00:00:09
This is a wonderful, bubbly, confident, independent woman and she's missing. Jamie Ley disappeared. Doesn't make any
00:00:19
sense. She's a college graduate from University of Michigan, respected within her community. People of her background
00:00:26
and stature don't just come up missing for 10 weeks and nobody hears from them. How can one of my best friends have been
00:00:33
missing for 10 weeks? How did it come to this? That she could be gone so long and
00:00:37
nobody reported it. I couldn't believe that it had been that long that nobody had noticed. It was absolute craziness.
00:00:46
Well, Phoenix in the metropolitan area is the sixth largest city in the country. It's it's a big valley and it's
00:00:52
surrounded by desert on all four sides. I believe Jaime Lady came to Arizona to establish her own identity. Jaime was a
00:01:00
very private person. She kept to herself. She wasn't close with her family. She just kind of had a don't ask
00:01:07
me about my parents kind of thing. So, the only person that saw her on a daily basis was her living boyfriend Brian
00:01:14
Stewart. Jamie and I dated for nearly 3 years. She's always refused to talk about her past or her family. Every time
00:01:22
that Jaime saw her parents, she was terrified. It was a very different case than just
00:01:30
about everything else that we work. There was no blood. There was no body. There was no evidence
00:01:38
of a crime scene. There's no smoking gun in this case, but there is a lot of burning matchsticks.
00:01:47
Jamie's lost. We don't know where she is and it's really sad. She was a good person and
00:01:55
she didn't deserve this. I believe Jaime was murdered because there's no clear explanation as to where
00:02:01
she is now, what happened to her and why. Jaime Liy is alive. She took $100,000 of daddy's money and she left
00:02:09
the state of Arizona. He's a very convincing liar. Bring it on. I know she's alive.
00:02:23
I'm Aaron Morardi. Tonight on 48 Hours, The Stranger Beside Me. [Music] [Applause]
00:02:50
[Music] When Jaime Leodie disappeared in March of 2010, none of her closest friends
00:03:01
noticed for weeks. The truth is, Jaime had been fading from their lives for nearly 2 years. If your friend stops
00:03:10
making an effort, you kind of stop, too. But I never thought Jamie would have been the one to stop making an effort.
00:03:16
It was completely out of character for the sweet California girl they all met as freshman at the University of
00:03:23
Michigan. She was a good friend that we were a support network for each other. Gwennneth Newman, Sheila Dubes, and
00:03:31
Jennifer Langoot say they quickly formed a lasting bond with Jamie. It's kind of
00:03:36
like we had this rock. We had this family of of friends that we were so connected with. And I remember leaving
00:03:41
Michigan. It was just so reassuring that you were just a phone call away from feeling like you belong somewhere again.
00:03:47
They call themselves the 516 girls, referring to the address of a house they shared in Ann Arbor their senior year
00:03:55
and where they were passionate supporters of Michigan's Big 10 football team. Like we were obsessed with U of M
00:04:04
football. No one was a greater booster than Jamie. I think just I I always picture her in my mind on football
00:04:12
Saturdays, you know, charging out to the stadium. Sheila says that she and Jamie
00:04:17
had a special connection. We were both from immigrant families and both were under heavy pressure to succeed. I think
00:04:25
our fathers were kind of the same. We they put a lot of pressure on us to do really well in school, but I think she
00:04:30
just wanted to make it on her own. Vonyie and Jimmy Lee came to the US from Thailand in search of a better life.
00:04:38
They admit they pushed Jamie to go to medical school. You think that because you were pushing her to go back to
00:04:45
school, she might have pulled away a bit? She said she's a big girl. After graduation, Jaime landed in
00:04:54
Phoenix, Arizona. The Big Valley was booming, the perfect place to blend in and make her own way. She eventually
00:05:04
found a highpaying job selling medical supplies. And while it consumed her time, she managed to maintain her now
00:05:12
longdistance friendships. We emailed each other a lot. Even though we all ended up in different locations, I think
00:05:18
we still looked to each other for support. [Music] The weddings were the big thing that
00:05:25
kind of kept us together. But far away in Arizona, Jaime was lonely. So she joined a local University
00:05:34
of Michigan alum club where she found friends who shared her deep love of Michigan football.
00:05:42
Marina Buffa was the group's president. She was enthusiastic, but still she was reserved and quiet. But when she caught
00:05:52
the eye of a handsome young fellow Michigan fan, Jaime found romance. She was hot. I mean, I don't how else do you
00:06:01
put it? Brian Stewart says the attraction was immediate. She had a really good smile and and really got
00:06:09
enthusiastic about the football games and would jump up and cheer and would sing with the fight song.
00:06:16
[Applause] They started dating in the fall of 2007. About a year later, Brian moved into the
00:06:26
home that Jaime owned in the trendy Phoenix suburb of Chandler. She was the bread winner, making well over $100,000
00:06:34
a year. Brian, a personal trainer, made much less. Did she pay most the bills? Most of the big ones, yeah. But it's not
00:06:43
like I was dependent upon her. Did you love Jamie? I still love Jamie. You know, I just want Jamie to be happy.
00:06:52
It's hard because I don't know if Jaime knows what what it takes to make her happy.
00:06:58
In August 2009, Jaime suffered a crushing setback when the economy took a big downturn, she lost the thing she
00:07:06
valued most, her highpowered job. Her career had been going so well for so long, and I think this was a a pretty
00:07:13
major blow to her. She searched for months in Arizona, Florida, New Jersey, but Jaime couldn't find another job.
00:07:22
When the real estate crash hit Chandler and her property value plunged, Brian says she became despondent and even more
00:07:30
withdrawn. You know, it was like when it rains, it pours. For Jamie, it was pouring.
00:07:37
Brian says all of it took a toll on their relationship. So, he rented an apartment in Scottsdale and planned to
00:07:45
break things off. And on the night of March 17th, he said he was going to tell Jamie he was moving out. Instead, he
00:07:53
says she surprised him. She came in, asked me to take a week off from work, and she's like, "We're going to go to
00:08:01
Denver. We're going to get a house. You know, I I've got a job offer up there. Um, it's it's time to go. I want to go.
00:08:06
I want to get out of this state." Basically, I I told her, "No, I'm not leaving Arizona. I'm not going to marry
00:08:12
you." Brian admits Jaime was upset and that they argued. Still, he says that when they went to bed, things had
00:08:20
settled down. At the crack of dawn the next morning, Brian left for work. She was laying in bed and I gave her a kiss,
00:08:29
told her I loved her, and got in the truck and drove to work. But later that morning, Brian emailed
00:08:37
Marina Buffa and told her a different story and said, "Jamie dumped me. She moved to Colorado." Did that surprise
00:08:46
you at all? No. I thought, "Good for her." Did he seem upset? Um, a little bit. He was more angry that she left him
00:08:55
alone. At any point, did it even cross your mind that something could have happened to Jamie? No, I knew she had
00:09:02
means. If she wants to pick up and leave, good for her. [Music] That day and for weeks to come, no one
00:09:13
realized that Jamie had disappeared. When is the last time you saw Jamie? Physically saw her. 3:15 a.m. March
00:09:24
18th, 2010. [Music] There she is. Jaime Liy had always been fiercely private, but by the summer of
00:09:49
2009, she was practically reclusive, cutting herself off from nearly everyone except her live-in boyfriend, Brian
00:09:59
Stewart. We never had anybody over for dinner. We never had any parties. Nobody came over to watch television or
00:10:11
to just hang out. Why not? So I I one of the great mysteries. I don't know. Even Jaime's parents say she was more
00:10:22
distant than ever. My husband said, "Well, you know, she's a busy girl. Don't bother her."
