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[Music] when people think of Los Angeles they think of the glitz the Glamour the
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stardom but there's a dark side to Los Angeles my name is Barry Tellus and I'm a retired homicide detective
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from the Los Angeles Police Department this is a dangerous dangerous town there are
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predators con men people who pretend to be someone they're not and those are the
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people who prey on the innocent Christy Giles and Hilda Marcel cabales were two young women in their
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20s there were new friends and then together they're sort of getting to know each other and enjoy laay and everything
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it has to offer I'm Mary fjun and I'm a former prosecutor and defense attorney Hilda Marcel cabales just moved from
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Mexico and she's loving in Los Angeles she was looking for the American dream I guess I was marcela's best friend with
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think it was a dream for her to be there and being able to do what she loved being a architect and interior designer
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Aloha my wife Christy was a model she was going out for shoots all the time and she traveled the world doing
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that and having amazing experiences she was the most fun and interesting person I'd ever met she didn't live inside
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society's box definitely not she was a very free spirit they're two gorgeous girls who
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are not only pursuing their careers but also wanting to have fun at the same time and they do what a lot of kids do
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with their 20s they go out and they party Chris's plan for the evening was to go out with some friends and have a
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fun night they went to go see one of their favorite DJs at this event in East LA seems like a weird place to have a
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party well it's a warehouse and we have warehouse parties all over Los Angeles and they just have music drugs
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alcohol and people and this is a target-rich environment for victims of predators they met a man who passed
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himself off as a big shot Hollywood producer and that just clearly wasn't the case and it was just dumb luck that they
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met him he doesn't care about other people the longer and longer I didn't hear back
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asking her if she's okay the more worried I got we were just waiting for some news any news and at that point
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like I'm in real Panic once they left that party that was the last time their loved ones ever
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heard from them again [Music] [Music] Hilda Marcela Placencia a doctor in Durango Mexico was used to handling
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medical emergencies but nothing prepared her for the call she got about her eldest
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daughter and namesake Hilda Marcel cabales I received the phone call in the middle of the
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night saying that she was so ill she was very bad she was uh intubated the 26-year-old architect was fighting for
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her life in the ICU at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Los Angeles you are a doctor what was going
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on in your mind at the time what happened what what happened to her why is she that bad
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another mother in Corner Alabama was also getting shattering news Dusty G's daughter christe was in the ER at a
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completely different Los Angeles Hospital the Southern California medical center I was just told I'm very sorry to
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inform you miss chars but she was dropped off at our Hospital on the outside kind of like a bag of garbage
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and um she didn't make it and I said what do you mean she didn't make it they said it is now a
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police matter I hung up and I fell [Music] apart chrisy who had just turned 24 was
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dead of a drug overdose but when detectives heard how she was dropped off they immediately suspected Foul Play
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Hospital staff told investigators a black Prius without license plates pulled up here to the ER entrance two
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men told the staff they found the woman quote passed out on the curb somewhere nearby and were trying to be Good
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Samaritans by bringing her to the hospital they left without giving their names or phone
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numbers it was appalling to me Barry Tellus a former Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective and CBS
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News consultant says nothing about that story made sense nobody just dropped somebody off and say hey by the way we
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were driving down the street we found this girl passed out on the sidewalk it was an unfathomable ending
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to a life bursting with exuberance when Christy came into her room she was like a
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tornado let's do some down her personality was big it was loud you just couldn't help but love her for
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it her big sister Misty Welden says life for Christy was one big adventure there was nothing in the world
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that she was afraid to do Christy went skydiving yeah how was that huh Christy rode camels in Morocco we rode donkeys
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around the Grand Canyon when not out adventuring Christy was traveling the world as a high fashioned model for
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Willamina the onetime Soccer Star traded in her cleats for a pair of heels at the
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age of 15 she ultimately made La her home chy Giles I live in Venice California and I
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am an artist at 21 her life took a dramatic turn I got a text message from her that said I did something don't tell
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Mom I thought oh no what has she done and I got a text message that said I got married and I thought to
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who to a South African born artist photographer and special effects editor 17 years her senior named Dean cier they
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met through friends at an art gallery in La I understand that before all of this
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you were not the marrying type um don't know where you heard that but it's true once I was with her you know it was
