00:00:00
[Music] This wasn't just a crime scene, was it? >> No, it was not. This one was bad.
00:00:20
Two innocent people that were on their first date had their lives destroyed. For what reason?
00:00:31
How well did Leslie Reeves know Chris Smith >> first date? [Music] Chris was in a band and a singer
00:00:42
and they had connected and he asked her out. >> The night before Thanksgiving they
00:00:47
decided just to meet up and go to the bar. >> He lived 65 miles away in a really small
00:00:54
farming community. The bar that night was very busy. The place was packed wallto-wall.
00:01:03
Chris and Leslie were talking a lot, laughing, getting along with everyone around them. She texted me around 10:00
00:01:12
and she said, "Everything's going okay." She did then text a second text that said, "I feel like something's a little
00:01:19
bit off or something. I'm not sure what she meant." Was that text the last time you heard from Leslie Reeves?
00:01:27
>> Mhm. Yes, it was. [Music] >> Did you try texting her in the morning? >> Mhm. >> And did she respond?
00:01:36
>> No. >> I just started driving towards Farmersville cuz I had the address and called the police department in that
00:01:47
area. >> Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. This is Jeff. >> Hi. I'm greatly concerned about my
00:01:53
friends. Can someone do a welfare check? >> What are you feeling at this point? Nana,
00:01:58
>> a lot of anxiety because I don't know what I'm going to walk into uh going up
00:02:03
there to this house. I pulled up in front of the address >> and then who came while you're sitting
00:02:10
there? >> While I'm sitting there, uh who's this uh woman parked? I said, "Well, maybe I'll roll my window
00:02:19
down and talk to her." >> I asked her if she was checking on Chris. And she said she was checking on
00:02:24
her friend. And that's when I went up to the door. I saw the back door was broken. And then
00:02:32
I saw Chris laying there. And then I ran back to my car and called 911. >> Nobody's answering the door. And and the
00:02:40
back window shattered. And there's a body. And there's a foot I saw on the floor.
00:02:46
I'm only 16. I can't deal with this. >> I was in shock. I think >> sheriff's office. Jeff.
00:02:54
>> Jeff, give me some help. I got one alive and one dead. >> I just remember them bringing Chris out
00:03:00
on the stretcher to the ambulance. I remember there being a sheet over him. So, it made me panic a little bit.
00:03:08
>> I got a call from our command center in Springfield. So, you are the lead crime scene
00:03:14
investigator? >> Yes. >> Were you really prepared for what you faced when you walked into that house?
00:03:21
>> I was not. >> Why would somebody do this to him? Why would they try to hurt my baby? That's
00:03:28
all I kept thinking. He's my baby. Someone hurt him. Going on a first date and they both end up getting shot is
00:03:36
insane. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] On the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day
00:04:25
2021, Nanette Styber sat in her car and watched anxiously as EMTs and Montgomery
00:04:33
County Sheriff's deputies ities descended on a house in the tiny village of Farmersville, Illinois.
00:04:42
>> I was quite upset and kind of going crazy in the car. >> Nette had been unable to reach her good
00:04:50
friend Leslie Reeves. Nanette knew Leslie had gone to that house the night before to go on a first
00:04:58
date with Chris Smith, a man she had met online. >> She was very excited. and she thought,
00:05:03
"Oh, this this might be um a really good connection." >> But now Nette was worried. She'd seen
00:05:14
Chris get taken away in an ambulance, but there was no sign of Leslie. >> I kept hoping, you know, okay, bring
00:05:21
Leslie out, please. >> Finally, a detective approached and asked Nanette for a photo of Leslie. She
00:05:29
showed him her phone and he gave her the horrible news. >> I'm so sorry to have to tell you this.
00:05:39
Your friend has um been murdered, you know, shot. He said he didn't tell me where, but he did say,
00:05:48
"I want you to know that she went very quickly." EMTs have found Chris barely conscious
00:05:59
and unable to say anything about the shooting. They rushed him to the hospital and deputies searched the
00:06:06
house. Later that day, crime scene investigator Josh Eastston of the Illinois State Police was called to the
00:06:13
scene and he began cataloging the mayhem inside. What do you see when you first approach the door? I noticed the side
00:06:22
door of the house. The glass in the door has been broken out. The refrigerator was pulled away from the wall. The
00:06:29
kitchen table was pushed. The the chairs were knocked over. >> No weapon was found, leading
00:06:35
investigators to suspect that a third person was involved. Een took note of every detail, including the burnt pizza
00:06:44
in the oven. I assume that maybe they were cooking a pizza for the night and the
00:06:51
suspect shows up at the door. They both tried to fight him off and when Chris was shot, Leslie went to the living room
00:06:58
to try to hide. >> How many times was she shot? >> She was only shot one time >> in the head.
00:07:03
>> In the head. >> Leslie's body was in the living room while Chris had been found in the
00:07:08
kitchen. Een said of the 1,800 crime scenes he had been to, this was one of the most horrific.
00:07:18
>> There was blood everywhere, the cabinets, the refrigerator, the countertop. There was blood from
00:07:26
corner to corner in the kitchen. >> Eastston spotted two silver colored bullet casings from a 9 mm gun. One in
00:07:35
the kitchen and the other near Leslie's body. As Eastston processed the scene, detectives began learning about the
00:07:44
victims. Chris Smith was a 48-year-old divorced father who worked for a pool contractor.
00:07:53
>> Chris was a nice guy. He would hang out here frequently. Was friends with most
00:08:00
people in town. Everybody knew him. Bartender Dena Lrand says Chris was well known in town as the guy who grew banana
00:08:09
trees and giant pumpkins. >> I remember one Halloween he donated hundreds of pumpkins for decorations for
00:08:17
any of the kids to paint. He gave back to his community. >> Did either one of you ever worry about
00:08:25
Chris? >> No. >> No. >> Sharon Castanza is Chris's mother, Ashley Hulcom. his sister.
00:08:33
>> Chris is a stayhome person that literally would just work in his backyard. >> Chris lived with a dog named Tiki. And
00:08:43
an EMT told the family that Tiki may have helped Chris make it through the night by huddling with him for the
00:08:50
roughly 12 hours that Chris was bleeding before being rescued. >> I think Tikki protected Chris. I think
00:08:58
she probably laid right next to him. Chris's close-knit family could not imagine anyone wanting to kill him. It
00:09:07
was like, "No way. How? Why? Like, who?" Yeah. Who would have done this? >> Investigators had the same questions
00:09:17
about Leslie and learned that she was a divorced mother of two children who lived in Troy, about an hour south of
00:09:25
Farmersville. Although Leslie had a master's degree in engineering, she chose instead to teach
00:09:32
Pilates and to promote self-defense classes for women. >> Hi, I'm Leslie from All You Studio and
00:09:39
>> Leslie posted this video to her YouTube channel to advertise one of her classes.