00:10:29
That's why it took nearly 3 months for anyone to notice that Jamie was missing. I think people were just respecting her
00:10:38
privacy in her space and that was unfortunate. Then on May 28th, Marina got a call from
00:10:47
Brian. He said, "You know, I'm starting to get worried about Jamie." Marina was also worried. So, she and another member
00:10:56
of the Michigan Alum Club called a private investigator, Burke Files. Files did a background check on Brian and
00:11:03
found nothing suspicious. Although one thing did stand out about 10 years earlier at two different addresses in
00:11:13
Michigan, Brian had lived with a man named Rick Wayne Valentini. It could be a roommate. It could be a close friend.
00:11:21
It could be a relative. And then Burke Files went on to trace Jaime's credit to see where she was now
00:11:28
living and working. He came up empty and nothing. There was no activity at all. Nothing. Jaime had disappeared into
00:11:39
thin air. So files sounded the alarm. Marina urged Brian to call Jaime's parents who then
00:11:47
called the police. I immediately thought something was wrong. People of her background and stature don't just come
00:11:55
up missing for 10 weeks and nobody hears from them. That afternoon, Chandler police got a warrant to search Jaime's
00:12:01
home and started calling Brian, but he seemed to be ignoring them. To me, that was alarming. It just showed a lack of
00:12:10
concern. Later that same night, when detectives were searching for Jaime's missing Ford
00:12:16
Escape, they found it in Scottsdale with Brian behind the wheel. The detective said, "Well, I'm here in regards to your
00:12:24
girlfriend." and the first thing he did was say, "My ex-girlfriend." The detective felt that Brian was being
00:12:31
evasive and seemed nervous. When Brian asked to use the bathroom in his own apartment, the answer was no. We didn't
00:12:40
want to risk losing any evidence if there was some in there. As luck would have it, uh, he had a warrant for his
00:12:46
arrest for driving on a suspended license for a traffic offense. So the detective used that warrant to
00:12:53
take Brian into custody. Brian. Yes. Hey, I'm Nate Moffet. How are you, man? It's B R Y A N, right?
00:13:04
Yes. Last name is Stewart. Detective Moffett interrogated Brian. How long have you and Jamie been dating? Give or
00:13:12
take 3 years. Okay. When did you guys move in together? Honestly, I don't know. Okay.
00:13:18
Were you cheating on Jamie at all before? No. While Detective Spielman searched Jaime's home for clues.
00:13:30
Walk me through what happened around March. It was simple really. Um, she hated everything about the state.
00:13:40
She wanted out. Now, she'd been up there for interviews. I suspected that she would get the
00:13:46
Denver offer. So, you know, he's saying she went to Colorado, yet all of her suitcases are there and her passports
00:13:52
there. All these things that she would need to travel are there at the house. But Jaime's wallet and driver's license
00:13:59
were missing. I was concerned, but the possibility did exist that, you know, she just left and she doesn't want to be
00:14:05
found. But at Chandler PD, Moffett smelled a rat and started pressing Brian. Did you hurt Jamie? Okay. Did you have
00:14:19
anything to do with her disappearance? Mm- You have nothing to hide. No. But things just didn't add up for
00:14:29
Moffett. There were just too many inconsistencies. Brian gave a birth date to the arresting
00:14:36
officer which didn't match the date on his Arizona ID. I have no freaking clue who's sitting in front of me and it's
00:14:44
extremely uneasy for me as I'm investigating a case of this magnitude. Moffett had no idea how right he was
00:14:52
until the next day when Brian was in a jail cell and detectives were searching his apartment. Well, we were searching
00:15:00
his new residence. We located a Manila envelope with a Michigan driver's license in the name of Rick Wayne
00:15:07
Valentini. And that picture was Brian Stewart. You're not really Brian Stewart at all, are you?
00:15:22
On the night of May 29th, 2010, as he interrogated Brian Stewart about his missing girlfriend, Jamie Leody,
00:15:31
Detective Moffett knew that Brian wasn't telling the truth. I mean, you're talking a woman who's who's been gone
00:15:38
for two months now. Um, and I have a person in front of me that has different social security numbers, a couple
00:15:46
different dates of birth. You're not really Brian Stewart at all, are you? To me, I am, but not legally, are you?
00:15:54
Well, legally, I'm not anything. Actually, legally, Brian is Rick Wayne Valentini.
00:16:03
Remember the roommate that private investigator Burke Files noticed in Brian Stewart's credit history? Well,
00:16:10
there was no roommate, just this guy, Rick Valentini, who was preparing to change his identity. In our modern world
00:16:19
with the databases, you just can't turn on a new name, a new taxpayer ID number,
00:16:24
a social security number. You have to age it. You have to season it. In October 2001, when the name Brian
00:16:31
Stewart had enough of a credit history, Rick Valentini disappeared from Michigan. Days later, a man named Brian
00:16:41
became a resident of Phoenix. Driving from Michigan to Arizona, that's all I did. Brian Stewart, Brian Stewart,
00:16:49
Brian Stewart, Brian Stewart. I was always saying, listening for Brian Stewart, Brian Stewart, because it's a
00:16:55
new name. A new name and a new man. According to Rick, the kind of man he always wanted to be. and he insists that
00:17:06
whether legal or not, he is now Brian Stewart and would only agree to an interview if we would use that name. And
00:17:15
if you don't want to accept that, I don't want you around. I don't want you in my life. Why not change your name
00:17:21
legally? Why go to the trouble of forging a birth certificate? Well, it it was my understanding that to to change
00:17:27
your name legally would take years. Brian claims he wasn't running from the law, just leaving behind what he
00:17:36
describes as a tragic childhood. Everybody takes their name for granted. Your your name is the very core essence
00:17:48
of who you are, of what you are. And you find out it that it's all a lie. And then you find out that your own father
00:17:56
doesn't even know you exist because your own mother didn't bother to tell him. His mother was 18 when he was born. His
00:18:03
real father reportedly walked away. He just wasn't loved. Just didn't have love. That's why he loved us cuz we
00:18:12
loved him. His aunt Donna says she believes he was physically and emotionally abused. I think the other
00:18:19
children were too, but not like him. He always knew there was something different about him and he didn't know
00:18:25
what. Do you think that he created this different name, different persona because he just didn't want to be who he
00:18:34
was? Exactly. Exactly. But when detectives started looking into Rick Valentini's background, this is
00:18:42
what else they found. Three ex-wives and two daughters. Hello. Hi. Is this Cynthia? This is Hi,
00:18:54
Cynthia. Detective Dave Selvage from Chandler Police Department. One of his exes told Chandler Police she thinks
00:19:00
Rick is just a deadbeat dad on the run. He owed, from what I understand, quite a
00:19:06
bit of back child support from Wendy, his first wife. His oldest daughter, Amy, was a baby when he left. He never
00:19:15
called, never talked to me, never contacted me. When your mom finally told you about your dad, what did she say
00:19:21
about him? What kind of guy he was? A really bad guy, a liar. He always she told him that he always lied all the
00:19:26
time. He lied about lots of things. In Phoenix, his whole life was a lie. He told everyone, including Jaime, that
00:19:37
his parents were killed by a drunk driver. He pretended to be eight years younger than he is and boasted a hero's
00:19:45
military record that was complete fiction. When you talked to Detective Mafia, when
00:19:52
he sat you down, he asked you about your military record and you said you'd been
00:19:59
to Iraq and Afghanistan. You hadn't had you. Mm-m. No, you lied. I was You lied.