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different Yan planned to pop the question just seven months after meeting at The Burning Man Arts Festival in the
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Nevada desert but in the moment they figured why wait instead we just decided to we just got married right
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[Music] there Christy's Mom and Dad Leslie never expected to hear their daughter's name
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in the same sentence as alope and burning man needless to say it did not go over well chrisy I can't believe
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you've done this your dad didn't even get to walk you down the aisle and she goes oh no no no no we got married but
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we are full on having a wedding in Alabama the Newly Weds came to Alabama and Christy and her mom found the
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perfect wedding dress to wear at a later date back in LA Christie started studying interior
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design which led to a new friendship with Hilda Marcela Hilda Was An Architect from Mexico who had just moved
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to LA to start her dream job in interior design do you remember when she said she
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wanted to go to Los Angeles and how did you feel when she told you that I feel very happy for her but very sad for me
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because we we are very close Louise cabales checked in with his daughter every day she was in LA message uh H
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daughter I miss you I miss you to father never told me daddy always told me Father no one was surprised that the
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Suma Kumar graduate of the prestigious University in monter Mexico was thriving in
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La Fernanda cantisani and Alan bonor who call her Marcela or Marse were two of her closest friends in montere she
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always gave her 100% in everything she did in her friendships with her family with her job with herself too she had
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already lived in South Korea and traveled the world how many countries in all 22 countries 22 countries for such a
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young girl she was very determined she also knew how to have a good time she loved to dance she loved to dress up
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every single person that met her loved loved Marcel including her dog a w moroner
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named Tomas Tomas she left him with Alan when she moved to LA but planned to call
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for him when she got her bearings that call would never come just 4 months after moving to La
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Hilda was in a coma her life in the balance her frantic parents and sister Fernanda racing to
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her side and I thought when we are there things will change she will she will wake up
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[Music] [Music] this Hilda Marcella the vibrant young architect Who Loved Laughing With
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Friends traveling the world with her sister oh you're in the balloon here yeah we are inside the balloon and
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playing with her dog Tomas looked nothing like the Hilda Marcella her family saw when they
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arrived at the hospital in Los Angeles my heart broke in thousand pieces because I saw my my baby and
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conscience I'm fighting for her life I said is this real Am I Dreaming I took her hand and I said
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Mom's here with you you're not alone I was very shocked very impressed I never expected looking at her like
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this like Christie Hilda had suffered a drug overdose toxicology reports would later reveal that she had cocaine MDMA
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or ecstasy and elevated levels of fentanyl in her system but her friends and family were sure that this early to
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bed early to rise health conscious young woman would never have have willingly taken such a toxic cocktail of drugs
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when you heard overdose you immediately thought drugged yeah drugged I was sure someone did this to
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her when you were told that the cause of death was an overdose did that add up to you
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absolutely not definitely not something that she would have done to herself ever that's just not
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her christe's autopsy showed she had cocaine Fentanyl and GHB known as the date rape drug in her system in the
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hours and days after Christie's death Yan was determined to get the truth I wanted to get to the bottom of what
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exactly what happened that night Yan began putting the puzzle pieces together starting on the evening
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of Friday November 12th 2021 the night of the warehouse party he made a timeline based on what he knew
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about christe's plans conversations with Christy's friends and the digital Trail
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she left behind Yan who had gone to San Francisco to visit his dad says christe spent the
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early evening doing what she loved most she was enjoying a lovely sunset she took out cat for a walk on the beach
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sand Panther s pan oh those were the last pictures she sent me of herself and she said I wish you were here and I
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well forever wish that I was there too Christy Hilda and a friend who does not want to be identified had planned a
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girls night out they kicked it off at the sohoo house in West Hollywood then moved on to a warehouse party after
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midnight where these photos were taken this cell phone video posted on social media shows Hilda and Christy
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dancing in the VIP section in a area which is more protected and safer to be in by then Yan had gone to bed when he
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woke up the next morning it was now Saturday November 13th he saw that Christy had texted him I texted her back
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and sort of didn't hear anything from her at first he just assumed she was sleeping in but after a few hours with
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no word he noticed something strange they shared locations on their phones I saw that she was at a location that I
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didn't recognize her phone was located at 8641 West Olympic Bullard so a little orange flag at the back of your head I
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still hadn't heard back from her and I saw her location had suddenly moved to hospital I called the hospital they told
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me that she was in the emergency room and at that point like I'm in raw Panic Yan raced to the airport to catch
