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[Music] now a special two-part edition of 48 hours [Music] people are involved here
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parents who work parents to stay home it's the type of neighborhood when the kids go to the bus stop in the morning
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you know the parents are there and Fred was there every morning Fred was just a wonderful man he enjoyed life like we
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all do here I think his ultimate goal was to be a great dad to have a solid family he was very very involved with
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his children [Music] 30th started out like any other morning he was a fairly precise individual
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he taught at the University of Richmond it was his regular pattern to get up make some coffee come outside retrieve
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the newspaper at 6 30 Fred jablin went outside in his slippers to go get his newspaper and he
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was gunned down in his driveway my name is Kobe Kelly I'm a homicide detective with the Henrico County Police
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I lost my best friend I lost my brother who goes through life expecting to know someone who gets murdered you don't ever
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expect to have a friend murdered I was in Texas I was about ready to go out to a Halloween party with my sister
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and I got a call from a good friend of mine she was just very very upset and she said Fred Fred's been killed and
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I was just done my name is Piper Roundtree Fred jablin and I were married for 19 years she was
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devastated because of his death he's the father of her children I met Piper and thought she was odd
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until I met her sister and realized that Piper was the least of the two they were
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very close Tina was an interesting character in her own right am I going to call them both nutty okay they're both
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nutty from day one I was always disappointed that she married Fred he was a very nasty mean egotistical
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person I think that neither one of them acted in the manner which we would expect
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family members would normally act when they've learned that a former loved one has been murdered
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my sister loves me we're very very close she will go out to save people and do things for people
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that no other person would ever do it's definitely not your run-of-the-mill case you have a suspect flying in from
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out of state carrying the weapon with them you have someone using a different identification you have wigs and makeup
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and that sort of thing I never would have dreamed that any of that family would have done anything like that I
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would have bet money absolutely not it's not what did I think about Fred jablins did
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I kill Fred javelin um two wigs a gun and a murder [Music] [Music] in the fall of 2004 this sleepy suburb
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of Richmond Virginia was all dressed up for Halloween ready for its annual visit
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from pint-sized ghosts and goblins Church Street but for this close-knit neighborhood the
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spookiest day of the year arrived early on the morning of the 30th I got up planning on going to the gym to work out
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I was putting on my running shoes when all of a sudden my husband and I heard three loud sounds Bang Bang
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we kind of looked at one another like what could that possibly be I said well maybe people are hunting
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duck hunting down around Tuckahoe Creek Megan McCrary Shrugged it off and went to the gym for her morning workout but
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just down the road the windows were open and all of a sudden I heard three gunshots go off bang bang
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neighbor Bob mccartell saw something he couldn't ignore I saw someone running down the street
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in front of my house it was so dark out couldn't tell if it was man woman I couldn't tell
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my cartel called 9-1-1 and within minutes the police were searching the neighborhood
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the three police officers here with cars first they started driving with their search lights and then they were out on
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foot with their flashlights they came back to my house about 15 minutes later police told my cartel they hadn't been
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able to find any sign of a shooter or a victim so I said all right well when the
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sun comes up I'll take a walk out and I'll see if I can find anything and if I do I'll give you a call back
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about 45 minutes later my wife and I took a walk and we just walked down towards Fred's house and zoreen actually
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looked up and saw something up on the driveway oh it was It was kind of strange because it was Halloween time
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and they had their house done up where they had like old things kind of sticking out so there was just like a
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pile almost a lump [Music] lying in his driveway was Fred jablin a well-respected 52 year old college
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professor a devoted father to three young children I yelled at Dorian I said call the police back I said it's Fred
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and he's dead my pager went off at about 7 30 a.m I was a man down at heartglow Lane which is about three blocks from
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from my home around that time an unsuspecting Megan McCrary returned home from working out
