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Welcome back to Postmortem. I'm your host 48 Hours correspondent Anne Marie Green, and today we are discussing the
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case of Gloria Choi, who was shot in her car after being forced off the road by another vehicle in Lakewood, Washington.
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Now, Gloria alleged that her ex-boyfriend Billy Rickman was stalking and harassing her, and in a 48-hour
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period 2 days before she was murdered, law enforcement was contacted four separate times about Rickman's
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escalating behavior, and Gloria's family believes the justice system failed her.
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So, joining me today is 48 Hours correspondent Natalie Morales, who reported on this case. Natalie, it's
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good to speak with you again. Good to be back with you, Anne Marie, and you know,
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I think Gloria Choi's story is sadly a cautionary tale. I think a lot of people can relate to, you know, falling in love
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with the wrong person sometimes, but from what we know, Gloria did everything she could once she realized this
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relationship was not good for her. She tried to end it, and she thought that the police and that the law would
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protect her. Unfortunately, as you know, that was not the case in this tragedy. Yeah, but I think there are a lot of
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lessons to be learned here. Uh so, we will get into this. I want to remind everyone, if you haven't watched or
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listened to this episode, it's called The Love Bombing of Gloria Choi. Go check it out right now, and then come on
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back for our conversation. So, Natalie, in watching the hour, I felt I got a real sense of just how
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hardworking, how beloved Gloria Choi was by her family, by her friends. Um you know, she had this great career in the
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family business, running these hotels. She was really devoted to her son. It is hard to be a single parent, um and so
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I'm always impressed uh when I hear about single parents succeeding. And in May of 2021, she meets Billy
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Rickman, who is staying at the hotel that she's managing. He has this larger-than-life personality and
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immediately introduces himself to her. But what was it about Rickman that she was attracted to? Well, I think it was
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that lifestyle of hers. As you said, she was a busy single mom. She worked really
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hard. She didn't have a lot of time to date. You saw her friend and her co-worker Breanna in our hour and and
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she said that Rickman talked a big game, seemed to say all the things that Gloria
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wanted to hear. He was also very proud to have her as his girlfriend. He paid a lot of attention to her and he had
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formed this bond with her son. You know, we saw some of those texts and those exchanges where Rickman is professing
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his love and they're so over the top, you know, I want you. I can't wait to see what life has in store for us. My
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heart is yours. The Choi family attorney, Megan Driscoll, says Gloria was basically love-bombed. That
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over-the-top expression of love. Definitely. Um I think probably a lot of people have experienced
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love-bombing and you know, it feels wonderful. But there's always sort of a little bit
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of an edge where you're like, "Geez, we just we just met." I mean, but if they do it well and obviously he did, it's
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you can get lured in by it. Within weeks, right? Gloria and Rickman, they became a couple.
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But he began staying at the Oyo Hotel cuz he stays there and works there. Gloria's parents do not approve of this
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relationship. They want Rickman out. And so they say to her, "Listen, you know, you can stay at the hotel and be the
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manager or you can leave." And she chooses to leave with him. In September 2021, Gloria moved to a new apartment
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with Rickman and her son and took a new job as a manager at the Holiday Inn Express. But it wasn't long after that
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that Gloria really started to realize that Rickman was not the guy that he was making himself out to be.
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Right. Yeah, according to Gloria's friend Briana, Gloria told her Rickman was often mean. He was showing his angry
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side. He started to drink in excess and was using drugs. But when it came down to it, you know, how was he making
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money? It really, according to Briana, was Gloria that was providing for him. And and Gloria told her that Rickman
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just refused to get a job. >> Mhm. Now, Gloria also, I think, suspected that Rickman was tracking her
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and she told Briana she found an Apple AirTag in her truck. She said that she feared he'd hidden more there in in
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order to be able to track her. And, you know, that became more obvious once she moved out and tried to rid herself of
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him. Mhm. Um well, there's a theme here when we talk about living off a woman. Um you introduce us to a woman named Aja
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who said that Rickman sex trafficked her when she was a 14-year-old runaway in California.
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Can you share any more details what we learned about Rickman's past? Yeah, it's interesting because according to the
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prosecutors, Rickman, he did have some convictions for drug and firearms offenses in California. But it was when
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he was in California and in Oakland in particular that he met Aja Whoall. Now, according to Aja, she met Rickman when
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she was just 14 years old. Rickman was in his 30s, so huge age difference there. But Aja told us that when she met
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him, he knew that she was being trafficked, but by somebody else. He seemed as if he wanted to get her away
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from her trafficker, but he ends up becoming her trafficker. And and really, you know, Aja's story is is so
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remarkable in the hour because even though she missed a lot of high school, she managed to go back and get her GED
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when she was 17 years old. She went on, got her master's degree from UC Berkeley
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from the public affairs school, the Goldman School, and she's now working as a consultant. So, she is a such a
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success story. >> She really is. Like like that is truly inspiring. And to think like she had
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gone through all of this and you know, transformed her life. Meanwhile, Rickman clearly hasn't changed his ways at all.
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But, you know, Gloria figures this out. It's takes about 6 months after meeting Rickman and she ends the relationship.
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She moves back in with her parents, but Rickman refuses to return her truck which he had borrowed. So, she reports
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him to the police. In that first incident, the officer responds very quickly. Rickman is
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arrested. He is thrown in jail for a couple of days before judge then slaps him with a very strict no contact order.
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But, after his release, Rickman continues to harass her. And it it seems like after that, the police response
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sort of slows. It's it's much weaker. Why? Well, this is a case of two different
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police departments at the time. You know, there was the city of Tumwater Police Department and Lakewood. And so,
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Gloria and Rickman, where they were living was Tumwater and that's where, you know, Gloria reported that Rickman
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refused to get back her truck. It was the Tumwater police officer who recognized that Rickman seemed to be a
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danger to Gloria and so, he asked the judge to issue a domestic violence no contact order. Gloria then moved. She
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switched jobs to the Holiday Inn Express. That happened to be in Lakewood where a lot of those other incidents
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happened. For example, when she was meeting with her friend Jacob and her car was broken into and the laptops were
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stolen, she reported that to Lakewood police. And Gloria said that she suspected it
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was Rickman because when she was meeting with Jacob, she got this email instantly
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from Rickman that said, "You left me for another guy." And, you know, the Lakewood officer said he was going to
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call Rickman. He said he left a voicemail saying police wanted to speak with him. Gloria and her friend Jacob
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Blue, they go back to the Holiday Inn Express, and they see, you know, Jacob's car now. They discover his car tires had
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been slashed as well. They called Lakewood police again, and because she worked at the hotel, she was able to
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show the responding officers surveillance footage, and it showed, you know, the shadowy figure of a guy
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apparently slashing the tires, but because the surveillance footage was a little bit grainy and you couldn't make
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out his face very clearly, Lakewood police said it was too unclear. They couldn't see him, and they couldn't
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identify, in fact, that it was Rickman. Now, all of these instances are examples
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that Megan Driscoll, the Troy family attorney, says were clear violations of the no-contact order. In fact, Driscoll
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says Gloria would eventually give Lakewood police a seven-page document that listed all the ways she said
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Rickman violated the no-contact order. Here's the thing about it, too, is experts will always tell domestic
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violence victims to document everything. And here Gloria is writing it down. She's basically taking the investigation
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into her own hands. What else did she note in this document? This is an important lesson that we can
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all take away from this story. I mean, she really did document everything in that seven-page list, including
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screenshots with text messages, numerous missed calls that she kept getting from
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his friends, from blocked numbers or numbers that were not identifiable. And And by the way, according to Megan
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Driscoll, that seven-page document, the prosecutors never even saw it because it
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was found later in a sealed envelope in a police file. Prosecutor Greg Greer said he had never even seen it. It
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wasn't opened or found until after the homicide conviction. So, I thought this was really interesting in the hour. 48
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Hours spoke to Russ Hicks. He's an expert hired by the family's attorney who worked as an instructor at the
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police academy and taught the three Lakewood officers that were involved in this case. I absolutely thought he was
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going to defend them. Mhm. And then he did not. He was surprised to learn that the officers did not seem to follow the
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training, the very training and guidelines that he gave them. I want to play a clip from that interview. The
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training specifically states that they should recognize escalating behavior. And this was escalating because there
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were four incidents in a 48-hour period. So, having that he's armed with the deadly weapon, that he's slashing tires
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repeatedly in the same location, and that nothing's being done, they should have recognized that this is is a
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pattern of escalating behavior, and they should have intervened. Megan Driscoll told us this was
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sadly as foreseeable a tragedy as as it could possibly be. Um we should point out the Lakewood Police Department said
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they couldn't really identify Billy Rickman as the man slashing the tires and walking away. Um
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but Russ Hicks said the official training says that in domestic violence cases, you know, they generally do
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escalate in nature, and the official response is always protect the victim. So, he does not believe, you know, that
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the procedures were followed. And while one officer said he drove around and he was looking for Rickman's car. There
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apparently was no record of that and there didn't seem to be more of an attempt to find him.