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a flight back to LA I call her parents let them know that something terrible had happened and that
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she's in the emergency room and [Music] then her mom called the emergency room and called me back probably 5 minutes
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later uh letting me know that christe passed away in less than 24 hours your world
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was turned upside down shattered Yan went straight to the hospital Christian hild's friend who had been at
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the warehouse party with them but left early was already here she had been desperately trying to get in touch with
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Hilda but could not reach her they were about to find out why she got a call from a different
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hospital like 2 hours later saying that H did was just checked in there and then like obviously all our
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alarm balls are going off in our heads when both girls are dropped off at two different hospitals 2 hours apart like
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something terrible happened that night people like and Yan believed whatever happened took place at that
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mysterious address on Olympic Boulevard he put it on Instagram asking for help you blast out this address and very
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quickly you get responses yeah what are those responses that there's somebody that lives at this location that is a
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very unsavory person um that there's a lot of stuff out on the internet about him his name was David Pierce Hilda and
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Christie were believed to have met him for the first time at the warehouse party David Pierce flew under the radar
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for a long time but his past was about to catch up with him as he faces serious charges says former prosecutor Mary
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fan so at best a con man at worst a criminal a sexual predator a drug dealer a murderer a
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[Music] murderer as Hilda Marcella lay in a hospital bed fighting for her life in
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La Dusty and Giles were preparing to bury their daughter christe in Alabama half her ashes would go to Yan
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to scatter in the places they loved Dusty placed the rest in an N inside a butterfly box and gently
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wrapped it in the wedding dress she never had the chance to wear it was important as I know how
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happy she was when she found it she swirled like a prince is literally in it within hours of Christy's death
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detectives on the case were following Clues from christe herself her pinging phone had led them straight to the
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apartment of this man David Pierce 8641 West Olympic Boulevard please drive over there oh my God there's the car
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boom there's the car same car tell us said says police believed it was the same black Prius with no license
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plates that dropped Christie off at the hospital and it's like okay I think we have our man they retraced the movements
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of the women that night which would become the basis of a police affidavit when they comb through those pictures
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from the party at the warehouse there was David pierce with Hilda partying it up in the VIP section it sounds like VIP
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access gave David Pierce instant credibility absolutely it's all part of the manipulation he must be a good guy
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he's in the VIP section it was likely all part of a plan to meet women a plan that included drugs
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says the retired detective based on the witness's statements and the police investigation David Pierce comes with a
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bag of cocaine an ounce estimated and David Pierce came here to share it with whoever he could meet
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according to Tellus cocaine is a hot ticket at these parties at least on that night even for Hilda and Christy the
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police recovered this text exchange between the two women starting at 4:21 a.m. while still at the warehouse party
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do you want Coke asks Hilda yes replies christe Hilda texted back I'm in the kitchen let's do a line according to the
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police affidavit a witness observed Pierce provide what looked like cocaine to Giles and cabales who consumed
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it police say half an hour later this surveilance video obtained by 48 Hours shows Hilda and Christie leaving with
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David Pierce and two other men his roommate brand Osborne and their friend photographer Michael ansbach they all
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get into Osborne's car at 511 a.m. according to the police affidavit surveillance video which has
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not been released because of the ongoing investigation shows Osborne's car arriving here in front of the apartment
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according to the affidavit several people got out of the vehicle and headed to the entrance of the
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residence 19 minutes later at 5:30 a.m. Christie sends from inside Pierce's Apartment A wide-eyed emoji text to
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Hilda saying let's go Hilda replies I'll call an Uber 10 minutes away 133 minutes later according to to
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the affidavit a car believed to be the Uber pulls up after waiting 5 minutes it drives
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away without Christy and without Hilda how did you process that I mean it's just confirming my worst fears again
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that they were there at that place against their will they didn't want to be there they wanted to
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leave Mary fulan a former Federal prosecutor and defense attorney and CBS News consult
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has reviewed the police affidavit and court documents she says this text is an important piece of evidence something or
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someone stopped them in their tracks because they never got out and they never left no one knows exactly what went on
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inside that apartment for the next 13 hours but according to the affidavit a neighbor heard someone in pain and
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moaning on and off during the hours of 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for reasons not known the neighbor did not call police
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she's clearly in a distressed state that everyone seems to just be ignoring and when I say everyone not just Pierce or