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at the gym I came in through the door I was all set to cook everybody breakfast Tim came into the kitchen and said Megan
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you need to come outside immediately he held on to me said Megan Fred Javelin is
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dead I said what things like that it just it doesn't happen you know that's not this neighborhood He Said Fred
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Javelin is lying in his driveway he is dead all I could think of right then were
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those three children that were still in the house I was concerned about the children I
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made inquiry I said well has anyone checked on the children officer Harry Boyd's children were close friends with
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the jablin children and no one here at that point knew about any children so I told them immediately there were three
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children somewhere police entered the home and found Fred jablin's children his 12 year old son and his two
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daughters ages 10 and 15. all three children were asleep in their rooms we got them out as quickly as possible
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through another door so they wouldn't come out into this area of the home of course and see Fred in the driveway
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officer Boyd took Fred's children to his home nearby did you have an opportunity
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to sit him down and explain at some point what happened yes we did that's tough to do oh it was it was the best
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episode it was tough for all of us it was just a just a nightmare to have to do that and they were of course very
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upset um we explained to them that their father had been shot and that we were trying to find out who may have done
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that and that they were going to be staying with me and my family until until we could make arrangements to get
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their uncle and the rest of their family here their Uncle Fred's older brother Michael
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lived about two hours away in Northern Virginia my first reaction was was disbelief I
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called my brother's home left a message called his cell phone and no response and then one of the arico county
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officers told me this situation and I couldn't believe it I just couldn't believe what happened Fred's ex-wife
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Piper Roundtree says she too was stunned when she learned of his murder I'd got a
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phone call from a friend of mine who had heard about it and nobody knew what had
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happened Piper was living in Houston Texas where she'd moved after their divorce
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Thursday said he's the children's father the children need two parents they need a
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mother they need a father back in Richmond homicide detective Colby Kelly was put in charge of the investigation
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we saw the person had come out here wearing a robe wearing uh slippers detective Kelly's theory was that Fred
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jablin was on his way to pick up his morning newspaper I suspect that someone or something drew his attention back
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this direction as he was walking down to get the paper and that whatever confrontation took place probably
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happened right here in this area so are you speculating that perhaps red Javelin actually talked to this person I
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think in my mind I think so we'll never be able to prove that there was no one out here to hear anything like that but
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I believe so it made sense to detective Kelly that Fred jablin may have known his killer
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so he talked to him walked away and was shot in the back and that would explain yeah the bullets
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entering through the back of the arm and out the forearm and the other one entering his back and
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lodging inside his body after analyzing the crime scene Kelly went to work on suspects we were trying
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to find out a little bit about the victim talking to neighbors talking to friends and family and just try to find
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out if he had any enemies or anyone that would think to do something like this now Fred jablin is a professor at the
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University here yes as you look for suspects who are thinking about possible suspects what what thoughts went through
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your mind well I think initially maybe a student that hadn't done well in one of
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his classes that comes to mind police went to the University of Richmond to check out that angle we were trying to
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get to his office and see if there's anything there that would give us a direction to go to like bad grades or
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F's and stuff like that absolutely but Colby Kelly knew what all homicide detectives know when looking for
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Suspects start close to home I learned pretty early on that people said I have no idea who would want to do
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this to Fred but have you talked to his ex-wife detective Colby Kelly reached Piper Roundtree in Houston and he said
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all the immediate family was Under Suspicion Michael jablin and me at the time of the murder Piper and her
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ex-husband had been apart for almost four years and she had started a whole new life in Houston
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not only that but police would soon learn that Piper had an alibi for the day of the murder
