt to recover Michelle," he said.
Family members leaving the police station after talking with investigators Monday evening said they would have a statement Tuesday.
"She's not been found yet," said an unidentified man walking with Le's father.
On a Facebook website dedicated to finding Le, her brother, Michael Le, wrote Monday night that, "The family believes Michelle is alive. Don't give up hope everyone. We're still going to keep at it."
Meanwhile, the reward for information on what happened after she was last seen climbed to $65,000 after pledges from her school and employer on Monday.
Le disappeared during a break from her duties at Kaiser Permanente, at Hesperian Boulevard and Tennyson Road, where she was assisting staff as part of her nursing curriculum at Samuel Merritt University.
The school announced that it has partnered with Turner Construction, where Le has worked as an accounting clerk for five years, to put up $45,000 for information leading to Le's safe return. Her family pledged a $20,000 reward shortly after her disappearance.
Le, a San Mateo resident, vanished after telling colleagues around 7 p.m. that she was going to fetch something from her car and never returned. She was planning to meet a friend after work and take a trip to Reno.
Relatives called Le very responsible and not someone who would voluntarily walk away without telling anyone.
"She has always been on top of things," said brother Michael Le.
Le's car later was found on Ponderosa Court, a residential street about a half-mile from the hospital.
The family issued a statement Sunday critical of Hayward police for not telling them more about their investigation, and asking that the FBI take a lead role because of its experience in dealing with missing persons cases.
"I completely understand that," McAllister said. "If I had a loved one missing under these circumstances, I would want to know as much as possible. I have no problem with them being critical."
Le is 5-foot-6 with black hair and brown eyes and was wearing white nurse's scrubs at the time of her disappearance. Police have set up a hot line for information regarding Le at 510-293-5051. The family has a website dedicated to Le at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The website created by the family is wonderful. She was a beautiful young woman. I wonder what they found on the computer searches from Giselle Estaban?

IMO, anytime a person is missing, one of the very first things that should be done is to take the computer of the significant other and/or the family/good friends.

Just look at what they found on "Not Mom's" computer!

Police scrutinize rural sites in search for missing nursing student

HAYWARD -- A team of 35 investigators scoured about 30 square miles of canyons, fields and hills in southeastern Alameda County on Friday, but came up empty-handed in a search for missing nursing student Michelle Le.
Hayward forensic investigators and dog handlers joined a team specially trained in searching rural areas as they converged on sites that included Niles Canyon, Palomares Canyon and ranchland off Mission Boulevard in Union City, in what was their second-largest physical search of an area so far, police said.
"We believe that Michelle is somewhere in the East Bay, and in a rural area," Hayward police Capt. Darryl McAllister said. "That is where our evidence is telling us to look, and today's locations fit the bill."
McAllister said they have made more than a half-dozen searches of such rural areas since Le disappeared May 27.
The search came a day after Le's family held a second support rally that drew more than 100 people to Mount Eden Park, just across the intersection from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center parking garage where police believe she was accosted during a break from her duties at the hospital.
Police said earlier this week that there was an unspecified amount of blood evidence at the crime scene and considered Friday's search a body recovery effort. But they haven't provided further details as to why they reclassified the case to a homicide Monday.
Family members and supporters say they will not give up hope that Le is alive until given such definitive evidence.
"We know there are parts of the investigation that we probably shouldn't know about, and we respect Hayward police for withholding those details," said Le's cousin Krystine Dinh. "But if we're not given compelling evidence, we can't say that she's gone."
Le's brother reiterated the family's determination to remain optimistic.
"We lost our mom 12 years ago, and I grieved then," said Michael Le, 23.
"We lost grandpa two years ago, and I grieved then. But I'm not grieving right now -- it's not time to grieve. We're going to keep fighting to find her."
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Le's brother reiterated the family's determination to remain optimistic.
"We lost our mom 12 years ago, and I grieved then," said Michael Le, 23.
"We lost grandpa two years ago, and I grieved then. But I'm not grieving right now -- it's not time to grieve. We're going to keep fighting to find her."

Wow, this poor family!

Arrest made in Michelle Le case

An arrest has been made in the slaying of nursing student Michelle Le, more than three months after she vanished from a Hayward parking garage, police said today.

Hayward police declined to provide details pending an afternoon news conference. But Alameda County jail records show that Hayward police arrested Giselle Esteban, 27, of Union City on suspicion of murder this morning. She is being held without bail.

Esteban's home was searched by police after Le disappeared, and investigators have described her as a "person of interest" in the case. She was a former friend of Le's from high school.

