00:00:00
[Music] [Music] oh my oh my Lord it was disguise a limit for a 21y old that was talented and that everybody
00:00:36
[Music] loved I'm Kevin Harris's Dad okay he's my son and he was named after me it was going to be a suay like any
00:00:52
other even if he didn't go to church that day he was naive Kevin Trust Soul maybe a little too
00:01:04
much he'd say why you got to tell everybody I'm your son I said because I'm proud of
00:01:11
you my best friend my teammate I haven't been able to watch a a father take his son to the park with a ball you know for
00:01:22
a while so [Music] he was making a name for himself cuz I heard where Britney and Rihanna actually
00:01:40
were interested in some of his material Kevin always had it the Beats were great I knew he was going to make it
00:01:54
some people have that thing where it's like you're Relentless to a point where nothing can stop you
00:02:01
the stuff that he would send me was a lot of like an R&B feel mixed with like pop pop and
00:02:13
Hip-Hop Church like gospel like those ches a lot of things were happening too quickly can
00:02:22
get it videos camera shoots Ice Cube track and he went to that dog on Studio that
00:02:34
night and that happened last day and he kissed me on it on my left cheek he hugged me and he just held me
00:02:49
and I said what's wrong Kevin and he said nothing mom he said everything's just happening
00:02:58
so fast I feel like something's going to happen I said don't think like that 10 to 17 shots two different
00:03:10
handguns how much do you have to kill him a lot of suspicious things happened that
00:03:16
night the clues are absolutely out there we just need that one piece that one Smoking Gun
00:03:29
[Music] [Music] [Applause] time is of the essence I've hate how long my breath takes those are are the
00:04:30
words of Kevin Harris on his Twitter account in the summer of 2009 Kevin was just 21 when he was
00:04:39
gunned down shortly after 8:00 p.m. on a September Sunday that same year he had been sitting in his car alone in
00:04:46
Englewood California a small City in Los Angeles close to LAX I got a call at 9:15 are you at the
00:04:57
hospital I said for what what happened what's wrong Kevin's been shot Kevin Harris senior is Kevin's dad
00:05:06
we ran every light just to be told that we couldn't see him I was in denial Catherine is his mother the night that
00:05:14
he was murdered and I do say murdered people like to say he passed he did pass on but someone actually took the time to
00:05:21
murder him the harrises couldn't believe that somebody wanted their Son dead this is this is Kevin this was
00:05:34
during the the the photo shoot that they had so handsome confident very confident tell me about your angel our
00:05:44
Angel our Ang she called him angel face his mother his mother I wish he could have met him he was beautiful man and he
00:05:52
was still close with his childhood friends like Cameron Woods we've known each other since we were like two three
00:06:00
years old we continue going to the same school with each other all the way to all the way to
00:06:05
here um it's still so fresh yeah hold on sorry what are you thinking I don't want to
00:06:16
cry it's a little harder a little H yeah it's okay you know that right what do you miss most about him
00:06:35
his smile his generosity never heard anybody tell me anything bad about him say anything bad
00:06:44
about him never really heard him say anything about about anyone besides my be feel you know I
00:06:49
mean no one's perfect but he was he was close he was close to that the harrises led by example were
00:06:59
working hard dad at the LA airport and selling cars and Mom working retail they were regulars in church and
00:07:09
they sent Kevin to a Catholic school she and I were like helicopter parents under
00:07:15
surveillance at all time as a form of protection yes if he hadn't come home at a certain time I would text a question
00:07:22
mark just knowing the the possible hearts that lay out there in the street one of Kevin's h hob Cameron says was
00:07:31
hanging out with his mom spending time with his mom really yeah he love yeah wait wait wait a teenager enjoying
00:07:39
spending time with his parents I don't know if I should say but he was like kind of like a mama's boy but I mean I'm
00:07:43
a mama's boy so there's nothing wrong with that Kevin was a perfect date Jasmine
00:07:57
Tanner was Kevin's high school sweetheart hard not really a hugee dancer but like you know he had his
00:08:03
little twostep that he would do everything that he did was in from a very loving
00:08:09
place the harrises kept their son involved in sports especially basketball I'll take you through my
00:08:17
house right now right here in my room but his real calling was music much of the music you're hearing in this
00:08:24
broadcast is his see this all you need right here is a little kid right here see turn up the music a
00:08:32
second see got all that got the turntables mix [Music] s he taught himself to play he taught
00:08:42
himself he had Rock he had Classics he had Jazz uh East Indian music soon after high school graduation
00:08:53
Kevin landed a gig apprenticing at a local music studio yeah he start boobing that head then he just the next thing
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you know he's like oh oh listen to this and then he'll click something it's like
00:09:05
going to the next level by the summer of 2009 he'd stacked up hundreds of hours in the studio he began breaking into the
00:09:13
Los Angeles hipop scene but he just wanted to be the best producer ever Kevin's Vibe was he was comfortable
00:09:23
with himself Sonia techly is a poet and singer one of a number of artists working with Kevin I had never felt
00:09:32
comfortable in recording sessions until my sessions with him and a lot of times like you
00:09:38
know guys are just trying to like get at girls and do all these things but he was
00:09:43
just he stayed in his Lane he was focused on his work as Kevin's career picked up speed
00:09:52
he bragged about working at a big fancy Studio where Michael Jackson once recorded Thriller and he was like right
00:10:00
there like you know like a pinball and you get your ball ready and and you pull it back and then let go but everything
00:10:07
would soon come to an abrupt and violent end my naive loving son probably just could have been possibly Sleeping with
00:10:15
the Enemy and had no idea [Music] [Music] to this day no one has been charged for
00:10:39
the murder of Kevin Harris they thought we're going to do this sneaky stuff here and we'll get
00:10:45
away with it they effed with the wrong father this [Music] time Kevin Harris senior is determined
00:10:54
to change that he spent the past 11 years Seeking Justice for his Nam sake I never got to speak to Kevin that day at
00:11:02
all I went to work 9:00 a.m. he was still asleep and I looked in on him and I left that Sunday morning in the summer
00:11:13
of 2009 Kevin shared breakfast with his mother Catherine I saw have the plate the paper the
00:11:22
napkin the last carton of juice I have all of that from that day you memorialized BL
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him I just love him I love him retracing their son's steps the harrises say nothing seemed unusual that
00:11:42
day from what I hear at some point he wound up at a Pop Warner football game and then later on he went to his
00:11:52
aunt's Karen Staten is the last known person to see Kevin alive he was his regular happy go-lucky
00:12:01
self hi Auntie how you doing what'd you cook and he stayed we ate we laughed we talked and after a few hours Kevin left
00:12:12
saying he was headed to the music studio I said Kevin don't go we're having too much fun I don't want you to go
00:12:19
yet and he said auntie I have to go because the studio is quiet no one's there I can record I can go over some
00:12:27
things I can write I can perfect what I'm working on and we hugged each other and he was out the
00:12:36
door he drove to the studio in his beloved Green Camaro he was supposed to meet up with a friend known in the
00:12:44
community as a wannabe rapper but that friend was a no-show a lot of suspicious things happened that
00:12:54
night the studio was in a converted Garage in a residential neighborhood Hood Kevin arrived but never made it out
00:13:02
of his car he was shot multiple times from two different guns I never expected anything
00:13:10
like this to happen to Kevin Kevin's friend Jasmine says he didn't have a chance to find out that he was shot
00:13:18
outside the studio that he loved to go to so much it was just like nowhere is safe the harrises went to the crime
00:13:28
scene no more than 3 hours after their son had been shot the police were already gone it was already cleaned up
00:13:36
it was so weird and strange it was like why is this crime scene already done car
00:13:43
was gone everything it seemed as if there were more expeditious in cleaning up their crime scene than they were in
00:13:47
trying to find out who did this within the proverbial 24 to 48 hours that's what it seemed
00:13:57
like Catherine and took what was left behind I walked around in front of the studio and I saw blood wipe the blood up
00:14:06
off the street and uh the glass from his window was on the ground and I used my hands as a broom to gather the
00:14:17
glass this young man deserves better than what happened here there was early speculation that Kevin's death was Gang
00:14:25
Related an assumption that upset his father you hear shot and killed the first thing you want to say he drive by
00:14:33
was he in the game no no he wasn't he was just a loving young man with a heart as big as his
00:14:42
church music journalist Raman Duke says no matter how innocent the victim is people assume a crime like this is Gang
00:14:51
Related cuz there a young black man so it's automatic yeah and in that and specifically within that neighborhood
00:15:00
100% young black man shot in the music business yeah those are all elements and the odds of solving crimes
00:15:13
with those elements are slim for one thing witnesses can be hard to find people in these communities they stick
00:15:20
together when these situations occur they're like I'm not not dealing with with the law enforcement they weren't
00:15:28
here to help us why we going to why we going to help them I have seen people step forward but
00:15:34
the majority of the time that doesn't happen why a lot of times cuz they're afraid that person still has to live in
00:15:44
that neighborhood there there might be some retaliation there's this mentality where it's like just mind your own
00:15:51
business as time past Kevin's parents felt that the police pushed their son's case to the back burner even when they
00:15:59
tried to help and they would tell me just go home just go home we'll take care of
00:16:05
this we let the law enforcement handle it unfortunately it didn't work it was sat on the police told 48 Hours quote
00:16:13
our hearts go out to the parents and family of Kevin the Englewood police department has done everything possible
00:16:21
to bring closure and Justice to the family the harrises continued to push for answers they held memorials for
00:16:31
Kevin inviting the police and local officials but the stress of losing their son took its
00:16:42
toll the gun kills more than this intended victim and it always will and after he died not right away but a lot
00:16:50
of everything that meant everything to our family was destroyed [Music] two years after Kevin's murder the
00:17:03
harrises ended their 23-year [Music] marriage it was a dark time for Kevin Senior he searched for
00:17:18
[Music] Solace and he found it in church a Baptist Church in the Los Angeles community