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it was the Saturday before Halloween a family friend and attorney Marty McVeigh remembers Piper stopping by his
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Houston office on the very day her ex-husband was murdered more than a thousand miles away
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I was in my office had my doors open for him let the breeze come through and about 4 30 in the afternoon Piper
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Roundtree just walked in my office and sat down just a casual conversation nothing out of the ordinary
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while detectives continued to check out Piper's Story another name surfaced I know she didn't kill Fred gaplin and
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unlike Piper Roundtree this woman had nothing nice to say about Fred jablin he was a very nasty mean
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egotistical person Piper's sister Tina [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] in our conversations with some of the
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neighbors and and people in the area we knew that Piper did have a sister named Tina Roundtree
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on the afternoon of Fred jablin's murder detective Colby Kelly got a major lead from airport officials in Virginia
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we found that Southwest Airlines had a passenger on their manifest with the last name Roundtree and in fact the the
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name on the ticket was Tina Roundtree so you determined that there was a Tina Roundtree with a flight booked a
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purchase ticket to Houston yes Airline records showed that two days before the murder Piper's sister Tina Roundtree had
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flown from her home in Houston Texas to Virginia where Fred jablin was killed and now on the Afternoon Of The Murder
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record show Tina is booked on a return flight Back Home to Houston a flight that is already in the air so did you
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make any contact with Houston PD at this we did and they got their people together and it's getting closer to the
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point where the plane is going to land down there so we were trying to explain to them a little bit about our situation
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and also get them to get to the airport where this plane was going to land to try to identify the person traveling
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under the ticket Tina Roundtree so what happened in Houston well uh the detectives arrived down there and they
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had a couple of detectives a lieutenant that was down there and several officers
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and as they were approaching the gate my understanding is that the plane was unloading
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[Music] at that time around 4 30 on the Afternoon Of The Murder detective Colby kelly didn't know what he and we at 48
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hours would soon discover the Rountree sisters have a remarkably Fierce Devotion to one another and learning
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more about the extent of that devotion would become one of the stranger twists in this already Twisted Tale
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[Music] they're definitely two peas out of the same pod Tina and pipe are both the same
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type of person Piper and I are I mean we're soul sisters we're we're incomplete without each other
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she's someone that I need very very much and I get a lot from we call each other
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two or three times a day we're very very tight how would you describe her Amazonian
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that's usually the first word Amazon yes there's no one out there like Tina she is able to do anything that she sets her
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mind to doing Tina Roundtree is eight years older than her sister Piper an age difference that
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mattered when they were younger mother used to always make me sleep with her and I didn't like her crying in my bed
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and having to sleep with her and she wouldn't be snuggled you're just a bit just a child she was wanting attention
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but the family environment was very very close because my father was a physician
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in the Air Force and we traveled every two years and so just as we made ties we would have to break him and so there was
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a lot of dependency on each other today Tina and Piper are best friends over the last 20 years we've become very
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very close in fact we sleep together frequently even as adults when we go to each other's houses
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she's just incredible you you walk around the village where the area where she lives in Houston and most people
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have a story about Tina one thing or another while the time Piper was in high school
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the Roundtree family was living in a small town in Texas near the Mexican border but Piper had bigger plans I
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always admired her because she was brilliant absolutely brilliant Piper headed off to the prestigious
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University of Texas at Austin with dreams of becoming a lawyer she could do anything and she achieved
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everything from theater to spelling bees to boyfriends to friend having lots of friends and I was and I didn't have all
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that and I just thinks you know you admire other people especially that you don't have her that you want
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while away at College Piper caught the eye of another admirer her Communications Professor Fred jablin I
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suppose it was the classical case of a student falling for their Professor Fred jablin was 29 and very driven Piper was
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a free spirit and eight years younger he was very witty and very different he is very very bright
