00:00:08
Colton Harris Moore is daring. >> The longer this goes on, the more dangerous he becomes. He's stealing
00:00:16
aircraft. >> Colton Harris Moore is an outlaw. He's Western Washington's new Jesse
00:00:22
James. >> He is the rock star of the San Juan Islands right now. The barefoot bandit
00:00:30
continues his crime spree. >> He leaves a calling card. He leaves footprints. He is often barefoot, they
00:00:37
believe, during the crimes. >> His drug of choice is adrenaline. [Applause] He enjoys the chase.
00:00:51
[Music] We transferred into a smaller boat because it's so shallow in this area.
00:00:59
When Colton Harris Moore took an airplane from Indiana and flew it out of America
00:01:06
and took this chase international, it it became the top story in the world. Colton Harris Moore is just 19 years
00:01:15
old, but his international multi-million dollar crime spree reads like a movie plot.
00:01:23
>> Colton Harris Moore is a punk with a capital P. A >> tough kid to catch as well.
00:01:27
[Applause] They threw everything they could at him. They threw SWAT teams, FBI tactical
00:01:34
teams chasing him and they couldn't catch him. This is very risky stuff going on and
00:01:42
Colton's going to wind up dead or killing a bunch of other people. We have been on this story for months and we
00:01:47
have been chasing Colton Harris Moore from the Pacific Northwest and we're going to start seeing these everywhere
00:01:53
all the way to the Bahamas. He uh came true here. Colton is living his life as a big adventure.
00:02:03
>> Anybody that has the balls to get into an airplane, they don't know how to fly,
00:02:07
and then take off into the sunset, crash, land that plane. >> There's the plane right up there. Do you
00:02:14
see it? You see the skid path, >> and then say, "Wow, that was crazy. You know what? I think I'll do it again."
00:02:22
That is balls. [Music] [Music] Alton Harris Moore. enjoys running through the woods. He enjoys being able
00:02:57
to be a step ahead of the police. He enjoys the chase. >> Before Colton Harris Moore became famous
00:03:04
as an international fugitive, before he attracted more than 100,000 fans on Facebook, before he stole a single
00:03:14
airplane, he was one very unpopular teenager back in his hometown of Kamino Island, Washington.
00:03:23
Colton Harris Moore is nothing but a thief, a criminal. He's not Robin Hood. He's not Jesse James. He's not James
00:03:32
Bond. Colton's crime spree on this tranquil island began when he was just 10 years old. He soon advanced to
00:03:39
breaking into homes, using stolen credit cards, and stealing boats. By the age of 19, he has a $10,000 price
00:03:49
tag on his head and a bounty hunter on his trail. >> We're going to wait and we're going to
00:03:55
watch. He doesn't get to go wherever he wants. He doesn't get to take whatever he wants.
00:03:59
>> In the summer of 2010, residents of Kamino Island reached a breaking point. They gathered to discuss rumors that
00:04:07
were frightening everyone. >> They said he shot at a policeman. He stole a policeman's gun.
00:04:12
>> We want him stopped. Most of us want him dead. Period. >> How did it come to this? Why would
00:04:22
anyone want to kill this troubled teenager? >> I mean, he is a criminal, but at the
00:04:27
same time, there really is a little part of me that just really feels bad for him
00:04:30
because I've known him, you know, almost my whole life. >> Ashley Martin grew up with Colton on
00:04:35
Kamino Island. >> He was a very sweet, very sweet little kid. There he is. Look at that little baby
00:04:44
face. >> Yeah. >> Classmate Jessica Wesson remembers a little boy who always loved animals
00:04:51
and airplanes. These are drawings Colton made as he was growing up. >> Did he tell you what he wanted to do for
00:05:00
a living when he grew up? >> He mentioned that he wanted to be a pilot. When we heard he was stealing
00:05:04
planes, I was like, well, that kind of makes sense. >> Did you ever go over to his house?
00:05:08
>> No, I never went over to his house. Maybe he didn't want Jessica to see this. This is the trailer where Colton
00:05:18
grew up with his mother, Pam Kohler. Why do you think Colton went from being this
00:05:23
sweet kid that you knew when you first met him into a criminal? >> Probably his upbringing, I hear his mom
00:05:28
wasn't so nice. >> The issue here is with Colton, not so much what he did, but who created this
00:05:34
kid. >> 48 hours investigator Paul Celino. He uncovered court records that showed a
00:05:41
dozen calls to child protective services by the time Colton was just 14. >> There was physical abuse. There was
00:05:50
mental abuse. There was physical neglect. >> I was having nightmares when I began to
00:05:55
research his childhood. I would literally wake up in a sweat thinking about some things Colt went through.
00:06:02
>> Bob Fel is a writer from Washington State who wrote a book about Colton's life. his biological father was in and
00:06:10
out of that trailer home that Pam was in. This is Colton's father, Gordon Moore,
00:06:18
who has been mostly absent from his life. But when Colton was 12, Gordon was convicted of assault for choking the
00:06:26
boy. Colton told a child services case worker that his mother, Pam, was outraged at him for calling 911.
00:06:37
Colton had nowhere to turn. As one case worker wrote, "Colleton wants mom to stop drinking and get a job and have
00:06:45
food in the house. Mom refuses." >> Pam chose beer over everything. It ruined his life.
00:06:53
>> Jackie Stags has known Pam since Colton was born. How did Colton get his name?
00:06:59
>> If you ask Pam, she'll tell you she named him after the beer. You're telling me that Pam named her son after Colt 45,
00:07:05
the malt liquor? >> Mhm. That's what she told me. >> We wanted to try and meet Colton's
00:07:10
mother, Pam, ourselves. >> Investigator Paul Celino and producer Sarah Prior join me on a walk up this
00:07:18
dirt driveway to find some answers. That's her house up there. Sarah, if she calls out, why don't you say you're the
00:07:25
one who left to know? >> Sure. Yeah, absolutely. As the sign shows, Pam does not like visitors.
00:07:32
>> Hello, Pam. >> Who are you? >> Hi, I'm Sarah. I left you a note the other day.
00:07:37
>> Yeah. >> From CBS. What's that? >> I'm getting my shotgun right now. >> We just want to talk to you, Pam. Can
00:07:43
you just talk to us for a moment? >> My shotgun now. Get out of here. >> Later, Pam changed her mind and spoke to
00:07:51
us off camera. She told us she'd always been a good mother and showed us this collage. Colton made when he was 15,
00:07:59
filled with all the things Colton might say he was missing in life, money, food,
00:08:06
and of course, airplanes. When Colton Harris Moore would break into a vacation home, he would use the
00:08:14
shower, he would uh uh wash his clothes, and he would sleep on the bed or sleep on the couch. He was not the traditional
00:08:22
kid breaking in to steal booze and damage a house. But along the way, Colton did more than
00:08:29
just grab a snack and a shower. He stole laptops, iPods, cell phones, and jewelry.
00:08:38
Would you say you brought Colton into the world of crime? >> I would say that I brought him into the
00:08:43
crime of burglaries. >> Meet Colton's former partner in crime and the self-described brains of the
00:08:51
operation. Harley-Davidson Iron Wing. A big name for a pint-sized criminal. >> What' you guys do together?
00:08:59
>> Hit houses, stole cars. >> Did he ever tell you he wanted to be a a pilot one day?
00:09:05
>> No. He just wanted to steal planes and just fly them. I have countless people
00:09:11
that blame me for what he is today. By 2006, Coloulton was 15, more than 6 feet tall, and wanted by the law.
00:09:24
Acting on a tip, deputies went to his mother's house to arrest him. All they found was this note that Colton left for
00:09:33
his mother, which reads, "Cops want to play, huh?" Well, it's not no little game. It's war, and tell them that. When
00:09:42
Colton says it's war, what do you think he means? >> Come and catch me if you can. It's a war
00:09:48
of a mind. He wants to show them that they aren't as smart as they think they are.
00:09:57
>> It was now February 2007. After several narrow escapes from the law, Colton broke into this house while
00:10:05
the owner was out of town. A neighbor saw a light on and called the police. After a tense 2-hour standoff, Colton
00:10:15
was finally arrested, and he didn't seem to like the attention. >> Colton was sentenced to 3 years in the
00:10:24
juvenile system. But just one year later, in April 2008, he climbed out the window of this halfway house. The chase
00:10:35
was back on. [Music] Salad greens were picked this morning. Oyster, [Music] >> have a great day.
00:10:55
>> Oh, yeah. >> The Salmon Islands are a wonderful place to live. We're a very tight-knit
00:10:59
community. And the jewel of the San Juan Island chain, says Colleen Armstrong, editor of
00:11:06
the local newspaper, is beautiful Orcus Island. We are covered in evergreens and cedars
00:11:15
and madrona trees and fur and wildlife and pristine water. But residents say everything changed in
00:11:32
2008 when Colton Harris Moore fled to this island after escaping from a juvenile facility near Seattle.
00:11:41
>> Colton Harris Moore is a one-man crime wave. >> Once the sun went down, Colton allegedly
00:11:48
crept through the small village of East Sound, making off with whatever he could
00:11:53
carry. What all has he taken from this town? >> Money. Lots of money. Tools from the
00:12:02
hardware store. Food from markets. Cash from ATMs. You name it, he's taken it. >> This kind of is what the town is about
00:12:10
or used to be about. >> But peace is not what this store owner is feeling. >> I feel like I've been put in a situation
00:12:17
where I have to defend my personal property. Colton allegedly burglarized the Orcus
00:12:25
homegrown market three times, transforming Kyle Ader. Is >> that beautiful? >> From a serene organic grosser.
00:12:32
>> There's a Dan Wesson revolver >> into Dirty Harry. >> I keep a gun with me because that'll
00:12:38
blow a pretty big hole. I need to be ready. Double action. >> Kyle feels shaken by what he found after
00:12:45
a burglary in February 2010. I came in and there was large footprints, 39 of them, giant footprints all the way
00:12:54
around the deli. And then they kind of turned and so he done everything he'd done in the store and then he was going
00:13:01
out the side door with footprints and it said, "See you." >> Facing bankruptcy if Colton struck
00:13:10
again, Kyle started sleeping in his store each night with his two large dogs. >> All right. while we're all locked down.
00:13:18
>> And then this is your bed for the night. >> That's where I'm going to sleep. Come
00:13:21
on, girls. Come on. Come here. This is my whole life, my whole livelihood, and my family's livelihood. So, I have to be
00:13:29
prepared to defend my own. >> Your best guess is Colton's still here. >> Yeah. Right now, I think he's in Deer
00:13:34
Harbor. He was in a four-story home over there. Had the heat turned on. Uh popcorn all over the place. I guess he
00:13:42
likes popcorn. Colton spent months on Orcus Island allegedly committing more than 20
00:13:51
breakins and burglaries. Police released these surveillance camera photos from a
00:13:56
local market. Legend grew that he was now hiding out somewhere in the forest. Here we are in the great primal forest
00:14:06
of Orcus Island. And Colton could be out there somewhere, right? >> Yeah. This is his stomping grounds. What
00:14:12
you're looking at is Colton's land. He could be out there camping, foraging. He could be watching us right now for all
00:14:18
we know. >> And he'd be have a big smile on his face. >> Yes, he would be loving every minute of
00:14:23
it. >> Colton did seem to be enjoying himself. He used stolen cameras to snap these
00:14:29
self-portraits. This one became the iconic shot of the barefoot bandit featured on wanted
00:14:36
posters everywhere. >> Is the sheriff's department, are they embarrassed by this? The fact that they
00:14:41
haven't been able to find this kid, >> I think it's incredibly frustrating. Very, very frustrating.
00:14:47
>> With the sheriff stymied, we decided to track Colton ourselves. Local realtor
00:14:54
Suzanne Vidal. Can we follow you in? >> Sure. >> Suzanne invited us inside a vacation
00:15:01
house. >> Oh, looks good so far. >> That she thought had sat empty for the past eight months.
00:15:08
Strange feeling somebody's been on the bed, huh? >> It's clear a stranger has been here.
