00:00:00
If I can come back from a deathbed and survive this and defy medical odds and create medical
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history or rewrite medical history, [Music] anybody can come back and achieve anything in life. No matter how bleak
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things look in life, there's always a sun rising on the other side. [Music] >> If you are seeking inspiration, look no
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further than Chris Smith. His is a story of resilience and recovery. Back in November of 2021, Chris was on a first
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date with a woman named Leslie Reeves. Now, they had gone back to his house when Leslie's ex-boyfriend, Bobby Tar,
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forced his way inside and shot them both. Leslie died, but Chris miraculously survived a bullet wound to
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his head. He lay comeomaosse in the hospital for several weeks before waking up. And when he did, he had no memory of
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what happened that night. So, how did Chris defy the medical odds and survive the unthinkable? I'm Natalie Morales of
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48 Hours, and this is It Could Have Been Me. [Music] You're going to be hearing from Chris in
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just a few minutes. But first, I would like to introduce producer Paul Rosa. He knows this case well. He worked on this
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story uh for an episode of 48 hours with correspondent Aaron Morardi. Paul, so good to have you join us today on what
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is such an incredible story of survival and real grit. >> Great to be here because Chris is one of
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the most um interesting and resilient people I've ever met. >> I know he really touched you and had an
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impact on our entire 48 hours team. Walk me through, Paul, what happened on that
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night, November 24th, 2021. Right. So, um it was the day before Thanksgiving, the evening before
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Thanksgiving, and Chris and Lesie had met on Facebook as people do these days. Um they never met in person before this
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night, but they had texted with each other. They had spoken on the phone to each other and there was sympotico in a
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number of ways, mostly because they were really into physical fitness. And um Leslie ran a Pilates studio, yoga
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studio. She taught women self-defense and Chris was in the best shape of his life when this shooting happened. But
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anyway, the night before Thanksgiving is traditionally a night when people go out
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drinking and that's exactly what they did. Um Chris said, "Why don't you come up to Farmersville, which was about an
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hour from where Leslie lived and um she was in Troy, Illinois." They both had kids and uh Leslie's kids were with her
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ex that evening and same with Chris. So, they were without their children. And Chris had a big house and he told
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Leslie, "You can sleep in one of the bedrooms if we go out drinking too much, whatever." And that was the plan. She
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told her girlfriends where she was going to be. She gave them the address because, after all, she never met this
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guy. But they went out drinking to a place called the Uptown Saloon. And then they went to a second bar. Everything
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was hunky dory. Then they went to Chris's nearby house. >> Yeah. Paul, because I understand at some
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point Leslie's ex-boyfriend, Bobby Tar, he started to follow them and and showed
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up at Chris's house. Right. >> Right. No one knows what really happened except Bobby Tar who was convicted of
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the crime because Leslie is dead and Chris remembers nothing from that night. So, it's
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difficult for investigators to know exactly what happened. But what they what the evidence reveals happened is
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Bobby Tar tried to push his way in. He Leslie spotted him through the glass side door. She moved her refrigerator,
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police believe, in front of the door to try to block him. He was able to maneuver the door part of the way open.
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Chris was crouched down trying to push the door with his shoulder and his weight and um Bobby Tar shot him in the
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head. According to police, Chris went down. Tar walked in. Leslie ran into the living room, hid behind a Christmas
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tree, and according to the prosecutors, Bobby Tar walked in, shot Leslie one time right in the top of the head.
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>> I mean, it's so horrific. Um, the timeline, I understand, is a little unclear as well, but we know it was
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sometime in the very early morning hours, though. >> It was around 1:00 a.m. when this all
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this mayhem occurred, according to investigators. And uh Leslie and Chris's friends and family were concerned when
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they didn't hear from them the next morning. Now it's Thanksgiving morning. Both of them had plans to go to
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Thanksgiving dinner at, you know, separate locations. And when the friends didn't hear from Leslie in particular,
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um you know, she had a bunch of girlfriends who she knew she was dating, knew Bobby Tar, knew that Bobby Tar had
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stalked her before. just a month before Tar had shown up at another first date that Leslie was having. They were
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concerned. They knew the address. In particular, a friend named Nanet Styber decided, "I can't raise her on the
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phone. I'm driving there." So, she drove an hour up to Farmersville. On the way,
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she called the local sheriff's office. At the same time, a 16-year-old girl who knew Chris showed up at the scene. So
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this young girl named Bjon Smith, she walked over to the side door. She saw blood everywhere. She saw Chris on the
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floor. She immediately called 911. And we have a recording of that phone call. >> Nobody's answering the door and and the
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back window shattered and there's a body and there's blood on the stove and there's a foot I saw on the floor.