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[Music] one of the brightest men I think I've ever met I've always looked up to him he
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he was exceptional he was one of the best teachers he also had a very quirky side to him as I've been described as
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having myself I think those two qualities between us matched a lot they married two years later in the fall
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of 1983. it was a really nice warm relationship we worked really well together that's probably our strength
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professor John Daly knew Fred and Piper as newlyweds and was one of Fred's best friends we used to have lots of fun we
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went out to get a drink after work at 10 30 11 o'clock at night if I remember correctly Fred was the one who started
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this one night we're just sitting there and working away on our typewriters in those days computers didn't exist and he
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just started barking just for fun I really didn't know that he was barking at school as well oh you did it at home
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huh so he used to get the dogs barking in the neighborhood it was one of those things that that he
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particularly was proud about Fred was also proud of his wife Piper and her plans to become a lawyer Piper
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wanted to go to law school so Fred said fine you know try to get us into law school
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after graduating from law school Piper landed a big job in Austin as an assistant district attorney I was a
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prosecutor for oh a little over a year and then from there I went worked for the school districts in Texas she can do
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anything it's amazing the knowledge that she has her sister Tina settled in Houston and
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became a nurse practitioner a few years later Fred and Piper started a family Fred's brother Michael says the
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marriage was solid they had two lovely children were born in Texas Jocelyn and Paxton and they enjoyed themselves but
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for Piper a working mom life was hectic I'd be in the courtroom and I'd be looking at my watch thinking I've got to
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go pick up my child at daycare there were times when the kids were sick and I'd take the kids into the court with me
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and the judge would be bouncing on his lap in the middle of a hearing I was the main support person in the first 15
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years of her marriage or so when she lived in Texas I would go visit them all the time I'd babysit for them all the
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time I was the primary other person then in the summer of 1994 life for the javelin family changed Fred
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accepted an offer to teach at the University of Richmond and uprooted the javelin family to Virginia Piper did not
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want to leave Texas because that was her home base that was her family was there
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right after we moved up here within two weeks I had a rupture to topic pregnancy
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and almost died and so had a completely revised outlook on really what was important and after that the doctor told
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me that I would never have children again it's just not going to be possible and within about six months I became
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pregnant with my third child Callie and she was a gift from God Piper decided to change the focus of her
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life and become a full-time mom to Cali Paxton and Jocelyn she cooked for them she played with them she you know they
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made cookies they went rock hunting together she took them fishing and she did all the things that typically a
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father would do Piper was like she was like a little Pied Piper all the little kids would just come up and circle
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around her Annie Williams was Piper's friend Piper is wonderful about taking them outside and doing things and has
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more patience probably than I did and she frequently would come pick up my son with rollerblades or his bike and take
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him out to the park for a day just being outside all day but Piper missed the rest of her family back in Texas and her
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marriage started to suffer you started to drift apart yeah and we had pretty much two separate lives
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live to Richmond Tina Roundtree never forgave Fred for moving her sisters so far away one of
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the main reasons that they moved to Richmond was so that Fred could get Piper away from her family because she's
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a very strong family person eventually Piper told Fred she was leaving him she wanted to escape
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and she wanted to get away from him and that's when the real trouble began Fred jablin decided to fight for sole custody
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of the couple's three children she was devastated she was she was shocked and we were I we were because I mean how you
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don't take a take children away from a mother who is a she was a primary caregiver while the idea of losing her
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children was devastating to Piper it was inexcusable to her sister Tina I mean how many hours I spent with her
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car I mean she was crying it was horrible and she had a very close relationship with them didn't she it was
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to see this precious three-year-old screaming to be with her mother Piper's sister Tina doesn't try to hide
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her hostility towards Fred jablin even after his brutal murder from day one I was always disappointed