00:15:14
>> I've been slept on. >> It almost looks like somebody's been on the bed, doesn't it?
00:15:18
>> Look at this depression here in the bed. >> Gives me the chills. The toilet seat was
00:15:22
up, though, like a man had used it. >> As we walk through the house. >> Oh, this door's open.
00:15:28
>> More evidence. >> Oh gosh, it's open, too. >> You are certain that door was locked?
00:15:36
Yes, it's >> So, somebody's been here, >> you know. Actually, if you look at the
00:15:40
table, there's food on the table. >> Look at here. There's crumbs. Look at this big one.
00:15:47
>> Popcorn. >> What's that? >> Popcorn. >> You know, he eats popcorn everywhere he
00:15:51
goes. >> No, don't you tell me that. >> I'm very serious. The places that he's found, generally, there's a lot of
00:15:56
popcorn around. >> Um, I think I'm just going to ask the sheriff's department to come over here
00:16:00
and take a look around. Suzanne calls the sheriff and a deputy quickly responds.
00:16:09
The house was dusted for fingerprints. Was Colton here? >> Is this a place of interest for you
00:16:14
guys? >> The sheriff's department won't tell us, but these kinds of discoveries drive the
00:16:20
locals over the edge. >> He gets an adrenaline rush from ripping people off. >> Marian Wthbone operates Verns.
00:16:28
>> How's the view? >> A local restaurant. Good. Colton Harris Moore is a punkass kid who has caused
00:16:35
more damage to more of the small people, the little people. He's a piece of crap.
00:16:44
>> He got in through here. >> Marian says Colton scaled the side of her building with Spider-Manike moves.
00:16:51
>> He knocked the wood in and was able to climb in through that little hole there.
00:16:56
This security camera video shows the burglar running through Marian's restaurant. Someone who looks very much
00:17:03
like Colton and is clearly barefoot. >> The safe was right here around the corner.
00:17:10
>> He stole $15,000 from Marian's safe, her entire summer's profit. >> And after I pulled myself up off the
00:17:18
floor because I dropped to my knees, all I kept saying was, "Oh my god. Oh my god."
00:17:22
And Marian says it wasn't the first time that Colton had broken in. >> He had been in this office
00:17:30
a week before and used one of the credit cards that I had stashed on my computer
00:17:36
right there to order a how to fly small aircraft DVD. >> How to fly a small aircraft.
00:17:44
>> Computer displays replaced the >> Is this really the way Colton taught himself how to fly?
00:17:56
102.5 KZ. Good morning. It's 8:41. Bob Rivers here. The >> Bob Rivers is a Seattle radio
00:18:04
personality. >> Back in the fall of 2008, Colton Harris Moore stole Rivers Cessna single engine
00:18:12
plane from a hanger on Orcus Island. The day my plane was stolen, it was a brutal, gusty, windy day.
00:18:21
>> In the first flight where Colton took off himself, he flew over the Cascade Mountain Range with wind gusts coming
00:18:28
from every direction, taking that plane and shaking it like like a soda can. >> As he flew over the mountains, Colton
00:18:36
found himself trapped in a white out at 13,000 ft. >> That must have been a a terrifying
00:18:44
flight. It was. There was vomit in the cockpit and our sources say Colton felt sure he was going to die. But
00:18:51
miraculously, he made it. Flying 250 mi from Orcus Island to a field outside Yakama, Washington, where he crashed.
00:19:03
Incredibly, Colton simply walked away. But how did this high school dropout learn to fly? When Colton wants to learn
00:19:13
something, Colton will will do that. He will accomplish that unlike anyone I've ever experienced before.
00:19:19
>> Colton apparently taught himself using that flight DVD he'd ordered online with
00:19:26
a stolen credit card. Learning to fly is a lot of fun as well as being challenging. Watching video is not a
00:19:33
substitute for good instruction. >> The DVD is distributed by a company called Sporties. And as you can see
00:19:40
here, the sophisticated graphics mimic the computerized controls in many modern planes. I had the hardest time when I
00:19:48
began researching this story getting pilots to believe that this could possibly be this 17-year-old kid.
00:19:57
>> And 48 hours has been told. Colton studied the Cessna's manual before that first flight. Even people who were
00:20:04
obsessed with flying, loved airplanes, knew everything about airplanes, they would have killed themselves. Colt was
00:20:10
able to pull it off. After he fled the down plane, our sources say Colton hopped a freight train to Reno, Nevada.
00:20:18
He lied about his age and got a job at a casino where he worked for 6 months. And then on September 11th, 2009, Colton
00:20:29
resurfaced in a big way. He was now back home in Washington State where authorities say he stole a second plane.
00:20:38
This time making a dramatic nighttime landing on Orcus Island. Colton's daring exploits inspired
00:20:50
several fan clubs on Facebook and tens of thousands signed up. >> I think he loves the media attention. He
00:20:58
absolutely does monitor the internet. our website, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, you name it, he's reading it.
00:21:06
>> Overnight, the legend of Colton Harris Moore went viral. He became his own cottage industry. People began selling
00:21:15
Fly Colton Fly t-shirts, urging him to go for it. Some even wrote songs. >> Like a hero, he can
00:21:26
give us hope. like a villain, he will steal your stuff. >> It was now a year and a half since
00:21:37
Colton had escaped from that halfway house. He crossed the border into Canada, allegedly stole two guns, and
00:21:44
then crossed back into the US without anyone stopping him. As he sought planes to steal, he traveled from one tiny
00:21:53
airport to another where security was low and the planes were easy pickings. >> When I arrived here, um uh the plane was
00:22:02
gone. This door was open. >> Authorities say the barefoot bandit had struck again here in Idaho, bagging his
00:22:10
third plane in less than a year. >> You could say Colton Harris Moore's life is is very similar to a video game. This
00:22:18
is a game to him. >> But it was not a game for Homeland Security, which had now joined the
00:22:25
investigation. And when that third plane was located in a field in Granite Falls,
00:22:30
Washington, police closed in, but backed off when they heard a gunshot. From that
00:22:37
point, things became very serious for Colton Harris Moore. To him, it may have just been a higher level of the video
00:22:43
game. for the law enforcement. They treated him as armed and potentially dangerous.
00:22:50
>> Colton, now suspected of committing at least 65 crimes, decided to lay low. He
00:22:57
surfaced yet again in February 2010, allegedly stealing his fourth plane. This one, a $650,000
00:23:07
Cirrus. Authorities say Colton was aloft just 10 minutes flying from Anacortis, Washington back to the now familiar
00:23:16
airport on Orcus Island. And once again, the authorities were hot on his trail. And after getting a tip that Colton was
00:23:26
hiding somewhere on Turtleback Mountain, they pounced. >> I was sleeping in this bed here. I hear
00:23:32
a doorbell ring. Homeowner High Stikney saw the response firsthand. >> What time was it? About 1:30 or4 to 2 in
00:23:41
the morning. So I I roll out of the bed and here's a helicopter hovering maybe 100 yards off the window. You're kidding
00:23:49
with the lights going shining down. >> He rushed to answer the front door >> and I see FBI across the chest of this
00:23:57
guy's uniform. And then I'd see over his shoulder in the background two or three
00:24:02
police cars and FBI cars. 10 or 12 people milling around in uniform out there. And I said, "Well, that's it."
00:24:09
So, >> I mean, this has to be absolutely startling. Hovering out here. >> Yeah. >> The next morning, police found these
00:24:17
footprints in the mud. The infamous barefoot bandit had done the impossible. Surrounded on all sides,
00:24:26
he escaped. But the Colton video game was veering into the danger zone. >> 911. Where is your emergency?
00:24:36
>> Please hear somebody immediately. Somebody's in our home. Oh my god. They said they were going to shoot us.
00:24:46
[Music] By the spring of 2010, Colton Harris Moore's audacious aerial joy rides,
00:24:55
including four airplane thefts, had put him on the radar of law enforcement in two countries.
00:25:06
He had been on the run for 2 years up here in the in the Northwest. Uh we have the Border Patrol looking for him. We
00:25:14
have the Canadian officials looking for him. We have Homeland Security, the FBI.
00:25:18
I mean, uh, he's getting more attention in United States than Bin Laden does. >> While we were on Orcus Island with
00:25:27
investigator Paul Celino, Colton slipped away once again. A boat was stolen from a nearby island
00:25:37
and authorities believe this man captured by a security camera is Colton Harris Moore. Why is he getting so
00:25:45
active? He's got to keep moving cuz if he sits still, they're going to catch him.
00:25:50
>> Colton began moving south. Pausing just long enough to leave this note with $100 in cash at a veterinary
00:26:01
clinic in Raymond, Washington. He asked the money be used for quote the care of animals. Why'd he do that?
00:26:08
>> It's admirable that he loves animals, but I mean it doesn't help him. That donation gave the sheriff's
00:26:14
deputies back on Colton's home turf an idea of where he was heading. They warned several police jurisdictions
00:26:23
in the area and began tracking car thefts in Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming. And then Colton surfaced in tiny
00:26:33
Yankton, South Dakota. >> Hello. >> Please hear somebody immediately. Somebody's in our home. There's somebody
00:26:40
in your house. >> They said they're going to shoot us. >> Did you say they're going to shoot you?
00:26:44
>> Then we went in the garage. We went into the house. They were carrying the children and they said they were going
00:26:49
to shoot us. >> That frantic voice >> Oh my god. >> is the wife of Yankton resident Kelly
00:26:55
Knife. The couple and their four young children were returning home from a family vacation at 3:00 a.m.
00:27:02
>> And my wife stepped back here and screamed. And I went bolting past her, opened this door, and right there was a
00:27:11
young man naked, turning around, running away from me, and then started to chase him down the
00:27:17
stairs. Get out of my house. Get out of my house. And about right here that I could see a laser light pointing
00:27:24
at me. And he said, "Stop. I've got a gun. I'll shoot. I'll shoot." >> Kelly called police.
00:27:34
But by the time they got there, Colton was gone. >> He's a potential killer at that point.
00:27:42
If that was a gun aimed at a chest, obviously >> it was a very close call, but Colton
00:27:48
continued his summer run. Allegedly stealing cars and breaking into one small airport,
00:27:55
>> but he did get in here >> after another. >> It was probably after, you know, an
00:27:58
airplane >> across the Midwest. >> He didn't get in them cuz they were locked. Where would he have gone if he'd gotten
00:28:06
an airplane, do you think? >> Well, I think he makes the big jump. He gets two, 300 miles away real quick.
00:28:11
>> But this time, Colton had much bigger plans and leapfrogged over the rest of the United States.
00:28:23
Our pursuit of Colton Harris Moore has taken a dramatic turn because Colton has taken a dramatic turn. He allegedly
00:28:30
stole an airplane in Bloomington, Indiana, and flew it 1,200 miles to this place. This is an island
00:28:38
called Abico. It's in the Bahamas, and the plane crash landed. And that's where we're heading right now is to check this
00:28:46
out. With the help of some locals, we hire a couple of boats and set out across the
00:28:53
shallow Bahamian waters. We're heading to the airplane. If you look way in the distance, you see some
00:29:02
silver shining. That's the tail of the airplane. We got about a mile walk to do through this muck.
00:29:10
[Music] We've been hiking through this muck for about an hour. Everybody's exhausted.
00:29:19
The sun's going down. We only have about 40 minutes before it gets dark. So, we've made a decision. We're going to go
00:29:25
back into town and try to get a helicopter to return to the scene in a more civilized way.
00:29:35
This is the vastness of this area. There's the plane right up there. See it? That's the Cessna.
00:29:43
Look where he set this thing down. In the middle of nowhere. We finally made it to Colton's plane.
00:29:51
The landing skid path through here is about 50 yards long. And if you look right here, he lost a landing gear as he
00:29:58
was making this crash landing. He managed to keep it level somehow. As you can see, the nose is in the grass.
00:30:06
The doors on the aircraft are locked. This is a crime scene, but looking inside, I don't see any blood. No
00:30:13
evidence whatsoever that Colton was injured in this crash landing. He got out of that plane and headed into the
00:30:20
island. >> Hot on the trail of the barefoot bandit, we take off for Marsh Harbor, Avacico's
00:30:29
biggest town. Do they have a tip today? Is that what's going on >> at the police station?