An ex-boyfriend had recently accused Esteban of harassing him. The man filed a restraining order in Alameda County Superior Court on May 24 - three days before Le disappeared - accusing Esteban, the mother of their daughter, of stalking him and engaging in other erratic behavior.

Le, 26, was last seen around 7 p.m. May 27 when she went to her car during a break in a clinical lesson at Kaiser Medical Center in Hayward. Friends reported her missing when she failed to show up later that Friday night for a weekend trip to Reno.

Her car, a 2010 white Honda CRV, was found in a condominium complex a few blocks from the hospital.

In June, police began investigating Le's disappearance as a homicide, based on forensic evidence collected from her car, video footage from the parking lot, interviews and cell phone records.

Her body has not been found despite searches throughout the Bay Area.

A student at Oakland's Samuel Merritt University, Le, who lived in San Mateo, hoped to become a nurse practitioner like her mother, who died of cancer when Le was a teenager. She was about halfway through a yearlong accelerated program.

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Son Le and Michael Le, the father and brother of missing nursing student Michelle Le, speak to the crowd during a vigil held at Ponderosa Court where Le's car was found in Hayward, Calif. on Friday, June 3, 2011.

DNA evidence, surveillance footage led to arrest in Michelle Le case

HAYWARD -- DNA evidence and surveillance camera footage were key pieces of evidence that led to the arrest of Giselle Esteban on Wednesday on suspicion of killing her former friend Michelle Le, a nursing student who disappeared more than three months ago.
Police said bloodstains inside Le's car belong to Le, who disappeared May 27, and her DNA was found on one of Esteban's shoes collected during a May 29 search of the suspect's home.
Security camera footage at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward revealed that Esteban was in the parking structure before and after Le disappeared, and cell phone records indicate that both women's phones traveled a similar route immediately after the disappearance -- with some transmissions coming from the Niles Canyon and Sunol Canyon areas.
There also was evidence indicating that Esteban had been inside Le's car, which was found the day after she disappeared about a half mile from Kaiser.
"Make no mistake, today's arrest does not mark the end of the investigation," said Hayward police Lt. Roger Keener. "We will not consider this investigation to be complete until Michelle is found."
He added they waited to make the arrest until enough evidence came back to indicate Esteban is responsible, and they "did not want to rush to judgment."
Police arrested Esteban, 27, without incident and searched her Union City home shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday. Several officers were seen leaving the complex with shopping bags around noon, and they confiscated Esteban's Honda CR-V.
Keener said there is nothing to indicate that anyone else was involved in Le's disappearance.
Le's family clutched each other during a news conference at the Hayward Police Department on Wednesday afternoon, and cousin Krystine Dinh said, "No words can adequately explain how we feel."
She said they have not given up hope and that their mission "was, is, and will always be to find Michelle and bring her home."
Le's brother, Michael, urged Esteban to come forward with any information that could bring the case to a conclusion.
"If (Esteban) could feel the pain she has caused us, so much turmoil, we've been robbed of our lives right now," he said. "She shouldn't drag this on any longer than it has to go. No one should have to deal with a loved one who is missing."
Le, a 26-year-old San Mateo resident, disappeared about 7 p.m. May 27 while on a break from her duties at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward, where she shadowed medical personnel as part of her nursing school curriculum.
While she took her cell phone and keys, she left her wallet and purse behind and had plans to drive to Reno to visit friends later that night.
Police classified the case as a homicide shortly after the disappearance, and briefly took Esteban into custody.
Esteban then contacted a television news station to tell them that while she dislikes Le and blames her for ruining the relationship she had with her child's father, she had nothing to do with Le's disappearance. The two grew up together in San Diego and were good friends in high school.
Esteban was the subject of a restraining order filed by her ex-boyfriend and child's father on May 24, days before Le's disappearance. It describes erratic and threatening behavior, including Esteban threatening to shoot herself if the man did not speak to her, and indicated that he believed she was in possession of a firearm.
It also described multiple text messages sent once a day for a month to her former boyfriend, "telling me to put a bullet in my brain."
"This surprises me and doesn't surprise me," said the former boyfriend, Scott Marasigan, on Wednesday. "You never know what someone is capable of doing until they do it."
Marasigan said that it's frustrating to think that Esteban felt Le was a threat to their relationship.
"There's nothing to that," he said, adding that he never saw any indication that Esteban might be targeting Le.
"I thought it was all against me," he said.
Since initially contacting the news station, Esteban has declined to comment. Last month, she was granted supervised custody of her 5-year-old daughter, despite Marasigan's assertions that she displays "manic behavior" and was the subject of a kidnapping and homicide investigation.
A neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said that most of the people who live in the complex on Monterra Terrace stick to themselves, and that it is "scary" to think she may have been living near someone involved with Le's disappearance.
Esteban is scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Hayward Hall of Justice.
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Giselle Esteban, a "person of interest" in the case of missing nursing student Michelle Le, makes her way to a courtroom on an unrelated matter, at the Fremont Hall of Justice, in Fremont, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011. Esteban's Union City home was twice searched by investigators after Le's disappearance. The father of Esteban's daughter filed a restraining order against her