00:20:08
Yeah. Rick Valentini aka Brian Stewart was an enlisted man, but he was dishonorably
00:20:18
discharged after going awall and stabbing two military officers in the hand and leg. He served two years in a
00:20:27
military prison. He never mentioned that to anyone either. Freeze it. You tell a
00:20:34
lot of stories though, don't you? I have a lot of stories to tell. But you tell a lot of lies. Um,
00:20:42
lies mixed in with the truth. Like the lie that ultimately made Jaime Lee trust Brian with her life.
00:20:54
You never actually went to the University of Michigan, did you? No. Mm- But you let people think you did. Sure.
00:21:01
Why? It was just uh a tiein to my home state and it was just part of the the pride that I had. I've been a Michigan
00:21:10
fan since I was a little boy. He was right in there and boy, he was a Michigan man. And it wasn't just that
00:21:20
fanaticism that conned the alumni group in Phoenix for 4 years. Brian also had a fake diploma. He's
00:21:30
fooled all of us. We're talking hundreds of people here and 20 or so board members, many of them attorneys and
00:21:37
judges. News of Jaime's boyfriend's double life went viral and made her disappearance even more
00:21:47
alarming. This doesn't happen to your friends. No, this does not happen to the people you went to college with that you
00:21:53
call your sister. This doesn't happen to your family. You don't have friends who
00:21:56
meet people who have double identities. Did you begin to think that maybe Jamie was dead? Yes. And did you think he
00:22:07
might have killed her? Mhm. Did you kill Jamie? No. I've never killed anybody in
00:22:12
my life. Not ever. Did you two fight that night? Were you angry with her? No. She had told me that uh she was going to
00:22:21
be leaving the next day. And where was she going? It was my impression Denver. But detectives who had already
00:22:29
discovered several suitcases in Jaime's home couldn't find any evidence of Jaime
00:22:34
ever leaving for or arriving in Denver. Brian says that's because Jaime didn't want to be found. I taught Jamie how to
00:22:46
create a whole new life for herself. That included a new identification, a whole new persona, a whole new way of
00:22:55
looking at things. Are you saying that you helped Jamie change her identity? Yeah. I showed her how to do it. The
00:23:04
only thing that she ever lived for was to be free of her family. She wanted to be on her own. He's too smart. Why would
00:23:12
he have stayed there for 10 weeks? If he killed her, why wouldn't he have just left? He'd done it before. Why wouldn't
00:23:20
he do it again? Isn't it possible that Jaime's doing the same thing that that Brian did? Just vanished the same way
00:23:28
and and no one's been able to track her down. Are you asking me today if I believe that's possible? Absolutely not.
00:23:34
I wholeheartedly believe Brian Stewart, Rick Valentini, whoever you want to call him, murdered Jaime Ley
00:23:43
on the night of March 17th. But a year and a half after Jaime disappeared, there is still no body. No blood, no
00:23:52
sign of a struggle, no physical evidence of a murder. We just didn't have what you would consider a traditional crime
00:24:00
scene. So, we went with more of a virtual crime scene. They started investigating the digital record of
00:24:06
Jaime's life. And this little white envelope contained several pieces of the puzzle. Prosecutor Juan Martinez says it
00:24:15
was enough to convince him that Brian Stewart should be charged with murder. This is a really telling piece of
00:24:23
evidence. Oh my gosh. in this many pieces. In June 2010, Brian Stewart was charged
00:24:44
with fraud for forging a new birth certificate and changing his name illegally. If you think using the name Brian
00:24:53
Stewart is fraudulent, hey, we're going to fight it out in court. But while detectives suspected he
00:25:00
was responsible for the disappearance and death of his girlfriend, Jaime Leody, they couldn't charge him with her
00:25:07
murder. What do the two of you think happened that night? I think they had a fight. But wouldn't there be some sign
00:25:14
of that in her home? Not necessarily. I mean, strangulation or suffocation or or anything like that, there's going to
00:25:24
be virtually no blood. With no physical evidence, they would have to build a strong circumstantial case to prove that
00:25:33
Jaime was dead and Brian was the one who killed her. We literally dissected all of Jaime's financial affairs, all of her
00:25:43
accounts, all of the transactions, his email, her email. What they saw was a very responsible woman. I mean, she was
00:25:52
a person that stayed up on her emails, she returned phone calls, she paid all of her bills on time until March 17th.
00:25:58
Then she didn't do any of those things. For the next three months, detectives realized that the only person who
00:26:05
appeared to be using Jaime's credit cards was Brian Stewart. The only transactions on one of Jaime's accounts
00:26:13
were internet purchases and dating websites. He used her cards to meet other women. That's right. Basically, he
00:26:21
said the same thing. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan. Never been married. Didn't know if he wanted
00:26:26
kids or not. That's nervy, isn't it? Yeah, it's pretty nerdy and pretty insensitive too, isn't it? Um, yeah,
00:26:38
you know, a little because Well, let me let me explain. You used her credit cards to go on dating sites to meet
00:26:44
other women. Well, you know what? Look, Jamie Jamie was leaving. But nothing alarmed prosecutor Martinez more than
00:26:52
what detectives found when they searched Brian's apartment in Scottsdale. Her wallet was laying on his desk. There was
00:27:00
a number of her credit cards there on the desk. And then on the back filing cabinet was her personal telephone that
00:27:06
he said she had with her. So was this small white envelope. And when police got a warrant to open it,
00:27:14
they found pieces of cut up ID and credit cards. When they put them together, they had Jamie Lead's driver's
00:27:23
license, her Michigan University alum card, and several credit cards. Why did you cut up her driver's license? I
00:27:31
didn't cut them up. Brian claims it was Jamie who cut up the cards after she changed her identity and ran away. But
00:27:39
when Chandler police tested the envelope to see who sealed it, the DNA belonged to Brian.
00:27:48
Even when you had that envelope, it still took a year before you brought murder charges against him. We were
00:27:54
tying up all the loose ends. Uh when you don't have a body, you have to be very careful because you only get one chance.
00:28:02
That chance came when an inmate at the jail where Brian was being held agreed to testify that Brian had confessed to
00:28:10
killing Jamie. He went to this particular individual and said, "Do you think that they can
00:28:16
charge me if they can't find the body?" On March 24th, 2011, a grand jury indicted Brian on charges of
00:28:26
seconddegree murder of his girlfriend, Jaime Leody. He was also charged with fraud for using Jaime's credit cards
00:28:34
without her permission. Who is technically legally on trial here? an individual by the name of Rick
00:28:42
Valentini, also known as Brian Stewart. But isn't this a little odd because even
00:28:48
through the trial, you're calling him Brian Stewart. That's the name that he preferred. I'll use whatever name he
00:28:53
wants to convict him. In October of 2011, Rick Wayne Valentini, aka Brian Stewart, went on
00:29:05
trial. State's first witness. The first witness to testify for the state was Andrea Ardsma. What does your husband do
00:29:13
for a living? He is a professional baseball player. Back in 2010, she and her husband David, then ace pitcher for
00:29:21
the Seattle Mariners, were in Scottsdale during the off season. Andrea worked out
00:29:27
at Gold's Gym 5 days a week, and her personal trainer was Brian. And did he tell you whether or not he had a
00:29:34
girlfriend? Yes, he had a girlfriend. And did he tell you her name? Jamie. As a result of Andrea testified that for
00:29:41
months before Jaime disappeared, Brian had complained about his souring relationship and what he really thought
00:29:48
of his girlfriend. Whiny, naggy, [ __ ] uh, sugar mama. Um, nothing nothing positive at all.
00:29:58
I don't know if he just thought I was a good listener or if he really did think that I was stupid and that he could tell
00:30:03
me all these things and nothing would come of it. In one of the trials most disturbing moments, Andrea stood up and
00:30:12
reenacted Brian sharing his nickname for Jamie. Jamie the gut. Jamie the gut. I'm
00:30:19
like, man, like if you hate her so much, just just break up with her. The jury also heard from Jaime's parents.
