00:00:00
[Music] so right here in this general area is where the caretaker was living at when he went for a walk up this
00:00:20
little Offroad when he found her [Music] initially now it wasn't even if was real
00:00:31
at first I thought it might be some kind of a prank you know actually I did reach down and touch
00:00:37
her hand that feels like flesh and bone to me when we found Anna rina's body we were able to see that her feet were
00:00:49
probably down in about this location and her head was pointed back towards the forest here
00:01:00
one of the first things we noticed when we made it our way to this Landing is there's pieces of trash and there was
00:01:07
garbage one of the biggest pieces of evidence that we found in this case was a KFC
00:01:12
[Music] bag along the edge of that clear bag there was a receipt that had the date of
00:01:19
the 14th so April 14th which is only a few days [Music] prior who was Anna Rina Anna was 27
00:01:30
years old and she came from a good strong family in Russia she wanted somebody to love her
00:01:40
wanted to have kids and so that's why she went on to the dating websites she happened to find will
00:01:52
Hargrove he's always trying to make people laugh making sure that everybody else is happy trying to push them to
00:02:02
become the better person that they can be he was complimentary to her uh he sent her flowers from the United States
00:02:11
to Russia he paid attention to her with everything that he had explained to me everything he had told me Anna was the
00:02:19
love of his life the sense that you got from Anna repkina was that she was in love this wasn't coming to the United
00:02:30
States as some male order bride how does Michelle Chavez fit into this case well Michelle Chavez is the
00:02:38
other woman she is that third part of the triangle he made me feel special he has a Charisma about him it's
00:02:49
like everything he's saying he truly believes and you believe it he makes you believe it especially if you're in love
00:02:54
and you want to believe it yeah and you were in love I was and it was always I choose you it
00:03:03
was how much pressure was he getting from Michelle to end it with Anna I know for a fact that Michelle didn't want
00:03:12
Anna even over here in the states he was basically given the ultimatum of one or
00:03:19
the other and 2 days later on it was found dead n [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music]
00:04:13
this is outside of corval quite a ways out in the AL sea area and up a remote Logging
00:04:22
[Music] [Applause] Road Ryan Joselyn and Amy matus both Deputy District attorneys in Benton
00:04:30
County Oregon received an urgent call that a body had been found on April 17th 2017 he and I were both on scene to take
00:04:43
a look for ourselves it's so important in a prosecutor's role that you understand the scene not just from
00:04:50
photos but having been there not too many people are going to be up in that area but frankly the fact
00:04:58
that the body was discovered as quickly as it was uh was pretty extraordinary lead detective Lieutenant
00:05:06
Chris duffett says a local caretaker happened to be out walking his dog that day when he came across the body the
00:05:13
caller was walking on this road on a day and a time and a place that he really should have never been so we were very
00:05:21
very lucky to find her body if it would have been any more time we might have never found her the victim was
00:05:27
identified as 27-year-old Moscow native Anna repkina she had been shot she was smart intelligent she had
00:05:38
an office job working for Ikea she loved cats she loved to travel Anna had a lot going for her a lot of
00:05:47
people liked her so how did a Russian woman who had a seemingly happy life meet her end on a remote Logging Road
00:05:55
nearly 5,500 miles from home she had broken up with her boyfriend of seven years and was really looking for
00:06:05
that connection a year earlier newly single Anna started looking for love online and joined a Russian social
00:06:12
networking site she found what she was looking for halfway across the world when she met 26-year-old Oregonian
00:06:20
William Hargrove then they started really chatting they chatted a lot over Facebook then uh they started video
00:06:28
conferencing and that was happening on an almost daily basis Anna and will found that they had
00:06:34
a lot in common they really bonded over music she very much loved music she'd like to go
00:06:41
to rock concerts they would have discussions about bands she had a good sense of humor she would constantly send
00:06:48
funny memes and she connected with her friends and her family that way will and Anna exchanged thousands of
00:06:56
messages imagining their future together if Anna came to Oregon he definitely had the Gift of Gab
00:07:03
The Gift of Gab he could talk a good game he could he could talk a very good game Will's friend and former roommate
00:07:10
Jamie clz he and I had things in common cars he works on cars I work on cars I'm
00:07:17
more Harry Potter he's more The Avengers kind of genre but we could nerd out on things like that he actually took me to
00:07:25
see my first Avengers movie he was a likable guy a jokester he just liked to laugh and have fun I
00:07:31
enjoyed being around him will worked as a mechanic at a local auto dealership in
00:07:36
his free time he'd meet up with friends like Joseph Thompson at the peacock Bar and Grill we would play
00:07:43
pool over there on Sunday nights and just basically ended up hanging out doing karaoke I don't know how many
00:07:50
times me and him would be sitting there playing pool and he'd just have women walk up from the bar just sit there talk
00:07:59
to him he was very charismatic he had the personality the presence was he a player no not necessarily will was such
00:08:09
a good friend that Joseph called him his brother we were both in the military a lot of the training and stuff we had
00:08:16
went through was similar and it helped pull us together what branch of the service were you in Army and will I
00:08:23
believe he was Marines he said that he used to be stationed in Russia will seemed to have an affinity for all
00:08:31
things Russian and his online relationship with Anna took off Anna decided to fly to the states to
00:08:39
spend the holidays with Will in Oregon and see if their virtual love would feel the same in reality December of 2016 she
00:08:49
traveled here and spent a couple weeks with um William harrove but the road to romance had an unexpected
00:08:58
detour there was a problem when she first came out in December to see Mr Hargrove she mistakenly mixed up
00:09:05
Portland Maine for Portland Oregon and she was stranded in Portland Main amidst the chaos of flight changes
00:09:14
Anna messaged will building the anticipation to finally be together Anna eventually made it to the
00:09:23
right Portland and into the arms of will Hargrove during her visit she posted highlights of their Whirlwind romance
00:09:30
including photos of their trips to the coast Will's cars and even a Christmas wish scrolled out to her family back
00:09:38
home she came here for Love at the conclusion of this trip she actually became engaged to William harro and they
00:09:46
had plans to get married in the future Anna returned home to Russia after 10 days with a souvenir an engagement ring
00:09:54
from Will and plans to pack up her life in Russia and move to Oregon with the promise of marriage she was excited
00:10:02
about the wedding she was talking about um all the different style dresses and what she really wanted but there was
00:10:10
going to be an obstacle in Anna's path to love I'm Michelle Chavez and I was Will hard grob's girlfriend
00:10:22
[Music] [Music] in 2015 33-year-old Michelle Chavez was living with her husband and two children
00:10:39
in Albany Oregon unfortunately all was not right in the marriage our relationship at that point in time
00:10:48
really wasn't one it was like roommates that just happened to be married slept in the same bed but that was about it
00:10:54
didn't really talk Michelle met will car Grove while she was working as a cab driver it was a
00:11:02
kind of slow time in the summer and I was waiting at the bar waiting for people to call to go pick people up what
00:11:08
was your first impression of him God he's short God he's short yes God he's short yeah um he is
00:11:18
short but that first impression gave way to something much more for shavez who was so unhappy at home he made you feel
00:11:26
like you were in the sun when he talked to you he had a way of being able to look at me and I I felt like I was
00:11:32
actually seen I felt beautiful I felt like I was wanted and so Michelle and will became much more than friends it
00:11:40
wasn't a planned thing it wasn't like it went off in my head I was like I'm I'm going to have a relationship with him it
00:11:46
just progressed that way this is one of him and our mutual friend Jamie he was willing to give her what she needed
00:11:57
affection attention the following year 2016 the relationship grew to a new and somewhat unusual level
00:12:07
with Will renting a spare bedroom in Michelle's house the same one she shared with her husband and kids though it's
00:12:15
not clear what Michelle's husband knew about her relationship with will he only had to pay $300 a month and his own food
00:12:23
unless he liked whatever it was we were making at the time honestly pretty sweet
00:12:27
deal Michelle even gave will her wedding ring a promise that she'd leave her husband soon but it wasn't enough for
00:12:34
will if Will had this relationship with Michelle and was in love with Michelle why was he going on internet dating
00:12:42
sites I think that it had to do with jealousy Michelle was going to leave her husband on her terms and it wasn't going
00:12:51
fast enough if he could make her jealous then maybe it would speed things up which may explain why when Anna
00:12:59
visited will over Christmas they stayed at Michelle's house under Michelle's nose it seems Anna knew nothing of
00:13:07
Will's other relationship they were in his room most of the time on New Year's Eve they were getting ready to go out
00:13:13
will was like oh maybe I should introduce you guys and then she shook my hand and she said her name was Anna I
00:13:19
said it was nice to meet her but Michelle wouldn't be quite that welcoming when Anna returned a few
00:13:24
months later on March 1st 2017 with the intention of becom becoming Will's wife I was like well
00:13:30
she's not staying here she's not staying in my house so will and Anna rented an apartment in Corvalis a small colleg
00:13:37
town not far from Michelle's home with Will working and without a job herself Anna spent time on her own even
00:13:45
joining the local gym life wasn't as easy for Michelle what did you want simple just to be
00:13:54
happy and you thought you'd found that with him I thought I had but you have to actually know
00:14:00
somebody to find those things I think turns out actually knowing will was going to be a bit of a challenge for
00:14:07
everyone even with his new fiance in America he split his nights between his two love interests he really continued
00:14:15
to float between those two uh places back at Michelle's place and then back at the apartment with Hana with no clue
00:14:22
as to why will kept disappearing Anna often had to resort to contacting his friends to find her own fiance she's
00:14:29
seeing him gone in the text messages she's reaching out to his friends do you know where he is what's going on she's
00:14:38
becoming suspicious where is he going what is going on with this time as it happened Anna's instincts were right on
00:14:45
the money this man was a fraud and relied heavily on Deception to convince other
00:14:52
people he was the type of person he wanted to be perceived as and he wanted to be something greater than he was he
00:15:00
told a number of people he was in the armed forces he was never in the armed forces then there's the matter of a
00:15:07
certain engagement ring Anna's ring or was it her and I had friended each other on
00:15:13
Facebook and then I saw her wearing my wedding ring what yeah the ring that had been Michelle's wedding ring had been
00:15:22
repurposed when will proposed to Anna will told Anna that this ring belonged to his grandmother and had
00:15:30
sentimental value to him Anna had no idea she was wearing Michelle's ring and on March 22nd she was shocked to get a
00:15:39
Facebook message from Michelle about sharing will at this point all Anna knows is
00:15:47
that Michelle Chavez is the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend because that's what Will harrove has told her and so Anna says no
00:15:57