00:30:34
>> Hey guys, >> we get a lead. Do you guys have a tip on Colton? They have a They have a tip.
00:30:38
Airport. >> It turns out to be a false lead. We then head to the town where there's been a series of breakins
00:30:50
at the dive shop at a local gas company. >> Police was here. The security company
00:30:57
had called her and uh they were at the building surrounded looked like a Hollywood scene.
00:31:03
>> And at night he also hit Curly Tales restaurant next to the local marina. And did the police
00:31:12
tell you who they think did this? >> And it's apparently it's they said they said it's the bandit, the barefoot
00:31:17
bandit. >> Colton is everywhere, >> but nowhere. >> A lot of people, you know, they feel
00:31:23
unsafe right now. >> But the Royal Bahamian police vow they will find him. >> They should be able to take him down,
00:31:30
have found him in custody in the quickest possible time. >> At week's end, there is still no sign of
00:31:37
Colton. But then Folton finds himself in his biggest jam yet. While we were looking for Colton on
00:32:04
Abico, he'd already allegedly stolen a yacht. and escaped to the nearby Bahamian
00:32:12
island of Alra. We headed there ourselves and found James Copley who says Colton was hanging
00:32:22
around his bar. >> The strange part of it is wondering, you know, what he does because he is
00:32:30
barefoot >> but you know, tourist >> he was barefoot here. >> Kley says Colton broke into his club. He
00:32:37
came right through here. He put >> and allegedly stole some snacks and water >> and made himself at home.
00:32:43
>> And where did he sleep? >> I guess he see the same uh pool table right here. >> Yeah. You think he slept on the pool
00:32:49
table? >> Yeah, I believe this. >> The next night, Colton was spotted in the water near Klay's Club in a boat
00:32:55
he'd apparently stolen. He was talking to some local teens who were standing on the shore.
00:33:01
>> And they asked him, "Are are you the guy who's going around with the airplanes?"
00:33:05
and he said yes. >> Knowing there was a $10,000 reward, the teens quickly jumped into a boat and
00:33:13
gave chase. Colton fled to nearby Harbor Island. >> I saw a boat pull up at the end of this
00:33:20
dock right here. I saw a young man took off of the dock. >> Security guard Kenny Stron works at the
00:33:26
Raora Bay Resort just across the water from Kley's Club. I see him like he's running fast and
00:33:33
he's breathing real hard and excited. >> Security footage captured the moment >> and he was just running with some object
00:33:41
in his hand and as I kept looking at it seems to be a gun. >> But what are you thinking when you see
00:33:47
this guy? >> When I see him I get excited and he ran towards me and he said they're trying to
00:33:52
kill me. So I'm looking who who's trying to kill you? >> Colton fled onto the island. Word
00:33:57
quickly spread boat to boat at the marina. American Jordan Sacket was aboard his family's yacht.
00:34:04
>> That everybody was on high alert that he was on the island and that he was around.
00:34:08
>> Then suddenly, as police were searching for the barefoot bandit, Jordan saw a
00:34:13
boat roar away. It was Colton. The cops showed up with uzies and shotguns, but they had no boat. They asked Jordan if
00:34:21
they could use his and he in turn asked his parents for permission. >> How did that go? Mom, Dad, can I take
00:34:29
the boat and these armed officers to pursue an armed suspect? Is that okay with you guys?
00:34:34
>> They were a little shocked at first, but it was almost as if like got to go get
00:34:38
him. >> Police jumped in. Colton had a 5minute head start and was heading for open
00:34:45
ocean until >> you can see the lighter areas are where the sandbar is. the lighter.
00:34:50
>> He ran a ground right at this spot. Police quickly closed in and his boat's right up here in front of us.
00:34:58
>> At this point, we're basically about 50 ft behind him. >> At that point, police shot out the
00:35:04
engines on Colton's boat. [Music] >> It was crazy. Guns are going off everywhere. We're all
00:35:13
ducking down to make sure that we're not getting fired upon. And the first shot fired was a shotgun. That's where the
00:35:19
shotgun went in. >> It was at the uh the back left engine and basically shut it down immediately.
00:35:25
Once the firing stopped, he popped back up. He said, "Don't shoot. I can't hear anything."
00:35:29
>> And in July 2010, after a 2-year odyssey, when he was suspected of committing nearly 100 crimes and
00:35:37
stealing 11 boats, 14 cars, three guns, and five airplanes, Colton Harris Moore was finally arrested.
00:35:49
In this video, exclusive to 48 Hours, the police question Colton, now outfitted in a bulletproof vest.
00:35:58
>> I just want you to say, >> they offer him food and water. >> You good? >> And check out the world's most famous
00:36:07
bare feet. >> They also ask where he got his gun. >> Where you got that truck? >> I can't remember. a Walther PPK, the
00:36:16
same type used by James Bond. He says he doesn't remember and they all share a laugh.
00:36:26
The next day, he is taken from Alra to Nassau. It's clear his legend has traveled with him.
00:36:35
>> And there on the tarmac, Colton does not disappoint, appearing barefoot before
00:36:41
the international media. An American teenager dubbed the barefoot bandit has been captured in the Bahamas.
00:36:52
>> Police in the Bahamas captured Colton Harris Moore before dawn this morning. Colton wants no part of the media
00:36:58
circus. Come on, let's make this one fast. >> Back on Camino Island, Colton's mother,
00:37:04
Pam, takes the news of her son's arrest in stride. He's safe and I'm happy and I
00:37:12
love him and I miss him. >> By the time Colton is taken to court a few days later,
00:37:17
>> okay you guys, here he comes. >> He is barefoot no more. >> Colton is deported. Back to where his
00:37:25
exploits began, the Pacific Northwest. And finally, nearly a year after he was brought home, Colton Harris Moore faces
00:37:35
his day of reckoning. He has taken the first step to accept responsibility for his actions. He has
00:37:42
plead guilty to seven felony charges. >> Those charges include stealing those airplanes, breaking into a bank, and
00:37:51
possessing an illegal firearm. In the end, a plea deal is negotiated involving federal and local authorities. Colton
00:38:00
Harris Moore is sentenced to 7 years in prison. Coloulton's attorney, John Henry
00:38:07
Brown. >> Well, he was expecting the worst and so the fact that he got the low end of the
00:38:12
sentencing range, um, he's he knows that makes a big difference. I think he feels
00:38:17
very relieved and he's very grateful. >> And you might think Colton is especially
00:38:22
grateful because he sold the rights to his life story to a movie company for a reported $13 million.
00:38:31
But Colton will never see a penny of that money. >> The plea agreement makes very clear that
00:38:37
he will not profit directly or indirectly, nor will we help anyone else to profit from those crimes. Should
00:38:43
there be monies paid because of these crimes, it will go to the people who were hurt by these crimes.
00:38:49
>> And the feds say he owes his victims 1.4 million. The court has appointed a deputy to
00:38:57
distribute the funds. >> Colton is not interested in money. He's interested in restitution.
00:39:03
>> Colton has now been behind bars for nearly 3 years. One bright spot is that a manager from Boeing, Jonathan
00:39:12
Stanridge, has become a mentor to Colton, encouraging him to pursue his dreams of one day working in aviation.
00:39:21
>> He wants to come out, go to school, go to work, uh help repay those folks that
00:39:27
he owes money to. There is one question that remains in this dramatic saga of a young man.
00:39:35
>> Has he ever told you why he did this? >> We've had lots of talks, you know, and
00:39:41
all that will come out at some point. >> Colton's journey does read like a movie
00:39:46
plot sprinkled with rich details like the backpack he carried during his two years on the lamb. Inside were keepsakes
00:39:56
from a lost childhood, sketches of airplanes, two photos from the fifth grade, and a Boy Scouts of America
00:40:04
certificate. This is an incredibly sad story. I mean, he's been failed at every step of the way.
00:40:11
Where does this kid go to reclaim his childhood? We created this criminal and he survived the Only Way New Hound.
00:40:21
[Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] [Music] The Whitaker family was a very welcoming, godly family. Christ was a
00:41:22
very important part of what they did. >> All right. >> The Whitaker home was the place to hang
00:41:28
out. >> Did you find one? >> It was the cool house to be at. Very safe, very nurturing, godly, loving
00:41:36
home. >> Every time we went over there, you felt loved. They were a family who had fun
00:41:42
and they traveled and they laughed and you know they joked around with each other
00:41:46
>> and everyone loved Trisha and Kent. They were the second parents to so many people.
00:41:53
>> The Whitaker family just seemed like the model typical wellto-do Sugarland family. My name is Marshall Slot and I'm
00:41:59
a detective with the Sugarland Police Department. >> My name is Britney Barnhill and I was
00:42:03
Kevin Whitaker's best friend. He was just a great guy the life of the party. Bart was the older brother. Kevin and
00:42:10
his friends looked up to Bart. People thought that Bart Whitaker was cool. >> On December 10th, 2003, I was working
00:42:19
out with my best friend Kevin Whitaker. He left to go have dinner with his family.
00:42:24
>> We went out to dinner to a restaurant we all enjoyed. We're all in one car, so we
00:42:29
drive back, pull into the driveway. Kevin walks up to the front door and Trish is right behind him. Kevin opens
00:42:38
the door. There's a huge loud noise. Bang. >> Kevin was shot center mass right in his
00:42:44
sternum. >> Trisha says, "Oh no." And I hear another noise. Bang. >> Trisha had made it into the house behind
00:42:50
Kevin and was shot and then fell in the doorway. >> I look inside and there is a figure with
00:42:56
a ski mask on. I probably did not look at him for more than a second or two. Bang. I feel something hit my shoulder.
00:43:04
>> The first three shots were in rapid succession. Bart then chased the guy into the house. As he approached that
00:43:09
figure, he was shot. >> I think, "Oh my god, he shot all four of us." >> Kitten Bart recovered from their wounds.
00:43:20
>> Trisha was transported via air ambulance. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. Kevin died at the scene.
00:43:27
>> It didn't seem real. These types of things happen, but not to me, not to my family, not to my friends.
00:43:35
on the scene. One of the officers had mentioned to me, "I think I've been to this house before, and I think it was
00:43:40
about threats on the family from somebody. >> I think Kevin knew something." And
00:43:45
whatever he knew, I knew he was concerned about it. >> The Whitaker family wasn't the
00:43:50
all-American family that everybody believed them to be. It became clear that it was a conspiracy. It was not a
00:43:57
random act of violence. These people were assassinated. The Sugarland Conspiracy
00:44:05
[Music] Sugarlane is very middle class, upper class, white collar. It's a nice place.
00:44:45
Everything's new. >> You hang out with your neighbors. You hang out with your neighbors kids.
00:44:50
>> For John Flores and his best friend, Kevin Whitaker, life was sweet in Sugarland, Texas.
00:44:56
>> Almost anything's at your fingertips. You can do whatever you want. A lot of fun.
00:45:02
But that all changed on the night of December 10th, 2003 when Kevin and his family were gunned down in their home.
00:45:09
>> That night, we just got home from church and got the call of a quadruple shooting. That just doesn't happen out
00:45:14
here in Sugarland. >> Marshall Slaugh was the lead detective assigned to the case.
00:45:22
>> It looks as if it's a burglary gone wrong. The family's coming home from dinner. It's plausible that they could
00:45:27
have surprised a burglar. But as slot combed through the Whitaker home, he realized things weren't adding up.
00:45:35
>> In the master bedroom, the dressers and armwire all had drawers open on them,
00:45:40
but they were all open equal distance. It was very neat and orderly. >> Normally, a burglar would throw
00:45:45
everything out of the drawers to see if there's any valuables in there. >> Yes, sir.
00:45:48
>> Detective Slaugh began to suspect the burglary had been staged. >> None of the items of value inside the
00:45:54
house had been moved around. the electronics, laptops, jewelry, none of those items that are typically taken in
00:46:00
burglaries. >> And then there was the murder weapon. It was the Whitaker's own gun.