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that she married Fred he was ugly I thought he was a very controlling man he built
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himself up by putting her down but did Tina Roundtree hate Fred jablin enough to kill him
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on the Afternoon Of The Murder detective Kelly was hoping for answers police officers were at Houston's Hobby Airport
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primed and ready to greet the plane carrying a passenger named Tina Roundtree but what happened next
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surprised everyone foreign [Music] the afternoon of Fred jablin's murder police were working their first big lead
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a tip that a Tina Roundtree was in route to Houston after spending the past two days in Virginia it was Saturday October
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30th 2004 detective Brett McDaniel had raced to the airport hoping to meet the plane before it landed I knew I was
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looking for a 40-something white female we had some driver license photos of both teen and the sister as well as
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Piper Roundtree although the ticket was booked in Tina's name Houston police were also on the lookout for another
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round tree the Dead Man's ex-wife Piper who may have had more of a motive than her sister we were looking for females
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we were looking for females and and I was putting my money on blondes Piper had brown hair Tina had blonde I
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stationed at uniform off at the end of the terminal with a set of pictures and asked him as well to stop anyone he
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thought might be either of the individuals probably at least a dozen women after
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the last of the stragglers the officers realized their target had slipped through their fingers
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she just got past it so there's too many people too few of us not enough people to stop every possible female that could
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have been this person everyone had come off the plane and they had not located Piper Tina whoever would have been
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traveling under that name mysterious passenger had managed to pick up her luggage at baggage claim without
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being noticed and then banished she was gone the next day with the investigation now
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focused in the city where both sisters lived detective Kelly hopped a plane to Houston from Virginia got up around 4 30
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the next morning didn't get much sleep that night no not at all 48 Hours wanted detective Kelly to show us what happened
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next so we flew him back to Houston to retrace his steps we were interested in talking to Piper now certainly we were
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not ignoring anything that would lead us in a different direction but at that point it was pretty good place to begin
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detective Kelly met up with the Houston team working the case thank you and together they headed over to Piper
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roundtree's house knocked on the door rang the doorbell looked in the garage we can see the Jeep Liberty sitting in
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there we were probably outside our house for a good 10 to 15 minutes Milling about peaking in Windows and knocking on
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the door trying to get someone to come to the door never did with no answer they decided to pay a visit to her
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sister Tina we drove the whole half hour plus down to Tina's house but just in case one of the officers stayed behind
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at Pipers did the piper ever come out of the house she did we got a call from Sergeant Ferguson who was sitting
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outside her house he saw her vehicle leaving the driveway a vehicle like this one and uh he followed her Sergeant
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Ferguson stayed on Piper's tail and relayed the route she was taking to the rest of the team so they could turn
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around and join the pursuit and what turned out was she began to head south on the interstate we were heading north
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on the interstate at some point we turned around and got in by behind her and the chase was on we were certainly
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following her vehicle hoping to be able to talk to her one-on-one when she stopped no she had to look in the
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rearview mirror and saw this police parade behind her right absolutely at one point she made kind of a last
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minute diversion from a one-off ramp while back onto the Interstate and of course we're doing the same little
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Serpentine move and uh yeah I think she definitely knew the pursuit ended on a residential
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street in Central Houston she pulled into a parking spot I got out of the car approached hers and introduced myself
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introduced the other people around me she said come on inside and we walked into the open door Piper had driven to
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the law office of trial attorney and friend Marty McVeigh as it turned out McVay wasn't alone there was a also a
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female there Tina Roundtree Piper sister Tina Roundtree also a friend of mcvays had arrived a few minutes before Piper
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Tina Roundtree walks in my office that's the first time I heard that Fred had been killed she came in and said did you
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know have you heard Fred was killed yesterday morning I said no I haven't but McVeigh was in for another surprise
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Piper comes walking in my office door with four detectives two from the Houston Police Department and two from