Police Find Human Remains in Search for Missing California Nursing Student
Published September 17, 2011


California investigators Saturday unearthed human remains during a search for missing nursing student Michelle Le, KGO-TV reported.
The body was found in a remote area of Alameda County near Sunol, Calif., about 50 miles (80km) southeast of San Francisco, on Saturday afternoon by a member of a search team organized by Le's family.
"Today, one of the search party members did discover remains," Hayward Police Department Lt. Roger Keener told KGO. "Right now that's all we know. There is nothing that indicates gender with the remains. The body is decomposed."
Alameda County Crime Lab technicians attended the scene to collect evidence, but authorities say it may take weeks to identify the corpse.
The 26-year-old nursing student was reported missing May 27 after she never returned from a break during her shift at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward, Calif.
Video surveillance in the hospital garage showed Le's white Honda SUV leaving later that evening, but it was not immediately clear who was driving the vehicle, which was found empty a few blocks away, according to police.
Hayward police released a statement shortly after saying they found "compelling evidence" in Le's car and in video footage that led them to classify the case as a homicide.
Earlier this month, police arrested Giselle Esteban, 26, a high school friend of Le's, on suspicion of murder.

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OMG, a woman killed her? Jealousy??? This is so damned sad!

Coroner: Remains those of missing nursing student

HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say human remains found in a San Francisco Bay area canyon are those of Michelle Le, the missing nursing student who disappeared May 27 while taking a school break.

Hayward police late Monday said tests by the Alameda County coroner on the badly decomposed remains confirmed they were Le. Police declined to release any further information.

On Saturday, searchers discovered the remains off a dirt trail in a rugged Alameda County canyon. Police said cell phone signals from Le and a former school friend they suspect in her death had been received from the area.

The former friend, Giselle Esteban, knew Le in high school in San Diego. Esteban was arrested earlier this month and charged with murder.

Police said Le's family has been told of the discovery.
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In a strange twist, the remains of Michelle Le, a nursing student who disappeared in May, were discovered by the mother of a San Diego teenager, Amber Dubois, who was raped and murdered back in 2009.

Carrie McGonigle, Amber’s mom, said she was part of a group organized by the Le family to search for their missing daughter, the Los Angeles Times reported.

According to McGonigle, her 1-year-old yellow Labrador – named Amber in memory of her slain daughter – darted off before the search began in Sunol Canyon; when she finally caught up to the dog, she was at the site of Le’s remains.

Ms. McGonigle, who stated she hadn’t originally planned on attending the search due to be emotionally unprepared, said she believes that ultimately, a higher power led her to Le’s body.

Meanwhile, Le’s high school classmate from San Diego, Giselle Esteban, 27, has been charged with the murder, according to authorities as reported in the Los Angeles Times.

“The evidence against [Esteban] is going to be overwhelming,” said Lt. Roger Keener, a spokesman for Hayward Police.

Police say they found traces of Le’s DNA on one of Esteban’s shoes and a security camera showed her in the hospital’s parking garage around the time Le disappeared.

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Carrie McGonigle, Amber’s mom, said she was part of a group organized by the Le family to search for their missing daughter, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Wow. That is really some thing else. What an awesome story. Angels come in many forms.

Michelle Le murder suspect has volatile history, records show

The woman charged with the murder of nursing student Michelle Le has a history of depression and violent behavior, according to court records cited by the Associated Press.

Giselle Esteban, 27, was involved in a turbulent, sometimes violent relationship with a man named Scott Marasigan.

The two were friends with Le, 26, and Esteban blamed Le for breaking up the couple.

Esteban was named a person of interest soon after Le went missing in May from a hospital in the East Bay city of Hayward. Security cameras in the hospital garage where Le parked showed that Esteban was in the structure about the time Le disappeared, Hayward police said.

They also said they found traces of Le's DNA on one of Esteban's shoes and cellphone records showed Esteban's and Le's phones traveled together in the hours after Le vanished.

Days after Le went missing, Esteban went on television and proclaimed her innocence while revealing she hated Le, a high school friend.