00:46:05
>> The gun safe had been pried open and it was in a very isolated portion of the household. This is looking more and
00:46:12
more like this person knew this gun was here and obtained it for a specific reason.
00:46:18
>> Detective Slot turned his attention to the Whitaker family's history, hoping it
00:46:22
might provide some answers. He started with Kent Whitaker's relationship to his wife Trisha.
00:46:29
>> We met on a blind date. Walked in her house and I didn't know what I was expecting, but she came down and I
00:46:34
thought, I've never had a blind date like this before. And uh we hit it off very well right from the start.
00:46:42
>> How long after you first met Trisha did you realize to yourself, I'm in love with this woman?
00:46:47
>> Couple of months, maybe. >> Really? >> Yeah. >> And did she feel the same way about you?
00:46:50
>> Yes, she did. All right. >> And then came their two boys, Bart and Kevin. >> I'm so proud of both of them.
00:47:00
>> The Whiters were doing well. Kent was a successful accountant. Trisha, an elementary school teacher.
00:47:08
>> Trisha had a great rapport with children. Parents adored her. Staff adored her. She was just fun. Barbie
00:47:15
Harrington and Peggy Mlan, Trisha's close friends and co-workers, knew her true love was being a mom.
00:47:22
>> They were everything. That's all she talked about. She loved those boys. >> Bart, the eldest, did well in school and
00:47:30
had a quirky sense of humor. >> Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Okay. And make it work.
00:47:36
>> He was fun. He was witty. He was respectful. >> A good son. >> A good son. a son who shared a passion
00:47:43
for biking with his dad. >> He and I would spend hours and hours on training rides and on organized rides.
00:47:52
>> What would you talk about on those trips? >> Everything. >> Kevin, I'm very proud of you.
00:47:56
>> Kevin was the sensitive one. >> Kevin was a man at a young age. He would not back down from injustice, but he
00:48:03
would be so quick to forgive. >> This was as healthy and vibrant and loving a family as you'd find, wasn't
00:48:09
it? >> Thought so. I was very happy with my family. I loved them. >> Then came December 10th, 2003. How did
00:48:19
that day begin? Bart was supposed to be graduating from college. He called and said he was through with his finals and
00:48:27
he wanted to go out to eat and celebrate. >> Trisha was so proud. She was telling
00:48:31
Bart she was going to jump up and down and scream, "Thank you, Jesus." >> We all celebrated. We laughed. We told
00:48:37
some jokes. We we teased each other and took some pictures and gave Bart his graduation gift, which was an expensive
00:48:45
watch. >> What kind of watch was it? >> It was a Rolex. It was what he'd always wanted. It was just a happy night.
00:48:52
>> After dinner, the Whiters headed home. >> Then unimaginable horror. Four shots fired.
00:49:04
I start praying and I say, "Father, you know, if it's my time to die, I'm ready.
00:49:09
It's okay, but protect my family." And uh it just was awful. >> I saw Kent lying down. I went up to him
00:49:19
and he was shot and he says, "I'm bleeding very badly." >> Neighbor Cliff Stanley, the first person
00:49:27
on the scene, then went to check on Trisha. >> She was still alive, was kind of moaning. I said, "What happened?" And
00:49:34
Trisha said, "He shot us." >> Did she say who he was? >> No. >> Bart was lying in the living room
00:49:43
wounded. As for Kevin, >> I could see Kevin clearly and Kevin was finished. >> Kent, Trisha, and Bart were rushed to
00:49:54
the hospital, but Trisha didn't survive. >> It was horrible. I lost a friend that taught me how to be
00:50:04
a better teacher and a better mother. She was just a really good person and I miss her so much.
00:50:14
[Music] And I remember I walked over to my friend's mom and I just said, "Was it
00:50:20
Kevin?" And I felt her I felt her nod on my on my head. just kind of shook my head and said,
00:50:28
"Okay." >> Detectives spent the day searching. >> By the next day, >> searching for anything turned to anger.
00:50:36
>> Kent in no unclear terms told me he wanted us to catch whoever did this. He was upset. He was hurt.
00:50:41
>> And Bart seemed to share that anger. >> He didn't say much, but he pulled my friend Matt and I to him and he said,
00:50:47
"We're going to find who did it." >> Detective Slaugh continued his routine questioning of the survivors. Bart told
00:50:55
Slot he was about to graduate from Sam Houston State University. But the next day, stunning news.
00:51:02
>> The information had come into the Sugarland Police Department from Sam Houston State University that Bart was
00:51:07
not enrolled as a student. >> Wait a second. He was not a student. >> He was a freshman on academic probation.
00:51:13
>> A freshman? >> Yes, sir. >> Wasn't even a senior. >> Correct. >> So, what do you do with this
00:51:17
information? >> Bells and whistles start going off that why is this kid lying to us? What's he
00:51:20
got to hide? >> What were you thinking? You lied to us about being in school. You weren't even
00:51:26
near graduating. How could you have done that? >> Did you ask Bart why he had lied to you?
00:51:30
Why he had said he was a student at Sam Houston State? >> Yes, sir. He just didn't want to
00:51:34
disappoint his family. He had needed a break. Stressors of school had gotten on him.
00:51:38
>> Then just 5 days after the shooting, another bombshell. >> It was about 11, 11:30 at night. The
00:51:46
sergeant on duty paged me. Said, "Hey, there's somebody here wants to talk to you." Slaugh met the stranger in the
00:51:52
darkened parking lot behind the police station. >> He explained to me that he felt he had
00:51:57
information that was crucial to the investigation. >> The man said that Bart Whitaker wanted
00:52:02
him to help kill his family. [Music] Six days after Trisha and Kevin Whitaker were gunned down at their home, more
00:52:30
than 1,000 friends and family gathered to celebrate their lives. >> So many people.
00:52:38
It was incredible. >> It was a time to share fond memories. Almost every conversation with Trisha
00:52:46
included something about Kent, Bart, and Kevin. >> Kevin was a faithful, loyal friend.
00:52:54
He never compromised anything. >> I loved Kevin so much. I cried with him. I went to senior prom
00:53:02
with him. >> Amid this sadness, >> Bart, I cannot tell you how much Kevin looked
00:53:10
up to you. you were his hero. >> There was also anger. >> This murderer is still out there.
00:53:19
The police need our help. For your own families, for everybody's sake, let's catch him.
00:53:25
>> But what no one here knew. Among the mourners was a man police were closely watching.
00:53:31
>> Your suspicions are focusing on which person? >> Bart. Definitely. That stranger Marshall
00:53:39
Slaugh had met in the police parking lot turned out to be an old friend of Bart's
00:53:45
named Adam Hip. And he told the detective an extraordinary story that Bart had approached him several years
00:53:53
earlier with a detailed plan to kill his family. >> This is a diagram that Adam Hip uh drew
00:54:03
for me during our three-hour long conversation. It called for Adam Hip being the
00:54:10
shooter, shooting the family members as they came in the residence. According to Adam Hip, the plan even
00:54:17
included a twist to fool police. Bart wanted Hip to shoot him in the shoulder so he'd look like a victim, not a
00:54:26
suspect. >> It was unbelievable. So what Adam Hip was telling you was essentially the
00:54:31
blueprint for what happened in 2003, the real shooting, >> the exact blueprint. >> But Bart appeared to have nothing to
00:54:40
hide. He agreed to help detectives by reenacting what happened the night of the shootings.
00:54:46
>> That's when I heard the bang and I don't remember it. I probably would have run
00:54:51
up this morning. >> But Bart's behavior only heightens Slot's suspicions. Everything is very vague. It could have
00:54:59
been this, but it could have been this. >> So, that's about the distance you were
00:55:03
from him when you got shot. >> Yeah, I guess. >> Okay. >> It might have been closer. I don't
00:55:07
really remember. >> The fact that he wasn't able to give me a lot of detail about it just was
00:55:13
unusual to me. >> Police had indicated to you that he was a suspect in this case.
00:55:19
>> Yes. >> Were you wondering at all maybe he had something to do with this? I considered
00:55:25
it but but didn't consider it uh seriously. He promised me that there was nothing to
00:55:32
it, that he did not have anything to do with it, that he loved Trisha and Kevin and me. It was inconceivable.
00:55:40
But after Adam Hip's story, Detective Slaugh felt otherwise. He decided to check out two of Bart Whitaker's closest
00:55:48
friends, Chris Brasher and Steven Champagne. Let's see if he approached any of his
00:55:54
current friends to do this. >> Chris Brashier and Steven Champagne worked with Bart at this country club
00:56:00
just months before the murders. Slaugh asked them to provide what police call scent samples using blood hounds. He
00:56:09
compared those samples to evidence collected at the crime scene. Slaugh hunch paid off
00:56:17
when he got a match. The dogs indicated that Chris Brashier's scent was found on the drawers that had
00:56:23
been moved that night. >> More importantly, Brashier's scent was found on the gun used in the homicides.
00:56:31
>> Bingo. We've got our next prime suspect. >> When Detective [ __ ] grilled Brashier, he
00:56:38
denied any involvement in the shootings. >> We told him we had a definitive link
00:56:43
between him and the murder weapon on the night of the shooting. What have you seen on Brashier's face?
00:56:48
>> Horror. >> Panic. We We struck a nerve with this kid. >> Slaugh was now closing in on Bart
00:56:59
Whitaker. Then one night, 7 months after the shootings, Bart told his dad he was
00:57:07
heading out to a club. >> Bart told me he would see me the next day. And what happened?
00:57:12
>> Well, that was the last I saw him. He disappeared. >> Just fell off the face of the earth.
00:57:18
>> Mhm. >> I was angry. We'd kind of let him get away. That's what I felt like. >> Bart's disappearance was a setback, but
00:57:30
Detective Slot pressed on, focusing on the suspects still in Sugarland, especially Steven Champagne.
00:57:38
>> We stayed on him and stayed on him and stayed on him. Eventually, Champagne cracked.
00:57:45
>> He informed me that he participated in the crime, that Chris Brasher had killed the
00:57:51
family. >> Champagne confessed that he was the getaway driver, Chris Brashier was the
00:57:58
shooter, and that Bart Whitaker was the mastermind behind the plan. >> This was the floodgates opening.
00:58:08
champagne lead slot to a treasure trove of physical evidence. >> He led me to the to the place on the
00:58:14
bridge over Lake Conroe uh where he and Chris Basher had thrown items of evidence,
00:58:21
>> a chisel >> that Chris Basher had used to break into the gun safe, >> ammunition,
00:58:26
>> which happened to be the ammunition that was in the gun, >> two cell phones, >> Bart Whitaker had provided those to them
00:58:32
to use during the course of carrying out the plot. And in September 2005, Sugarland police arrested both Steven
00:58:41
Champagne and Chris Brashier for the murders of Trisha and Kevin Whitaker. But they still didn't know where to find
00:58:52
Bart Whitaker. When Bart Whitaker fled Sugarland, Texas, 7 months after the shootings, he
00:59:10
left behind a community and a father in disbelief. >> As a general rule, people don't run.
00:59:19
They're innocent. >> No, they don't. Oh, it was horrible. It was awful. I just sat down and I just
00:59:24
cried. Like many a desperado before him, Bart headed south into Mexico. He ended up in this tiny village called
00:59:40
Seralvo, about 40 miles from the Texas border. [Music] Bart started his new life here in Salvo
00:59:50
with about $7,000 in cash, money he had stolen from his father's house. He could
00:59:56
speak a little Spanish and soon he had a small apartment in town and a job at a local furniture store. He also had
01:00:04
something else, a new identity. Who is this man? >> Well, I know him as Rudy. >> Gabriella Gutierrez remembers her
01:00:16
American friend named Rudy Rios. How would you describe him? >> Well, he was a friendly person.
01:00:26
He liked to drink. He liked the beer. He liked to go with girls. He was very charming. He had a way with the ladies.