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the Henrico County wanting to talk to her I took Piper in my office talked to her for a minute she wanted to talk to
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them they sit right here in this reception area and had a conversation I wanted to ask her who do you think
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would have done something like this and that was a good entree into getting her to talk to us but Piper says she had
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only one thing on her mind who was taking care of her three children it was just incredible the total lack of
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interest that anybody had until that meeting almost 36 hours after Fred's murder Piper hadn't been told her
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children were safe with Fred's brother Michael and certainly anyone could understand that a mother concerned about
00:28:24
her kids and the police were not putting her in touch with the kids anybody could
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understand that that would be an explanation for some of her behavior at any point did you sense that Piper was
00:28:34
being accused of this murder to the opposite they told her she was not a suspect the majority of Piper's
00:28:41
conversation with them was concerning her children the meeting was cut short because McVeigh had to leave to pick up
00:28:47
his son later detective Kelly decided to try another tactic he and a few other officers drove to Tina's house hoping to
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speak with her alone we had a conversation with her it was she was fairly on target with uh where
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the kids kids need to be with their mother those sort of questions that you said you bring the kids here or
00:29:13
something to that effect and then we'll talk again we ended up getting pretty much ejected from her house
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meanwhile Piper was doing her own detective work she needed to firm up her Alibi putting her in Houston not
00:29:26
Virginia the night before Fred's Murder She asked the bartender if she remembered seeing her
00:29:32
Piper returned to this bar the volcano where she claimed she'd been on Friday night to see if anyone remembered seeing
00:29:40
her there bartender called me and said do you remember her and I said yeah I remember seeing her
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she wanted our phone number so that she could give them to the police to substantiate that she was here all
00:29:52
right you said you did remember seeing her here right what major distinctive features and petite and pixie haircut
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you know she's cute yeah it was The Alibi Piper was looking for and she passed it on to detective
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Kelly she left a message for me saying that there were two people a guy named Kevin O'Keefe and a lady named Cheryl
00:30:12
Crider who's a bartender at this volcano they could put her in the volcano on that Friday night which would uh it
00:30:19
would be pretty good because she obviously couldn't be in Richmond the same time she was there
00:30:23
so now Piper had Witnesses who saw her in Houston the night before the murder to go along with her lawyer friend who
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saw her on the afternoon of the murder at the same time the airplane from Virginia was Landing
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if what you say is true it would be difficult for her to get in your office at 4 30 in the afternoon
00:30:44
that's correct and if she was on that flight it would have been impossible for her to
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get to my office at 4 30 because I understand the flight didn't come in until 4 40. it was 10 minutes late
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and it's at least a 30 or 45 minute drive from Hobby Airport to my office but Tina Roundtree says she couldn't
00:31:04
have been on the plane either because she was seeing patients all day Melissa can you come here just a second please
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at her Women's Health Clinic detective Kobe kelly didn't know what to think but he was sure of one thing about
00:31:19
the Round Tree sisters I think that neither one of them acted in the manner which we would expect
00:31:24
family members would normally act when they've learned that a former loved one has been murdered both of them acted
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oddly as far as I'm concerned and it wasn't long before the investigation would zero in on just one
00:31:39
of them did you kill Fred Jabba um it's not what did I think about Fred jablins did
00:31:50
I kill Fred jablin yes um that's impossible too the answer is no the answer is no
00:32:02
[Music] [Music] as detective Kelly learned more about the jablins nasty divorce it was very
00:32:33
very very bitter he started to see the scars it left with Piper and her sister Tina it was very very painful for me
00:32:40
because I love her so much she's we're a part of each other Fred never understood
00:32:45
what the problem was in the marriage or why we need to go through divorce even though we'd been through counseling
00:32:52
three times before and it it you know just it wasn't working they've been married for nearly 19 years
00:33:00
and it hadn't been working for quite some time a year and a half before the divorce
00:33:06
Piper got a warrant charging Fred with domestic violence and filed for a protective order against him
00:33:13
and you've witnessed some of this abuse either physically or emotionally well physically no Tina Roundtree only knows
00:33:20
and believes what her sister told her she had told me the next day that he had hit her the only other instance I
00:33:26
remember it was as far as physical abuse goes mental abuse definitely it was sick
00:33:31
according to Tina Fred's abuse was also directed at their three children I saw him frequently lose his temper with the
00:33:39
kids because you know you get into a mode when you're a professor and they all say yes sir and they do what you and
00:33:44
he brought that attitude home with him in almost all cases we never use just one sequencing of questions and expected
00:33:51
that Piper or the children especially do exactly what he said when he says it in
00:33:57
February of 2001 Piper finally moved out of the house and later filed for divorce
00:34:03
she finally had the courage to escape and become her own person again in July of 2002 the divorce went through
00:34:12
when they first got divorced there was like a joint custody Arrangement Piper lived down the road from my brother's
00:34:17
