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Murder Mysteries and Voices from the Dead | "48 Hours" Full Episodes

October 05, 2024 / 02:04:45

This episode covers the tragic murder of Kevin Harris, a promising young music producer, and the ongoing quest for justice by his parents, Kevin Harris Sr. and Catherine Harris. The episode discusses the events leading up to Kevin's death, the investigation, and the impact on his family.

Kevin Harris was shot multiple times in Englewood, California, in 2009 at the age of 21. His father, Kevin Harris Sr., recounts the day of the murder and the family's struggle to understand why someone would want to harm their son, who was known for his talent and kindness.

The episode features interviews with Kevin's parents, friends, and law enforcement officials, including FBI Special Agent Sean Sterley and former detective John Scags. They discuss the challenges of solving the case, including the lack of witnesses and evidence, and the community's reluctance to cooperate with police.

As the investigation unfolds, the episode highlights the Harris family's relentless pursuit of justice, including their efforts to keep Kevin's memory alive through memorials and public awareness campaigns. The episode also touches on the emotional toll the case has taken on the family.

Ultimately, the episode emphasizes the importance of seeking justice for Kevin Harris and the ongoing fight against gun violence.

TLDR

Kevin Harris, a young music producer, was murdered in 2009; his parents continue to seek justice for their son.

Episode

2:04:45
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[Music] [Music] oh my oh my Lord it was disguise a limit for a 21y old that was talented and that everybody
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[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
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other even if he didn't go to church that day he was naive Kevin Trust Soul maybe a little too
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much he'd say why you got to tell everybody I'm your son I said because I'm proud of
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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
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a while so [Music] he was making a name for himself cuz I heard where Britney and Rihanna actually
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were interested in some of his material Kevin always had it the Beats were great I knew he was going to make it
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some people have that thing where it's like you're Relentless to a point where nothing can stop you
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the stuff that he would send me was a lot of like an R&B feel mixed with like pop pop and
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Hip-Hop Church like gospel like those ches a lot of things were happening too quickly can
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get it videos camera shoots Ice Cube track and he went to that dog on Studio that
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night and that happened last day and he kissed me on it on my left cheek he hugged me and he just held me
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and I said what's wrong Kevin and he said nothing mom he said everything's just happening
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so fast I feel like something's going to happen I said don't think like that 10 to 17 shots two different
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handguns how much do you have to kill him a lot of suspicious things happened that
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night the clues are absolutely out there we just need that one piece that one Smoking Gun
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[Music] [Music] [Applause] time is of the essence I've hate how long my breath takes those are are the
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words of Kevin Harris on his Twitter account in the summer of 2009 Kevin was just 21 when he was
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gunned down shortly after 8:00 p.m. on a September Sunday that same year he had been sitting in his car alone in
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Englewood California a small City in Los Angeles close to LAX I got a call at 9:15 are you at the
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hospital I said for what what happened what's wrong Kevin's been shot Kevin Harris senior is Kevin's dad
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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
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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
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during the the the photo shoot that they had so handsome confident very confident tell me about your angel our
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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
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was still close with his childhood friends like Cameron Woods we've known each other since we were like two three
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years old we continue going to the same school with each other all the way to all the way to
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here um it's still so fresh yeah hold on sorry what are you thinking I don't want to
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cry it's a little harder a little H yeah it's okay you know that right what do you miss most about him
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his smile his generosity never heard anybody tell me anything bad about him say anything bad
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about him never really heard him say anything about about anyone besides my be feel you know I
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mean no one's perfect but he was he was close he was close to that the harrises led by example were
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working hard dad at the LA airport and selling cars and Mom working retail they were regulars in church and
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they sent Kevin to a Catholic school she and I were like helicopter parents under
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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
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mark just knowing the the possible hearts that lay out there in the street one of Kevin's h hob Cameron says was
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hanging out with his mom spending time with his mom really yeah he love yeah wait wait wait a teenager enjoying
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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
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a mama's boy so there's nothing wrong with that Kevin was a perfect date Jasmine
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Tanner was Kevin's high school sweetheart hard not really a hugee dancer but like you know he had his
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little twostep that he would do everything that he did was in from a very loving
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place the harrises kept their son involved in sports especially basketball I'll take you through my
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house right now right here in my room but his real calling was music much of the music you're hearing in this
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broadcast is his see this all you need right here is a little kid right here see turn up the music a
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second see got all that got the turntables mix [Music] s he taught himself to play he taught
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himself he had Rock he had Classics he had Jazz uh East Indian music soon after high school graduation
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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
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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
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Los Angeles hipop scene but he just wanted to be the best producer ever Kevin's Vibe was he was comfortable
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with himself Sonia techly is a poet and singer one of a number of artists working with Kevin I had never felt
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comfortable in recording sessions until my sessions with him and a lot of times like you
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know guys are just trying to like get at girls and do all these things but he was
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just he stayed in his Lane he was focused on his work as Kevin's career picked up speed
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he bragged about working at a big fancy Studio where Michael Jackson once recorded Thriller and he was like right
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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
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would soon come to an abrupt and violent end my naive loving son probably just could have been possibly Sleeping with
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the Enemy and had no idea [Music] [Music] to this day no one has been charged for
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the murder of Kevin Harris they thought we're going to do this sneaky stuff here and we'll get
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away with it they effed with the wrong father this [Music] time Kevin Harris senior is determined
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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