01:00:39
>> I saw him and I said, >> "Wow, he's gorgeous." >> Cindy Lucelenus first saw Bart in church
01:00:47
of all places. >> I don't know. >> I found them very interesting. The guys that I've known,
01:00:55
>> I don't know. He just had something nobody had. >> After Bart and Cindy Lou began dating,
01:01:01
her father, Omro, gave Bart a job at the family's furniture store. What kind of a
01:01:07
worker was he? >> Very good, very obedient. I really liked him and held him in high
01:01:14
esteem. Cindilu's brother, Ubaldo, befriended Bart and was impressed with his stories
01:01:23
of adventure, like the one explaining his bullet wound. He said he got the scar in the
01:01:30
Afghanistan war. He said there was a surprise attack on his group by the Afghanis.
01:01:40
Most of those in his group were killed. He shot at one with his rifle, but there
01:01:48
was another one who got him in the shoulder. >> The entire Selena's family took Bart in
01:01:59
as one of their own, and Bart told them they were the family he never had. [Music]
01:02:12
>> He used to tell me that he was an only child. that he never loved his mother because
01:02:17
his mother never loved him either. And that his mother was a prostitute. He used to say that
01:02:28
his family never gave him the love he wanted. They only gave him money. They ignored him.
01:02:40
For 14 months, Bart Whitaker lived a carefree new life as Rudy Rios >> is Marshall.
01:02:48
>> But it was all about to come to an end. >> To me, he seems like a cool guy, but if
01:02:54
he did that, then he could pay for it. You know what I mean? >> I agree. >> Back in Sugarland, Detective Slaugh got
01:02:59
a phone call >> from the real Rudy Rios. >> He called me an anonymously and said, "I
01:03:06
know where Bart Whitaker is. I helped him get there. Rudy Rios and Bard had worked together
01:03:13
at a Houston restaurant. >> Bard explained to him that there was pressure on him from law enforcement.
01:03:18
Rudy said, "Well, if you ever need any help, let me know. I've got family in Mexico that can help you out."
01:03:24
>> According to Rudy Rios, Bart paid him $3,000 to escort him to Sarvo. But when
01:03:31
word spread of a reward for Bart's capture, the real Rudy looked to get paid again. If there's a reward, you
01:03:39
know, I don't I turn his head in. >> How much? >> $10,000. >> 10,000 bucks. >> So Rudy had dollar signs in his eyes
01:03:46
when he came forward. >> Yes, sir. >> Marshall Slot was there waiting when Mexican authorities dumped Bart back
01:03:54
across the border. >> He glanced at me and then just down to the floor. I don't know if it was a you
01:04:01
got me look, but it was very satisfying to walk in that jail. The first time I saw him when they took
01:04:12
him back from Mexico, I walk in and we're separated by the bulletproof glass. Said, "Well, you look like you're
01:04:19
okay." And he says, "Yes, I am." And he says, "Dad, I'm just so sorry. I'm so sorry for all of it. It's all my fault."
01:04:29
>> And what is the it in that sentence that he was referring? >> The murders. He's responsible for the
01:04:34
murders. Also waiting for Bart were Fort Ben County prosecutors Jeff Strange and Fred
01:04:42
Felchman with an indictment for the murders of his mother and brother. >> It is just the ultimate act of betrayal.
01:04:50
It doesn't get any worse than this. >> Why did he have to kill them? >> One, because that was the way he was
01:04:56
going to inherit $1.5 million. I think also to some extent deep down Bart thinks he's smarter than everybody else
01:05:03
and he just wanted to see if he could get away with the perfect crime. >> Call number 42969
01:05:09
state of Texas versus Thomas >> in Fred Felchman. Bart had an adversary who is one of the toughest nononsense
01:05:18
prosecutors in Texas. >> How would you describe Bart Whitaker? There is a term they use in psych
01:05:26
psycholingo psycho bababel of sociopath. In other words, a person who knows he's
01:05:32
doing something wrong but really doesn't care. The old time Texas thing was that
01:05:36
he's just a mean son of a [ __ ] Okay. >> The defendant will please rise while the
01:05:42
state will present the indictment. >> Because this was a multiple murder, prosecutors will seek the death penalty
01:05:48
for Bart Whitaker. >> Four shots fired, four hits. It's a good, strong case. >> In fact, it's an overwhelming case. So
01:05:57
much so that Bart's defense attorney decides on a unique strategy. He will all but concede that Bart is guilty and
01:06:05
use the trial to try and convince jurors that Bart's life should be spared. And he has a man of unshakable religious
01:06:13
faith in his corner. Even knowing that he'd been guilty and responsible for this, I just can't understand why it's
01:06:22
so necessary to put him to death. >> Did you have any inkling whatsoever, Mr. Whitaker, that your son had been lying
01:06:30
to you? >> Uh, no, I didn't. >> Incredibly, Kent Whitaker has forgiven Bart. >> The first night in the hospital, I
01:06:38
forgave everyone who was involved in this. >> How do you feel today? It is a gift of
01:06:43
God that allows me to do this. I think he gave me that gift so that when I found out that it was my son that it
01:06:53
would be a legitimate forgiveness. The question now is, will a jury be as forgiving?
01:07:08
[Music] Sugarland, Texas has never seen a trial like this. >> This crime affected all of Sugarland.
01:07:23
>> A case of multiple murder. >> Do you deserve to die? >> Where the accused is being passionately
01:07:29
defended by one of the people he tried to kill. If the state pursues the death penalty and receives it, then they will
01:07:36
kill the last surviving member of my family. >> Kent Whitaker believes his son's eternal
01:07:43
soul is at stake. >> I believe as a Christian that God can and does forgive and change people's
01:07:52
hearts. If they are sorry, if they repent, if they ask his forgiveness for real, he will forgive them.
01:07:58
>> Excuse me, please. But Jeff Strange and Fred Felchman say their duty is to uphold Texas law, not God's law.
01:08:07
>> Clint Whitaker's religious faith is genuine. Forgiveness is a big tenant of what he believes and I respect that and
01:08:15
I totally understand that. That's not my job though. >> Does Bart Whitaker deserve the death
01:08:21
penalty? >> Yes. He meets a criteria we have in the state of Texas. He is a continuing
01:08:26
threat. He intentionally caused these people's death and there is nothing mitigating about him. He wasn't abused.
01:08:32
He wasn't surrounded by crime. I find it hard to believe anybody wouldn't think he deserved it.
01:08:37
>> All rise. >> 3 years after Trisha and Kevin's murders, Bart Whitaker's trial gets
01:08:43
underway. Prosecutors present crime scene analysis, forensic evidence, and eyewitness accounts.
01:08:52
But it's the testimony of Steven Champagne, one of Bart's alleged accompllices, >> that everyone in the courtroom is
01:09:01
waiting to hear. >> What are you charged with? >> Capital murder. >> Champagne says two months before the
01:09:07
shootings, Bart offered both him and Chris Brashier a cut of a million dollar insurance policy to help kill the
01:09:15
Whitaker family. The conversation was about when the family came back from eating dinner that
01:09:22
Chris would be in the house and shoot them. >> On the night of the attack, Champagne
01:09:28
was waiting in the getaway car when Chris Basher quickly got inside. >> I asked him what happened. He told me
01:09:35
that he had shot all of them. >> Defense attorney Randy McDonald can do little except attack champagne for
01:09:43
agreeing to kill for money. And it really didn't bother you that three other human beings would be killed so
01:09:51
you could have a better lifestyle. The way that I looked at it was they weren't human.
01:09:58
>> As prosecutors build their case, more shocking details emerge. Investigators learn the 2003 attack wasn't the first
01:10:07
time Bart had tried to kill his family. He had made at least three other attempts using other friends as
01:10:15
recruits. >> Was it just a general conversation? I want to kill my family. I want you to
01:10:22
help me. >> Yes, sir. >> In December 2000, Bart approached his college roommates Will Anthony and
01:10:29
Justin Peters. >> I was supposed to as they entered the home uh shoot the family. Sir, Will, who
01:10:37
was supposed to actually go into the house, was he going to be given anything to hide his identity?
01:10:42
>> Yes, he was given uh black pants and black shirt and a ski mask. >> By who? >> Bart.
01:10:51
>> Peters and Anthony actually made it to the Whitaker home. As planned, Will Anthony went to open a back window.
01:11:00
>> Uh, as soon as I touched it, sir, to try to open it, an alarm went off. The two
01:11:05
men fled, but Bart Whitaker wasn't scared off. Two months later, he approached another friend with another
01:11:14
plan. Remember Adam Hip, Bart's old friend turned police informant? >> Under oath, Hip publicly admits that he
01:11:23
too once agreed to help kill the Whitaker family. >> Why' you say yes? >> You know, I don't I don't know.
01:11:35
I'm not proud of it, but for the simple fact, I was kind of interested to see how far he would take it.
01:11:40
>> We're going, "Huh? These were kind of people you would think this is what you
01:11:45
want your son to be, goes to college, gets a banking job, stuff like this." >> All American boys.
01:11:50
>> All American boys. >> Like Bart, all three young men came from wellto-do families.
01:11:56
>> Clean cut kind of all American kids. Justin Peters had been a National Merit Scholar. I just could not see how this
01:12:03
happened. >> Besides money, prosecutor Fred Felchman believes Bart Whitaker is a gifted liar
01:12:10
and manipulator. >> He would actually seek out people, okay? He would seek out the ones that are a
01:12:16
little maybe a little weaker that he got to know a little bit better that had some investment in him.
01:12:24
Bart's second plan to murder his family with the aid of Adam Hip never went beyond talk. But by April 2001, Bart had
01:12:34
hatched yet a third plot. >> So Bart Whitaker was a determined young man. >> Absolutely.
01:12:42
>> This time the plan unraveled after Jennifer Jaffet, a college acquaintance of Barts, found out about it.
01:12:50
>> I asked Bart if he was seriously going to let this happen. >> And how did he react to that? He came up
01:12:57
to me and he gave me a hug and whispered in my ear that everything was going to be okay.
01:13:03
>> You call the police? >> I did call the police. >> Police in turn notified Kent and Trisha.
01:13:10
>> It was just the far outest thing that you can conceive of. And we immediately
01:13:17
said, "There's no way." >> Bart told his parents it was all a misunderstanding. In retrospect, you
01:13:25
say, "What a idiot. How could you possibly have not seen this?" But the truth is,
01:13:34
uh, we didn't know they were lies. Even after his wife and youngest son were murdered two years later, Kent
01:13:43
still refused to believe that Bart was capable of such evil. >> Aren't you putting two and two together
01:13:49
here and saying maybe Bart's responsible for this? Perhaps I should have, but I didn't.
01:13:56
>> Do you believe this crime could have been prevented if people had paid attention to these warning signs?
01:14:01
>> Look at the actions of Bart Whitaker. You're already caught. All right. But you still proceed to it and you still go
01:14:10
through it. Now, you tell me where along this line with Bart Whitaker do you think it's
01:14:16
going to stop? >> You were excused. Bart Whitaker's trial lasted 7 days, but the jury deliberates
01:14:24
just two hours. >> 64.9. We have a verdict in 400. >> Returning with a verdict everyone was
01:14:30
expecting. >> We the jury do hereby find the defendant Thomas Bartlett Whitaker guilty of the
01:14:39
offense of capital murder as charged in the indictment. >> But the real drama of this case, the
01:14:47
punishment phase. Now, for the first time, Bart Whitaker will speak openly about his obsession with killing his
01:14:55
family. I feel horrible about myself, what I've done. This is daunting. My son's life is
01:15:16
hanging in the balance. The punishment phase of Bart Whitaker's trial is underway.
01:15:22
>> Just follow me. >> And his father, Kent, hopes he can persuade the jury to forgive Bart as he
01:15:29
has. >> Ladies and gentlemen, the jury may not have the same faith. They may not have
01:15:37
the same beliefs about what should happen to somebody. But is it your desire that they assess a life sentence
01:15:44
in this case? It has been from the start and it still is. >> Would uh Trisha feel the same way?
01:15:50
>> I promise you, yes. She would have been appalled that this this um that um the
01:15:56
state chose to pursue the death penalty in this case. >> But it will take more than the wishes of
01:16:02
Cantor Trisha to spare their son's life. >> Call your next witness. >> Bart Whitaker. He needs to be sworn.