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>> Chris, however, was still alive, which I mean barely alive, which is truly miraculous. Yes. And um Farmersville
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being the small town it is, the first two medics who appeared were friends of Chris and he knew them well. And you
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know, of course, they were, you know, horrified themselves. Here's their buddy. And uh with Chris was his
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faithful dog, Tikki. Tikki is a female dog. Um very loyal to Chris. And Tikki huddled with Chris according to people
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at the scene and probably saved his life because the glass door was broken so a lot of cold air was coming in and um
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this medic decided um that he didn't want to wait for a helicopter to get there. He put Chris in the ambulance
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with another medic and he drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital. Again, timing is everything. probably helped to
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save Chris's life. >> And let's take a listen now to what investigator Josh Eastston said when he
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described the scene to you and to correspondent Aaron Morardi. >> I was overwhelmed when I saw the
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kitchen. >> What do you mean? >> There was just so much blood and it was it was everywhere. There was not a spot
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on the kitchen floor that didn't have blood on it. >> And what does that say to you? that I
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don't know what went on in there, but it was it was horrible. For Chris, it was unescribable. Without you being there, I
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I can't even make you understand how bad it was. >> Josh Eastston, who is with the Illinois
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State Police, it's his job to catalog all the evidence. um go in and sure enough, I mean, we talked about the
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blood, but in the middle of that, there were also two shell casings, one in the kitchen, one in the living room. There
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was no murder weapon. So, that of course told them that someone else had to have
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been involved, a third person. And we know um you know investigators were quickly able to identify an a person of
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interest, Bobby Tar, because the friends had already told them that Leslie had a
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stalker and it was her ex-boyfriend Bobby Tar. How soon after then was he arrested, Paul?
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>> Well, this investigation unfolded rapidly. They find his license, a registration where he lives, and they
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put that license into the license plate readers up and down the highway. Um, one
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of the hits was near a gas station. They went there, they found a receipt where he had paid for gas at a certain time
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that night. So, they began sort of creating a timeline of his movements before they even spoke to him. um they
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were able to um later on get his cell phone records as well. Remember this happened, the shooting at 1:00 a.m. by
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8:00 p.m. that evening, just hours later, um they were going to Bobby Tar's house and asking him if he would agree
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to be questioned and he submitted to the uh interrogation. They put him under arrest at about it was the it was the
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next day. It was the morning after Thanksgiving >> and he was arraigned on those murder
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charges and attempted murder charges. Um to this day though he maintains his innocence.
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>> That's right. He um Bobby Ar likes to pretend to be the like what what me likes to pretend that you know he never
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did anything wrong. Well, this episode of course is not about Bobby Tar, but it is about the survivor himself, Chris
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Smith, and his remarkable recovery. You'll hear from Chris when we come back. [Music]
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>> So, let's hear from Chris Smith himself. Chris, welcome. It is such an honor to
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meet you. >> Thank you. And likewise. Now, Chris and Paul, I understand you guys text each
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other weekly, right? >> Yeah, I kind of know him. Yeah, I uh I ask a lot of advice from him, actually.
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>> Yeah. And he's he you know, Chris is a terrific guy, as you'll see. >> And and Chris, I know that you actually
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wrote a book about your survival and the incredible odds in your recovery. Yes. Um it's called My Fatal First Date is
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now available for purchase. and you explained to the readers that your story really is a journey of blood, sweat, and
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tears. You've had to work really hard to get where you are today. Tell us about the injuries you sustained and where
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exactly the injury was. If you can point to it. >> Well, actually, it's kind of hard with
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the earphones on, but the bolt went in about 5 in above my ear, straight the top of my head. And as you know, Paul
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said, I'm sure you all have talked about I don't remember anything of that night.
