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Real people, real crimes, real life drama. [Music] Brian Briminger was a typical Marine,
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[Applause] that kind of an all-American kind of persona. He was assigned to a color guard in
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Washington DC. There's pictures of him in the White House with President George W. Bush.
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From the outside looking in, it seemed like Brian Bringer had everything going for him.
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In 2011, after having served seven years in the Marine Corps, Brian Bringer leaves the Marines that he decides to go
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uh to Panama and his plan is to decompress uh take some time off. My sister was deeply in love with the
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man named Brian Brimager. All she wanted was to be with him and love him. They were so madly in love. I think she was
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very proud of him because he was a Marine. She used to say things like, "I'm with a Marine." Ivonne went down to
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Panama with Brian to start a new life. That's where Ivonne wanted to be. It was perfect. I am Michelle Valenuela and my
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sister is Ivon Baldelli. She liked to karaoke. She likes to dance. >> Did Ivon like it here?
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>> She love it here. just love it here. Places with cheap beers and happy hour. It's beautiful. She's got the water
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right in front of her house. >> Where are we right now? >> Okay, we're on Isla Carino in Boca
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Storo. This is the the house they were renting in. Uh Brian Buringer and Ivon Beli.
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>> Ivonne told her family members that everything was good. She painted a very happy picture through email. She made it
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seem like everything was fine and well. The reality of it was that her and Brimer were fighting constantly.
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>> After I'd heard stories of the fights, I could understand why she would want to
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leave. >> She fell off the radar screen. She just went away one day. Her email stopped.
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Her communication stopped. Everybody lost contact with her. There's no immigration records that indicates that
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she left Panama. >> There's no book for this. There's no book for dummies on what to do when your
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sister has gone missing. >> Carinero from the outside appears to be a tropical paradise, but it's a swampy
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hill. [Music] >> I call it devil's island because some terrible things took place on that
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island. >> Brian Brimager has done nothing, zero to help with the search for Ivonne. We are
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in Central America in some jungle in some swamp looking for Ivonne. That way in the middle is really deep. This is
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unbelievable. >> What no one knew is that Brian Bremer had a secret. He was living a double
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life. >> Brian Briminger moved to California, hooked up with Christian Workovven, and
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they got married. Christian worked at the White House and that's where she and Brian met.
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>> And his life is going on like normal and her life will never be the same. >> What did you do to her, Brian?
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>> We knew that there had been foul play. We knew he was the last one to see her
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alive. >> Brian's coming out with his golf clubs. >> Let's go, guys. >> And this is what I knew.
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>> Okay, you rolling. Let's go. >> My sister went down to Panama with Brian. Brian returned and my sister
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didn't. >> Brian Brimageer was exceptionally arrogant, but what he didn't account for
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was this family's fervor to find what happened to their daughter and their sister.
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>> Brian, Peter Vans with CBS News. We'd like to ask a couple questions. >> It's an easy thing to tell the truth.
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>> He told a lot of lies. That's what led to his demise. I'm Peter Vans. Tonight on 48 hours,
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Devil's Island [Music] [Applause] [Music] 48 hours. We'll be back in 90 seconds.
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[Music] In the spring of 2012, Brian Bremager was living the high life in Southern
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California. Just months removed from a decorated Marine Corps career, Brimer was happily married and living in the
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suburbs. >> When I look at the pictures of Brian and Kristen, I just see a couple in love and and
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super sincerely happy and just enjoying the day at the beach in La Hoya. >> These joyful, newlywed photos of Brian
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and Kristen Bremer were a shock to Ivonne Baldelli's family. They expected her to be in the picture.
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>> It wasn't their wedding day, but they came in their wedding attire in a limousine and champagne flowing.
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>> Photographer Jack English had no idea of the intrigue behind these happy images
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that Brian had proposed to Kristen just days after Ivonne disappeared in Panama.
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>> She looked very happy, very in love, as if she found her prince charming. Prince Charming, a man who had just left
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Ivon Baldelli in Panama two weeks earlier. How could this happen? We traveled to the remote islands off the
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Caribbean coast of Panama to find out. Up ahead is the island of Karanero, where Ivonne and Brian, who the locals
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called Brim, came to live in September 2011. It's a place where they could chase their dream.
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[Music] Why did they decide to go to Panama? >> She liked the fact that they could live
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on the beach. You know, pretty pretty reasonably priced down there. >> Ivonne's sister, Michelle Valenuela,
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says Brian wanted to become a singer, performing in bars and clubs. With her beloved dog, Georg, in hand,
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Ivonne brought two sewing machines in hopes of starting a clothing business. stepmother Lillian Fost.
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>> She was going to make bathing suits and sell them to tourists. I knew she was
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excited and she she didn't have any reservations. >> It sounded like she had a real plan for
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the future. >> She did. And she thought that she found her paradise, her perfect place.
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Michelle recalls how her younger sister Ivonne, recently divorced, was smitten with Brian when they first started
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dating in 2009 in Southern California. >> Didn't think she was physically attracted to him. That was a big part of
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it. >> And while Ivonne seemed to be falling in love with Brian, big sister Michelle
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wasn't so sure. as far as emotionally from my sister. Ivonne would put 100% into you and she would expect that back
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and I didn't get that impression that she was receiving that. That concerned me. She deserved that.
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>> After Ivonne was laid off from her management job with Proctor and Gamble and Brian ended his career in the
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Marines, the two decided to make a fresh start and reinvent themselves in Panama,
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settling in this house. They quickly fell in with the local expats. >> Did you think they were in love?
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>> Apparently, >> seems so. >> Joan and Steven Crabtree own the Cosmic Crab, a funky resort and waterfront bar
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where Brian would sing for his supper. >> He played here at the Cosmic Crab um couple of nights a week and they were
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frequent visitors here. >> They were very nice people. Penny Tom, owner of another waterfront bar, also
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let Brian play for food and free booze. Lots of booze. >> They used to drink a lot, so they were
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always happy. >> What's a lot? >> A lot. >> And Jim Merren says Brian's drinking may
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have gotten in the way of his singing. >> He played the guitar good, but when he
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started to sing, that's when it went away. >> What was it like? M like a hound dog on
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a porch. >> She looked very happy in the pictures and she was really enjoying herself
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there and I I knew it would be a place that she would like. For Ivon's father, Jim Foust, the constant stream of joyful
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phone calls and emails describing the couple's Panama adventures was reassuring.
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>> Ivon's emails were stories of exactly what her life was like down there. And I
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could picture it and I could close my eyes and it it was like I was there. I couldn't imagine the whole thing. emails
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like this one. >> She says, "Hi, sis. Brian, already working at local restaurants and bars.
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We love it. We wake up and go running then swim in the ocean every morning." >> And so Ivonne's family thought all was
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well in paradise and that Brian might be the one for Avon. >> I believed that they were going to get
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married. That's what I thought was going to happen when they got down there. But then, right around Thanksgiving
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2011, 3 months after they arrived in Panama, the happy emails and calls from Ivonne started to drop off. For
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Michelle, a sisterly instinct started to kick in. >> That's what set me off was the fact that
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um they were becoming less frequent, the emails from her, and then they stopped completely.
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>> Two weeks passed. Then on December 14th, Michelle finally got a text, but it wasn't from Ivonne.
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>> There was a number I didn't recognize, and a text message on there said, "This
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is Brian. May I make arrangements to pick up my truck?" >> Michelle was shocked. Brian was back in
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the US. >> I sat up, called that number for only thing out of my mouth was, "Where's my
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sister?" He says, "Didn't you get my email?" I said, "I haven't received any emails from anybody. It's been a few
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weeks. I said, "I'll call you back." So, I went to my computer. >> Michelle discovered an email she had
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overlooked. It was from Brian, who had never written before. >> The one from him stated, "I'm sure
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you've heard by now that Bonnie and I are no longer together." I called him right back. I asked him point blank,
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"What happened?" And he said they had got in a fight because she had found out that he had a child from somebody else.
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That's somebody else, Kristen Workhovven. The two had a baby girl in 2010. Since Ivonne was unable to have a
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child because of a medical condition, the discovery must have been earthshattering.
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Brian then said Ivonne just up and left. >> I said, "Did she leave a note?" "No."
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"Has she tried to call you since?" "No." "Do you know where she's at?" "No." And
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I said, "I haven't heard from her, Brian." and he said, "Well, I'm sure she's fine."
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>> But Michelle had her doubts about that story. And 10 days later, when Brian called and still wanted to pick up his
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truck, Michelle said she had another plan. >> I said, "When you come to pick up the
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truck, I'll be here. That's no problem. And I think it's a good idea that you go
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with me to the police department since you're the last one to see her and we can fill out a missing person's report
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because now we're already the mid December and I haven't heard anything from her and that's not right.
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Something's wrong. In December of 2011, Michelle Valenuela was still worried about her missing
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sister. So, she went back to her computer where she found another overlooked message. This one from
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Ivonne. >> Hi, sis. Just an update. Brian and I are no longer together. I should have
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trusted my instincts that he is a lying, cheating assh. I'm headed to Costa Rica
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with a man I met when we first got to Bokeas. >> What' you think when you read this
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email? >> I just wasn't sure. There's some things in there that didn't feel right to me.
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>> Her head was spinning. Could Ivonne really have run off with another man after learning that Brian had a love
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child? >> All Ivonne ever wanted to do was be a mother. That's all she ever wanted to do
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was be a mother. To find out that Brian had a child and you know she sold everything she had to go to the other
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ends of the world to be with his man. And he didn't tell her about that. I'm questioning what her mental state is
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right now. She's heartbroken. In upstate New York, Jim and Lillian Faustst also felt the turn of events was
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just so out of character for their daughter. >> For her life to change so abruptly and
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she's like, "Oh, well, I'm going with this guy and >> to Costa Rica." >> Costa Rica. That made absolutely
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positively no sense to me. >> Also making no sense, three weeks had passed since Ivonne had emailed from
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Panama. But then out of the blue, she sent a new email. It was strange. >> Miss you and everyone at home. I'm
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starting to get a little homesick. I'm working on plans to get home as early as the second week of January. I've been
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living with cliffhers for a while. Love you, sis. Ivonne. >> While strange, the email was also
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reassuring for her family, who was happy to learn Ivonne would soon return to California.
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>> So, I stopped worrying. I figured, okay, she knows that in January we're having a
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family get together. She's going to be there. Do you feel she's safe at this at this
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point? >> I was still worried, but I was satisfied with it for the moment. >> On the same day that email arrived, so
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too did Brian Briminger, knocking on the front door of Michelle's LA home to pick
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up his truck. >> What did you see on his face? What was his demeanor like? >> He was just in a hurry. He was calm. It
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was very brief. >> All business. >> Yes. >> Get his stuff, get his truck, >> and leave.
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After Brian got his pickup truck, Ivonne's emails stopped. 16 long days passed until on January 6th, 2012.
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Michelle wrote her sister. The subject worried. >> I just want to make sure you weren't
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kidnapped or someone pretending to be you. Haha. There's my paranoid, suspicious mind. Or maybe too many 48
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hours. >> Did you ever hear back from your sister again? No, that's the last email.
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>> Michelle was still hopeful that she would appear at that family reunion, but Avon never showed up.