00:09:45
>> Empower yourself against aggression and assault as we teach you easy to learn
00:09:50
self-defense techniques. Power up. Leslie tried to help women in abusive relationships, but friends say she had
00:09:58
her own troubles. Nanette told deputies she was worried about a former boyfriend, a contractor by the name of
00:10:06
Robert Tar known as Bobby. >> She said, "I am going to completely block Bobby from email, texts, phone
00:10:14
calls. I I have to go no contact." Later that evening, news of Leslie's murder began circulating and reached
00:10:23
another close friend, Amy Steinhower. She had met Tar, a divorced father of three, and did not have a good
00:10:31
impression of him. But >> you never see someone and think that they can kill my friend.
00:10:39
>> Amy called the sheriff's office that night to give them Tar's name. By then, detectives had already set out
00:10:48
to find Bobby Tar. While 85 miles to the north, surgeons were fighting to try to
00:10:55
save the life of Chris Smith. A bullet still lodged in his brain. [Music] I just wanted to get there. I just
00:11:22
wanted to get there as fast as I could. >> After learning that Chris had been shot
00:11:26
in the head, his family rushed to the hospital in Springfield, Illinois, 2 hours from their home.
00:11:34
>> I was on the phone to everyone I could think of cuz I just needed prayers from
00:11:38
everybody. Doctors removed part of Chris's skull and some bullet fragments in his brain
00:11:45
before putting him in a medically induced coma. His family, struggling to piece together what had happened,
00:11:52
learned that he had been out with a woman named Leslie Reeves. Had you ever heard the name Leslie Reeves before?
00:11:59
>> No. I looked her up and then I tried to reach out to her friends and then I found my best friend Nanette.
00:12:05
Nanette told them the same thing she had told investigators. She suspected Leslie's ex-boyfriend,
00:12:12
Bobby Tar. That night, sheriff's deputies went to Tar's home in Collinsville, an hour
00:12:20
south of the crime scene. Authorities say he never asked why they wanted to talk to him, and he agreed to go to the
00:12:27
police station without a lawyer. >> T A Rick M. Although her friend said the couple had broken up, Tar told
00:12:35
investigators that he and Leslie were still together. >> You and Leslie have a lot of problems. I
00:12:42
would say no worse than any average couple. >> It was Leslie that detectives wanted to
00:12:51
talk about. >> I want you to to dig down deep here and be as honest with me as you can. Okay.
00:12:58
Leslie is dead. What? Can you help me shed some light on this? How did she die? She was murdered. What happened?
00:13:12
>> That's why we're here with you. You help me believe that you're not involved in
00:13:16
this. I'm not involved in anything. >> Investigators asked Tar about Farmersville, the scene of the crime.
00:13:24
>> You know what Farmersville is? Farmersville. No, I can't say that I do. I've never
00:13:30
been there. I've never heard of it. >> And they asked Tar where he had been the night before Thanksgiving.
00:13:36
>> I went to a buddy of mine's house. He left and left me some money out of his shop and I had to go pick it up.
00:13:45
>> The friend lived a short distance from Tar's home. >> Remember what time you came back?
00:13:52
>> Yeah, it wasn't that long. um maybe 6:30ish, something like that. >> Investigators believe the shooting took
00:14:01
place sometime early on Thanksgiving morning after 1:00 a.m. Tar said after he got back, he was home all night.
00:14:10
>> You can talk to my daughter about me being home. >> That's exactly what they did. Detectives
00:14:17
brought Tar's 17-year-old daughter, Shelby, to a different room at the police station, and she told them that
00:14:24
her father actually left home twice that night. >> So, the first time he left was roughly
00:14:31
6:30, >> right? And then he he came home about a half hour later and they said he had to
00:14:35
go back, right? >> And then it was 9:15ish when he got back home. Shelby said he had been gone for more
00:14:42
than 2 hours and when he got home he was upset. >> He gets home, he was crying. He was
00:14:49
sobbing. He said he missed Leslie. >> Shelby said she went to sleep around 9:30 and was awakened by her father
00:14:56
around 2:45 a.m. >> He started laundry. He was pacing, walking around and he was like, "I can't
00:15:03
sleep." Detectives went back to Tar and told him Shelby's story did not match his. Tar
00:15:10
then changed his story and said he had gone to his friend's house twice, but still insisted he was home by 8. As Tar
00:15:20
sat at the police station, detectives searched his house and found his phone and a Glock pistol. Shelby had told them
00:15:28
her father had a different gun, but they didn't find it. >> It's little. It's like this big. Like a
00:15:36
light green like the army green. >> Shelby told investigators she had seen it the day before Thanksgiving in her
00:15:44
father's sock drawer >> yesterday morning. Actually, I went to his socks and it was there and now it's
00:15:49
not there. >> Was there yesterday and gone today? >> Okay. Bobby Tar sat at the police
00:15:55
station overnight while authorities continued to investigate. They had already learned that his car had been
00:16:02
captured by license plate reader cameras just after midnight the night of the shooting. The cameras were near a gas
00:16:09
station and investigators discovered that Tar had bought gas there just after midnight. Back at the police station,
00:16:18
they confronted him with a gas station receipt. to your life. >> Cuz I don't remember doing that.
00:16:25
>> You don't remember being out after midnight when you have told us? You are 100% positive.
00:16:34
>> The gas station is here in Troy. >> Yes. >> And the murder occurred here in Farmersville.
00:16:40
>> Correct. >> The gas station was near Tar's home, an hour from the crime scene. Andrew
00:16:47
Affronty is the Montgomery County States attorney. He has donia, a condition that
00:16:53
causes muscle ticks and tremors. So why is it significant? Cuz it So he went out
00:16:59
and got some gas. >> It was significant to us cuz why would he lie about it? >> Just want to get fuel. What does that
00:17:05
prove? >> Investigators believed it was proof Tar was lying about his whereabouts that
00:17:11
night. They placed him under arrest. >> You're under arrest for murder. A fronty says they arrested Tar
00:17:23
immediately because they feared Chris's life was in danger and they hadn't found the murder weapon.
00:17:31
>> If he was out of custody, could he take further steps to dispose of the evidence?
00:17:38
Just one day after Leslie Reeves was killed and Chris Smith was left fighting for his life, investigators believe they
00:17:46
had the man responsible in custody. I'm Aaron Morardi. >> Bobby Sar. >> But in his only media interview, Bobby
00:17:55
[ __ ] tells 48 hours they got the wrong guy. >> There is so many things untold that will
00:18:02
prove my innocence. Bobby Tar charged with the murder of Leslie Reeves and the attempted murder
00:18:22
of Chris Smith is nothing if not unflapable. Did you kill Leslie Reeves? >> No. >> Did you shoot Chris Smith?