00:17:32
[Music] of my heart is broken but God has piece by piece put it back together Pastor Winford Bell helped the
00:17:44
heartbroken father Channel his grief into a newfound purpose speaking out against gun violence for Bell's
00:17:53
organization Silver Lining of hope my heart has been ripped smiing Dre I really Revel in this because it's
00:18:01
medicine to my soul to speak about the loss of my son Kevin stepped up when they kill your
00:18:09
baby it's few people that want to fight to fix it so that your baby or my baby or anybody else's baby doesn't suffer
00:18:19
the same [Music] thing now more at peace with himself Kevin Senior found more will to keep up
00:18:28
the long fight to find out who murdered his son and he was about to get some unexpected help we're going to put as
00:18:36
much time and energy as it takes we will not stop we will figure this out [Music]
00:19:05
Kevin Harris senior continued to speak out 6 years after his son's senseless murder his heartbreaking story finally
00:19:14
had an impact the local police brought in the FBI to work the case when I heard I was going to get a call from the FBI I
00:19:22
felt that all my aggressiveness wasn't in vain have you met the parents I have the parents are fantastic and as soon as
00:19:32
I met them we immediately bonded and they have begged us to just find the people that did this and that's my
00:19:42
commitment to them vet Morgan is in charge of FBI criminal investigations in Los Angeles I'm vested so we'll find
00:19:51
them and we'll hold them accountable Welcome to the New [Music] FBI I think there was a tough case with
00:19:59
you know not a lot of evidence there was no DNA there was no actual physical touching FBI special agent Sean sterley
00:20:06
got the case he started with the crime scene photos and with what witnesses that did speak out saw a dark sedan that
00:20:14
pulled up next to Kevin Harris's Camaro the shots were fired from that car we believe there were probably three people
00:20:22
in the car the driver and two Shooters they were approximately about 6 in door too so so close that the shell casings
00:20:31
from the shooters guns two of them end up inside Kevin's [Music] car also new to the case former LA
00:20:45
detective John scags know the streets and I know how to talk to people where are you taking us right now
00:20:53
we're going to the crime scene where Kevin was killed there's a couple things I need to
00:20:59
look at and then there's a uh resident that I want to talk to scags came out of retirement to work with the local Cold
00:21:06
Case unit and assist the FBI so is this a hopeless case or a stalled case uh it is stalled and absolutely not hopeless
00:21:18
and what's the difference well there's still clues that haven't been burned out this is the street where Kevin was
00:21:25
murdered exactly [Music] detective scags walks into the house attached to the music studio hey John
00:21:39
skags from Englewood police and comes out a half an hour later with owner Randy Thomas Hi how are you I'm Michelle
00:21:46
Miller 48 hours so Michelle had a really good talk with Randy uh he was friends he knew Kevin for about four years and
00:21:54
Kevin would use his studio for for his music Randy says by the time he got outside that night the shooters were
00:22:01
gone I heard cap cap cap I thought it was firecrackers then the neighbor came outside and said somebody shot and you
00:22:09
saw Kevin's I saw the green camar I said oh my God oh my God the amms came in the
00:22:16
fir truck and they pulled him out tried to revive him but it was bad to see him here on the street in front of your
00:22:24
house broke my heart it's almost like someone had to have follow him here so you think it was
00:22:30
someone he knew that I don't know but I know that no one comes here on Sunday [Music]
00:22:41
nights the new detectives confirmed what Kevin's parents and friends had said all
00:22:47
along Kevin Harris was really quite a remarkable kid we probably did somewhere close to 70 to 80 interviews we could
00:22:55
not find anybody who would say anything you close remotely uh negative about [Music]
00:23:05
him and they learned that in the months before his death Kevin's career was on a
00:23:10
roll this studio was his home base there's a lot of steps be very care okay so you have a sound mixer right you
00:23:20
have a sound booth right so this is where we do the music at and Kevin had key he can come anytime he' like to come
00:23:27
[Music] in the summer of 2009 Kevin was becoming better known by his stage name track
00:23:35
bully I think he was just really positive about the way his life was going I mean his name was track bully
00:23:42
for exactly cuz his tracks was crazy one of the artists Kevin was closest with was jizzel a hip-hop poet
00:23:53
and rapper seen in this video with Diddy I look at this picture and what do you see oh man that was just bro when he was
00:24:04
hungry like just trying to figure it out he got the TV on his hat for track bully
00:24:10
but by then he was already like lit kind of huh yeah yeah he was lit and I used to go by Lady g at the time so he' be
00:24:20
like what's up lady G like man you got to mess with me on the music man and so he finally like sent me a a like a batch
00:24:28
of be [Music] we can get it we get it get it we jizzel and Kevin work together on
00:24:41
Poppin a catchy tune they believe could break through and become a hit this is poppin this is poppin wow that's you
00:24:50
yeah man is that him there yeah right there off to the side yeah Kevin was clearly proud of that song
00:25:01
jizzel may have been the star but Kevin made sure everyone knew he was the force
00:25:07
behind it and then there was his Triumph of scoring a really big sale it was to Hip Hop star Ice Cube once again proudly
00:25:17
tweeting about his feet right before he was killed he had sold the track to Ice Cube I mean how big of a deal was that
00:25:24
it's a very big deal Ice Cube was a legend in music not just hip-hop is music it's a really big
00:25:31
deal Kevin's career was skyrocketing and his dad was feeling a little uneasy if I
00:25:38
would have had a chance I would have reeled him back in just a little bit looking back Kevin Senior believes his
00:25:44
son was playing with fire put it this way there's not this evil Grim Reaper with a hood that's just
00:25:53
standing around on streets normally is someone that you know or someone you've had an acquaintance with a friend one
00:26:00
day and a me the next [Music] [Music] [Music] the new detectives continued to study
00:26:33
the crime scene photos is kind of like you see his life right there I mean high school basketball player great outside
00:26:40
shooter his laptop and his uh hard drive with all his his music so in his car for
00:26:46
all his loves and horribly that's where he died since Kevin's reputation was golden
00:26:56
they wondered if his death could could have been a case of mistaken identity they learned Kevin wasn't the only one
00:27:03
in town with a green Camaro there was an active gang member that lived less than
00:27:07
two blocks away from Kevin at the time that gang member they say had a look alike car I was able to interview
00:27:16
him the guy's changed his life and he's told me about some of the stuff that he was doing back in that day there could
00:27:23
easily be a cause for somebody to retaliate against anybody driving a green Camaro
00:27:30
when you grow up in La no matter how sheltered you are or how strict your parents are you're going to run into the
00:27:39
culture it's no secret that Los Angeles does have a gang culture even though he wasn't in the streets I think we all
00:27:49
kind of know what that's like you know your parents can't protect you from everything but detectives now say they
00:27:56
took a hard look at that mistaken identity Theory and ruled it [Music] out they believe that Kevin rolled down
00:28:06
his window to talk to the people who drove up next to him that night and that he would not have done that unless he
00:28:13
knew them so they're looking at each other eye to eye that kind of dispels gang retaliation shooting where Kevin
00:28:20
was misidentified for another gang member they were convinced Kevin Harris was the intended target but why were
00:28:29
there clues in his surging career for one thing in the hip-hop business you can get rich
00:28:38
overnight you have like really young artists like 18 19 years old and they're millionaires two three years before that
00:28:45
they probably have $10 in their pocket Kevin hadn't made any big money yet but he definitely was a prospect a kid with
00:28:55
big potential he was really hustling trying to get artists and putting music together and getting his music heard
00:29:02
Kevin was all over the place he was putting himself out there more people more parties and his tweets
00:29:12
show it party in Baldwin Hills pool party at the [Music] custom there's no other way to kind of
00:29:23
attain your goals and aspirations without going at 24/7 I could just see that in him you
00:29:32
showing up where you're supposed to show up and yourself out there putting himself out there he was
00:29:40
getting a little more flashy he put extra wide chrome wheels on his Camaro his dad didn't approve now you're kind
00:29:49
of blinging a little bit too much for maybe the average young man you have to be less visible and Kevin was also
00:29:58
getting louder on Twitter Kevin got real cocky his name was like really getting out there I did feel like you know maybe
00:30:05
he was kind of feeling himself a little fluffing his uh his little feathers I felt like blessing people with my
00:30:11
presence he tweeted word was that Kevin didn't want to work with people who weren't up to his level when you start
00:30:19
getting hot everybody wants a piece of you you just can't work with everybody and sometimes some people get
00:30:28
offended by that things could happen out of those situations and Kevin wasn't shy about
00:30:34
calling some people out that's clear in his tweets I'm getting bored by my so-called peers and here he says someone
00:30:42
was quote exceeding their talent in the music business words like that could be a problem there's no
00:30:51
difference between that and dissing someone in the streets what is a diss a diss is disrespect it's a very real
00:30:59
thing and again it goes back to like these Street rules so a lot of this conversation is through social media
00:31:05
Twitter specifically I'm sure that Kevin was aware of it did he think it would lead to him potentially losing his
00:31:12
life I don't think so just who was Kevin dsing in those tweets no one knows for sure could it
00:31:22
have been that wannabe rapper who stood him up at the studio that night was there bad blood between them the people
00:31:30
who knew Kevin best sensed he was uneasy in the weeks before his death his demeanor did seem a little different I
00:31:38
couldn't really pinpoint like what it was but I can tell when someone's Vibe is off he'll come home couple
00:31:46
times I'd see him look back out the door I'd say what's wrong man somebody following you no no I'm
00:31:54
okay the harrises that prepared Kevin for life growing up in a tough neighborhood there was sometimes gunfire
00:32:02
in the area but they believe they taught Kevin how to avoid it still Kevin Senior
00:32:08
was taken aback by a question his son had at one point he did ask me about what do you think about
00:32:16
bulletproof windows I said why I said Kevin is somebody bothering you no it's all right I'm okay I said
00:32:25
just let me know I left here long enough we could we could speak on and we can get it taken care of
00:32:30