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>> Well, at that point when we met up with my dad and I told him, "We haven't heard
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from her." He said, "Oh, no. Something's wrong. Something's wrong." And I told she did not leave Panama. That's just my
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feeling. By now, Michelle was convinced her sister never ran off to Costa Rica with
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another man. So, her instinct was to learn where Ivonne's emails were really coming from.
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>> So, I went to my cousin and asked them to please check it out cuz like I said,
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I haven't had I haven't got a clue. >> The cousin, a technology whiz, said tracking Ivonne's emails would be easy.
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All he needed was their IP addresses. So, we searched the emails Ivonne had supposedly sent from Panama and Costa
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Rica, as well as that email Brian had sent from near Dana Point, California. The cousin made a startling discovery.
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>> The ones from Panama came from Panama. And then the one that was supposed to be
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with her being in Costa Rica came from the United States. >> Where in the United States?
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>> One of them looked like they were coming from Dana Point. That email, Michelle
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says, originated from where Brian was now living near Dana Point, California. It was the evidence Michelle had been
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looking for. >> You were sharing the same IP address. >> So, Ivonne's email is coming from
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Brian's computer. >> Yes. >> The family's worst fear had come true. It appeared Brian had hacked into
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Ivonne's email account and was impersonating her. But why? That's when I knew that he did something to her. And
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>> it's not missing person, it's murder now. >> It's murder. I said, "My sister's dead
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and I'm never going to see her again." >> But Michelle had no time to mourn. She
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took that new evidence down to the FBI where she met with special agent Andrew Masters.
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>> Michelle Valenuela, she was a spitfire. When they brought that to us, we knew
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that there was absolutely foul play involved. The FBI immediately launched an investigation into Ivon's
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disappearance with Masters taking charge. Ivonne's family then contacted the State Department.
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>> I called the embassy and the embassy tells us there is no record of her ever leaving Panama and no record of her ever
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entering Costa Rica. >> Ivonne's family couldn't wait any longer. They traveled to Panama to find
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answers. The FBI made a move as well, targeting Brian Brimmer as a person of interest.
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>> Brian didn't realize what exactly the FBI is capable of. With the FBI investigation underway in
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the States, Ivonne's family met up with legendary investigator Don Wy in Panama City. Why
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is it when something goes bad with an American citizen in Panama, you get the phone call?
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>> I've already put away or helped to put away three serial killers. So when bad
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things happen, they know that to come to me when when they don't know what else to do.
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>> Winner is an ex US intelligence officer with an uncanny ability to solve murders. Jim and Lillian tell Dawn the
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story of their daughter's disappearance and Brian's claim that she's run off with another man.
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>> I think the chances that she's running around in Costa Rica somewhere with some
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other dude are damn near zero. >> Here's the deal. This is what happened. This is what we think is going on.
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>> It's not the first time Wy, a CBS News consultant, has worked on a case with 48
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Hours. >> All right, we're going to go take a look at this uh yellow triaran. >> The intrepid investigator helped solve
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the murder of American sailor Don North as 48 hours reported in 2011. >> Just on a personal side in all of this,
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can you believe you and I are doing this again? >> No, absolutely not. I tell you what, uh,
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it's it's it's it's amazing. >> Winner is convinced Brian Briminger is involved. His strategy put pressure on
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the Panameanian government to act. >> When Don Wy speaks, >> the people listen. Yeah.
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>> Winner's game plan also called for Jim and Michelle to give blood for DNA tests
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should any remains be found. And when Ivon's family travels hundreds of miles from Panama City to the tropical island
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where she disappeared, >> Ivon Lee Valdi, >> the Panameanian police are persuaded to
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hold a press conference to plead for information. >> The family has been experiencing living
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nightmare for quite a few months and we continue to appeal to anyone who knows absolutely anything about Ivon's
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disappearance to come forward. Panameanian police announced for the first time that Ivonne is the victim of
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foul play and named Brian Brimmer as the suspect. >> This news conference reverberated around
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the world. >> Police say within weeks of her disappearance, Brimager returned to the
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US, got engaged, and married another woman. Tonight, the FBI is calling him a person of interest. Riding the momentum
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of the press conference, they printed flyers, fanned out to neighborhoods, >> and the village, searching for their own
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clues. I own. >> It's a bittersweet search for Avon's niece, Lauren Byer, in a place that is
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no longer a paradise. There's nothing here for us until we find her. That's why we're here.
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>> But the family's quest is starting to get results. Witnesses who knew the couple come out of the woodwork,
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describing Brian's verbal and physical abuse. >> To me, he was a scary person. He was not
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the kind of person I wanted to be around. >> Local bar owner Jeff Salsman saw it
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firsthand on Ivon's face. As I recall, it was black eyes and and blackness around the face and and
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bruises. >> Was she self-conscious about it? >> She was trying to hide it and and not
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speak of it. >> It was very painful to learn that he had hit her, that she had bruises, that she
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had black eyes. Those things were very difficult to learn. >> The realization that Ivonne may have
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been murdered is setting in. >> Where could Ivon's body have been dumped? Well, just feet in front of that
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house, you've got thousands of square miles of water. While if you just go not 20 yards from the shoreline, this
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impeneterable swamp, try to find something in there. But that's exactly what Ivonne's family,
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investigators, and volunteers set out to do. Entering what could be Ivon's swampy
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graveyard. >> Describe this area that has to be searched. Just how difficult a place is
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it? >> Okay. It's jungle. It's tropical. So you have every kind of bug and critter that
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you can think of. Spiders and snakes and you know it's not a place to go slogging
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around through. Struggling through the muck, the spiders, and the rancid water. >> The smallest discovery raises hope.
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>> A purse, >> a medicine bottle, a mysterious sinkhole. >> I kept asking myself, I want to find
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Ivonne, but do I want to find Ivonne? I mean, I want to know where she is, but do I want
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to see her in these swampy areas? >> Then they find a passport. >> We find a US passport. Uh, the front
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page here. >> None of it is Ivon's. But back in the United States, the FBI confronted Brian
00:24:09
Brimager. >> We went and uh knocked on his door. He answered and invited us in. said that
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he was expecting us. >> FBI special agent Andrew Masters questioned Brian Briminger for more than
00:24:24
four hours while he babysat his young daughter. >> This is special agent Andrew Masters
00:24:30
along with special agent Gabriel Ramirez approaching apartment M in an attempt to
00:24:35
have a consensual monitored interview with Brian Bremer. We weren't sure if he was going to break down and confess to
00:24:43
having a part in her disappearance and murder or if he was going to become angry, if he was going to kick us out.
00:24:49
>> Brian stuck to his story. Ivonne left him for another man. >> I come back home and there was a note
00:24:57
that said, and I quote, um, "Going to Costa Rica with a man I've been talking to, um, fu."
00:25:06
But when confronted with Michelle's email evidence, Brian began to stumble. >> Brian, I'm just going to kind of lay it
00:25:13
out there, man. Um, the IP addresses are not coming back from Costa Rica or Panama.
00:25:18
>> Okay. >> They're coming back from >> here. >> Okay. So, here. >> Mhm. >> Okay. So, if she's not hanging out
00:25:26
around here, then somebody sent those emails, right? How did those emails get sent? Do you know anybody that would
00:25:33
have her email account hacked vendor her account? >> No. >> Then something caught Master's eye.
00:25:43
>> As soon as I walk in, I see a white Sony Vio, >> which is a computer. >> A laptop computer. Exactly. And we knew
00:25:48
that Ivonne owned a white Sony Vio laptop that she had taken with her to Panama.
00:25:52
>> What are you thinking? >> I'm thinking we may very well have Ivon's computer right here.
00:25:58
>> Master's hunch was spoton. It was Ivonne's computer, but why was it in Brian's condo? And would it help unravel
00:26:06
the mystery of Ivonne's disappearance? Take the journey with Ivon's family as they search the jungles of Panama now at
00:26:20
48our.com. Even though he was under the FBI's microscope, Brian Bremager remained a
00:26:38
free man, living with his family on the outskirts of San Diego. Kristen worked for a defense contractor, while Brian,
00:26:46
unemployed, spent much of his time golfing. >> Recognize that map? >> Yes, I do. That's Brian. In the summer
00:26:55
of 2012, we showed Ivonne's sister Michelle video of Brian's new life. >> What goes through your mind when you see
00:27:03
him? >> Well, honestly, it's not surprising now that I know what he's capable of. He
00:27:12
thinks he got away with murder. So, what you have here is a person killed my sister and can walk away
00:27:20
scot-free. >> Ready? Brian's come out with his golf club. >> Let's go, guys. >> Okay.
00:27:27
>> Just a few months after that FBI interview, we came face to face with the suspected killer.
00:27:35
>> Brian, Peter Vans with CBS News. We'd like to ask a couple questions. Would you please talk to us? Did you
00:27:43
murder Ivon Baldi? You can speak to us. You can answer that question. Ryan, why why won't you speak
00:27:51
with us? Did you have anything to do with her disappearance? >> While Brian heads off to enjoy another
00:27:58
carefree day on the Greens, >> the FBI was turning his life upside down, interviewing everyone he knew,
00:28:09
including his wife Kristen. >> What had Brian told her about why he was living in Panama? Uh he told Kristen
00:28:16
that he is going down to Panama to decompress from after leaving the Marine Corps and that he was going with some
00:28:21
Marine Corps friends. >> Did Kristen urged Brian to leave Ivonne? >> No. Kristen didn't even know Ivon
00:28:27
existed. >> So he lied to Kristen. >> Absolutely. >> Apparently all those lies didn't matter
00:28:33
to Kristen. >> According to her, Brian was the greatest thing to ever happen to anybody.
00:28:40
But that's something she didn't want to share with us when 48 hours knocked on her door.
00:28:52
>> Hi Kristen. Kristen, I'm Ryan with CBS News. Is there any way we can talk? Meanwhile, as special agent masters took
00:29:07
several investigative trips to Panama, a different portrait of Brian Bremager emerged.
00:29:13
>> We talked to uh many people that uh would socialize with him at bars. Uh and we learned about all the domestic
00:29:19
violence uh that uh that he brought upon her. Uh the choking, the the the dragging, uh the berating.
00:29:27
After speaking with friends and neighbors of Ivonne and Brian, special agent Masters became certain the couple
00:29:34
had a violent fight on November 26th, 2011. After Ivonne learned that Brian had fathered a child with Kristen, the
00:29:45
>> argument probably escalated and at some point Brian decided he was done with her
00:29:49
and he was going to kill her. Crucial evidence was also discovered on Ivonne's laptop. The very computer Master saw
00:29:57
when he first questioned Brian. About two weeks before her murder, Ivonne took this disturbing selfie.
00:30:05
>> That photo shows a massive black eye on her left eye and swelling in her left
00:30:10
cheek. >> In a way, from the grave, Ivonne helped you in this investigation. >> Ivonne helped us tell the story. Yes.
00:30:19
Absolutely. And there was more chilling evidence. >> We found the Yahoo searches in which he
00:30:25
searches how to uh remove blood from a mattress. >> When did he do that? >> He did that about 10:30 in the morning
00:30:32
the night after Ivonne was murdered. >> Masters discovered even more evidence in
00:30:39
Costa Rica where Brian is seen withdrawing cash from Ivonne's account. >> We were able to obtain those ATM photos.