way you get out of our life lives something about me being a [ __ ] I believe and I was like I'm just getting
00:16:03
started at being one were you threatening her no just being mouthy I just meant that if you
00:16:10
think I'm being [ __ ] now like just watch just 3 Days Later Anna and will headed to the Oregon coast for their
00:16:20
wedding ceremony Anna brought a wedding dress with her from Russia she had her ring
00:16:27
that William uhep post to her with on the way will decided to stop at the local Walmart to buy their wedding
00:16:34
bands leaving bride to be Anna in the car while he's in Walmart shopping for his wedding ring he is on the phone with
00:16:42
Michelle Chavez and he is discussing their relationship and whether or not he's going to come see her that
00:16:49
night and you had no clue when he said he was in Walmart he was like headed to a wedding no no none at all but as it
00:16:56
would turn out Anna and will were not headed to a wedding they go to the beach and the officient doesn't show up so he
00:17:07
has a phone call in which he relays to both the witnesses and to Anna that the officient couldn't make it he was Ill
00:17:15
something came up and William Haro was actually calling a couple video game stores to presumably
00:17:23
pretend he was talking to a wedding official to show him how mad he was about day he never arranged for an officient
00:17:32
he never got a marriage license he didn't have anything set up sadly there'd be only one portrait of
00:17:39
the Bride that day picking up some fast food the McDonald's drive through video is the only video or photo taken on Anna
00:17:49
rina's wedding day and you can actually see Anna repkina in her wedding dress uh
00:17:53
in William haro's vehicle seemingly oblivious to Will's feelings for Michelle Anna set her heart on a
00:18:03
rescheduled wedding date but Michelle had other plans so did you give him an ultimatum at one point I
00:18:14
did told him it was he had to pick one I didn't want anything bad to happen to her I just didn't want her
00:18:20
here so you pressured him to choose I did [Music] in April 2017 the relationship between
00:18:46
Michelle and will hit a Crossroads with Michelle insisting will finally choose between her and
00:18:53
[Music] Anna will told Michelle she was his choice so April 19th was the deadline right for
00:19:02
both of you correct you were going to be done with your marriage and he was supposed to she was supposed to be gone
00:19:08
or whatever he was going to leave her how much pressure did Michelle Put on Will to get rid of Anna a lot there
00:19:20
was a lot of pressure there's a lot of back and forth in there between all the text messages
00:19:28
is where one minute it's like clean out your stuff and get out the next minute is I love you I want to be together but
00:19:37
we can't do that if she's here there are texts between the two of you with you pressuring him to choose
00:19:46
and at one point you told him to fix it yeah what do you mean by that in the general sense fix it in the
00:19:53
sense that you would take care of it not take care of it like take somebody out and you would end the relationship that
00:19:59
you would be done will told Michelle he' tried to send an a packing many times but she wouldn't go so Michelle
00:20:08
perceived Anna as this girl who kind of never got the hint that she was being told to leave and she kept coming back
00:20:16
although Anna never knew any of this was really [Music] happening on Saturday night April 15th
00:20:24
Just 4 days shy of the deadline they'd set Michelle was supposed to have dinner at Will's apartment it wasn't until
00:20:30
about 8:00 p.m. that night that William harrove tells Michelle Chavez that she actually can't come over that Anna
00:20:37
showed back up the Anna's back again he'll take care of it what followed was yet another heated
00:20:45
text conversation not a surprise according to Detective Chris Dale who says Michelle
00:20:52
and will exchanged more than 13,000 texts during their relationship constant checking in every morning to make sure
00:21:01
that he's woken up on time uh to get to work didn't seem as if there was a an hour and a day that went by where they
00:21:10
were not uh communicating but on that day there was one critical text so will harrove sent a
00:21:20
message to Miss Chavez I will have this permanantly fixed by 1800 tomorrow so he'll have the situation of Anar repkina
00:21:27
handled by 6 p.m. uh the following day which was Easter Sunday that Assurance was not enough for
00:21:36
Michelle she continued texting and calling will who turned off his phone as the hours passed with no reply
00:21:47
Michelle's hope that will was truly fixing the problem with Anna vanished I guess you made your
00:21:54
choice okay I'll let you be [Music] why I just want to know why I want you be but I just want
00:22:15
why the next morning Michelle headed to her mother's house for Easter Jamie was there as well she said that she'd spent
00:22:22
the night ugly crying and even though I knew what the probable answer was going to be I still
00:22:28
asked her like why and she looks at me and she goes why do you think and I said because of
00:22:36
will meanwhile back at his apartment will was dealing with a very different but urgent problem his car insurance
00:22:43
policy they've been sending him notices that if he doesn't have it paid by midnight on the 16th they're going to
00:22:50
cancel his insurance he tells them that he knows this insurance lapses that evening and he needs to get it uh
00:22:57
extended uh for free uh because if it doesn't he's going to lose his uh vehicle loan and they're going to
00:23:04
repossess it immediately okay can you guys hold off until the 21st so I can get you paid um unfortunately once it is
00:23:13
pending cancellation for non-payment we don't have the ability to move the dates
00:23:17
at all um and this one yeah so it'll be effect canceled effective tonight at midnight just after 4:30 p.m. Michelle's
00:23:27
phone rang it was Will and what did he say that he had been out at the coast he was on his way back in and he almost had
00:23:35
a deer he ran off the road he had a flat tire and he needed help how did he sound
00:23:42
shaken sad and so Michelle left her family's Easter celebration to go and meet will in the town of
00:23:50
Alie he waited for her at a local convenience store you can see him walk to the uh cooler where he gets uh a
00:23:58
Pepsi he goes and gets his candy bar and then he ultimately gets a pack of cigarettes about an hour later Michelle
00:24:08
arrived she parks on the side of that store uh we see her get out of her Prius I asked him what what happened where
00:24:16
have you been he told me that he after we had talked that they got into an argument and he said horrible mean
00:24:21
things to her and that she had turned around and taken her suitcases and had walked out thinking Anna had finally
00:24:29
left the apartment for good Michelle says she and will got into his car we drove for a little bit and we'd pulled
00:24:36
off and we were talking for a few and then honestly we end up having sex in the front seat so you had makeup sex
00:24:42
essentially essentially makeup sacks in the front seat Michelle and will then went their separate ways with Michelle
00:24:48
returning to her family's Easter celebration she came back she was in a good mood she was smiling she was you
00:24:57
know she was happy she looked to 180 from what she looked like in the morning will headed home but he made a few stops
00:25:04
along the way first at an ATM where he withdrew money from Anna's bank account made a
00:25:12
$200 withdrawal from this machine and then engaged in some conversation with some employees um at that gas station
00:25:20
where he actually ended up hugging one of them and crying about the fact that his girlfriend Anna rekina uh had left
00:25:28
him his girlfriend whose account he just took $200 from yes will then headed to a second ATM he
00:25:37
goes to the Chase Bank and withdraws an additional $600 of Anna reina's money so
00:25:42
now William hargo has $800 uh that he stole from Anna reina's bank account at about 9 9:30 p.m. on
00:25:50
that same night he drives to another bank and he ends up depositing $160 of that cash
00:25:59
uh into his bank account will had just one more chore to take care of that evening thank you for
00:26:06
calling Progressive yall should have a card on file for me and I need to make a payment please several hours earlier he
00:26:12
has no money all good then everything's done yeah everything is taken care of you are insured as we're
00:26:18
speaking excellent thank you very much ma'am my pleasure have a good night will all of a sudden he has money
00:26:28
and he's taking it out of Honor repkina bank account who's found dead the next day on April 17th 2017 the day after
00:26:52
Easter Sunday Anna repkina was found with a shotgun blast to the back of her head her body left like one more piece
00:27:00
of garbage Anna was discarded in this Landing with the other trash fast food bags uh cigarette
00:27:11
cartons candy wrappers uh that were that we here and at that point we don't know
00:27:16
what's evidence and what's not because that could either be huge evidence in this case or it could be just
00:27:23
trash while investigators hope to find a connection to Anna's killer will was sending on a text showing concern about
00:27:31
her whereabouts after the fight he said they'd had the day before will also launched a bizarre Deep dive online
00:27:39
researching time travel he is uh trying to ask for help in how to uh travel back
00:27:47
in time back to April 16th in order to correct a horrible mistake his words correct a horrible mistake yes
00:27:58
even went so far as to message strangers on WhatsApp for advice to help someone he called his best
00:28:05
friend will was apparently so desperate for this information he offered a reward
00:28:11
his [Music] soul in addition to his strange internet search will went on a shopping spree
00:28:19
spending more of that cash he stole from Anna buying candy video games and toys he bought aund and something something
00:28:28
doll set of Legos from a Walmart will reached out to a friend named Kevin Thomas saying that he's spending money
00:28:37
shouldn't trying to distract himself on Wednesday April 19th investigators struck a lead with the trash found next
00:28:45
to Anna's body a KFC receipt from 3 days earlier with a crucial Tim stamp was there a name on the receipt so on the
00:28:54
receipt there was no name KFC told us that there was uh actually a car that pulled up on that Friday uh and there
00:29:02
was two purchases made from that car there was one made with a debit card that came back to Kevin Thomas and
00:29:09
another uh purchase that was made with cash with only one name to work with investigators headed to Kevin's Corvalis
00:29:17
home was trying to put some pieces together their case um the garbage we found was I think something you bought
00:29:24
last week from KFC okay do you know about that yeah me and my brother go to KFC go to KFC on Fridays what's your
00:29:31
brother's name Kevin uh will harrove Kevin and will became Pals at the peacock Bar and Grill Kevin like
00:29:40
Joseph Thompson called will his brother police continued talking to Kevin at the
00:29:45
Sheriff's Office where he offered a revelation a few weeks earlier will had asked to borrow something that belonged
00:29:52
to Kevin his shotgun did he say why you wanted to borrow it just so he was gonna
00:29:58
go up and go shooting in the woods and just kind of blow off some steam what's more Kevin told police that will had yet
00:30:05
to return the gun with this new information investigators headed straight to Michelle's house where will
00:30:11
was staying to question him he answered the door we're here following up on a case we're working and uh uh your name
00:30:19
came across and I want to talk to you okay will then lied to investigators telling them that he and Michelle drove
00:30:26
up to Alie together on Easter Sunday drove into Elsie stopped at the little market there picked up a pack of
00:30:32
cigarettes and drove back did you dump some trash there when you were there yeah I did on the side of the building
00:30:38
on the side of the general storm but that trash that will claimed to have left at the store was the very
00:30:45
same that was found next to Anna's body investigators asked will to come to the Sheriff's Office while will was getting
00:30:52
ready to leave he texted Michelle to ensure their stories matched at the Sheriff's Office investigators
00:31:00
got to the question of Anna what do you know about her oh it's nothing how' you how' you
00:31:08