00:30:28
Have you received any emails from her? No. Has she shown up at your house? No. And have you been hiding her just so
00:30:37
that Mr. Stewart won't find her? No. But some of the most significant testimony revealed that Jaime had found
00:30:52
a new job and not in Denver, but right here in Phoenix. She's very excited about her new job and we're looking
00:31:01
forward to working together on March 18th. David Bochamp, a lawyer and friend, testified that he helped Jaime negotiate
00:31:09
the contract for that job. What's more, he saw Jaime two days before she disappeared and testified that he saw
00:31:19
bruises. She was exhibiting many, many of the characteristics of a battered woman and she absolutely broke down. All
00:31:29
right. On day seven of the state's case, thank you. Please be seated. The jailhouse snitch took the stand. The
00:31:36
whole truth. You know nothing about the truth. So I hope you got it. I do. Thank
00:31:39
you. At his request, the judge ordered us not to reveal his identity. He also got a deal for testifying. A 2-year
00:31:47
sentence for fraud was reduced to one. He was very agitated talking about how uh the police know that that I killed
00:31:54
her, that uh he he needed to get it off his chest. By the time the state rested,
00:31:59
prosecutor Martinez and Detective Nate Moffett were sure they would get a conviction on the fraudulent schemes
00:32:06
charge. But had they convinced the jury that Brian had committed murder, I think
00:32:12
a lot of people would have a hard time convicting with nobody. We really had to be careful and listen to both sides.
00:32:21
Knowing his life was on the line, Brian was about to do something that would shock the entire courtroom. Were you
00:32:29
expecting the defendant to take the stand? I wasn't. Absolutely not. But I was glad that he did.
00:32:52
[Music] pieces of a driver's license and credit cards, a closet filled with shoes and
00:33:01
purses. The evidence at trial is a daily reminder of what Jamie Lead's parents have lost.
00:33:09
So hard every time they mention her name, it's hurt me so much that I'm thinking that I'm not going to see her
00:33:17
anymore then. And as the defense begins, Jaime's mother has one wish. The whole time I've been praying that I hope he
00:33:26
take this stand. Why? Because then they can see through him. Her prayer is granted despite his fifth amendment
00:33:34
right to remain silent and very much against his lawyer and most any lawyer's advice. Stand up. Raise your right hand.
00:33:42
Brian Stewart boldly and defiantly takes the stand. I do. I am the only human being who knows what happened. I'm the
00:33:52
only human being who knows why things happened, when they happened. What was your
00:33:58
relationship like? It was, I would say, 95% great. Did you Did you argue? No, not really. He appears confident and
00:34:14
relaxed. But after all, it is his lawyer asking the questions. Did you kill Jaime
00:34:20
to use her credit cards? Absolutely not. Did you have general permission to use her credit
00:34:26
cards? Yes. Brian insists he didn't need to steal from Jamie. Why do you Why do you feel that you had permission to use
00:34:34
the cards? Even from our first date, it was literally an instruction to use them. And then he
00:34:42
drops a bombshell, claiming that long after Jaime disappeared, she was still in Phoenix and would visit the house
00:34:50
they shared and his new condo when Brian wasn't around. because I would get back to my condo and
00:34:59
things would be moved around or things would be left behind. Okay. Now, how did she get into your into your apartment?
00:35:06
She had a key. But that's not all. He also claims he continued to communicate with Jamie long after that morning in
00:35:13
March 2010 when she vanished. How did she communicate with you? Email and telephone. Okay. You have told people
00:35:22
that if you had a computer, you could find her. I've got a computer here. You want to try?
00:35:28
Got my iPad here. How would you find her? I I would have to look on mine. Um I mean, if I got this whole thing set up,
00:35:38
could you? I mean, if you No, because I need to get into my computer because there's a special email
00:35:45
site that we were working through. You you must know, Brian, that that sounds a little crazy that you would have given
00:35:52
this information to your attorneys and they wouldn't go looking for the one person who could save you from going to
00:35:59
prison for life. You know, I I I told them that and I never heard anything. Did you murder Jamie Ley? No. Jamie Liy
00:36:09
is alive. She would just let you go on trial for murder, go to prison for the rest of your life. I don't know. I don't
00:36:14
think that I don't think either one of us ever expected it to get this far. Would you be at all surprised if I told
00:36:20
you that she was about to walk through that door? No, I believe this. But prosecutor Juan
00:36:27
Martinez wasn't buying any of it. You didn't actually talk to her in that conduct, did you? No. You have not seen
00:36:34
her at any time and she hasn't walked in now. Right. Right. And she won't walk in
00:36:39
because you killed her. Right. Wrong. I don't have anything else. Thank you. One day before Thanksgiving 2011, more
00:36:50
than a year and a half after Jaime Leody disappeared, the prosecution and defense
00:36:56
rested after presenting two very different stories. It was now up to the jury to decide, and
00:37:09
foreman Leon Le was worried. As we were moving to deliberation, I wondered how difficult of a decision
00:37:18
this is going to be for uh the 12 of us knowing that there's no body. But just 4
00:37:25
hours later, the jury returned with a verdict. Did any of you look at him when you walked in? No, I did not. No.
00:37:36
Thank you. Please be seated. Brian Stewart was reassured by deputy sheriff's guarding him. Oh, yeah.
00:37:44
They're like, "Yeah, you're you're good." Anytime a jury comes back that quick. And I was like, "Okay. Well, wow.
00:37:49
All right. That's pretty good. We, the jury, duly impanled and sworn in the above entitled action upon our oaths
00:38:00
as to count one, seconddegree murder, do find the defendant guilty. Fraudulent guilty. Do you find Jaime's
00:38:09
parents were overcome? Are these your true verdicts? So say you won. Guilty. That's all I heard. And I just I lost
00:38:16
it. I was so happy. Panel. And then there was more. As you count two, fraudulent schemes and
00:38:24
artififices do find the defendant guilty. Signed for person. Brian Stewart couldn't believe his ears.
00:38:34
I just sat there. Like to me, my life was over with. I just couldn't understand.
00:38:45
Well, you know, I mean, if I would have killed her, I would have admitted to it.
00:38:51
Do you think Brian Stewart/Rick Valentini is a dangerous man? Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. No question in your
00:38:59
mind. None. None at all. The first 10 minutes of his testimony, any doubt I had that he was
00:39:08
solely responsible for the murder of Jamie had been sealed at that moment in time. You've told so many stories, it's
00:39:16
hard to believe you. Let's look at the army. Okay. No, let's look at what happened to Jamie. That's what really
00:39:24
matters. Jamie took $100,000 and she left the state of Arizona. I've said it for 18 months. I say it now and
00:39:33
I'm going to say it for the next 18 years. But investigators say there was no money and his story is just another
00:39:40
lie. And for her friends and family, I just feel so bad that we weren't there. The one remaining question may
00:39:54
never be answered. Is it hard because you don't really know where she is? You've never been able to
00:40:01
bury her. That's right. That's right. I still have um what they call the receiving blankets of Jamie from the
00:40:10
hospital and I I carried it with me all the time. And I intend to use that blanket to
00:40:19
carry her home if we find her. [Music] [Music] Did you kill Jamie? No. Did you two
00:41:27
fight that night? Were you angry with her? No. I've never killed anybody in my life. Not ever.