00:30:46
So, we have Brian using the Ivon's debit card to extract money from her account.
00:30:51
>> And Master says there is no doubt that Brian used Ivon's laptop to send those
00:30:58
emails to her family. So, we went looking for Brian Bremer again to get answers.
00:31:05
>> Hey, Brian, I need to talk to you. How do you explain the fact that Ivonne's email that said she was in Costa Rica
00:31:13
that she sent to people was actually sent by you from here in California? Can you answer that?
00:31:21
You knew she was dead when you sent that email, didn't you? Brian, we really want you to talk to us.
00:31:27
Answer some questions. He's never said a word. Never said a word to us. He will not answer any
00:31:41
questions. And what about Ivonne's dog, Georgia May, which had not been seen since she
00:31:48
disappeared? Don Wy has a theory. >> He knew that she loved that dog and that if the dog was running around, he knew
00:31:56
that anything she said about her taking off with some guy to Costa Rica, everybody would immediately know it was
00:32:00
crap. So, he had to get rid of the dog, too. >> In his investigation, Don Wy unwittingly
00:32:07
found a key piece of evidence on Brian's Facebook page where he had sold this machete.
00:32:14
>> After Ivon disappeared, imager made a comment about that knife. He's like, "Yeah, that used to be mine. I brought
00:32:19
it down with me when I came down from the States." And the chilling part is he made a comment that said, "I've only
00:32:25
used it to chop up one stripper." That's just chilling. Special Agent Andrew Masters needs to get his hands on the
00:32:33
machete to see if it was used in Ivon's murder. Incredibly, he was able to track down
00:32:41
the person who bought it from Brian in Panama. >> This is the machete that Brian bought in
00:32:47
the United States and took down with him uh to Panama. >> Can you pick it up for me?
00:32:51
>> Sure. >> It's very heavy. Uh it's it's weighted and uh it would inflict a lot of damage.
00:32:59
Investigators had the machete. They had the email. And they had caught Brian in multiple lies. Soon, someone would
00:33:09
stumble upon the most important evidence of all. Don Wy shares some of the details of his
00:33:17
investigation now at 48 hours.com. [Music] We seek answers, justice, and help. >> Summer 2013.
00:33:40
Nearly 2 years have passed since Ivonne Baldelli's disappearance. >> You feel like you're reading a book, a
00:33:47
terrible mystery or murder mystery, and there's no end to it. On June 26th, 2013, the final chapter of
00:33:57
this mystery began to unfold. >> A former Marine who family members say murdered his girlfriend before
00:34:04
>> FBI special agent Andrew Masters slapped the cuffs on Brian Bremer. >> What did you say to him?
00:34:11
>> You're under arrest. Said, "Turn around. Put your hands behind your back." He needed to answer
00:34:16
for his crime. >> How did you learn that Brian had been arrested? Truth be told, I received a
00:34:22
text from my dad said they got the sob and I sat down and a sense of relief because now they believed us.
00:34:30
>> Brian Bremature was charged with 13 felonies relating to the cover up of Ivonne's death, but not murder.
00:34:38
Assistant US attorneys Shane Herrian and Mark Conover were lead prosecutors. At that point, without having found the
00:34:46
body, we didn't have quite enough to bring in the murder charge. But that would soon change.
00:34:54
>> Human remains have been found on a Panameanian island. >> A local worker clearing some brush on
00:35:00
the island where Brian and Ivonne lived, came upon this duffel bag. >> And when he unbuckled the clasp, he
00:35:08
found Ivon's uh skeletonized remains. By the time she was found two years later,
00:35:12
she it was only bones. >> A DNA test confirmed it was Ivonne. Her remains were found just a few
00:35:21
hundred yards from where the family had spent days searching. >> I wanted to tell Michelle personally.
00:35:28
>> When I first heard the possibility that they found Ivonne, my first reaction was
00:35:32
for me it's good news because I just feel good. We can nail this bastard. While the family's prayers had been
00:35:38
answered, an autopsy confirmed the hellish fact that Ivonne had been dismembered.
00:35:44
>> This is the actual device that was used to dismember Ivonne. >> The most likely cause of death was being
00:35:54
stabbed in the back at least twice. Despite overwhelming evidence and proof that Bremature had repeatedly lied, his
00:36:07
wife Kristen continued to stand by him. >> Kristen, may I ask, do you still believe
00:36:13
in your husband's innocence? Can you just tell us that? >> Don't touch the camera.
00:36:21
>> Then for Ivonne's family, another cruel tragedy struck in the spring of 2014.
00:36:29
Michelle, who had dedicated her life to finding justice for her sister, now faced another deadly enemy. She was
00:36:39
diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. >> I'm still alive to fight for my life,
00:36:44
and I'm still alive to fight for my sister. >> This was Michelle in June of 2014.
00:36:53
And this was her just 3 months later. Today, uh, we're going I'm going to be giving a dip position.
00:37:05
>> Weakened by cancer and given just weeks to live. >> Do you saw me swear or firm?
00:37:10
>> Michelle, a crucial witness, agreed to tell her story while she still could. Brian Bremer would sit directly across
00:37:20
from her. >> I'm going to try to ignore him as best I can. And who is Brian Brimmer?
00:37:29
>> The defendant. >> Do you see him in the courtroom here today? >> Yes, I do. >> Would you please point to him and
00:37:35
describe where he is seated for the record? >> He's sitting at the end tacky outfit.
00:37:43
Dan >> Michelle passed out after the exhausting testimony. It was a courageous act of
00:37:50
love for her sister. This might be the last thing I get to do for her over and over and over again because
00:38:00
it'll be on camera forever. >> Days later, she died. It took years of diplomatic and legal
00:38:13
wrangling, but in early 2015, the government of Panama finally agreed to let Brian be tried for murder on
00:38:22
American soil. >> We came to the conclusion that the only way that Brian Brimer would face justice
00:38:28
for his murderous act is if he was charged and convicted here in the United States.
00:38:32
>> Brian pleaded not guilty. The case was heading for trial in 2016 when investigators made another dramatic
00:38:41
discovery. Ivonne's blood and DNA were found under the machete's handle. >> So these three screws were undone.
00:38:53
>> Mhm. >> The handle opens up and inside they find blood. >> Right. They removed these three and just
00:38:58
pulled it out here and conducted the testing on the blade and the inferior portion of the handle and found blood.
00:39:05
>> Whose blood? >> Ivons. >> Ivon Baldelli. >> Ivon Baldelli. >> This now is a slam dunk. You know that
00:39:11
this is the tool used to dismember her. >> It was that that made Brian finally realize he was not going to get out of
00:39:17
the he was not going to lie his way out. >> It's over. >> It's done. >> He had cleaned the blade, but he hadn't
00:39:23
cleaned underneath the handle. And it was that additional evidence that I believe eventually led Mr. Brimager to
00:39:29
plead guilty. >> Within a week, Brimer pleaded guilty to seconddegree murder while the other
00:39:37
charges were dropped and later at his sentencing finally admitted after nearly 5 years of lies to killing Ivon
00:39:46
Baldelli. And I think if you look up in the dictionary, evil, and you see Brian's picture in there, he's the
00:39:52
ultimate carnet of evil in my mind. >> In open court, Brimager apologized to Ivon's family, but his words rang
00:40:01
hollow. >> Brian Brimager is a con artist. He had our daughter conned. He had his new wife
00:40:08
conned. He had her family conned. He was able to live a double life, sometimes a
00:40:13
triple life. and people buy what he says, but his actions show that he's not the person he says that he is. Brian was
00:40:23
sentenced to 26 years in federal prison. [Music] With the case over, Ivonne's remains
00:40:36
were returned to her family. and laid to rest at sea [Music] >> to get her remains back and be able to
00:40:55
give her a dignified resting place. I can sleep better at night knowing that she's not rotting in some jungle or deep
00:41:02
in the ocean somewhere. Knowing that she loved the ocean, knowing that we were able to put her in a place that she
00:41:07
loved. We brought her home and I know that that was thanks to a lot of work of a lot of unsung heroes. I know
00:41:24
in a way two people were honored this day. Ivonne and her beloved sister Michelle who battled a Marine to the end
00:41:35
and won. She's definitely a hero. She never gave up. To her dying day, she gave all she
00:41:41
had. Kristen and Brian Brimager are still married. She continues to support and visit him in federal prison. Brimager's
00:41:55
prison term ends in February 2037. Help [Music] us solve this crime. It was a savage
00:42:12
murder. A stunning model. >> She was quite the trophy. >> Married to a multi-millionaire.
00:42:21
This is where the asalent got her from behind, knocked her to the ground. >> They slid her throat.
00:42:28
>> 8 years no arrest. And there are no fingerprints. >> No, nothing at all. >> There are clues. The sketch.
00:42:37
>> Who is this? >> Is this the guy that murdered my sister? >> The letter. >> I know that was a shock. Cut out in
00:42:43
little bitty individual different letters. I mean, why are you talking to me? >> I want to find out who murdered my
00:42:49
sister. >> CBSN CBS News always on. [Music] I'm no different than any other teenager
00:43:10
in America. I love my family and my friends, my two dogs and my cat. I love writing.
00:43:24
I love reading. Despite me trying to be a normal teenager, someone does want me dead.
00:43:33
[Music] This is the picture of me, a description of me, where I lived, where I worked,
00:43:52
that Mastermind 365 posted about me >> on the Murder for Higher website. >> Yes.
00:43:58
>> Hi, my name is Ura. We have hundreds of gang members, criminals, and people who
00:44:04
love to kill for money. They are anonymous. You are anonymous. So come and get rid of those nasty
00:44:16
problems. >> This is deadly serious. This is talking about the murder of a human being.
00:44:25
>> It definitely changed my life. I kept looking over my shoulder. I didn't know
00:44:29
who I could trust. I could be killed on my way to work. I could be killed on my way home from school. And that terrified
00:44:37
me. >> You can submit your orders to kill the people you hate. >> We've got some significant leads on who
00:44:54
Euro might be. >> Do you think you're getting close? >> Yeah, absolutely. [Music]
00:45:00
As a dark web intelligence analyst, my job is to uncover that which is hidden. >> Is there a chance as I look up on your
00:45:10
screen that may be our guy? >> Everyone can be found. You're a can be found. So, we are literally a car ride from
00:45:26
where we're talking right now to where you believe Ura actually lives. >> Yes. We're going to make a left at the next
00:45:35
street. Go slower. Go slower. Go slower. >> Where's the house? >> It's this one right here. Yeah, it's
00:45:42
this house right here where Yora might presently live. >> Man, my heart is racing.
00:45:49
>> That's I'm alive. Go. >> Are you Europe? >> Stop recording right now. [Music]
00:46:32
[Music] late. On a frigid night in February 2019, 18-year-old Alexis Stern was driving near her hometown of Big Lake,
00:46:53
Minnesota, when she says she noticed a white van in her rear view mirror. >> So, we started driving around town,
00:47:02
taking detours, >> but the van stuck with her. In a growing panic, she called authorities, who later
00:47:10
located and spoke with the van's driver. He claimed he was lost. He didn't know where he was.