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Osborne but there's a third individual that appears to have been at that apartment at least for part or all of
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the night and that's Michael ANS book whatever happened inside the apartment was hidden from public view not so
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outside the apartment another key piece of evidence images captured on security cameras but the cameras are in the
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adjacent building right next door pointing right in this direction being able to C although Tellis has not seen
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the video the police affidavit describes it in detail at 4:19 in the afternoon 11
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hours after they'd arrived at the apartment Pierce and Osborne are caught on camera carrying christe down the back
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stairs it shows Pierce exit the door the back door looks in both directions making sure the coast is clear making
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sure there's not going to be any witnesses that sees me carrying this body to my
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car both men get into the Prius according to the affidavit the men are captured on security cameras trying to
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disguise themselves you see them putting on a hat a mask and a hoodie and then they drive away and they drive to a
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hospital Southern California medical center shortly after according to police ansbach leaves the residents carrying
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bags of unknown items Pierce and Osborne return to the apartment to get Hilda they carry her partially clad body out
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to the Prius and again they leave they don't go to the same hospital they go to a different hospital Kaiser Permanente
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why not bring them at the same time to the same Hospital who knows they're trying to conceal their actions they're
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trying to keep the police at Bay and they don't want to hit the radar and they do the same thing they
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drop the body they tell the same story and then they take off without leaving their name their phone number or
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anything to identify themselves with and Hilda what is her State at this point Hilda was still alive they got her to
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the hospital and she was declared what we call brain dead how did you process that when you
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heard that news the worst day of my life [Music] after almost 2 weeks on life support it
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was time for Hilda Marcel's family to say goodbye Hilda what were your final moments with your
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daughter they were so hard you know and I just was asking God to not let her suffer
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more I remember telling her that you can leave and just thanking her for being my
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sister I told her baby when I pass away I will see you [Music] again and I give you a big hug a
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ke the family decided to donate Hilda marcela's organs her mom remembers the medical staff lining the Halls as the
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family accompanied Hilda to the O the medical team was clapping to honor her to say thank you
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for giving life to others Hilda Marcela cabales was pronounced dead one day before her 27th
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birthday back in moné Mexico her friends gathered to remember her all dressed in
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white at her favorite Park we brought her favorite thing to drink and her favorite
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cake at first we were crying but at some point we put her favorite music on and we just started dancing and we we
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were laughing and hugging and it was beautiful I felt like she was there 3 weeks after Hilda's death a
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break in the case police have arrested three men in connection with the deaths of a model and her friend lastma David
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Pierce 39 brand Osborne 42 and Michael ansbach 47 were arrested in connection to Hilda and christe's deaths but not
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officially charged Osborne on the left and ansbach were eventually released but not Pierce he was held on four unrelated
00:28:34
sexual assault charges new tonight A Beverly Hills man has been charged with sexually assaulting four different women
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when this case hit the media more victims showed up I know that guy he did this to me the prosecution is alleging
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in cases dating back to 2010 that pierce lured four different Jane do to his apartment and gave all but one a a
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special drink causing them to get dizzy or black out the allegations include forcible rape sexual penetration with a
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foreign object having sex with someone who's unconscious Erica Bergman who also goes
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by Erica Poe is not one of the Jane does but she says she was so traumatized by Pierce she tried to warn other women
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about him on a Blog called the dirty as far back as 2013 she discovered she had a lot of
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company there's a lot of commonalities in our stories Erica says she met Pierce at a low point in her life she was
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getting a divorce and money was tight initially she says she was taken in by him he would talk a lot about
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celebrities that he knew and introduced himself as a producer for Paramount Pictures so he was really larger than
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life kind of personality but she says it didn't take long for her to realize that
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Pierce who often introduced himself as Dave from Paramount Pictures lied he never worked at the movie studio David
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Pierce is a very bad person Erica believes that one night he drugged her she slept till 400 p.m. the next day and
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woke up feeling strange and groggy and Dave is bouncing around the room kind of laughing and Giddy and he started to
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tell me how while I was passed out he had assaulted me while I was sleeping sexually assaulted me and the things
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that he had done to me and it was incredibly degrading Erica says she wanted to leave
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but felt trapped she says he threatened to send compromising pictures to her estranged husband whom she was battling
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in divorce court she reluctantly stayed but says the violence only got worse he slammed my head onto the the marble