01:16:09
>> Please stand before the clerk to be sworn. To everyone's surprise, Bart decides to put his fate in his own hands
01:16:17
and speak directly to the jury. >> I am 100% guilty for this. I put the plan in motion. If I had not done so, it
01:16:26
would not have happened. >> And do you realize that you robbed your mother of a full life?
01:16:32
>> Yes. >> You robbed Kevin of a full life? >> Yes. >> You actually even robbed your father of
01:16:39
a full life. Do you feel any remorse for this? >> Yes. >> Yes, sir. I do. >> Who's who do you feel remorse for? I
01:16:48
>> feel remorse for everyone involved, starting with my dad, my mom, and my brother and my wife.
01:17:00
>> Everyone I've ever met in my life, I feel sorry for having come in contact with me.
01:17:05
>> Bart is finally asked the question on everyone's mind. Can you answer the question why?
01:17:14
>> No, sir. I've come up with a lot of the reasons for how I how I got to where I was going, but they
01:17:22
do not explain it. I always felt that whatever love they sent me was conditional on
01:17:30
on a standard that I just never felt I could reach. >> Bart Whitaker claims that he felt
01:17:35
unloved, felt he couldn't live up to his parents expectations. I heard all that crap, too. There's no evidence
01:17:41
whatsoever this family ever did anything to him. They loved him unconditionally.
01:17:47
>> I think he came to the decision that, you know, I hate myself. I hate this life I'm in. If there's just some way I
01:17:54
can get out of it. Maybe if my family was gone, I could be free of this and live a real life. For Bart's life to be
01:18:03
spared, he must convince the jury he is no longer a threat to anyone in or out of prison.
01:18:11
>> Do you have any designs on any conduct that would in any way, shape, or form hurt another individual?
01:18:18
>> No. The only people I've ever hated, and I know it was not for the right reasons,
01:18:22
but the only people I ever hated were my parents or my brother. Fact, the irony of it all is that your
01:18:29
dad is actually the one that's come to your rescue and put you back on trial. >> He's become my best friend the last
01:18:34
year. >> Past witness. >> Mr. Gman, I assume you're going to be a while. >> It's a good chance.
01:18:44
>> Fred Felchman has waited nearly 2 years for this moment. >> Your mother loved you. It's her whole
01:18:52
life was you and Kevin. But then you tell me you never felt loved by your parents.
01:19:00
>> Yes, sir. >> Do you find anything scary about this? >> I find something tragic about it and
01:19:06
>> tragic that I've got a defendant who's that out of touch with reality. >> Felchman wants to convince the jury that
01:19:12
Bart Whitaker's disconnect with reality makes him dangerous. If somebody interacts with Bart Whitaker, he can be
01:19:21
on a totally innocent basis and you decide to perceive it different. You could kill that person.
01:19:27
>> No, I could not. >> You killed your mother and brother on totally false circumstances.
01:19:32
>> I was a different person then. >> Felchman reminds the jury of the lives Bart took. Did
01:19:39
>> you see your brother when you ran? >> Yes, I did. >> He was gurgling in his own blood.
01:19:49
You know, I watched this whole trial. You've never cried until now? I >> I did earlier.
01:19:54
>> Why are you crying now? It's a >> horrible memory. >> Bart tries one last time to convince
01:20:00
Felchman and the jury that he has changed. >> Do you believe a person can't be sorry
01:20:05
for the things they did? >> No, I think they can be, Mr. Whitaker. But I don't think you are. I think
01:20:11
you're sorry you got caught and now you're trying to figure out how to get out of the death zone.
01:20:18
[Music] It's now up to the jury to decide. >> I was holding out for a life sentence. I
01:20:27
thought that he wanted his parents dead. He had done what he set out to do, so I
01:20:33
didn't feel he was a threat. >> We gathered five members of the jury to tell us about their deliberation.
01:20:39
>> His goal this time was his family, but who knows what his next goal would have
01:20:43
been, and that scared me. The picture of him and his mom and his brother sitting
01:20:47
there eating and he's sitting there smiling knowing that they're going to be killed in a few minutes. What did that
01:20:52
tell you about Bart? That told me that the probability of him doing it again was great.
01:20:57
>> I just knew that u he would do this again. >> It took jurors only 10 hours to reach a
01:21:05
verdict. >> The court does at this time upon those verdicts determine that you be sentenced
01:21:10
to death. Bart Whitaker is to die. What did that do to you inside? >> The feeling was a great deal of
01:21:19
disappointment. >> My heart breaks for Kent Whitaker, but I wondered what kind of relationship he
01:21:24
had with his son. >> I fell for the man. I really did. But but we had to follow the law.
01:21:30
>> Someday Bart Whitaker is going to die. >> It's not our fault. >> No, he Whitaker's fault. Without Bart
01:21:36
Whitaker, none of this would have happened. Clark has taken it upon himself to teach
01:21:41
Kevin how to ride the bicycle. >> Despite all that he now knows Kent Whitaker says he will never abandon his
01:21:49
son. >> Trish and Kevin, I miss them, but they're in heaven. And I'm going to heaven and I have
01:21:56
no doubts about that. I want Bart up there, too. >> Someday in the future, you're going to
01:22:02
get a phone call from somebody to tell you that Bart Whitaker has been put to death.
01:22:06
>> Yeah. What will that de be like for you, do you think? Um, >> been through that before. There will be
01:22:11
a certain sadness, but it won't be for Bard Whitaker. It will be for the father. It will also be a sense of
01:22:17
satisfaction, too, though. Justice had been done on this case. [Music] [Music] [Music]
01:23:25
I'll never forget that day. Something sinister happened. Something unimaginable.
01:23:36
>> My cell phone rings and it's Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. Sheriff says to me, "Glenn, I'm calling about
01:23:44
Jeff Gman." And he says, "Jeff's dead." >> Just like that. >> Just like that. Jeff Garman was found dead with stab
01:23:57
wounds outside his home around 10:30 yesterday morning. >> Metro police are asking for the public's
01:24:03
help. They're saying this is the suspect. >> I couldn't even believe what I had so
01:24:09
many questions. Who would do this? I mean, how did this happen? >> Just how big a list of people might have
01:24:20
wanted Jeff dead? That's a line of people that runs from here to Los Angeles. This guy's written about terrible people
01:24:30
who've done awful things for over 40 years. >> The worst kinds of people. >> They called him Tony the Ant, but Tony
01:24:39
Spalaka was a big figure in the mafia. >> He had a special interest in covering organized crime.
01:24:45
>> You know, he was gutsy and fearless. Jeff Garman was guided by an innate sense of right and wrong.
01:24:57
If he knew someone was engaging in criminal activity, unethical activity, inappropriate behavior,
01:25:10
he wanted to do that story. He wanted to bring it to light. >> We couldn't believe he would even take a
01:25:16
call from us, but he did. Give me a sense of what state you were in when you called Jeff Gar.
01:25:24
>> We were desperate in fear every day. >> It was just survival. One step in front
01:25:29
of the other, one day at a time. >> The only person that listened to us and the only person that tried to do
01:25:36
something that concretely put their name on the line to try to do something that
01:25:40
listened to us >> was was Jeff Gar. >> Was Jeff. He did something and he fought for us
01:25:46
and he is 100% our hero. And if I was to talk to him today, I think the first thing I would say is I'm sorry.
01:25:57
[Music] As Jeff's editor, his colleague, did you ever sense any danger in covering this
01:26:07
story? There was absolutely no suggestion, no hint that this would end the way it
01:26:14
did. None [Music] [Music] On September 2nd, 2022, it was a boiling hot late summer day in
01:27:17
Las Vegas and people were getting ready for the Labor Day weekend. It was late morning when in broad
01:27:27
daylight something terrible happened. As investigative journalists for the Las Vegas Review Journal,
01:27:38
Brianna Ericson and Ronda PR had seen a lot of bad people do a lot of bad things,
01:27:47
but nothing came close to the Machia plot to murder their friend and colleague Jeff Gar.
01:27:54
>> Jeff Garman was at his house on vacation. He'd gone out to get something to eat.
01:28:00
He came back, shut his garage door. You could see in the surveillance video from across the street that someone, an
01:28:09
asalant, came into his yard, went to the left side of his house, went inside the gate,
01:28:15
shut the gate, and then we see Jeff moments later opening his garage door and he was
01:28:25
instantly ambushed when he turned the corner to where that person was lying in weight.
01:28:32
In the video, you can kind of see a struggle, but Jeff ultimately falls to the ground
01:28:40
and he never gets up. >> What happened to him in that attack? >> Jeff was stabbed.
01:28:48
He was stabbed seven times. Four times in the neck, three in the torso. Seven stab wounds. Did that suggest what
01:29:00
kind of a killing this was? >> To me, this was a very personal attack to stab someone in such a short time,
01:29:07
viciously, seven times with no warning. >> A concerned neighbor found Jeff Garman's
01:29:15
body hidden behind some bushes 24 hours later. >> 911 emergency 1 965. Do you need police,
01:29:23
fire, medical? I have a neighbor across the street from me and he's laying in the sideyard.
01:29:30
>> Um I believe he's dead. He's got blood over him. >> It was just a terrible thing to know
01:29:36
that he was lying there and we wondered whether he could have been saved, but medical experts told us later that he
01:29:42
likely died within a minute or two. It was a small mercy for a man who had spent his life fighting for the
01:29:52
underdog. At the base, he just wanted to help people and protect people, you know, and expose wrongdoing.
01:30:00
[Music] >> From the start, Jeff Garman was shooting for big game. And when he came from
01:30:08
Wisconsin in the 70s, Vegas was the Serengeti. Mark Fiero, a TV reporter at the time,
01:30:16
became a lifelong friend and trusted source. >> Jeff Garin at the outset was a a
01:30:23
reporter who caught the most important beat in Las Vegas of his day. That was organized crime.
01:30:32
>> Then a reporter for the Las Vegas Sun, Jeff took on one of the biggest, meanest
01:30:37
mobsters on the strip. A prime target of the feds is Tony Spelatro, the outfit's
01:30:42
representative in Vegas. Spelatro >> Tony Spelatro, a power player for the Chicago mob, played by Joe Peshy in
01:30:50
Scorsese's film Casino. >> You said I'm bringing heat on you. >> Here's Jeff Garman talking about
01:30:57
Spelatro in the podcast Mobbed Up. >> He had a reputation for being a brutal killer, yet he was never convicted of a
01:31:05
single murder. a podcast Jeff made about a year before he died. >> He had the coldest eyes I've ever seen.
01:31:13
In my stories, I got used to calling Spelatro by his street name, Tony the Ant. He hated that and it sometimes left
01:31:22
me at the receiving end of Spelro's nasty stairs and his menacing fits of anger. The irony of all of this is is
01:31:30
that Jeff was not a tall man, was not a strong man, but he toughed it out and he
01:31:36
went toe-to-toe with these guys year in and year out. And some of these guys were dangerous guys.
01:31:41
>> Try as they did, they couldn't scare him, says Briana. >> After his tires had been slashed and
01:31:49
some spooky things were happening to him, he told a mob affiliate in a bar to call off his dogs. Then he got punched
01:31:57
in the face. He later described that as a badge of honor. >> A couple of hours later, with four
01:32:04
stitches under my lip, I had a war story to tell. As the mob slowly lost its grip on
01:32:11
Vegas, Jeff built a career exposing dirty business, government corruption, and crime. Rhonda, the former assistant
01:32:20
managing editor for investigations at the R.J, worked with him for three years. He kept digging and digging and
01:32:27
digging and he was like the dog, the little dog that would take a bite of your pants and wouldn't let go. You
01:32:33
know, he was just so laser focused on continuing to go deeper and deeper and deeper into a story.