00:47:19
>> You have no doubt you were being followed, right? >> Yeah. >> Alexis had every reason to be worried
00:47:26
because of something that had happened just months earlier when out of nowhere the police had called her.
00:47:33
>> "We have to talk to you. It's dire and you need to come now." >> "It's dire," he said.
00:47:38
>> Yes. He said it was urgent. I had no idea what to expect. Did someone die? Is someone hurt? Like, am I
00:47:46
in trouble? >> When Alexis arrived at the police station, she got stunning news.
00:47:52
>> He was just like, I think you should sit down. Someone put a hit out on you and
00:47:56
they want you dead. I was like, this is a joke, right? >> It was not a joke. On the dark web,
00:48:06
someone using the alias mastermind 365 had gone to a hitman for hire sight and paid about $5,000 worth of Bitcoin for
00:48:17
Alexis to be assassinated. Giving chilling details >> where I lived, where I worked, my
00:48:25
picture of me, a description of me, everything. >> FBI and Homeland Security agents soon
00:48:31
got involved. Although many dark web sites are scams, Alexis knew someone out there wanted her dead.
00:48:39
>> And that terrified me. >> Authorities promised to investigate. The aspiring horror book author had read
00:48:46
about the dark web, a hidden online marketplace where criminality ranging from human trafficking to illegal
00:48:55
weapons is advertised for sale, even murder. The more you start to dig, the darker it
00:49:03
starts to get. >> It was in 2017 that 48 Hours first investigated dark web murder for Hire.
00:49:10
The next year, we exposed about 20 active murder plots. Police received a tip from the CBS news program 48 hours.
00:49:21
48 hours alerted law enforcement, leading to arrests in two states and two foreign countries. Our
00:49:31
investigation also led us to this mysterious figure known as Ura, who has been operating Hitman's sites for about
00:49:40
5 years. We don't know his real name or location, but he sent us these video diaries.
00:49:48
>> I am doing this video diary entry to give you official statements. Looking for criminals on the dark web
00:49:58
is not for the faint of heart. >> For most of her career, this woman has lived in the shadows.
00:50:05
>> I was a member of the intelligence community. >> Now, she's a CBS News consultant who we
00:50:11
hired to help us look for Ura. What makes it challenging is this isn't your traditional law enforcement
00:50:18
investigation where there's DNA and there's fingerprints and a weapon and a a crime scene.
00:50:26
>> Lisa, as we'll call her, has altered her appearance for this interview. >> In the world of the dark web, DNA is
00:50:34
email addresses, usernames, passwords. >> Lisa analyzed Ura's writings. His English is very good.
00:50:43
>> But she says the evidence suggests he is foreignb born and doesn't work alone.
00:50:49
>> There's definitely some support. >> She says the murder for hire sites are all about making big money and that she
00:50:57
found millions of dollars of profits in an online account she believes is linked
00:51:03
to URA. >> Upwards of I think 5 million. Apparently, about $5,000 of those profits was allegedly paid to kill
00:51:13
Alexis Stern. When her parents found out, they weren't taking any chances. >> You left Minnesota.
00:51:20
>> Yes. We just started driving. >> It was scary. >> But who would want her dead? Alexis
00:51:30
thought she knew. Back in 2016, she was a high school sophomore struggling with her
00:51:37
self-esteem. She was just 15 when a friend introduced her to an older man online.
00:51:45
>> I ended up meeting a guy named Adrien. >> Adrien Fry. >> Yes, Adrien Fry. >> She was intrigued to learn that Adrien
00:51:53
Fry lived in England. >> I was always partial to British accent, so I thought it was kind of a bonus.
00:52:00
>> Adrien was 20. He said he was training to be an accountant and liked to stream
00:52:05
video games online. His screen name Rocket Wind. >> What is up ladies and gentlemen? My name
00:52:13
is Rocket Wind and welcome to another uh patch notes. >> I wanted to have a boyfriend and it was
00:52:19
the perfect opportunity. >> In August of 2016, Fry flew to Minnesota and got a hotel room near her house.
00:52:29
>> This is Adrien right here. Yes. >> Do your parents have any idea this is going on?
00:52:34
>> No, they had no idea. >> The two began a relationship. Alexis had just turned 16.
00:52:42
>> He was already pretty much talking about getting married. Honestly, he he was
00:52:46
100% set on being with me. >> Adrien Fry visited Alexis twice more in the summer of 2017 and in the spring of
00:52:55
2018. She says her feelings were changing. >> He really started trying to control my
00:53:02
normal everyday life. >> They had considered themselves a couple for about 2 years when Alexis told
00:53:10
Adrien it was over. >> He freaked out. He did not like that at all. It was a lot of pleading, a lot of
00:53:16
begging. >> A few months later, when she told him she had a new boyfriend, she says he
00:53:23
became angry. pretty much saying you deserve everything horrible that happens to you.
00:53:28
>> Do you sense that he's basically sending you a message >> 100%. >> And what is that message
00:53:34
>> that it's not going to end that great for me? [Music] Someone could sneak into the house and
00:53:53
kill me. I could be killed on my way home from school. >> We asked Alexis Stern to read the
00:54:01
disturbing emails between the person who wanted her dead, cenamed mastermind 365
00:54:09
and Ura, the alleged murder for hire kingpin on the dark web. [Music] >> I can see on your website that the
00:54:18
services you offer are murder, assault, arson. A kidnapping is the job that I had in mind.
00:54:26
>> Mastermind 365 sent this picture of Alexis to Ura. Then for some reason about a week later, he
00:54:34
upgraded his order from kidnapping to I would just like this person dead. >> I would just like this person to be shot
00:54:43
and killed. [Music] It was another cold and clinical Minnesota hit order that triggered our
00:54:53
original dark web murder for hire investigation. In 2016, a 43-year-old dog trainer named
00:55:01
Amy Allwine was killed in nearby Cottage Grove. Police questioned her husband, Steven.
00:55:10
>> We're a normal family. There's nothing nothing unique, nothing strange. [Music]
00:55:16
Like mastermind 365, Steven Alwine had paid Ura thousands of dollars to arrange a hit.
00:55:26
When it didn't happen, Alwine took matters into his own hands and shot his wife in the head.
00:55:34
In 2018, he was convicted of murder. >> Do you have any doubt in your mind who put out the contract on your life? I
00:55:45
have no doubt in my mind that it is Adrien Fry. >> Adrien Fry, her ex-boyfriend from
00:55:52
England. When she saw the kill order dated July 15th, she says the timing suddenly made sense to her.
00:56:00
>> What had happened the day before, July 14th, >> that is when I told Adrian that I was
00:56:08
dating someone else. >> And it wasn't just the timing of the hit order. She says it was the language,
00:56:15
too. >> It sounds very British. I would just like this person dead, but if there's
00:56:20
any more information you would like, inbox me. I don't know anyone in America that uses the term inbox me. Adrien, on
00:56:28
the other hand, often would say that. Alexis noticed mastermind 365 sometimes referred to himself with a lowercase I.
00:56:41
She says when Adrien wrote her, he did the same thing. She also saw that mastermind 365 wrote thank you as one
00:56:50
word. In Adrienne's messages to her, he'd done that, too. It's a quirk that would become more significant later in
00:56:58
our investigation. And there was more. >> Mastermind 365 Ti. My problem is that I
00:57:06
don't currently have an extra 5 grand, but I will have it in about a week's time. This part is from Adrien to me. If
00:57:13
there is a chance you may like me in years time, then I will happily wait. >> The phrases weeks time and years time
00:57:22
are common in British English. In writing them, both Mastermind 365 and Adrien Fry had left off an apostrophe.
00:57:32
>> So, there's a couple of phrases that matches Adrienne's patterns. >> Yes. She also realized mastermind 365 seemed
00:57:43
to have grown impatient with Ura over time. And that's when she saw one particular message that sent a shiver up
00:57:51
her spine. >> Do you guys sell guns? I need a pistol with a silencer. [Music] >> He's asked you to help him get a gun
00:58:00
with a silencer. >> Mhm. >> What does that tell you? It sounds like he is willing to take matters into his
00:58:08
own hands if it doesn't get done. >> Just like Steven Wine. And that's what worries our dark web
00:58:15
expert Lisa. She believes Ura's websites are a scam and that frustrated clients may be moved to violence.
00:58:25
The fact that he's a scammer as opposed to an actual hitman for hire provider um
00:58:33
does not remove the fact that he is a threat or is a criminal. >> There are people out there who believe
00:58:39
it is a real hitman website. >> Alexis Stern says after more than a year with little apparent progress on her
00:58:49
case, she became frustrated and agreed to try her luck with us. I decided I might as well take a chance and see what
00:58:57
48 hours can help me with. >> Give me a second. >> She is determined to see justice catch
00:59:03
up to the man she says ordered her murder and the person who promised to arrange it.
00:59:11
>> Lisa, we have always thought in our investigation that you're a mustave overseas. Are we right?
00:59:17
>> No, Peter might live right here in New York City. The Hitman marketplace is like any other
00:59:40
auction site. It brings customers and vendors together. >> He's still out there somewhere. The
00:59:48
cyber ghost Ura still uncatchable in a hidden world. Still a confounding mystery.
00:59:56
>> Customers, >> it's probably no surprise that our global manhunt for Europe began on a
01:00:04
computer. >> So, I ventured into a very strange place for the first time in my life, the dark
01:00:10
web. >> In 2018, we wrote to him on his website asking for an interview. Much to our
01:00:16
surprise, he agreed to sit down with us on camera in London. We were already there to interview a
01:00:28
self-styled cyber crime researcher named Chris Montero, who'd been monitoring URA
01:00:34
and his hitman sites for more than 3 years. >> And sort of people attracted to the
01:00:39
website are very, very nasty individuals. So, we've flown from New York to London,
01:00:46
rented this studio. You can see the lights behind me for the big interview, and we even brought in a master of
01:00:52
disguise who's going to camouflage Ura's face. Now, all we need is him. The elusive Ura never showed up,
01:01:03
claiming we could have been followed by police, but he did start sending us those video statements. We will be
01:01:10
waiting for you to come place your orders and get rid of your problems. >> Eura, who seems to enjoy taunting 48
01:01:17
hours, sent us this email in June 2019. Unfortunately, after your show, the business has decreased tremendously.
01:01:30
People concluded that the site is a scam. Ura even claimed he's going legit, moving away from the murder for higher
01:01:38
sites into the real world. I opened a restaurant business and I live nice. Lisa, our dark web expert, doubts Ura
01:01:49
has left his criminal past behind. >> He's still very much in business. >> He's still working.
01:01:55
>> Absolutely. And as the cases of Amy Olwine and Alexis Stern show, even if Ura's hitman sites are scams,
01:02:05
the customers paying him to have people killed are horrifyingly real. >> A lot of people want other people
01:02:14
killed. >> Correct. >> All across the United States >> and the world. Yes. >> Lisa is determined to unmask Europe.
01:02:24
Everyone can be found. Yura can be found. >> And she quickly spotted her first clue.
01:02:33
A massive trail of hacked digital data. Digging through that treasure trove, Lisa believes she's unearthed a few gold
01:02:41
nuggets. >> Hi, this is her again. >> Including Ura's likely password from one of his early Murder for Higher sites. In
01:02:51
this case, we've got this very unique password of Frenza 22. >> F R U N Z A 22. So, this sounds like a
01:02:59
lead. >> From a digital forensics perspective, this is a huge lead. >> Lisa immediately launched a worldwide
01:03:06
search across the dark web and the regular internet for that password possibly linked to Europe.
01:03:14
In a matter of hours, she zeroed in on two hits from different sides of the planet.
01:03:22
>> Just on the Google search, friends of 22 actually led us to Moldova of all places.
01:03:32
>> The Republic of Muldova, a former Soviet state in Eastern Europe. There's a village here called Franza. It's also a
01:03:41
common last name. Frenza 22 gave us all this intelligence with which to work with and narrow down who Euro possibly
01:03:49
could be. >> Lisa discovered that the online seller of this car in Muldova had also used
01:03:56
Franza 22. >> Could there be a link? >> The license plate for this car obviously
01:04:02
gives us more information. >> Do you have an answer yet as to who owns this vehicle?
01:04:06
>> Unfortunately, we do not. We're coordinating with people on the ground in Muldova to see who this car is
01:04:12
actually registered to. >> But the most compelling clue, Lisa says, connects Yura's possible password to a
01:04:20
standard email address here in the United States. >> I was able to identify that with a very
01:04:28
high probability with an older Russian woman in New York. Lisa thinks the woman could be Ura's
01:04:39
relative. The cyber search for Ura and his anonymous dark web connections will involve a tedious, time-consuming
01:04:48
process of following digital breadcrumbs. >> One piece of evidence stands on its own
01:04:56
and you look at it as a breadcrumb and you try to chase that for a bit and then you find another breadcrumb.
01:05:03
And collectively, when you start to add all of these things up, you have a higher confidence assessment.
01:05:10
>> I keep my identity private. Everything that could help with recognition. >> As our global hunt for Eura intensifies,
01:05:22
we're reminded that his borderless reach from the bottom of the internet has left
01:05:27
shattered lives in his wake. Amy Allwine murdered and others marked for death living in
01:05:38
perpetual fear. There are people around the world in danger and I had to do something about it. What Chris Montero
01:05:46
did was secretly hack into Europe's websites, dredging up disturbing emails from clients, ordering grizzly hits,
01:05:56
and passing them on to 48 hours. We immediately informed law enforcement. Three cases we investigated in 2018 in
01:06:07
Illinois, Tennessee, and California have led to explosive conclusions. Do you understand the terror that you have
01:06:15
caused? >> Woodidge, Illinois. Tina Jones, a registered nurse, got involved with a
01:06:24
married colleague. When he ended the affair, she allegedly paid Ura about $12,000
01:06:31
to kill the man's wife. >> 188 Tina Jones and approaching the bench. This was a nurse, someone who saves lives.
01:06:43
>> Truth really is stranger than fiction. >> So, >> Woodridge Police Sergeant Daniel Murray
01:06:49
acting on the 48 hours tip brought a chillingly calm Tina Jones in for questioning.
01:06:56
>> The easier it'll go for everybody involved. So, I'm just going to ask you right now.
01:07:00
>> Did you make any threat or did you try to have somebody do something on your behalf to Jeff's wife?
01:07:06
>> No. >> Okay. You sure about that? >> Yeah. Pause. >> You buying it? >> No. >> Why not? She just doesn't come off as
01:07:15
believable. >> I I really don't know. >> Okay. >> Moments later, the truth. >> What you got to tell me now?
01:07:23
>> I did. >> You did? >> Yeah. >> Tina Jones just pleaded guilty to attempted firstdegree murder in
01:07:33
>> August 2019. Tina Jones learned her fate. She will spend the next 10 years in prison.
01:07:40
>> 418 Alpha Center. >> 48 Hours also tipped off detective Michael Olry in Clarksville, Tennessee,
01:07:48
[Music] who broke the news to then 22year-old Sydney Miner. >> I got you. >> A single mom.
01:07:58
>> Someone went on uh the dark web. There is a murder for hire uh website and someone has paid to have you murdered.
01:08:08
>> What? >> What? >> Sydney, who was pregnant with her second child, quickly identified the father of
01:08:18
her unborn baby as a suspect. Brandon states Cydney says he had pressured her to get an abortion.
01:08:27
>> He's married. Didn't know it at the time. The only person in our mind was Brandon States
01:08:33
>> because because it was his child and she refused to get rid of the child. >> Brandon States eventually pleaded guilty
01:08:41
to attempted premeditated murder. In March 2019, the Army specialist was sentenced by a military court to 15
01:08:50
years in Fort Levvenworth. By his final court hearing, Sydney had given birth to a little girl named
01:08:59
Sailor. Brandon States asked to meet his daughter before going to prison. Cydney
01:09:05
reluctantly agreed and handed the little girl to the man who had paid money to kill them both.
01:09:13
>> Give me a sense of what was going through your mind at that moment. >> Fear. A lot of fear.
01:09:21
She had to meet him in a courtroom with police officers and armed guards. I told him, "I'll never forgive you for
01:09:31
what you've done." >> Around the same time in St. Louis, Abyspo, California, >> this man awaits trial.
01:09:46
>> We know that you wanted your stepmother murdered, but we don't know why. Why did
01:09:50
you do it? [Music] In late 2019, Bo Bighgam, a one-time YouTube star. >> I never did it for the money. I did it
01:10:10
cuz I had a lot of time on my hands, >> is on trial for solicitation of murder after 48 hours tipped authorities to his
01:10:19
case. In 2018, Bighgam allegedly had paid Ura to arrange the assassination of his
01:10:27
stepmother. During questioning by detectives, he seemed to acknowledge ordering the hit.
01:10:33
>> I remember going on some stupid site and I was in a rage just sending a bunch of
01:10:41
stuff. >> I do not deny he went to the site. I absolutely deny that he had any intention whatsoever of hurting his
01:10:49
stepmother. Defense attorney Elon Funky Belu says Brighgam wasn't serious. Evidence shows Bighgam paid less than $3
01:10:59
in Bitcoin toward the $5,000 hit. >> If there was true intent, it wouldn't stop at $2.95.
01:11:09
>> After nearly 3 weeks of testimony, it takes the jury 7 hours to find Bighgam guilty of solicitation of murder. and a
01:11:19
month later. >> So, I just came out of the courtroom. He was sentenced to just three years in
01:11:25
state prison. >> But with credit for time served, he was released in January 2020.
01:11:33
[Applause] [Music] Alexis Stern is frustrated that in her case, there hasn't even been an arrest.
01:11:44
48 hours tracked her ex-boyfriend Adrien Fry to this house in the city of Bath, England. And we're watching the place.
01:11:54
So far, he hasn't emerged. >> The Hitman Marketplace is like any other auction site.
01:12:01
>> The man who took the kill order Adrian allegedly made is still at large, too.
01:12:07
But Lisa says finding Ura may partly depend on exposing and flipping the people who work with him.
01:12:15
>> Everyone has a network, right? >> We uncovered information about an important thread in Ura's web.
01:12:23
[Music] A thread stretching all the way to the sprawling city of Kolkata, India. And a computer
01:12:32
contractor named Santo Sharma. Ura contracted Santa Sharma to assist him with digital marketing and promotion of
01:12:42
>> Eura had become so brazen he actually was promoting his dark web sites on the
01:12:48
regular internet by hiring a marketing specialist. Our producer in India Arshad Zar spent
01:12:56
weeks looking for Chararma >> but we managed to track down both his addresses. We tipped authorities who summoned
01:13:07
Chararma to the police station. After they questioned him, Chararma agreed to an interview with us. We asked him about
01:13:15
the sites he created on the regular internet to advertise Ura's sites on the dark web.
01:13:22
>> What are the websites then you created for him? >> I have created murder forhire.com,
01:13:27
besamafia.com, hire ahitman.com. He insisted he was just an everyday internet marketer hired on a freelance
01:13:36
job. >> Have you ever spoken to him? >> No. Um I just chat with him, chat and email. I have asked her phone number how
01:13:45
he didn't send me. >> He said they're not in touch at all anymore and that he doesn't know Yura's
01:13:52
real name or location, but wishes he did because Ura scammed him, too. Urus still
01:13:59
owes him about $400 and um and and he has been trying to get in touch with him uh asking for the
01:14:08
money. >> Sharma was released without charges, but hacker Chris Monttero says Ura's
01:14:15
operations took a body blow. >> The work of 48 hours investigating Santos Sharma in India that was very
01:14:22
important in shutting down his advertising operations. Lisa wants to see Ura shut down
01:14:29
completely. >> And she believes she's getting close to finding him. >> And it'll be right up here, right on the
01:14:36
right. I'm going to drop my head down. My heart is racing. >> And we're closing in on Adrien Fry, too.
01:14:49
He lives in this house west of London. >> Here we go. Let's see what happens. Hey, good evening.
01:14:59
[Music] [Applause] We staked out Adrien Fry's house in England. The young man Alexis believes
01:15:17
ordered her murder and asked Ura about obtaining a gun. 4 days it seemed like nobody was home. Then one night in
01:15:27
February 2020, take a look at this. A car has pulled up in front of the house. So, we're going to head over now and go
01:15:35
knock on the door. Go. Let's see what happens and see if we can speak face to face
01:15:45
with Adrien Fry. >> Hey, good evening. My name is uh Peter Vansen. I was wondering if Adrien's
01:15:52
here. >> Adrienne's brother answered the door saying Adrien was visiting friends. He
01:15:58
gave us the name of a nearby town and we went to check it out but couldn't find him.
01:16:06
>> Would you ever meet with Adrien Fry again? >> Not unless he's behind bars. >> But that now seems unlikely. In November
01:16:17
2019, Alexis Stern received a letter from the FBI saying the case was being closed because the United States
01:16:26
Attorney's Office has declined to prosecute. >> But authorities never explained why the
01:16:32
case was dropped and refused to tell 48 Hours what, if anything, they had ever done to investigate Adrien Fry or Ura.
01:16:42
to all law enforcement. Just try and close our side if you can. >> In our own two-year global search for
01:16:50
Europe, >> we'd been stood up in the UK. >> What? What did he say? >> I don't think he's coming.
01:16:58
>> Found Europe's marketing guru in India. >> I have created murder forhire.com. Besa
01:17:04
mafia.com. but not Ura himself and hit a dead end with that car ad in Muldova where we had hired a local
01:17:15
researcher to track down the owners. Lisa now believes it's just a coincidence that Frenza 22 appeared in
01:17:24
the car ad. >> There's no direct correlation. In January 2020, we followed Lisa's lead
01:17:34
to a woman in New York City, who Lisa now believes is Ura's mother-in-law. >> We've just left Manhattan. Where are we
01:17:41
heading? >> Queens. Maybe we'll find Ura. >> I hope so. >> It took 3 months of digging through
01:17:48
digital clues for Lisa to uncover what she calls strong evidence against the man she now believes is Ura. It includes
01:17:58
a link to that unusual password, Franza22. And 48 hours discovered an email address
01:18:06
that included gun and killer connected to the man Lisa found in New York City. >> It was enough to make me pause when I
01:18:14
saw that email address. Lisa believes the man had moved to the US from overseas in the 1990s and now owns a
01:18:23
large repair business, registered some kind of tech company, and most recently bought a restaurant.