00:41:38
Meet Brian Stewart, also known as Rick Valentini. He was my first killer. What do I mean by that? Well, my name is Judy
00:41:47
Ryback and I'm a longtime 48 Hours producer. Back in 2011, my very first assignment for 48 Hours was to convince
00:41:56
the man with two names to do an interview with Aaron Morardi. He agreed under one condition that we only call
00:42:04
him Brian. You're not really Brian Stewart at all, are you? To me, I am. But not legally,
00:42:12
are you? Well, legally, I'm not anything. That's the problem. You're Rick Valentini.
00:42:19
His legal name was Rick, but we all agreed to call him Brian because he had just been convicted of the secondderee
00:42:26
murder of his 32-year-old girlfriend, Jaime Ley, and we wanted to hear his story even though we knew it was mostly
00:42:34
fiction. Actually, he had run away from a life in Michigan. He changed his name illegally, tricked Jaime into believing
00:42:41
him, and killed her. Our front row seat to this con man's relationship with the truth taught us so much about how the
00:42:50
criminal mind works. Things you don't learn in books. I'm excited to be producing and hosting
00:42:58
48 hours killer conversation. And even more excited that Aaron Morardi is here to talk about her masterclass of an
00:43:06
interview with my first killer, but definitely not hers, Brian Stewart. Welcome, Erin. Thank you so much for
00:43:16
being here today. I so appreciate it. You are the hardest working woman in television, and I know you're taking
00:43:22
this time out to to be with us is is a real gift. But it's great, Judy, that you're doing killer conversations. So,
00:43:29
tell me how you prepare for these interviews because I know you want to get at the truth, but that's not easy,
00:43:35
right? No. has realized that the defendant in this case probably knows the case better than anybody if they
00:43:41
were there or not there but they know the facts of the case. Uh so you have to go in so prepared. So I think my goal I
00:43:50
think your goal too when you talk to someone is to talk with them after really at the end of the process after
00:43:57
we've read every court document spoken to everybody involved with the case. That's ideal. Uh because otherwise you
00:44:06
you can't you don't know whether that person's telling you the truth or not. Right. Right. And we do really do our
00:44:12
homework going into these things. You have to. Yeah. So you asked Brian Rick, whatever his name is, uh why he
00:44:21
agreed to sit down with you, and this is what he had to say. Why are you talking
00:44:26
to us today? Um, I guess to put out the truth, you know. I mean, it it really sounds
00:44:44
I don't know how it sounds, but frankly speaking, from 2007 until now, I am the only human being who knows what
00:44:52
happened. I'm the only human being who knows why things happened, when they happened.
00:45:00
Well, he's he's telling the truth on one thing. He's the only living person, right, who knows what happened. Uh
00:45:08
because sadly at the time we were doing this interview, um Jamie was still missing. Uh and so there was no one to
00:45:17
contradict what he said. Right. Right. He had a a blank canvas to tell his story. Right. So, let's talk about the
00:45:24
backstory of this case. Um, in 2010, uh, Jamie was 32 years old. She went missing
00:45:30
from her home in Chandler, Arizona. Police couldn't find her or her body. Some people thought she might have
00:45:37
picked up and and just disappeared, taken off. But once police got involved, almost everyone believed that she was
00:45:44
dead. Right. Right. And one of the sad parts of this story is Jamie was a very private person. She didn't share a lot
00:45:51
even with her close friends. Um so when she first disappeared, nobody really thought that much about it. Um but then
00:46:00
after a few weeks, then they started getting worried. Um and once it was clear that she was missing, the most
00:46:07
obvious person of interest was of course Brian. Um when the police caught up with
00:46:12
him, he was driving her car. He had her IDs. And at trial, the 42year-old got 54 years behind bars for murder and
00:46:22
for fraud, right? It's it's really remarkable. Um, so you do work on a lot of wrongful convictions. How do you know
00:46:31
when someone is lying to you? Well, some people are obvious. Uh, they really are.
00:46:37
Um, I just interviewed a an individual last year who when he talked to me, he contradicted the evidence. I mean, you
00:46:45
know, and he knew it. He didn't even seem to be bothered. But there are other people. Remember, these individuals who
00:46:52
are accused of a crime know the case better than anyone. Uh know the details better than anyone and sometimes can
00:46:59
twist it and make you believe. Right. Although in this case it was pretty obvious. Yes. Yes, it was. But also
00:47:07
because he contradicted the the evidence as well. So Right. Right. the circumstantial evidence was
00:47:14
really strong. Um, you yourself, you know, I wasn't the only one. I talked to him after you had talked to him, you
00:47:20
spent hours on the phone with him and in person. Um, did you at first think he was telling the truth or was there a
00:47:28
time when you realized this guy's lying? So, I went into this having already read, you know, everything that was
00:47:35
available to me and and I had spoken to the cops and the prosecutor. So, I kind of knew what the story was, but um yeah,
00:47:44
I sent him a letter and cuz that's what we have to do. We have to send them a letter, set up an account for them to
00:47:49
call us. and he slowly started calling me and uh you know at first it was very cir you know surface conversation and
00:47:58
then we started digging into his case a little bit more and I spent so many hours he I think he called me every day
00:48:05
for a while because he was bored right he was bored and and uh he was testing me and then I went to Phoenix to sit
00:48:13
through his entire trial and I would visit him once a week you know Arpaio Sheriff Arpaio would let me um visit him
00:48:22
once a week. And um I remember the first time I went to visit him, they left me in a room with him. I mean, he was
00:48:28
shackled and and there was someone in the room with us. But I was in there for 4 hours with him and he just told his
00:48:36
whole story. And I remember thinking, "Oh, I I I have to go back to the hotel and make notes so I don't forget
00:48:42
anything." But then every week I heard the same thing over and over and over again. So, at some point, I mean,
00:48:48
without actually rolling my eyes back in my head, my eyes were rolling back in my
00:48:52
head. Kind of sad that someone that smart um and who could have had a decent life would run cons the way he did. He
00:49:03
was a very, very troubled person. Yeah. Yeah. So, let's talk about, you know, who he was before this. Well, we know
00:49:12
now that he had, this was actually a surprising detail, that he had had three ex-wives, I believe, because he was he
00:49:19
seemed pretty young to me. I, you know, in his 40s. Turned out he was a little older than what he said he was, but um
00:49:26
three ex-wives. And uh and what one of his ex-wives said was that he was just running away from paying the debt he had
00:49:36
uh for child for child uh support. Support. Yeah, but what I think is I mean he was really running not just from
00:49:44
the fact he owed money but from his life because I interviewed uh one of his daughters and um and it was a very sad
00:49:52
conversation. She never heard from him. He had no interest in her life. Uh so he
00:49:58
was running away from everything in Michigan. Uh debt and the people that had been in his life in Michigan, right?
00:50:07
He wanted to start over. Um, so it wasn't easy for Rick to change his name to Brian illegally. He literally had to
00:50:16
make up a whole new person. Um, but he makes it sound like it was no big deal. How long does it take to change your
00:50:24
identity? Um, takes a while, doesn't it? Year and a half. Yeah. So, I mean, it it it it
00:50:32
depends. But why not? Why not change your name legally? Just do it legally. Why go to the trouble of forging a birth
00:50:39
certificate? Well, it it was my understanding that to to change your name legally would take years. That's
00:50:46
actually not true. It It's not easy, but it doesn't take years. In Michigan and Arizona, it would have only taken four
00:50:53
to 6 months. So, what he did was much harder. So, he changed his identity post 911 when authorities were really trying
00:51:03
to clamp down on fake IDs. Um, and they were really worried about air airport security.