01:32:40
>> That tenacity helped him expose the truth in stories that could have remained in the shadows. He was one of
01:32:47
the few journalists along with his colleague David Ferrara to report on the Susan Winters case, a woman whose
01:32:54
parents doubted the suicide ruling in their daughter's death. And Jeff started putting pieces together, working with
01:33:03
the attorney for the family that the way that she killed herself was so unsemly that it just didn't add up. And once he
01:33:11
started and he started pulling on that thread and then he started pulling on a rope and then it turned into a chain.
01:33:17
>> That chain turned into a series of stories that targeted the husband. Turns out Susan died from ingesting a lethal
01:33:25
combination of painkillers and antifreeze. The husband, who was charged with murder, ultimately pleaded guilty
01:33:33
to voluntary manslaughter and was sent to prison. As hard charging and public as Jeff was
01:33:45
in his work life, the lifelong bachelor was notoriously private about his personal life.
01:33:52
>> He was always back to business. Back to business. This man was born to be a reporter.
01:33:58
>> A man who lived for his job and as it turns out, a man who may have died for it.
01:34:05
The entire newsroom rallied together. His colleagues had no idea who did this or why,
01:34:13
but they were determined to do what Jeff Garin would have done. Find out. [Music]
01:34:29
[Music] The RJ staff was in mourning, their sorrow in full display on Jeff Garman's desk.
01:34:45
It's a reminder that this team is not going to be the same without him, but we can carry on
01:34:53
the way he would want us to. >> And that meant doing what he would have done. The staff started tugging on threads and
01:35:03
searching for clues, working nonstop on one of the most important stories of their careers. Who killed Jeff Garman?
01:35:13
Immediately I started thinking in my head, all right, who had threatened Jeff in any way in the last 5 months? Who
01:35:19
could have possibly done this? >> Executive editor Glenn Cook asked Rhonda to come up with a short list of people
01:35:27
to consider. >> One of the names I gave him was Robert Telus. >> And who is Robert Telus? He was a clerk
01:35:35
county elected official in charge of the public administrator's office, which handles estates of people who were
01:35:42
deceased. >> One of the estate coordinators in Telus's office, Alicia Goodwin, had
01:35:47
reached out to Jeff Garman in March of 2022. She had filed a formal complaint with the Clark County Office of
01:35:54
Diversity on behalf of herself and some colleagues, claiming Robert Telus harassed, bullied, and discriminated
01:36:02
against them. >> He was a horrible the horrible human being. Monster is the right word.
01:36:09
>> But Alicia says the county did nothing. >> It was always he's an elected official.
01:36:13
There's nothing we can do. Jeff agreed to hear what Alicia and her colleagues Narin Pagdangan, Rita Reed,
01:36:22
and Jessica Coleman had to say. >> And when he finally talked to us and he let us tell what had happened to us, and
01:36:30
he said, "No, I'm going to look into this." I I think that's the only thing that gave us enough energy to keep
01:36:36
going. According to the women, the trouble began almost immediately after Robert Telus took
01:36:45
office in January 2019. Rita, a supervisor, was his second in command and a 12-year veteran of the
01:36:55
office. >> He came in very abruptly into the office and he slammed his palms down on my desk
01:37:01
with a with a real loud bang >> like a >> Oh, yes. Absolutely. and he leaned forward and he said, "We're ripping off
01:37:08
the bandage. You no longer supervise anyone. No one reports to you. They all report to me." And he turned around and
01:37:16
he walked out and I just sat there stunned. >> The women say they were ordered not to
01:37:23
speak to each other in the office. >> It It felt dangerous to even have a hello, good morning conversation with
01:37:30
co-workers in passing. If caught, the consequences could be severe, says Alicia. She remembers getting called
01:37:37
into Telus's office after he saw her and two other women talking. >> We walked into his office and he said,
01:37:46
"Sit down and shut up. You're not going to talk. I'm going to talk." And he just
01:37:54
got this look on his face. He sit back and he pointed at Narrain and said, "You." What was it like to be in that
01:38:00
room and receiving that? >> It was scary because I did not want to upset him because I knew how he could
01:38:09
be. >> Despite years of service, all the women say they feared for their jobs. And
01:38:16
Jessica, who safeguarded the property of the deceased in a caged room, says she feared for her physical safety. She says
01:38:24
Telus would sometimes come in and threaten her. There was an instance where he got in my
01:38:32
face and you know he's yelling and I'm sort of backed up against um the cage door.
01:38:40
>> He was trying to physically intimidate you. >> Yes. Yes. He would bring his chairs up
01:38:44
really close and and demand that you really pay attention and look him in the eye while he told you horrible things.
01:38:50
>> One of those horrible things says Jessica almost did her in alone in the cage together. She says Telus started by
01:38:59
saying that he noticed she never talked to anyone in the office. A bizarre comment considering his no talking rule.
01:39:07
>> And he goes, "If you keep going down this road, you're going to be like our cases and you're just going to die alone
01:39:15
and nobody's going to find you." And I sat there and cried. Um and then after that, it's hard to admit. Then I started
01:39:24
um thinking the best thing I could do would be to sacrifice myself for the girls. And I had actually picked out a
01:39:32
place um that I was going to hang myself in the vault in view of the door because
01:39:37
he would always come by and and make sure I was working and I thought this will be good. If they have to find me
01:39:45
this way, then the county will have to do something. Mercifully, Jessica realized that was
01:39:53
not the solution to the problem. But they came up with another plan. The women believed Telus was having an
01:40:00
inappropriate relationship with a subordinate in the office named Roberta. >> Roberta, they claimed used that
01:40:09
relationship to assume power and privilege beyond her job title. Is there any doubt in your mind that the two of
01:40:17
them were having a romantic affair? >> No. Absolutely not. >> None whatsoever? >> No.
01:40:23
>> But they needed proof. >> So they decided to follow them. >> We had seen a pattern. Short dress day.
01:40:32
If they went the same direction, we knew that we needed to go. >> It was always to the same place, says
01:40:42
Alicia. a parking garage in a nearby mall. The alleged lovers would park next to
01:40:50
each other. >> We started to take pictures and we started to video. >> That's Roberta's car on the left. Robert
01:40:57
Telles's on the right. >> So, how did you position yourselves where you could get some video?
01:41:03
>> Very carefully. >> Very. Yeah. >> In a car. >> Sometimes in a car. Sometimes we would
01:41:08
get out of our car. There were there were kind of some cutouts and pillars where you could get angles here and
01:41:13
there and we just tried to move around and to get the best that we could. >> According to the women, the alleged
01:41:21
lovers would ultimately end up in the back seat of Roberta's car. >> Robera has said that they would sit in
01:41:28
the back seat because she wanted to be able to make eye contact with him as they were having
01:41:33
>> important office discussions. >> Yeah, >> that is what she said. and and >> Okay. And your reaction to that?
01:41:41
>> Well, that last video we got, we had a little better recorder. You can see the
01:41:46
the shadows and you can see those heads going together. We felt it was so inappropriate,
01:41:54
>> but this was the shot they believed was the most telling. Roberta leaving the
01:41:59
car and smoothing down her dress. >> It was so unbelievable. And it just took a moment to to digest that it would I
01:42:09
mean at that moment it was like so real. >> After seeing the videos, Jeff asked Roberta about them. She responded, "I
01:42:19
have not had an inappropriate relationship with him." The R.J. published the story. Let me
01:42:28
read the lead in this first article. The Clark County Public Administrator's Office has been mired in turmoil and
01:42:36
internal dissension over the past two years with allegations of emotional stress, bullying, and favoritism leading
01:42:44
to secret video taping of the boss and a co-orker outside the office. That story
01:42:51
went all over the state of Nevada and before long over the country. As this settled in, are you thinking mission
01:43:00
accomplished or are you thinking what's going to happen to us next? >> Both. >> Yeah. The terror didn't stop. The terror
01:43:10
almost just got worse. It just changed face. [Music] Jeff Garman's story with its allegations
01:43:32
of turmoil, bullying, and hostility had a swift and searing effect at the public
01:43:39
administrator's office. The county finally sent in an outside consultant, and Robert Telus lost his bid for
01:43:47
reelection in the primary, ironically, to his archeneemy, Rita Reed. But Jeff wasn't through with Robert Telus yet. He
01:43:57
wrote three more scathing pieces chronicling the fall of the once upandcoming young Democrat. And another
01:44:04
story was in the works. But Jeff Garman did not survive to write it. >> Jeff Garman was found stabbed to death
01:44:13
outside his home in the northwest. When news of Jeff's murder broke, the women Jeff had fought for were overcome with
01:44:19
grief, but also dread, afraid of what they may have unleashed. Alicia's dad, a former Las Vegas police detective who
01:44:29
introduced her to Jeff, said what they were all thinking. My dad called me first thing in the morning
01:44:37
and said that Jeff had been killed. And I didn't even get to react before my dad's
01:44:44
next word were, "I know who my first suspect is." Soon as those words came out of his mouth, I knew immediately,
01:44:51
too. >> That it was Robert. >> That it was Robert. >> The staff at the Las Vegas Review
01:44:58
Journal was wondering the same thing. Could Robert Telus have been involved? The journalistic hounds are are
01:45:06
released, right? >> Yes. We weren't going to do anything until every little rock was overturned
01:45:11
and every little fact was found out about what what this guy was and who he was.
01:45:15
>> Art Kaine, now the investigation's editor, was a reporter at the time. >> And we started finding out a lot of
01:45:22
interesting things about him. For example, he was arrested while he was public administrator for choking his
01:45:28
wife. >> Can you please send somebody here? My husband is going crazy trying to >> There's body cam video that we have
01:45:33
obtained of that. >> Who did I hit? >> Cameras. >> Our cameras are on. >> But you guys want to take me down cuz
01:45:41
I'm a public official. >> Talis slurring his words. Was arrested for domestic battery and resisting
01:45:48
arrest. >> There is sufficient evidence to book me right now. >> There is sufficient evidence to book you
01:45:53
right now. Yes. >> And I'm I'm not trying to be like I'm public official. So, you know, do what I
01:45:58
want you to do. I'm saying I'm not a idiot. >> Mhm. >> He received a suspended 90-day sentence
01:46:06
on the resisting charge and was ordered to attend a corrective thinking class. >> The battery charge was dismissed.
01:46:15
>> No one ever heard about it because no one covers DUIs and domestics. And that
01:46:20
flew under the radar. Looking back, there were other warning signs, says Brianna, such as these. A
01:46:28
series of tweets Telus posted in response to Jeff's reporting. >> Read that one for me.
01:46:35
>> Looking forward to lying smearpiece number four by JGarman RJ #tick pony. I think he's mad that I haven't crawled
01:46:45
into a hole and died. Laughing emoji. >> What did you think of that one? somebody who's pretty pissed off.
01:46:57
>> But the journalists knew angry tweets didn't prove anything. They needed facts. And facts were hard to come by.
01:47:06
All they had were these two still surveillance photographs the police had released of the suspect in Jeff's
01:47:14
neighborhood. The outfit, bizarre as it seems, may have been a strategic choice,
01:47:20
says Art. >> The outfit is very typical of what um construction workers and people who do
01:47:27
landscaping wear because they want to cover up all their skin from the sun. >> When the police released a surveillance
01:47:34
video, Review Journal photographer Kevin Cannon immediately noticed something the
01:47:39
big hat and orange reflective shirt couldn't hide. the man's walk, his gate. >> How would you describe that gate?
01:47:49
>> It's a It's a bit of a a limp in a favor on one side, it seems. >> Kevin went digging in his files and
01:47:56
found this, a walking shot he had taken of Robert Telus when Jeff interviewed him at his office. The staff compared
01:48:04
both videos side by side. >> I'm not sure how to describe it, but it was definitely the identical gate in my
01:48:12
mind. Kevin then went through hundreds of still photos he had taken that day and found this.
01:48:19
>> It's a very chilling photo and it's the one and only photo where Jeff and Telus
01:48:23
are in the same photo. >> Executive editor Glenn Cook says his staff moved forward on the operating
01:48:30
theory that Robert Telus could have been the killer, but they still didn't have hard evidence.
01:48:38
Then the police released this, a photo of the suspect's car, a maroon Yukon Denali.