00:18:32
>> No. He kept his cool even when confronted with a litany of lies he told investigators. You told the police you
00:18:40
only left the house once. >> That wasn't true. >> Correct. >> You told the police you had no idea
00:18:47
where Farmersville is. >> Mhm. >> That was a lie. >> Mhm. >> You lied about getting gas in your car
00:18:54
that night. >> Mhm. When he spoke with us, Tara admitted he was at Christmas house the
00:19:01
night before Thanksgiving, placing himself at the scene of the crime. He says the night began when he met Leslie
00:19:08
at her part-time job at this loft store. >> She had said she was going to go meet
00:19:15
some friends because one of their friends was playing in a band. and she asked me if I wanted to go and I said,
00:19:21
"Well, you know, I would go, but I have my youngest daughter staying with me for
00:19:24
a week." >> Tar says that when he declined the invitation, Leslie asked if he would
00:19:30
follow her to Farmersville because her van was unreliable and so he did. That makes no sense to Leslie's friend Amy
00:19:39
Steinhower. >> She was terrified of him and rightfully so. Just a few weeks earlier, Amy says
00:19:48
Leslie told her that Tar had shown up while she was on a first date with a different guy. After that incident,
00:19:54
Leslie told Amy she was frightened by Tar and texted Amy. I could be killed by him someday if I don't cut all contact.
00:20:04
So, you're telling me now that this woman who was scared of you, who had actually texted a friend that she
00:20:11
thought you might kill her, asked you to follow her to another man's house? >> Mhm.
00:20:18
>> Does that make any sense? >> No, I understand. Um, so I don't understand that text in general.
00:20:24
>> Why did she think you might kill her? >> I don't know. I've got no clue. Tar says Leslie lied to her friends
00:20:33
about their relationship. He insists she asked him to follow her north to Farmersville.
00:20:39
>> So I went with her up there. I think we arrived there around 7:30. I parked in front of her van in front of
00:20:47
his house. That's as far as I went. I left. I never went back to Farmersville again.
00:20:53
If he had an innocent explanation for why he was in Farmersville, why did he lie to detectives?
00:21:00
>> My daughter, her and Leslie, there was a little bit of tension between both them.
00:21:05
I did not want her to know that I was going to meet Leslie that night. >> Tar claims that after he lied to his
00:21:11
daughter Shelby about seeing Leslie, he stuck to that lie at the police station because he was afraid they would tell
00:21:19
her. And he never corrected those lies, even when detectives arrested him. Why not just say, "Look, between you and me,
00:21:29
I lied to my daughter. So, let me tell you the truth, but let's just not share that with her." Why wouldn't you do
00:21:35
that? >> I should have done that. >> He's quick to point out the lack of physical evidence connecting him to the
00:21:42
bloody crime scene. Investigators searched his white Jetta, but did not find any shards of glass or blood
00:21:50
stains. >> Two tests by the state police were done on my car. Zero blood found in my car.
00:21:58
There's zero DNA of mine at the crime scene. Anything from the crime scene in my car
00:22:06
or on me or any of my clothing or my shoes. Zero. Prosecutor affronty has to concede that
00:22:15
point. >> Was any of Ty's DNA found inside the house? >> No. >> Were any of his fingerprints found
00:22:23
inside the house? >> No. >> And authorities still had not found the murder weapon. But a week after the
00:22:31
shooting, they got a phone call from Tar's friend, Billy Adams. Adams said Tar called him from jail. That call was
00:22:40
recorded. What's your day look like today? Cuz I need 10 minutes of your time. >> Tar asked Adams to go to his house and
00:22:46
look for some deck brackets. >> I got some special aluminum brackets and that I need you to get because
00:22:57
they're for another job that I didn't tell dad about yet. So, don't say nothing to him.
00:23:01
>> Instead, Adams contacted the sheriff's office. Deputies suspected Tar knew the
00:23:08
phone call was being recorded and was speaking to his friend in code about something other than deck brackets.
00:23:17
>> Yeah. Get them and get rid of them. >> They thought that was suspicious, which
00:23:21
was why they went over and searched. >> Investigators were on their hands and knees in Tar's yard looking for a gun.
00:23:29
Dan Folultz is Tar's defense attorney. >> They searched that area thoroughly. No
00:23:35
gun. You know what? They did find deck brackets. >> A few days later, they got another phone
00:23:43
call, this time from Tar's brother, asking them to come back to the house. Tar's family gave deputies a Ziploc bag
00:23:53
they said they had found in the same yard that had been searched just days earlier. Inside a Springfield Hellcat 9
00:24:03
mm pistol and silvercoled ammunition. The Illinois State Police determined the gun was the murder weapon and the
00:24:12
ammunition matched the casings found at the crime scene. >> We still to this day don't know how that
00:24:19
ended up there specifically in the spot that they searched. >> Are you saying you were set up? Someone
00:24:26
was framing you? >> Yes. But if someone was framing Tar, he or she would have to be pretty
00:24:34
detailoriented, the state police say Tar's fingerprint was on the Ziploc bag. >> He is adamant that he would not have
00:24:42
been dumb enough that he would have carried it all the way back to his home and said, "Hm, where would I put this
00:24:50
gun on my 1 acre lot? I think I'll put it next to the front door." And Tar points out neither his prints nor DNA
00:24:59
were found on the gun itself. >> Nothing on the firearm. No DNA, no prints of mine on the firearm.
00:25:06
>> What I think what happened is is that the gun was clicked and then Mr. Tar just missed a spot.
00:25:12
>> That spot was Leslie's DNA, say police found on the guide rod of the gun. Tar's
00:25:19
explanation, the gun wasn't his. It belonged to Leslie. >> I purchased the Hellcat and Leslie
00:25:27
purchased it from me. >> As investigators continued to build a case against Bobby Tar, they say he was
00:25:35
hatching a plan to silence the only eyewitness. >> Did you ask a inmate to shoot Chris
00:25:44
Smith? [Music] Leslie accompanied me here on several occasions. >> If there's anyone who knew what guns
00:26:07
Leslie Reeves owned, it's Howard Bolton, her close friend and firearm instructor.
00:26:14
>> When I would hold classes, she would actually shoot with us. Leslie was becoming a very good shot.
00:26:21
>> Bolton says Leslie had organized a class called Girls with Guns not long before
00:26:26
she was murdered. >> We put the girls through their paces. They would move and fire. They would go
00:26:33
forward and fire. They would come back and fire. And Leslie did very, very well at that. Bobby Tar insisted to us that
00:26:40
Leslie owned the Hellcat that was used to kill her, but Howard says he never saw her use it.
00:26:48
>> Leslie never brought a Springfield, let alone a Hellcat, to class. >> So then, how did Leslie's DNA get on the
00:26:56
guide rod of the murder weapon? Howard believes that Leslie's DNA could only be on that guide rod if the gun was fired
00:27:04
at her at close range. So when he shot her, wherever it was he shot her would have contaminated that part of the gun.