00:51:11
He used somebody else's social security number, forged a new birth certificate, made himself eight years younger. I wish
00:51:19
I could do the same thing, right? Yes. Uh, he took in a roommate. I hope people can see I'm using quotation marks, those
00:51:27
air quotation marks. Brian Stewart. And about a year later, Brian Stewart, who shared the same address as Rick had a
00:51:36
credit score, a birth certificate, an other ID, and credit cards. And so it wasn't too tough for Rick Valentini to
00:51:45
slip into the persona of Brian. Right. So in October 2001, Rick Valentini disappeared from Michigan and headed to
00:51:54
Arizona. When I left Michigan, driving from Michigan to Arizona, that's all I did. Brian Stewart, Brian
00:52:03
Stewart, Brian Stewart, Brian Stewart. I was always saying, listening for Brian Stewart, Brian Stewart, because it's a
00:52:09
new name. The whole point of coming to Arizona was not to be a burden. I wanted to be my own person. I wanted to be
00:52:17
free. I wanted to at some point to go back to my family on my terms to say it doesn't matter what happened in the
00:52:29
past. It doesn't matter m the mistakes that were made or all this. Look, I'm successful and I've done
00:52:38
it and I'm happy and and I've found love and joy in my life and I've I've I actually help people and
00:52:49
you know and I love doing what I do. So, the scary thing is is that anyone who did a background check on Brian
00:52:57
Stewart found nothing. He was clean, right? So, he actually got a job. Yeah. He was a personal trainer at
00:53:05
Gold's Gym in Scottsdale. And I guess that's what he meant when he says that he was helping people and that he loved
00:53:12
it and he was doing well. Right. Right. And and again, the sad thing is, okay, so you're starting over again and he
00:53:20
still couldn't get it right. Right. He still messed it up and then he got really cocky and he decided to pretend
00:53:27
to be a graduate of the University of Michigan. Yeah, but that fits in. remember when he said that he could be
00:53:33
really successful going to the University of Michigan. Now remember I went to Ohio State so this is very hard
00:53:39
for me to say but that going to the University of Michigan shows that you are a smart person. It's hard to get in
00:53:47
there. It's a great school. So having that pretending to be a graduate of University of Michigan burnished his
00:53:55
image made him look like this smart accomplished guy and he was from Michigan and and growing up he he loved
00:54:06
University of Michigan and so it wasn't hard to pull that off, right? Cuz he's mixing truth and lies together, right?
00:54:14
Well, that's what all good liars do. There's always and we find that all the time. What do you think Jamie saw in
00:54:22
Brian Stewart? Well, you know, if we're going to be impartial, I think there's a
00:54:28
quirkiness, a kind of a charming personality in a quirky way with with Brian. Um, I think that she was lonely.
00:54:38
Uh, she didn't have family or friends in Arizona. And so he provided companionship
00:54:44
and and he you know he's kind of fun to be with. Um she had a uh a tough relationship with her parents. Uh they
00:54:54
wanted her to be a doctor and she didn't live up to that. So I think she felt she
00:54:59
disappointed them. So she wasn't as close with her parents. So here she is on her own. Um, and you know, you've got
00:55:09
this guy who went to University of Michigan. They have that's what he says. So, she thinks she has something in
00:55:15
common and you know, they're cheering together during all the games. It makes me sad to even think about it. So sad.
00:55:22
Yeah. We called this hour the stranger beside me and it really was. He was the stranger beside her. So, by the time
00:55:30
Jaime disappeared, she and Brian were so isolated from just about everyone that it took months for anyone to even notice
00:55:37
that she was gone. [Music] [Music] Brian and Jamie dated for a little over 2 years. And Brian says that sometime in
00:55:55
the summer of 2008, Jaime let him move into her house. In an email, Jaime described you as her
00:56:04
trophy boyfriend and and you know, she was the one who was spending all the money. Did that bother you? No, cuz I I
00:56:14
never knew that she said that. Did she pay most of the bills? Most of the big ones? Yeah. She bought
00:56:24
two cars, right? And the other car you drove, right? She bought a truck, an SUV, so she made a lot more money than
00:56:32
you did. Sure. So, was that hard? You were pretty dependent on her financially. Um, was that tough? No, I didn't I
00:56:41
didn't really feel that way. I just felt like um it was it was definitely easier to to
00:56:50
live with her. And it was easier that way because um we still looked upon our future as uh as
00:57:00
being together. We were going to get married. Do you think they were going to get
00:57:05
married? No. No. When he said it was easier living with her, that's what he meant. You know, he was having all his
00:57:12
bills paid and he could do whatever he wanted. Um, so in in August 2009, Jaime lost her
00:57:21
job. Uh, the real estate market crashed. The financial crisis hit her hard. What
00:57:27
do you think was going on in that relationship at that point? Well, we don't know, but we know that she was
00:57:33
supporting him. Um, I doubt if he was emotionally supportive for her um, going through something like this. and her her
00:57:44
joblessness went on for a while, which must have been very difficult for a woman who was used to succeeding and
00:57:52
making a lot of money and doing well. She didn't tell her friends, you know, much about how she felt about what was
00:57:59
going on. And she was actually out of work for months. uh she was applying for jobs all over the country, New Jersey,
00:58:06
Florida, Denver, Colorado, and eventually she did get a job in Arizona in again in medical sales. But on March
00:58:16
17th, 2010, it was her third day on the job. Brian claims that he was at Jaime's
00:58:23
house when she got home from work. I just remember that um she'd come home She was in scrubs, threw her hands up in
00:58:34
the air, totally exasperated. And uh so it's like, you know, you seem aggravated. What's going on? You know,
00:58:43
and she's just like, I can't take I'm not going back there. This it was absolutely crazy. And she's
00:58:50
talking about her new job. Yeah. And it and I'm like, "Wow, okay. Well, what happened? What's going on and she's
00:58:56
like, "Well, you know, it was, you know, I get there and and uh you know, she's like, I I just kind of sort of had a bad
00:59:03
feeling." That totally contradicts the friend who helped her get that job, uh, who
00:59:11
reported she was excited about the job. She finally had a job. Um, you know, Brian, Rick, whatever you want to call
00:59:19
him, also said something like, "Well, there was a creepy guy at the job and she wanted to get away from him." I
00:59:27
don't believe either one of those. So, he was talking in circles and you kept trying to bring him back to exactly what
00:59:35
happened that night. Tell me what happened that night. And I love this next moment because you were starting to
00:59:41
get so frustrated with him. who accidentally or not called him by his real name. Well, remember that was one
00:59:47
of the conditions that I had to call him Brian. So, he got a little annoyed. Let's listen to this. What happened that
00:59:55
night, Rick? Brian. Um, what happened that night? That was when she came in and uh asked me to take a week off from
01:00:05
work and uh I was like, "Well, when?" And she's like, "Well, in the next day or two, you know, next
01:00:18
couple days." I can't do that. Um what are you what are you talking about? What's going on? and she's like,
01:00:29
"We need to we're going to go to Denver. We're gonna get a house. You know, I I've got a job offer up there. Um it,
01:00:36
you know, it's it's time to go. I want to go. I want to get out of this state." Well, okay. This is awfully short
01:00:40
notice, you know. And then it was I want to go to Denver. We need to go. We need to find a house. Uh and and
01:00:50
we're going to get married. Well, now wait a second. Now you and I know the rules here. Okay, I'm not
01:00:58
getting married to you until I find out what the heck's going on between you and
01:01:01
your dad. This is where it really gets crazy. So, he's taking two truths and using them to
01:01:09
lie to you to your face, right? So, um, as we mentioned, she did have a complicated relationship with her
01:01:16
parents. And so and and Rick Brian Brian uh clearly knew about it and wanted to use that and and then of course he used
01:01:27
a truth um when she was as I had mentioned earlier she was looking for jobs. She was looking in Denver,
01:01:35
Colorado for a job and and had hoped to get one but she did not get that job. I just can't get over how he just calmly
01:01:43
sits there and makes up these stories to your face. I mean, he had already done it on the witness stand, too. Right. So,
01:01:50
Right. But also, it was his entire life. He had lied his entire life. That was the one thing we always heard about him.