home and they tried to arrange joint custody according to Tina that's when Fred really tightened the screws once he
00:34:24
had to face the fact that he was going to you know have lose face in the community he was going to be a divorced
00:34:29
man he all of a sudden switched gears Fred decided to fight for full custody of their three children and according to
00:34:37
Tina red jablin was a trained expert questions are something you don't think about at winning arguments it feels like
00:34:44
a PhD professor in persuasive Communications so she that was a tough one to go against from the beginning at
00:34:52
the custody trial Fred pulled out all the stops he wants to win and everything yes that that was Fred he can't take
00:34:59
losing he can't lose face red painted Piper as an unstable mother Fred would say you know she got into this drug
00:35:07
stuff she probably had an affair at one point she apparently became unpredictable with
00:35:13
the kids and he told the judge that Piper had racked up more than fifty thousand dollars in debt without his
00:35:20
knowing he had to make her look like the bad guy Fred also accused Piper of being
00:35:25
unfaithful she did not have an affair it was when they were separated they were physically separated and she was out of
00:35:32
the house when she started seeing him Michael jablin wouldn't go into details with us but he believes his brother's
00:35:38
accusations and he wasn't alone some of Piper's behaviors were questionable and some of her things she was doing for the
00:35:44
sake of the children Piper seemed to have just gone off the deep edge over a period of time I think the judge in the
00:35:51
case reviewed the facts and realized that Fred would make a better parent in July July 2002 Fred jablin won full
00:35:59
custody of their three children Piper could have visitation and I think it took a lot of decisions on the judge's
00:36:05
part to come up with that because normally mothers get custody in this case it was very unique the judge saw
00:36:10
that Piper had some problems afraid to provide more stability into in the home life it upset you that he got custody of
00:36:16
the children well yeah naturally it did I was I was very very upset did your children understand what was happening
00:36:22
as much as they were able to uh the littlest is was you know it's just very difficult
00:36:29
remarkably Piper Roundtree not only lost her children but she was ordered to pay
00:36:34
Fred jablin almost nine hundred dollars a month in child support in part to pay back some of the thousands of dollars in
00:36:42
debt she owed her ex-husband now you were paying child support to your husband yes which is the reverse of
00:36:50
the way it's normally done yes right yes I was was that difficult for you yes it
00:36:55
very was Piper had failed the bar exam in Virginia so after the divorce she struggled to find a job it was amazing
00:37:04
it was absolutely amazing she couldn't get a job she's a licensed attorney in the state of Texas she was a prosecutor
00:37:11
she'd get a job at Walmart but that's not going to pay her 900 child support payment nor put food on the table nor
00:37:18
provide for the children which is her responsibility so Piper moved back to Texas to find
00:37:26
work she didn't have a choice she had to leave Virginia of course they claimed she was abandoning her children
00:37:34
no she had to survive because Fred gave her nothing Fred took everything it was very difficult to begin with just
00:37:42
starting out as sort of a new attorney because I um I couldn't really step back into the
00:37:48
field that I was in after 10 years of being out of the of the field and so I started back into working just doing any
00:37:57
type of case that walked in I had three kids support her three children stayed behind in
00:38:05
Richmond Virginia with their father my brother was wearing two hats a mom hat and a dad hat he would attend soccer
00:38:12
games Cub Scout meetings tennis tournaments dance classes he go to school he'd be there all the time he
00:38:18
would be a School parent many times and a classroom parent he was very very involved with his children you know you
00:38:24
go up to the school and he had signed up you know for all the parties to bring napkins drinks how often was she allowed
00:38:30
to see her children well she had to ask for permission every single time so actually Piper saw them six days out of
00:38:37
an entire month and that was it she had a bit of divorce with her ex-husband her
00:38:44
ex-husband actually got custody of the children Piper Roundtree ended up paying child support Marty McVeigh shared a law
00:38:52
office with Piper in Texas that's correct was she bitter about that that bothered her yeah she was bitter and she
00:38:57
talked to you about it oh yeah what'd you say she didn't understand why she was being
00:39:02
treated like she was by the court in the judicial system in Virginia and that was where most of her
00:39:10
animosity was directed to it was not directed at her ex-husband but it was the way she
00:39:17
was being treated in her divorce case she was not very happy when she was having to pay alimony when she was
00:39:22
struggling and not having much money Jerry Walters became close to Piper shortly after she moved to Texas and he
00:39:30
too says Piper never voiced any hostility towards Fred she was not enamored with Fred by no means any
00:39:37
longer but she did not walk around the house muttering under her breath I hate Fred I hate Fred I she didn't like the
00:39:47
situation she was in and she didn't like not having her kids but she never alluded to
00:39:54
doing away with Fred no if Piper was bitter towards her ex-husband she hid it well her sister
00:40:03
Tina on the other hand and to see what the courts did then and now I'm kind of understanding it seen some blatant some
00:40:12
blatant misjustices and did you ever see the children once Fred got custody of them I wasn't allowed to go over there I
00:40:19
mean how can you stop someone from seeing their aunt who comes all the way and they did
00:40:25
they went to court and said nope can't do it so you were not allowed to see them no
00:40:30
Piper says she'd come to terms with her situation long before Fred was murdered and so had no reason to kill him the
00:40:39
money that I was making in Texas uh I was I was fine you know it was comfortable it was I was able to make
00:40:47
enough to pay the child support to have a very nice uh lifestyle and see my kids and be with my
00:40:57
kids I didn't have any once except seeing my kids a little more maybe and although she's not naming names
00:41:06
Piper says she's pretty sure she knows who did have a motive to kill Fred Joplin is it someone that might hate
00:41:14
your husband have a grudge against your husband yes so much so that they'd be willing to murder him yeah I think so
00:41:22
truth was about to catch up with Piper Roundtree [Music] this special two-part edition of 48
00:41:33
hours will continue [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music]