00:27:14
>> In fact, Howard says Leslie owned a different gun. Her friends say they wish she had taken it with her the night she
00:27:22
was killed. >> Had Leslie taken the gun with her, I assure you the outcome would have been
00:27:27
different. Tar declared his innocence, but the case against him could hinge on what Chris
00:27:35
Smith, the only survivor, remembers. Would he be able to identify him? That was the question. As Chris remained in a
00:27:44
coma, >> we were talking to him, singing to him, and I was always holding this hand.
00:27:50
Hallelu. >> While Chris Smith lay helpless, authorities say Tar was plotting to silence him forever.
00:28:01
A grand jury indicted Tar on two counts of solicitation of murder. Those charges
00:28:08
are based on allegations by an inmate who says Tar paid him $10,000 to shoot and kill the lead detective.
00:28:17
And Chris, >> did you ask a inmate to shoot Chris Smith? >> No, ma'am. >> And to kill Detective Roach?
00:28:27
>> No, ma'am. >> Tar says the alleged plot was a lie concocted by a former cellmate. Tar says
00:28:35
he loaned that cellmate $10,000 for his bond and that it had nothing to do with Chris Smith. Were you worried he was
00:28:45
going to testify and point to you as a shooter? >> No, I was not worried one iota.
00:28:51
>> The truth was that no one knew what Chris Smith remembered. The first time he regained consciousness was in early
00:28:59
January 2022, about 2 months after the shooting. >> Like eggs. >> Chris's voice was so weak in those early
00:29:10
days. It's already done over there. >> That is old friend Mark Rearen, a talk show host in St. Louis.
00:29:17
>> 522 971 FM talk >> barely recognized Chris on the phone. >> I could not believe that I was hearing
00:29:25
from this guy and I cried. He cried. Just talking about that moment really brings me chills because I just thought
00:29:33
he was never going to be someone that was in my life ever again. >> What did Chris tell you? Well, when
00:29:38
Chris came on of this, I was pretty sensitive to ask him about what had happened that night because I think I
00:29:44
was a little afraid of even having those conversations. So, most of the conversations that we had were really
00:29:49
focused on, hey, how are you? Are you going to be okay? >> After intense physical therapy, he's
00:29:55
made incredible strides. He's much stronger than when he awoke from a coma, but he discovered there are gaps in his
00:30:03
memory. What does he remember from that terrible night? >> I wish to God I could remember
00:30:11
something. I mean, even just a a smidgen of something, but I remember nothing. >> He remembers nothing of the shooting or
00:30:20
Leslie Reeves. >> I said, "Who the heck's Leslie? I don't know Leslie." >> You had no idea.
00:30:26
>> No, nothing. >> Nothing. >> Nothing. >> Is Chris the same person who used to come on your show before he was shot?
00:30:33
>> Yeah. I think at the core, he's still the same guy that I knew. He's still the
00:30:38
smartass. He's still the guy that's going to talk about how good he is and how good he was and how much he could
00:30:43
lift weights. >> Chris works out at the gym most mornings trying to regain muscle so that someday
00:30:51
he'll be able to walk without assistance. >> Straight curve. >> He's even back to being the lead singer
00:31:00
in his rock and roll band. I don't know how he did make it. I don't understand how he did. He's a miracle.
00:31:09
>> But Chris is aware his life is very different from what it once was. So I'm half the man I used to be, but I'm
00:31:17
trying to get it back as hard as I can. And then my left leg is uh partially paralyzed from my hip to my knee, then
00:31:23
from my knee to my toes completely paralyzed. So if there's any neurosurgeons out there, any researchers
00:31:28
out there, please get a hold of me. I'll be your guinea pig. Just make me normal
00:31:32
and give me my life back, please. >> It's tough, isn't it, Chris? >> It tough doesn't even describe it.
00:31:40
Doesn't even describe it. >> Chris is resigned to living with part of that hollow point bullet in his brain.
00:31:47
Doctors say it's in a spot that makes it too dangerous to remove. >> So, that's where you got shot?
00:31:54
>> Yep. Right here. There's a Yep. You still feel it in my skull? Right there. After decades on his own, Chris had to
00:32:01
move back into his mother's house. >> I thank my blessings daily that he's here with us. I just wish that this guy
00:32:10
didn't take everything away from him. >> Chris visits with his loyal dog, Tikki,
00:32:15
but no longer lives with her. And he'd love to see his 12-year-old daughter more often, but he can't drive, and he's
00:32:22
living in St. Louis, almost 2 hours away from his daughter and ex-wife. I miss her. She was my little pee in the pot. I
00:32:30
mean, we did everything together. >> The trial of Robert Tar was set for April 2024, but Chris would not be
00:32:39
there. He told the prosecutor he was too angry to attend. >> You didn't think you'd be able to just
00:32:45
sit there. >> Oh, no. No way. I I know myself. I There's no way. No. >> But Chris's alleged shooter, Bobby Tar,
00:32:52
will be there. and he said he was eager to tell the jury that he's not a violent
00:32:58
man. But on this one night early morning, did you snap? >> No, that's not my nature. I don't lose it.
00:33:07
Snap. [Music] When Bobby Tar went on trial in April 2024, prosecutors told the jury that he killed
00:33:28
Leslie Reeves rather than allow her to live the life she wanted, a life without him.
00:33:35
>> Mr. Tar couldn't deal with the fact that Leslie was seeing somebody else and he
00:33:41
had to go and take care of it. >> Andrew Aphrante says Tar secretly followed Leslie to Farmersville early
00:33:48
that evening and shortly afterwards his phone began showing some interesting activity.
00:33:56
>> He had actually searched Chris Smith on his phone and tried to find his Facebook
00:34:01
profile. Tar headed home and texted his friend Billy Adams. I don't feel like she would
00:34:08
drive that far for a party or go out with a girlfriend. I think it's for a dude. He also searched whether police
00:34:16
could track his phone if he was using a VPN, a virtual private network. He was researching to determine whether
00:34:25
or not that would mask where his location was while he was using the phone. Authorities say around midnight
00:34:33
tar left home stopping at that gas station and then according to a fronti surveillance videos and cell tower
00:34:41
records show that tar drove back to Farmersville. >> You believe he intended to kill both
00:34:49
Chris and Leslie? I 100% believe that he went up there with the intent to do serious harm to both of them.
00:34:59
>> With one victim dead and the other with no memory, it's difficult to say with
00:35:04
certainty what happened, but the prosecution argued that sometime after 1:00 a.m., Bobby Tar tried to enter
00:35:12
through the back door of Christmas house. Leslie and Chris tried to keep him out.
00:35:19
There was some kind of altercation or struggle and that's when the glass was broken.