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floor and the sound in my ears was like an egg cracker and I can't get that sound out of my ears Erica says she was
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too scared to press charges but soon left for good then it all came rushing back when she heard about Christy and
00:31:10
Hilda my first gut instinct was that this was not an accident that he had his name all over it in May of 2022 the
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prosecution added three more counts of sexual assault against David Pierce we've added three additional sexual
00:31:27
assault charges with three additional victims and there was more 40-year-old David Pierce has been charged with
00:31:34
murder in connection with the women's deaths after a 7-month investigation the da had enough evidence to indict David
00:31:43
Pierce on two counts of murder claiming David Pierce gave Christy and Hilda lethal amounts of fentanyl a deadly
00:31:51
synthetic opioid drug dealers often mix with other drugs unbeknown to the user it took months before David Pierce was
00:32:00
charged with murder what was your reaction I mean definitely a relief but also very
00:32:06
sad the police did not find any fentanyl lace drugs in Pearson Osborne's apartment just drug paraphenalia but
00:32:15
Osborne who has been charged as an accessory to murder after the fact may have unwittingly explained why according
00:32:22
to the police affidavit Osborne told co-workers if cops had found the drugs hidden underneath the cash inside the
00:32:29
car they would have been in big trouble not finding fentanyl lace drugs creates a big challenge for the
00:32:37
prosecution says fan they're going to have to prove that David Pierce gave the girls these drugs and he knew at the
00:32:45
time that it could harm them and he did so with conscious disregard so they're going to have to prove that David Pierce
00:32:52
intended to kill these young women and that's not an easy threshold to overcome especially in light of witness
00:33:00
statements that the women were doing drugs willingly cocaine at the warehouse and earlier in the evening as well
00:33:08
friends toce Christy and Hilda both had taken cocaine and ketamine a popular club drug how does this work in the
00:33:16
defense's favor because fentol is a problem in this country and people are dying from fentanyl that they take
00:33:23
recreationally because they believe that they're only taking cocaine if you're the defense that's the point you want to
00:33:29
continue to drive home is how do you hold these two men responsible for an epidemic that's really plaguing the
00:33:34
entire country that does not mean it will be an easy defense says Josh Ritter the former
00:33:41
Los Angeles assistant DA is advising Yan on legal issues and is now a practicing
00:33:47
defense attorney the problems that they're going to have though is how do you get around how those girls retreated
00:33:52
afterwards and how do you get around the history that this man has and how do you
00:33:57
get around the fact that Christy had the so-called date rape drug GHB in her system is GHB is the date rape drug
00:34:05
something these women would have taken knowingly absolutely not that is a drug that's usually used by sexual predators
00:34:13
guys that want to take advantage of women and don't want them to remember or know about it Hilda and Christie were
00:34:21
still coherent at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning when they exchanged that text about calling calling an Uber the text
00:34:29
punctuated with a wide-eyed Emoji something happened inside those 10 minutes between them calling the Uber
00:34:36
and the Uber leaving that incapacitated them according to the timeline in the affidavit christe remained in that
00:34:46
apartment for the next 11 hours Hilda for 13 with one of them according to a neighbor moaning and groaning in pain
00:34:57
most of the day these two women could still be alive had David Pierce or Mr Osborne called
00:35:05
911 three digits on a phone that could have changed everything [Music] [Music] if found guilty of all charges against
00:35:31
him David Pierce could face 128 years to life in prison what is David Pierce currently charged with David Pierce is
00:35:41
charged with 11 counts seven counts of drugging and sexually assaulting forcibly raping Andor sodomizing several
00:35:49
women two counts of murder and two counts of providing uh a controlled substance that being
00:35:56
Fentanyl and a bold decision the state will combine the sexual assault and murder charges in one
00:36:03
trial why include sexual assault charges in a murder case if you look at this case in its totality mean this is David
00:36:11
Pierce's Mo he lurs wom back to his apartment he provides them with a drink and then they start to feel dizzy or
00:36:19
they black out and he sexually assaults them while Christy and Hilda's autopsy stated there was no physical or sexual
00:36:27
trauma nurses who treated Hilda noted slight bleeding in her vagina and a review of her sexual assault examination
00:36:35
found a small abrasion I know this is a difficult conversation do you think Hilda and
00:36:43
christe were potentially raped that night of course I believe that that's the reason they why they druged them
00:36:51
Josh Ritter believes the testimony of the women who were allegedly drugged and raped by Pierce will help dur see a
00:36:59
dangerous pattern of behavior their testimon is going to be huge one woman perhaps the defense can poke holes and
00:37:06
that two women it begins to sound like is this really a coincidence or not but three or four women or more and you
00:37:12
realize you're dealing with a with a monster it turns out David Pierce had been on the police raadar for years
00:37:23
according to the police affidavit he was arrested in 2014 for sexual assault along with an additional rape case but
00:37:31
these cases are often difficult to prove and were ultimately rejected by the District Attorney's
00:37:38
Office something Christy's sister Misty finds unforgivable to know that he had been arrested and had been
00:37:49
released was just appalling to me it's really sad that two beautiful girls had to
00:37:58
die in order for him to be in jail right now David Pierce has pleaded not guilty
00:38:06
to all charges against him Walter osor brand Osborne who is charged as an accessory to murder after the fact has
00:38:14
also pleaded not guilty and is out on bail we caught up with him outside of court do you have any comment I have no
00:38:22
comment I'm innocent Pier's lawyer also had no comment but at the time of the incident
00:38:29
Pierce told detectives at the end of the day I didn't do anything wrong I just tried to make the situation you know
00:38:38
right so far the prosecution has declined to charge Michael anbu 48 Hours has learned that he's cooperating with
00:38:47
prosecutors and will likely testify against his two friends but until the case goes to trial
00:38:56
Dusty and Leslie Giles thanks to a social media campaign will be at every court hearing Never Letting David Pierce
00:39:07
forget that chrisy was more than just a name on a court docket she was a real person she was a
00:39:18
daughter a sister a grand daughter she was her daddy's best friend I miss my daughter well we love
00:39:35
you in Mexico Hilda marcela's friends and family cherish the momentos she left behind a lock of hair it's part of her a
00:39:47
diploma so she wasn't just smart she was the top of her class she was the top of
00:39:53
the top a dog named to toas who now lives with a l the love we have for Mar it's
00:40:03
going to Tomas he reminds us about her so much and he has become my emotional support my emotional Fortress I would be
00:40:14
very lost so yeah there is always and will always be a whole and nothing can fill it she loved
00:40:28
to live and I think that's the way we can honor her living our lives in the best