guys meet met downtown Coral just walking around yeah Will played down their relationship even
00:31:16
calling Anna psychotic we went on two dates and then decid I I told her it wasn't going to be anything more than
00:31:21
that and I was happy to keep hanging out with her but that was all it was going to be how long ago was that uh last time
00:31:30
I saw her was middle of March middle of March cut it off because she decided to put on
00:31:41
Facebook that we were engaged she posted that yeah after two days oh yeah and it brought hell down
00:31:48
upon me from who sure Lieutenant duffett turned up the heat on will and got right to the point
00:31:59
so will your trash was found where somebody was killed I'm sry to what okay that's what we're talking about
00:32:12
here you guys are what me this your trash like my partner said was found there your your stuff was found at a
00:32:21
scene where somebody died yeah okay talking to you there's a lot of inconsistencies with your story
00:32:28
about what what happened that's when will stopped talking and asked for a lawyer no offense guys you've been
00:32:36
really kind and I like you and I don't mind that but the moment that you say somebody was killed out there no I it
00:32:46
just no okay so uh William harro I need you to stand up and put your hands behind your back you're under the arrest
00:32:54
for the murder of Anna Rina will harrove was placed under arrest but did police have the right person in
00:33:05
custody if anyone on the face of it looks like they have a motive to kill Anna it's the other woman it's Michelle
00:33:12
how can you be so sure that she had nothing to do with Anna's murder just hours after will Hargrove
00:33:28
was arrested for Anor reina's murder what else you going to go over at this point Michelle Chavez was brought in for
00:33:35
questioning about what she was doing Easter Sunday can you tell me what this is about though she starts out on the
00:33:41
wrong foot telling police what will had texted her to say that they' driven to ALC together and he picked you up at
00:33:48
your mom's house at that time he did okay ask take his immediately Michelle reverses herself admitting what she just
00:33:58
stated was false that's a little bit of a lie he called me he was going to pick me
00:34:05
up and then he did why did you lie to them honestly I wasn't thinking and I don't have a good
00:34:11
answer I want you to know right now the Will's under arrest for murder okay okay investigators say Michelle didn't
00:34:24
seem at all surprised when they told her will had just been arrested for killing
00:34:29
Anna how are you not extremely upset right now to know that the person who you were romantically involved with I am
00:34:36
very upset right now I'm very upset right now I don't understand how that can be a person that
00:34:44
I have spent the last year and a half with that was numb it didn't make [Music] sense over a year later in July 2018
00:34:56
will was formally inded for Anna's murder the defense would go on to spin an entirely different theory of the
00:35:04
crime one that had Michelle pulling the trigger after arriving from her family's
00:35:09
Easter celebration according to them the defendant had taken Michelle Chavez up to the location to have a conversation
00:35:17
with Anna and the shelle had taken the gun out from him and shot on him a few pieces of evidence had given
00:35:28
investigators cause for concern for one thing Michelle mysteriously ended up in possession of Anna's phone Michelle
00:35:35
blames will I didn't realize it was hers he had given it to me I guess the night
00:35:41
before he got arrested Michelle's own cell phone records showed that a month before
00:35:48
Anna's body was found Michelle had visited that exact spot on the Logging Road Michelle claims that's only because
00:35:58
will brought her there but could she have been scouting the location the defense says that will loved Anna that
00:36:06
he was starting a life with her that you're the one with all the reasons to kill her what do you say to that I had
00:36:13
no reason to B her dead no reason to kill [Music] her I do get how it looks but her being dead is nothing I
00:36:24
ever wanted wanted to go home did you ever tell Will to kill Anna no days after Will's arrest his friend
00:36:38
Kevin's shotgun was recovered from the back of Will's vehicle evidence supports there had only been one killer will
00:36:45
harro's fingerprint was on the shotgun Michelle Chavez's DNA was never on that shotgun Michelle Chavez's fingerprints
00:36:54
were never on that shotgun piecing together various security cameras investigators tracked Will's
00:37:03
drive with Anna to Alie we see the defendant's car that's distinct for various reasons traveling along a
00:37:10
certain path and gave us location as well as time frames but it was GPS tracking that gave police an even bigger
00:37:18
piece of the puzzle with Will's phone pinging from the murder site from 4:35 to 4:48 that afternoon the reason we
00:37:26
have that it's because he called Michelle Chavez Michelle Chavez who was still at her
00:37:32
mother's house at that Easter celebration we don't have any forensic data or information that was left at
00:37:38
that crime scene to suggest that Michelle was at the crime scene on that day and remember that video of will
00:37:45
shopping at the alc convenience store as he waited for Michelle to arrive towards
00:37:50
the top of his bald head you can see what appears to be smaller black dots raising the question could it have been
00:38:01
blood spatter we can't tell you if that was blood we can't tell you what that was but we can tell you it was there
00:38:08
before he met Michelle Chavez subsequent photo comparison afterwards showed that
00:38:14
those spots weren't moles they weren't anything that was there permanently there was one more
00:38:22
heart-wrenching piece of evidence found in the trash alongside Anna's body from another fast food drive-thru a receipt
00:38:30
from McDonald's uh in Newport Oregon dated on March 25th of 2017 March 25th the day that should have been Anna's
00:38:40
wedding [Music] day Will's trial got underway in October 2019 the original witness list was 131
00:38:52
people eventually I believe close to 70 people testified the trial took a month will Hargrove was found guilty of
00:39:07
Anna's murder as well as identity theft and two counts of second deegree theft for
00:39:13
stealing that money from Anna's bank account I want to talk about Anna rekina for a minute and I placed her photo on
00:39:20
the witness stand to remind everyone of a life that was lost contrary to specul will sentencing was
00:39:27
held in January 2020 she came here with hopes and dreams to find somebody that was loving
00:39:36
her and start a family she doesn't have that anymore the defendant very nearly got away with this
00:39:44
crime it was his own trash that betrayed him uh you were receiving a sense of life
00:39:51
imprisonment will received a life sentence with a possibility of parole after 25 years
00:39:59
Michelle says living under the scrutiny of people in town wondering what she knew or didn't know became all too much
00:40:07
how bad did it get for you bad enough bad bad she had an incident uh in which she
00:40:23
couldn't take the stress uh anymore um and uh almost didn't get the police there in
00:40:36
time Michelle says that in June 2018 she tried to take her own life I tried to die I'm still here it didn't
00:40:53
work as for the young Moscow native who flew to the US with the promise of love I think you have to remember Anna
00:41:04
as the sweet loving caring person who put herself out there to be loved because Anna was
00:41:18
loved she was loved alive and she was loved after [Music] 48 Hours don't miss an episode
00:41:57
the [Music] [Music] serial killers can be very difficult to predict they're constantly thinking
00:42:44
about hunting for human beings and police reported another grandm Finding to hurt and to kill her car was later
00:42:52
found abandoned on I45 the highways are a particularly good effective in ground once you commit your murder
00:43:01
you're good to hit the road again the 12-year-old disappeared April 3rd while jogging near her
00:43:11
home she's a beautiful child how soon did you really know that something awful had happened when we
00:43:19
first went out to search and we didn't find her when there was absolutely no sign of her we knew then that something
00:43:27
terrible had happened Kelly Cox locked her keys in her car after taking a college field
00:43:36
trip to the Denton Police Department she was last seen making a call from a pay phone not knowing where your daughter
00:43:44
was how do you describe that there's really not a way to describe it I had nightmares for years that she was being
00:43:53
hurt or harmed every day the pain does not go away Tiffany Johnston went missing from
00:44:05
a Bethany Car Wash Tiffany was abducted in broad daylight she just vanished Tiffany was my baby daughter my shadow
00:44:15
anywhere I was at Tiffany was with [Music] me been a week since Jessica Kane disappeared her car was found abandoned
00:44:27
on I45 she would not go somewhere without calling and that's why we know something's wrong we got to find her
00:44:36
childhood friends came together to hold a vigil praying she would be found until
00:44:41
she's found and someone proves that she's not allowed she is allowed to us and we're still
00:44:47
searching could it happen again was it going to happen again William Reese was on the top of
00:44:53
the list very early on Reese is the primary suspect in the kidnapping of Laura Smither I think most investigators felt
00:45:01
like he was responsible for multiple girls but you couldn't couldn't get him on it no the case went on for number of
00:45:08
years and no one ever forgot the pain from [Music] 97 he had to cooperate or those girls
00:45:19
were gone forever today's March 1st 2016 if you're comfortable with it I would like to go
00:45:26
through these four different incidents mrocc are you okay with that yes these offenders they love to brag about
00:45:32
themselves yeah I took this throw blacket oure and I land it on top of her so it becomes something that's fun for
00:45:39
them a little bit of a cat and mouse game the stuff you're saying I don't remember that they are pathological
00:45:44
liars and then you immediately buried her after that yes sir they lie about things they don't even have to lie about
00:45:50
you can't necessarily trust what he says you have to verify this is the area that
00:45:54
he brought you to but I mean you were looking and you weren't finding her right some folks thinking that maybe the
00:46:02
information was not accurate I have no reason to lie you guys and that he was playing us certainly we were hoping it
00:46:09
was going to be a little bit faster uh than it was but you can see that truly confirms a needle in a Hy stack
00:46:18
[Music] [Music] there was a very scary killer who was going up and down I45 that is correct
00:47:08
killing young women that is correct Interstate 45 runs through the swamps and the derel oil fields between
00:47:16
galvaston and Houston the highway marks a trail of unsolved murders that stretches back for
00:47:25
decades and Friends with Texas Deputy Chief of Police Josh Rogers says 1997 was a particularly deadly year we
00:47:36
were living in such a false sense of security it was quite a shock to the system when we got educated and you got
00:47:44
educated the hard way the worst way absolutely the worst way on April 3rd 1997 gay smi's 12-year-old daughter
00:47:55
Laura an aspiring ballerina went out for a run and never returned as days passed
00:48:02
thousands of volunteers on foot and on Horseback comb the swamps and fields around their home in Friendswood keep
00:48:11
your eyes open this is what we're looking for the US Marines even flew in to help we just wanted to say thank you
00:48:19
to everybody we all going to find her what does this say your T-shirt this says pray fora I was also there in 1997
00:48:27
with the family gay Bob and Laura's younger brother David are you surprised by the outpouring of concern Sympathy
00:48:38
uplifted by it it's just the only thing that's getting us from one day to the next the beginning of the ballerina
00:48:44
exactly yeah I was taking in her backyard at the other house there's no doubt she's coming home I went into
00:48:51
denial immediately I I would not accept any other scenario other than that somebody
00:48:58
had taken her give us the strength to endure if I prayed hard enough she'd be released to come home to us that's how I
00:49:05
coped then came the devastating news 17 days later when Laura's decomposing body
00:49:12