01:18:31
>> I have high confidence that this man is very likely. >> What's that confidence level if you put
01:18:39
it in a percentage? >> 75 to 80, which is in intelligence terms quite high. Lisa says there's no such thing as 100%
01:18:48
certainty on the secretive dark web. That's why we decided not to name the man or show his face.
01:18:58
And we're in a position where we can take a look down a sidewalk and see if he approaches.
01:19:03
>> We spotted him on a public sidewalk. >> That's him. Go. >> Hey, how you doing? I'm Peter Vans with
01:19:13
CBS News and we have uh some questions that we'd like to get answered if we if we may.
01:19:18
>> Sure. >> That's him. >> Our investigation of Murder for Hire on the dark web has led us here and I want
01:19:26
to ask you, are you Ura? >> Who? >> Ura. My name is >> Yura is a person who runs has run
01:19:38
various Murder for Hire uh sites on the dark web. >> What are you talking about? Can you
01:19:45
explain yourself? >> I then asked him about Franza 22, that potentially incriminating password.
01:19:52
>> How do you explain that on the Basa Mafia website the administrator uses a password frenza 22? Lisa says to pay
01:20:01
special attention to the man's reaction after I mentioned the password. >> The minute you hit him with the evidence
01:20:08
that is the key piece of evidence in this case, >> the password, he immediately then shuts
01:20:13
down and starts going, "No, no, no, no. I don't want to be here." >> He then did something I've never seen
01:20:18
before. >> Before we start anything, I want to make sure the whole world knows what's going
01:20:23
on. He started streaming our conversation live on Facebook where he began speaking
01:20:29
more to his followers than to me. >> What's up guys? >> Something is going on. I got some guys
01:20:36
over here. >> This in itself is taking control of the communication. He wants his words and
01:20:42
his voice to be heard and not yours. >> You can answer my question. >> There's no euros here. We also tried to
01:20:49
ask the man about another striking similarity between him and Yura in the real world.
01:20:56
>> Well, Eura wrote us and said that he recently taken his money and opened a new restaurant
01:21:01
>> right now, >> which you've done that. >> And what restaurant are you talking about again?
01:21:06
>> This restaurant not far from where we met him. He opened the place in 2018. Just 6 months later, Ura wrote 48 hours
01:21:16
that he had done the same. >> Do you run these murder for hire websites? >> He's calling me some stupid names. Stop
01:21:23
recording right now. >> As his anger grew, >> I'm going to smack the out of your
01:21:27
camera right now. I'm telling you, >> the man suddenly made us an offer. >> No cameras allowed.
01:21:33
>> No idea who is here. >> I have no idea who's Urist. You want to talk to me privately? Let's go to the
01:21:38
office. Me and you sit down. We'll talk without this. I turned him down because the situation was starting to feel
01:21:45
dangerous. >> Oh, hey guys. >> And our conversation. >> Who you think you are? >> I'm just Who you think you are? You make
01:21:52
>> was about to take a major hit. >> I'm a reporter, investigative reporter that's been following this for over a
01:21:58
year. >> Hey, come on now. Don't do that. >> That was just on video. That could be
01:22:03
that could be an assault. Don't do this. >> Don't do it. You're assaulting me right
01:22:07
now. >> I'm asking you a question. Police. >> Yes, we need the police to be sir. You
01:22:12
hit me. I just see my >> I didn't hit you. >> Did you hit my camera? >> I hit your camera and you did it with
01:22:17
your own hands. I just >> We quickly left the scene. >> They chickened out right away.
01:22:23
>> And the man still angry continued to stream live. >> Stupid website. Some freak created
01:22:30
something. Use my identity. >> Someone's using my identity. He's confirming that the information that
01:22:37
we've presented to him is legit. >> Yes, I'm asking you. I know you think you are
01:22:41
>> based on all of the evidence that has been accumulated. My confidence is still
01:22:45
quite high. >> In fact, she says having seen the video, it's even higher. >> Around 80 to 90%.
01:22:53
>> Over the next two weeks, we reached out to the man four times requesting an on
01:22:59
camera interview at CBS News. do give a call back and uh let us know your decision.
01:23:06
>> We were eager to hear any explanation for the apparent links between him and Europe. He apologized for his actions.
01:23:15
>> Who you think you are? >> But never sat down on camera. >> Adrien, this is Peter Vans correspond
01:23:24
though he did text us. >> Hi Peter. I can assure you that I did not go onto the online web to hire a
01:23:32
hitman or anyone to kill Alexis. But it was his last text declining our interview request that startled us.
01:23:44
Thank you for the opportunity, he wrote. We realized that just like mastermind 365, Adrien had once again written thank
01:23:54
you as one word. [Music] 48 hours. Don't miss an episode. [Music] Not a day since I was 12 years old have
01:25:03
I not thought about my sister Danny. That day in September of 1996, Danny disappeared.
01:25:15
My name is Stephanie. Danny was my older sister. >> And mom. >> Danny was 15 years old. The kind of
01:25:25
older sister that every little sister looks up to. >> Nice stuff. >> Sorry. >> Dad was sitting there. He's like, "Come
01:25:31
on, let's try." Oh no. >> She was upset with my parents and needed some space to herself.
01:25:39
Danielle had gone out to Cameron Bridge >> and she was familiar with this area. >> Absolutely.
01:25:47
>> Danny didn't return home. The mother grew deeply concerned and so she and one
01:25:53
of her friends drove out to Cameron Bridge to see what was going on. My mom and her friend walked around calling
01:26:01
Danny's name and called the sheriff's department and reported her missing and a search party was being pulled
01:26:10
together. >> Everybody's calling out her name. >> Yep. So, if you were out here, you can
01:26:15
hear them in the distance. Danny. Danny. Right. Yep. If she's out here, we just want her to come home.
01:26:22
615 >> 7:30 to 8 started to get dark enough to where I called off the search. >> Family friends came out after dark.
01:26:33
>> That was about 9:30 when the dispatcher called me and said they found her body.
01:26:41
>> How were you informed that Danny was gone? >> I was at home. My dad came home and told
01:26:48
my mom and I I could hear him telling her that uh Danny was gone and she said, "I know they'll they're going to look
01:26:56
again in the morning. As soon as it's light, they'll be back out there looking for they're going to find her. They're
01:27:00
going to find her." And he said, "No, honey. They're there. They found her. She's gone."
01:27:12
She was strong and she was brave. And she was everything I looked up to bean. >> 656 to the fishing game at Cameron
01:27:28
Bridge. Go ahead. >> Law enforcement didn't tell my family a lot in 1996. >> There was never a doubt in my mind that
01:27:41
someone killed this 15-year-old girl. From the instant you saw her body, >> the moment I saw her,
01:27:50
>> 15year-old girls don't die in the swamps at night. >> It took almost 30 years, but I had to
01:27:59
know. >> I spent 27 years on the Los Angeles Police Department, and when I retired, I
01:28:07
moved here to Bosezeman, Montana. What did you think of the original investigation into Danny's death?
01:28:19
>> Oh, it was it was terrible. >> It was terrible. >> So, I know where the body was.
01:28:24
>> There is zero doubt in my mind that they lied to my family. >> I told Stephanie, I will solve this
01:28:33
case. Stephanie, >> I promised myself. I promised my sister. I'm coming for you, Danny.
01:28:43
I never would have guessed how this ended. [Music] [Music] [Music] It was the end of September 1996.
01:29:42
A Saturday night, a fishing area just outside of Bosezeman, Montana, a place of tranquility.
01:29:51
Until this night, a few miles up a rural highway near the small town of Bgrade, searchers discovered the body of
01:30:02
15-year-old Danny Houchins. >> What brought your sister Danny down to this area back on September 21st, 1996?
01:30:11
>> Well, that morning, uh, we had kind of a family spat. Stephanie Molette was Danny's little sister
01:30:18
>> and so she got 15year-old mad about it and needed some space and some time and
01:30:24
she had her driver's license. >> Now people wonder how does a 15year-old get a driver's license
01:30:29
>> in the state of Montana in 1996. You actually got your driver's license at 15. She was a very proud driver. So
01:30:37
>> she hops into her Chevy pickup truck and gets >> Why would she come to this place if she
01:30:42
wanted to just kind of take a break? It's peaceful. >> After Danny's pickup truck was located,
01:30:50
a sheriff's posi had searched this wilderness for Dany until it got too dark. But that same night, two brothers,
01:30:59
friends of the Hins family refused to call it quits. So they came down this very path at
01:31:07
night with their flashlights. >> That's right. >> They would have crossed this bridge,
01:31:10
right? Somehow in the dense muddy woods, they found her body. >> The body, I believe, Peter was right in
01:31:20
this area when she was found. Right in here? Yes. >> Keith Farquar, then a Gallatin County
01:31:26
Sheriff's deputy, was the first officer on the scene. In the first hours after Dany was found, no one was really sure
01:31:34
what had happened to her. Did this look like an accident scene or something else?
01:31:41
>> Something entirely different. There's nothing here then or now that would suggest a
01:31:49
15-year-old girl should all of a sudden be face down in a small amount of water and mud and be dead. She's a mountain
01:31:55
kid. >> And is it possible to put into words the shock and horror of that moment?
01:32:04
It's like everything you um knew doesn't exist anymore. Um to not understand how that could have happened
01:32:17
and to just feel a gaping hole in your whole being. Rashelle Shroot went to school with
01:32:34
Stephanie and Danny. >> And I always thought Stephanie and Danny were super cool. Danny was like my
01:32:40
friend's cool older sister. They were the most down to earth friendly people. >> The sisters love the Montana wilderness.
01:32:51
>> She is pretty. >> This is like a nature playground out here. And our family, we just played.
01:32:59
>> A classic Montana girl, right? She could fish. She hiked. She could ski. >> And Danny was smart.
01:33:07
>> She loved science. She was so interested in the way that the world worked. >> And she had a sense of humor, right?
01:33:15
>> Uh yeah, >> Danny. All the ghost. >> Isn't she lovely? >> Look at your lovely daughter here.
01:33:22
>> She was witty and she was funny and everyone loved her. >> Danny, >> she'd make humor at her own expense.
01:33:32
See my nose? >> Here's my eye. >> How quickly did words spread that Danny had been found and that she was dead?
01:33:45
>> Oh, like wildfire. >> It was a lot of shock. You know, learning about Danny dying. It
01:33:54
came in stages. You know, there were the rumors all of a sudden of somebody died.
01:33:59
Initially, I had just heard somebody drowned. >> While Danny's family was awaiting an
01:34:05
official cause of death, everyone, it seemed, from first responder Keith Farquar to folks all over town, were
01:34:13
speculating about what had happened. >> Smalltown Montana, if you haven't heard a rumor by 10:00 in the morning, you're
01:34:20
going to start one. >> The rumor started flying of maybe it was a murder. And then we're all like,
01:34:27
"What? And if it was a murder, who would want to end this young girl's life? And was
01:34:36
there a killer on the loose? >> It just was like this strange roller coaster of did someone should we be
01:34:45
worried as a community? >> I think the rumor mill around Bgrade High School was ruthless.
