Man convicted in woman's kidnapping, killing

HOUSTON

Now there is some closure for /*Sabrina Pina*/'s family, who lived through that nightmare a year and a half ago.

Pina was only 27 years old and had only been married for three years. While her life was entering a new chapter, it ended at the hands of a fellow classmate she graduated with back in 2000.

Guilty of capital murder, Theodore Schmidt, an old classmate of his victim, Pina, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Even though Schmidt gave no clear reason for kidnapping and murdering Pina, her husband says the healing can now begin.

"I think justice was served; now my wife can rest in peace," said her husband, Edward Pina.

On Feb. 21 2009, Schmidt was seen following Sabrina Pina into a retail store. She was never seen alive again.

While her truck remained in the shopping center where she left it, her body was not discovered until the next day. Her hands and mouth duct taped, the 27-year-old had been shot in the head and dumped in a ditch in northwest Harris County.

"To me she was somebody that was very priceless," said Edward Pina. "And to me, priceless means that there is never gonna be another person that's gonna be like her."

A single fingerprint on the duct tape led police to Schmidt, already in the system from a previous theft arrest. That's when detectives also discovered they attended high school together, but didn't really know each other.

Her mother and father say they can move forward knowing one thing.

"There won't be any other possibility of a family enduring our loss through this young man," said Sabrina Pina's mom, Mary Helen Telentino.

"To the Schmidt family, that we do not hold you accountable for your son's actions," said Sabrina Pina's dad, Rolondo Telentino.

Though the family feels a life sentence brings justice for Pina, life without her will never be the same.

"The chain has been broken for me," Edward Pina said. "I'm not gonna be the same person that I used to be."

And Schmidt will spend the rest of his life in prison as he is not eligible for parole.