peacefully no I'm all right Dad it was always I'm all right Dad I love you Kevin but something must have been wrong
00:32:40
after Kevin died Catherine was surprised to learn that he was thinking of joining
00:32:45
the military and getting out of town a week after uh he was murdered I received a letter from the recruiter's office for
00:32:54
him to go see the recruiter you know a lot of people say timing is everything and gosh I wish I kind of wish it would
00:33:00
have came a week [Music] [Music] earlier we get we can get we can get we can get we can get
00:33:29
Kevin Harris never lived to see his recording played on the radio that song by jizzel I was at work and then someone
00:33:39
told me that it would be coming on and then I hear it and I kind of broke down right
00:33:45
there everybody came running over you know I said that's that's Kevin that's my son 11 years later his father is putting
00:33:55
his faith into the new invest instigation the clues are absolutely out there we just need that one piece that
00:34:04
one Smoking Gun that we need to solidify this this is an active case so the detectives won't name the names of
00:34:14
anyone they have in their sites but scags did drop this clue about Kevin's last day he had made plans with one of
00:34:22
the individuals who's definitely a suspect in this case to meet him at at the studio at 8:00 as far as I know that
00:34:30
individual was the only other person that knew that Kevin was going to be at the studio at 8:00
00:34:36
p.m. we have now learned that that man was Desmond Carter the wannabe rapper that Kevin was supposed to meet at the
00:34:44
studio that night he definitely caught the attention of the police in fact 48 Hours has learned that Desmond Carter
00:34:52
was arrested for the murder of Kevin Harris in 2017 and here's the record Carter was questioned but never
00:35:04
charged with anything authorities told us the evidence they had did not cross the threshold of Reasonable Doubt still
00:35:13
Desmond Carter remains a suspect that's partly because there had been bad blood between Desmond and Kevin
00:35:23
word on the street was that Kevin had dissed Desmond by refusing to give him beats whatever it was that brought Kevin
00:35:35
to the studio that night authorities suspect it was a trap I believe Kevin Harris was set up Kevin's own words may
00:35:43
support that theory 10 days or 2 weeks before his death when he told one of his best friends that something's come up
00:35:50
missing I'm getting blamed for it I didn't have anything to do with it but I'm really scared of what might happen
00:35:58
what had gone missing that Kevin was being blamed for was it money drugs police have told 48 hours they do not
00:36:07
believe that Kevin was dealing drugs somebody blamed him for doing something that they did and blamed him to some big
00:36:15
hitters that were going to seek revenge this is a classic story of a kid who trusted too much in several other
00:36:23
people that he didn't really know that well but he gave them all his trust and he ended up being killed as a
00:36:31
result we reached out to Desmond Carter he didn't want to go on camera or comment directly but through a friend he
00:36:39
said he had nothing to do with Kevin's death and that he thought of Kevin as one of his best friends I'm angry yes
00:36:47
I'm angry I'm angry with certain people that were hanging around my son because it has all the ear marks of someone that
00:36:56
he knows well that was in the circle I grew up at the beach I really love the ocean and it's always been part
00:37:08
of my life detective Scag says walking on the nearby Beach helps clear his head and reminds him to be
00:37:17
patient it does not discourage me if these cases were easy it' all be solved I know that some of the people that I'm
00:37:24
interviewing are not telling me the truth so you know just makes it so hard detectives are hoping for new
00:37:31
information there's a ton of circumstantial evidence that kind of end ends up adding up into one big
00:37:38
significant theory that I think we're very close to proving we think we're 80 85% there I am fully confident that this
00:37:46
case is going to be solved yeah so anybody who has any information about what happened to Kevin
00:37:52
that day whether they were an eyewitness overheard something at a later date or later got knowledge of what happened to
00:37:58
Kevin and who hurt him that person needs to come forward for so many reasons first of all for justice justice for
00:38:04
Kevin and his family it's the right thing to do and could be preventing these bad guys from hurting more people
00:38:10
we really need help from the public and anybody who knows anything about this case and what happened to him and what
00:38:18
happened that night to come forward and that's what our plea is to uh to the public as the case stands today the
00:38:28
murder of Kevin Harris remains unsolved you still miss him what do you miss most I just miss his spirit I think um
00:38:40
it's just not knowing you know not knowing not supposed to cry but um just not knowing like to
00:38:50
see all that potential just to see that the path that he was on to know the support that he had from everyone around
00:38:58
him it's just really unfortunate to not be able to see that just you know reach his full
00:39:05
potential you know so I just I just miss the spirit I miss having him around I miss I miss the fact that I that we all
00:39:11
missed the chance to see how he would grow you know Kevin's parents say they'll never
00:39:19
give up I have nothing else to do with the grief that I feel every day but to be motivated by when I walk out the door
00:39:24
each day let's kick some doors in let's stay relentless with this you can't hide from God you
00:39:30
can hide here on Earth duck and Dodge go to another state go to another continent
00:39:35
whatever but you can't hide from God the FBI helped fund Billboards to help get new information they've also
00:39:45
contributed to a $50,000 reward the harrises say the reason they agreed to talk with 48 hours is their hope this
00:39:54
will finally bring Justice for their son but when I go to sleep and I dream he's
00:39:59
always there with [Music] me for my son I'm never going to stop [Music] grieving murdered he was
00:40:18
murdered these pictures are in my room and to be honest with you since we resemble each other so much I turn them
00:40:25
backwards it's kind of hard hard to look at him all the time like that Kevin Harris senior doesn't need to look at
00:40:33
those pictures anymore because the image of his son is fresh in his mind every single day and he is consumed with
00:40:41
solving this case for one reason so I can lay my son soul to rest properly his mother and I will make sure
00:40:53
his passion and his dream lives on [Music] the FBI is asking for information from
00:41:03
the public the tip line phone number is 3104776565 take an in-depth look into the
00:41:11
investigation to find who killed Kevin Harris at 48 hours.com I just my boyfriend in the
00:41:20
night but police say she confessed to murder I one big problem you can't hear it how do you mess up the
00:41:30
confession what will a jury believe 48 hours Saturday at 109 Central on CBS [Music]
00:41:49
[Music] [Music] I one with the address of emergency I call my wife on responsive
00:42:10
she's not breathing she may have taken to some pills okay what is your [Music] [Applause]
00:42:18
address when we get the alerts on they say it's an overdose they're saying that he's performing
00:42:24
CPR is somebody coming [Music] he's on his third fourth fth cycle 3 4 5 and that's when I get to the
00:42:39
house I'm officer gor De La Cruz I was the first officer on the scene hello what's going on male subject shows
00:42:50
up at the door and he just turns around and darts into the residence I can see him heading up the stairs I just see his
00:42:56
shadow from the light that's on so I followed him what's going on he's helping giving
00:43:05
CPR he's wearing scrubs so I believe he's a higher level of care than I can provide and I ask him you want me to
00:43:12
help do I help you and he right away relinquishes giving CPR what did she take I think CL has a p
00:43:23
she's been pretty depressed lately I don't see any drugs usually when somebody overdoses on drugs
00:43:30
the pills are nearby the needle nearby the syringe something's nearby and nothing
00:43:39
was I'm probably at the scene within the next 30 to 45 minutes I'm Sergeant Luis MAA Jr I was
00:43:46
the lead detective in the case then I start trying to get information from him and I noticed him not answering fully
00:43:56
and when I asked him what's going on Joel he goes well I live a very private life and those questions are something
00:44:01
that I don't want coming out Maria had been seeking help through the church through a pastor wasn't she
00:44:11
also being treated for severe depression and anxiety she had been getting some medical attention as well but this case
00:44:18
was unique because she was also expressing her thoughts her feelings her emotions in a diary
00:44:28
my fears are losing my family losing my husband damaging my kids making the wrong choice as the da my job was
00:44:39
putting the right team together to work this case she described that she was going
00:44:46
through a tough time but that she loved those kids and she couldn't wait to do more in the
00:44:53
future I want to be a good mom a mom that is present present engaged and involved with my kids how important how
00:45:02
crucial were those journals very she wasn't a drug abuser she loved those kids she would never leave them
00:45:12
behind there's no way [Music] [Music] in the early morning hours of September 22nd
00:46:08
2020 when Laredo Police Officer gregoria De La Cruz walked inside the home on Canyon Oak
00:46:17
Drive his body camera was recording the emergency unfolding in front of him what's going on at the top of the
00:46:27
stairs near the main bedroom helel poo dressed in teal surgical scrubs was performing CPR on his wife Maria Muno D
00:46:37
La Cruz soon took over we sometimes zoom into the body cam footage to avoid graphic
00:46:45
material what kind of shape was she in when you started giving her CPR she was warm she was still warm to touch while D
00:46:53
Cruz desperately tried to revive Maria he asked her husband about the drugs Hela told the 911 operator his wife may
00:47:03
have taken some pills he stands up he goes to the restroom he opens a medicine cabinet I can I can tell all this cuz I
00:47:10
hear it I'm not really sure upon his return he hands D Cruz a pill container Kazaam is a drug that is often
00:47:22
used to treat anxiety it had been prescribed to hoel not to his wife Maria D Cruz quickly tossed the pill container
00:47:31
aside to continue CPR H told D La Cruz that Maria had been struggling lately she's been super depressed how told the
00:47:42
officer that the couple's two young Sons were still in separate bedrooms nearby here asleep yeah seemingly unaware of
00:47:51
what was happening to their mother Maria she would like to take her children to the park she read to them
00:47:58
before they went to bed just a really dedicated mother yazin Martinez says her friend Maria adored her boys 5-year-old
00:48:08
Alejandro and Valentino who was turning two I am happy I am happy Maria enjoy being a stay-at-home mom take 1,000 she
00:48:22
was learning to play the piano and play to resume her career I asked her if she had gone to school and
00:48:31
she said yes she was a nurse in Puerto Rico and she's like I'm actually studying to take my test so I could work
00:48:38
here it was in Puerto Rico where Maria met how peot he was 11 years older and a nursing student a few years after they
00:48:48
married the couple moved to Laredo Texas how had landed a lucrative job as a nurse anesthetist known as in the
00:48:57
medical profession as a CRNA a nurse anesthetist or a CRNA certified registered nurse anesthetist and a
00:49:04
physician anesthesiologist use the same medication same techniques to provide anesthesia for people of all ages Tina
00:49:13
dores also as CRNA worked with Howell peot at doctor's hospital in Laro did he seem dedicated to his work yes very much
00:49:24
so he he always wanted to be better when I first met him he was very family oriented a hard worker smart guy he
00:49:33
would always talk about Maria and Alejandro and showing pictures of his son and just talking about family life
00:49:42
in general and now at the payot home paramedics and police were struggling to save the life of the young wife and
00:49:52
mother when more help arrived de Cruz sent h peo downstairs to the kitchen and that's when D La Cruz realized that the
00:50:01
pill container he had tossed to the side earlier hey there were some drugs here was now missing he had a prescription
00:50:09
drug where is it I was like he has to have them so that's when I ask hey does he have pills he comes up to the first
00:50:16
landing of the stairs and he tosses them to me all right so he had taken them now
00:50:21
I'm thinking now you're trying to hide something at 3:58 lesson 3 hours after helel peota call
00:50:29
911 his wife 31-year-old Maria Munos was declared dead inside their home what's going on what happened
00:50:39
police began asking how what had happened to his wife we had sex we took a shower then I I thought she was like
00:50:49
knocked out and then I go back upstairs and then she just by now they scenes just didn't feel
00:50:58
right to the investigators and there was something about Howell's appearance that
00:51:03
seemed suspicious he was really sweaty I'm wearing a vest I'm wearing a gun I'm wearing almost 20 pounds of gear right
00:51:11
and I'm not sweating as bad as he is so what went through your mind when you saw
00:51:15
how sweaty he was he's using drugs he may be under the influence of drugs you want to see a fire truck come
00:51:22
on let's go outside the couple's children now in the care of lawn enforcement what's your name were
00:51:28
escorted outside my name is Alejandro Alejandro authorities immediately launched a death
00:51:37
investigation when I get there um I meet with Officer De La Cruz he runs the information by me lead investigator
00:51:44
Sergeant Louise mat didn't know if Maria had died by Suicide an accidental overdose or if her husband was somehow
00:51:54
involved Ma knew he needed to search the house but to do it he would have to get
00:51:59
hoel pe's permission and he said well I don't want you going through my stuff cuz I'm a very private man then I said
00:52:07
look Joel I'm not going to force you to this is your right but I'm going to have
00:52:11
to go and get with my da and apply for a search warrant Howell eventually gave consent
00:52:18
for the search still ma had a lot of questions to get some answers he directed authorities to put how in a
00:52:26
police cruiser to take him to the station could you see him before you went in I could see him through my
00:52:39
camera everything's there is recorded he's hitting walls he's moving [Music] furniture it was scaring some of the
00:52:51
people down the hall in the dispatch room so that's how loud it was holding up okay
00:52:57
around 4:00 a.m. ma begins his interview with helel peot who claims he had given
00:53:03
Maria that container of Kazaam prescribed to him is it possible that she swallowed them
00:53:10
[Applause] all how many pills were there before I don't know muscle medals I agree he couldn't remember the minorous
00:53:23
things I don't know how many times I asked him play back to me the minute you got there what did you do and he well
00:53:30
what did I do what did I do what did I do well you know what if you remember the truth you don't have to think about
00:53:54
it what was the time period between the time you got out of the shower to when you noticed say she's not really
00:53:59
responding anymore 10 minutes not 100% sure the sudden death of a healthy 31-year-old Woman Like Maria Munos
00:54:11
didn't make sense to Sergeant Louise Mata and neither did her husband helel pe's
00:54:18
explanation his initial statement was that he went in and took a shower he thought she was
00:54:23
asleep and then 10 minutes later he realizes she's unresponsive going unresponsive on the bed when a common
00:54:30
person showers what's going to be in the bathroom steam condensation the smell of soap or
00:54:37
shampoo that master bedroom shower which is the one that he alleged to use was as
00:54:42
dry as a desert investigators had also discovered a syringe wrapper on the floor hey there's a needle right here
00:54:51
and a needle catheter on the stairs syringes and IV equipment in a medical bag were found inside the home why would
00:55:00
there be syringes in the house so like I don't know then H makes a hand gesture and Taps his
00:55:11
bicep with h peot at the police station Maria's close friend Angela Montoya and her husband Lis Ayala rushed over to the
00:55:21
house to take care of the kids Louise a cooworker of H says he had begun to see changes in hel's physique and
00:55:29
personality 2 years before Maria's death he L weight and then start gaining muscles did you suspect that maybe he
00:55:38
was taking steroids maybe maybe he was changing like more friendly with girls flirting more yeah the family man who
00:55:46
had once bragged to friends and colleagues about his wife and kids began changing his social media post too he
00:55:55
deleted the picture of Maria or he just started posting everything by himself not with his kids Howell in demand as a
00:56:02
nurse anesthetist was making a lot of money and according to Angela he enjoyed showing off his wealth he has this new
00:56:12
sporty car I bought Maria that one and I bought myself this one bragging about it
00:56:17
but friends say the changes they saw in ha went much deeper in 2018 around the same time Maria gave birth to the Second
00:56:27
Son how began pursuing a woman named Janet Arondo a surgical nurse he met at work Joelle took Janet to like a
00:56:38
vacation spree in Europe I don't recall which countries were that he took well there was one trip there was Spain and
00:56:45
then the next trip was France and Greece there you go there you go so Maria found
00:56:50
out about that while he was there with Janet according to Angela Maria confirmed her suspicion about her
00:56:57
husband's infidelity when she found a plane ticket for one of his European trips when her disappointment turned
00:57:05
into deep depression she was prescribed medication but perhaps the best medicine
00:57:11
for Maria turned out to be her daily journals discovered in her home by investigators I don't want to be sad
00:57:19
anymore I don't want my heart to hurt I don't want my mind to be in torture yet at times she seemed
00:57:29
hopeful believing her faith could mend the couple's 10-year marriage Lord this is a lot for me all I
00:57:37
really want to do is see change in him and it seemed to be working just months after her husband had taken his mistress
00:57:45
on those European vacations how treated Maria to a lavish getaway in Las Vegas and she showed me a couple of Louis
00:57:54
Vuitton he purchased for her but what seemed like a second chance for her marriage didn't last H could never
00:58:03
quite leave Janet how long have you been with Janette about 2 years so out of those
00:58:11
two years how long has Maria known about it she for a while for a long okay in fact Howell told Sergeant
00:58:23
maada that he no longer live with his family and that he had moved in with Janet Arondo 5 months before Maria's
00:58:31
death ma wondered how much The Other Woman knew and asked her to come to the police station to talk what is your
00:58:40
relationship with her I wouldn't have called you at 6:30 in the morning if it was just for for being nosy it's not
00:58:46
that I'm trying to be nosy but I'll get to where I'm going um he's he's my boyfriend ma continued pressing Janet
00:58:54
about howow you ever receive and then told her about Maria the reason that I'm here is
00:59:01
because last night H's wife passed away it doesn't appear to be right now any type of Foul Play we're still pending on
00:59:07
autopsy let's get with how did you and H even start dating I'm sorry um I understand take your
00:59:17
time I know it's all kind of thrown at you so you know I told you at the very beginning I'm going to be honest with
00:59:25
you so I am arming thing that was obviously what happened um I'm sorry about with your
00:59:33
question how when did how long have you and H been dating um almost 2 years now okay did
00:59:43
Maria his wife did she do drugs not that I'm aware of he just told me that he she
00:59:48
was very depressed when Sergeant ma mentioned Maria may have overdosed Janet seemed
00:59:55
surprised R minut are are you saying she overdose we don't know yet the main thing is this Janet is when we tell her
01:00:03
family you're going to think that either Joel did killed her or that you had something to do with it that's why we
01:00:08
have to rule you out okay has Joel ever confided in you that he was that he wanted to do something to his wife no
01:00:16
haa told believes that Maria may have overdosed on the drug claz aam he thinks she took these but when the autopsy was
01:00:24
conducted 8 hour hours after Maria was declared dead the medical examiner found no pill residue in her stomach and there
01:00:33
was something on Maria's body at the scene that puzzled both the medical examiner and investigators a tiny mark
01:00:42
on Maria's right arm it was a little little prick kind of like whenever you the common person draws blood or has her
01:00:50
blood checked when they go to the doctor one little dot that's it on her right crease no other signs of drug use or
01:00:59
anything like that the autopsy report states that Maria died from a mixed drug intoxication while the medical examiner
01:01:08
couldn't say how the drugs got into her system she did rule out suicide after talking to Maria's friends and reading
01:01:16
her journal on the day before she died Maria wrote what is it that I want move forward so could Maria's death have been
01:01:27
an accidental overdose or was it murder when Dr John Hunsinger an anesthesiologist and Howell's former
01:01:37
boss heard the autopsy results he immediately became suspicious and I called detective mat
01:01:45
and I told him my concerns he urged Sergeant mat to order a detailed toxicology screening to determine which
01:01:54
drugs had killed Maria and how they got there did you inject her tonight no with
01:02:04
anything authorities would have to wait nearly 4 months to get the answers they needed
01:02:26
on a Sunday afternoon at the First Baptist Church in Laredo the Victorious Life is is also a life of service all of
01:02:34
our lives were impacted by the precious life of Maria a large crowd of family and friends came to mourn Maria Munoz
01:02:44
including her estranged husband hoel her funeral was really sad H was there and he was crying he seemed very upset very
01:02:55
sad but to Maria's friend Yasmin Martinez he seemed a little too upset too sad what made me feel angry with him
01:03:06
near the casket crying over her giving her kisses like why now you have made her suffer and cry so much and you're
01:03:15
doing this now H pays display of grief hey you got a with defibrillator did nothing to
01:03:24
deter the investigation into his wife's death Sergeant Luis mat and Officer gregoria De La Cruz say the footage