01:48:46
>> Show me what you did. >> But you just type in the address. You pull up the Google Street View.
01:48:51
>> Assistant city editor David Ferrara immediately typed Telus's home address into Google Earth.
01:48:59
And if you zoom in on the house, that maroon vehicle is there parked in the driveway.
01:49:07
>> The maroon SUV was registered to tell us his wife. >> And at that moment, we send reporters
01:49:14
and photographers straight to the house. And the message I give our metro editor
01:49:20
is, "Do not engage. Do not approach. Do not be seen. This man is very likely a suspect in the murder of your colleague
01:49:30
and we can't predict how he's going to react to anyone being near him. >> But the photographer crouching behind
01:49:37
his dashboard managed to get what he came for. >> And is this the picture that is taken?
01:49:44
>> That's the photo. >> This is the money photo. >> It's the money shot. Robert Telus on a
01:49:52
scorching hot 110 degree day is in jeans in his driveway washing the maroon GMC Yukon Denali.
01:50:04
>> This must have been a moment where I don't know if there's any cheering going
01:50:07
on in your newsroom, but what a development. What does this mean? >> Well, it means that possibly Jeff was
01:50:14
killed by the last story he wrote about. I mean, this was his last investigation
01:50:19
and and the suspect appears to be the guy he wrote about and basically took him out of office.
01:50:26
>> Without corroboration from police documents, the Review Journal couldn't go with the story. But Glenn Cook was
01:50:32
betting it wouldn't be long. His reporters had seen unmarked police cars outside Robert Telis's home.
01:50:41
We have every reason to believe at this point that it's only a matter of time before a search warrant is going to be
01:50:47
executed at that house. A search that will uncover crucial evidence. As the investigators geared up to serve
01:51:08
Robert Telus with a search warrant, the Review Journal needed to be sure it would be the first to break the news. It
01:51:17
was important because Jeff was always first and we wouldn't want to let him down and not be the first.
01:51:23
>> We polish that story and then we sit on it until police move in. >> In the early morning of September 7th,
01:51:32
2022, just 5 days after Jeff Garman's murder, Telus was brought in for questioning as
01:51:40
police searched his home and cars. While he was in custody, detectives collected
01:51:46
a DNA sample from Talis. They also took the jeans he was wearing into evidence and gave him a white paper suit to
01:51:54
change into before he was taken back to his house and swarmed by reporters eagerly awaiting his arrival.
01:52:03
>> Did you do this? Did you Did you do this? Tell us anything. Inside Telles's home, investigators say
01:52:11
they found gym shoes and a duffel bag similar to what was seen in the surveillance video. And when they looked
01:52:17
in the garage, detectives say they discovered even more. A straw sun hat or what was left of it.
01:52:25
>> The sun hat. >> The sun hat >> cut up into pieces. >> Yes. But police say the most crucial piece of
01:52:32
evidence would come from the DNA sample that was taken from Telus earlier that day.
01:52:40
>> We received positive DNA results that showed Robert Telus's DNA at the crime scene.
01:52:46
>> Telus's DNA was under Jeff's fingernails. There's no doubt in my mind that Jeff knew exactly what was
01:52:54
happening in that split second and he made sure he got the evidence. With a DNA match apparently secured, the
01:53:04
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department descended on Robert Telles's home once again and began clearing the area for an
01:53:13
arrest. >> And this is where he was arrested. >> Yes. Review Journal photographer Kevin
01:53:18
Cannon was one of dozens of media who had been waiting outside Telus's home that day.
01:53:24
>> What happens when the cops arrive? >> Suddenly the police said, "Okay, everybody out." They kicked the entire
01:53:30
news. Everyone who was here out where do you go? So, I made a beline to the front
01:53:36
door of a neighbor who I befriended earlier when I arrived. And they, without saying a word, opened the door
01:53:41
and welcomed me in and walked me to their backyard where I could have a view of Telus' house.
01:53:45
>> And you could still see the house from your your vantage. Yeah. >> Back in the R.J. newsroom, some of the
01:53:52
staff anxiously kept up with what was happening at the scene through the offic's police radio and heard that
01:53:59
Telus refused to come out of his home. Our target is still calm on the uh phone. However, he has made a couple 405
01:54:07
comments. >> 405 comments, a code Las Vegas police use to indicate comments associated with
01:54:15
self harm. >> It was kind of scary at that point. We were thinking, is is this all going to
01:54:22
end on his terms now? Based on the 405 comments, we're going to go ahead and make the official
01:54:29
request for Slo. >> Well, my colleagues heard through the scanner that they were going to move in
01:54:35
because he had cut himself and they wanted to save him before he harmed himself more
01:54:39
>> and they wanted to get to him. >> Right. >> The SWAT team made its move and that's
01:54:45
when Kevin got ready. And so you were positioned, you were ready to go then, >> right? I was ready to go the whole time.
01:54:51
I mean, I had my finger on the button the whole time. >> Where do you look? What do you see
01:54:56
behind you? >> Well, I see them rolling him out on a stretcher down around that corner down
01:55:02
that path out the driveway and put in an amulet right here. >> Kevin was the only photographer that day
01:55:10
to capture Telus's dramatic arrest. His image of Telus on the stretcher made the
01:55:16
front page of the Review Journal the following morning. The next day I uh opened the paper and there was the photo
01:55:24
on the front page with the banner headline stunning arrest and and I it was stunning
01:55:30
>> and satisfying for you after all that. >> Very satisfying. It >> becomes huge news obviously all over the
01:55:36
country. >> A reporter allegedly killed by a politician for a story he wrote. >> That's pretty unheard of.
01:55:47
After Telus was treated at the hospital for his self-inflicted injuries, he was booked into the Clark County Detention
01:55:54
Center. 6 weeks later, Telus was indicted by a grand jury for murder with use of a deadly weapon.
01:56:03
>> How do you plead guilty or not guilty? >> Not guilty, your honor. Soon after, evidence from the grand jury
01:56:09
was released by the Clark County District Court, including that grainy surveillance attack video.
01:56:18
>> I think probably what we found some of the most disturbing is the last three videos.
01:56:23
>> Minutes later, it shows the asalent returning to the scene of the crime and parking that maroon Yukon Denali in
01:56:31
front of Jeff's driveway. And now you'll see him walk over and make sure that Jeff is dead.
01:56:39
>> And you're theorizing he is checking to see >> if he's dead because obviously Jeff saw
01:56:44
this this person. >> He wants to make sure that there's not a witness that's still alive.
01:56:49
>> Seemingly satisfied, the suspect walked back to his car and left. Since his arrest, Talis has been in jail
01:56:59
awaiting trial. Did you murder Jeff Gar? [Music] >> Hey, Robert. >> Good morning. We met Robert Telus for a
01:57:22
video interview at the Clark County Detention Center and began with the question on everyone's mind.
01:57:30
>> Did you murder Jeff Gmer? >> No sir, I did not. >> If you did not commit this murder, who
01:57:37
did? >> I will reserve that for trial. >> You have said that you were framed. >> Do you stand by that in this
01:57:45
conversation? >> I do. I absolutely do. Telus says he can explain the evidence against him. The torn up sun hat, the
01:57:56
Yukon Denali, and his DNA under Jeff's fingernails. >> I say that that evidence or so-called
01:58:05
evidence was planted along with the other items that were allegedly found in my home as well. And we will go ahead
01:58:12
and prove that at trial. >> How could someone who is trying to frame you plant your DNA under his
01:58:18
fingernails? How would that have have happened? They first they would have had to have gotten your DNA and then when
01:58:25
would they have planted it under his fingernails? It seems far-fetched. >> Well, you know, crazier things have
01:58:33
happened. And I'll tell you that I didn't kill Mr. Germit. >> Come on, man. That's overwhelming. DNA
01:58:39
ends up under his fingernails. Your DNA. This is an overwhelming case against you, Robert, that you committed this
01:58:48
murder. >> And Jen, sir, you know, you have the facts wrong, and I will demonstrated at trial.
01:58:56
>> He also says he will show he didn't do those things Garman wrote about in his
01:59:01
articles. >> Robert, you're saying that what these women have said to me, what they told
01:59:07
Jeff Garman and he printed, those are all lies. If you looked at what Mr. German
01:59:15
printed, none of it was none of it had any facts within it, right? It was all alleged opinion about, you know, what
01:59:24
how they felt that that I I acted. >> But it's hard to argue with this, the footage the women shot of their boss and
01:59:34
his alleged lover in the parking garage. >> Let me ask you straight. Were you and
01:59:40
Roberta having an affair? >> No, she was a confidant. Um, but I I'll leave it at
01:59:50
that. >> But Jeff was not willing to leave it at that. He was planning on writing another
01:59:57
piece. According to police documents, Telus and Roberta got word the day before the murder that there was a
02:00:04
planned release of emails and messages between her and Telus to the review journal.
02:00:11
There was a freedom of information request that Jeff had put out and you were told that new messages and emails
02:00:18
were going to come out describing the relationship between you and Roberta, communications between the two of you
02:00:23
and it suggested that you made a decision to murder him to try to silence that to prevent that from being
02:00:29
published. What do you say about that? >> I say that's a mischaracterization of of
02:00:34
things. I'll tell you that what was going to be released and I saw what was going to be released
02:00:41
um had no inklings of of any type of you know confidential relationship any type
02:00:47
of supposed affair. It was all business related. So that would not have been a motivation because
02:00:56
there was nothing that was going to be produced that that would look bad. Prosecutors have mentioned this as a
02:01:05
contributing motive to the murder. In Robert Telus's mind, Jeff Gman ruined his marriage, ruined his political
02:01:15
career, embarrassed him, and was continuing to report on him rather than leave him alone.
02:01:22
>> If the intention of the alleged killing was to stop Jeff's reporting, it didn't
02:01:27
work. After his murder, the R.J. A journalist hunted through Jeff's notes, >> picking up where Jeff left off,
02:01:35
>> and completed the stories Jeff had been working on at the time of his death, including another on Robert Telles's
02:01:43
toxic past, a story that investigates claims of sexual harassment, all of which he has denied.
02:01:52
>> The main thing here is you cannot kill a reporter and kill the story. You just can't do that.
02:02:01
>> In life, Jeff Garman was known to protect his sources at all costs. In death, Jeff was still protecting
02:02:11
them. After the murder, the police took all his devices, which harbored the names of countless sources.
02:02:19
The review journal went to court and in a hard-fought case that went all the way
02:02:24
to the Nevada Supreme Court, the paper won protection for his sources. That'll be the Gearman rule. You will not be
02:02:33
able to go into a reporter's files. You will not be able to go through their phone. You will not be able to look at
02:02:39
their sources even after death. These four Jeff Garman sources are not about to let the world forget the
02:02:48
reporter who fought to protect them. They have attended almost every hearing trying to come to terms with their
02:02:57
feelings of guilt. >> Because no matter what logic is in your head, it's not your fault that Jeff made
02:03:04
his choices and that he was a professional. Your heart tells you if we wouldn't have made that call, he
02:03:16
wouldn't have died in that violent way that day. And if I was to talk to him today, I
02:03:24
think the first thing I would say is I'm sorry, but not for him, for me, because
02:03:30
he wouldn't accept my apology, but I need to give it. Jeff Garman was a reporter's reporter,
02:03:39
one of the good guys, a man who spent a lifetime speaking truth to power. Truths
02:03:45
that are now baked into the history of this place. A neon strip of gritty stories laid bare beneath the desert
02:03:53
sky. >> He told anyone who asked that he was never going to retire, that he was going
02:04:00
to report until his last breath. And that's exactly what he did. and he gave his life to this job. He literally gave
02:04:08
his life to this job. I think that's his legacy. [Music] >> New CBS next. A soldier suspected of
02:04:31
killing his young wife. >> He's been trained on how to kill. >> Goes on the run. He just disappeared off
02:04:36
the face of the map >> with his 17-year-old girlfriend. >> If he was willing to kill his own wife,
02:04:40
there's no telling what kind of danger Hannah Thompson would have been in. >> 48 Hours is all new. CBS Next and
02:04:46
streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music]