01:34:54
>> There was so much other speculation. I remember thinking, man, what if? What if
01:35:03
just caused fear? I tried to be strong. Um Danny died on a Saturday and I tried to
01:35:13
go back to school on Monday. I thought if um I thought that if I was strong then
01:35:24
it'd be easier for my parents. But within days, the family's grief would turn to heartbreaking shock when
01:35:35
they heard the sheriff's department's jaw-dropping announcement about how Dany died.
01:35:43
We just couldn't believe what they told us. It didn't make any sense. Just two days after the discovery of
01:36:06
Danyy's body, with the people of Bgrade, Montana fearful and demanding answers, authorities released the
01:36:14
partial findings of Dany's autopsy. They did not say Dany was murdered. Her manner of death was undetermined.
01:36:25
Her family was dumbfounded. >> They told us that she drowned and they told us that it really could have been
01:36:32
an accident. >> The sheriff told the media that there were no cuts or bruises on Danny's body
01:36:39
and no indications of foul play. >> She could have just tripped and fell. We don't really know.
01:36:46
>> Tripped and fell. >> Uh-huh. >> And as avid, experienced outdoors people, even at 12, you thought that was
01:36:53
absurd. absurd. >> What the family didn't know at the time was the coroner said Dany had inhaled
01:37:01
both water and mud into her airways. The family also didn't know that there were
01:37:07
bruises and cuts on Dy's body and signs of possible sexual assault. The sheriff back then, Bill Slaughter, told us it is
01:37:17
often common for investigators to withhold key details to protect their investigations.
01:37:24
as they looked into potential suspects, including people who were close to Danny.
01:37:30
>> Common sense says this girl was not an accidental death. >> Caught in the middle of this controversy
01:37:37
was Deputy Keith Farquar, then a young patrolman. He was assigned to work with detectives on the case. Keith spoke with
01:37:45
Danny's doctor. He said there's nothing about her physical condition that would have prevented that girl from being able
01:37:52
to roll over in a few inches of water and mud to breathe if she had just fallen, if this was an accident. But
01:38:00
when Farquar tried to report the doctor's opinion to other investigators, >> I was pretty much ridiculed by the
01:38:09
sheriff. >> What did he say? >> He said, "What the does a doctor know?" And that that statement sticks in my
01:38:18
mind to this day. >> The former sheriff, Bill Slaughter, denies Farquar's allegations. He says
01:38:26
Farquar was a disgruntled employee and that his department never ignored any evidence.
01:38:33
Fed up and disillusioned, just 3 months after Dy's death, Farquar resigned from the sheriff's office.
01:38:42
As years passed, Danyy's family tried to accept that her death might have been an accident.
01:38:48
>> As all that time, weeks to months to years go by and you have no answers, what was that like?
01:38:55
>> Traumatizing. It was uh having a big wound in your life and this big gap that was
01:39:04
unexplainable and you somehow had to find a way to heal without answers, to live without
01:39:13
resolution, um to hope with no reason to hope >> until 24 years after Danny's death.
01:39:26
Matt Boxmmeer was a detective sergeant with Gallatin County. He took an interest in Danny Hkins and her family.
01:39:34
I found out that they really hadn't been given much information back in 1996 regarding the investigation, which is
01:39:43
not uncommon with investigations. You know, you don't openly talk about them with the family
01:39:48
usually. They had been told that she had fallen down and and drowned and it was marked as accidental. Box Meer also
01:39:55
found out that there had been several efforts over the years to get evidence analyzed by the Montana State Crime Lab.
01:40:03
But after each attempt, nothing. No usable DNA profile ever came back. So he was starting from scratch. Meanwhile,
01:40:14
Stephanie decided to turn up the pressure. I had been calling the sheriff's department trying to get someone to talk
01:40:22
to me about Danny's case. >> Finally, Box Meer and his bosses made a decision. >> They deserved some answers.
01:40:31
>> They told the family that Danny's death was no accident. >> I shared with them that I believe that
01:40:37
it was a homicide. >> Homicide. Stephanie then demanded to read the autopsy and look at the crime scene
01:40:45
photos. I was so angry at the people who lied to my family and let my sister's murder go
01:41:00
unsolved but uninvestigated for all of these years. I learned that rather than drowning on just water,
01:41:15
Danny's head had been held down in the mud. She had mud all the way down into her lungs and into her stomach. There
01:41:23
was subcutaneous bruising on the back of her neck. Someone had held her head down
01:41:30
forcefully. There was vaginal injuries. There was semen in her underwear. She had fought and scratched.
01:41:39
>> This is like a a nuclear bomb going off emotionally, I would think, for this family and for you.
01:41:45
>> I remember asking them, "So, you mean to tell me that in fact my sister was raped?"
01:41:54
And they said, "Yes, we believe she was raped." I remember not being able to breathe.
01:42:05
I remember feeling like I needed to puke. >> In 2021, with Danny's family now knowing
01:42:13
the explosive truth, solving Danyy's murder would become a top priority for newly appointed sheriff Dan
01:42:21
Springer. >> You were rookie deputy when this crime came down, right? >> Yes. 5 days after I started is when we
01:42:28
found Danny's body. >> When you become the boss, you get to decide to do things the way you want to
01:42:33
do things. I felt like, well, this is our time. Let's go get some answers. >> Sheriff Springer reached out to
01:42:39
Stephanie >> and I told her, "I am making a promise that we will find an answer to this
01:42:44
case." >> Now, determined to set things right, Springer reached outside the department
01:42:50
to a most unusual investigator, Tom Elfmont. >> I'm very persistent. I have a bulldog
01:42:57
personality. I just don't give up on something. I just don't do it. He'd spent a lifetime in tough jobs from a
01:43:05
soldier in Vietnam to a cop working the streets of LA. >> I wanted to put bad people in jail.
01:43:12
>> And after a conversation with Sheriff Springer, he was also drawn to Danny's case.
01:43:18
>> She was a great kid and the way she died, I get choked up about this a little bit.
01:43:28
Really to this day bothers me. And so when they said, "Would you like to work the case?" I said, "Yes." Um, I
01:43:38
want to work the case. I of course internet stalked him immediately. And uh came to find out that he's like the man
01:43:47
that never retires. >> I told Stephanie, "I will solve this case, Stephanie." And she said, "Okay,
01:43:54
I'm going to trust you." And with Elfmont leading the way, he soon found a suspect.
01:44:01
>> Why do I know that name? Like that sounds so familiar, but it took a little bit of time for it to go.
01:44:10
Oh no. Oh no. Oh my gosh. No way. Did you ever think coming out here in the mountains outside Bosezeman, Montana
01:44:36
that you'd be going back to work as a homicide investigator here? >> Never. No, I never thought so.
01:44:42
>> By mid 2023, retired LAPD Captain Tom Elfmont was back to working full-time, committed to finding Danny Houchin's
01:44:52
killer. The only reason I stayed in it was Danny. >> For Danny's sister, Stephanie, Elfmont's
01:45:00
refreshing dedication, professionalism, and enthusiasm was what the case had always needed.
01:45:07
>> What does Tom do? >> Tom got to work. Tom worked on Danny's case every day. He went through and
01:45:18
re-examined all of the evidence. Elfmont had access to everything, including a list of potential suspects from the old
01:45:26
case file and that previously tested clothing that Dany had been wearing when she was found.
01:45:33
>> He most importantly made sure that DNA got tested. >> Elfmont asked the Montana State Crime
01:45:40
Lab to use their newest technology to retest the semen on Dy's underwear. At last, a breakthrough. a partial DNA
01:45:50
profile, but there were no matches to names in the case file. And when Elfmont compared it to Kotus, the vast federal
01:45:59
digital repository of DNA samples from convicted felons, >> we didn't get any hits.
01:46:06
>> But Elfmont was undeterred and decided to go a less conventional route. He turned to genetic genealogy and
01:46:15
investigative genealogologist, CC Moore. Since I started working with law enforcement in 2018,
01:46:22
I've been able to help solve over 325 cases. Moore is an expert at building out family trees from DNA samples using
01:46:33
information from popular genealogy websites, bringing cold cases back to life. But to solve this case, Moore needed a
01:46:44
special type of DNA profile. problem was they didn't have enough DNA from that semen.
01:46:52
>> We have to start from scratch, which means there has to be remaining biological evidence for us to go back
01:46:57
and retest using more advanced technology. >> Elfmont did have more evidence for
01:47:04
retesting. Four male hairs that had been found on Dany, which had been perfectly
01:47:09
preserved for 27 years. They had never yielded any usable DNA because they were rootless hairs without any skin cells.
01:47:19
But Elfmont asked around and connected with Australia Forensics, a state-of-the-art private lab that's at
01:47:27
the forefront of extracting DNA from previously unattainable genetic matter. As if there wasn't enough drama in this
01:47:36
case, the first two hairs Estraa tested produced nothing usable. So, the last two hairs are examined. Are they able to
01:47:46
get a profile? >> Yes. In the last hair. Oh, I was so excited. >> It was a critical breakthrough. Elfmont
01:47:56
got permission from a judge to compare this enhanced DNA profile to samples in popular genealogy databases where people
01:48:05
voluntarily submit their DNA profiles. By spring 2024, Cece had what she needed to get to work.
01:48:14
>> I'm looking for patterns, commonalities, overlaps, eventually common ancestors.
01:48:21
Moore was able to identify the greatgrandparents on both sides of the suspect's family tree. She then found
01:48:29
one marriage that proved decisive. >> The couple that I finally zeroed in on, they had a lot of children,
01:48:36
>> including three sons. Moore felt like she had to be close, but there was a problem.
01:48:43
>> What was really confounding was that everybody lived in New Hampshire. Yet the mystery was what was the link to
01:48:51
Montana? >> More scoured through the birth indexes, marriage certificates, and even social
01:48:58
media of those sons. >> When I finally got to the youngest son's Facebook page, he had posted that he
01:49:07
moved to Bosezeman, Montana on July 1st, 1996. >> Remember, Danny had been murdered in
01:49:15
September 1996. Finally, all the pieces fell into place. On May 1st, 2024, I called up the
01:49:25
detectives to let them know that I believed I had identified Danny's killer. >> Finally, after nearly 28 years, it was
01:49:33
now time for Elfmont to call Stephanie and give her the momentous news. >> We've found Danny's killer and he is
01:49:42
alive and we are going to make a case against him. The suspect was Paul Hutchinson, a
01:49:50
married father of two who Elfmont soon learned was widely known and respected in local hunting and fishing circles.
01:49:59
>> We learned that he's been working for the Bureau of Land Management in Dylan,
01:50:03
Montana for 22 years as a fisheries biologist. He was a big outdoorsman, bow hunter, rifle hunter, fisherman,
01:50:12
trapper. And incredibly, it turned out Stephanie's childhood friend, Rashelle Shroot, knew Paul Hutchinson. He was a
01:50:22
trusted mentor who she had first met in the early 2000s. >> Paul came across as just an under the
01:50:30
radar person that was always so kind of calm and quiet. He was just so utterly unremarkable.