According to court records, Esteban's relationship with Marasigan, the father of Esteban's 5-year-old daughter, was marked by fights, breakups and police calls.
Three days before Le disappeared, Marasigan filed a temporary restraining order against Esteban. He alleged bizarre and threatening behavior against him and his family.

That same day, Esteban had broken into his house and went to their daughter's room, Marasigan reported. Esteban's ongoing battle with depression and their stormy relationship was described in the couple's 2010 custody dispute.

In 2008, a police report noted that Marasigan was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. He and Esteban were bruised and bloodied when police arrived. They both said the other attacked first.

Marasigan alleged in custody case filings that Esteban was suicidal. She denied the charge, claiming that Marasigan wanted to portray her as unstable to cover up his own violent behavior.

She said in the documents that she had a distant relationship with her family. She left home at 14 and moved from San Diego to San Francisco after high school.

"The Esteban women share three things," she wrote. "A quick temper, stubbornness (sic), and blaming."

Two psychiatric evaluations filed in the dispute in the summer of 2010 said Esteban has a history of depression.

They describe one incident when she was 20 in which friends called 911 after finding her asleep near an empty bottle of anti-depressants.

The evaluations said Esteban denied overdosing. They also found that Esteban was not a danger to herself or others.

Le's remains were found Saturday east of San Francisco by Carrie McGonigle, mother of Escondido murder victim Amber Dubois, 14, who was snatched outside her high school in 2009 and found dead a year later.
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Details emerge on violent past of woman charged with killing Michelle Le

According to court records, Giselle Diwag Esteban, the 27-year-old woman from Union City, CA charged with the murder of nursing student Michelle Hoang Thi Le had a violent past that included a toxic relationship with Scott Marasigan, who fathered her 5-year-old daughter and obtained a restraining order against her, incidents of stalking, outbursts of rage, and bouts with depression as detailed in reports published by ABC News, the Los Angles Times, The San Francisco Examiner, and other news sources published on Monday, September 26, 2011.
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Wow, that Giselle sounds like a real mean, imbalanced person. At the above link it says she is also 7 months pregnant and she works in child care. I sure wouldn't want to see a child in her care!

Well, she's locked up now. OMG, didn't this day care facility check her out?? Or, was she doing child care from her home? Even so, I do believe their are guidelines like a background check that must be met before she could work in "child care." And pregnant. What is it with all the gals who have serious mental problems that keep getting pregnant?? Do they think they will finally get it right with a new baby???

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012
Judge denies motion to exclude evidence in Esteban murder trial