01:03:33
captured by the body cam on the morning Maria died shows something curious remember the pills in a container that
01:03:40
Howell said his wife had taken D La Cruz tossed it aside when he was giving Maria
01:03:47
CPR he had a prescription drug where is it at some point it disappeared yeah I see it's still here
01:03:55
right now exactly and here's how it happened they say how grabs the pill container and
01:04:02
puts it in his pocket reach it and put it in he just reached over and put it right back in
01:04:08
the shirt if that's really what she took why would you want to hide that they were also suspicious of that needle
01:04:14
catheter hey there's a needle right here the kind used for IVs discovered at the
01:04:20
scene remember Maria had a tiny mark on her right arm sergeant has shared his concerns with the Webb County District
01:04:29
Attorney's office we have a 247 phone and law enforcement can contact us with any questions Chief assistant DA
01:04:37
Marisella Joan and district attorney Isidro alanes knew the case would be tough to prove since even the medical
01:04:46
examiner wasn't sure exactly how Maria died the medical examiner is saying I can't say for a fact this is homicide I
01:04:56
remember having this conversation with the Med medical examiner early on and I I remember her saying look I wasn't
01:05:03
there and neither were you all we know is that she has this combination of dangerous drugs in her bloodstream we
01:05:10
don't know who gave them to her if she had some in her system already if she took some later on either accident or
01:05:20
murder accident or murder investigators began to question Maria's friends and discovered that the Saturday before
01:05:27
Maria died there was a confrontation at Janet's house when Maria saw hoel's car there so that's when she stepped out of
01:05:36
the car and then she rang the doorbell according to Angela Maria seen on Janet's doorbell camera gave Howell an
01:05:46
ultimatum do you choose her or you choose me and then he says I choose Janet Janet called the police and when a
01:05:53
responding officer arrived at her her home he called Maria who had by then left with Howell when Maria answered her
01:06:01
cell phone the officer's body cam recorded the sound of ho berading her in the background hey I'm talking to you
01:06:10
right now I guess that's your boyfriend yeah according to Angela Maria told her that
01:06:20
H became violent and he got so frustrated with everything that he the windshield he broke it he broke it yes
01:06:28
he broke it on Sunday morning Maria texted her husband about hiring a divorce lawyer and he replied we can do
01:06:36
this with minimal lawyer intervention it's too much money Howell then seems to have had a change of heart and sends
01:06:45
Maria this email I'm so sad I'm hurting inside I want to sit down with you to talk without arguing a heart to heart
01:06:55
they agreed to meet Monday night before H arrived Maria messaged her friend Yasmin Martinez to pray for her I just
01:07:04
asked if you can pray for me tonight we're going to talk and then I answered her and I told her that I would pray for
01:07:12
her Maria's request for prayers that night would be her final message to Yasmin she died early Tuesday
01:07:24
morning nearly four months after Maria's death sergeant maada and officer D Cruz
01:07:30
finally get the Toxicology test results they have been waiting for zero CL aapam zero Clen aapam the drug how claim
01:07:41
Maria had taken instead the toxicology report revealed seven other drugs in Maria's system so positive for morphine
01:07:52
demeral veret propal ketamine lidocaine Naran most of these medications are typically used during surgery and one of
01:08:05
them can only be administered with an IV what was your reaction he killed her this guy killed his
01:08:14
wife authorities got a warrant officer De La Cruz who had tried to save Maria's life returned to hoel's home he knew why
01:08:25
we were there to make the arrest by the time we knock on the door and we announce our presence you the right to
01:08:31
remain silent just like the way you do the movies comes out I'm here I'm here puts his hands behind his back lets us
01:08:37
cuff him doesn't put up a fight H beo was taken to the police station and booked you can call my uh my
01:08:45
attorney oh you could call him prosecutors believe he was the one who gave his wife's a deadly mixture but can
01:08:52
they prove he wanted her to die [Music] what do you think was the most suspicious aspect of Maria's death see
01:09:03
more evidence from the case at 48 hours.com when helel pe's former boss anesthesiologist Dr John Hunsinger saw
01:09:23
the list of drugs found in Maria seven different medications he was surprised by One Drug in
01:09:32
particular I was very shocked to see propol where would he get that propol you can't just go to the drugstore to
01:09:40
get propol you have to get it from the hospital While most of the drugs found in Maria's system could be consumed by
01:09:46
mouth propal is usually injected by someone else with an IV one of the things about propol it relaxes you
01:09:55
greatly but it doesn't last very long it makes you stop breathing if you have too
01:10:01
much I think most of us when we hear about propol we think of Michael Jackson correct singer Michael Jackson's death
01:10:09
in June 2009 was blamed in part on an accidental overdose of propol and after Maria munoz's death a highly elevated
01:10:19
level of the drug was found in her system hers was the highest level I've seen SC and what does that say to you I
01:10:28
believe this is death by proall with howel peot now under arrest authorities were convinced that pe's
01:10:36
girlfriend Janet arando knew more than what she shared in that first interview so they got a search warrant
01:10:45
for her home then they offered her a deal in exchange for more information Janet would get immunity from
01:10:53
prosecution [Music] Janet agreed to a second police interview and accompanied by attorneys
01:11:01
she now seemed ready to talk did goel ever bring home any medical drugs yes Janet told police that peot had often
01:11:10
brought drugs to her home some for his own recreational use including ketamine morphine lidocaine Fentanyl and more
01:11:24
for propal Janet's information about propal kicked the case into high gear district
01:11:33
attorney Acro Alan selected a team of attorneys led by Marisella Jackman I am Karina riio my name is Anna Karen Garza
01:11:42
my name is chist Calderon we are Maria's Team all four prosecutors were convinced
01:11:47
that Maria's husband had methodically planned her murder and that the devoted mother and wife had suffered in the
01:11:54
months before or her death I've heard of emotional abuse I've seen it I've worked
01:12:01
around it but I never realized how prevalent it is even in our lives where you can relate to some of
01:12:11
the things that Maria was experiencing on the face of it this is a couple having problems he's having an affair
01:12:20
but to you this is domestic violence how well I think it goes so much further than just being a spouse you could see
01:12:27
the power struggle that existed or the the lack thereof assistant district attorney Karina Rios Maria had no power
01:12:36
in this relationship and the evidence of that prosecutor say is found in Maria's
01:12:40
own journals prosecutor Jackman read one of those entries life is so unfair my husband the man I love so much is
01:12:50
causing me so much pain I want to know what is it that you want me to do Maria also left evidence on her cell phone
01:12:59
that she secretly recorded approximately 4 months before her death what are the expectations you have on this this
01:13:08
marriage and she gave us this very powerful video you walk out that door we're getting a dose all right
01:13:19
fine got it she was having a discussion with him and that was so painful to watch but prosecutors
01:13:29
would need much more than that video and Maria's journal entries how do they believe that H peot dozed his wife with
01:13:37
all those drugs that was a million-dollar question we kept saying how did he get her to submit to
01:13:46
this during Janet Arondo second police interview she said peot had told her about the night Maria died he had G on
01:13:55
there he said to have that heart-to-heart talk and then injected her not to kill her peot said but to
01:14:01
calm her down why did he tell you that he injected her cuz she was tic right he wanted to um just Cal it out so he did
01:14:14
it with medication but investigators believe the sedatives were part of pe's plan to kill
01:14:22
Maria that before PE put an IV needle in Maria's arm he could have slipped several sedative drugs into her favorite
01:14:31
drink coffee ketamine foret morphine and Demerol those four could have been put in her
01:14:44
coffee she then passes out after that they say peota injected Maria with a deadly dose of propal then chief
01:14:55
assistant district attorney Anna Karen Garza Gutierrez says the payot deliberately waited to call for help I
01:15:03
believe he waited until she was dead to call 911 to make sure that no one can bring her back did you play any role in
01:15:09
Mar's dead at all you Janet said peot did admit to her that he got rid of some of the medical
01:15:19
equipment he used to inject Maria before First Responders arrived he just told me
01:15:25
she got rid of them peyote was out on bail so prosecutors had him rearrested and along with murder he was charged
01:15:33
with tampering with evidence again he may bail and would wear an ankle monitor in March
01:15:42
2023 2 and 1 half years after Maria munoz's death her husband went on trial for her
01:15:49
murder 48 Hours made several interview requests to H pe's defense team but never received a response who peot
01:15:59
declined our request for an interview the evidence will show that h p the motive he had the
01:16:09
intent and he had the means to kill media prosecutors presented 15 witnesses to prove to a jury the peot had
01:16:18
carefully and intentionally selected the drugs to kill Maria their star Witness Janet Arondo who told the jury what she
01:16:28
had shared with police did Mr he indicate to you that he dumped or discarded the I CER on the bio yes when
01:16:40
the defense case begins how peay's lawyers admit their client injected his wife but they say he wasn't trying to
01:16:49
kill her he was trying to save her [Music] H peot wearing a blue suit and a dark
01:17:12
gray tie listen carefully as his defense team presented his case no Maria died and there's no question
01:17:26
the Joel was there defense attorney Roberto Bali claims Maria was terribly depressed and had been drinking and
01:17:33
abusing drugs for months when Joe arrived Maria was already on something according to the defense helel
01:17:42
PE didn't intend to kill his wife and the proof his attorneys say is in that toxicology report they admit poo gave
01:17:51
his wife medication to calm her down and then when he found her unconscious they
01:17:56
say he gave her Naran a drug used to reverse an opioid overdose someone tried to bring her back to life and it wasn't
01:18:04
the paramedics it wasn't the police it was O so he did not want her dead this was a terrible
01:18:14
accident a terrible accident the defense argues that was caused by a combination
01:18:20
of whatever Maria had taken and the medication peot used to inject her how do you know that naram wasn't there
01:18:28
because he tried to save her that he went too far realized he had gone too far Naran is not a reversal agent for
01:18:36
propol and propol was What stopped her heart at the end the defense never explained to the jury how the propal got
01:18:44