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I don't remember Lesie. I was told that we met on Facebook, >> which I find really interesting because
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they spoke on the phone and texted 2 weeks before the incident. But it's interesting how the brain works. It just
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excised Leslie out of his brain. Now, see, I do remember some stuff, you know, like I remember past my neighbor's house
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on the drive home that afternoon. I remember some stuff from October and then like basically I want to say from
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like the beginning beginning of November on to the shooting, I don't remember much. if that makes any sense. So, it's
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like my brain cut out the whole month. Go figure. I don't know. It's very odd. >> I mean, when you talk about where you
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were shot and and how long you were in your kitchen and on the kitchen floor and were able to survive with blood and
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everything all around you. Um, I know they had to remove part of your skull, but they weren't able to get the entire
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bullet out, right? >> No, it's still 9 mm hollow point is actually still right behind my right
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eye. And they say it's a fragment, but it's actually the whole thing. What? What? What when they say fragment, what
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fragmented was my actual skull fragmented. That's what they're picking out of my brain was my skull, not the
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actual bolt. The bolt never moved and dislodged right here in my frontal lobe. And I mean, I should still be in a coma,
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still be b I should be bedridden on a ventilator with severe cognitive deficits. And the doctors are perplexed
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by that. >> I want to play some of the sound from your doctor, Dr. Victor Williams. Aaron
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Moriardi asked him about your chances of survival after the shooting. So all the
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odds kind of were against him when he arrived at the hospital. >> It would appear so.
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>> But he managed to survive. >> It's a blessing and a miracle that he did. >> They don't have an explanation, right,
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Chris? >> No, they don't. No, they don't. >> What's your explanation? >> Well, um I call it divine intervention.
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And two of my worst traits before I was shot, stubbornness and impatience are not my best attributes cuz And then I'll
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never forget the day I woke up from the coma, I met Dr. Williams. He came in and
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he said, "Chris, I know your family. I know your sister. My sister's a neuro telemetry nurse and she actually worked
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for him on the floor that I was at." And he said, "But I hate to tell you, I'm not going to BS you. You're never going
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to walk again." And I sat there, started tearing up, and I mean, just had a lump
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in my throat and felt like someone punched me in my gut. And I sat there and I thought about it for a second. And
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I looked at him. I said, "Victor, you just told the wrong person he can't do something because I'm going to do it out
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of spite to prove you wrong." And now you're walking again. >> Yes, I'll be with a cane. I can walk
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without one now, but I kind of look like a zombie. But um I will get back there.
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I am. I'm determined to and I have to. As I told Paul before, hey, life gives us lemon and limes. You've got to dig
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down deep with that tequila and that sugar water, make poor man's margaritas, and just suck it up, pull your
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bootstraps up, work your tail off, and you can accomplish anything, overcome anything, exceeded anything, and be
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unstoppable, too. >> Yeah. And I know we were talking uh about what you do and don't remember uh
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about that that night and what happened when you were asked then about Leslie. Do you remember what you said?
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>> Well, when I woke up from my coma, I mean, I look up, I'm like, I have tubes on me, oxygen. I look on the wall and it
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says to Paul Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri. And I'm like, wait, what the? And I started yelling and screaming. The
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nurses came rushing in. Chris, calm down. Calm down. I'm like, what am I doing here? What happened? And the one
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nurse says, Lesie's ex-boyfriend shot you. And I said, who the f is a Leslie? I don't know Lesie. Cuz I didn't know I
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didn't know her. I really didn't. >> Um, I want to go back to, you know, what what perhaps allowed you to get through
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this in the best possible way. Not just, of course, the incredible acts of your friends, the medics who transported you
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to the hospital. They knew they didn't have the time to spare, but then also, you know, the fact that your family,
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your sister, as you said, worked with the doctor was there along your side. I know your family had to help pull you
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through as well. Can you talk about them? >> My sister saw some fight in me and I
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started in the ICU when I started coming out of the coma. They tried to medically
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put me in a coma, medically induced coma, which they did succeed to do that. But there she saw life in me. I mean, I
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was saying this craziest things. I wanted my truck keys in my jacket, and I thought I was going to walk out of
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there. Now, you if it's on my YouTube, but you can barely understand what I'm saying, but I mean, it's like a comedian
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was worn. I wanted vitamin D, red cap, whole milk. I swear it was under my bed, and rum chada. I've never drank rum
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chada in my entire life. Why? The only thing I could think of was maybe that night it was on a bar or something like
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that. I mean, our brains are so mysterious. They don't know enough about them. They really need to do more brain
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research. >> I know you call it your ICU comedy special because the way you were
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reacting when you came out of that coma. >> Yes, it was crazy. But I mean, I didn't
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like to fully become conscious until they transfer me to St. Louis, you know, January 12th.