00:35:27
>> Crime scene investigator Josh Eastston told the jury what he had observed inside the kitchen.
00:35:34
>> The refrigerator was pulled away from the wall where it appeared it normally was.
00:35:38
>> Prosecutors believe Leslie was trying to use the refrigerator to block the door.
00:35:44
And based on where Chris was shot in his head, they think he was crouching down to help Leslie.
00:35:52
>> I think that while Chris was crouched down trying to hold the door shut, Bobby
00:35:58
shot through the door and struck Chris. >> With Chris incapacitated, Aphrante says
00:36:03
Leslie hid in the living room. Tar tracked her down, shot, and killed her. I strongly believe that he walked in and
00:36:13
executed her. >> Defense attorney Dan Folultz disputes all of that. >> There is simply no evidence that that's
00:36:20
what happened. There's no evidence that Leslie pushed the refrigerator. There's no fingerprints and blood on the
00:36:26
refrigerator of Leslie's. >> Folult says evidence of a fight in the kitchen tells a different story.
00:36:33
>> The amount of blood in that kitchen was astonishing. From looking at that crime
00:36:38
scene, do you believe that Christopher Smith had to fight his his asalent in the kitchen?
00:36:47
>> It would appear to me that there was some significant struggle in that kitchen between him and someone else.
00:36:52
>> And he says the asalent could not have been Bobby Tar because he would have been covered in blood.
00:36:59
>> They did not identify a single piece of DNA in his car. They didn't identify a
00:37:06
bloody fingerprint. They did not identify anything tying him to that crime scene.
00:37:12
>> But prosecutors argued the house wasn't bloody when Tar left. They said Chris
00:37:18
bled heavily in the 12 hours it took for help to arrive. And while the prosecution did not have a lot of
00:37:25
forensic evidence linking Tar to the crime scene, a fronti says his phone activity, his lies to investigators, and
00:37:34
the evidence found on the Hellcat all prove his guilt. >> When you put all of that together,
00:37:40
that's when you get the clear picture of what happened. When it was the defense's
00:37:45
turn, Tar says he wanted to tell his story to the jury, but he chose not to testify.
00:37:52
Why didn't you just decide you were going to talk to the jury and tell this story if in fact you have a story to
00:37:59
tell? >> I should have. I very well should have. We made a strategic decision because it
00:38:06
may have opened the door for a whole lot of other more damaging evidence to be used uh to cross-examine him.
00:38:13
>> The defense didn't put on any witnesses and counted on the jury to find reasonable doubt in the lack of physical
00:38:20
evidence. After 3 hours, the jury found Bobby Tar guilty of first-degree murder and
00:38:30
attempted murder. Everyone clapped and Bobby just sat there shaking his head. >> Two months later, Tar was back in court
00:38:40
for sentencing and this time so was Chris to tell the judge how the shooting impacted him and his family. Cameras
00:38:49
were not allowed in the courtroom. >> Lost my house, lost my truck. I've literally lost my life without being
00:38:56
killed. Tar also spoke and denied shooting Leslie and Chris. The judge sentenced
00:39:04
him to 85 years. >> I hope the rest of his time on this earth is hell. [Music] >> Leslie Reeves friends are focused on
00:39:16
keeping her memory alive. >> She was a light of a lot of people's lives. She was always smiling. She was a
00:39:25
very good mother. lived for her kids and was an advocate and champion of women, women's rights, and especially women
00:39:36
that were abused. >> If it can happen to her, it could happen to anyone. So, we all need to be
00:39:43
careful. >> Chris Smith says he never expected he'd be a victim of domestic violence and
00:39:50
cautions other men to take a hard look at their behavior. If guys, you feel like that you want you want to hurt a
00:39:56
woman, get help. >> While Chris mourns his old life, he's writing a book about his experiences and
00:40:07
says he's working to make what he calls poor man's margaritas out of the lemons and limes he's been handed.
00:40:16
>> I've got a doover. Good Lord, give me a doover. Not many people get a second chance in life.
00:40:22
Chris has found love with Michelle Alrech. >> She's an angel. Loving me and accepting
00:40:27
me the way that I am. >> He proposed to her on stage. >> I just asked her if she buried me. Guys,
00:40:35
>> what's the most important lesson out of all of this? >> Don't ever give up on anything. Ever. No
00:40:41
matter how bad things are, don't ever give up. [Music] The search for her killer went cold.
00:41:00
>> Investigators took DNA evidence. They could not find who it belonged to. >> Can a clue from the past
00:41:05
>> I can see a footprint in blood >> solve the crime? >> These belong to the killer. The
00:41:09
footprints defined the path of this case. >> 48 hours is all new. CBS next in streaming on Paramount Plus.
00:41:25
If I can come back from a deathbed and survive this and defy medical odds and create medical
00:41:34
history or rewrite medical history, anybody can come back and achieve anything in life. No matter how bleak
00:41:42
things look in life, there's always a sun rising on the other side. [Music] If you are seeking inspiration, look no
00:41:53
further than Chris Smith. His is a story of resilience and recovery. Back in November of 2021, Chris was on a first
00:42:02
date with a woman named Leslie Reeves. Now, they had gone back to his house when Leslie's ex-boyfriend, Bobby Tar,
00:42:10
forced his way inside and shot them both. Leslie died, but Chris miraculously survived a bullet wound to
00:42:19
his head. He lay comeomaosse in the hospital for several weeks before waking up. And when he did, he had no memory of
00:42:28
what happened that night. So, how did Chris defy the medical odds and survive the unthinkable? I'm Natalie Morales of
00:42:36
48 Hours and this is It Could Have Been Me. [Music] You're going to be hearing from Chris in
00:42:43
just a few minutes, but first I would like to introduce producer Paul Rosa. He knows this case well. He worked on this
00:42:50
story uh for an episode of 48 hours with correspondent Aaron Morardi. Paul, so good to have you join us today on what
00:42:57
is such an incredible story of survival and real grit. >> Great to be here because Chris is one of
00:43:03
the most um interesting and resilient people I've ever met. I know he really touched you and had an impact on our
00:43:10
entire 48 hours team. Walk me through, Paul, what happened on that night, November 24th, 2021.
00:43:18
>> Right. So, um it was the day before Thanksgiving, the evening before Thanksgiving, and Chris and Lesie had
00:43:26
met on Facebook, as people do these days. Um they never met in person before this night, but they had texted with
00:43:34
each other. They had spoken on the phone to each other and there was sympotico in
00:43:38
a number of ways mostly because they were really into physical fitness and um Leslie ran a Pilates studio, yoga
00:43:46
studio. She taught women self-defense and Chris was in the best shape of his life when this shooting happened. But
00:43:52
anyway, the night before Thanksgiving is traditionally a night when people go out
00:43:56
drinking and that's exactly what they did. Um Chris said, "Why don't you come up to Farmersville, which was about an
00:44:03
hour from where Leslie lived and um she was in Troy, Illinois. They both had kids and uh Leslie's kids were with her
00:44:12
ex that evening and same with Chris. So they were without their children and Chris had a big house and he told
00:44:19
Leslie, "You can sleep in one of the bedrooms if we got drinking too much, whatever." And that was the plan. She
00:44:24
told her girlfriends where she was going to be. She gave them the address because
00:44:29
after all, she never met this guy. But they went out drinking to a place called the Uptown Saloon. And then they went to
00:44:35
a second bar. Everything was hunky dory. Then they went to Chris's nearby house.