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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
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of 2009 Kevin shared breakfast with his mother Catherine I saw have the plate the paper the
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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
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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
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aunt's Karen Staten is the last known person to see Kevin alive he was his regular happy go-lucky
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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
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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
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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
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things I can write I can perfect what I'm working on and we hugged each other and he was out the
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door he drove to the studio in his beloved Green Camaro he was supposed to meet up with a friend known in the
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community as a wannabe rapper but that friend was a no-show a lot of suspicious things happened that
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night the studio was in a converted Garage in a residential neighborhood Hood Kevin arrived but never made it out
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of his car he was shot multiple times from two different guns I never expected anything
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like this to happen to Kevin Kevin's friend Jasmine says he didn't have a chance to find out that he was shot
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outside the studio that he loved to go to so much it was just like nowhere is safe the harrises went to the crime
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scene no more than 3 hours after their son had been shot the police were already gone it was already cleaned up
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it was so weird and strange it was like why is this crime scene already done car
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was gone everything it seemed as if there were more expeditious in cleaning up their crime scene than they were in
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trying to find out who did this within the proverbial 24 to 48 hours that's what it seemed
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like Catherine and took what was left behind I walked around in front of the studio and I saw blood wipe the blood up
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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
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glass this young man deserves better than what happened here there was early speculation that Kevin's death was Gang
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Related an assumption that upset his father you hear shot and killed the first thing you want to say he drive by
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was he in the game no no he wasn't he was just a loving young man with a heart as big as his
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church music journalist Raman Duke says no matter how innocent the victim is people assume a crime like this is Gang
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Related cuz there a young black man so it's automatic yeah and in that and specifically within that neighborhood
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100% young black man shot in the music business yeah those are all elements and the odds of solving crimes
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with those elements are slim for one thing witnesses can be hard to find people in these communities they stick
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together when these situations occur they're like I'm not not dealing with with the law enforcement they weren't
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here to help us why we going to why we going to help them I have seen people step forward but
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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
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that neighborhood there there might be some retaliation there's this mentality where it's like just mind your own
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business as time past Kevin's parents felt that the police pushed their son's case to the back burner even when they
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tried to help and they would tell me just go home just go home we'll take care of
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this we let the law enforcement handle it unfortunately it didn't work it was sat on the police told 48 Hours quote
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our hearts go out to the parents and family of Kevin the Englewood police department has done everything possible
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to bring closure and Justice to the family the harrises continued to push for answers they held memorials for
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Kevin inviting the police and local officials but the stress of losing their son took its
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toll the gun kills more than this intended victim and it always will and after he died not right away but a lot
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of everything that meant everything to our family was destroyed [Music] two years after Kevin's murder the
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harrises ended their 23-year [Music] marriage it was a dark time for Kevin Senior he searched for
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[Music] Solace and he found it in church a Baptist Church in the Los Angeles community
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[Music] of my heart is broken but God has piece by piece put it back together Pastor Winford Bell helped the
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heartbroken father Channel his grief into a newfound purpose speaking out against gun violence for Bell's
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organization Silver Lining of hope my heart has been ripped smiing Dre I really Revel in this because it's
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medicine to my soul to speak about the loss of my son Kevin stepped up when they kill your
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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
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the same [Music] thing now more at peace with himself Kevin Senior found more will to keep up
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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
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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
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felt that all my aggressiveness wasn't in vain have you met the parents I have the parents are fantastic and as soon as
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I met them we immediately bonded and they have begged us to just find the people that did this and that's my
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commitment to them vet Morgan is in charge of FBI criminal investigations in Los Angeles I'm vested so we'll find
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them and we'll hold them accountable Welcome to the New [Music] FBI I think there was a tough case with
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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
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pulled up next to Kevin Harris's Camaro the shots were fired from that car we believe there were probably three people
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in the car the driver and two Shooters they were approximately about 6 in door too so so close that the shell casings
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from the shooters guns two of them end up inside Kevin's [Music] car also new to the case former LA
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detective John scags know the streets and I know how to talk to people where are you taking us right now
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we're going to the crime scene where Kevin was killed there's a couple things I need to
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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
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murdered exactly [Music] detective scags walks into the house attached to the music studio hey John
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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
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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
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saw Kevin's I saw the green camar I said oh my God oh my God the amms came in the
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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]
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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]
02:04:13
[Music] legacy need more time with 48 Hours go deep behind every True Crime episode
02:04:22
with firsthand accounts from 48 Hours investigations were you at all prepared for what happened in this case shock is
02:04:28
the word that comes to mind get inside the twists and turns and get in on the case listen to postmortem from 48 hours
02:04:35
now available wherever you get your podcasts [Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 80
    Best concept / idea
  • 75
    Most shocking