OAKLAND, Calif. — A judge Thursday denied a defense motion to exclude some of the evidence against Giselle Esteban, who is charged with murder for the death of nursing student Michelle Le, on the ground it was gathered during an unreasonable search.
The ruling by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Rolefson means that the trial of Esteban, a 28-year-old Union City woman, on a charge that she murdered Le, a 26-year-old San Mateo woman who disappeared on May 27, 2011, remains on track to begin on Sept. 17.
In a quirk of fate, that's the one-year anniversary of the date that the decomposed body of Le, who was attending Samuel Merritt University in Oakland and was last seen alive at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward, was found in a remote area between Pleasanton and Sunol.
Esteban, who attended high school with Le in San Diego, was charged with Le's murder on Sept. 8 -- before Le's body was found -- based on DNA evidence and cellphone records.
According to the transcript of grand jury proceedings in the case last December, prosecutors believe that Esteban stalked and murdered Le because she blamed Le for wrecking her relationship with her daughter's father, Scott Marasigan.
Hayward police Inspector Fraser Ritchie, the lead investigator in the case, testified Thursday that he and five other officers went to Esteban's apartment in Union City late on the night of May 28, 2011, the day after Le disappeared, because eight family members, classmates and friends of Le had told them that Le had "a tumultuous relationship" with Esteban.
Ritchie said the family members and acquaintances also said Esteban had been sending "threatening text messages" to Le and that disappearing was "out of Le's character" because she was a reliable person.
He said one of the people police talked to was Marsigan, who he said was a platonic friend of Le and the father of Esteban's daughter.
According to the grand jury transcript, the daughter was born on Oct. 31, 2005, but Marasigan later broke up with Esteban and was awarded full custody of the girl in September 2010.
Esteban gave birth to a second child the week before Thanksgiving last year but the name of the father of the child hasn't been disclosed and Marasigan has said he's not the father.
Ritchie said Esteban was "calm and cooperative" when officers came to her apartment shortly before midnight on May 28, 2011, but "she seemed frustrated" when he asked her questions about Le.
He said he ultimately handcuffed Esteban and took her to the Hayward police station for further questions because she had given contradictory statements about the time that she went to the Kaiser facility in Hayward on May 27, 2011.
Esteban's lawyer, Andrea Auer, argued that Esteban's statements to police on the morning of May 29, 2011, should be thrown out because officers placed her in "unlawful detention" by climbing over a locked security gate to come to her apartment late at night.
Auer said it was "an intimidating experience" for Esteban to be confronted by six armed officers late at night and said some of the questions they asked her were "interrogative in nature."
However, prosecutor Jason Sjoberg said Esteban's interactions with police were "very clearly a consensual encounter" and she never asked officers to leave her apartment.
Rolefson agreed that the initial interview of Esteban "was not a detention."
The judge said that in interviewing Esteban, Hayward police were doing what they were expected to do, which was "talking to anybody and everybody" about Le.
"The police conduct was justified," Rolefson said.
Hayward police released Esteban after they interviewed her on May 29, 2011, and didn't arrest her until Sept. 7.
An Alameda County criminal grand jury indicted Esteban on a murder charge on Dec. 14 at the end of a three-day hearing. Prosecutors sought the indictment to bypass a preliminary hearing and speed up Esteban's trial.
Lead prosecutor Butch Ford told the grand jury in December, "We intend to prove that Giselle Esteban stalked Michelle to the Kaiser facility in Hayward, attacked her in the parking lot, threw her body into Michelle's car and drove her away from Hayward, ultimately out to the Pleasanton-Sunol Valley Road area, and ultimately, through sort of a makeshift grave, buried Michelle's body out there."
Fellow prosecutor Robert Warren told the grand jury that text messages that Esteban sent to Marasigan "show that this hatred, this obsession (about Michelle Le) that was within Miss Esteban was continuous from November of 2010 until May 27, 2011."
Referring to Marasigan, Warren said, "No matter how many times he denied any relationship between himself and Miss Le, Miss Esteban refused to believe him."
Warren said it's not entirely clear how Le was killed but circumstantial evidence such as Le's hair and blood indicate that Esteban assaulted her in the parking lot at the Kaiser facility and then placed Le into her own car, in which Le continued to bleed.
Ford said after Thursday's hearing that jury selection and pretrial motions in Esteban's case will take about two weeks and opening statements probably will be presented in early October.

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I wonder where the baby is. Lisette, once again, thanks so much for keeping up on this horrific case!

Giselle Esteban murder trial: Judge denies motion to exclude evidence

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012


A judge has denied a motion to exclude evidence in Giselle Esteban murder trial.

On September 8, 2011, Esteban was charged with the murder of Michelle Le before Le's body was found, based on DNA evidence and cell phone records.

On Thursday, August 30, 2012, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Rolefson denied a defense motion to exclude evidence against Giselle Esteban on the grounds that it was gathered during an unreasonable search.

According to the transcript of grand jury proceedings, prosecutors believe that Esteban stalked and murdered Le because she blamed her for wrecking a relationship with Esteban's former boyfriend, Scott Marasigan.

Esteban's trial was expected to begin September 17, 2012, one year to the day that Michelle Le's body was found in a Pleasanton-Sunol wilderness area. However, at the August 30 hearing, lead prosecutor, Butch Ford said that jury selection and pretrial motions in Esteban's case will take about two weeks, and opening statements will probably be presented in early October.

With regard to the search of Esteban’s apartment, Hayward Police Inspector Fraser Ritchie testified that he and five other officers went to Esteban's Union City apartment late on the night of May 28, 2011, the day after Le disappeared, because Le’s family, classmates, and friends had told them of Le’s tumultuous relationship with Esteban. Text messages Esteban sent to Marasigan show that Esteban’s hatred and obsession about Michelle Le were continuous from November of 2010 until May 27, 2011, the day Le disappeared.

According to Andrea Auer, Esteban's attorney, it was an intimidating experience for Esteban to be confronted by six armed officers late at night and that some of the questions they asked her were "interrogative in nature."

Auer argued that Esteban's statements to police on the morning of May 29, 2011, should be thrown out because officers placed her in "unlawful detention" by climbing over a locked security gate to come to her apartment late at night.

Prosecutor Jason Sjoberg said Esteban's interactions with police were very clearly “a consensual encounter."

She never asked officers to leave her apartment and was calm and cooperative when officers came to her apartment shortly before midnight on May 28. She did, however, seem frustrated when asked questions about Le. She was ultimately handcuffed and taken to the Hayward police station for further questioning because she gave contradictory statements about the time that she went to the Kaiser facility on May 27.

Esteban was released after the police interview and was not arrested until September 7, 2011.

Judge Rolefson said, "The police conduct was justified,"

He agreed that Esteban’s initial interview was not a detention and that in interviewing Esteban, Hayward police were doing what they were expected to do – talking to anybody and everybody about Le.

Prosecutor Ford says, "We intend to prove that Giselle Esteban stalked Michelle to the Kaiser facility in Hayward, attacked her in the parking lot, threw her body into Michelle's car, and drove her away from Hayward, ultimately out to the Pleasanton-Sunol Valley Road area, and ultimately, through sort of a makeshift grave, buried Michelle's body out there."

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On Thursday, August 30, 2012, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Rolefson denied a defense motion to exclude evidence against Giselle Esteban on the grounds that it was gathered during an unreasonable search.

:cheering: :cheering: :cheering:

Yeah!!!!

Giselle Esteban's computer showed hundreds of searches for 'Michelle Le'

OAKLAND, Calif. — An expert testified today that a computer belonging to Giselle Esteban, the Union City woman accused of murdering nursing student Michelle Le last year, showed hundreds of searches for Le's name shortly before she disappeared, as well as searches for ways to harm someone.
Esteban, 28, is suspected of killing Le, a former friend whom she had attended high school with in San Diego. Le, a 26-year-old San Mateo resident, was studying nursing at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland at the time of her death.
FBI computer forensic examiner Jann Hayes testified that when she examined Esteban's computer shortly after Le went missing in May 2011, she found about 300 Internet searches for Le's name.
"It immediately became apparent there were a large number of instances of 'Michelle Le'" searches, Hayes said.
In addition, Hayes said, the computer showed that someone had researched ways of inducing a heart attack without leaving a trace, how to follow someone without being caught, and how to break locks, deadbolts and doors.
Other searches focused on potassium chloride, highly toxic gases and carbon monoxide.
Prosecutor Butch Ford alleged in his opening statement two weeks ago that Esteban killed Le out of "jealousy, hatred and rage" because she blamed Le for wrecking her relationship with her daughter's father, Scott Marasigan.
Marasigan testified that he dated Le for a month in 2003 but never had sex with her. He said his friendship with Le didn't interfere with his relationship with Esteban, with whom he had an off-and-on relationship before winning sole custody of their daughter and permanently splitting with her.
Le disappeared from Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward around 7 p.m. on May 27, 2011.
Ford said DNA evidence, videotapes and cellphone records support the theory that Esteban attacked Le in the parking lot at Kaiser and then drove Le's body to the remote area between Pleasanton and Sunol where it was found nearly four months later.
Defense attorney Andrea Auer said in her opening statement that Esteban did not plan to kill Le but instead snapped as a result of "extreme provocation and heat of passion."
Ford said he expects to finish presenting his case on Tuesday.

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Lisette, for keeping this case alive. This man was obviously obsessed with her and IMHO, insane.

Wrap wrote:

This man was obviously obsessed with her and IMHO, insane.

Wrap, the killer is a woman...LOL.

OMG, my bad. I am getting this case confused w/the oriental student that was brutally murdered. We had a huge thread on it and it went poof for some reason. Sorry, am beat. My bad. Even the founder gets

Prosecutor Calls Giselle Esteban a 'Sociopath,' Asks Jurors for Murder Conviction

A prosecutor on Thursday described Giselle Esteban as "a sociopath" and told jurors they should convict her of murder for the death of nursing student Michelle Le last year.

During his closing argument Thursday morning, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Butch Ford replayed a conversation between Esteban and Scott Marasigan, the father of Esteban's 6-year-old child, that Marasigan had secretly recorded in November 2010.

In the recording, Esteban can be heard telling Marasigan, "You deserve to die for your lies, as does she," referring to Le.

Ford has alleged that Esteban, 28, of Union City, killed Le out of a mistaken belief that she was having an affair with Marasigan.

After playing the recording, Ford turned to the jury and described Esteban as a sociopath, saying she was "laughing and talking about killing people."

Defense attorney Andrea Auer objected to Ford's use of the term "sociopath," but the judge overruled the objection.

Le, a 26-year-old San Mateo woman who attended Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, disappeared from the parking lot of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward on May 27, 2011.

Her body was found four months later, on Sept. 17, 2011, in a remote area between Pleasanton and Sunol.

Le and Esteban were high school friends in San Diego and both came to the Bay Area to attend college.

Marasigan testified that he dated Le for about a month in the spring of 2003 but never had sex with her, although they remained friends after he started seriously dating Esteban later that year.

Marasigan said he had a rocky relationship with Esteban and stopped living with her many years ago, although he admitted that he had sex with her as recently as February 2011.

Auer, who will present her closing argument later today, said in her opening statement that Esteban didn't plan to kill Le but instead snapped as a result of "extreme provocation and heat of passion."

But Ford said Thursday that Le was "a completely innocent victim in this case" and didn't do anything to provoke Esteban.

Esteban did not testify in the trial.

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Jury begins deliberating fate of Michelle Le’s slayer

OAKLAND, Calif. — Was the 2011 murder of nursing student Michelle Le a crime of passion or a cold, calculated slaying?
That was the question an Alameda County jury wrestled with Monday as it tried to determine the fate of Giselle Esteban.
In his closing argument in Esteban's trial last week, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Butch Ford said Esteban planned Le's death for months and played a recording of a conversation Esteban had with her ex-boyfriend six months before Le was killed in May 2011 in which Esteban was "laughing and talking about killing people."
In the recording, Esteban can be heard telling Scott Marasigan, the father of her 6-year-old daughter, "You deserve to die for your lies, as does she," referring to Le.
Ford alleged that Esteban, 28, of Union City, killed Le, a 26-year-old San Mateo woman who attended Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, out of a mistaken belief that she was having an affair with Marasigan.
Marasigan, 28, testified during the three-week trial that he dated Le for about a month in the spring of 2003 but never had sex with her, although they remained friends after he started seriously dating Esteban later that year. Marasigan and Esteban had an on-again, off-again relationship for many years but ultimately broke up and Marasigan was awarded custody of their daughter.
Le disappeared from the parking lot of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward on May 27, 2011, and her decomposed body was found four months later, on Sept. 17, 2011, in a remote area between Pleasanton and Sunol.
Le and Esteban were high school friends in San Diego and both came to the Bay Area to attend college.
Esteban's lawyer, Andrea Auer, admitted that Esteban killed Le but said she should only be convicted of voluntary manslaughter because she acted in the heat of passion after Le provoked her.
However, Ford said Le was "a completely innocent victim in this case," and didn't do anything to provoke Esteban. He said Auer, who chose not to put Esteban on the witness stand, failed to specify how Esteban could have been provoked except for in her own mind.
Auer said another reason Esteban should only be convicted of voluntary manslaughter is "the prosecution's jigsaw puzzle has a massive hole in the middle."
Referring to Le, Auer said, "You have no evidence of how this gal died."
Auer conceded that Esteban had sent dozens of threatening text messages and waited for Le in the Kaiser parking lot for four hours until Le went to her car about 7 p.m. on May 27, 2011, during a break in her classes and there was some type of confrontation. But she said, "You don't know who started it, what was said and what happened."
Ford responded by alleging that Auer is asking jurors to "reward the defendant (Esteban) for hiding the body of everyone who loved her (Le)."
Ford said, "We may never know how Michelle was assaulted" but he said the fact that Le's blood that was found in Le's car indicates that Esteban may have approached her from behind and slit her throat.
The prosecutor said, "Michelle didn't assault herself in the garage and bury herself" and the fact that her body was dumped in a remote area where it wasn't discovered for four months indicates that Esteban had planned ahead of time to murder Le and bury her where she couldn't be found.
Although Esteban never testified about what was going on in her mind, Auer said she thinks Esteban never believed Marasigan's repeated statements to her that he never had sex with Le.
She said Esteban became suspicious in 2005, when she was pregnant with the couple's daughter and learned that Le had confided in Marasigan that she also was pregnant but planned to have an abortion.
Auer asked, "What woman tells a man she's not intimate with that she's pregnant and is going to get an abortion?"
She said, "Where Giselle saw smoke, there was fire, at least for Giselle, and it makes perfect sense for her to think that Scott had sex with Michelle or is the father of her unborn child."
Referring to Esteban, Auer said "almost nothing would sway her" from her belief that Marasigan and Le had a sexual relationship.
But Ford said Auer's remark concedes that Esteban "was unreasonable" and had no rational basis for believing that Marasigan and Le were intimate.
Ford also said if Esteban had been upset with Marasigan and Le in 2005 she had ample time to cool down and consequently didn't act in the heat of passion when she killed Le in May 2011.
"Six years is clearly a long cooling-off period," Ford said.

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Deliberations continue in Esteban murder case
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The jury deciding the fate of murder suspect Giselle Esteban is on its second day of deliberations.

Esteban is charged with killing nursing student Michelle Le in May of last year. Her body was found four months later. Esteban's attorney told jurors that her client didn't plan on killing Le, but snapped, believing Le moved in on her boyfriend.