00:40:35
way Hilda and Christy's families hope the deaths of these young friends will not be in
00:40:45
vain she's here this is a tragedy but maybe this was the way to stop them that's the only Justice we can
00:41:02
[Music] get 48 Hours don't miss an episode [Music] Tory Pines is a beautiful piece of
00:42:06
nature in Southern California what's beautiful about a beach is also what's dangerous about it there's a very
00:42:13
different vibe of what it feels like to be there in the middle of the day versus
00:42:18
10 at night there is a little feeling of you don't know exactly what's out there
00:42:26
1978 Barber nante and Jim Mal decided to go on a camping trip to the beach at Tory Pines stole my heart the minute I
00:42:33
saw her you know it's that feeling everyone gets you know when you when you find that person that
00:42:39
fits they were really good together they loved each other they had so much fun together and you could see it Barbara
00:42:47
she was outspoken very popular funny Jim great personality he was the life of the
00:42:53
party and my sister was like that too Barbara and Jim set up their sleeping bags on the beach itself and it was
00:43:03
sometime in the night after they had fallen asleep that they were attacked Jim Al had been beaten and was
00:43:10
very severely injured I was knocked unconscious I couldn't protect her I couldn't defend myself my dad looked at
00:43:17
me and said your sister's been murdered I didn't find out till years later how bad it really was I'm going to say the
00:43:24
body was around this position here somewhere they found her lying here nude and she also had some uh some cut marks
00:43:33
on one of her breasts who would want to kill her and and why 6 years later in 1984 another young
00:43:43
woman Clare Hoff who was 14 was found murdered on Tory Pines at nearly The Identical location I just said don't go
00:43:51
down there alone I think about her just about every day you she was my best friend you get
00:44:00
to this crime scene look at the body and see what again there was a mutilation of
00:44:05
the breast my first thought was hey this is very similar to the one that happened
00:44:10
6 years ago how much evidence was there how many leads not any at all really I just remember going crazy in my
00:44:19
mind is there something I'm not remembering is there something I saw I want to put a face to this crime
00:44:25
cuz it's been faceless for almost 37 years there really was no big break until 2012 when police finally got hits
00:44:35
on the DNA evidence that they had from the crime scene San Diego Police have identified a former San Diego Police
00:44:42
criminalist as one of two suspects to the 1984 murder of 14-year-old CLA Huff it was a big surprise that of all people
00:44:49
in the world you could find as a suspect that it would be somebody who had actually worked for the police
00:44:55
department he had a nickname and in that crime lab right you know what that was his nickname was kinky he liked strip
00:45:01
clubs he liked taking pictures of women my husband didn't do it he didn't go after teenagers I knew they were
00:45:09
wrong this has multiple suspects there are a variety of motives as a murder mystery this has everything you would
00:45:18
want [Music] [Music] every morning for the last 37 years Jim alt wakes up terrified thinking that
00:46:15
it's 1978 that he's just been brutally attacked on Tor Pines beach when I become aware that I'm awake I do not
00:46:25
open my eyes I put my hands on the bed and I feel for that sheet or I feel for sand of a beach
00:46:34
you still do that yes sir I before my eyes are open I want to know where I'm at it wasn't always this way the beach
00:46:41
used to be Jim's second home a safe place a fun place and you were a big Surfer absolutely there's not a feeling
00:46:50
on earth like surfing it's just there's a a big rush in inside your body Rick selga has felt that Rush he
00:46:57
was one of Jim's good friends back then who is the better Surfer between the two
00:47:03
oh probably he was do you remember what he was like back then he was a big strong funny
00:47:11
happy guy he was probably the the guy that everybody looked up to and this is probably one reason why Jim was featured
00:47:20
in a wet suit ad in Surfer magazine we were rock stars all of us in there when that that when that uh magazine that
00:47:28
issue came out we we autographed quite a few and he had a lot of girls that liked
00:47:34
him but he didn't see anybody else but her Jim alt only had eyes for 15-year-old Barbara Nantes they were the
00:47:46
All American couple Jim the surfer had been dating Barbara the cheerleader for 9 months man just a beautiful girl brown
00:47:56
hair brown eyes eyes eyes was in love with her the minute I saw her they were introduced by Barbara's sister Sue she
00:48:03
was outspoken really stubborn and set in her ways we had lots of arguments and fights and disagreements as sisters do
00:48:12
Barbara's parents Ralph and Judy NES knew they had their work cut out for them pretty early on so she wasn't just
00:48:19
another pretty face no she wasn't she was tough as Nails she was a popular defiant
00:48:27
beautiful pain in the ass wonderful daughter you know God gave her to me to keep me humble and it worked on the
00:48:36
weekend of August 12th 1978 Ralph and Judy Nantes left town to visit some friends a family friend was looking
00:48:45
after Barbara and her three siblings before leaving Ralph Nantes took Jim alt aside what did you tell him take care of
00:48:54
my girl okay and uh make sure that she's safe I told her father and mother you know that we would stay put and um again
00:49:03
that that you know I've said it before it's the biggest mistake or the biggest lie I've ever told my
00:49:09
life almost as soon as Barbara's parents left she and Jim hopped into a station wagon with Rick Sela and his girlfriend
00:49:19
and they all drove off to the beach I remember as they pulled off though just saying you guys better be careful you
00:49:26
know and they're kind of like yeah haha my sister's like see you the four friends eventually
00:49:33
ended up at Tor Pines beach parking lot was filled with people it was like a big
00:49:39
party around 9:30 p.m. the friends called it a night Rick and his girlfriend decided to sleep in the
00:49:45
station wagon and Jim and Barbara went down to the beach for some privacy I zip the sleeping bags together and and we we
00:49:54
crawl in them and uh and went to she was in my arms um that's the last thing I remember the next morning Jim woke up
00:50:05
cold and alone and wet he was covered in blood I'm freezing I'm I'm feeling for Barbara don't know where she is I don't
00:50:15
know anything I can't see anything don't hear anything he was blinded and disoriented so Jim had to feel his way
00:50:24
along a fence up the Sandy Hill to the parking lot where his friends were sleeping in the car Jim came up here and
00:50:33
he he was down low like this and he wrapped on the window and what did he look like then his face was swollen
00:50:44
blood all over his blonde hair you know and uh his head was probably about that big Jim had been savagely beaten with a
00:50:54
rock and a log from a fire pit on the beach did he say anything to you he goes go find Barb so I ran down to the
00:51:04
beach looking for her and she was [Music] there Barbara's nude lifeless body lay
00:51:15
on the beach I was thinking what do I do I I think that I just yelled at some people to call the Police Homicide
00:51:24
officers say what started out as an evening with friend turned out to be a night of death Paul
00:51:30
ibero was a sergeant for the San Diego Police Department he was one of the first investigators on the scene when we
00:51:37
uncovered the body it was uh uh covered with sand she had some very uh severe looking wounds on her head uh looked
00:51:46
like she'd probably been struck with something perhaps the rocks that we found nearby Barbara's murder had been
00:51:53
