MINNEAPOLIS — The brutal murder of a 30-year-old Mall of America employee in 2013 is told through the eyes of the victim in the Hulu documentary series, "Me Hereafter."
, three months after she was reported missing from her St. Paul home. Her husband, Jeffrey Trevino, was found guilty of second-degree murder for her death.
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The series, which also includes an episode on the Fargo slaying of , differs from other documentaries as it uses narration to tell the story through victims' perspectives, alongside interviews with family, friends and investigators.
Voice actor narration allows viewers to learn the details of Steger Trevino's death, beginning with the days leading up to her murder — and ending with the sentencing of her husband.
Steger Trevino and her husband were having trouble in their marriage. On the evening before her disappearance, the couple enjoyed some much-needed bonding time: dinner and bowling before settling in to watch a movie at their St. Paul home, where they — like other Twin Cities residents — prepared for an impending snowstorm.
That was the last time anyone heard from Steger Trevino.
After she didn't turn up to work at the Mall of America the next day, her coworkers and friends became concerned. After law enforcement was alerted, her husband said she left early for work the morning after their date night.
The only time he wasn't with his wife, he said, was when he drove to fill up her car at a local gas station at around 2 a.m., out of concern that she could run out of gas in the midst of the storm the following day.
In the days and weeks following her disappearance, Trevino played the role of a concerned husband. He told law enforcement there was a possibility she was seeing another man, who could be a suspect.
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Law enforcement wasn't initially considered about Trevino's possible involvement in his wife's disappearance — until they received a phone call from her family members in Wisconsin.
In a phone call with Steger Trevino's sister, Trevino used the past tense when talking about his wife.
It was a red flag for the family, and the catalyst for investigators to take a closer look at Trevino.
Further examination of the couple's St. Paul home revealed small blood splatters in the bathroom and markings on the mattress.
Investigators checked security camera footage for the gas station Trevino said he drove to at 2 a.m. The footage revealed Trevino took an odd turn after leaving the gas station — rather than turning right for the route leading to their home, he took a left toward the interstate.
"Jeff may have thought he could outsmart everyone," Steger Trevino's voice narration says in the episode. "But he wasn't nearly as cunning as he thought he was."
St. Paul police then found footage of Trevino driving his wife's vehicle to the Mall of America the next morning. Additional footage showed him taking a taxi home.
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Despite the lack of a body, Trevino was charged with intentional and unintentional second-degree murder.
Weeks later, a tip came in that two anglers saw what they believed could have been a body rolled in carpet in Minnesota's Keller Lake. Her body wasn't discovered in the lake — yet a search of Keller Lake Park revealed a major clue: a blood-stained pillow and sports bra.
DNA testing revealed the blood belonged to Steger Trevino.
In May, as the ice melted, her body was found near a barge repair facility in the Mississippi River, located outside of St. Paul.
The discovery of her body sealed the case for the prosecution. By October, Trevino was convicted for second-degree unintentional murder and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Steger's story is featured in episode three of "
," which can be viewed on Hulu.