01:01:57
He's a liar. And um and sometimes people like they think, "Oh, particularly women, oh, she'll believe me." And um so
01:02:06
yeah, he yeah, his face never changed whether he was telling the truth or not. His face is the same. Well, that that's
01:02:12
a good point because I felt like he was looking at me as a woman, like a dumb woman every time. And so I just kind of
01:02:20
let him believe that about me. You know, I was a very good listener. He never asked me a single question whenever I
01:02:26
talked to him. It was always him running his stories by me. And I just listened.
01:02:31
Just listened. He probably was trying to figure out what seemed to stick and what
01:02:36
didn't. Definitely. Yes. What would work? What what seemed to really uh resonate with you? Yeah. Yeah. Can I
01:02:44
take a minute to tell you I don't know if you remember the story, but I was with him once um on one of our visits
01:02:51
and um I had said to them, "Please don't leave me in the room with him for 4 hours again." I said, "Just give me two
01:02:56
hours and then come knock on the door." And I always had to have a guard with me, right? So this guard kept like le he
01:03:02
was so bored listening to this guy go on and on. He kept leaning out the door to
01:03:07
see if they were coming to save us. And at one point he stepped out and the door
01:03:12
smacked shut behind him. And without missing a beat, Brian Rick Brian says, "Quick, take off your clothes and get on
01:03:20
the table." And I laughed and I said, "Oh, come on." But like that's how he was treating me. That is the creepiest.
01:03:29
I remember this now, but that is one of the creepiest stories. That's what you don't want to happen, right? It was so
01:03:37
bizarre. Anyway, after a little over two years, he says it was a dramafree breakup. I mean, come on. She was
01:03:46
leaving and he was taking his things and going. And he says they even slept in the same bed and he left the next
01:03:52
morning for work. Jamie was missing for nearly 2 and 1/2 months and no one even noticed.
01:03:59
I think um her friend said the same thing that it did take a while but then people started noticing that she was not
01:04:07
posting or emailing anybody. So, you know, it's a little bit like telephone. Has anybody heard from Jamie? Has
01:04:13
anybody heard from Jamie? And so, he's realizing that people are going to start looking at at him as well. So he wants
01:04:21
to look like another concerned person. Where's Jamie? And so he calls someone and and says, "Look, you know,
01:04:31
uh, I'm worried about her." And the other thing I think really plays a part in this. This is so sad. We heard this
01:04:38
over and over again from her friends. You don't know somebody who's going to disappear like this. So, it was hard for
01:04:45
people to believe that her boyfriend would do away with her. They just didn't believe it. That
01:04:52
doesn't happen to people, you know, is what we hear all the time on 48 hours. And we really heard it with this case.
01:04:59
That's so true. Yeah. Well, it's interesting that as soon as the police, you know, they started looking because
01:05:06
people reported him missing. her her parents reported her missing and and they do track him down and he's driving
01:05:14
her car and even they thought he was a little odd. So that's the reason why they wanted to check him out.
01:05:22
Police arrested him on a warrant for driving on a suspended license and took him in for questioning and they held him
01:05:29
on charges of forgery and identity theft until they could make a case for murder.
01:05:35
When they asked him where Jamie was, this is what he told detectives. So, Thursday morning, I'm up at 2:30,
01:05:42
take my shower, eat breakfast, and I'm out the door by 3:45. That's the last I saw her. Okay. Um, I
01:05:50
got home around noon. There were two of the big suitcases missing. There was a carry-on missing. Um, and she was gone.
01:06:01
Uh, detectives searched Jaime's home and her suitcases were still there. The car
01:06:07
that she drove was also there and so was her passport, but her wallet and credit
01:06:12
cards and driver's license were missing. Then, with Brian in custody, they got a
01:06:18
warrant to search his apartment and found some really alarming evidence. What I probably will never forget the
01:06:25
rest of my life because it's so disturbing is when they went to the apartment, he had he had rented right
01:06:31
before quote unquote uh you know she disappeared. Um they found her wallet and several several of her credit cards
01:06:42
were on the desk and what was saddest to me was in an envelope they found all these little cut up pieces of what
01:06:50
turned out to be her driver's license. Right. And you know, her cell phone was also at his apartment. But as usual, you
01:06:58
know, Brian is not phased by this very damaging evidence. And he had an explanation for all of this. And I don't
01:07:08
think anyone listening is going to believe it. But this is what he claimed. She's still alive. So this all this
01:07:18
hubbhub is is a lot of horse crap. What do you mean she's still alive? You're saying Jamie is still alive. She's still
01:07:24
alive. How do you know? Because until I'm proven differently, I know what her plans were. I know what she
01:07:35
wanted to do. I know what she wanted to accomplish, which was leave Arizona and get away from her dad.
01:07:50
Are you saying that you helped Jamie change her identity? Yeah, I showed her how to do it. So, are you saying that
01:07:58
you made up the idea that she had a job in Denver? No. Uh-uh. He's now totally changing his story.
01:08:07
First, he's telling you Jamie went to Denver, and now she didn't go to Denver. She just got up and disappeared to get
01:08:12
away from her dad, who, as we mentioned before, she did have a complicated relationship with. What is he trying to
01:08:20
say? He's now saying that she was so tired of her own life that she asked him how he did it. And what's so hard about
01:08:29
that is this was again this very accomplished woman and very buttoned down and would she do something like
01:08:36
that? Right. Do you think she knew that he had changed his identity? Do you think she found out? No. Well, she might
01:08:43
have found out, right? Something happened that night. So maybe she did find out. Maybe during that time off she
01:08:50
was looking into him without a job. When I say time off, when she wasn't working,
01:08:55
she looked into him. Something happened on March 17th. So um Okay. So he's changing his story now. Did she go to
01:09:04
Denver? Did she disappear? This is what you asked him. So did she have that job?
01:09:08
Did she take a job in Denver or not? I don't know. So what is she? What name is she operating? Oh, I don't know that.
01:09:15
So, what do you mean? If you helped her, wouldn't you know it now? Well, you have
01:09:19
to understand, I I helped her from a general standpoint. I showed her how I did it. Okay. Now,
01:09:28
um there were books. Okay. Uh she read the books. She knew they were there. She she had all of that. Plus, she had me.
01:09:40
And that was the thing that I told her this is that the real key is you got to have money. You got to have cash. Okay.
01:09:49
She didn't have any cash. Oh, she had Well, she didn't have any cash, Brian. All her money. She left behind all her
01:09:56
credit cards. She left behind all her accounts. Sure. you know, I I mean, he wasn't expecting
01:10:04
that I would know that that she had money still sitting in her account. She simply disappeared. And I think what's
01:10:12
really important to know is that she didn't have a reason to disappear, right? She didn't have a reason. She had
01:10:18
a brand new job. She wasn't running from things. She didn't have ex-husbands or children she didn't want to pay child
01:10:27
support for. There was no reason for her to want to change. This next exchange kept me from dating online for many,
01:10:35
many years, for a decade. You used your credit cards to go on dating sites. Mhm.
01:10:43
That's nervy, isn't it? Yeah, it's pretty nerdy. And pretty insensitive, too, isn't it? Um, yeah.