vicious there was sand in her mouth and the killer left a gruesome mark it appeared that somebody had taken a sharp
00:52:02
instrument and cut around the areola of her breast and also around the nipple of
00:52:07
the breast so she'd been sort of mutilated mutilated later on it was uh determined that she had been raped and
00:52:15
and sodomized soon after Barbara's parents were notified and I just started screaming no no no I I must have said it
00:52:25
50 times like somebody took a sledgehammer and hit me in the head because we didn't even know that the
00:52:31
kids were down there we have no idea Jim alt had been rushed to the hospital he had suffered a traumatic brain injury
00:52:39
and was in a coma for days when he awoke he had no memory of the attack I've got
00:52:45
titanium in the cranium stainless steel um I've got that that plate that runs right about there this was a serious
00:52:55
life threat threatening sir attack yes sir I almost did not make it Jim was briefly investigated but ruled out as a
00:53:03
suspect his injuries were too severe Paul Iber and other investigators Tracked Down other leads but police
00:53:13
could not find the killer the bloody attack and murder haunted everyone for years they were just kids you know that
00:53:22
stuff didn't happen but a few years later Clare Huff's body was found on Tor pin's Beach
00:53:32
she was murdered identically to barbar Judy and Sue NES share their memories of Barbara on Facebook at 48
00:53:54
hours in the Years after Barbara nantz's murder her family struggled with the overwhelming loss and pain there was
00:54:04
situations you know where I'd wake up in a cold sweat crying just the sadness at
00:54:10
losing this child that you loved when you're the mom you just carry that I felt like I was a complete failure as a
00:54:20
mother Barbara's parents were both sad and angry at their daughter for lying to them but Ralph Nantes was especially
00:54:28
furious at Jim alt I didn't want to see him and I didn't want to talk to him that's exactly what I felt you didn't
00:54:36
keep my little girl safe yeah I was very very upset it hurts I didn't bring their daughter
00:54:48
home 6 years later Clare Huff's loved ones faced the same pain that originated in the same place
00:54:56
she was like Bara Nantes a year younger just 14 smart and spirited and she loved the
00:55:07
beach she just had a inner light a Joy about her it's hard to explain unless you've met
00:55:16
her Kim jamer was Clare Hoff's best friend very gentle funny kind Claire's parents Sam and and
00:55:26
Penny Huff were and are immensely proud of her she was the class mediator kids who got into arguments would ask Claire
00:55:36
to adjudicate a couple of times she got in trouble in school because the teacher
00:55:40
had accused someone wrongly and CLA wouldn't put up with it she fought back Claire learned to love the ocean
00:55:51
early on she grew up on the coast of Rhode Island and spent as much time as she could walking along the shore with
00:55:59
Kim we grew up looking for treasures and bringing her mom pretty things home from
00:56:05
the ocean seal glass and pretty shells Claire had also spent a lot of time on San Diego's beaches her grandparents
00:56:14
lived just a few blocks away from Tory Pines beach one of the first pictures of Claire was taken there she was still
00:56:23
small enough to be carried this may be her first introduction to real ocean surf the Huffs had always considered it
00:56:30
a safe place and in the summer of 1984 they sent Claire and her brother out to California for a visit with their
00:56:39
grandparents Kim jamer went along too we could just be silly and nobody knew us and it didn't matter how goofy we got
00:56:47
and it was just really fun the night before Kim was supposed to head home Claire convinced her to sneak
00:56:54
out of her grandparents house and go to the beach after dark but once they got there and settled near their favorite
00:57:03
spot by the bridge Kim almost immediately had a panic attack it was just an awful feeling I knew how freaked
00:57:14
out I was how somebody could just walk right up and by you without you even knowing
00:57:20
they were there you asked Claire to make you a promise when you were back the house what was the promise I just didn't
00:57:28
want her sneaking out by herself again 2 days later after Kim went back to Road Island Claire broke that promise and on
00:57:37
August 24th 1984 Clare Huff's body was found by a beach comber near the bridge retired
00:57:45
detective Paul iando also worked on this case and was interviewed by our CBS local station back then we are
00:57:54
evaluating all the evidence we recovered at the CLA had been found just a few hundred
00:57:59
yards from where Barbara Nantes had been killed to me it was a a lot of similarities there like Barbara Nantes
00:58:07
Clare Huff also had been beaten strangled and sexually assaulted it was determined at the autopsy that this girl
00:58:15
had a lot of sand packed in her mouth in larynx area our other victim had sand in
00:58:21
her mouth but perhaps most chilling like Barbara's Claire's breath rest had also
00:58:27
been mutilated we either have a serial killer or a Repeat Performance by the person that probably did the first case
00:58:35
it didn't take long to find a promising suspect as soon as they heard about their daughter's death Sam and Penny
00:58:42
Huff went to Tory Pine State beach before long they were approached by a man named Wallace wheeler he was the
00:58:50
beach comr who had found Claire's body he said I'm Wally wheeler I'm a psychic with his hand out stretched Sor so what
00:58:58
did you make of Wally wheeler the psychic he was strange so then we called the police to tell them tell them that
00:59:07
the police encouraged Claire's parents to keep communicating with wheeler thinking he might confess or at least
00:59:14
give them some useful information wheeler wrote long and rambling letters to the Huffs one of them saying Claire
00:59:22
was coming to him in visions that was why she let me see her smiling face and her eyes were
00:59:32
radiant this is a guy who found a bloody mutilated body and he's talking about smiling face and radiant eyes the
00:59:41
letters were odd very odd the police questioned wheeler but he never confessed to anything and the letters
00:59:48
eventually stopped what was the last thing you heard about Wallace wheeler that he had killed himself
00:59:56
threw himself off the top of a building 13-story building and died investigators
01:00:02
would later tell the Huffs that they had ruled wheeler out as a suspect but the Huffs were convinced for years that
01:00:09
wheeler was their daughter's killer you thought he was involved somehow oh yeah yeah we assumed that Willer he had that
01:00:18
he had done it for all the Intrigue surrounding Wallace wheeler the loved ones of the first victim Barbara nante
01:00:26
had never even heard of him at the time in fact the families did not even know about each other but around 2008 the San
01:00:35
Diego Police Department posted the cases on its website and for the first time said publicly that the police believed
01:00:42
Clare huff and Barbara Nantes had likely been murdered by the same killer I was mad that that it happened to Claire and
01:00:52
that we weren't informed but who may have been responsible would remain a mystery for four more years until
01:01:00
Advanced DNA testing revealed two suspects and one of them was one of their [Music]
01:01:19
own for decades after the murders of Barbara Nantes and Clare Huff the San Diego Police Department kept
01:01:26
investigating sporadically but nothing had ever materialized Claire's friend Kim jamer
01:01:34
kept waiting for some news did you think about this case a lot all the time I mean you know nothing's going to bring
01:01:42
your friend back and you just hope that no one is out there hurting other people
01:01:47
in 2012 there was finally a promising development the cases were reopened investigators hoping Advanced DNA
