MIAMI

- Jurors heard more graphic details Thursday from the lead detective who responded to the 2012 killings of a woman and her two young daughters, including testimony about the discovery of the bodies and evidence that initially left investigators concerned about the whereabouts of the woman's 5-year-old son.

Juan Carlos Chaidez, a detective with what was then the Miami-Dade Police Department who led the investigation, testified that his homicide team was first in the rotation to respond when the killings were reported on Nov. 13, 2012. Chaidez told jurors the bodies of Gladys Machado, 29, and her daughters, 6-year-old Julia Padrino and 3-year-old Daniella Padrino, were found on the tiled floor of a walk-in closet in the master bedroom. He described the smell inside the room as a combination of  bleach and the beginning of a decomposing body.  The detective said investigators initially did not know what had happened to Machado's 5-year-old son, Michael, who was not among the children found in the closet. Machado was the mother of three children, Chaidez testified. Investigators later learned Michael was safe and was with another family member when the killings occurred. Among the evidence investigators found was a handmade family tree project belonging to Michael. Chaidez testified that the item was found in the trash next to an empty bottle of bleach. The detective also testified that Machado was found nude and that her clothing had been discarded in the bedroom. Prosecutors showed jurors a purple T-shirt identified as Machado's. Chaidez testified that the shirt appeared to have been cut. Chaidez also described what Alberto Sierra , then 28, told investigators when he was first brought in for questioning. According to the detective, Sierra said he knew Machado had been seeing another man during their separation, which began in September. Sierra told him he had forgiven her and understood the circumstances, Chaidez testified, saying the separation was related to financial problems. Sierra was unemployed at the time and told the detective he was unable to support the family financ
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