into Maria's system but prosecutors say that the level of drugs discovered in Maria's body could not have been
01:18:52
accidental it was enough medication to survive two major surgeries it was so much and why do you think he gave her so
01:19:02
much to be sure while peyote himself didn't testify his emotional mother did Miriam kisio
01:19:14
told prosecutors during cross-examination that Maria had talked about how sad she was about her marriage
01:19:22
you were aware of that Co po was weren't you yes she told who told you and did you encourage her to stay in
01:19:35
the marriage I I told her that everybody have a limited and she have a limited when she decid that she don't
01:19:49
want to be no more with him I have my house open for her but prosecutors insist as sad as Maria
01:19:58
may have been about her marriage there's no evidence that she abused either drugs
01:20:03
or alcohol they believe peyote's motive was money and that he murdered Maria because
01:20:11
he didn't want to pay for a divorce and split his assets after 8 days of testimony the
01:20:19
jury got the case it took them less than an hour to decide who pe's fate guilty of murdering his wife Maria and
01:20:30
tampering with the evidence many members of the medical community attended the trial pe's former
01:20:40
colleague Tina dores he's not dumb I mean he's a smart guy so I don't know if he just got caught up with his God
01:20:49
complex that he thought he was smarter than everyone and that he was going to outsmart them
01:20:54
just hours after the guilty verdict peot was sentenced to life in prison cuffed and escorted out of the
01:21:04
courtroom she loved him and she adored him Maria's friend Angela Montoya she just loved them too
01:21:13
much prosecutors got Justice for Maria but it's a tragic ending for the family she loved and fought so hard to keep
01:21:23
together I I think sometimes the worst injuries don't even leave a mark the injuries on your heart on your mind we
01:21:31
could never see those on Maria but she told us about them she carried a lot of scars with her from this
01:21:40
relationship Maria's team say the most important witness of trial ended up being Maria herself and that her
01:21:48
journals show those scars were healing I want a life that's mine different and unique A Life That's balanced with every
01:21:58
emotion but a happy fulfilling life she was a wonderful soul and she was a great
01:22:08
mother she was just an amazing person and that energy we felt it [Music] [Music]
01:22:32
she disappeared off the face of the earth I started believing she was murdered the dogs went into the backyard
01:22:38
we found a little girl shoot no trace of her for 22 years and then I got a phone
01:22:43
call hey uh C he says you sitting down 48 hours Saturday at 109 Central on CBS [Music]
01:23:08
I'll never forget that day something sinister happened something unimaginable my cell phone rings and
01:23:21
it's Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo Sheriff says to me Glenn I'm calling about Jeff
01:23:30
Gman and he says Jeff's dead just like that just like that Jeff Gman was found dead with stab
01:23:40
wounds outside his home around 10:30 yesterday morning Metro Police are asking for the Public's help they're
01:23:47
saying this is the suspect I couldn't even believe it I had so many questions who would do
01:23:55
this I mean how did this happen just how big a list of people might have wanted Jeff dead that's a
01:24:05
line of people that runs from here to Los Angeles this guy's written about terrible people who've done awful things
01:24:15
for over 40 years the worst kinds of people they called him Tony the ant but Tony
01:24:22
spilatro was a big figure in the mafia he had a special interest in covering organized
01:24:27
crime you know he was gutsy and fearless Jeff Gman was Guided by an innate sense of right and
01:24:39
wrong if he knew someone was engaging in criminal activity unethical activity inappropriate
01:24:52
behavior he wanted to do that story he wanted to bring it to light we couldn't believe he would even take a call from
01:24:59
us but he did give me a sense of what state you were in when you called Jeff gar we were desperate in fear every day
01:25:10
it was just survival one step in front of the other one day at a time the only person that listened to us
01:25:17
and the only person that tried to do something that concretely put their name on the line to try to do that listened
01:25:23
to us was Jeff gar was Jeff he did something and he fought for us and he is 100% our hero and if I was
01:25:33
to talk to him today I think the first thing I would say is I'm [Music] sorry as Jeff's editor his colleague did
01:25:45
you ever sense any danger in covering this story there was absolutely no suggestion
01:25:54
no hint that this would end the way it did none [Music] [Music] on September 2nd 2022
01:26:55
it was a boiling hot late summer day in Las Vegas and people were getting ready for the Labor Day
01:27:06
weekend it was late morning when in broad daylight something terrible happened as investigative journalist for
01:27:17
the Las Vegas Review Journal Brianna Erikson and Ronda prast had seen a lot of bad people do a lot of
01:27:26
bad things but nothing came close to the Maia valan plot to murder their friend and colleague Jeff Gman Jeff Gman was at
01:27:38
his house on vacation he'd gone out to get something to eat he came back shut his garage
01:27:47
door you could see in the surveillance video from across the street that someone an as salant came into his yard
01:27:55
went to the left side of his house went inside the gate shut the gate and then we see Jeff moments later
01:28:05
opening his garage door and he was instantly ambushed when he turned the corner to where that person was lying in
01:28:13
wait in the video you can kind of see a struggle but Jeff ultimately falls to the ground and he never gets up
01:28:25
what happened to him in that attack Jeff was stabbed he was stabbed seven times four
01:28:32
times in the neck three in the Torso seven stab wounds did that suggest what kind of a killing this was to me
01:28:45
this was a very personal attack to stab someone in such a short time viciously seven
01:28:52
times with no warning a concerned neighbor found Jeff garman's body hidden behind some bushes
01:29:00
24 hours later 911 emergency for b965 do need police fire medical I have a neighbor
01:29:08
across the street from the he's in the side yard um I believe he's dead he's got blood over it was just a terrible
01:29:18
thing to know that he was lying there and we wondered whether he could have been saved but medical experts told us
01:29:24
later that he likely died within a minute or two it was a small Mercy for a man who
01:29:33
had spent his life fighting for the underdog at the base he just wanted to help people and protect people you know
01:29:40
and expose wrongdoing from the start Jeff Gman was shooting for big game and when he came
01:29:50
from Wisconsin in the 70s Vegas was the sarin GTI Mark Fiero a TV reporter at the time
01:29:59
became a lifelong friend and trusted Source Jeff Gman at the outset was a a reporter who caught the most important
01:30:10
beat in Las Vegas of his day that was organized crime then a reporter for the Las Vegas son Jeff took on one of the
01:30:18
biggest meanest Mobsters on the Strip a prime target of the feds is Tony spalatro The Outfits representative in
01:30:25
Vegas spalatro has Tony spalatro a power player for the Chicago mob played by Joe
01:30:31
pesi in scorsese's film Casino you said I'm bringing heat on you here's Jeff Gman talking about spilatro in the
01:30:41
podcast mobbed up he had a reputation for being a brutal killer yet he was never convicted of a single murder a
01:30:49
podcast Jeff made about a year before he died he had the the coldest eyes I've ever seen in my stories I got used to
01:30:58
calling spalatro by his street name Tony the ant he hated that and it sometimes left me at the receiving end of spo's
01:31:06
nasty stairs and his menacing fits of anger the irony of all of this is is that Jeff was not a tall man was not a
01:31:17
strong man but he toughed it out and he went toe-to-toe with these guys year in year out and some of these guys were
01:31:22
dangerous guys try as they did they couldn't scare him says Briana after his tires had been slashed
01:31:31
and some spooky things were happening to him he told a mob affiliate in a bar to
01:31:37
call off his dogs then he got punched in the face he later described that as a badge of honor a couple of hours later
01:31:46
with four stitches under my lip I had a war story to tell as the mob slowly lost its grip on
01:31:54
Vegas Jeff built a career exposing dirty business government corruption and crime
01:32:01
Ronda the former assistant managing editor for investigations at the RJ worked with him for 3 years he kept
01:32:09
digging and digging and digging and he was like the dog the little dog that would take a bite of your pants and
01:32:14
wouldn't let go you know he was just so laser focused on continuing to go deeper
01:32:20
and deeper and deeper into a story that tenacity helped him expose the truth in stories that could have remained in the
01:32:28
shadows he was one of the few journalists along with his colleague David Ferrara to report on the Susan
01:32:34
Winters case a woman whose parents doubted the suicide ruling in their daughter's death and Jeff started
01:32:43
putting pieces together working with the attorney for the family that the way that she killed herself was so
01:32:50
unseemly that it just didn't add up and once he started and he started pulling on that thread and then he started
01:32:58
pulling on a rope and then it turned into a chain that chain turned into a series of stories that targeted the
01:33:04
husband turns out Susan died from ingesting a lethal combination of painkillers and antifreeze the husband
01:33:12
who was charged with murder ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sent to prison
01:33:25
as hard charging and public as Jeff was in his work life the lifelong bachelor was notoriously private about his
01:33:33
personal life he was always back to business back to business this man was born to be a reporter a man who lived
01:33:42
for his job and as it turns out a man who may have died for it the entire Newsroom rallied together
01:33:51
his colleagues had no idea who did this or why but they were determined to do what
01:33:58
Jeff Gman would have done find [Music] [Music] out the RJ staff was in mourning their sorrow in full display on
01:34:24
Jeff garman's desk it's a reminder that this team is not going to be the same without him but
01:34:32
we can carry on the way he would want us to and that meant doing what he would have
01:34:41
done the staff started tugging on threads and searching for Clues working non-stop on one of the most important
01:34:49
stories of their careers who killed Jeff G chman immediately I started thinking in
01:34:57
my head all right who had threatened Jeff in any way in the last 5 months who could have possibly done
01:35:03
this executive editor Glenn cook asked Ronda to come up with a short list of people to consider one of the names I
01:35:11
gave him was Robert Tellus and who is Robert Tellus he was a clerk County elected official in charge
01:35:19
of the public administrator's office which handles Estates of people who were deceased one of the estate coordinators
01:35:26
in ts's office Alicia Goodwin had reached out to Jeff Gman in March of 2022 she had filed a formal complaint
01:35:35
with the Clark County Office of diversity on behalf of herself and some colleagues claiming Robert Tellus
01:35:42
harassed bullied and discriminated against them he was a horrible the horrible human being monster is the