was found in a retention Pond 12 miles from her home by a father and son walking their dogs we thought it was you
00:49:20
know like a dead animal in the water or something like that something Jason he says no said animal don't have
00:49:27
socks I screamed into the phone that's not Laura that's not Laura that's I couldn't accept it I can still hear my
00:49:34
screams in my nightmares and then of course we had to tell David for something say are no
00:49:41
words how old was David at the time nine he not only lost his sister in a way he
00:49:48
lost his parents we were physically there but we were emotionally absent part of us was gone
00:49:57
part of us was ripped out after weeks in the water Laura's exact cause of death could not be
00:50:05
determined investigators also couldn't be sure if she had been sexually assaulted in spite of the unknowns a
00:50:13
suspect emerged pretty quickly a man named William ree it was the third day that Laura was missing that he was on
00:50:21
the police radar that quickly yes the third day and why because because he was a a sex offender ree had been released 6
00:50:31
months before Laura's murder after spending 10 years in prison for two rapes in his native Oklahoma he was now
00:50:39
working in Friendswood Texas he was building a residential subdivision and was a bulldozer operator and on the day
00:50:46
Laura went missing because of rain police learned Reese was led off work at 9:00 a.m. which would have taken him
00:50:53
right in the direct path of Laur SMI investigators searched Reese's truck and found fibers from replacement floor mats
00:51:03
that were consistent with Trace fibers found on Laura's socks these weren't Factory floor mats these weren't common
00:51:10
fibers while police continued to investigate Laura's case Reese remained free and was traveling back and forth
00:51:18
between Houston where he worked and Oklahoma where his mother lived then in July of 1997 in Denton Texas a
00:51:28
university town along the stretch of Interstate connecting them 20-year-old Kelly Cox disappeared to describe it
00:51:37
it's like Martian picked her up she just vanished Kelly's mother Jan bam says Kelly had gotten locked out of her car
00:51:45
after a class trip to the Denton police station she had gone to a nearby gas station parking lot to use a pay phone
00:51:53
very busy area with police officers everywhere Jan knew something was wrong when Kelly failed to pick up her then
00:52:01
toddler Alexis from daycare that afternoon and she would never have left her daughter she was only
00:52:12
19 when Alexis was born she took such responsibility and she embraced being a mom m oh my gosh she embraced
00:52:28
it and I know she absolutely adored this one over here in addition to raising Alexis now 27 years old Kelly was taking
00:52:40
a full load of courses at UNT the University of North Texas in Denton she was maintaining straight A in college
00:52:48
all eyes on her f a week after having yeah week after she had Alexis she took her final exams and pulled all a on I
00:52:56
mean she was very very driven Alexa says she remembers little about her mother except the anguish of her being gone I
00:53:06
remember looking for her you do looking underneath the bed mhm I remember looking at all around the house look in
00:53:15
closets she would look under the bed and say Mommy Mommy the days of searching turned into weeks and then
00:53:23
months we can get this SP out there was on local TV pleading for help finding her daughter I don't want it on a back
00:53:31
burner I want her face out there but unlike Laura Smither Kelly was a young woman not a child and as the case
00:53:39
dragged on Jan says she didn't feel that finding Kelly remained a priority for police Jan still remembers a
00:53:47
conversation she had with one member of the department 3 months after Kelly went
00:53:52
missing and he said you should just consider yourself lucky we're even working on this case most police
00:54:01
departments would have just turned her picture in to the missing person's Clearing House and been done with it
00:54:09
that was heartbreaking Jen was certain that someone had abducted Kelly but was at a loss police had no body and no
00:54:17
strong leads and the case soon grew cold I don't think did I ever completely not
00:54:24
think when the phone would ring that maybe it was something about Kelly just 11 days after Kelly went missing up
00:54:33
in Oklahoma and not far from William Reese's Hometown another young woman was about to
00:54:50
[Music] vanish She'll always be my baby She'll always be a granddaughter and she'll be a
00:55:06
wife Kathy Do's daughter Tiffany Johnson 19 years old and newly married was just
00:55:13
starting to build her [Music] life on July 26th 1997 she vanished from this Bethany
00:55:22
Oklahoma car wash leaving her car behind behind her car mats were hanging on the
00:55:29
car wash rack her money her paycheck everything within her car the next day Tiffany's partially
00:55:41
clothed body was found in tall grass here just off the interstate 15 Mi west of that car wash she had been strangled
00:55:51
and sexually assaulted she had rope Burns around her wrist she had black and blue places on
00:56:00
her face no one at the car wash reported seeing anything out of the ordinary so whoever took her had to be pretty
00:56:11
calculating and thinking about the surroundings oh yeah and Tiffany would fight a few days after Tiffany's murder
00:56:20
Kathy says she got a phone call from a man she knew from her town of anad Darko William Ree
00:56:26
he called to tell me he was sorry that he had heard Tiffany had gotten killed and how did he sound when he called you
00:56:33
sincere all he said was I'm sorry to hear about your daughter how did you first meet William
00:56:41
Reese I met him at the restaurant Kathy was a waitress in town and knew Reese's mother and when ree was
00:56:50
released from prison in 1996 and came home Kathy had given him a ride to get a new driver's
00:56:58
license did you know what he had spent time in prison for no they acted like it was no big deals and would you have even
00:57:06
guessed that he had been convicted of violent crimes toward women oh heavens no it never occurred to Kathy that reys
00:57:14
could have anything to do with Tiffany's murder I couldn't see someone that I knew that would kill Tiffany because
00:57:22
they knew how much she meant to me as for investigators they found the Killer's DNA on Tiffany's body but they
00:57:30
weren't able to develop a profile at some point Kathy did you give up thinking they're just never going to
00:57:39
find the person who killed my daughter I never gave up because I made a promise to Tiffany when I buried her
00:57:49
that I would not give up until we found who did it why was it so important to find who killed her cuz I didn't want
00:57:57
him killing someone else's child if you have my daughter I pray that you would return her we want her
00:58:06
back home just 3 weeks after Tiffany's murder back in Lamar Texas it happened again we're not going to let her go
00:58:16
Jessica Cain was about to graduate high school the 17-year-old was last seen leaving a Clear Lake Area restaurant on
00:58:23
August 17th 1997 when when she didn't come home by curfew Jessica's father CH Kane went out looking for
00:58:33
her I had been to all the places where I thought she might be and I was on my way
00:58:38
home it's actually just about 3 or 4 miles from the house on the side of the road he spotted her truck on the
00:58:45
shoulder of I45 but Jessica was gone and there was no sign of struggle once again sir parties comb the
00:58:57
area for yet another missing girl more than a 100 volunteers searched on foot along the marshes and through
00:59:05
the brush tracking dogs were called in to help we were the most broken people at that point gay and Bob Smither still
00:59:14
reeling from the loss of their daughter Laura just four months earlier felt compelled to join the
00:59:22
sech we didn't hesitate we went immediately the search for Jessica cane widened today across the Salt Grass and
00:59:30
scrub that surrounds the marshes in this the search went on for weeks but there was no sign of Jessica and no clue who
00:59:38
had taken her wondered could it be the same person who took Laura from us yeah we just didn't know as gay wondered
00:59:46
about William Reese and his involvement a story emerged about another case where
00:59:52
the victim survived everything happened so fast back in May of 1997 3 months before
01:00:03
Jessica Kane disappeared a 19-year-old mother Sandra seot stopped at a convenience store off of I45 in Webster
01:00:12
Texas she noticed a man staring at her from the parking lot his truck was out there parked but I wasn't really paying
01:00:21
attention when Sandra left and went to a waffle house across the street she saw the man again he followed me to the
01:00:29
waffle house and I parked and he asked me if I needed help and I go get help for wet and he goes well your tires
01:00:39
flat but just moments later The Stranger was forcing her into his white pickup truck at knife point he was just telling
01:00:48
me to keep my mouth shut I mean I was terrified she says he's sexually assaulted her in the truck and then they
01:00:58
started speeding down the interstate and the only thing I was thinking like he's going to kill
01:01:08
me I rather jump and kill myself and him doing that to me and that's just what Sandra
01:01:18
did as the truck sped down I45 she opened the door jumped out and hit the pavement and then I got up started
01:01:31
[Music] running Gravely injured Sandra managed to get help and reported the incident 5 months later in October of
01:01:45
1997 during a meeting with Friendswood Police Webster investigators noticed that Sandra's description of her
01:01:53
abductor pickup sounded similar to the truck that friends with police had searched in Laura smi's case belonging
01:02:02
to William reee okay if yall would get shoulder to shoulder uh with the guy on the on the
01:02:08
red circle on October 16th 1997 Reese was pulled in for a lineup number four step in the red
01:02:18
circle want to take quarter turn to the left when he walked out and I knew that was him no no doubt it was
01:02:28
okay a loud voice get in the truck get the truck William Reese was immediately arrested and charged with kidnapping he
01:02:37
pleaded not guilty he was finally behind bars but not for any of the murdered girls did
01:02:45
you attack Laura SM [Music] face of glass I want you to repeat after me in a loud clear voice do not scream
01:03:05
do not scream get in the truck get in the truck William ree was defiant he denied
01:03:13
kidnapping Sandra SAA and slashing her tire but after his arrest investigators were determined to time Dolores smi's
01:03:21
murder too think you're being unfairly treated Mr Reese yeah I did I didn't nothing friends with deputy chief Josh
01:03:29
Rogers says they thought they found another link when they search Reese's apartment he had a horse blanket that
01:03:38
was multicolored most of those colors were also found on one of Laura smi's socks so the evidence was was uh strong
01:03:48
and they already had those other fibers on Laura's socks that match Reese's floor mats still the da at the time did
01:03:57
not feel that was enough evidence to charge reys with Laura's murder and was that frustrating very
01:04:06
very I got very very angry I felt that the system had failed us and failed Laura but Friendswood detectives weren't
01:04:15
giving up they pulled records to trace Reese's movements during the previous summer and discovered that Reese might
01:04:23
be connected to the other unsolved cases there was a fuel charge from Denton on July 15th the same place and date of
01:04:33
Kelly Cox's disappearance it was the first time Kelly's mother Jan bham had heard the
01:04:40
name William Rees he was now also on the radar of Denton police that you know caused them to want
01:04:50
to check Kelly's fingerprints against anything in his truck or car did they find anything fingerprints anything
01:05:00
connected to Kelly no they did not Friendswood detectives also found records showing Reese had used a pay
01:05:09
phone in the town where Tiffany Johnson's body was found less than an hour after she disappeared and the owner
01:05:17
of the car wash after seeing his picture says Rees was a frequent customer with that Rees joined a list of possible
01:05:26
suspects anyone along that route during that time period uh he was looked at investigators were also now eyeing him
01:05:35
in Jessica kain's disappearance and used bulldozers to look for evidence at the horse ranch where he had worked but they
01:05:43
came up empty-handed and in April of 1998 as suspicion swirled around William Reese
01:05:52
in several jurisdictions he went on trial for the kidnapping of Sandra sea you went to the trial why
01:06:01
fur I had to be there fur I got very angry with what I learned at that trial because of course it puts
01:06:11
everything and you hated what he had done to Laura gay Smither says she was especially upset when she heard the
01:06:19
testimony of Reese's two rape victims from the 1980s remember he had been released from
01:06:25
prison for those attacks just 6 months before Laura was murdered they came down and testified
01:06:34
and I was mortified to hear what he had done to those two young women the jury didn't take
01:06:43
long they went out and minutes later was a guilty verdict William ree was convicted and sentenced to 60 years for
01:06:53
kidnapping Sandra SE I think a lot of people felt like that was probably going to be the best that
01:06:59
we were going to be able to do um is just to keep William Reese off the streets again but Laura's case remained
01:07:07
officially unsolved and the Smithers wanted to see Reese charged up in Oklahoma Kathy doy continued to pressure
01:07:16
investigators to Sol Tiffany's murder at first I'd call every week it was always the same thing they didn't
01:07:25
have any anything it would take more than a decade before Kathy says her calls were
01:07:31
finally answered all I knew was that I've got a victim who car was at the car wash in
01:07:40
2012 retired police chief Lynn Williams had recently started working on cold cases at the Oklahoma State Bureau of
01:07:48
Investigations or the OSBI and was assigned to Tiffany's case the car was abandoned the keys were in
01:07:58
ignition the doors were unlocked no witnesses there was that DNA evidence from Tiffany's body so really DNA was
01:08:08
going to be your only hope that was my frame of mind but the DNA had already been tested twice without success we are
01:08:18
worried usually that there's nothing left to test Wendy Duke is the supervising criminologist at the OSBI
01:08:26
Cold Case unit she found two samples from Tiffany's body that had not been totally consumed in earlier testing and
01:08:35
was able to develop a partial male profile from them it's exciting even if it is a partial
01:08:42
profile because it was a partial profile Duke could only compare it to a profile
01:08:47
from a known person and the team slowly eliminated suspects from the file until they got to William Reese and what was
01:08:57
the result and he could not be eliminated from that partial profile on the swab from Tiffany the da in Oklahoma
01:09:05
thought it was enough to charge Reese for Tiffany Johnson's murder and after all those years of waiting Kathy finally
01:09:14
had some newsn said oh my God why Tiffy that was my main thing why Tiffany Oklahoma law
01:09:23
enforcement also shared the news with Texas investigators including the Texas Rangers who wondered if William Reese
01:09:32
might be willing to talk to them about their cases they went to visit Reese in prison
01:09:39
and to their surprise he agreed to talk further if they could take the death penalty off the table the Smithers
01:09:47
agreed and so did Jan bind him as long as reys helped police find Kelly that's a huge decision to make
01:09:57
before you even know oh I know and basically I said I wanted answers and I wanted to know what whether my daughter
01:10:05
was alive or dead what would you do with the difficult decision that the BAM and
01:10:14
Smither families faced chat now on Facebook and X please what are you doing what are you
01:10:31
doing what are you doing hi when they would find a body anywhere and then they would confirm who it was
01:10:43
and it wasn't Kelly and I'd go oh it's not Kelly and then I'd go but it was Somebody's Daughter
01:10:55
almost 19 years after Kelly Cox's disappearance her mother Jam was finally close to knowing what had
01:11:03
[Music] happened in February 2016 William Reese was moved from prison to the Friendswood jail after agreeing
01:11:13
to give investigators information about their three Texas cases he hoped his cooperation might help him in Oklahoma
01:11:22
too he told us that he wasn't going to play games if if we weren't going to play games investigators took reys out
01:11:28
to this remote Field South of Friendswood where he said Kelly Cox's remains were located reys hadn't yet
01:11:36
told them if he was responsible for her death he doesn't give any confession no but it's clear that he's got some
01:11:45
involvement correct police spent long days in nights with Reese in the jail and out in the field looking for Kelly's
01:11:53
remains and during that time ree started telling investigators about his encounter with Kelly Cox and Denton he
01:12:02
claimed they got into a fight in the gas station parking lot after he bumped into
01:12:07
her and she spilled her soda on him I start cuss her I think I pushed her that's when she hit me with the coke I
01:12:16
slapped her then it was on she was fighting back yes what happens next and then I grab her around
01:12:27
the throat and I choke her Reese had just confessed to murdering Kelly Cox but investigators weren't sure if his
01:12:36
story was true they hadn't found any sign of Kelly in that field but as they kept looking this was not the only major
01:12:45
Revelation to emerge I remember going to work like construction job site it's a rainy morning soon reys was telling
01:12:53
investigators what he said that happened to Laura Smither on that rainy morning in
01:13:03
Friendswood I hear something Slam against my mirror and uh it scared me so I stop I got out and that's when I look in
01:13:15
the ditch and I seen L Smithers laying in the ditch and uh she wasn't breathing Reese claimed that Laura had died
01:13:27
instantly after he had hit her with his truck by accident but he later changed that story claiming Laura had survived
01:13:36
but when he tried to stop her from crying he accidentally broke her neck psychopaths are incredibly callous
01:13:45
individuals they are without guilt and they are without remorse Mar Ellen ool is a retired FBI profiler we asked her
01:13:53
to review the case records and Reese's videotape statements to try to understand his
01:13:59
psychology I've not assessed him not met him and I'm just going from my own experience but looking at his cases
01:14:07
looking at his behavior I would say in my opinion that he manifest traits of psychopathy youall wanted the truth so
01:14:13
I'm telling you the truth and once police got him talking I had a raptor and a married Raptor Bree didn't seem to
01:14:20
want to stop about SE the P I jumped curb it was right there old tul says that ree was probably enjoying the
01:14:27
attention and the break from his routine I'm doing this own free what's the worst
01:14:33
thing that you can do for someone that has a tendency to love exciting challenging stimulating things you put
01:14:39
them in an environment like prison where they get bored so when you offer them the opportunity to come out and assist
01:14:47
law enforcement they're going to jump at that after a week of fruitlessly search
01:14:55
search in for Kelly Cox Reese offered to help them find another victim Jessica Kane whom he said he had buried in a
01:15:03
different field closer to Friendswood and while Reese didn't have an agreement with the da in that case I that being
01:15:11
against drinking he started telling that story too claiming he had had an argument with Jessica outside the
01:15:18
restaurant where she was last seen and that she followed him down I45 for 30 miles
01:15:25
I don't know why I just pulled over she pulled up behind me started yelling I went off on her again then you end up
01:15:34
choking her out then yes sir on the on I45 on I45 okay but even as Reese admitted murdering Jessica he would not
01:15:43
admit to raping her or Kelly or Laura do you believe that most likely every one of his victims was raped I do I believe
01:15:52
that they were because I believe that that was really the intent of the crime if that's his motivation sexual
01:15:59
motivation why doesn't he admit that is that typical in some cases I would say that's that's typical because in their
01:16:07
eyes that makes them look pretty pathetic that you have to attack someone strangle someone beat someone up in
01:16:14
order to be sexually gratified go ahead with the next as war no City okay finally even though he could again be
01:16:22
facing the death penalty investigators were able to get Reese to talk about the last case they thought he was linked to
01:16:30
from 1997 Tiffany Johnston who re said he had encountered at that car wash in Oklahoma
01:16:39
I was staying C up my my trck that's when that girl yelled hey I sprayed her real sorry I thought she said something
01:16:48
I said started cussing at her and u me and her got into it he knew police had his DNA and admitted having
01:17:00
sexual contact with Tiffany after forcing her into his horse trailer was was fighting you un snap her overalls I
01:17:09
don't know why once again reys made a point to blame his victim for the violence that followed she hit me in the
01:17:16
back of the head with her horseshoe pissed me off and started squeezing her around the
01:17:23
throat and I gra that lead rope WRA around hold it TI four victims and four confessions but with no sign of Kelly
01:17:33
Cox or Jessica Kaine not everyone believed Reese was telling the truth there was some folks thinking that maybe
01:17:40
the information was not accurate and that he was playing us go inside the case and see more of
01:17:47
the evidence at 48 hours.com as we dug and we continued to not locate anything there certainly wasn't as many
01:18:03
investigators helping at the end of it as they were at the beginning of it in March of
01:18:09
2016 after 25 days of digging and with William Reese's guidance there was finally some news they found Jessica
01:18:19
kan's Remains What was that day like very emotional we were sad but but also we were joyful as well to have located
01:18:28
uh the remains Jessica's parents asked for privacy as they processed the news and buried their daughter four
01:18:36
investigators finding Jessica corroborated William Reese's stories and re-energized the search for Kelly Cox
01:18:45
and after another two weeks of painstaking work they found her I had nightmares for the first time where she
01:18:53
had to wake me up screaming never had nightmares like that before her nightmares were being down in a hole it
01:18:59
was just after Kelly and Jessica were found Oklahoma County Prosecutors Jimmy Harmon
01:19:08
and Ryan Stevenson have William Reese transported back to their state to face a capital murder trial for Tiffany
01:19:16
Johnston we typically only seek the death penalty on the worst of the worst murderers and Mr ree certainly fit that
01:19:23
bill Reese pleaded did not guilty even though prosecutors had the DNA evidence and his chilling words from his tape
01:19:32
confession that's when I grabbed her around the throat and choked her when the trial began in May of 2021 Reese's
01:19:39
defense fought to keep that video out but the judge decided that the jury would watch it and hear all his
01:19:47
statements where he admitted killing Lura Smither Kelly Cox and Jessica Kaine all relevance say Stevenson for showing
01:19:56
that Reese had a pattern all of that being in such a short time period we wanted to be able to show the jury that
01:20:04
this guy wasn't stopping he was stopped Sandra SAA and two women who say re sexually assaulted them in 1997 all
01:20:14
testified at the trial prosecutors say this testimony was crucial to correct the self-serving stories that Reese told
01:20:22
on those tapes you never get the full story out of William Reese he always tells it in the way that makes him look
01:20:31
best prosecutors think the true story is that reys would set traps for his victims he would sometimes create the
01:20:40
situation in the case of Sandra Sea by slashing her Tire presented himself as the Good Samaritan and he would then
01:20:46
attack them after nine days in that Oklahoma courtroom the case went to the jury it took them less than 2 hours to
01:20:55
decide finding William Reese guilty of murdering Tiffany Johnston Rees was sentenced to death I'll never forgive
01:21:05
him for killing Tiffany he should die but instead of being sent right away to death row reys first made one final trip
01:21:14
back down the interstate to Texas where he agreed to plead guilty to murdering Laura Smither Kelly Cox and Jessica
01:21:23
Kaine it took almost 25 years but you finally got Justice for Laura didn't you yeah and for Jessica and Kelly and that
01:21:33
was very important to Bob and I in exchange for his guilty pleas Reese received three life sentences in the
01:21:42
Texas cases gay Smither made a statement at one of those hearings I spoke about Laura and how we had an empty seat at
01:21:51
our table for the rest of our lives and then I told told him that I I forgave him for what he did you forgive him for
01:22:00
ruining your lives you lost Laura who had her whole life ahead of her forgiveness does not mean I condone what
01:22:08
he did nor does it mean I will ever forget what he did forgiveness was for me to not live in a in a cage of
01:22:17
Rage that's what forgiveness is with Laura's case now resolved gay and Bob could devote more time with their son
01:22:25
David now 34 and his children gay also travels the country training law enforcement on handling missing person's
01:22:35
cases I'm here to tell you what happened with the prayer that you will be inspired by Laura's Story to never give
01:22:44
up the bams wanted a way to share their memories of Kelly and created this statue in her Honor on the UNT Campus
01:22:54
where Kelly had once been a student hoping to remind people to be aware of their surroundings you've got to live
01:23:02
but you can do that in a smart way and be safe Jan says like every family touched by William ree she's having to
01:23:12
learn how to live with grief I cry every day I used to say to people if you don't
01:23:17
want to see me cry then you can walk away cuz I am going to cry what are you doing how do you want people well to
01:23:24
remember your mother just the way she was she was a ball of fun she was a beautiful young woman who
01:23:33
had a lot going for her she was driven and she was doing it for [Music] [Music] me two gruesome murders unsolved same
01:23:53
area same Amo ambushed stabbed multiple times can a man known as the zombie hunter help police find a killer and
01:24:00
then he's defending the world against zombies it was like he was hiding in playing sight 48 Hours next on CBS and
01:24:06
streaming on Paramount [Music] plus being in the military in law enforcement I've seen a lot of people
01:24:31
die I've seen a lot of really bad things but you never think anything's going to happen to
01:24:38
you not that you're above it it always happens to somebody [Music] else nothing could have prepared me for
01:24:49
what actually happened the deputy showed up at my door all he said was you need to call your dad my
01:25:01
dad started crying and he told me that there had been a fire at my mom's house the only people living in the
01:25:10
house was my mom Vicky her boyfriend John and my little sister Becky we're still waiting for positive
01:25:19
identification on three bodies found at a burned out home in pinion Pines we knew right away that everyone was
01:25:27
dead maybe my mom fell asleep with a cigarette or a gas leak but what happened was much much
01:25:37
worse I learned that Becky was found in a wheelbarrow apparently she had been placed in this and set on
01:25:49
fire my baby sister was gone this was the front of the house and the wheelbarrow was found here we know that
01:25:59
it was brought to this spot because there were tracks rolled out that way why bring her body towards the front
01:26:05
of the house we think it was toose her and they wanted to leave some kind of symbol make it as personal as possible
01:26:14
that's hate she was obviously the Target and when I heard the wheelbarrow situation that's when I knew it was him
01:26:24
waiting for my precious boyfriend say hi Robert hi guys because he had threatened
01:26:29
to kill her a lot of the evidence pointed toward Robert Pape and Christian Smith Robert Pape was Becky's
01:26:37
exboyfriend Christian Smith was Robert Pap's best friend 7 years 7 years went by before
01:26:46
anything happened yesterday police arrested 25-year-old Christen Smith and Becky
01:26:52
friedley's ex-boyfriend Robert PA we know Robert and anyone who knows him knows how ridiculous the accusations
01:27:00
are my son Christian saves lives he saved lives in Afghanistan he doesn't take lives there's no way it's
01:27:11
all very obvious that there's no [Music] way Robert Pape and Kristen Smith are accused of three counts of murder
01:27:33
and if you just look at all the evidence it just doesn't fit it doesn't work this
01:27:37
is not the case that should be brought against these two men there is not a doubt in my mind that
01:27:43
they have the right people I I know that they do [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music]
01:28:05
48 Hours murder in pinion Pines it was a vicious triple homicide but there were almost no clues Left
01:28:15
Behind that's because a fire consumed the crime scene destroying vital evidence with the investigation hampered
01:28:23
from the start it would take nearly 12 long years to bring this case to trial and to its emotional conclusion try
01:28:33
Roberts brings us the murder in pinion [Music] Pines this Foundation is All That
01:28:53
Remains of the freedley home in pinion Pines California on the evening of September
01:28:59
17th 2006 Tanya friedley's childhood home was burned to the ground there's not a day that goes by that I don't
01:29:09
think about what happened I miss them every day inside the home investigators have
01:29:17
found the bodies of Tanya's 53-year-old mother Vicky freedley and her 55-year-old boyfriend John Hayward
01:29:24
it was later determined they had both been shot the homicide unit is treating this as a
01:29:31
homicide outside in a burning wheelbarrow were the charred remains of Tanya's 18-year-old sister Becky her
01:29:38
body too badly burned to determine the cause of death the worst part is is that's my baby sister I was supposed to
01:29:46
be the one to protect her and be there for her that's my job Tanya then a deputy sheriff in another
01:29:56
town relayed the devastating news to her sister Drew an Air Force medic stationed
01:30:01
in Japan at the time I think it's just mortifying when you find out that somebody could be that horrible and
01:30:09
Sinister like something you'd seen in a a horror flick as opposed to real life for Drew and Tanya it's hard to
01:30:16
reconcile that horrific murder scene to their storybook upbringing on the property their father Ron freedley had
01:30:24
built their home himself in the mountains high above the desert heat of the Coachella
01:30:29
Valley it was just a nice place it was country it was definitely out of the city and I liked it it was a
01:30:37
great place for the kids to grow up Ron doed on his daughters and so did his wife Vicki my mom was just a very
01:30:45
kind-hearted wonderful woman she loved being a mom um she loved gardening she loved sewing and quilting and cooking
01:30:53
you know that was really important for her to teach us how to cook even from a very very young age the youngest of the
01:31:00
sisters was high-spirited Becky freedley Becky was always just an amazing person
01:31:07
I mean even when she was small always had a smile on her face she was always there for you she's smart Becky used to
01:31:16
actually help Tanya and Drew with their homework and and you know she's four years younger than them she got along
01:31:24
with everybody she really did she was just a fun happy person but the Happy Times of a family
01:31:32
didn't last Ron and Vicki divorce after 13 years of marriage she was a good person but we we sort of grew
01:31:42
apart as the years passed Tanya and Drew also left home Becky remained behind with her mother who eventually found
01:31:50
love again with contractor John Hayward my dad called Micky his cupcake because she was just so
01:31:58
sweet kitty Hayward is John's daughter they were drawn together because they both loved the outdoors and they loved
01:32:06
living up there together and I would be like Dad why are you guys living up here
01:32:11
just come down to the city there's what is up here and he would always say like it's free up here no one will ever
01:32:17
bother us and this is the safest place that you can be then came that night in September at
01:32:25
first no one could imagine who would want to hurt John Becky and Vicki I really had no
01:32:32
idea the finger was being pointed at everyone I think there were all kinds of rumors rumors started circulating that
01:32:40
perhaps they had been murdered by someone with a grudge against Ron friedley Ron had retired the year before
01:32:48
from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department did you believe that this may have been some some sort of Retribution
01:32:55
for your work in law enforcement no I I really didn't I never really was involved in anything where
01:33:03
somebody would have said I want to get back at this guy I didn't have that kind of career so you had no enemies that's
01:33:08
not really no investigators looked into that theory and quickly ruled it out but
01:33:13
then rumors began swirling about Ron freedley himself I mean it's just natural to think that um possibly the
01:33:21
the husband or family could have been involved and and I understood that going into it um were you interviewed yes I
01:33:29
was I was crying probably most through most of it investigators asked Ron to take a polygraph test that was probably
01:33:38
the first time that I really felt like I was kind of a suspect so I got up there
01:33:45
I took the polygraph and uh the lady came out and she said this is one of the best tests I've ever given in my career
01:33:52
she says it it was incredible he did fine phone records put Ron 11 hours away at his property in Northern California
01:34:01
when the crime took place and police ruled him out as a suspect but there was one person a
01:34:07
friend of Becky's who says she knew immediately who was responsible this was intentional and he did it and I've known
01:34:15
since day one he did it [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the first days after the murders Ron
01:34:37
friedley was besieged with questions none of us really knew why it occurred or had a reason for it the last
01:34:46
thing I thought was that it was something to do with Becky but once the initial shock had
01:34:52
subsided Ron began looking at the crime through his investigator's eyes and came
01:34:58
to believe that it was Becky who had been targeted it seemed too personal because of a fear Becky had she was
01:35:05
really really afraid of fire when she was younger her mom was fixing tacos and she had a pan full of hot grease and
01:35:13
Becky had pulled it down off the stove and it burned on her chest she had third degree burns on her chest so someone
01:35:20
that's with someone intimately would know that she had these scars and was scared of fire Becky's friend jeie
01:35:27
McDaniel was suspicious about someone right away so immediately when you heard of the murders your mind went to Robert
01:35:34
P immediately nothing else in my mind there's nobody else that could have done this Robert P was Becky friedley's
01:35:44
ex-boyfriend Robert got Becky a cage the teenagers started dating in high school
01:35:49
and were together for over a year looks like you guys are getting married at first Becky and Robert seemed happy I
01:35:56
think it was her first love I just think she was madly in love with him a but Jeanie says Robert soon grew
01:36:06
possessive of Becky when her and I went on vacation about 10 months before she died he called about 20 30 times in a
01:36:14
night just harassing her wanting to talk to her while we were hanging out with friends 20 to 30 times in one night mhm
01:36:22
within I mean minutes Within each other in January 2006 Becky and Robert broke up and started seeing other people but
01:36:30
according to Genie Robert's obsessive behavior only grew worse and took an even darker turn shortly before the
01:36:37
murders in September she came to my house three weeks before she died and said he had
01:36:41
even threatened to kill me those are her exact words he even threatened to kill me why she said because he wasn't taking
01:36:48
the breakup well and he wanted her and didn't want anybody else to have her that's what she said to me so were you
01:36:55
concerned for her I was but she gave me the impression that it wasn't a big deal
01:37:02
and so I kind of just took her word for it and let it go but after the murders jeie says she
01:37:08
went straight to the Riverside County Sheriff's apartment with her suspicions as it turns out Robert Pape was already
01:37:15
on their radar everyone was whispering about Robert they moved pretty quickly in in the direction of of Robert there
01:37:23
was a a lot of little tiny bits of information from different sources one of those sources was Becky's close
01:37:29
friend Javier Garcia Jr who had given investigators an interesting bit of information on the night of the murders
01:37:36
he says Becky had told him she was going hiking on her property with Robert and his friend Christian
01:37:42
Smith Tanya freedley believes her sister probably just wanted to smooth things over with Robert my sister was a fixer
01:37:50
she loved with all of her heart and she gave herself to everything she did Garcia Jr's lead placed Robert Pape and
01:38:00
Christian Smith at the scene of the crime the night of the murders with rumors pointing towards the
01:38:07
two men the freedle were sure that the case would soon be solved I kind of felt a sense of relief um that they would be
01:38:15
arrested but as surely as the momentum had started it seemed to stop the Riverside County Sheriff's Department
01:38:22
never publicly shared any details of the investigation or named any suspects it was frustrating but they
01:38:30
just kept saying they they didn't have it they didn't have enough to to make an arrest private investigator Lewis
01:38:36
balanos saw his friend Ron grow increasingly despondent about 2 or 3 years into this I'm getting updates from
01:38:43
Ron and I'm finding out that nothing's happening it this case has stalled has gone cold Lewis and Ron had met years
01:38:50
earlier at the Sheriff's Office where Ron had been one of Lewis's first training officers now it was time for
01:38:57
Lewis to help his old teammate I begged Ron for years two or three years let me do this for you Lewis had also worked in
01:39:05
the Riverside County DA's office although they parted on bad terms he was certain he could get things moving again
01:39:12
I knew that we can get this back on the front page where it needed to be um and get those phones burning again I really
01:39:19
wasn't ready because I really felt in my heart that I I thought the sheriff's department was going to solve it I
01:39:26
really did but as the six-year anniversary of the crime approach with no arrest in
01:39:32
sight Ron finally gave Lewis the green light the media Savvy Pi got to work and one of his first orders of business was
01:39:40
putting up this provocative billboard we wanted to do it before and after a beautiful picture of Becky and then a
01:39:48
simulated picture of Becky in the wheelbarrow on fire it really really pulled it heart string and sickened
01:39:54
people we believe the following to be true Lewis also held a press conference at the murder site with Drew and Tanya
01:40:01
freedley we are in this because we believe this case can be solved we know somebody out there knows something over
01:40:09
the next year tips started coming in one of them from Becky's cousin Daniela Zeno
01:40:15
who remembered something that might help investigators I had spoken to Becky um the night before the murder and she told
01:40:23
me that her ex-boyfriend Robert had come into her work at Denny's and um was harassing her he had
01:40:32
harassed her to the point of being removed from the restaurant danela says after the altercation they had discussed
01:40:39
going on that hike and I think talk about whatever their relationship was how it was finishing and where it was
01:40:46
and on the 7th anniversary of the crime Lewis held yet another press conference at the murder site with y by a sign the
01:40:54
suspects then ignited the accelerant and in turn engulfed Becky in Flames Ron believes all the media pressure paid off
01:41:03
that's where a few months later the DA's office subpoena Robert Pape and Christian Smith to appear before a grand
01:41:09
jury it was just stirring the pot it was something on the news every day about it
01:41:14
and I think they just said all right let's go do something and they did as the grand jury Drew to a close there was
01:41:23
news you're watching KQ the desert's News Leader two arrests after nearly 8 years in the pinion Pines
01:41:31
murderers Pape and Smith were arrested for triple homicide I was very happy it was probably the happiest day of my life
01:41:39
but as investigators were sure the killers were finally in custody two families say they are just as certain
01:41:46
the men are wrongfully accused innocent till proven guilty is a myth it's guilty
01:41:52
till proven innocent and the truth's going to come out it will come out for over 7 years the families of
01:42:15
Becky freedley her mother Vicki and John Hayward have been waiting for this moment my heart was in my stomach seeing
01:42:23
them in the jumpsuits and seeing them in the flesh and seeing them handcuffed Robert Pape and Christian
01:42:31
Smith both 25 found themselves in a Riverside County Courthouse charged with triple homicide both pled not guilty I
01:42:40
think they thought they were going to get away with it but these two men hardly fit the image of typical
01:42:45
defendants neither have criminal records Christian Smith is married and a decorated war hero Robert Pape is also
01:42:54
married in an active member of his church I had a really hard time just keeping it together you know Robert
01:43:01
sister Christie struggled seeing him accused of the brutal murder and burning of three people somebody like
01:43:09
him someone like him being put in that position it's really hard to watch Christie and Robert's mother
01:43:17
Kathleen say he is innocent and not the man he has been portrayed as in the media they tried to make him out to be a
01:43:24
monster a jealous monster and he just isn't that what kind of man is he Robert is an amazing person he's got a good
01:43:33
heart he's got a gentle heart hardworking patient honest he's always there when you need him he sort of takes
01:43:41
care of all of us takes really good care of his wife Robert started dating his wife Sarah after his breakup with Becky
01:43:48
he and his wife both have this tremendous heart for animals he cares about people he cares about animals he's
01:43:56
just got the utmost integrity and Christie and Kathleen aren't Robert's only supporters we've had no less than
01:44:04
10 or 11 people at every single hearing and there's been 30 33 or 34 people at one of the hearings just
01:44:13
coming to support and the courtroom can't even fit that many of us people called us immediately after he was
01:44:19
arrested and they were like no this isn't right uh this is not the Robert I know also looking on in disbelief has
01:44:27
been Christian Smith's Father John Conrad Smith I know my son didn't do that I know he's not capable of that
01:44:34
Smith says his son is an honorable man and was living his dream serving his country in the military as part of the
01:44:41
Army's Elite 75th Ranger regiment it was in Afghanistan that Smith says his son became a hero he saved another man's
01:44:51
life who was actually shot through the along and I have a picture of him pulling him out and two of his battle
01:44:58
buddies and Christian has one hand on a rifle and pulling his his comrade out and firing back at Afghanistan Christian
01:45:06
has won commendations for Valor and has been awarded two purple hearts this one is when he was wounded and he was shot
01:45:14
through the arm he got this one this one was when he took the grenade shrapnel he
01:45:21
deserved better than this I mean he's put his life on the line for 5 years now he's a good guy Christian
01:45:30
Smith may be a war hero now but investigators believe back when he was 17 he committed murder with his
01:45:36
18-year-old best friend Robert Pape Christian Smith and Robert Pape had been really really good friends in high
01:45:43
school and they both kind of beat to the same drum Robert Pape and Christian Smith both had an extreme fascination
01:45:49
with fire Becky had complained about Robert and Christian to close friend Brandon cougler Harrison there's one
01:45:56
time that they were playing with fire him and him and Christian and that they were they said something on fire I think
01:46:01
it was a match it's not 100% sure though I remember her just getting mad at him over that and not talking to him for a
01:46:06
couple days did your son have a fascination with fire no no there was no Fascination they were
01:46:14
not troublemakers they were good kids but prosecutors plan on using Robert's words against him just a few months
01:46:21
before the fire here in pinion in Pines Robert had an instant message conversation with his then girlfriend
01:46:26
Sarah in that exchange Robert seemed to offer a solution to Sarah's problems with an ex-boyfriend well if you know
01:46:35
where he lives we can professionally burn his house down considering how Becky Vicky and John were killed it's a
01:46:40
very concerning statement this is eight month eight months prior to the homicide the Riverside County Sheriff's
01:46:47
department and DA's office wouldn't comment on the investigation but 48 Hours obtain a copy of the grand jury
01:46:53
transcripts during the proceedings both men pled the fifth but when questioned by police years earlier they denied they
01:47:00
ever went near Becky's house and said they never had any intention of hiking with her Robert and Christian told
01:47:07
police during the interview that they were heading to church that night apparently they made a phone call on the
01:47:12
way there and the church was in fact closed when those plans fell through the boys said they headed back to
01:47:19
Christian's dad's home to hang out and play video games where was your son the night of the
01:47:24
murders you know what I wasn't in town well what did he tell you when you eventually saw him said we were here the
01:47:33
boys said they eventually wound up at this Middle School where they shot paintball guns nobody saw Christian or
01:47:40
Robert at the school playing paintball nobody their only Alibi is each other but it was the boys cell phone activity
01:47:48
that night that raised the most red flags to investigators they put themselves on on the other side of town
01:47:53
and the cell phon say differently at 7:13 p.m. Robert's cell phone pinged near the start of Highway 74 the road
01:48:02
leading up to the freedley home minutes later both Christian and Robert's cell phones went silent from
01:48:09
about 7:30 to 10: p.m. the time frame investigators believe their murders took place they came out of their way to find
01:48:18
Becky hard to say if John and Vicki were collateral damaged tracks and Footprints at the scene plac
01:48:25
Becky's attack near the desert behind the house Becky was then placed in a wheelbarrow and rolled back towards the
01:48:32
house and set on fire what kind of evidence was recovered from the scene that links this crime to
01:48:39
these two young men well we know that at the point where the wheelbarrow rolled from where they put Becky in the
01:48:47
wheelbarrow that they found a business card and on that business card they eventually found DNA that was consistent
01:48:54
with DNA belonging to Christian Smith inside the home it was determined Vicki had been shot with a 40 caliber handgun
01:49:02
and John Hayward with a shotgun before the house was set on fire when investigators searched the boy
01:49:09
homes a year later they found shotguns similar to the one used in the crime no handguns were ever recovered but in
01:49:16
Robert's house there were accessories to the type of gun that may have killed Vicki in that search War they recovered
01:49:24
ammunition to 40 cal and recovered a holster to a Glock 40 That's powerful piece of evidence you believe that
01:49:32
police have the right men oh I'm confident they have the right too guys absolutely but defense lawyers charge
01:49:39
investigators ignored other possible suspects and that the evidence will never hold up at trial you have the
01:49:47
wrong person here [Music] for Tanya freedley hearing the specific details of the murders has been
01:50:11
difficult to think about how they must have been pleading for their lives how scared all of them were is horrifying
01:50:21
and believing that one of their alleged Killers was someone Becky once loved has
01:50:25
been especially painful for Ron friedley she loved him a lot and and that's probably one of the saddest Parts about
01:50:32
the whole story is you know she loved him to death and he threw it all away threw it all
01:50:41
away for nothing but nothing is what defense lawyers say the state's case is based on and I kept looking for the
01:50:50
proverbial other shoe I want old I just didn't see it Richard bloomenfeld represents Robert P and says the case
01:50:58
against his client is built entirely unquestionable and hearsay evidence he points to Becky's cousin Daniela Zeno
01:51:06
who said Becky had told her about a fight at Denny's the day before the murders Robert had gone to Becky's
01:51:13
restaurant and there had been a scene an argument and they'd been asked to take it outside and so on and so forth that
01:51:20
never happened never happened never happened nobody could substantiate that that anything like that ever happened
01:51:26
bloomenfeld says a grand jurry should have never heard daniela's testimony or the evidence about the IM exchange
01:51:33
between Robert and Sarah in which he seemingly suggested burning down her ex-boyfriend's house leld argues it was
01:51:40
said in a joking fashion there were probably over a 100 pages of these conversations and they took one exerpt
01:51:51
out of context it was CLE clearly not seriously said bloomenfeld also denies that Robert threatened Becky's life and
01:51:59
says there would be no reason for him to be jealous or want to harm Becky because
01:52:03
he had already moved on he wasn't seeing Becky anymore seriously she was trying to uh revive their relationship but he
01:52:11
moved on he was with Sarah whether Robert had a motive or not Christian Smith's alleged role never made any
01:52:18
sense to his attorney John Patrick Dolan the motive if you can believe believe this is he's Robert's friend and he went
01:52:25
along with him that's it there's no connection with Kristen and Becky there's nothing that
01:52:33
suggests he has any animosity toward her it's a pretty weak argument Dolan thinks
01:52:38
all the evidence is weak starting with the boy's lack of sell phone activity around the time frame of the murders he
01:52:44
says it doesn't prove anything it is unusual for for a teenager not to use their phone for 2
01:52:50
and 1/2 hours well you could say that you could also say that he was having a shower having dinner and he had a
01:52:56
paintball gun and he went out and tested it out near middle school and he didn't
01:53:00
make any calls for 2 and 1 half hours it's really not that uncommon at all but before the boy's phones went silent
01:53:06
there was that cell tower ping that put Robert and presumably Christian at the start of Highway 74 up to pinion Pines
01:53:14
didn't the Ping show that Christian and Robert were somewhere near Becky's home well that's one of those really
01:53:20
interesting anomalies cuz a doesn't show at all that Christen was anywhere near that home Dolan says that 3 minutes
01:53:28
before Robert's phone pinged near Highway 74 Christian's phone pinged off a cell tower miles away and I can tell
01:53:35
you that uh prosecution is going to have a hard time getting over Mr Smith's phone being on the other side of the
01:53:41
Coachella Valley when they say uh Mr pape's phone was pinged sometime near the time that there would had been an
01:53:48
Ascent up the mountain but the state's FBI experts say cell phones at higher elevations
01:53:54
sometimes bounce off other Towers pinging phones or not investigators say there is hard evidence putting Christian
01:54:01
at the scene that DNA on the business card and that puts him there and we know that he has denied ever being there
01:54:10
Dolan questions whether the DNA is Christians as the prosecution says it unequivocally is and argues that even if
01:54:17
it is a match Becky could have previously picked up the card from his client She carries it up to her house
01:54:24
she drops it on the ground that doesn't prove he was there it simply proves he touched a card and they have to have
01:54:31
something more than he touched a card to prove he was there committing homicide and if Dolan dismisses the DNA evidence
01:54:37
he says the gun evidence is almost laughable what the argument was by the district attorney was he had access to
01:54:46
the kinds of guns that were used do does that make anybody guilty because they have access to the kind of gun that was
01:54:51
used with no ballistics with no measurement with no slugs with no nothing and Christian's father says that
01:54:58
the entire argument is moot anyway as far as his son is concerned because the guns were with him in another state the
01:55:05
weaken of the murders they were with me they got put in the trunk of my car the defense believes that other people
01:55:12
should have been looked at more closely like Javier Garcia Jr that friend of beckus who had first turned
01:55:18
investigators towards Robert and Christian saying they were all going hiking so Javier says Becky says
01:55:26
something how do we find out whether or not that's just him making up something because it points things elsewhere some
01:55:32
friends say Garcia Jr wanted to be more than friends with Becky and Dolan and Blumenfeld point out that while their
01:55:39
client phones didn't ping up in the mountains where Becky lived Garcia Jr's did if you follow the route that he
01:55:47
alleged that he took it puts him right by Becky's residence why was he driving in the area near the
01:55:55
time that this took place and I was told that Javier Garcia would not testify at
01:56:00
the Grand Jury unless he was granted immunity why does he need immunity if he doesn't have anything to do with this
01:56:06
Dolan also points out that Garcia Jr's father is an investigator in the DA's office raising questions about a
01:56:13
possible conflict of interest interesting question about that there was an investigation by the way and to
01:56:18
be fair we have to say the Attorney General came down and looked at it said doesn't look like there's any conflict
01:56:23
of interest here and and I accept that for now but I don't accept it forever he was extremely forthcoming with the
01:56:30
police and was instrumental in their investigation former Federal prosecutor Eduardo Roy represents Javier Garcia Jr
01:56:38
he says Javier's only role is that of key witness and not as a suspect he was asked to testify before a grand jury yes
01:56:45
he was did he he did not why we were there and then it was decided that they didn't need them did you ever ask for
01:56:54
immunity for Javier I asked to for them to be clear before I made him available that he was
01:57:03
not a Target or a suspect of the investigation why because I'm a very good lawyer
01:57:11
that's why Roy says the reason why Garcia Jr was driving in the area before the murders was because he wanted to
01:57:19
join the group going hiking but Becky told him not come so he turned around and went home and what the police did
01:57:25
was track where he was police determined Javier Garcia Jr was back on the desert
01:57:31
floor at the time of the murders and ruled him out as a suspect and danela zermeno independently backs up Javier
01:57:38
story that Becky planned to go hiking with Robert and a friend the night of the murders they had a definite plan to
01:57:45
go hiking the three of them the freedle believe the evidence circumstantial or not paints a damning picture when you
01:57:54
put it all together it's them I can only hope and pray that a jury of their peers
01:58:00
will hear the evidence and come back with a guilty verdict I call it the drive of Tears
01:58:23
almost every Saturday for the last 6 months John Conrad Smith makes the hour-long drive to visit his son at the
01:58:30
Riverside County jail I just think about Christian and I cry all the way up and all the way back Smith says Christian
01:58:38
has missed a deployment with his unit and is all but certain to miss out on a huge life event his wife Jackie is about
01:58:45
to give birth to their first child he's not going to be there for that birth he's not going to be able to see that at
01:58:52
Birth and it's horrible I mean he's taking it he's taking it hard and to see him in that orange jumpsuit it breaks my
01:58:59
heart it breaks his heart Robert pape's mother Kathleen has also been having a hard time seeing her son Behind Bars the
01:59:07
thought goes through your head like will I ever be able to touch him but there is another parent out
01:59:14
there who wakes up each morning thinking these men are exactly where they belong one of the first things I do in
01:59:22
the mornings I get a cup of coffee and I go outside I think about Becky and I think about those two boys in jail after
01:59:29
years of waiting the freedley and haywards feel they are one step closer to justice as they wait for a trial date
01:59:36
to be set it's a nice feeling knowing that they're going to have to answer for what they did if the jury finds them not
01:59:43
guilty so be it if they found guilty then they're going to pay for the crime that they committed but the case was
01:59:50
about to take an unexpected turn 8 years after the murders the prosecutor assigned to this case walked inside this
01:59:56
courthouse and asked that all charges against Robert Pape and Christian Smith be dropped a bombshell out of an India
02:00:04
courtroom today charges dropped really emotional yeah I mean I'm just happy I I'm numb yeah I'm happy
02:00:13
he's coming home as a matter of fact I'm going to go get them right now the DA's
02:00:18
office offered little explanation for their decision in prepared statement they said legal issues had Arisen during
02:00:25
the grand Joy proceedings against Robert Pape making it appropriate to ultimately
02:00:30
dismiss the charges against both men the system worked I have faith in my son and
02:00:36
that's that's all I can tell you the dismissal was so unexpected that neither man was in the courtroom that day
02:00:43
Christian's dad broke the news to him from outside the jail you've been released you you've been released your
02:00:50
mom and I and everybody everybody's here the baby's on her way we're just waiting
02:00:55
for you to get the paperwork done and for you to walk out that door we're all waiting outside for you
02:01:06
son and just a few hours later Christian Smith with Robert Pape closely behind want out
02:01:17
together Christian held is the two week old daughter Zoe for the first time just
02:01:23
want to be with my beautiful baby girl and my amazing wife and loyal family and my brother's over over in the
02:01:33
military and I've been loyal to me throughout this whole thing I just hope I can just move on
02:01:40
with my life and put this behind me Robert's family was waiting for him W for me to come out at a location
02:01:47
nearby what was it like hugging your son when he walked out oh my gosh that first
02:01:53
time holding him you know I just I didn't want to let him go but I had to scoot over and let let her hug him let
02:01:59
his life hug him but it may not be completely over for papen Smith the da can technically
02:02:07
refile charges against the men if new evidence emerges Tanya freedley has always been convinced that they had the
02:02:15
right men and I have thought about if they get away with murder to know in my heart
02:02:23
that Christian and Robert took my family from me and could get away with it I hope that they have to think about this
02:02:33
every day for the rest of their [Music] life in June 2016 Robert Pape and Christian Smith were rearrested for the
02:02:48
murders the state says the charges were based based on a new informant who claimed Smith had made an incriminating
02:02:55
statement better cell phone tracking and more evidence that links Christian Smith
02:03:01
to that business card founded the crime scene and they say in 2018 in January oh
02:03:08
we had a fingerprint match that we couldn't make since 2006 sounds a little fishy Christian Smith's lawyer John
02:03:15
Patrick Dolan says investigators had tunnel vision I think they began with the concl I usion that my client and Mr
02:03:23
Pape are guilty and tried to collect evidence to support that rather than evaluating the evidence and see where it
02:03:29
takes them the trial began in April 2018 almost 12 years after the crime Dolan and P's new attorney Jeff Moore launched
02:03:39
a vigorous defense raising questions about the credibility of the State's new informant who has had his own legal
02:03:46
troubles and the accuracy of the cell phone tracking and forensic evidence this is about as paper thin case as I've
02:03:54
ever seen after more than a month of trial the case went to the jury they would deliberate 10 agonizing days
02:04:03
before giving word that they had finally reached a verdict Robert Pape and Christian Smith
02:04:10
were found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Vicky freedley and John
02:04:15
Hayward Pape was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of Becky friedley I waited 11 years 9 months for
02:04:23
this day and I'm I'm very happy there is no closure Becky's gone Vicky John they'll never come back but what the
02:04:30
victim's family see as the right verdict is viewed as a terrible Injustice by two
02:04:36
other families Robert Pap's mother was devastated a jury has finally decided who was responsible for the murder of
02:04:46
three people in pinion Pines but the destruction left by that terrible night remains my sister was a beautiful person
02:04:57
inside and out and I want that remembered I want to remember her for her not for how she died
02:05:08
[Music] [Music]