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So then I'm wondering what Hicks recommends that the officers should have done differently. Well, Russ Hicks says
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the one thing that the police absolutely failed on was that in a situation like this, you put out a bolo alert, be on
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the lookout. In this case, they knew what kind of vehicle Rickman was driving at the time. Also, Russ Hicks points
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out, you know, the officer who reportedly said he left a voicemail for Rickman, he said that is the last thing
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a police officer should be doing because that actually can escalate the situation
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further in domestic violence cases. And Hicks also pointed out that police didn't even show up in person when
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Gloria called 911 to report the tire slashing. Um he said again, the number one priority is to show up, secure the
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scene. You cannot do that by phone. But in its defense, the Lakewood Police Department said
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nobody witnessed Rickman [music] directly commit these acts, no witness was able to provide a location for
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Rickman, so they say probable cause was not established. Welcome back. So on January 2nd, 2022, the evening of
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Gloria's murder, she calls 911 again after she is forced off the road by a pickup truck while driving home.
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You played that 911 call in the hour, some of it. Um and I have to say from what we heard, it was painful to listen
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to. She is clearly terrified. And and we couldn't even play that much of it because it is way too disturbing and
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graphic. You're hearing Gloria Choy, her last moments alive and she was terrified.
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And it was played in full to a stunned jury. And in the course of that 911 call, you hear the 14 shots fired. You
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hear her screaming through several of those first shots because we know she didn't die instantly, and she was
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suffering. Prosecutor Greg Griard spoke Korean because he served in the Air Force, and he says on that 911 call, her
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last words are "Oma. Oma or Uma." And that is the word for mother, mom in Korean, which just breaks your heart.
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And one other thing, her young son had just turned eight the day before. She, in fact, was on her way home at the time
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because you know, he wanted to eat with his mother, and he wouldn't eat without her,
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and that's where she was going when Rickman pinned her car, and then killed her. And it sort of reinforces the
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connection that we learned that she has with her family, how important family was, that it is her mother that she
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cries out for. It's her son that she's going home to see. And these are people that Rickman would have known. He would
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have lived with her and her son. So, after Billy Rickman though kills Gloria, he seems to just sort of disappear into
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the night. How was he able to evade police for several days? You know, Rickman had a support system,
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and the people who helped him, they actually testified at the trial. However, they were not charged.
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Prosecutors believe a friend in fact armed him, gave him a gun a couple of days before he then went and killed
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Gloria. And prosecutors say Rickman then went to a couple of friends' homes, uh including one who had been storing his
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black BMW, which he then used to flee and escape to California. And he was on the run for 4 days. And then Rickman
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drives to Northern California, Humboldt County, goes to a relative's house. His relative offered to drive him to a hotel
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to put him up there, but the FBI had already alerted law enforcement in that area to be on the lookout. They did put
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a bolo out this time. Tribal police then stopped them saying that they ran a stop
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sign, and that's when Rickman pushes his relative out of the car as you saw in the hour, and then
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takes off and continues for another 5 hours to evade police until finally he is caught. How did they eventually track
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him down? That's an interesting story because and we didn't have time to really include that in the hour. They
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did find his abandoned car and they did search with dogs in the area where they believed he he went on the run. It's
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very rural though and they went around warning the residents in the area to be careful. So, when he shows up at one
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man's door, it happened to be a retired juvenile corrections officer who lived there. So, wrong man for
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Rickman to encounter. Prosecutor Greg Greer tells us more about what happened. He hears his dogs barking outside.
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And he recognizes that's him. Tells his wife, tells her right away, "Call 911. It's him."
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He goes out. He does have a firearm with him. He doesn't display it, but he's got
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it on his person, and he goes out and he encounters Mr. Rickman. Who is soaking wet, freezing cold,
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hypothermic, and he offers to take him inside and tries to warm him up and talks to him for a few minutes. Um
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police still aren't there, no sign of them. He wants to get him out of his house now, so he takes him and puts him
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in one of his his work vehicles saying he'll take him into town and get him a a hotel room. Mhm. He keeps telling him,
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"Oh, I forgot my keys. Go back to his wife. Where are they? Back to the truck. Oh, I need my wallet.