00:44:39
>> Yeah, Paul. Because I understand at some point Leslie's ex-boyfriend, Bobby Tar.
00:44:44
He started to follow them and and showed up at Chris's house. Right. >> Right. No one knows what really happened
00:44:53
except Bobby Tar who was convicted of the crime because Leslie is dead and Chris remembers
00:45:00
nothing from that night. So, it's difficult for investigators to know exactly what happened. But what they
00:45:06
what the evidence reveals happened is Bobby Tar tried to push his way in. He Leslie spotted him through the glass
00:45:15
side door. She moved her refrigerator, police believe, in front of the door to try to block him. He was able to
00:45:23
maneuver the door part of the way open. Chris was crouched down trying to push the door with his shoulder and his
00:45:29
weight and um Bobby Tar shot him in the head. According to police, Chris went down. Tar walked in. Leslie ran into the
00:45:38
living room, hid behind a Christmas tree, and according to the prosecutors, Bobby Tar walked in, shot Leslie one
00:45:45
time right in the top of the head. >> I mean, it's so horrific. Um, the timeline, I understand, is a little
00:45:51
unclear as well, but we know it was sometime in the very early morning hours, though.
00:45:56
>> It was around 1:00 a.m. when this all this mayhem occurred, according to investigators. And uh Leslie and Chris's
00:46:04
friends and family were concerned when they didn't hear from them the next morning. Now it's Thanksgiving morning.
00:46:10
Both of them had plans to go to Thanksgiving dinner at, you know, separate locations. And when the friends
00:46:16
didn't hear from Leslie in particular, um you know, she had a bunch of girlfriends who she knew she was dating,
00:46:23
knew Bobby Tar, knew that Bobby Tar had stalked her before. Just a month before Tar had shown up at another first date
00:46:31
that Leslie was having. They were concerned. They knew the address. In particular, a friend named Nanet Styber
00:46:38
decided, "I can't raise her on the phone. I'm driving there." So, she drove an hour up to Farmersville. On the way,
00:46:46
she called the local sheriff's office. At the same time, a 16-year-old girl who knew Chris
00:46:54
showed up at the scene. So this young girl named Bjon Smith, she walked over to the side door. She saw blood
00:47:01
everywhere. She saw Chris on the floor. She immediately called 911. And we have a recording of that phone call.
00:47:09
>> Nobody's answering the door and and the back window shattered and there's a body
00:47:13
and there's blood on the stove and there's a foot I saw on the floor. >> Chris, however, was still alive, which I
00:47:21
mean barely alive, which is truly miraculous. Yes. And um Farmersville being the small town it is, the first
00:47:30
two medics who appeared were friends of Chris and he knew them well. And you know, of course, they were, you know,
00:47:36
horrified themselves. Here's their buddy. And uh with Chris was his faithful dog, Tikki. Tikki is a female
00:47:43
dog. Um very loyal to Chris. And Tikki huddled with Chris according to people at the scene and probably saved his life
00:47:54
because the glass door was broken so a lot of cold air was coming in and um this medic decided um that he didn't
00:48:04
want to wait for a helicopter to get there. He put Chris in the ambulance with another medic and he drove like a
00:48:11
bat out of hell to the hospital. Again, timing is everything. probably helped to
00:48:16
save Chris's life. >> And let's take a listen now to what investigator Josh Eastston said when he
00:48:24
described the scene to you and to correspondent Aaron Morardi. >> I was overwhelmed when I saw the
00:48:30
kitchen. >> What do you mean? >> There was just so much blood and it was it was everywhere. There was not a spot
00:48:37
on the kitchen floor that didn't have blood on it. >> And what does that say to you? that I
00:48:42
don't know what went on in there, but it was it was horrible. For Chris, it was unescribable. Without you being there, I
00:48:51
I can't even make you understand how bad it was. >> Josh Eastston, who is with the Illinois
00:48:56
State Police, it's his job to catalog all the evidence. um go in and sure enough, I mean, we talked about the
00:49:04
blood, but in the middle of that, there were also two shell casings, one in the kitchen, one in the living room. There
00:49:11
was no murder weapon. So, that of course told them that someone else had to have
00:49:17
been involved, a third person. And we know um you know investigators were quickly able to identify an a person of
00:49:26
interest, Bobby Tar, because the friends had already told them that Leslie had a
00:49:32
stalker and it was her ex-boyfriend Bobby Tar. How soon after then was he arrested, Paul?
00:49:39
>> Well, this investigation unfolded rapidly. They find his license, a registration where he lives, and they
00:49:46
put that license into the license plate readers up and down the highway. Um, one
00:49:52
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
00:49:59
that night. So, they began sort of creating a timeline of his movements before they even spoke to him. Um they
00:50:08
were able to um later on get his cell phone records as well. Remember this happened the shooting at 1:00 a.m. by
00:50:16
8:00 PM that evening just hours later um they were going to Bobby Tar's house and
00:50:23
asking him if he would agree to be questioned and he submitted to the uh interrogation. They put him under arrest
00:50:31
at about it was the it was the next day. It was the morning after Thanksgiving >> and he was arraigned on those murder
00:50:37
charges and attempted murder charges. Um to this day though he maintains his innocence.
00:50:43
>> 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
00:50:53
did anything wrong. Well, this episode of course is not about Bobby Tar, but it is about the survivor himself, Chris
00:51:00
Smith, and his remarkable recovery. You'll hear from Chris when we come back. [Music]
00:51:16
So, let's hear from Chris Smith himself. Chris, welcome. It is such an honor to meet you.
00:51:22
>> Thank you. And likewise. Now, Chris and Paul, I understand you guys text each
00:51:26
other weekly, right? >> Yeah, I kind of know him. Yeah, I uh I ask a lot of advice from him, actually.
00:51:32
>> Yeah. And he's he you know, Chris is a terrific guy, as you'll see. >> And and Chris, I know that you actually
00:51:39
wrote a book about your survival and the incredible odds in your recovery. Yes. Um it's called My Fatal First Date is
00:51:47
now available for purchase. and you explained to the readers that your story really is a journey of blood, sweat, and
00:51:54
tears. You've had to work really hard to get where you are today. Tell us about the injuries you sustained and where
00:52:01
exactly the injury was. If you can point to it. >> Well, actually, it's kind of hard with
00:52:05
the earphones on, but the bullet went in about 5 in above my ear, straight the top of my head. And as you know, Paul
00:52:13
said, I'm sure you all have talked about I don't remember anything of that night.