01:35:50
right word but Alicia says the county did nothing it was always he's an elected official there's nothing we can
01:35:57
do Jeff agreed to hear what Alicia and her colleague Pang Rita Reed and Jessica Coleman had to say and when he finally
01:36:08
talked to us and he let us tell what had happened to us and he said no I'm going
01:36:13
to look into this I I think that's the only thing that gave us enough energy to keep
01:36:21
going according to the women the trouble began almost immediately after Robert Tellus took office in January
01:36:30
2019 Rita a supervisor was his second in command and a 12-year veteran of the office he came in very abruptly into the
01:36:40
office and he slammed his palms down on my desk with a with a real loud bang I oh yes absolutely and he leaned forward
01:36:49
and he said we're ripping off the bandage you no longer supervise anyone no one reports to you they all report to
01:36:57
me and he turned around and he walked out and I just sat there stunned the women say they were ordered
01:37:05
not to speak to each other in the office it it felt dangerous to even have a hello good morning conversation with
01:37:12
co-workers in passing if caught the consequences could be severe says Alicia she remembers getting called into ts's
01:37:20
office after he saw her and two other women talking we walked into his office and he said sit down and shut up
01:37:32
you're not going to talk I'm going to talk and he just got this look on his face he sat back and he pointed at nine
01:37:40
and said you what was it like to be in that room and receiving that it was car because I did not want to upset him
01:37:49
because I knew how he could be despite years of service all the women say they feared for their jobs and Jessica who
01:38:00
safeguarded the property of the deceased in a caged room says she feared for her
01:38:05
physical safety she says Tellus would sometimes come in and threaten her there was an instance where he got
01:38:14
in my face and you know he's yelling and I'm sort of backed up against um the cage door he was trying to physically
01:38:23
intimidate you yes yes he would bring his chairs up really close and and demand that you really pay attention and
01:38:29
look him in the eye while he told you horrible things one of those horrible things says Jessica almost did her in
01:38:37
alone in the cage together she says Tellus started by saying that he noticed she never talked to anyone in the office
01:38:46
a bizarre comment considering his no talking Rule and he goes if you keep going down on this road you're going to
01:38:54
be like our cases and you're just going to die alone and nobody's going to find you and I sat there and cried um and
01:39:03
then after that it's hard to admit then I started um thinking the best thing I could do would be to sacrifice myself
01:39:11
for the girls and I had actually picked out a place um that I was going to hang myself in the vault in view of the door
01:39:19
because he would always come by and and make sure I was working and I thought this will be good if they
01:39:26
have to find me this way then the county will have to do something mercifully Jessica realized
01:39:35
that was not the solution to the problem but they came up with another plan the women believed tus was having an
01:39:42
inappropriate relationship with a subordinate in the office named Roberta Roberta they claimed used that
01:39:51
relationship to assume power and privilege Beyond her job title is there any doubt in your mind that the two of
01:39:59
them were having a romantic Affair no absolutely not none whatsoever no but they needed
01:40:08
proof so they decided to follow them we had seen a pattern short dress day if they went the same direction we knew
01:40:18
that we needed to go it was always to the same place says Alicia a parking garage in a nearby
01:40:29
Mall the alleged lovers would park next to each other we started to take pictures and we started to video that's
01:40:37
Roberta's car on the left Robert ts's on the right so how did you position yourselves where you could get some
01:40:45
video very carefully very in a car sometimes in a car sometimes we would get out of our car there were there were
01:40:52
kind of some cutouts and pillars where you could get angles here and there and we just tried to move around and to get
01:40:59
the best that we could according to the women the alleged lovers would ultimately end up in the back seat of
01:41:06
Roberta's car Roberta has said that they would sit in the back seat because she wanted to be able to make eye contact
01:41:13
with him as they were having important office discussions yeah that is what she said and and okay and your reaction to
01:41:22
that well that last video we got we had a little better recorder you can see the
01:41:28
the shadows and you can see those heads going together we felt it was so inappropriate but this was the shot they
01:41:38
believed was the most telling Roberta leaving the car and smoothing down her dress it was so unbelievable and it just
01:41:47
took a moment to to digest that it would I mean at that moment it was like so real after seeing the videos Jeff asked
01:41:58
Roberta about them she responded I have not had an inappropriate relationship with
01:42:06
him the RJ published the story let me read the lead in this first article the Clark County public administrator's
01:42:16
office has been mired in turmoil and internal dissension over the past 2 years with allegations of emotional
01:42:23
stress bullying and favoritism leading to secret videotaping of the boss and a coworker outside the office that story
01:42:33
went all over the state of Nevada and before long all over the country as this settled in are you thinking mission
01:42:42
accomplished or you thinking what's going to happen to us next both yeah the terror didn't stop the
01:42:52
terror almost just got worse it just changed face what do you make of Robert tales's
01:43:00
alleged behavior in the workplace chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and
01:43:06
[Music] X Jeff German's story with its allegations of turmoil bullying and hostility had a Swift and searing effect
01:43:24
at the public administrator's office the county finally sent in an outside consultant and Robert Tellus lost his
01:43:32
bid for reelection in the primary ironically to his arch enemy Rita Reed but Jeff wasn't through with Robert
01:43:41
Tellus yet he wrote three more scathing pieces chronicling the fall of the once upand cominging young Democrat and
01:43:50
another story was in the works but Jeff Gman did not survive to write it Jeff Gman was found stabbed to
01:43:58
death outside his home in the Northwest when news of Jeff's murder broke the women Jeff had fought for were overcome
01:44:05
with grief but also dread afraid of what they may have Unleashed Alicia's dad a former Las Vegas police detective who
01:44:14
introduced her to Jeff said what they were all thinking my dad called me first thing in the morning
01:44:24
and said that Jeff had been killed and I didn't even get to react before my dad's
01:44:30
next word were I know who my first suspect is as soon as those words came out of his mouth I knew immediately too
01:44:38
that it was Robert that it was Robert the staff at the Las Vegas Review Journal was wondering the same thing
01:44:47
could Robert Tellus have been involved the journalistic hounds are are released right yes we weren't going to do
01:44:54
anything until Every Little Rock was overturned and every little fact was found out about what what this guy was
01:44:59
and who he was AR Kaine now the investigations editor was a reporter at the time and we
01:45:07
started finding out a lot of interesting things about him for example he was arrested while he was public
01:45:12
administrator for choking his wife can you please send somebody here my husband is going crazy those body cam video that
01:45:19
we have obtained of that who would I hit cameras our cameras are on you guys just want to
01:45:26
take me down cuz I'm a public official Tellis slurring his words was arrested for domestic battery and resisting
01:45:34
arrest there is sufficient evidence to book me right now there is sufficient evidence to book you right now yes and
01:45:39
I'm I'm not trying to be like I'm public official so you know do what I want you
01:45:44
to do I'm saying I'm not a idiot mhm he received a suspended 90day sentence on the resist ing charge and was ordered to
01:45:55
attend a corrective thinking class the battery charge was dismissed no one ever heard about it
01:46:02
because no one covers DUIs and domestics and that flew under the radar looking back there were other
01:46:10
warning signs says Brianna such as these a series of tweets tell us posted in response to Jeff's reporting read that
01:46:20
one for me looking forward to lying smear piece number four byj Gman RJ # one trick pony I think he's mad that I
01:46:30
haven't crawled into a hole and died laughing emoji what did you think of that one somebody who's pretty pissed
01:46:42
off but the journalist knew angry tweets didn't prove anything they needed facts
01:46:49
and facts were hard to come by all they had were these two still surveillance photographs the police had released of
01:46:58
the suspect in Jeff's neighborhood the outfit bizarre as it seems may have been a strategic Choice says art the outfit
01:47:09
is very typical of what um construction workers and people who do landscaping wear because they want to cover up all
01:47:15
their skin from the sun when the police released a surveillance video review journal
01:47:22
photographer Cannon immediately noticed something the big hat and orange reflective shirt couldn't hide the man's
01:47:30
walk his gate how would you describe that gate it's it's a bit of a a limp and a favor
01:47:38
on one side it seems Kevin Went digging in his files and found this a walking shot he had taken of Robert Tellus when
01:47:46
Jeff interviewed him at his office the staff compared both videos side by side I'm not sure how to describe it but it
01:47:56
was definitely The Identical gate in my mind Kevin then went through hundreds of
01:48:01
still photos he had taken that day and found this it's a very chilling photo and it's the one and only photo where
01:48:08
Jeff and tell us are in the same photo executive editor Glenn cook says his staff moved forward on the operating
01:48:16
theory that Robert Tellus could have been the killer but they still didn't have hard evidence
01:48:24
then the police released this a photo of the suspect's car a maroon Yukon Den show me what you did but you just type
01:48:34
in the address you pull up the Google Street View assistant City editor David Ferrara immediately typed ts's home
01:48:42
address into Google Earth and if you zoom in on the house that maroon vehicle is there parked in
01:48:52
the driveway the maroon SUV was registered to tell Us's wife and at that moment we send
01:49:00
reporters and photographers straight to the house and the message I give our Metro editor is do not engage do not
01:49:09
approach do not be seen this man is very likely a suspect in the murder of your colleague and we can't predict how he's
01:49:17
going to react to anyone being near him but the photographer crouching behind his dashboard managed to get what he
01:49:26
came for and is this the picture that is taken that's the photo this is the money
01:49:33
photo it's the Money Shop the Robert Tellus on a scorching hot 110 degree day is in jeans in his driveway washing the
01:49:46
maroon GMC Yukon Denali this must have been a moment where I don't know if there's any ch hear in going on in your
01:49:53