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Back to the house. He is stalling for time. He comes and he sits in the vehicle now with Mr. Rickman and
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thankfully he sees lights approaching law enforcement from the distance and police get there and time's up. Oh,
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that's an incredible story. That is really incredible. Um, you know, cuz he didn't have to. He could have just
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called up and say I saw the guy in my backyard, go get him. And but to bring him into your house. Well, Billy Rickman
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is eventually charged with aggravated first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty and the prosecution argued that
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Rickman had stalked and harassed Gloria in the days leading up to the murder. So, I have to say I found the map that
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showed Rickman's GPS coordinates from his cell phone and his pickup truck's system really convincing. Right. And the
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prosecutor, Karin Schnapp, she showed it all to us. Her presentation of how to She talked to the jury through his
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movements and it was like he was hunting her. He was following her around. He kept going back and forth to her
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parents' house. Prosecutors also pointed out that Rickman, he turned his phone off just for that time to then kill
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Gloria. But then when he got back to the motel, he turned it back on. So, that tells you a lot about, you know, he was
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trying to to not show where he was by disabling his phone in that time. Officer Casey Bents, from the Lakewood
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Police Department, she was one of the first responding officers and at trial she gave a real emotional testimony
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because, you know, when she responded, Gloria was wearing her lanyard from the Holiday Inn
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and she realized this is the same woman who had called us on these previous occasions and Officer Bents was one of
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the officers who responded to the previous incident of the tire slashing. And we should point out at trial the
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defense didn't call any witnesses. They didn't put Rickman on the stand. According to prosecutor Greer, the
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defense really argued that investigators failed to look for any other possible suspects. You know, defense has to work
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with what they have. It was 2 hours of deliberation and the jury found Billy Rickman guilty. He was sentenced to life
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in prison without the possibility of parole. Gloria's parents have filed a wrongful death suit on behalf of
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Gloria's son. And their lawyer says that the family believes Gloria would still be alive if Lakewood police had arrested
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Rickman when presented with the clear examples of how he had violated the no contact order. Right. And what's really
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interesting here is that same evidence from the homicide trial that the prosecution used, the family's attorney
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Megan Driscoll said, "This makes the case." This was [clears throat] again one of the most foreseeable and
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preventable tragedies. You know, the wrongful death lawsuit against Lakewood and its police department is still
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pending. It's unresolved as of now. The police department in the city has not publicly admitted that they made any
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mistakes. And John Justice, who is the attorneys representing the city and the Lakewood PD, said again that he can't
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comment on pending litigation. So this case is still before them. Of course. Of course.
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How is Gloria's son doing? Well, we know he is well supported. He is surrounded by his family.
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He now lives with Gloria's relatives in another state. Her family did leave Washington. And what about Breanna? She
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was a really powerful voice in this episode. She kind of brought Gloria to life for us.
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She clearly they had a very strong friendship and this had a huge impact on her. And Briana told us how much Gloria
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meant to her because when they met Briana had had some substance abuse issues that she was overcoming
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and Gloria saw through all of that. She told us that Gloria literally changed her life. She gave her that promotion at
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the hotel where they were working because Gloria was leaving her management position to go live with
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Billy Rickman and she said she wanted Briana to take over for her and I want to play a little bit more of our
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interview there with Briana. And I kind of looked at her and I was like why? Like I'm the last person you probably
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want running your hotel. >> [laughter] [snorts] >> Um and she told me that I've shown her
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grit and determination and that she trusted me 100% to run her parents' business.
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Regardless of what I'd done in my past, it didn't matter. She knew I was going to go far
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and she wanted to give me the opportunity to do it. And I remember [clears throat] looking
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at her and saying, "Is your dad okay with this?" >> [laughter] >> And she was, "I'll talk to him."
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But she believed in you. She did. Having somebody believe in you is is everything.
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Absolutely everything and I believed in her, too. I believed that she could find her own path.
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She was pretty excited to do it on her own. And she knew she could do it. And sadly she was just starting to find
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her own path when her life was tragically cut short. You know, Briana said that even with
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Billy Rickman, Gloria was choosing to see the good in everyone, to look past their flaws, to look past their demons
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and unfortunately that's ultimately what cost her her life. Absolutely. Um Natalie, another great hours. Thank
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you so much. Thank you, Anne Marie. If you like this episode, please rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.