00:52:16
I don't remember Lesie. I was told that we met on Facebook, >> which I find really interesting because
00:52:22
they spoke on the phone and texted 2 weeks before the incident. But it's interesting how the brain works. It just
00:52:29
excised Leslie out of his brain. Now, see, I do remember some stuff, you know, like I remember past my neighbor's house
00:52:36
on the drive home that afternoon. I remember some stuff from October and then like basically I want to say from
00:52:42
like the beginning beginning of November on to the shooting, I don't remember much. if that makes any sense. So, it's
00:52:48
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
00:52:53
were shot and and how long you were in your kitchen and on the kitchen floor and were able to survive with blood and
00:52:59
everything all around you. Um, I know they had to remove part of your skull, but they weren't able to get the entire
00:53:06
bullet out, right? >> No, it's still 9 mm hollow point is actually still right behind my right
00:53:12
eye. And they say it's a fragment, but it's actually the whole thing. What? What? What when they say fragment, what
00:53:18
fragmented was my actual skull fragmented. That's what they're picking out of my brain was my skull, not the
00:53:23
actual bolt. The bolt never moved and it's lodged right here in my frontal lobe. And I mean, I should still be in a
00:53:28
coma, still be b I should be bedridden on a ventilator with severe cognitive deficits. And the doctors are perplexed
00:53:35
by that. >> I want to play some of the sound from your doctor, Dr. Victor Williams. Aaron
00:53:40
Moriardi asked him about your chances of survival after the shooting. So all the
00:53:46
odds kind of were against him when he arrived at the hospital. >> It would appear so.
00:53:50
>> But he managed to survive. >> It's a blessing and a miracle that he did. >> They don't have an explanation, right,
00:53:57
Chris? >> No, they don't. No, they don't. >> What's your explanation? >> Well, um I call it divine intervention.
00:54:03
And two of my worst traits before I was shot, stubbornness and impatience are not my best attributes cuz And then I'll
00:54:11
never forget the day I woke up from the coma, I met Dr. Williams. He came in and
00:54:15
he said, "Chris, I know your family. I know your sister. My sister's a neuro telemetry nurse and she actually worked
00:54:21
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
00:54:27
to walk again." And I sat there, started tearing up, and I mean, just had a lump
00:54:32
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
00:54:36
I looked at him and I said, "Victor, you just told the wrong person he can't do something because I'm going to do it out
00:54:40
of spite to prove you wrong." >> And now you're walking again. Yes, I'll be with a cane. I can walk without one
00:54:47
now, but I kind of look like a zombie. But um I will get back there. I am. I'm determined to and I have to. As I told
00:54:53
Paul before, hey, life gives us lemon and limes. You've got to dig down deep with that tequila and that sugar water,
00:54:58
make poor man's margaritas, and just suck it up, pull your bootstraps up, work your tail off, and you can
00:55:04
accomplish anything, overcome anything, exceeded anything, and be unstoppable, too.
00:55:09
>> Yeah. And I know we were talking uh about what you do and don't remember uh about that that night and what happened
00:55:18
when you were asked then about Leslie. Do you remember what you said? >> Well, when I woke up from my coma, I
00:55:25
mean, I look up, I'm like, I have tubes on me, oxygen. I look on the wall and it
00:55:31
says to Paul Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri. And I'm like, wait, what the? And I started yelling and screaming. The
00:55:37
nurses came rushing in. Chris, calm down. Calm down. I'm like, what am I doing here? What happened? And the one
00:55:43
nurse says, Leslie's ex-boyfriend shot you. And I said, who the f is a Lesie? I don't know Lesie. Cuz I didn't know I
00:55:49
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
00:55:56
this in the best possible way. Not just, of course, the incredible acts of your friends, the medics who transported you
00:56:04
to the hospital. They knew they didn't have the time to spare, but then also, you know, the fact that your family,
00:56:10
your sister, as you said, worked with the doctor was there along your side. I know your family had to help pull you
00:56:17
through as well. Can you talk about them? >> My sister saw some fight in me and I
00:56:21
started in the ICU when I started coming out of the coma. They tried to medically
00:56:26
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
00:56:33
was saying this craziest things. I wanted my truck keys in my jacket and I thought I was going to walk out of
00:56:39
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
00:56:44
was born. I wanted vitamin D, red cap, whole milk. I swear it was under my bed and rum chada. I've never drank rum
00:56:51
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
00:56:55
that. I mean, our brains are so mysterious. They don't know enough about them. They really need to do more brain
00:57:01
research. >> I know you call it your ICU comedy special because the way you were
00:57:06
reacting when you came out of that coma. >> Yes, it was crazy. But I mean, I didn't
00:57:10
like to fully become conscious until they transfer me to St. Louis, you know, January 12.
00:57:16
>> I I've seen and I know I mean I've seen glimpses of that sense of humor and I
00:57:21
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
00:57:27
yourself? >> Bullet boy. Hey, it's me, Bullet Boy. At that point, I had talked to him like
00:57:32
once on the phone and you know, I'm conditioned to treat victims very seriously and like, you know, I know he
00:57:38
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
00:57:43
with him, but he was joking around on his own. >> Yeah. I mean, my sense of humor has been
00:57:48
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
00:57:54
survival and a coping mechanism that everybody needs when they go through such horrific trauma and tragedy. Um,
00:58:01
going back to when you were able to get out of the hospital, though, Chris, that
00:58:05
was February of 2022. >> So, I know you had to move in uh with your mom and and your stepdad because
00:58:13
you really couldn't take care of yourself the way you wanted to and that you lost your home at the time.
00:58:19
>> Yeah. I mean, it it sucked, but it is what it is, you know. I had to do what I
00:58:24
had to do. And, you know, luckily enough that my parents are my mom's cool still.
00:58:28
She'll be 70 in July, you know, so we're like only 17 years apart, but uh 17 and
00:58:33
a half. Got to add that half on there. So, you know, I'm I'm very fortunate and I love my stepdad to death, you know.
00:58:40
So, I mean, I'm very lucky. >> Paul, I know you've met them as well. >> Yeah, he has a great family. I've met
00:58:45
his uh mother, his stepfather, and his sister. And you know, his sister is very intelligent and she's a nurse and um
00:58:54
beautiful person and the stepfather's very friendly and has two big dogs that run around the house. And that's one
00:59:01
reason, by the way, that Tikki uh was no longer living with Chris. Tikki the dog
00:59:08
that helped protect his life. Tikki is with a neighbor. >> Yeah, I was wondering about that, Chris.