Newsroom but what a development what does this mean well it means that possibly Jeff was killed by the last
01:50:02
story he wrote about I mean this was his last investigation and and the suspect appears to be the guy he wrote about and
01:50:09
basically took him out of office without corroboration from police documents the
01:50:14
review journal couldn't go with the story but Glenn cook was betting it wouldn't be long his reporters had seen
01:50:22
unmarked parked police cars outside Robert ts's home we have every reason to believe at
01:50:29
this point that it's only a matter of time before a search warrant is going to be executed at that house a search that
01:50:36
will uncover crucial [Music] evidence as the investigator geared up to serve Robert Tellus with a search
01:50:56
warrant the review journal needed to be sure it would be the first to break the news it was important because Jeff was
01:51:04
always first and we wouldn't want to let him down and not be the first we polish
01:51:10
that story and then we sit on it until police move in in the early morning of September 7th
01:51:19
2022 just 5 days after Jeff garan's murder tus was brought in for questioning as
01:51:26
police searched his home and cars while he was in custody detectives collected a
01:51:32
DNA sample from tus they also took the jeans he was wearing into evidence and gave him a white paper suit to change
01:51:40
into before he was taken back to his house and swarmed by reporters eagerly awaiting his arrival did you do this did
01:51:49
you commit this murder did you do this anything inside ts's home investigators say they found gym shoes and a duffel
01:51:59
bag similar to what was seen in the surveillance video and when they looked in the garage detectives say they
01:52:05
discovered even more a straw sun hat or what was left of it the sun hat the sun hat cut up into pieces
01:52:15
yes but police say the most crucial piece of evidence would come from the DNA sample that was taken from Tellus
01:52:23
earlier that day we received positive DNA results that showed Robert ts's DNA at the crime
01:52:31
scene ts's DNA was under Jeff's fingernails there's no doubt in my mind that Jeff knew exactly what was
01:52:40
happening in that Split Second and he made sure he got the [Music] evidence with a DNA match apparently
01:52:49
secured the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Department descended on Robert ts's home once again and began
01:52:57
clearing the area for an arrest and this is where he was arrested yes reviewed Journal photographer Kevin Cannon was
01:53:04
one of dozens of media who had been waiting outside tell's home that day what happens when the cops arrive
01:53:12
suddenly the police said okay everybody out they kicked the entire news everyone who was here out where did
01:53:19
you go so I made a beine to the front door of a neighbor who I befriended earlier when I arrived and they without
01:53:26
saying a word open the door and welcome me in and walked me to their backyard where I could have a view of ts's house
01:53:31
and you could still see the house from your your advantage from the back yeah back in the RJ Newsroom some of the
01:53:38
staff anxiously kept up with what was happening at the scene through the office's police radio and heard that
01:53:45
Tellus refused to come out of his home our Target is still calm on the uh phone however he has me a couple 4 405
01:53:53
comments 405 comments a code Las Vegas Police use to indicate comments associated with self
01:54:02
harm it was kind of scary at that point we were thinking is is this all going to
01:54:08
end on his terms now based on the four or five comments we're going to go ahead and make the official request for
01:54:16
SL well my colleagues heard through the scanner that they were going to move in because he had cut himself and they
01:54:22
wanted to save him before he harmed himself more and they wanted to get to him right the SWAT team made its move and
01:54:31
that's when Kevin got ready and so you were positioned you were ready to go then right I was ready to go the whole
01:54:37
time I mean I had my finger on the button the whole time where do you look what do you see behind you well I see
01:54:44
them rolling them out on a stretcher down around that corner down that path out the driveway and put in an ambulance
01:54:51
right here Kevin was the only photographer that day to capture ts's dramatic arrest his
01:54:59
image of Tellis on the stretcher made the front page of the review journal the following morning the next day I uh
01:55:07
opened the paper and there was a photo on the front page with the banner headline stunning arrest and and I it
01:55:15
was stunning and satisfying for you after all that very satisfying it becomes huge news obviously all over the
01:55:22
country country a reporter allegedly killed by a politician for a story he wrote that's
01:55:30
pretty unheard of after Tellus was treated at the hospital for his self-inflicted injuries
01:55:37
he was booked into the Clark County Detention Center 6 weeks later Telus was indicted by a grand jury for murder with
01:55:46
use of a deadly weapon having you plead guilty or not guilty not guilty soon after evidence from the grand chury
01:55:55
was released by The Clark County District Court including that grainy surveillance Attack
01:56:03
video I think probably what we found some of the most disturbing is the last three videos minutes later it shows the
01:56:11
as salent returning to the scene of the crime and parking that maroon Yukon Denali in front of Jeff's driveway and
01:56:19
now you'll see him walk over and make sure that Jeff is dead and you're theorizing he is checking to see if he's
01:56:28
dead because obviously Jeff saw this this person he wants to make sure that there's not a witness that's still alive
01:56:34
seemingly satisfied the suspect walked back to his car and left since his arrest tus has been in
01:56:44
jail awaiting trial did you murder Jeff [Music] Gman what do you make of the evidence
01:56:53
found inside of Robert tell's home see more evidence photos from the case at 48 [Music]
01:57:09
hours.com hey Robert good morning we met Robert Tellus for a video interview at the Clark County Detention Center and
01:57:17
began with the question on everyone's mind did you murder Jeff Gman no sir I did
01:57:25
not if you did not commit this murder who did I will Reserve that for trial you have said that you were framed do you
01:57:35
stand by that in this conversation I do I absolutely do Tellis says he can explain the
01:57:44
evidence against him the torn-up sun hat the Yukon Denali and his DNA under Je fingernails I say that that evidence or
01:57:56
so-called evidence was planted along with the other items that were allegedly found in my home as well and we will go
01:58:03
ahead and prove that at trial how could someone who was trying to frame you plant your DNA under his fingernails how
01:58:10
would that have have happened they first they would have had to have gotten your
01:58:14
DNA and then when would they have planted it under his fingernails it seems far-fetched
01:58:22
well you know crazier things have happened and I'll tell you that I didn't kill Mr German come on man that's
01:58:29
overwhelming DNA ends up under his fingernails your DNA this is an overwhelming case against you Robert
01:58:38
that you committed this murder and again sir you know you have the facts wrong and I will
01:58:46
demonstrated a trial he also says he will show he didn't do those things Gman wrote about in his articles Robert
01:58:54
you're saying that what these women have said to me what they told Jeff Gman and
01:59:00
he printed those are all lies if you look at what Mr German printed none of it was none of it had
01:59:09
any facts within it right it was all alleged opinion about you know what how they felt that that I I
01:59:19
acted but it's hard to argue with with this the footage the women shot of their boss and his alleged lover in the
01:59:27
parking garage let me ask you straight were you and Roberta having an affair no she
01:59:37
was a confidant um but I'll leave it at that but Jeff was not willing to leave it at that he was planning on writing
01:59:48
another piece according to police documents Tellis and Berta got word the day before the murder that there was a
01:59:55
planned release of emails and messages between her and Tellis to the review journal there was a Freedom of
02:00:03
Information requests that Jeff had put out and you were told that new messages and emails were going to come out
02:00:10
describing the relationship between you and Roberta Communications between the two of you and it suggested that you
02:00:16
made a decision to murder him to try to silence that to prevent that from being published what do you say about that I
02:00:24
say that's a mischaracterization of of things I'll tell you that what was going to be released and I saw was going to be
02:00:31
released um had no inklings of of any type of you know confidential relationship any type of supposed
02:00:41
Affair it was all business related so that would not have been a motivation because there was nothing that was going
02:00:48
to be produced that that would bad prosecutors have mentioned this as a contributing motive to the murder in
02:01:01
Robert ts's mind Jeff Gman ruined his marriage ruined his political career embarrassed him and was continuing to
02:01:10
report on him rather than leave him alone if the intention of the alleged killing was to stop Jeff's reporting it
02:01:18
didn't work after his murder the RJ journalists hunted through Jeff's notes picking up where Jeff left off and
02:01:27
completed the stories Jeff had been working on at the time of his death including another on Robert tell's toxic
02:01:35
past a story that investigates claims of sexual harassment all of which he has denied the main thing here is you cannot
02:01:45
kill a reporter and kill the story you just can't do that in life Jeff Gman was known to protect
02:01:55
his sources at all costs in death Jeff was still protecting them after the murder the police took
02:02:04
all his devices which harbored the names of countless sources the review journal went to court
02:02:13
and in a hard-fought case that went all the way to the Nevada Supreme Court the paper won protection for his sources
02:02:22
that'll be the Gman rule that you will not be able to go into a reporter's files you will not be able to go through
02:02:28
their phone you will not be able to look at their sources even after death these four Jeff Gman sources are
02:02:37
not about to let the world forget the reporter who fought to protect them they have attended almost every hearing
02:02:45
trying to come to terms with their feelings of guilt because no matter what logic is in your head it's not your
02:02:54
fault that Jeff made his choices and that he was a professional your heart tells
02:03:03
you if we wouldn't have made that call he wouldn't have died in that violent way that
02:03:11
day if I was to talk to him today I think the first thing I would say is I'm sorry but not for him for me
02:03:21
because he wouldn't accept my apology but I need to give it Jeff Gman was a reporter's reporter
02:03:30
one of the good guys a man who spent a lifetime speaking truth to power truths that are now baked into the history of
02:03:38
this place a neon strip of gritty stories laid bare beneath the desert sky he told anyone who asked that he was
02:03:49
never going to retire that he was going to report until his last breath and that's exactly what he did and he gave
02:03:57
his life to this job he literally gave his life to this job I think that's his [Music]
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