01:10:54
You know, a little because Well, let me let me explain. You used her credit cards to go on dating sites to meet
01:11:00
other women. Well, you know what? Look, Jamie Jaime was leaving. Jaime had her own life to live. And so, use your own
01:11:07
money. Why did you use hers? Well, I did. Okay. That was the whole point. When you asked him what gave him the
01:11:14
right to use Jaime's credit cards, he said he was doing it for her. Can you explain that rationale, please? Well, I
01:11:22
can't really explain it. I could tell you what his thoughts were. Um, I mean, I was so offended by that. Um, as a
01:11:32
reporter and a woman, the idea that he would claim to me, here she disappeared. She left behind the credit cards. Um,
01:11:41
and that he used those credit cards uh to meet other people was so offensive. But what he claimed was she was still
01:11:50
alive. I I know nobody will believe me, but this is what he said. That she was still
01:11:56
alive and he was giving her cash and leaving it at her house where she would come in, I guess in the middle of the
01:12:06
night, pick it up, um, and then disappear again. I mean, who's going to believe that? But he said it to me just
01:12:14
like that was the most normal thing to say. Yeah, it's super crazy. So, this next exchange feels to me like
01:12:22
the final car chase in a movie. It seems to me that when you're preparing for trial, if you could have
01:12:30
found her, you would have found her with your lawyers. That's all you would have
01:12:33
needed and you wouldn't have gone on trial at all. Well, now, okay, just because I could have sent her an email,
01:12:39
just because I could have called a number doesn't mean that she wouldn't have switched it out at that point.
01:12:45
Okay. Because But you didn't even try. How am I supposed to try? She's gone. No one sees her again. March 18th.
01:12:54
Jamie's dead, isn't she? It's not hard to get new ID. You said it takes time. You yourself said that, Brian. I said it
01:13:03
takes time. She didn't have that time. I said it takes time to create a new persona. To get the ID is nothing,
01:13:12
right? She didn't have the time to create the new persona. Yes, she did. Jamie took $100,000
01:13:19
and what could be three different identifications and she left the state of Arizona.
01:13:27
Do you remember how you felt in that moment? Well, it it's just like where do you go with that? This is a man I mean
01:13:35
what was really sad. I mean what I was trying to make a point there. He's saying she's still alive and he's on
01:13:41
trial for her murder. And if she was still alive, he would have reached out to her and said, "Save me. Prove please
01:13:48
that I didn't kill you." I mean, what's what you have to be thinking as you're sitting there when you're talking is he
01:13:55
killed her. And he has the nerve to sit there and say, "She's still alive." Um, it's not only old, it's just incredibly
01:14:04
sad and uh aggravating. Yes. very um he was called to the stand, the witness stand as Rick Wayne Valentini,
01:14:14
aka Brian Stewart, but his lawyer called him Brian. I mean, so crazy. She walked
01:14:20
him through his name change and the rest of his story gently and then the prosecutor, Juan Martinez, uh took over
01:14:28
and pounded him. I mean, I remember the judge basically outside of the view of the jury saying, "We get it. We get it."
01:14:38
You know, um, so just after he was convicted and prior to his sentencing, he agreed to an interview with you. Um,
01:14:45
what do you recall about that day? Well, actually, you made me remember all of this. You know, we had amazing access.
01:14:53
I've never had that kind of access inside a prison. Um the day that we were with him, his lawyer came to see him and
01:15:01
was shocked to hear that we were there because he had not told her he was talking to the press. That is a
01:15:08
nightmare for a defense attorney. I mean, he lied to everyone, including his own lawyer.
01:15:16
All along you've told a lot of different stories. Sure. And they're contradictory
01:15:21
stories. Sure. I mean, you admit you've lied about things. Sure. Why should somebody believe you now?
01:15:32
I'm not I'm not asking for people to believe me. I'm not, you know, I to me I don't really care what people think.
01:15:46
I think he does care. But so have you heard it all from him? No. which is, you know, oddly upsetting that they go away
01:15:54
and they never call me again. But the last conversation I had with him, I was at the airport on my way home after all
01:16:02
of you know after the the interview and um he asked me he started asking me questions which he had never done like
01:16:11
what's your last name and oh are you Jewish and it was so bizarre like uh all of a sudden he's interested in me which
01:16:19
was sort of creepy right and I remember calling my best friend at the time and saying you know I actually feel bad for
01:16:26
this knucklehead like he just, you know, he just doesn't get it. He can't get out
01:16:30
of his own way. And she said to me, "Save that for someone who deserves it." I agree with her. So I Yeah, I do think
01:16:37
that because you spent so much time with him that you saw him more um as this guy
01:16:45
who could have had a great future and threw it away. He was he hurt himself. I saw him as I couldn't get past. He was a
01:16:53
con man who killed this young woman who did have a great future and was just looking for
01:17:03
how she could succeed and impress her parents and he took that all away from all of them. Um her parents were uh
01:17:12
wonderful sweet people who um you know blamed themselves in part. They felt they might have been too tough on her
01:17:23
and they never got to a chance to say that to her. Yeah, they were very sweet and I remember her mother saying she
01:17:30
carries her receiving blanket with her for the day that they find her. It was so sad. And that turned out to be very
01:17:40
important years later. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, I don't know 6 and 1/2 years later, I was in Italy on vacation
01:17:48
and my phone rang and it was one of the detectives and when a detective calls me, I always answer. And he said,
01:17:55
"You're not going to believe this, but they found Jaime's body." And they did. Um, it it still makes me sad because we
01:18:03
did, you and I both talked to him um afterwards and what struck me was how moved they were and happy that they were
01:18:13
able to finally bring her home to her parents. And so, um, you know, their parents will continue grieving, but at
01:18:22
least it there's like a a a bit of closure to that. They know they know he murdered her. They know where he put her
01:18:33
and they could bury her themselves. Yeah. And that's always so important to these families, right? They just want
01:18:39
their they want their people home. They want to know where they are, right? They
01:18:43
want to be able to grieve properly because sometimes when you don't know and I've done too many of these stories
01:18:50
where the person has not been found. That's that really kind of gets in the way of the parents grieving properly
01:18:57
because there's so much guilt. I should be looking for I didn't do enough to look for. And so finally these parents
01:19:04
can say she's at rest and we can mourn her properly. So Erin, ultimately what's the lesson of
01:19:13
this of this case? What should our audience take away from this? Well, sadly, I think it is that I keep
01:19:19
thinking of our friends of this doesn't happen to us and yet it does. uh time and time again, sadly at 48 hours. Um if
01:19:28
you're worried of you're seeing signs of a problem in a relationship, you tell your friend or your sister or your, you
01:19:35
know, whoever you know. And um and you when someone doesn't respond, disappear for a while, you you know, you don't let
01:19:45
that go. You don't just assume they're fine. This is a reminder to all of us to stay in touch with the people we care
01:19:52
about. It's so true. It's so true. Well, thank you again for joining me for this
01:19:59
podcast. You know, again, it was my first hour for 48 hours and now my first podcast for 48 hours. And it's such a
01:20:06
pleasure having you. But you know what? There'll be plenty of conversations with
01:20:11
killers. On the next episode of Killer Conversation, Peter Vans joins me again. this time to discuss two infamous
01:20:21
teenage killers who made headlines around the world but only granted interviews to Peter for 48 hours.
01:20:31
Did you and Sebastian Burns meticulously plan the murder of your family? Absolutely not.
01:20:40
48 hours killer conversation is hosted and produced by me, Judy Ryback. Our story editor is Mora Walls. Alan Pang
01:20:48
oversees recording, mixing, and sound design, factchecking, and additional production support from Rebecca Laflam.
01:20:56
And special thanks to 48 hours executive producer Judy Tyiggard and Paramount Podcast Vice President Megan Marcus.
01:21:05
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