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>> I I've seen and I know I mean I've seen glimpses of that sense of humor. And I
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know that uh you actually have a funny nickname that you went by with Paul on a on a text, right? What did you call
00:16:02
yourself? >> Bullet boy. Hey, it's me, Bullet Boy. At that point, I had talked to him like
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once on the phone and you know, I'm conditioned to treat victims very seriously and like, you know, I know he
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was shot in the head and you know, I want to give him due respect and all that and I wasn't going to joke around
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with him, but he was joking around on his own. >> Yeah. I mean, my sense of humor has been
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one of the best healing mechanisms I've had and I've never lost that. That's a good thing because I think it's a
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survival and a coping mechanism that everybody needs when they go through such horrific trauma and tragedy. Um,
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going back to when you were able to get out of the hospital though, Chris, that was February of 2022.
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>> So, I know you had to move in uh with your mom and and your stepdad because you really couldn't take care of
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yourself the way you wanted to and that you lost your home at the time. >> Yeah. I mean, it it sucked, but it is
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what it is, you know. I had to do what I had to do. And, you know, luckily enough
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that my parents are my mom's cool still. She'll be 70 in July, you know, so we're
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like only 17 years apart, but uh 17 and a half. Got to add that half on there. So, you know, I'm I'm very fortunate and
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I love my stepdad to death, you know. So, I mean, I'm very lucky. >> Paul, I know you've met them as well.
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>> Yeah, he has a great family. I've met his uh mother, his stepfather, and his sister. And you know, his sister is very
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intelligent and she's a nurse and um beautiful person and the stepfather's very friendly and has two big dogs that
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run around the house. And that's one reason, by the way, that Tikki uh was no longer living with Chris. Tikki the dog
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that helped Yes. >> protect his life. Tikki is with a neighbor. >> Yeah, I was wondering about that, Chris.
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I mean, do you feel that Tiki might have helped save your life that night? >> Definitely. They don't understand how I
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lived with so much blood I lost. But she was laying right there cuddled up next to me
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>> the whole time. So, she's a great dog. >> And I think there was some evidence as
00:18:03
well. Was it on your chest that she had tried to get on you? >> Yeah. Her little little pile marks are
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right there. Yeah. >> Just >> We didn't I guess no one knew what that was at the beginning and then he figured
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it out or his family figured out. She was just trying to wake her daddy up. >> By the way, I don't know if we ever
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mentioned it, but he was there for about 12 hours laying on the kitchen floor before anyone found him.
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>> Yes. >> In April of 2024, though, um we know that that's when Bobby Tar's trial
00:18:34
happened. >> You were you there? >> No, I did not go. >> His family was there. Um and they told
00:18:41
him every day what was happening. And he, another reason Chris didn't go, he could tell you himself, is that he said
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his anger would not let him go. He was afraid of what he might do if he was in the courtroom. You could tell them
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yourself, Chris. >> Yeah. What I mean, I said I'd take him out one, you know, one hand, one arm. I
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mean, it's like what he did is the most cowardly act anybody can do. >> But we should say that you were there
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for the sentencing and you got a chance to give an impact statement. Yes, I did.
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And um how did it feel to be in the same courtroom with Bobby Tar? >> It I mean the guy's a piece of dirt, you
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know? I mean he's a a sorry excuse for a human being. >> You talked about the fact that Tar
00:19:24
killed you without killing you. What did you mean by that? >> He took he took my life and me. He
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affected so many other people. My family, my little girl, my son, I mean my friends. I mean they've had to suffer
00:19:36
with me through my recovery. We cannot forget the victim here as well, Leslie Reeves, and what her family has had to
00:19:43
go through and endure as well. Just horrific the tragedy. >> I mean, it makes you grateful for what
00:19:48
everything you have, you know. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. You are the living testament of that. Now, um Chris,
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though, when when Bobby Tar was found guilty on four counts, including first-degree murder and attempted
00:20:01
murder, what was your reaction to the verdict? I was happy, but I wish they had a death penalty in Illinois. But I
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mean, he he won't be he won't get out till he's 104 years old, and he's not going to live that long,
00:20:12
>> right? Sentenced to 85 years in prison. Um, what was truly shocking though is
00:20:18
even after Bobby Tar is convicted, he's in prison. Then you come to find out that he there was a solicitation of
00:20:27
murder on you. The story goes, according to prosecutors and his defense attorney,
00:20:32
that Bobby Tar had solicited an inmate to go to the hospital room where Chris was recovering and shoot him. We are
00:20:40
told by prosecutors that some money did change hands. So, he tar was indicted, but the charges were ultimately dropped
00:20:47
for various reasons. The biggest reason being that Tar is in jail or prison for 85 years and it seems to be no point in
00:20:57
having another trial and maybe another sentence. 85 years is a lifetime sentence for Tar.