01:50:48
[Music] Stephanie Mallet had spent years dreaming of the day someone would be held responsible for her sister's
01:51:02
murder. That day, that dream seemed to be finally coming true. >> It was the moment at which I knew that
01:51:11
everything I had put into my fight for my sister had been worth it. >> Back in September 1996, suspect Paul
01:51:23
Hutchinson was 27 years old. He had served in the Marine Corps, then moved to Bosezeman to study at Montana State
01:51:31
University. just 13 miles from where Danny's body was discovered. >> When he was at Montana State, he had a
01:51:41
work study. He worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service, which would have put him on the waterways around Belgrade,
01:51:48
>> where on September 21st, 1996, Danny ended up on a hike. That's correct. Do you think your sister Danny
01:51:58
knew Paul Hutchinson? >> No. Paul Hutchinson was a stranger to Dany. There's no way that she would have
01:52:05
known him. >> But many people in the area did know Hutchinson through his passion for
01:52:14
hunting and fishing and high-profile government job. >> He just was like this respected source
01:52:20
of information in in the hunting and fishing space. >> Rashelle knew Hutchinson for years.
01:52:26
She's an expert hunter and former Yellowstone park guide and is now the hunt and fish editor for gearjunkie.com.
01:52:35
>> I think I would have considered him a a friend. You know, if we were doing some
01:52:38
sort of hunt camp, I would have not even thought twice about inviting him. >> Rashelle says she never once questioned
01:52:47
Hutchinson's integrity. even when she went on fishing trips with him, just the two of them out in the middle of
01:52:55
nowhere. >> I've always trusted my gut instinct when it comes to people, especially men. I
01:53:00
never had any feeling that he was unsafe. >> Though she hadn't seen Hutchinson in
01:53:06
years, Rashelle kept up with him online. He would often post on message boards about hunting trips he had taken across
01:53:14
the country. >> Paul was super active in the hunting community. seemed like he was constantly
01:53:20
hunting, always sharing where he was headed or where he just got back from. >> Hutchinson had no criminal record. By
01:53:30
all accounts, he had been leading a quiet existence since 1996. >> And what did you know about his family
01:53:37
life? >> Well, we knew that he had a wife and a daughter and a son. >> And he lived just a few hours away. and
01:53:45
Dylan, Montana. How far is that from Bosezeman? >> 140 mi. >> Elf Mont knew he couldn't make an arrest
01:53:52
until he got Hutchinson's DNA, which he was working out how to get. In the meantime, Montana law did allow Elfont
01:54:02
to talk to Hutchinson with some conditions. >> It just basically has to be in a public
01:54:07
area where he can walk away anytime he wants to. So on July 23rd, 2024, Elfmont and
01:54:18
another detective drove down to Hutchinson's office at the Bureau of Land Management in Dylan, Montana with a
01:54:26
body camera rolling. >> We saw Paul come in and get out of his pickup and then we started walking up
01:54:33
and I got up about 10 ft from Paul >> and I said, >> "Hey Paul, how you doing?" >> "Good. My name's Tom. I'm with the
01:54:43
Gallatin County Sheriff's Office. >> Hey guys. >> They came ready with a clever excuse for
01:54:48
why they wanted to speak with Hutchinson, hoping it wouldn't raise his suspicions.
01:54:54
>> We wanted to talk to you. We We've been talking to some fisheries people about
01:54:58
some things that have been going on here at the rivers in southwest Montana. I explained to him that we're
01:55:06
investigating some cases up and down the rivers and so we want to talk to people
01:55:12
that are experts >> right at the start they caught a break thanks to an unusually scorching hot
01:55:20
day. >> It was 98 that day and Dylan he said let's go inside. >> You guys want to come inside and talk?
01:55:26
>> That'd be great man. >> If he invites us in we don't have to give him Miranda. So we go inside. He
01:55:33
takes us in a small conference room. >> While they didn't ask about Danny Hins right away, Elfmont says he could tell
01:55:41
Hutchinson was nervous. >> Appreciate you sitting down with us. >> Why the hell? What's up?
01:55:46
>> And he breaks into a sweat is just his head starts sweating and he asks, "Can I
01:55:52
can I leave?" >> Um, can you give me a second? >> Absolutely. >> Hutchinson said he had to go help a
01:55:57
coworker. When he returned, they asked him about the other cases. >> So, I had pictures of four women
01:56:08
that died. One in a river in Idaho, two over on the Yellowstone, and then Danny.
01:56:14
>> Elfmont's partner, Port Dewig, took over the conversation. >> Okay, this is uh Daniel Houchins. She
01:56:22
was killed in September of 96. Okay. >> Um, and she was found off the Gallatin River. Did you ever fish up there?
01:56:32
>> I uh I trapped on the Gallatin. >> Have you ever heard of a Cameron Bridge access?
01:56:38
>> Mhm. >> Have you been there before? >> Probably. Um, Jack Rabbit Lane. >> Yeah, exactly. Hutchinson had confirmed
01:56:48
he had not only been to the remote area where Dany was attacked. He remembered the street that led there. Elfmont says
01:56:56
it was a revealing exchange. >> Shaken. He's all distressed now. He was sitting back in the chair like this as
01:57:02
far as he could get from the table and the pictures. I knew we had him. >> Do you remember seeing her there
01:57:09
or a similar face? >> I honestly don't. I I mean I probably I've been to bunch of fishing access
01:57:16
sites for one reason or another. >> Hutchinson denied knowing anything about Danny's death.
01:57:23
>> Even when they told him they had the suspect's DNA. >> Is there a possibility that you were
01:57:28
there when she was murdered? >> No. >> You weren't trapping or anything during that time?
01:57:32
>> Not September. That would have been Are you asking me? I mean, >> I'm just asking if you remember anything
01:57:40
during that time. >> No. No. >> Did you ever directly say, "Did you kill Danny Hkins?"
01:57:51
>> No. >> Why? >> He didn't need to. >> Cuz he knows that you know. >> That's right.
01:57:57
>> And you know that he knows that you know. >> Correct. >> As they wrapped up the interview,
01:58:04
Hutchinson had a question for them. >> Anything else you want to ask me while I'm here?
01:58:09
>> No, we're good. We're good now. to Elfmont. It seemed like Hutchinson couldn't believe they didn't arrest him,
01:58:16
>> but the investigation was far from over. >> So, we walk out of the building and we
01:58:23
had surveillance people to follow him. He started driving like a maniac, high speed, doing U-turns.
01:58:32
He takes off [Music] With the possibility of an arrest of her sister's killer, Stephanie began
01:58:54
imagining what justice would look like for Paul Hutchinson. I was preparing myself for the next 3 to
01:59:03
5 years of a court battle to staring him down to being present every day in that
01:59:09
courtroom. >> But what Stephanie could never prepare herself for was the startling phone call
01:59:15
she got from Tom Elfmont just 12 hours after he had interviewed Hutchinson. >> So I called Stephanie and I said,
01:59:23
"Stephanie, he's dead. He killed himself. It's a big pause. And she said, "You know, I don't know
01:59:35
how I feel about that." I said, "I get it. I understand." >> Police say Paul Hutchinson drove to a
01:59:42
remote area and called the sheriff's dispatch line, saying an officer needed help. When cops arrived, they found
01:59:50
Hutchinson's body dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 55. Give me a sense of that moment for you.
02:00:02
>> Shock. I I didn't expect that to happen. >> When Hutchinson's DNA was checked
02:00:10
against evidence from Danny's body, including the semen on her underwear, there was a match.
02:00:17
>> The ratio 10.7 trillion to1. So, he was the guy. This case is solved. 100%. >> Stephanie's friend Rashelle, who had
02:00:31
considered Hutchinson a mentor, learned what happened as she watched the sheriff's news conference.
02:00:38
>> I am gutted. I've known him most of my life. Like, it makes me mad to know him.
02:00:46
How dare you? >> At the news conference, Stephanie thanked the current sheriff's team.
02:00:54
I'd like to express my family's gratitude to Tom Elmont for overcoming every roadblock. To Dan
02:01:02
Springer, thank you for being a man of your word. >> And then she did what no one there
02:01:08
expected. She unleashed years of pentup anger. >> The sheriff lied to my parents.
02:01:15
Boldfaced lied and betrayed the trust of shocked and grieving parents. Those institutions failed my sister,
02:01:25
failed my family, and failed this community. >> I asked Sheriff Springer about Stephanie's allegations that the
02:01:34
sheriff's department for years had lied to her family. >> If what they say is true, were they lied
02:01:41
to? >> I don't I I don't know what they said to be honest. >> What the parents said is that they were
02:01:46
told that their daughter did not have any injuries. If what they are saying is true,
02:01:52
>> were they lied to? >> Of course. I mean, I think the the reports speak for themselves. There were
02:01:56
marks on her body. And if that's what they were told, then that's not the truth.
02:02:01
>> We reached out to the man who was sheriff in office back in 1996. Bill Slaughter, now retired. Slaughter admits
02:02:10
withholding some information from Danyy's family, but claims he never lied to them, despite the fact he told
02:02:18
the local newspaper in 1996 that there was no indication of foul play. Weeks after the news conference,
02:02:32
Stephanie went back to the scene of the crime. when I finally saw the exact spot where
02:02:40
her body was found and I sat there and imagined that about her last moments and how it went
02:02:49
from peaceful rustling of leaves and you know the sounds of squirrels running through the forest and the birds
02:02:57
chirping to suddenly turning to this awful and violating and terrifying experience. hands. And then that
02:03:08
realization that she must have had when he was holding her face down in the mud that she was going to die right there.
02:03:19
And I am so sorry for her that she had to experience that moment for you. What is this case about, Danny?
02:03:39
It's about Danny. I would wake up at night and I would say middle of night, 3:00 in
02:03:47
the morning, and I'd say, "Danny, I got you." It's about Danny. >> In the aftermath of Hutcherson's death,
02:03:56
there were so many questions unanswered. Perhaps the most troubling, says Elfmont. Were there other victims? Oh, I
02:04:05
think there's a good possibility. Yeah. >> I think that anyone who is able to rape and murder a young girl and then
02:04:16
get away with it for almost 28 years, had plenty of chances to do it again. Stephanie is now trying to make changes
02:04:27
in how Montana funds and supervises law enforcement so that cases like Danny's don't fall by the wayside.
02:04:37
>> On the table, I have what was in Danny's pocket when she died and then her driver's license, what she was really
02:04:45
proud of having. [Music] Years ago, Danny's family spread some of her ashes on a nearby mountaintop.
02:04:57
>> We spread half of Danny's ashes on top of the tallest mountain on the Bridger
02:05:03
Range, Sack Jia Peak. And now almost 30 years later, Stephanie was back here on the banks of the
02:05:11
Gallatin River where Dany died to spread the last of her ashes and to tell her sister that she'd made a difference.
02:05:22
>> Love you, Danny. I think the biggest thing has been after so many years of begging and pleading
02:05:33
for people to pay attention to my sister, for people to believe that she mattered and feeling so often like I was
02:05:42
screaming into an echo chamber. Now suddenly she matters to everyone all over again.
02:05:50
[Music] CBS next Saturday. A young teenager is strangled and buried alive. Absolutely
02:06:00
cold bloodooded. 20 years later, her family battles to keep her killers behind bars.
02:06:05
>> We're fighting for her. That's why we're here. She doesn't have a voice, so we're
02:06:09
her voice. >> 48 Hours is all new CBS Next Saturday, 10:9 central and streaming on Paramount
02:06:14
Plus. [Music]