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SAN FRANCISCO — An Alameda County jury Monday convicted a Union City woman of first-degree murder for killing her onetime friend in a hospital parking garage in May 2011, the result of years of jealousy over a man.

The attorney representing Giselle Esteban, 28, did not dispute that her client had killed 26-year-old nursing student Michelle Le of San Mateo.

But Andrea Auer maintained that Esteban had acted in the heat of passion and should be convicted of voluntary manslaughter.

Alameda County Deputy Dist. Atty. Butch Ford, however, argued that Esteban was a "sociopath" who had planned the slaying for months.

"I am very gratified with the jury's decision," Ford said in a statement. "The jury's considered evaluation of the evidence today led to a just verdict."

Le disappeared May 27, 2011, after she went to get something from her car in the parking lot of Hayward's Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, where she was working.

Her family recruited volunteers and conducted extensive searches for her in the East Bay hills.

Her remains were found in a brushy canyon about a mile from Kaiser nearly four months later — by the mother of 14-year-old San Diego murder victim Amber Dubois, who was volunteering in the effort.

The physical evidence against Esteban was overwhelming.

Security cameras in the hospital garage had shown her in the structure about the time Le disappeared. Police found traces of Le's DNA on one of Esteban's shoes, and cellphone records showed that the women's phones were located together in the hours after Le vanished.

Le's abandoned car, discovered about three blocks from the hospital, was stained with her blood and bore traces of her hair.

Esteban and Le had gone to the same San Diego County high school, and both moved to the Bay Area to attend college.

Esteban's years of mounting anger centered around Scott Marasigan, who testified during the trial that he'd dated Le for about a month in 2003. He remained close friends with her and began dating Esteban later that year.

The couple had a daughter, now 6 years old, but they split up and Marasigan was awarded custody. Through it all, Esteban was convinced that Marasigan and Le were having an affair and that Le was responsible for the breakup.

Esteban even told a television station after Le went missing that she "hated" Le, although she contended at the time that she had nothing to do with Le's disappearance.

Jurors heard evidence that suggested premeditation. Esteban told Marasigan in a recorded conversation six months before the killing that both he and Le deserved to die, according to coverage of the trial by the Oakland Tribune.

An analysis of Esteban's computer by the FBI found that she had made death threats against Le beginning in November 2010 and, a month before the killing, had searched the Internet for Le's home address and for ways to kill people without being caught.
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:cheering:

Odd that other than the above article I did not see anything else on this. I had a google alert set as usual but have not received anything either. I am so glad that crazy female is guilty of first degree murder! I hope this gives Michelle's family a little bit of peace.

FILAMS REACT TO GUILTY VERDICT ON GISELLE ESTEBAN
By Henni Espinosa, ABS-CBN North America Bureau
Oct. 30, 2012

HAYWARD, Calif. – More than a year after she was arrested, Filipino American Giselle Esteban was found guilty for the murder of 26-year old Vietnamese nursing student Michelle Le.
A jury yesterday found the 28-year old Esteban guilty of first-degree murder. Esteban could spend the rest of her life behind bars.
In a statement to Balitang America, District Attorney Nancy O’ Malley said, “I am pleased the perpetrator of this heinous, calculated crime has been brought to justice.”
Deputy District Attorney Butch Ford said, “The jury’s considered evaluation of the evidence led to a just verdict.”
Ford called Esteban a sociopath whose only goal was to kill Le, her former high school friend. The prosecution said Esteban was jealous of Le’s friendship with Filipino Scott Marasigan, Esteban’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her young daughter.
During the trial, the prosecution presented the jury with DNA evidence, videotapes and cell phone records, validating the theory that Esteban planned her attack on Le at a parking lot in Kaiser Permanente in Hayward on May 27, 2011.
Le was initially considered a missing person until her body was found in a remote canyon months later.
But the defense for Esteban said all she wanted was to have a conversation with Le when she tracked her down at that parking lot. But that conversation turned horribly wrong.
The defense argued that Esteban did not plan to kill Le but instead snapped because of extreme provocation and heat of passion.
Leonor Clemente, a Filipina who has been following the case, expressed sympathy for Esteban. She said, “She might have just been pushed to do this. I feel bad for her and for her kids.”
Leny Sarmiento, another Filipina who followed Esteban’s case said it was clearly premeditated. After all, she said the prosecution presented evidence that Esteban stalked Le for weeks and made hundreds of computer searches for her name and how to harm someone.
She said, “She has to be made accountable for what she did.”
Esteban is scheduled for sentencing on December 10. She faces at least 25 years to life in prison.

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