00:21:02
>> Correct. Yes. >> You still have um some recovery ahead of you, right? >> Yes, I do. Yes. Um I have been doing
00:21:09
it's called menusal stem cell transplants, MSC's. They harvest stem cells from either my pelvic bone right
00:21:19
and left side now. But um and then they shoot them up your into your your nose up to the vessel supplying your brain.
00:21:27
So I mean it's not FDA approved yet, but it should be here shortly because it has
00:21:32
restored a lot of my function to my left hand side. I'm not running yet, but Paul
00:21:37
knows it will be someday. Hopefully sooner than later. >> Physically, I've seen changes. when he
00:21:41
first started. By the way, Chris is still the lead singer in his rock and roll band. That's true. He used to play
00:21:47
guitar. He can't play guitar anymore, but when I s first saw him performing, he has he always had a great voice. He's
00:21:54
a good singer, but he his left arm would shake like crazy like this. And we would
00:22:00
joke that he would joke that he should put a tambourine in it and try to keep beat so it wouldn't look so odd when he
00:22:07
was singing because it would just never stop moving. Now, of course, it's pretty
00:22:11
steady, and I've seen recent video of him performing, and he looks better than ever. His arm doesn't shake. He's
00:22:19
standing more. He occasionally he would sit in his wheelchair and sing, but the last clip I saw, he was standing the
00:22:26
whole time and arm was steady. >> Well, it's great to see you singing again and still performing with your
00:22:31
band. I hear though there is another woman in your life who has >> really become your angel. You have
00:22:40
fallen in love again. Tell me about her. >> We uh Michelle and I met. It'll be two
00:22:44
years this June and we've got a house together and Yeah, I'm starting over again. You know, starting over.
00:22:50
>> You're engaged to be married now? >> Yes, we are. >> When are you going to get married?
00:22:53
>> We're looking at this fall. >> Mhm. >> Oh, amazing. What led you to write the
00:22:58
book? >> Well, I as I told Paul, I had no intention of writing a book. Everybody
00:23:02
from day one's like, "You've got to write a book. You got to write a book. You got to write a book." Well,
00:23:06
throughout my recovery, people have been reaching out to me, you know, from all over the world through Facebook, I mean,
00:23:13
through other social media outlets and whatnot. And I was like, you know what? I can do it. I can do it. I'll I
00:23:20
basically wrote it like I was sitting down having a conversation with somebody like I'm talking to you right now. You
00:23:26
know, just telling my story, all the intimate details that 48 hours couldn't cover, you know, in the first run. And
00:23:33
that's what I've done. I was like, I put my thumb to my iPhone because I can't I
00:23:38
can't type. I hate saying the word can't. I'm unable to type. So, I literally wrote my whole book on my
00:23:44
iPhone 14. All typing with my thumb. And just my message is to inspire people, motivate people, and show everybody no
00:23:54
matter how bleak things look in life, there's always silver lining. And you can always dig yourself out of the hole.
00:23:59
you can accomplish and achieve anything that you want as long as you put your mind to it and work your tail off.
00:24:04
>> For those who are struggling in their lives, do you have some advice you'll share? What's your perspective that you
00:24:11
tell them? >> Life is too precious to ever give up on anything. We don't know how many grains
00:24:16
we have left in our hourglass. Don't ever give up on anything. Love your family. Love your kids. Love your
00:24:22
friends because you don't know when your last you know the last grain will fall.
00:24:26
But just live life to the fullest. Have fun, laugh, don't take things too serious.
00:24:34
I mean, I'm not the wisest person in the world, but I have learned a lot of wisdom throughout this whole situation.
00:24:39
>> Chris, you are truly one of the most remarkable people I've spoken with. So, you know, well done on on all that
00:24:47
you've done to not only thrive and survive, but you are out there spreading your message and giving inspiration to
00:24:55
so many. So, we thank you so much for that. Thank you so much. >> And Paul, thank you also for joining us,
00:25:02
>> of course. >> And thanks to you all for listening and watching. And you can find and follow It
00:25:07
Could Have Been Me in the 48 hours podcast feed. It is on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:25:15
And if you liked this episode, please rate and review on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
00:25:21
[Music]