Episode Highlights

  • Tragic Loss
    Kevin Harris was gunned down at just 21 years old, leaving his family devastated.
    “Someone actually took the time to murder him.”
    @ 05m 21s
    October 05, 2024
  • Finding Purpose in Grief
    After losing his son, Kevin Senior channels his grief into activism against gun violence.
    “My heart has been ripped; I really revel in this because it's medicine to my soul.”
    @ 17m 56s
    October 05, 2024
  • Kevin's Rise in Hip-Hop
    Kevin hustled hard, becoming a prospect in the music industry at a young age.
    “He was really hustling, trying to get artists and putting music together.”
    @ 28m 55s
    October 05, 2024
  • The Warning Signs
    In the weeks before his death, Kevin's demeanor changed, raising concerns among friends.
    “His demeanor did seem a little different.”
    @ 31m 33s
    October 05, 2024
  • Unsolved Murder
    The murder of Kevin Harris remains unsolved, with his family seeking justice.
    “The murder of Kevin Harris remains unsolved.”
    @ 38m 31s
    October 05, 2024
  • Toxicology Revelation
    The toxicology report revealed seven drugs in Maria's system, raising suspicions of foul play.
    “Authorities believed he was the one who gave his wife a deadly mixture.”
    @ 01h 08m 14s
    October 05, 2024
  • Maria's Struggles
    Maria documented her pain and hope in her journals, revealing her emotional turmoil.
    “Life is so unfair, my husband is causing me so much pain.”
    @ 01h 12m 44s
    October 05, 2024
  • Trial Verdict
    After a short deliberation, the jury found Howell guilty of murder and tampering with evidence.
    “Guilty of murdering his wife Maria and tampering with the evidence.”
    @ 01h 20m 27s
    October 05, 2024
  • Maria's Struggles
    Maria carried many unseen scars from her relationship, revealing the emotional toll it took.
    “She told us about them; she carried a lot of scars with her.”
    @ 01h 21m 34s
    October 05, 2024
  • The Tragic Murder of Jeff Gman
    Investigative journalist Jeff Gman was found stabbed to death, shocking his community.
    “Jeff Gman was found stabbed to death outside his home.”
    @ 01h 43m 58s
    October 05, 2024
  • The Money Photo
    A crucial photo of Robert Tellus washing his SUV becomes pivotal evidence in the case.
    “It's the Money Shop!”
    @ 01h 49m 33s
    October 05, 2024
  • The Gman Rule
    Jeff Gman's legacy lives on as the Nevada Supreme Court protects journalist sources posthumously.
    “You will not be able to go through their phone.”
    @ 02h 02m 26s
    October 05, 2024

Episode Quotes

  • I just love him, I love him.
    Murder Mysteries and Voices from the Dead | "48 Hours" Full Episodes
  • I just miss his spirit.
    Murder Mysteries and Voices from the Dead | "48 Hours" Full Episodes
  • I don't want to be sad anymore.
    Murder Mysteries and Voices from the Dead | "48 Hours" Full Episodes
  • He killed her. This guy killed his wife.
    Murder Mysteries and Voices from the Dead | "48 Hours" Full Episodes
  • He was just so laser focused on continuing to go deeper.
    Murder Mysteries and Voices from the Dead | "48 Hours" Full Episodes
  • What a development! What does this mean?
    Murder Mysteries and Voices from the Dead | "48 Hours" Full Episodes

Key Moments

  • Kevin's Talent01:40
  • Tragic Murder04:39
  • Activism Against Violence17:50
  • Suspicious Toxicology1:01:05
  • Justice for Maria1:21:13
  • Murder Discovery1:23:13
  • Jeff's Legacy1:33:58
  • Evidence Found1:52:05

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown