00:00:00
[Music] I've never spoken publicly before about any of this. Never really fully healed from any
00:00:24
of what happened. It's like waking up every morning and having the same phone call.
00:00:30
911. What is the address? That's your emergency. 911 call came in October 2nd, 2017. It was called in as a welfare
00:00:39
check. Something happened at my ex-husband's house over the evening and my two children came to my house this
00:00:45
morning. Okay. And what did they tell you exactly? Their dad's gone. Their older sister's gone.
00:00:53
Where are we? officer set the scene for us. This is Benson Street. And for me, this is just another welfare
00:01:00
check. But we don't know what we're walking into. What is your ex-husband's name? Aaron
00:01:07
Frier. I learned that he was a good guy. He was a good dad. What is your daughter's name? My oldest
00:01:17
daughter's name is Ellen Frier. How old is she? She's 15. Ellie was in the marching band. Very
00:01:26
bright, very intelligent. With the older daughter missing, it was very suspicious. We didn't really know how
00:01:32
suspicious it was until we saw what we saw when we got here. Enough for police. Knock yourself.
00:01:38
We clear the house and in the living room, based on the blood splatter, there was a serious assault,
00:01:46
probable murder that occurred. So time was of the essence. Absolutely. Time is always of the essence. You know
00:01:53
it. The only information I had was from the patrol officers and what Sierra was able to tell us on scene.
00:02:02
[Music] I remember waking up in the middle of the night. We know at around 5:30 that Sierra heard
00:02:12
the glass breaking. I just started listening. just listening to try and understand what was
00:02:19
happening. I was certain she had heard the assault, but she hadn't realized that. Thank God she didn't walk out and
00:02:28
interrupt this thing. I was very terrified. Based on what she had seen at the house, she knew somebody wasn't
00:02:34
okay. She went over to the couch. She felt something wet and when she pulled her hand up, it was covered in blood. I
00:02:41
just was in like a state of shock. Sierra could not locate her father Aaron and her teenage sister Ellie. We treated
00:02:53
it as a missing person's serious assault until we know otherwise. Everyone was out
00:03:00
looking. There was also a potential that this was what we could refer to as a nobody homicide. And those cases are
00:03:07
always tough to work. As of right now in my family, there are two family members
00:03:16
missing. It's still like an open wound every day. [Music] [Music] The quiet city of Medford, Oregon, was
00:04:13
shaken by Maggie Frier's desperate 911 call in the early morning hours of October 2nd, 2017.
00:04:21
I don't know where my ex-husband or my oldest daughter is. I understand that something happened at the house.
00:04:27
Something happened over there. Maggie Frier's ex-husband, Aaron Frier, and their 15-year-old daughter, Ellen,
00:04:34
nicknamed Ellie, were missing. My concern is for the both of them. We don't know where they are. You can only
00:04:42
imagine all the things that were running around in my mind. I didn't know who was
00:04:46
dead and who was alive. When Medford Police Officer Logan Boyd arrived at Aaron's house, he found that
00:04:54
gruesome scene. There is blood everywhere. Blood spattered walls, shattered glass,
00:05:02
and a trail of blood to nowhere. See, it starts from there and kind of goes all the way out in the dirt. It goes out
00:05:08
towards the carport. Yeah, that's not good. This led investigators to notice what also was missing. Aaron Frier's
00:05:16
car. Seen here on a neighbor's security camera leaving the Frier home around 5:30 that morning.
00:05:24
We're kind of dealing with what I would describe as like a two-headed monster. An all hands on deck call went out to
00:05:30
every Medford police detective, including Detective Bill Ford. We didn't know at that particular time whether
00:05:37
this was a missing person case or a kidnapping. We just didn't know. Detective Shannon Reynolds, Bill Ford's
00:05:45
colleague and wife of 20 years, had a different take. In my mind, I automatically assumed that the
00:05:53
15year-old daughter was the victim of a homicide. So, a case like this, where did this one sort of fit in? Probably
00:05:59
one of the most interesting um heinous um crimes I've seen in my career. Investigators hoped Ellie's younger
00:06:08
sister, 11-year-old Sierra, might shed light on the unknown. Detective Reynolds, who specializes in crimes
00:06:15
against children, was tasked with interviewing her. Sarah wasn't like outright crying. Um, but you could tell
00:06:22
she was worried. Who was she worried about? Um, her dad and Ellie. I try not to really think about that time a lot,
00:06:29
but Sierra, 18 years old at the time of this exclusive interview, still finds it
00:06:35
difficult to speak about the day her father and sister vanished. I was, you know, just a child and
00:06:44
um I'm sorry. The second of three girls, Sierra says she loved being in the middle. I get to be an older sister and
00:06:53
a younger sister, so I get like the best of both worlds. I like the connection and the
00:06:58
bonds that we have. Sierra says her older sister, Ellie, loved music and could play many
00:07:05
instruments. [Music] A skill Ellie seemed to have picked up from their father. One time he tried to
00:07:15
teach me how to play the drums, but I wasn't very good at it. So, in 2016, Sierra's parents, Maggie and
00:07:22
Aaron, ended their marriage. Sierra says the divorce took a toll on her and her sisters.
00:07:29
It affected us a lot. It was actually not a very great experience for everyone involved.
00:07:36
Sierra says that when her parents separated, her dad moved into that small two-bedroom house. Maggie and Aaron
00:07:43
shared custody and the girls would stay with their dad every other weekend. In September 2017, Sierra decided to live
00:07:51
with her dad full-time. I want to be around him and fill my life with him. Then around 5:30 a.m. on October 2nd,
00:08:03
2017, the Frier family was forever broken. Sierra was asleep in the bedroom she shared with her younger sister. I woke
00:08:14
up and it was just pitch black. I remember waking up to like a dinging noise over and over and over
00:08:22
again and I heard glass shatter and I heard the fight that occurred. The sound was coming from the living room. So then
00:08:30
what does she hear? Because she really is sort of an ear witness to all that happened. She heard her dad yell the f-
00:08:38
word. She heard dragging. She heard things being moved. After that, it was completely
00:08:44
silent. Did she have any idea what was going on at the time? No. She was frightened enough to stay in her room
00:08:50
until she felt like it was okay to come out. When Sierra finally did come out, she found that horrific scene. It
00:09:00
had to be so scary, though. So scary. Sierra told Detective Reynolds that before leaving her room, she had seen
00:09:07
something out of her bedroom window. She could see people walking back and forth.
00:09:12
Sierra saw two young men outside of her dad's house. One was a person Sierra didn't know. The second was someone
00:09:20
Sierra immediately recognized. It was Gavin McFarland. He was Ellen's boyfriend at the time.
00:09:27
This was her big love. According to her, he was a great guy, but according to my
00:09:33
parents, he was not a great guy. Sierra insinuated this was a little bit of a forbidden love. Dad had forbade Ellie
00:09:41
from seeing Gavin. This was the break investigators had been hoping for. Once we have a name, Gavin McFarland, now we
00:09:50
got a picture. Now we know who we're looking for. The search for Aaron and Ellie Frier.
00:09:56
And now Gavin McFarland was on. We probably had 70 75 people out on the streets of Medford.
00:10:08
Ellie and Aaron's phones were found in the house. Investigators now began tracking Gavin's phone. We started
00:10:15
getting cell phone tower hits up in the East Medford area. Patrol officers immediately headed in that direction. A
00:10:24
patrol sergeant locates the car. That was huge. As the officers approached Aaron Frier's vehicle, they realized
00:10:32
that something wasn't right. We could see there was blood on the outside of the bumper that had been dripping down.
00:10:39
When this trunk is opened up, there is large amounts of blood. I mean, it is soaked into the carpet. But no Aaron and
00:10:48
no Ellie. But the car was still warm, so the police knew they were close. We had
00:10:55
tons of people up there driving around looking for them. And then just an hour later, investigators couldn't believe
00:11:03
who they found next. [Music] Their dad's gone. Their older sister's gone. Then just 4 hours after that 911 call
00:11:34
reporting her missing, Medford police found Ellie Frier. She was alive, seemingly unharmed, and had been walking
00:11:43
down a busy street with Gavin McFarland. They're walking down the sidewalk in plain sight. Plain sight. So now we know
00:11:52
Ellie's safe, which made two things clear. Aaron Frier was the victim. And based on all that
00:12:00
blood in his car and at the house, time was quickly running out to find him. We had Aaron out there either seriously
00:12:10
injured or deceased. Walking along with Gavin and Ellie was someone investigators hadn't been
00:12:18
looking for. Do you have ID with your name on there? Uh, no I don't. I hardly ever carry my
00:12:24
ID around. Okay. He turned out to be Russell Jones. Thanks. Have a seat real quick. A friend of Gavins.
00:12:31
I won't make it hard on you. All right. Russell had apparently made an impression on Sierra Frier, says
00:12:37
Detective Shannon Reynolds. He matched the description of that second young man she saw at her father's house that
00:12:44
morning. So, she got a really good look at this person. Investigators now had a witness placing Gavin and Russell at the
00:12:52
crime scene. Detective Ford says he wasn't sure what to make of Ellie being found with them.
00:12:59
That doesn't mean that Ellie's involved in something. But Ford says that she, Gavin, or Russell might hold the key to
00:13:07
finding Aaron. Ellie, Gavin and Russell are separated. Detained and transported to the Medford
00:13:17
Police Department for questioning. Hi. Hello. Detective Stephanie Jackson was tasked with getting Ellie Frier's
00:13:25
account of the previous 24 hours. So, what have you been up to today? I haven't been home and now I'm really
00:13:33
concerned about what's been going on. Mhm. Where were you? Out. Ellie was saying everything had seemed
00:13:44
normal when she left her father's house for a long walk. And you were walking down the street, it sounds like, today?
00:13:52
Mhm. Who were you with? I was with my friend. According to Ellie, she had run into those friends, Gavin and Russell,
00:14:00
only by chance, not long before being spotted by police. And so, everybody is really
00:14:07
concerned because we actually don't know where your dad is right now. That's really disturbing to hear. Maybe he was
00:14:13
looking for me. We are very worried about your dad. So am I. Ellie was saying she had no idea
00:14:22
where her father was or what happened at the house. So, where did all the blood come from in
00:14:29
your house? I don't know. Around that time, Detective Ford was preparing to interrogate the other two
00:14:37
detainees. Strategically, he decided to let Gavin wait in a holding cell and began interviewing Russell. Spin around
00:14:46
in your chair there and face me so I can talk to you. He's a talker. Very, very talkative. So,
00:14:53
I kind of knew he would have a hard time keeping his mouth shut. Yeah, I have nothing to hide. So, Russell was ready
00:14:59
to talk, but he wanted something first. A cigarette. I talk better when I have a
00:15:05
cigarette. Detective Ford took him outside. Just kind of smoking and joking is what
00:15:12
we call it. The camera didn't record audio, but Detective Ford says Russell began telling him that he and Gavin had
00:15:20
gone over to the frier house early that morning. He told us that he was trying to help
00:15:27
get Ellie out of a bad situation. That bad situation, according to Russell, was Aaron Frier.
00:15:36
And the first thing that he tells us is he's not a good person. Aaron Frier is not a good person. Correct.
00:15:43
He didn't elaborate further about Aaron, but Russell was claiming he and Gavin were only there to secretly move Ellie
00:15:50
out. So, the next thing I tell him is, "Look, Russell, we got detectives out there
00:15:56
right now pulling video from every house, the alleys. So, if this ain't the truth, you need to be truthful with me
00:16:03
right now." And he looks me square in the eyes and he says, "Well, 95% of it's the truth and there's five 5% of it's a
00:16:10
lie." So, I'm thinking automatically, well, what's the lie here? Detective Ford decided it was time for a new tactic and
00:16:18
tried appealing to Russell's conscience. I look at him and I'm like, you know, Russell, I don't want a child to find
00:16:27
Aaron out there somewhere, come across something like that. I said, can you take us to Aaron?
00:16:34
He didn't beat an eye. He's just like, yeah, I'll take you to him. The veteran detective wasted no time.
00:16:43
We load Russell up. He's actually sitting in the seat that you're sitting in now. Okay. We got him handcuffed in
00:16:50
front. He's basically telling us, "Okay, turn right, turn left." They were ascending a rural mountain
00:16:59
pass 20 m outside town. And all of a sudden, Russell says, "Stop. Stop right here.
00:17:14
[Music] [Music] Where did you stop your car back there? Uh, probably right where that rock is.
00:17:39
Do you see the body right away? You could see the tarp. You couldn't see any portion of the body. Right here in this
00:17:45
green tarp. Detectives descended the wooded ravine and pulled back that tarp, revealing
00:17:53
that just 6 hours after that 911 call, they had found Aaron Frier. It was obvious that he was deceased.
00:18:04
When you found out your husband was dead, what did you think? Uh uh I was just completely shocked. I didn't
00:18:16
know what to think. Maggie says the police hadn't yet told her Ellie was in their custody being questioned or even
00:18:23
that she had been found. I was very worried about the fate of my daughter. I had no idea if my daughter was even
00:18:29
alive, too. Maggie then faced the unimaginable task of sharing the news of Aaron's death
00:18:37
with their two younger daughters. The reality was almost too much for then 11-year-old Sierra.
00:18:45
I just really didn't want to believe it for a really long time. While investigators began processing the
00:18:53
scene, Detective Ford drove Russell Jones back to police headquarters. He says Russell was claiming that all he
00:19:01
had done was help dispose of Aaron's remains. He's like, "I'm not going to be a witness against Gavin."
00:19:09
Russell was saying Gavin was Aaron's killer, but that Gavin had been provoked. His story was that Aaron had a
00:19:16
rifle and was pointed at Gavin. So So making it seem like a self-defense because if he had a gun pointed at him.
00:19:24
Exactly. You can sit in that chair over there. Okay. Back at the station, Detective Ford returned Russell to the
00:19:29
interrogation room while detectives gathered for a briefing. You're listening in on my conversations, aren't
00:19:36
you? That's when Russell began taunting them through the camera. I can still twist your little
00:19:47
mind. Don't piss me off. This, I imagine, got everybody to stop what they were doing and gather around
00:19:56
the monitor and watch this. That's what you do. So, we can play it the easy way or the hard way. He would go into these
00:20:05
rants and making demands and stuff. Gavin and Ellie are to be released to me. And Russell was claiming he still
00:20:17
hadn't been totally truthful. And Mr. Ford, you want the whole story? Cuz I did miss a few parts.
00:20:30
For her part, Ellie was now saying Russell was the one responsible. I I believe that Russell's the one that
00:20:37
killed my father. All right. With the conflicting claims, Detective Ford decided it was finally
00:20:44
time to interview Gavin McFarland. I know I'm in serious trouble, aren't I? Well, we need to figure out what
00:20:52
happened. Gavin started by saying how volatile Aaron Frier could be. He's threatened my life. He's like, "No, stay
00:21:00
away from my daughter. I'm going to kill you." One month earlier, Gavin had called the
00:21:05
police, claiming Aaron had shown up at his house, banging on his door, threatening to kill him. I don't know
00:21:13
what caused him to not like me anymore. Detectives discovered at least one reason, Gavin's age. He was 19 years
00:21:23
old, dating 15-year-old Ellie. And making things worse, Gavin was now claiming Ellie was going to have his
00:21:31
baby. She told you she was pregnant. I've known for about 2 weeks now. While Gavin was admitting to having a sexual
00:21:38
relationship with a minor, itself a crime, he was accusing Aaron of being the one who had been abusive to Ellie.
00:21:47
The anger had just been building up because of the things that Ellie had been telling me. Mhm. Try to protect
00:21:54
Ellie. My possible trial. Gavin was claiming he and Russell had gone to the house that morning. But
00:22:02
unlike what Russell said that Aaron had not confronted him with the gun, instead
00:22:08
Gavin was saying Aaron had been in the living room asleep on the couch and that Gavin had crept in armed with a baseball
00:22:16
bat. Then Gavin made a startling admission. I just acted on instinct. Okay, what happened?
00:22:26
I just swung the bat downwards. It was dark. I couldn't see. How many times do you think you hit him? Like five or six,
00:22:34
maybe? Five or six times. Yeah. The physical evidence would back up Gavin's story. Aaron had died from blunt
00:22:44
force trauma to his head and a bat was recovered from a tree branch above where his remains had been found. So, this is
00:22:53
a lumin bat discoloration. You can see it's red here. This is all blood. Testing would confirm the blood was
00:23:02
Aaron's. And he demonstrated for us in the interview room how hard he swung it down on Aaron's head.
00:23:11
I went over the shoulder the first time and then I started going up above my head.
00:23:16
I mean, there were five distinct blows to his head. Explaining that dinging sound Sierra Frier had heard. They
00:23:25
fractured his skull. caved his skull into his brain. I'm I'm really sorry. And investigators soon found evidence
00:23:37
that Aaron's murder had been meticulously plotted for weeks. They discovered notes some in Russell's
00:23:45
handwriting at Gavin's house. We found several murder plans and they actually had plan A, plan B. There were
00:23:55
multiple plans and I think ultimately they come up with the bat and based on what you could see from the
00:24:04
planning, who's the mastermind of all of this? Ellie, believe it or not, Detective Ford
00:24:12
says he believes it was Ellie who wanted Aaron murdered, pointing to messages Ford says she sent to Gavin. In one she
00:24:20
says, "We need to make sure he's dead by the time we leave his house." And in another, she asked, "You want to kill
00:24:28
him now, don't you? And then you can kill him in less than a minute, right?" She's pushing it
00:24:37
all. She wants to be with Gavin. She wants to be out from underneath the authority of her father. Ellie wanted me
00:24:44
to kill him, but I didn't want to. Detective Ford says Ellie might have made up those abuse
00:24:51
allegations, possibly as a way to motivate Gavin to kill her father. She is very
00:25:02
manipulative. From me watching that entire interview, she lied. Are you Ellie? No. And lied. How old are you?
00:25:12
18. And lied. How did Gavin get in the house this morning? He wasn't in the house.
00:25:20
After several hours, Ellie did eventually admit some of her role, even saying that she had handed Gavin the
00:25:28
murder weapon. And what do you say to Gavin? I said, "I'm ready when you are." Okay. What did you mean by that? When
00:25:36
you do this, we're in it together. What did you mean when you said when you do this? Kill my dad.
00:25:44
With evidence, they all conspired to kill Aaron. Gavin, Russell, and Ellie were charged with his murder.
00:25:57
From the day after she was arrested, there was this narrative and her side was never
00:26:06
told until now. The story that the state has, why is it the right [Music] one? My daughter left to go stay at my
00:26:29
ex-husband's house for the weekend and never came home. I imagine that moment haunts you still.
00:26:37
Of course it does. My child never came home. After hours of worry, Maggie Frier was
00:26:46
finally told her 15-year-old daughter Ellie had been located. I got a phone call from a police
00:26:54
officer, that they found her. But worry morphed into anger when she was then told Ellie had been arrested
00:27:03
for her father's murder. Go and take a seat. And I said, "So, you've had my daughter in your custody in
00:27:10
interrogating her, and you never once called me to let me know so I could maybe get her some
00:27:16
representation." Alisa Kaplan eventually became one of Ellie's attorneys. She says the narrative about Ellie Frier has
00:27:23
been wrong from the very beginning. In this case, she was made out to be the mastermind or something. You know, she
00:27:33
planned all of this when she was 15 years old and they were 19 and 22. She was the manipulator. She was the
00:27:39
manipulator, right? And that this was all because of her relationship with an older man. But Kaplan says this crime
00:27:47
actually happened because of the alleged abuse Ellie suffered at the hands of her
00:27:52
father, Aaron. She was sexually abused, emotionally abused, and physically abused.
00:27:59
abuse that Ellie described in her police interrogation. He used to be a good father, but he started getting abusive
00:28:07
about three years ago. I picked out a bunch of things, but reading from the case file, Kaplan
00:28:13
recounted several allegations of molestation and abuse. Warning, the following may be
00:28:19
disturbing to hear. Her father would grab at her breasts. He told her to give in to him. And he tried to take my
00:28:29
clothes off and I slapped him away. I was trying to pull. He would masturbate on top of
00:28:35
her when he thought she was sleeping. Felt so dirty and so ashamed of myself. He pushed her
00:28:45
downstairs. Called her [ __ ] idiot, stupid. Slutshamed her. And you would pit me up against the wall and you would
00:28:53
call me those names. And then when he would get drunk, it would all get worse. As a police report shows, three of
00:29:00
Ellie's friends told investigators that Ellie said her dad abuses her. Ellie shared that her dad was rough on her and
00:29:08
emotionally and physically abused her. And Ellie said her dad mentally and verbally abused her. But Ellie admits
00:29:16
she never told her friends about the sexual molestation. And neither Ellie nor her friends told the police about
00:29:23
any kind of abuse before her father's murder. And as far as allegations of abuse, was there any evidence whatsoever
00:29:31
that your detectives could find to back up what Ellen Frier was saying happened to her? No, there was not.
00:29:41
Detective Ford says with Aaron's death, the possibility of proving abuse may have died with him. We can't go to Aaron
00:29:50
and ask Aaron, "Were you abusing your daughter?" We may never know the truth. If she told her mom, did she tell her
00:29:57
mom ahead of time? Have you thought about having a conversation with your mom about that? No, I'm horrified to
00:30:05
even talk about it. Who have you talked to about your dad masturbating? I told Gavin about it, but that's it.
00:30:14
Ellie told Detective Jackson that the first time she had told Gavin was 2 days before he bludgeoned her father to
00:30:22
death. Cuz I know this is hard to talk about. I know. Why me? Why did he do it to me? I don't I
00:30:33
have no idea what he's done to my sisters. I see a teenager who would do anything
00:30:42
to survive and to protect her sisters. Detective Shannon Reynolds says 11-year-old Sierra was asked if there
00:30:50
were any problems at home. She actually only had good things to say about her father. When Detective Reynolds
00:30:58
interviewed the youngest Frier daughter, she recalled the last conversation she had with
00:31:04
Ellie. Minutes after their father's murder, she had said that Ellie had woken her up and she said she was
00:31:12
leaving and that she was leaving because mom and dad were abusive. Before Reynolds could say anything, the
00:31:19
8-year-old gave her opinion on the matter. And she told me, "My mom and dad were not abusive." Both of Ellie's
00:31:26
sisters told Reynolds that what Ellie had called abuse was actually their parents disciplining her for sneaking
00:31:34
around with Gavin. Cuz they took her electronics away and they yelled at her. What do you say to that? Yeah. Well,
00:31:42
they were younger, right? This is actually very common in families where there's abuse that there's one child who
00:31:49
takes on the majority of it and want to protect the others in the family. You know, you you describe her as this
00:31:58
protective older sister, but yet she left them there at the house. How is that protecting them? Yeah. And I think,
00:32:06
you know, those are things that Ellen will live with for the rest of her life. And she clearly understands how much
00:32:13
damage she has caused her sister. Detective Ford says that with no evidence to back up Ellie's abuse
00:32:21
claims, he remains suspicious that she may have made it all up to manipulate Gavin. Seen here with Ellie on a store
00:32:29
security camera hours after the murder. And it turns out Ellie was never pregnant. I think you got to look at it
00:32:37
two ways. Maybe she thought she was pregnant or maybe she's using that to influence
00:32:43
Gavin to kill her dad. Ellie's legal team says Ellie did think she was pregnant, which is why she
00:32:51
bought a pregnancy test while at the store. Investigators say it's clear Ellie Frier has an issue with the truth.
00:33:00
She lied during that interview for no reason. Kaplan says much has been made of the many lies Ellie told during her
00:33:08
police interrogation. As a parent, we all we all know that our kids sometimes do that. But Kaplan says
00:33:15
the real focus should be on the hours and hours and hours Ellie spent in that interview room. I have the right to
00:33:24
remain silent. She asked to not talk. She said, "I want to remain silent." Right. She was there for 10 hours
00:33:32
straight. But with your wishing to remain silent, it's really difficult to kind of get to the bottom of all of
00:33:38
that. Let's talk. a minor without a guardian or attorney. Is it normal to keep a
00:33:48
15-year-old in an interrogation room for 10 hours like that? Yeah. I mean, there's no law against it. So, we gave
00:33:55
her breaks. I found blankets. There was times where she laid on the floor and slept.
00:34:03
Kaplan says that although it may have been legal in Oregon, it wasn't right. And look, police have their jobs to do.
00:34:10
I get it. I just think the rules are really different when you have a kid and in that she looks like a kid.
00:34:20
She's acting like a kid. She's in fear like a kid would be. A kid who Kaplan says was taken
00:34:29
advantage of by someone she calls another abuser. 19-year-old Gavin McFarland. a grown man reaching over to
00:34:40
a 15-year-old girl who was so vulnerable. No matter what her text messages said, no matter what her
00:34:47
involvement was, I don't even understand how you don't look at that as him being
00:34:53
the controller. Detective Reynolds says she saw some of that controlling behavior on
00:35:00
display in letters Gavin wrote to Ellie after they were arrested. [Music] He was saying that she needed to be sure
00:35:09
to say that her dad was abusing her. And he was telling her, "We're going to take this to a jury and we're
00:35:15
going to win the jury over." And the way to do that is to cry. Make sure you cry.
00:35:23
[Music] [Music] I've given everything I can and when this goes to court, I would like to be
00:35:52
tried as an adult. But there would be no trial. In January of 2019, a little more
00:35:59
than a year after her father's death, Ellie Frier took a plea deal. How did you feel about that decision?
00:36:07
I didn't like it cuz I'm pretty sure that she did it cuz she was scared. I don't think she wanted to go to court.
00:36:15
Ellie Frier pleaded guilty to an adult charge of conspiring to murder her father, Aaron.
00:36:22
I'm first like to say that I'm sorry for all the causes. The deal was brokered by a different
00:36:30
defense attorney. According to court documents, that attorney wrote that Ellie Frier's codefendants, Gavin
00:36:36
McFarland and Russell Jones, were going to be testifying against her and say that she was the mastermind behind all
00:36:44
of this. It was her idea from the beginning. Ellie's text messages would have been used against her at trial,
00:36:52
too. Elisa Kaplan began working on Ellie Frier's behalf in 2024. I run the criminal justice reform clinic. We are
00:37:01
looking at Ellen's case mostly because we believe that she has an excessive sentence. And what is her sentence? 25
00:37:09
years. McFarland and Jones also took plea deals with Gavin McFarland pleading guilty to murder and murder conspiracy
00:37:17
charges. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Russell Jones entered a
00:37:24
no contest plea to conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to 15 years. Kaplan is fighting to reduce Ellie
00:37:32
Frier's sentence. She says Ellie should not have been sentenced to 10 more years
00:37:37
than Jones for the same crime. She was 15. He was 22 and her sentence is so much bigger
00:37:47
than his. The idea that Ellen is the master manipulator. I mean, she's a 15year-old. I mean, don't they bear more
00:37:54
responsibility because they're the adults? I don't I wouldn't agree with that. Ellie is absolutely just as responsible
00:38:03
as Gavin, except Gavin was the one that took and held the bat in his hands. Detective Shannon Reynolds isn't as
00:38:12
certain as her husband about Ellie Frier's role. I go back and forth. The mastermind of it, I initially thought
00:38:20
was Ellie. Then reading the letters from Gavin that he wrote to Ellie telling her
00:38:24
what she needed to say. Then I started to think maybe Gavin was the mastermind of all this. I go back and forth. Ford
00:38:31
says regardless of who crafted the plan, all three are responsible in the eyes of
00:38:37
the law because without her this wouldn't have happened. Without Gavin, this wouldn't have
00:38:43
happened. I doubt without Russell it could have happened. I want to be very clear. She was involved. She
00:38:51
participated. She was a co-conspirator. No doubt, right? She takes full accountability for her role
00:38:58
in this crime. Ellie Frier, now 23, has been serving her sentence in a juvenile detention center. In December of 2026,
00:39:07
she'll be moved to an adult prison. and she recently earned two master's degrees, one in psychology and another
00:39:15
in justice studies, which by the way is not that easy to do when you're in prison. She's really incredible. I am
00:39:22
very proud of her. I've always been proud of her after what she went [Music] through. Aaron's dead. Who's going to
00:39:35
speak out for Aaron? Sierra Frier will My dad was a kind man who loved me and my sisters and always tried to fill my
00:39:47
life with joy. He was a great father to me. He goes with me wherever I go. Sierra has
00:39:57
joined the National Guard, something she says her father always wanted for her. It's mind-blowing that that the little
00:40:04
girl I interviewed is now grown up. The fact that she's joining the National Guard lets me know she didn't let this,
00:40:11
you know, derail her life. A life Sierra has had to live without her father, whose memory has been marred by those
00:40:18
abuse allegations. A 48 hours producer asked Sierra about them. Ellie claims that your father abused her. What do you
00:40:27
have to say to that? Uh, I don't really want to talk about that just cuz I have my own feelings about it. Sierra is just
00:40:35
as guarded when it comes to her thoughts about her sister Ellie, though the two have maintained a relationship over the
00:40:43
years. It's very hard to explain because a lot of people wouldn't understand. I've got my own feelings about her.
00:40:55
But Sierra's feelings about her father are very clear. I love him and I'm so sorry for everything that happened.
00:41:05
I have faith and I have hope that one day, you know, we'll meet again. [Music] [Music]
00:41:25
Was the Ferris family a happy family? No. A wealthy man's murder leads to a mother's unthinkable accusation. I want
00:41:34
everyone, especially my children, to know I didn't do this. I know who did. 48 Hours is all new CBS next Saturday,
00:41:42
10:9 central and streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music] Like many things in life, the facts of
00:42:00
this case are not simple. They're not black and white. It's easy to forget how symbolic this trial was of a greater
00:42:09
problem in the world. You will hear strong, compelling evidence that explains the real reason for this very
00:42:17
sad and tragic killing. It's been 6 years. Is it still hard to believe that Blaze is gone? It took a
00:42:26
while for it to set in, but I'm at peace with it. Maybe that's all that we were supposed to
00:42:33
have. Happy birthday, dear. There were like 19 years with so many moments of brilliance and beauty.
00:42:45
Bla1 was very creative. Definitely when we were little kids. Did you want cheese? Sure. We were like attached at
00:42:53
the hip. I think of him as somebody whose potential for life was completely obliterated.
00:43:04
Bla1 Bernstein was gay and his killer was a member of a neo-Nazi group. Undercover officers made their move on
00:43:13
Sam Woodward. What have you learned about neo-Nazis? They're everywhere for now. They're all over the internet.
00:43:23
They're here in Orange County. I believe that this was a hate crime. The 26-year-old's appearance has changed
00:43:30
dramatically from the time of his arrest back in 2018. At the trial, Sam looked like a spitting image of Charlie
00:43:38
Manson. It was absolutely terrifying to look at. The evidence will show you that
00:43:44
the defendant killed Bla1 Bernstein because he was gay. He was gay and Jewish. Hate crime or crime of passion.
00:43:53
The difference is the possibility of parole. Bla1 Bernstein was found with 28 stab wounds.
00:44:03
The prosecution has a bit of a higher bar here because they also have to show that Sam murdered Bla1 because of his
00:44:11
gay identity. He had developed his long-standing beliefs against Jewish people and gay people.
00:44:19
What happened that night was not a hate crime. We knew that he was going to present some story of what happened that
00:44:26
night. Not the targeting of someone because of his sexual orientation. What kind of story could he come up with? Sam
00:44:35
Woodward never planned to kill Bla1 Bernstein. Homophobia, sexual repression, hookup
00:44:43
culture. It almost never ends the way that this story ends. We don't have any control over what the outcome is. It
00:44:52
could be innocent. I'll let a jury decide. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] [Music]
00:45:42
The why is the single most important issue you will need to decide. Not who is responsible for the death of
00:45:51
a young man, but exactly why he was killed 6 years ago. For Jeannie Pepper and her husband Gideon Bernstein, those
00:46:00
six years were painfully marked by co delays, shifting lawyers, and legal strategies.
00:46:08
Slow justice is no justice. It's not fair to victims, and it's not fair to the deceased. Finally,
00:46:18
came April of 2024. Jeanie and Gideon were more than ready for their day in court. We're impatient. We want to get
00:46:26
on with our lives. But not before telling the story of their firstborn child, Bla1 Bernstein, how he lived, and
00:46:36
why they believe he died. Murdered because of who he was. Targeted by hate. It's not safe for you to be a lot of
00:46:47
different minorities. Now, the victim in this case, and nobody disputes that he was a victim, was stabbed to death. Ken
00:46:58
Morrison would defend Samuel Woodward, charged with firstdegree premeditated murder. Morrison squared off against
00:47:06
prosecutor Jennifer Walker. And where we start is with who was killed, Bla1 Bernstein. And He was 19. He was gay and
00:47:15
Jewish. The silent, ghostly presence in the courtroom was Blaze. That slender, curious, playful
00:47:25
young man with a big world. Images that refuse to fade. Are there pictures or things that flash
00:47:35
through your mind that you think of Blaze? Always every day. It was just weeks after Bla1's death
00:47:47
that we first met Jeanie and Gideon. Wounds raw. They shared bittersweet memories of the son they described as
00:47:56
magical. And the first time I saw him and I looked in his eyes, there's something about this baby. He's he's
00:48:01
going to change the world someday. Heya, that's gonna be the intro. What do you miss most about Blaze?
00:48:15
Yeah, that's it. His quirky personality. He was different. He liked to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.
00:48:25
I call him the unicorn. He was magnificently creative. It was late summer 2016 and Blae, who'd
00:48:35
already achieved so much, was headed to an Ivy League school here in Philadelphia, the University of
00:48:41
Pennsylvania. There'd be new friends, mentors, and challenges, and Blae seemed ready for it all.
00:48:50
He really hit his stride. A creative writer thinking about a career in medicine. He was finding himself.
00:49:00
Then came winter break, sophomore year. Blae headed home. He was really looking forward to being with us, too. There
00:49:07
were holiday celebrations and Hanukkah candles. The budding chef cooked up a gourmet meal. And then sometime on the
00:49:15
night of January 2nd, 2018, Blae secretly left his parents house. It would be the last time. that night. When
00:49:25
did you realize that he was missing? We didn't I didn't know that night. We didn't even know. We thought he slept in
00:49:31
and the next day we were I I had my aha moment when I was at the dental appointment.
00:49:38
The next day, Bla1 was due to meet his mother for that dentist appointment, but Blae never showed up and wasn't
00:49:45
answering his cell phone. I called Gideon. He asked me if Bla1 had ever come home the night before and I
00:49:54
screamed out, "I don't know." Rushed out of the office and came home. We both did. We flew home and checked Blaz's
00:50:01
room. His wallet, his retainers, his keys, those are all still at the house. His
00:50:10
glasses. Yeah. All of that stuff was at the house. But your thought was, well, it
00:50:18
was just so highly unusual. He wanted to spend time with us. I just kept texting
00:50:22
and calling him and leaving messages all day. Where had he been? We didn't know.
00:50:28
They called police and tried to log on to Blaz's social media accounts. We just jumped on his computer. This was a big
00:50:36
challenge for us. But with the help of family and friends, they logged on to Blaz's Snapchat. That's where they
00:50:43
discovered the night he disappeared, Bla1 had sent his home address to someone. Sam Woodward, a seeming
00:50:50
stranger who never heard the name. Never heard the name before. Gideon and Jeanie
00:50:55
were panicked and baffled. Who was Sam? So Gideon messaged Sam. Please pick up. Sam got on the phone. The Bernsteeen
00:51:05
recorded the phone conversation and would share it with police. and we just cracked in a snap account and saw that
00:51:12
you had been uh trying to find him. So, you're the first real clue to the to the
00:51:17
puzzle here. Sam's pieces of the puzzle began with him meeting Bla1 near the Bernstein's home. I picked him up at 11.
00:51:26
And he said he drove him here nearby Bergo Park with its thick brush and twisting paths and that once there they
00:51:35
parked. Okay. And then did he get out of the car or what happened? Yeah, he got out of the car and uh I got out of the
00:51:43
car, too. And Sam added, Blae, claiming he was going to meet a friend, walked down a path and vanished into the
00:51:51
darkness. I shouted out Blaze. Blaze, but I didn't see anything. I I didn't hear anything. Sam explained to the
00:52:00
Bernsteeen how he knew Blae and why he says they were getting together. It was more of a spur of the moment kind of
00:52:08
thing. Yeah, dude. Let's hang out since you and I were friends when we were at OSHA. OSHA, the Orange County School of
00:52:16
the Arts, where RyaSki, Blae, and Sam were once classmates. Rehea's high school memories of Sam were about to
00:52:24
come flooding back with a vengeance. I got a call from my mom. Rehea, did you hear? And I said, "What?" And she said,
00:52:31
"Blaze is missing." And then my mom said, "Rya, he was with this guy named Sam Woodward." I screamed
00:52:39
in the phone, "He what?" And she was like, "Do you know this guy?" And I said, "Yes, I know this guy. He's
00:52:47
crazy." How different were Sam and Blae. Oh, they were so different. Probably about as different as you could be.
00:52:55
Hauntingly different, says Blaise's oldest friend. So when that word began to filter across Orange County that Blae
00:53:03
hadn't come home and that Sam Woodward might be a person of interest, it chilled Rehea to the bone. Her memories
00:53:12
of Sam impossible to shake. Well, hello ladies. He was drawing guns in his notebook in class. Did you say anything?
00:53:21
No. But you thought this is terrifying. [Music] The spotlight was on Sam Woodward whom
00:53:41
Rehea remembered from high school. He was very quiet, very withdrawn, didn't really talk to people. Sam Woodward, odd
00:53:49
man out, says Rehea. You know, everybody has their click, but I don't think he identified with any of them really. And
00:53:58
as far as anyone knew, the last person to see Bla1 Bernstein alive. The only reason I could think of
00:54:07
Sam meeting up with Blaze is because either number one, he wanted to hook up with him or two because he was planning
00:54:14
to murder him. And as for that story Sam told that on the spur of the moment he and Blae had decided to hang out, it
00:54:22
didn't come close to adding up for Rehea. He had a reputation of being what? Racist, homophobic, sexist. It was
00:54:32
Rehea who was there when Blaz's sexuality was still a secret until along a glistening California beach, he
00:54:40
bravely confided in his oldest friend. So you guys were kind of walking down the beach alone together and he came out
00:54:47
to you. Yeah. Rehea, who would later also come out, stepped up when it mattered most. All I could do was be a
00:54:55
good friend and love him unconditionally. Did you get the sense that Blae had told anyone else that I
00:55:01
don't think that he did. He was kind of upset to say it. Something that clearly was a big secret for him. Yeah, you
00:55:10
know, coming out to yourself is a really mature, difficult thing to do. And what
00:55:16
did you tell him? I told him, "It's okay. If you like boys, that's totally fine. Love who you love."
00:55:26
While he hadn't yet told his parents, Gideon and Jeanie sensed Blae might be gay. We went up to him and said,
00:55:34
"Listen, whatever your situation is, we we embrace it. We love you. We don't care. But in those first days of 2018,
00:55:43
it wasn't just love. It was also an unimaginable fear that consumed Jeanie and Gideon. As the search for Blae
00:55:53
began, Orange County cops spoke with Sam. He repeated what he'd told the Bernsteeen on that phone call. that he
00:56:01
had picked Bla1 up, driven to Bergo Park, and that then Blae had vanished. By January 5th, the search had become
00:56:11
massive. We're out here conducting a search for Bla1 Bernstein. We're here today to get your help to find our son.
00:56:18
Please keep your eyes open for my baby. I want him home with me now. Search and rescue teams and helicopters
00:56:27
searched the wilderness area. And we printed up thousands and thousands of flyers that people in the congregation
00:56:35
put up. Everybody's looking shalom. Rabbi Arnold Rockas coordinated the search from University Synagogue where
00:56:45
Bla1 was an active member and a role model. Please join me in honoring Bla1 Bernstein. Bla1 embraced his Jewish
00:56:54
heritage and confronted its haters. Not only were 6 million Jewish people systematically murdered throughout
00:57:00
Europe in concentration camps at such a young age to see someone with so much talent is a beautiful thing. A good
00:57:10
heart, a good soul. That's what Blae had. Everyone was somehow hoping for good news, including it seemed Sam
00:57:20
Woodward. Okay. So, is this the best number to reach you at? Uh, yes, sir. It is.
00:57:27
On that call that Gideon had recorded, Sam sounded deeply concerned. Yeah, I want to find Blaze as much as you do.
00:57:36
[Music] But Blae was nowhere to be found. Anxious hours stretched into sleepless
00:57:43
nights. I really didn't know if we would ever find him. As the days passed, you know, that it became more and more
00:57:49
difficult. And I thought, we're never going to know. We're never going to know what happened exactly. We're never going
00:57:54
to figure it out. [Music] Um, yeah, that's what I thought. I immediately thought, he's dead. He's
00:58:06
dead just from hearing that he was with Sam. Yes. It was day seven since Blae last
00:58:13
left home. A family, a community was beyond frustrated. Detectives had searched Bargo Park over and over, but
00:58:22
they decided to give it one more look. In the pouring rain, a detective stood right over there. And hidden under a
00:58:28
large tree branch was a mound of dirt. Under the wet, caked earth lay blaze Bernstein.
00:58:40
If not the rain, we would have never known what happened to him. So the rain uncovered his face. Leia and Richard
00:58:48
Bernstein are Bla1's grandparents. We just loved him. I wish I could write like he wrote.
00:58:56
I wish I could cook like he cooked. Where's Blae? Yeah, he's in the front. 48 hours met them just a few
00:59:03
months after Bla1 was murdered. I think the world lost a beautiful soul. They always think of him before they go
00:59:13
to sleep. Their grandchild, once brimming with life and possibility, had been horrifically
00:59:22
slaughtered with a knife. And then the funeral happened and it was shattering. The grief stretched across Orange
00:59:36
County. We're hugging them right now. We're all hugging them. This is our big giant hug
00:59:43
to them. Just want to know why. I don't I don't even want to know because I'm not going to like that
00:59:52
answer. [Music] [Music] 3 days after Bla1 Bernstein was found, butchered and broken. Can you
01:00:21
tell us what happened to Blaze? No comment. Investigators confronted his one-time classmate Sam Woodward. Were
01:00:28
you there when he disappeared at his parents' home? No comment. Undercover officers made their move on
01:00:37
Sam Woodward this afternoon. As he pulled out of his Newport Beach driveway and went down the road, they pulled that
01:00:45
car over and arrested him. Sam Woodward was charged with murder with the personal use of a knife. Then Orange
01:00:54
County DA Tony Rakus. How did Bla1 Bernstein die? He was stabbed multiple times in the neck. What does that tell
01:01:02
you? Well, it tells me that there was a lot of hate for Bla1's parents. The details of his murder were too much
01:01:14
to even imagine. I just try not to think about what that really meant. I don't think that I that I physically can deal
01:01:24
with the trauma of what's happened. As police gathered evidence, the violence that happened in Bergo Park was
01:01:33
revealed. With Blaz's body, his battered phone inside Sam Woodward's car. Blood.
01:01:41
The blood on the headliner uh belonged to both Sam Woodward and Bla1 Bernstein. Bla1 Bernstein's blood was in Sam
01:01:49
Woodward's car. Yes. Yes. And then they went on to search the house. Yes. What kind of forensic evidence did they
01:01:57
gather? There was a knife. The knife had blood on it. Bla1 Bernstein's blood on the knife.
01:02:05
At his arraignment, Sam Woodward would plead not guilty. Investigators would continue to
01:02:12
search for what happened that night in Bergo Park. They would soon come to believe
01:02:18
that Sam had a dark and frightening secret. He was involved in this extreme neo-Nazi
01:02:25
organization, Otawa Division, which does expect its members to explicitly target
01:02:31
members of the Jewish and LGBTQ community. Sarah Moore monitors hate crime, working for GLAD, one of the most
01:02:38
prominent gay rights organizations in the country. She's kept a close eye on the small but violent group, Adamwin.
01:02:47
These are their propaganda videos posted between 2017 and 18. They want to kind of blow up the world as it is. They want
01:02:57
to create something entirely new. And the new thing is what in their mind it would be a white ethnostate for now. And
01:03:06
there's either no Jewish or no LGBTQ or no people of color in that society. How does Adam Roffin recruit? They
01:03:14
recruit primarily online. just a click away and exactly where Sam, whom Ryarovski remembers had trouble
01:03:23
making friends, found some strangers who welcomed and encouraged him. Did you consider yourself a neo-Nazi? I just
01:03:32
consider myself a Nazi. This man does not want his identity revealed, but he says he was once a member of Adam Waffen
01:03:40
and that he came in contact with Sam the year before Blae was murdered. It was like a camaraderie type of
01:03:48
feeling, common interest. And those interests were hating other groups, hating Jews, hating gays, hating blacks.
01:03:57
Yeah. Oh, yeah. How involved was Sam Woodward and Adam Waffen? I know that he was involved.
01:04:06
Involved enough, say investigators, to wear the Adam Waffen mask, give the Nazi salute, make a
01:04:14
pilgrimage to Colorado to meet neo-Nazi leader James Mason, and travel to Texas to attend Adam Waffen's version of a
01:04:23
corporate retreat. They call it hate camp. At hate camps, members will get kind of a 101 training on how to be a
01:04:32
violent extremist. And that bitter January 2018 when news broke that Bla1 had been stabbed to
01:04:42
death allegedly by a member of Adamwin as Orange County mourned. Neo-Nazis reportedly cheered. Everyone celebrated
01:04:53
him like he killed a gay Jew, which in their mind is sort of a jackpot. Gh. It's disgusting.
01:05:02
There were people congratulating this accused killer for what he has done. Killing my son, congratulating him. Had
01:05:11
you ever heard of Adam Waffen? No. Before this, but we should have because we're a perfect target for that group.
01:05:20
Because of Sam's involvement in Adam Waffen, 7 months after Blaise's murder, prosecutors upped the ante, adding a
01:05:28
hate crime enhancement, a murder motivated by prejudice. As the story unfolded that the murder
01:05:38
was related to homophobia and anti-semitism, well, then the anger in the community ratcheted up.
01:05:49
For some, it brought back the darkest of times. It must seem like all of this hate was behind you. That's something in
01:05:57
the past. You can't forget it. You can't forget it. Never. It's a murderous echo from her
01:06:06
past. All too real for Grandma Leia, a Holocaust survivor. Once a little girl forced by
01:06:14
Hitler's Nazis to wear a yellow star. Yes, we did wear this. It's a horrible irony that what you escaped is is
01:06:27
following me. Sam Woodward was locked up in the Orange County Jail. He would begin his
01:06:35
yearslong journey through the justice system. It included a revolving door of defense lawyers who raised questions
01:06:43
with the court about Sam's mental health and his ability to defend himself. In 2022, Sam Woodward was found
01:06:52
competent to stand trial. Investigators say they also mined Sam Woodward's phone and social media
01:07:00
activity. And along with the Nazi propaganda, they found something else. Sam had visited gay dating and
01:07:09
porn sites. And he had exchanged flirtatious messages with Blae. So they matched twice on Tinder.
01:07:19
Lewis Keane, a reporter for The Forward, would cover the case and report on the conversations between Sam and Blae. Bla1
01:07:27
admits that he's gay. Bla1 says, "I think you're hot." And Sam says back to Blae, "You're not too bad-looking
01:07:36
yourself, Bla1." So, they kind of had this flirty interaction. Maybe Sam was like closeted and wanted
01:07:45
to hook up. Rya moved to New York City where she lives as an openly bisexual woman. She
01:07:52
still wonders about Sam's intention and Blazes that tragic night in Bergo Park. The defense may argue that Bla1 made a
01:08:01
move on Sam and Sam freaked out. Okay. And if you freak out, does that excuse you stabbing somebody?
01:08:09
April 2024. Stuff is getting real. The jury's being picked. Finally, Sam Woodward
01:08:17
headed to trial. Over time, the case had taken on even greater meaning. There's a
01:08:24
lot at stake here because it's not just about getting justice for Blaze, but it's also about what precedent this is
01:08:31
setting for other LGBTQ plus people who have been or might in the future be in similar situations.
01:08:38
Bla1's parents steadied themselves to relive the night that shattered their lives. I know that a lot of things will
01:08:47
be said that are probably untrue because that's what happens at a criminal trial. I have an opportunity to defend
01:08:55
Bla1 and that's what I will do. See more evidence in the case at 48 hours.com. [Music]
01:09:14
Please come to order. Superior Court is now in session. The people call Genie Pepper. It's the final thing that I have
01:09:19
to do for my son is be there and make sure that there is some form of justice. Good afternoon, Miss Pepper. It took
01:09:28
more than 6 years for Jeanie and Gideon to get this day in court. I just want to
01:09:33
thank you for being here and I'm I'm sorry that the circumstances, but it comes with terrible memories of the day
01:09:40
they lost their son, Blae. You remember where you were when you got the phone call? I do remember that. Yes. And why
01:09:48
does that stand out in your mind? Because it was the beginning of hell. The couple have to come face to face
01:10:02
with their son's killer. But the killer, Sam Woodward, doesn't seem to want to be
01:10:09
seen. Can I ask you to move the hair out of your face a little bit? Maybe pull the hair on the right
01:10:16
side of your head away so we can see you, please. Thank you. Even before he took the stand, Sam
01:10:27
Woodward was already an eerie presence in the courtroom who got everyone's attention. Sam looked like Charles
01:10:35
Manson, so you couldn't really see his face. No, you couldn't really hear him all the
01:10:42
time. Reporter Lewis Keane. If you're in the jury, he looks extremely menacing. Do you want to look him in the eye?
01:10:51
Not really. I don't care. He's meaningless to me. Can I nag you one more time to move your hair out of
01:10:59
your face a little bit for us? Blaze, we love you and we want you to come home. Back when they were
01:11:08
frantically searching for Blae. Please keep your eyes open for my baby. I want him home with me now. Sam Woodward told
01:11:17
them he didn't know anything about what happened to their son. I didn't see where he went. I searched all over for
01:11:24
him. I couldn't find him anywhere. But his looks have changed dramatically. And so has his story. Do you remember
01:11:33
what you were thinking when you were driving the knife down again and again and again?
01:12:02
an anger like nothing I'd ever felt in my whole life. There's absolutely no question Sam
01:12:14
Woodward killed Bla1 Bernstein. The evidence will show that Samuel Woodward is guilty of homicide. The
01:12:23
question for the jury is why this homicide was committed. Sam's defense attorney said in opening arguments that
01:12:31
we were going to hear from Sam about something that happened that night that provoked Sam into killing Bla1. The
01:12:39
challenge for defense attorney Ken Morrison is to prove voluntary manslaughter, that Woodward acted
01:12:45
impulsively. There was no cold, calculated decision to kill. And the knife, according to the defense,
01:12:56
it wasn't ever meant for murder. From the time Sam was a boy scout, Sam was never without one. Did you ever carry a
01:13:04
pocketk knife with you in your pants pocket? Yes, I would almost all the time. Did you have a knife in your pocket when
01:13:15
you're with Bla1 Bernstein? Yes, I did. The killing happened in less than an hour. Prosecutor Jennifer Walker argues
01:13:24
this was premeditated murder and a hate crime. You'll see the cell phone evidence, the DNA evidence, the
01:13:32
defendant's words, the defendant's hate. In the nearly three months at trial, Walker painstakingly put on more than 20
01:13:40
witnesses, including the same former Adamwin member who spoke with us, now a witness for the prosecution who still
01:13:48
wanted his identity concealed. Do you recognize that? Yes. What is it? There's a picture of Samuel Woodward. All to
01:13:56
build the case for the added hate charge and a greater sentence. The difference is the possibility of parole. If it's no
01:14:05
hate crime, then it's 25 years to life with the possibility of parole. If it's a first-degree premeditated murder and a
01:14:14
hate crime, Sam faces life in prison without possibility of parole. The facts of this case are not simple. The defense
01:14:23
uses a timehonored tactic, suggesting the victim is not as innocent as he appears. You will learn that Bla1
01:14:32
Bernstein was not killed because of who he was, but because of what he did. Tell us
01:14:42
what happened. In Sam Woodward's version, Sam, can you pick your head up? Move your hair. Bla1 was toying with him
01:14:49
and threatening to out him. Once they were in Bergo Park, Sam says he smoked a joint. Eyes started nodding off. Sam
01:14:58
says he thought Blae took a compromising picture. I saw my pants unbuckled. I could practically like feel
01:15:07
something somewhat close to my leg. And he had his phone in his hand. He tells us that he believes that Bla1
01:15:18
is taking a photo of his privates. I just came undone. I went in a state of just terror and I asked,
01:15:28
"What are you doing? What are you doing?" And no photo was ever found. So there's no evidence that Blae actually
01:15:35
took one. What were you afraid of? I grew up in a home with my mother and my father and I love them more than I
01:15:45
can imagine. My father though he there's no way not a chance people like him just even thinking about the
01:15:56
look on his face if he saw something like that if he'd heard about something like that that got out
01:16:02
somehow. I couldn't fathom that. Sam grew up in an ultraconservative Catholic household. He had parents who
01:16:13
believed homosexuality was a sin. But Sam also seemed to have really conflicted feelings about his own
01:16:22
sexuality. What you come away with is just immense sadness of all these external forces coming to bear on his
01:16:33
life. He did what he did and what he did can't be undone. Any idea how long it took to stop
01:16:45
stabbing Bla1? No idea. No. It was one of the most awful things I've ever heard. And you
01:16:55
know that Bla1's parents are sitting there for months of this trial. They've been hearing their son is accused of
01:17:06
sexual assault. You can't really imagine what that's like. Genie Pepper walked out of the
01:17:16
room. For the prosecution, the only predator in this story is Sam Woodward. He has a
01:17:24
6-in knife out. And Blaze is the predator. Blaze is the problem here. That's what's being sold to you by the
01:17:31
defendant. He was interested and fixated on hate. Adam Waffen Division had that outlet for him.
01:17:41
Only two people know what really happened that night. Sam Woodward has had his say. Bla1 Bernstein isn't alive
01:17:50
to tell us. You should find him guilty of the first-degree murder with the hate crime. It's the only reasonable
01:17:56
conclusion. Do you have any hesitation? Do you have any doubt? Now it's up to the jury.
01:18:05
[Music] [Music] The passage of time has been doubly hard for Bla1's grandparents, Richard and
01:18:20
Leia. Still waiting for justice for the grandson they loved and lost. I miss him
01:18:28
all. Everything about him. He was loving and caring. He was handsome, too. Bla1 and his exceptional appetite for
01:18:41
life. I tried to treat him as just a normal kid, you know, and he to he turned out
01:18:55
uh sorry he turned out well. On July 3rd, 2024, the jurors began their deliberations.
01:19:07
I don't want him to die. I want him to suffer every day of his life. Is there a part of you that wants to
01:19:15
look that young man in the eye? No. Why not? Because he's a footnote in history.
01:19:23
Whether footnote or headline, grandparents, parents, rabbi, oldest friend. It felt like forever. I was
01:19:32
nervous and I felt anxiety because I was not sure what the verdict was going to be.
01:19:45
2,364 days after his arrest, Sam Woodward's fate is on the line. Living and dying in prison or someday possibly
01:19:56
walking free. It's my understanding that you do have a verdict. Is that accurate?
01:20:00
We have. It took the jury eight hours. The verdict being read, there's no way to describe what it's like. Sort of the
01:20:10
emotional intensity of the moment. We, the jury, find the defendant, Samuel Woodward, guilty of the crime of
01:20:17
first-degree murder. But as soon as the jury says guilty, I heard Jeanie say, "Oh, thank God.
01:20:29
guilty of murder, but was it hate? Did Sam target Bla1 because he was gay? The jury spoke again. We the jury find it to
01:20:40
be true that the defendant Samuel Woodward committed hate crime first-degree murder.
01:20:47
[Music] Outside the Orange County courtroom, all that pain and uncertainty overflowed.
01:20:56
Good afternoon. My name is Todd Spitzer. I'm the district attorney of Orange County. The current DA offered thoughts
01:21:02
on love and law. We don't care who you love or who you want to be with. You deserve to be a free person with free
01:21:11
will and love who you love. And that needs to be protected. We are thrilled with the verdict which holds
01:21:24
Samuel Woodward accountable for the brutal, violent, painful murder of our son, brother, grandson, cousin Bla1 Bernstein
01:21:35
on January 3rd, 2018. His parents will never get to speak to him again and that loss is incalculable.
01:21:45
The Woodwards also lost their son. He's going to prison. When the verdict was that the murder was
01:21:54
a hate crime, that essentially meant that there is the proof that Bla1 was murdered because he was gay and Jewish.
01:22:05
Simple as that. Ferea, who Blae first came out to on that California beach. In my head, I was
01:22:15
telling Blae, "We finally got him." Like, you know, case closed. And says the prosecutor, Sam Woodward,
01:22:23
should pay the maximum price. He faces life without possibility of parole, and that's what we'll be asking for. Thank
01:22:29
you. Experts who monitor Adam Waffen say it has largely dissolved, but that the threat of hate groups remains today.
01:22:42
You said, "Love who you love." It sounds so simple, but it's not. Mhm. Just because you're accepting
01:22:51
of yourself, that doesn't mean that everybody's going to see the same way as you do, you know?
01:22:59
[Music] Can you picture Bla1 if he was alive today? No, I don't think I can. Can you still
01:23:12
hear his voice? No. That's kind of sad. Yeah. For Jeanie and Gideon, every day brings reminders of what might have
01:23:28
been. I think about Blae all the time because when I see things, I think to myself, what would Blaze be doing now?
01:23:36
They founded what they call a kindness movement, promoting positivity and random acts of kindness in Blaise's
01:23:44
name. Blaze it forward was a response to Blaise's death. And in Bergo Park, where
01:23:51
Blae took his last breath, there is this. Hundreds of handpainted stones, most left by total
01:24:02
strangers, in the memory of Bla1 Bernstein. This pile of stones has grown and grown and grown. Yes, it's great to
01:24:11
see the messaging. It's always positive and they're getting sent to us from all over the world. Still, still
01:24:21
the silent stones speak of tolerance and bla1 Bernstein's transformation into a kind of martyr. His murder a marker of
01:24:30
rabid hate. His spirit an inspiration to LGBTQ plus people wherever they live and with
01:24:40
whomver they love. Blaz's life mattered and he has a legacy to create good news to inspire people to
01:24:51
be better, to be kinder, to work on repairing the world because it's not too late and we can
01:24:59
make it better. [Music] New CBS Next. A young girl's mysterious disappearance. She just vanished. And a
01:25:17
cat and mouse game with a convicted killer. We don't have Sarah's body. Do you think he will give that up? I don't
01:25:22
know. If he does, it won't be out of the goodness of his heart. New 48 hours, 2 episode season premiere next on CBS and
01:25:30
streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music] My name is Adam Dexter. I am a local news reporter and in the summer of 2021,
01:25:56
I was working as a multimedia journalist for WISC News3. News3 now in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison
01:26:04
is not New York City. It's not LA where there's news happening all the time. A missing person, especially a
01:26:13
husband and wife. That would be news. The Dayne County Sheriff's Office shared this photo of Bart and Christa Helerson
01:26:20
instead spending today interviewing neighbors. There are too many unanswered questions. You know, cars go off the
01:26:26
road. Um things happen. you know, there's a storm or there's a crash or XYZ, you just don't know. My boss was
01:26:33
calling her or emailing her or texting her. I was doing the same. I was texting Bart and there was just never any
01:26:40
response. I met Christa through work at Zimre Body Shop and then I met her husband through her obviously and then
01:26:47
um you know they just did anything for anybody like even people they didn't know. So I'm on the Christa side. We
01:26:55
were related through my dad's side of the family and we mostly saw each other in Wisconsin at our family cottage cabin
01:27:04
during summers and family reunions. They both gave 100% to raising their boys. Mitchell was a little more outgoing,
01:27:14
very easygoing. Uh Chandler was a little more sensitive, a little quieter. Her whole goal for her being a mom was, and
01:27:25
I'm quoting her, she said, "I want my children to be the best men they can be. The biggest concern for me is just
01:27:32
figuring out where they are." Police say the couple had planned to go to their cabin in Langlaid County. Our
01:27:38
investigation began on July 7th when Chandler reported his parents missing. We knew exactly what Chandler had told
01:27:46
us. We knew that his two parents were gone. Uh they had left for the Fourth of July
01:27:52
weekend supposedly to go to their cabin in northern Wisconsin. I've never been assigned to a
01:28:00
case where a couple is gone. We ask even more questions to try to get a story and
01:28:06
get a timeline of when did the Haldersons go missing? And everything was just happening so fast in those
01:28:12
first couple of days. When we first got the email saying that Bart and Christa were missing, it didn't compute. Like,
01:28:19
what do you mean they're missing? Like they went up to the cabin and they it didn't come back. I huh? Did you think
01:28:24
possibly they had been in a car accident and just hadn't been found? I thought about that. Or I did think about the
01:28:31
boat. Did something happen out on the lake? All these stories are swirling around and not making any sense. And
01:28:39
it's, you know, taking weirder and weirder turns. and we needed to search this area um
01:28:46
because of how remote it is and wooded it is and the access to water to see if we could find any evidence. No way I
01:28:53
would have ever ever guessed what was about to be revealed. Never. Nobody saw this coming.
01:29:00
[Music] [Music] Bart and Christa Halderson had everything a couple could want. A
01:29:50
beautiful home in Windsor, Wisconsin, and two sons they adored. 24year-old Mitchell, who worked in tech, and
01:29:59
23-year-old Chandler, a college student living at home. Chandler had big ambitions. He talked of getting his IT
01:30:07
degree of his promising internship at an insurance company and was especially excited about a new job he landed at
01:30:16
SpaceX, founded by one of the richest people in the world, Elon Musk. Everything seemed to be going well
01:30:24
for the Haldersons. So on Friday morning, July 2nd, when Christa just didn't show up at the office, Dan
01:30:31
Croninger remembers becoming concerned. How unusual was it for number one, for Kristen not to show up for
01:30:39
work, not to call and just not show up? How unusual? Extremely unusual. Dan and Kristen not only worked together, they
01:30:47
were close friends. So when she hadn't said anything to me, I was like, "Well, that's kind of weird." It wasn't
01:30:51
something that she would ever do. Dan says he texted and called her several times but got no
01:31:00
response. Later that afternoon, he and his girlfriend drove over to the Halderson home. A neighbor's security
01:31:08
camera shows them arriving. You know, knocked on the door, didn't hear anything. Peered through the
01:31:13
window. The only thing that seemed weird was there was a coffee table on its side. You looked through the door. It
01:31:18
was kind of off to the right over by they had a fireplace over there. Then Dan says he walked over to the garage
01:31:25
window. I looked in, both cars were there. I was like, "Why are both cars here?" And I was starting to go around
01:31:31
the back of the house and then Chandler came out the side door and he came out in a towel saying, "Oh, I just got out
01:31:37
of the shower, you know, hey, what's going on?" I was like, "Oh, we're just looking for Bart and Christa." And he
01:31:41
said, "Oh, yeah. They went had to go up north this morning for an emergency up at the cabin." Dan says he was relieved
01:31:48
to know that Bart and Christa were at the family cabin over the holiday weekend. He kept in touch with Chandler
01:31:55
to see if he had heard from his mom and dad. But he said, "Yeah, they don't have
01:32:00
very good service up there, so you kind of have to wait till the clouds clear before they get a message." On Sunday,
01:32:05
July 4th, Dan says Chandler called him and said he was bored and needed something to do. So Dan invited him over
01:32:13
to watch the fireworks and asked Chandler about his parents. He mentioned that he talked to them and they're going
01:32:19
to be back Monday. All right. When he said that he had talked to them, did he say he talked to both his parents or
01:32:26
just his mom? What did he say? Do you remember? I don't think he was specific. I mean, I was asking about his mom
01:32:32
because I knew she had a doctor's appointment coming up that she was really wanted to be at. I think it had
01:32:37
been rescheduled before. But Christa didn't show up for work on Monday and again on Tuesday. By Wednesday, July
01:32:45
7th, when there was still no word, Dan knew something was wrong. And now she's missed her appointment. So now it's all
01:32:53
out concern. Right. You know, something's happened to her. Right. Right. Dan pushed Chandler to file a
01:32:59
missing person's report that morning. Chandler Halderson walked into one of our precincts to report his parents
01:33:08
missing. Detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk with the Dayne County Sheriff's Office would lead the team to
01:33:15
track down the missing couple. We had a lot of detectives assisting us with the with the case
01:33:24
load. Their first stop, the Halderson home on Oak Springs Circle Drive. So, when you
01:33:35
first got there, who was home? It was just Chandler. We're inside the house with him and detectives are getting
01:33:41
information outside and so we're either getting, you know, phone calls or text messages of, you know, hey, maybe ask
01:33:47
about this. We're walking around the house with him. He's pointing out things at
01:33:53
the house, things that were missing that his parents took when they traveled to the cabin. While deputies began
01:33:58
interviewing neighbors and friends, Barbie Townsen, Chris's first cousin, who lives in Southern California, knew
01:34:05
only what she had seen on the news, that the Halderson's 23-year-old son, Chandler, had gone to the police telling
01:34:12
them his parents were missing. What does that mean? What does missing mean? and that they had gone up to our cabin,
01:34:19
family cottage, and didn't return. Bart and Chrissa had not mentioned to co-workers or their older son, Mitchell,
01:34:26
that they had been planning to go to the cabin that weekend. But according to Chandler, another couple who he didn't
01:34:32
know, picked up his parents and drove them there. The cabin was a remote rustic lakeside retreat and a treasured family
01:34:42
heirloom. Barbie and Chris's grandparents built it in the 1940s. You know, you start to think of crazy
01:34:49
things because our cabin's up in the woods. And so that's we were worried that are they being held hostage
01:34:55
somewhere? Are they tied up somewhere? The day after Chandler reported them missing, his brother Mitchell and his
01:35:03
fiance drove three hours up north to see if he could find any sign of his parents. Why would they not call? Why
01:35:11
wouldn't there be a text or something? You know, your mind just starts to go down really murky trails because you're
01:35:18
trying to figure out what's going on. Hi there. Hi there. Are you guys um the Halderson? You okay? You are affiliated
01:35:25
with them? Yes. The police met Mitchell and his fiance at the cabin. Maybe we could just take a walk around and see.
01:35:31
You would know the property probably better than we would. Prepared for the worst.
01:35:38
Sheriff's office. Anybody at sight? Now it's your presents. Make yourself [Music]
01:35:54
[Music] known. When the Haldersons disappeared, it stunned everyone who knew them.
01:36:02
Barbie Townsen said neither her cousin Christa nor her husband Bart would just leave on a whim. He was more structured.
01:36:10
She was the more nurturing, you know, indulging mom. It was a wonderful combination. She worked as a customer
01:36:16
service representative for an auto body shop and loved art projects. He was a managing director for an international
01:36:24
accounting firm and enjoyed woodworking. They were 100% about the family. He was
01:36:31
very involved in the scouting and all the things they did. The Haldersons worked together on Father's Day in June
01:36:39
2021, less than a month before Bart disappeared. Mitchell is smiling, and Chandler, who had a mild concussion from
01:36:46
a fall, is wearing a neck brace. Investigators anxious to find out what had happened to Bart and Christa
01:36:56
Halderson asked deputies from the Langlay County Sheriff's Office to help Mitchell, who brought along his fiance,
01:37:04
searched the family's cabin, a three-hour drive north of the family home. When they got inside, it was dark.
01:37:15
There were no signs of Christa and Bart. They also checked a shed. The canoe was
01:37:22
there. It was obvious no one had been to the cabin in a very long time. They're believed to be with another couple.
01:37:30
Someone else at least. Okay. When Mitchell was with the police searching the family's cabin, Chandler was on his
01:37:38
own hunt throughout the neighborhood. Here he is seen on video doorbell cameras going door to door
01:37:47
asking homeowners if they had seen or heard from his parents. It's kind of difficult to track him down.
01:37:59
Adam Duster, now with the CBS station WCCCO in Minneapolis, worked in Madison, Wisconsin at the time. He immediately
01:38:07
started calling his sources. So, waiting to hear back from the sheriff's office and um my boss at the time, he um was
01:38:17
like, "Well, you can't just sit around, you know, you got to got to go start shooting something and so packed my gear
01:38:23
in my car and drove out there to their street in Windsor." He knocked on the Halderson's front door. The missing
01:38:30
couple's son, Chandler, answered. And so, I'm like, "If you'd be willing, I'd love
01:38:36
to do a quick interview." and he was like, "Yeah, I'll do that, but I don't want you to film me. I don't want to be
01:38:43
shown, but you can record my voice." So, my last uh message I got from them, they
01:38:49
were going to White Lake for the 4th of July. And then that their plan or from to my knowledge, they were going to
01:38:57
Langlade County to a cabin, their cabin. At the time, I got this sense like he was in shock. This is someone who's
01:39:06
roughly my age. And so I'm thinking like, yeah, if my parents just went missing, he probably hasn't slept. He's
01:39:12
probably really nervous. Alex Gravat knew Chandler well. I was roommates with Chandler for a little while. I called
01:39:20
him Chaz. The two friends shared an apartment from 2019 to 2020. We grew up together and we played soccer together,
01:39:29
did Cub Scouts together, um, and just hung out together. He was a great swimmer, so I know that the swim team
01:39:36
really got along with him. Alex says his friend Chandler, who went by the name Chaz, could be a playful guy. He was a a
01:39:44
goon, a hooligan in a lot of senses. What do you mean by that? Yeah, I mean, he would so he would play pranks and he
01:39:50
would make lots of jokes or poke fun at people. Alex described Chaz as popular with women. College student Katherine
01:39:59
Malander, known as Cat, was his longtime girlfriend. He was a relatively attractive guy. I
01:40:06
mean, he he looked good. He had great hair. He kept up on appearances. According to Alex, when they were
01:40:11
roommates, Chaz often bragged to friends about hooking up with different women behind Cat's back when she found out
01:40:18
about it. She grilled him. She was like, "Are you seeing other people?" And he just kept denying it. But Cat remained
01:40:25
suspicious and began tracking her boyfriend on social media. Alex says Chaz became more secretive and moved
01:40:33
back home with his parents and now those parents were missing. Detective Shunk and Sims began follow-up interviews. At
01:40:42
that point, you know, what do we really have? We don't know what we have. Then they got a tip they desperately
01:40:51
needed from the owner of a farm outside town. We received information from someone that yes, Chandler had been out
01:40:59
to my property over Fourth of July weekend. The owner was a friend of Chandler's girlfriend, Cat. The owner
01:41:06
said she was with the couple at her farm on July 4th. She told deputies she was surprised to see Chandler again the very
01:41:14
next day, and this time he was alone. And I saw him coming from the wood line. His car was parked backed up to the
01:41:24
field. So, of course, right from that interview, um, well, we want to go search that property. As deputies began
01:41:31
searching, detectives wanted to know why Chandler had never mentioned he had gone
01:41:35
back to the farm by himself. Police picked up Chandler and took him to the station.
01:41:42
What's going on? Detective Brian Shunk asked him to once again describe the last time he had seen his parents. It's
01:41:51
Thursday morning. I wake up. What time is it? 6. Chandler said his dad, Bart, was at home working
01:42:01
and that later he had dinner with both parents. That's where they told me while we were
01:42:07
eating at they they were going to go with their friends and I was like, "Oh, cool." Um,
01:42:15
and they said they were going cabin. Yeah. We're going up north. While detectives questioned Chandler, deputies
01:42:23
were out searching the farm and made a discovery that quickly changed the tone of the interview. Listen to me. This is
01:42:31
the only chance you're going to have to tell us the truth. Okay? Okay. What we Listen, listen. I'm I can't tell you
01:42:38
what we know, but we know you're not telling us the truth. You need to tell the truth. There's Listen, listen. You
01:42:45
need to tell the truth about what happened and just tell us why it happened. I'm not BSing you. Okay.
01:42:56
So, can we do that? Okay, they're okay. Um, Chandler's request for a lawyer ended
01:43:03
that interview. Detective Sims remembers the moment she learned what deputies told her they had found near that field.
01:43:11
You know, Brian and I were in the command post together and I said, "Um, what did you say?" You know, I just
01:43:17
couldn't believe what I was hearing. They had discovered human remains. On Thursday, July 8th,
01:43:40
2021 in the village of Windsor, Wisconsin, the community struggled to make sense of the disturbing news.
01:43:52
The remains of an adult male have been found on a farm 20 miles from Bard and Christa Halderson's home.
01:44:01
At this point, it's very early in our investigation. Dne County Sheriff Calvin Barrett warned residents not to jump to
01:44:08
conclusions. I don't want to make any uh un corroborated speculations at this time.
01:44:16
The gruesome discovery was made the day after Bart and Christa had been reported
01:44:20
missing by their son, and it was something detectives Brian Chunk and Sabrina Sims had never encountered. The
01:44:29
grass had been matted down, and they followed it to a trail which led to um the discovery of a male
01:44:38
torso that was um concealed with sticks and twigs. That was really the moment, right? It was huge. I think of other
01:44:48
death investigations or homicide cases we've worked and I don't remember a time that I've worked a dismemberment case.
01:44:55
And what other evidence was found out there? We found um some cutting instruments,
01:45:02
some um that were hidden in a an old oil drum, um some scissors, um pruning shears, uh a broken bow saw, and it was
01:45:12
all in the same wooded area where the Halderson's son, Chandler, had been seen earlier in the week. Detective Sims had
01:45:20
a pretty good idea who the victim was. knowing in my gut that that um was most likely Bart Halderson and his son was
01:45:29
seen in that area. Police turned their full attention to Chandler Halderson. He was now a person of
01:45:38
interest and the prime suspect. While tests were being done to confirm the victim's identity, detectives arrested
01:45:46
Chandler and charged him with lying to them. The arrest was based on him providing false information in regards
01:45:53
to a missing person. Christa Holderson's cousin, Barbie Townsen. What did you think? They arrested him for giving
01:46:01
false information about a missing person. That was the first day that I started to suspect foul play
01:46:10
from their own son. I checked my phone and I saw that and it was that he had been arrested and it was pretty wild.
01:46:23
Alex Cvat, his childhood friend, learned about it on social media. My eyes got wide. I I kind of just sat there for a
01:46:30
second reading it. My first thought was if he's being arrested for giving misinformation to the police, I didn't
01:46:36
think that there was really much of a chance that he wasn't involved somehow. But there's someone who had a hard time
01:46:43
imagining Chandler was involved. His girlfriend Cat. She spoke to police just before his arrest. You don't think he
01:46:51
had anything to do with his mom and dad being unheard from? No. I just No. That'd be
01:47:00
crazy. But I just don't see him killing Mr. and Mrs. Holderson. Like he had SpaceX. Like why would he jeopardize
01:47:08
something he like would dream of, you know? Yeah. Like they're his parents. For Christmas, they got him and
01:47:15
his brother matching tool sets. Like come on. Okay. He cooks dinner for them. They
01:47:22
have root beer floats together. They play Mario Kart whenever his parents want to.
01:47:31
But on Saturday, July 10th, 2021, the victim found in the woods was identified as Bart Halderson.
01:47:44
It just changed everything. Like, that moment changed everything. Preliminary autopsy results would reveal Bart had
01:47:50
been shot at least two times in the back. And there was still the troubling question, where was Christa? Christa
01:48:00
Holderson remains a missing person and we continue to ask for citizen involvement.
01:48:06
Christa's coworker Dan Cronier ran through all the different possibilities. Did you at that moment wonder like maybe
01:48:14
Chris was involved in this too? It had definitely crossed my mind start to wonder, well why is Chandler lying? Is
01:48:21
he covering for himself or is he covering for perhaps his mother? Is she involved?
01:48:26
But the more investigators looked, it seemed the only person Chandler Halderson was covering
01:48:34
for was himself. You know, he just lied to everybody. And in his lies, police started to believe they found a motive
01:48:43
for murder. For months, he had been telling everyone, including his childhood friend, Alex Gravat, that he
01:48:50
was enrolled at Madison College during the 2021 spring semester. Did you have any idea he had flunked
01:48:59
out? He didn't tell you? No. It was surprising. Detectives believe his parents had no idea he wasn't in
01:49:07
school. They say when his parents questioned him about his transcripts. The computer savvy Chandler Halderson
01:49:15
crafted a chain of emails that seem to come from the college. Chandler creates people that work for Madison College and
01:49:22
communicates via email with them. You know, Bart's on some of those as well, talking to who he believes is employees
01:49:29
of the school. And do any of those people actually exist? No. In June 2021, Bart Halderson called
01:49:38
Madison College pretending to be Chandler and got an answer he wasn't expecting. Said, "I don't see that you
01:49:45
were admitted in any program." You said they were, you know, the IT degree is in
01:49:51
there, right? No, those are just classes. You might have just took the classes but not be in the program. Bart
01:50:00
learned that not only had his son been lying about that IT degree, but there was no internship with an insurance
01:50:07
company either. And remember that big job with SpaceX. Turns out that was just another elaborate lie. today.
01:50:16
The delusional reality that he concocted, that is shocking to me. According to detectives, Bart was
01:50:27
planning to meet at the college with his son on Thursday, July 1st. Around 200 p.m., Bart, who was
01:50:35
working from home, sent his son this text. I'm ready whenever you are. That text is believed to be the last message
01:50:44
Bart sent. Seven days later, Bart's remains were found. Investigators got a search
01:50:52
warrant for the Halderson home. No weapon was found there, but a shell casing was discovered in the
01:51:01
basement and several areas inside the house tested positive for blood. Chandler, middle initial M, last name
01:51:12
Halderson, age 23 of Windsor, is now being charged with firstdegree homicide, hiding a corpse, and mutilating a
01:51:19
corpse. [Music] On July 15th, 2021, Chandler Halderson was formally charged with his father's
01:51:29
murder. Chandler is currently being held in the Dayne County Jail. I mean, I I don't
01:51:36
know what else to say. like how how could you do that to your father? But where was his mother? Christa
01:51:45
Chandler Halderson had lawyered up and wasn't talking, but someone very close to him was. She had communicated with
01:51:54
him that whole weekend. That loyal girlfriend, Katherine Malander, had a potentially damning piece of evidence
01:52:01
about her boyfriend on the social media app Snapchat. She actually consented to a download of her phone. So that was a
01:52:09
breakthrough. How do you feel about allowing people to track you on social media apps? Join the
01:52:18
conversation now on social media. [Music] Chandler Halderson was charged with his
01:52:30
father's murder, but his mother's whereabouts were still unknown. Lead detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian
01:52:39
Chunk knew if Christa was alive, they needed to find her fast. At that point, we were hoping for
01:52:48
the best. It was one of those things where we just needed to to push on. Detectives turned to Halderson's
01:52:54
girlfriend for help. She had given them permission to download information from her phone. Chandler had lied to her
01:53:01
before and had cheated on her before. And so she um you know would track his location. Cat had convinced Halderson to
01:53:09
let her track his movements using Snapchat, the popular social media app, which allows users to send messages and
01:53:19
share their location in real time. Um and that was an agreement that yes, you will have your locations on so I can see
01:53:26
where you're going. Detectives were most intrigued by messages posted early on the morning of July 1st, the day
01:53:34
Chandler Halderson and his father were supposed to meet with Madison College officials. Halderson, whose online name
01:53:41
was Chazled Dazzle, messaged Cat at 7:30 a.m. I hardly slept. I'm sorry, Be. Why?
01:53:50
I don't know. But stuff hasn't really been going well for me lately. So, I'm trying to plan for the next thing to
01:53:57
exploitative me over B. It's going to be okay. Yeah, I just had a great future planned and it's falling
01:54:07
apart. According to detectives, the tone of those messages worried Cat. So, two days later, when Cat checked Snapchat
01:54:16
and noticed her boyfriend's avatar, that's hubby on her screen, indicated that he was nearly 25 miles from home.
01:54:25
Cat saved the image to her phone. It was a Snapchat screenshot um of Chandler almost 9 in the morning um out by the
01:54:35
Wisconsin River. Detectives Sims and Chunk took us to that location on the river where they
01:54:42
had hoped to find Christa. So, where are we exactly? What would you call this area? It's the Wisconsin State lower
01:54:51
riverway. And it's a familiar place to the former high school swimmer Chandler Halderson,
01:54:58
close to his favorite swimming hole. This is him at the same place in a photo taken a year earlier holding a large
01:55:10
knife. Law enforcement throughout Dayne County searched the wooded area. And how
01:55:16
long was he here? 45 minutes, I believe. Just keep in mind in July, but it's definitely far thicker
01:55:24
than what you're seeing here now. Still no sign of Christa Halderson, but search teams refused to give up. Let's
01:55:34
go hit one more area. And that was where they ended up discovering the remains. And what exactly did they find there?
01:55:40
They ended up finding two legs cut into different sections. DNA tests confirmed it was Christa Halderson. The concerned
01:55:50
son, who had reported his mom and dad missing, was now charged with both of their murders. Christa's cousins were
01:56:00
horrified. You couldn't write this. It just wasn't um anything that you could possibly come up with in your head. How
01:56:10
do you make sense of it? We don't. And that's the hard part. We don't have a why.
01:56:18
In January of 2022 at the Dayne County Courthouse, Chandler Halderson went on trial for the murder of his parents. All
01:56:28
right, for the jury. He was also facing charges for lying to the police and for mutilating and hiding their bodies. Our
01:56:36
job is to over the course of the next couple of weeks present evidence to show you the path of what we believe
01:56:44
happened. Assistant District Attorney William Brown that Chandler Halderson killed his
01:56:51
parents, dismembered their bodies, and hid them around southern Wisconsin. Prosecutors laid out a motive. They say
01:57:00
Chandler murdered his parents when his lies were about to be exposed and that for months he had been trying to hide
01:57:07
the truth from them. Among the evidence, those fake email accounts he created. No
01:57:14
one uses a Gmail account as their official Madison College email. No. And his fictitious internship with an
01:57:22
insurance company. I found no record of that person working for American Family.
01:57:30
Investigators believe the murder weapon was a semi-automatic rifle that had been
01:57:34
hidden in a barn at that farm where Bart's remains were discovered. Good afternoon, sir. Could you please state
01:57:41
your name and then spell it out? Andrew Smith. And how do you spell it? Alpha, November, Delta, Romeo, Echo, Whiskey.
01:57:48
The rifle came from this man, Andrew Smith, who testified that he was in the military when he met Halderson online.
01:57:56
How did you meet Chandler Halderson? Playing video games while I was stationed in Germany. Sir, Halderson had
01:58:01
wanted a gun. Smith testified he had no idea what Halderson wanted to do with the weapon. And in June 2021, he gave
01:58:10
him that semi-automatic rifle as a gift. I'm going to give it to someone who might actually appreciate this weapon
01:58:15
and take care of it. And nearly 480 rounds of ammunition. How did Chandler react when you gave him the gun? Oh, he
01:58:23
was happy. What do you mean? How do you know he was happy or how do you how do you know that? Cuz he had a big smile on
01:58:28
his face when I had given it to him as a gift. But the most anticipated witness in this
01:58:34
trial, good morning. Would be Halderson's girlfriend. Did you verbally answer yes to the oath? Yes. Who gave
01:58:42
police that Snapchat screenshot? What is that screenshot of Chandler by the Wisconsin River?
01:58:51
What do you make of the prosecution's case against Chandler Halderson? See more evidence at 48
01:58:58
hours.com. [Music] Could you please state and spell your name for us? Uh, Katherine Melander. For
01:59:10
3 hours, Cat Melander sat on the stand telling the jury about the young man she thought she knew, Chandler Halderson.
01:59:19
Did you go on a lot of dates together? Uh, yeah. We would um grab dinners, um have movie dates, just sit at home and
01:59:28
watch movies, go on walks quite often. Cat told the jury that she was working on July 1st when authorities
01:59:36
believe the murders happened and didn't see her boyfriend in person that day. But you weren't with him. I was not with
01:59:43
him. Did you know that Bart and Crystal Halderson had died? No. According to investigators, Alderson
01:59:53
asked Cat to bring a few cleaning supplies to his home the following day. He told her he had stepped on some
02:00:00
broken glass from the fireplace. She brought him a Swiffer mop and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Kath, did you have
02:00:09
absolutely anything to do with cleaning anything up or their disappearance? No. Investigators say there's no evidence
02:00:18
that Cat had any involvement in the murders. They believe Chandler Halderson acted
02:00:25
alone. Prosecutors showed the jury police video from inside the Halderson home. These walkthrough videos will
02:00:32
document the home as is. At first glance, it seemed neat and clean, but test results revealed what appeared to
02:00:41
be blood. Is that all blood that it's reacting to? This could be blood that it's reacting to. Yes. And that appears
02:00:49
that there's been some wiping or cleanup. For Barbie Townson, the most disturbing part was when the jury was
02:00:56
shown a view of the Halderson home from a neighbor's security camera. I was talking to one of my cousins. We said
02:01:03
one of the images that is going to be seared in our minds is when they showed that video of
02:01:10
the window flickering window from July 2nd and it was the flickering glow from the fireplace for like hours. That is
02:01:20
haunting knowing what was happening. A forensic expert testified that more than 200 bone fragments were discovered
02:01:31
in the fireplace. There's a white area in the middle of that burnt. Based on my training
02:01:36
experience, that appeared to be bone. Halderson's defense attorney, Katherine Durl, did not address the bone and blood
02:01:43
evidence found in the home, but insisted that did not mean her client was the killer. Chandler
02:01:51
Halderson did not murder his parents. He is not guilty of those crimes. She reminded the jury there were too
02:02:02
many unanswered questions. What happened to the Haldersons? What happened in that
02:02:08
Halderson's home? You just aren't going to know what happened. Chandler Halderson himself didn't
02:02:17
testify and his defense didn't call any witnesses. you have to go back and look at everything. Instead, attorney Crystal
02:02:27
Vera closed the case and urged jury to find reasonable doubt. She admits Halderson told a lot of lies, but she
02:02:36
argues there isn't enough direct evidence to tie him to the murders. I guarantee you that the 12 of you that
02:02:43
are going to go back and deliberate are all going to have 12 different theories on what happened. And that's a problem.
02:02:51
I'm asking you to find him not guilty of firstdegree intentional homicide. Prosecutors had the final word. This is
02:03:01
a first-degree intentional homicide. You cannot shoot someone in the back. You cannot chop them up. You
02:03:08
cannot scatter their remains and come to any other conclusion. And there is only
02:03:14
one person who did those things here and that is Chandler Holders and we're asking you to find him guilty. Thank
02:03:22
you. It didn't take long for the jury to decide. Breaking news. In just about a little
02:03:33
over two hours, a jury has reached a verdict in the Chandler Halderson case. We the jury find the defendant Chandler
02:03:43
M. Halderson guilty of firstdegree intentional homicide as to Barde Halderson. Guilty of providing false
02:03:49
information. Guilty of mutilating a corpse. Guilty of firstdegree intentional homicide. Of mutilating a
02:03:55
guilty of hiding a corpse. Guilty on all eight charges. I think it was just overwhelming from
02:04:04
all the work that we put in on it. In March 2022, at his sentencing hearing, "Good afternoon," Halderson,
02:04:12
who had been silent during his trial, surprised everyone by indicating he finally had something to say. Mr.
02:04:20
Halderson wishes to make a statement. Your honor, I want to take this opportunity to state my intent to appeal
02:04:27
my convictions. If there are any lawyers listening and willing to take on my appeal, take a moment to please reach
02:04:34
out to me. It's not that I do not have feelings. It's that I was warned to not show them
02:04:42
due to the scrutiny of this case. Thank you. What was your reaction when he had the
02:04:48
chance to speak and all he did was ask for a lawyer to take an appeal. What was your I was actually disgusted. I just
02:04:56
couldn't believe it. Like you can't even say I'm sorry. We are journed. Thank you.
02:05:01
Halderson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. When do you miss him? Oh, I think about
02:05:16
him just about every day. Really? Yeah. We're building a pond in our backyard. You know, they would love to
02:05:22
see that and love to be a part of it. Mitchell Halderson, Bart and Christa's oldest son, is now living with an
02:05:31
unimaginable loss. Barbie shared a text and this photo that Christa sent to the family just three months before she
02:05:41
died. Happy Easter. Yes, the boys and their women. Mitchell is still at Epic Systems and will turn 25 this year.
02:05:48
Yikes. Chandler is currently interning with American Family Insurance as an IT administrator, but his other degree,
02:05:56
sustainability management, has given him an edge. You see in her text how proud she was of her boys and how 100%
02:06:08
completely believing Chantler. She can't help but wonder what would have happened
02:06:13
if Halderson had just been honest with everyone. If he had just gone and thrown himself at the mercy of his parents,
02:06:22
what do you think Chris and Bart would have done? They would have helped him. They definitely would have confronted
02:06:26
him on it. But after the confrontation and the truthtelling would have come the grace, how do we go forward? How do we
02:06:36
help you? How do we get your life back on track? They would have helped him. [Music]
02:06:59
CBS next Saturday. 48 Hours brings you backtoback episodes all summer long. Next week, Vanished. She disappears
02:07:08
without a trace. We thought we might have taken her here. How many miles did you cover? It was hundreds of miles. 48
02:07:14
hours crime time double feature next Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.
02:07:19
[Music]