00:59:14
I mean, do you feel that Tiki might have helped save your life that night? >> Definitely. They don't understand how I
00:59:20
lived. There so much blood I lost. But she was laying right there cuddled up next to me
00:59:24
>> the whole time. So, she's a great dog. >> And I think there was some evidence as
00:59:29
well. Was it on your chest that she had tried to get on you? >> Yeah. Her little little pile marks are
00:59:34
right there. Yeah. >> Oh, >> yeah. Just >> We didn't I guess no one knew what that
00:59:39
was at the beginning and then he figured it out or his family figured out. She was just trying to wake her daddy up.
00:59:45
>> By the way, I don't know if we ever mentioned it, but he was there for about 12 hours laying on the kitchen floor
00:59:50
before anyone found him. >> Yes. >> In April of 2024, though, um we know that that's when Bobby Tar's trial
01:00:00
happened. >> You were you there? >> No, I did not go. >> His family was there. Um and they told
01:00:07
him every day what was happening. And he, another reason Chris didn't go, he could tell you himself, is that he said
01:00:14
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
01:00:21
yourself, Chris. >> Yeah. What I mean, I said I'd take him out one, you know, one hand, one arm. I
01:00:27
mean, it's like what he did is the most cowardly act anybody can do. >> But we should say that you were there
01:00:32
for the sentencing and you got a chance to give an impact statement. Yes, I did.
01:00:36
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
01:00:44
know? I mean he's a a sorry excuse for a human being. >> You talked about the fact that Tar
01:00:50
killed you without killing you. What did you mean by that? >> He took he took my life from me. He
01:00:54
affected so many other people. My family, my little girl, my son, I mean my friends. I mean they've had to suffer
01:01:02
with me through my recovery. We cannot forget the victim here as well, Leslie Reeves, and what her family has had to
01:01:08
go through and endure as well. Just horrific the tragedy. >> I mean, it makes you grateful for what
01:01:14
everything you have, you know. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. You are the living testament of that. Now, um Chris
01:01:21
though, we when when Bobby Tar was found guilty on four counts, including first-degree murder and attempted
01:01:26
murder, what was your reaction to the verdict? I was happy, but I wish they had a death penalty in Illinois. But I
01:01:32
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,
01:01:38
>> right? Sentenced to 85 years in prison. Um, what was truly shocking though is
01:01:44
even after Bobby Tar is convicted, he's in prison. Then you come to find out that he there was a solicitation of
01:01:53
murder on you. The story goes, according to prosecutors and his defense attorney,
01:01:58
that Bobby Tar had solicited an inmate to go to the hospital room where Chris was recovering and shoot him. We are
01:02:06
told by prosecutors that some money did change hands. So, he tar was indicted, but the charges were ultimately dropped
01:02:13
for various reasons. The biggest reason being that Tara is in jail or prison for
01:02:19
85 years and it seems to be no point in having another trial and maybe another sentence. 85 years is a lifetime
01:02:27
sentence for Tar. >> Correct. Yes. >> You still have um some recovery ahead of you, right?
01:02:32
>> Yes, I do. Yes. Um I have been doing it's called menusal stem cell transplants, MSC's. They harvest stem
01:02:40
cells from either my pelvic bone right and left side now. But um and then they shoot them up your into your your nose
01:02:50
up to the vessel supplying your brain. So I mean it's not FDA approved yet, but it should be here shortly because it has
01:02:58
restored a lot of my function to my left hand side. I'm not running yet, but Paul
01:03:03
knows it will be someday. Hopefully sooner than later. >> Physically, I've seen changes. when he
01:03:07
first started. By the way, Chris is still the lead singer in his rock and roll band. That's true. He used to play
01:03:13
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
01:03:20
a good singer, but he his left arm would shake like crazy like this. And we would
01:03:26
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
01:03:33
was singing because it would just never stop moving. Now, of course, it's pretty
01:03:37
steady, and I've seen recent video of him performing, and he looks better than ever. His arm doesn't shake. He's
01:03:45
standing more. He occasionally he would sit in his wheelchair and sing, but the last clip I saw, he was standing the
01:03:51
whole time and arm was steady. >> Well, it's great to see you singing again and still performing with your
01:03:57
band. I hear though there is another woman in your life who has >> really become your angel. You have
01:04:05
fallen in love again. Tell me about her. >> We uh Michelle and I met. It'll be two
01:04:10
years this June and we've got a house together and Yeah, I'm starting over again. You know, start.
01:04:15
>> You're engaged to be married now? >> Yes, we are. >> When are you going to get married?
01:04:18
>> We're looking at this fall. >> Mhm. >> Oh, amazing. What led you to write the
01:04:23
book? >> Well, I as I told Paul, I had no intention of writing a book. Everybody
01:04:28
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,
01:04:32
throughout my recovery, people had been reaching out to me, you know, from all over the world, through Facebook, I
01:04:38
mean, through other social media outlets and whatnot. And I was like, you know what? I can do
01:04:44
it. I can do it. I'll I basically wrote it like I was sitting down having a conversation with somebody like I'm
01:04:50
talking to you right now, you know, just telling my story, all the intimate details that 48 hours couldn't cover,
01:04:57
you know, in the first run. And that's what I've done. I was like, I put my thumb to my iPhone because I can't I
01:05:04
can't type. I hate saying the word can't. I'm unable to type. So, I literally wrote my whole book on my
01:05:09
iPhone 14. All typing with my thumb. And just my message is to inspire people, motivate people, and show everybody no
01:05:19
matter how bleak things look in life, there's always silver lining. And you can always dig yourself out of the hole.
01:05:25
you can accomplish and achieve anything that you want as long as you put your mind to it and work your tail off.
01:05:30
>> For those who are struggling in their lives, do you have some advice you'll share? What's your perspective that you
01:05:37
tell them? >> Life is too precious to ever give up on anything. We don't know how many grains
01:05:41
we have left in our hourglass. Don't ever give up on anything. Love your family. Love your kids. Love your
01:05:48
friends because you don't know when your last you know the last grain will fall.
01:05:52
But just live life to the fullest. Have fun, laugh, don't take things too serious.
01:05:59
I mean, I'm not the wisest person in the world, but I have learned a lot of wisdom throughout this whole situation.
01:06:05
>> Chris, you are truly one of the most remarkable people I've spoken with. So, you know, well done on on all that
01:06:12
you've done to not only thrive and survive, but you are out there spreading your message and giving inspiration to
01:06:21
so many. So, we thank you so much for that. Thank you so much. >> And Paul, thank you also for joining us.
01:06:28
>> Of course, >> and thanks to you all for listening and watching. And you can find and follow It
01:06:33
Could Have Been Me in the 48 hours podcast feed. It is on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
01:06:41
And if you liked this episode, please rate and review on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
01:06:47
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