01:01:55
technology would change the course of things it was encouraging for Barbara's parents Judy and Ralph
01:02:03
Nantes I was cautiously optimistic they would be disappointed the new DNA test would find nothing
01:02:12
useful on their daughter but Clare Huff's friend Kim would soon get a visit from a
01:02:19
detective he brought several pictures did you see any of these people during your I didn't recognize anything Kim was
01:02:28
given few details but she had a feeling that investigators were finally on to something I was like finally somebody's
01:02:36
really looking into this 48 Hours obtained the San Diego Police Department's case affidavits and search
01:02:43
warrants and here's what Kim jamer didn't know police had found two DNA hits on Clare Hoff blood on her jeans
01:02:52
was linked to a convicted rapist named Ronald Tetro the other DNA a tiny microscopic amount reportedly found
01:03:01
inside Claire was linked to a man named Kevin Brown police knew Kevin Brown he was a former criminalist in their lab I
01:03:13
was getting ready for work and there was the knock and two detectives were there
01:03:18
Rebecca Brown a Catholic school teacher had been married to 61-year-old Kevin Brown for more than 20 years Kevin
01:03:27
retired from the San Diego Police Department in 2002 so I thought okay they're talking about some case that he
01:03:34
worked on the Browns had led a quiet life revolving around Church travel and their pets before that visit by
01:03:43
investigators in January of 2014 the detective showed Brown a picture of Ronald Tetro and asked if he
01:03:51
knew him what did he say he said I've never seen this man I don't know him journalist James vlahos wrote about the
01:03:58
case in October 2015 for the Atlantic magazine he is a CBS News consultant did the police go and talk to Ronald Tetro
01:04:08
when they found his DNA in Clare Hof's body they would have liked to have done that but Ronald Tetro was already dead
01:04:16
Tetro had drowned in what was ruled a boating accident in Tennessee in 2011 but to this day there is susp ion
01:04:26
it was a suicide his wallet had been placed on the seat his glasses had been placed on
01:04:33
the seat and they said it looked as if he intended to go into the water another thing that certainly raises eyebrows is
01:04:40
that his death took place on the anniversary of Clare Huff's murder Kevin Brown the retired criminalist was now
01:04:49
the only living suspect police showed him a picture of CLA Huff what did he say oh sure I remember
01:04:58
her the detectives told Brown that his DNA had been found in the evidence they didn't tell him where how they found it
01:05:07
the police maintain that it was Kevin who first mentioned the possibility of it being found on a vaginal swab the
01:05:15
investigation ramped up quickly that same afternoon investigators served a search warrant on his property looking
01:05:21
for any evidence related to the murders of both Clare Hoff and Barbara NES because they were so similar I said you
01:05:30
got to clear this up this is crazy and he said I tried telling them I don't know what they're talking about I never
01:05:36
killed anybody in my life you know that and I do know that in my deep core I know he never killed anybody but
01:05:42
investigators believed Kevin Brown had a dark side at the time of Clare Huff's murder Kevin was a bachelor in his 30s
01:05:51
and had a Randy reputation at the crime lab he had had a nickname kinky Kevin Brown and that was because we knew that
01:05:59
he frequented uh strip clubs they called him kinky Kevin yeah I would call him his nickname was kinky retired
01:06:06
criminalists Jim Stam and John darina worked with Kevin in the lab for years did he brag about going to the strip
01:06:14
clubs mean did he make any secret of it early on I don't think he kept it a secret but he did have friends that
01:06:20
would go with him to either a movie or a strip club I believe he would go to what
01:06:26
dirty movies I I believe it was a a porn movie yes darina and Stam never saw any
01:06:33
inappropriate behavior by Brown in the lab but he made some female colleagues uncomfortable there was a criminalist
01:06:42
who worked with Kevin Brown and she describes how Kevin took a report of a violent rape and when she was alone in
01:06:50
the lab with him read it aloud to her and made a remark along the L L of isn't that funny after that she never felt
01:06:58
comfortable being alone with him in the lab again as they dug into Brown's background investigators learned more
01:07:03
about his Hobbies he enjoyed photography and in the 80s he went to lingerie and budoir shoots advertised in a local
01:07:13
magazine photographer Rocky forguson took photos of aspiring models with Kevin so they pose for the photographer
01:07:22
and in return they get a free picture yes but Rocky says that sometimes certain photographers would make
01:07:29
arrangements for private sessions that were more racy and and and Kevin did that Kevin did his own thing if he likes
01:07:37
somebody he'll hire his own models in these private sessions what would happen adult type stuff adult stuff naughty
01:07:45
stuff yes explicit photos Kevin Brown's pastimes as a bachelor may have raised detectives eyebrows but his statements
01:07:53
during the investigation May made them even more suspicious although he initially denied having actually met
01:08:00
Clare Hoff Brown later seemed to make a startling admission he had done some thinking and
01:08:08
that he now did recall having met someone named Claire in the 1980s and possibly having sex with her and then he
01:08:17
got himself into even deeper trouble according to the affidavit Kevin Brown volunteered to take a lie detector test
01:08:25
he failed and after the polygraph an investigator talked to him about Clare Huff saying I don't believe for a second
01:08:33
that you thought she was 14 and brown reportedly responded I had no idea then police learned Kevin Brown had
01:08:44
called a friend and told him allegedly the police are looking at me as a suspect this girl I photographed on the
01:08:53
beach ended up dead [Music] [Music] ever since investigators got that DNA hit on Clare Huff in
01:09:15
2012 they had been quietly trying to build a case against Kevin Brown but his wife Rebecca Brown stood by him but I
01:09:25
never thought he was a killer never never this is a man who didn't have a mean bone in his body well you know all
01:09:31
those things that people are saying about he was going to strip clubs and taking photographs of naked women um he
01:09:39
hadd shown me some and majority were just like just cutesy poses glamour shots and that was back when he was
01:09:45
single and he would have thought wow this is great if everybody whoever looked at a photo of a scantily clad
01:09:52
woman or if everybody who ever went to a strip Club is likely to be a serial killer I'm afraid we're going to have to
01:10:00
build quite a few more prisons we do not convict people on their character HED on
01:10:06
the police proed attorneys Jee ardale and Gretchen Von Helms represent the Browns this was a violent sadistic
01:10:14
choking killing the scope of what happened to these poor young women who were brutally
01:10:23
sexually assaulted and murder murdered is quite different from going to a strip club or going into a porn shop or
01:10:31
reading an off color story The Lawyers argue that there is almost no case against Kevin Brown for starters they
01:10:38
say investigators could never say if or when or how Kevin Brown the mild mannered criminalist met Ronald Tetro
01:10:48
the violent convicted rapist zero evidence that they had ever seen each other or met at any time
01:10:57
zero they say there are perfectly innocent explanations for Kevin Brown's actions and statements like the one he
01:11:04
made when detectives showed him a picture of Clare Huff he said at one point oh I remember her why did he say
01:11:13
that it was a well-known case and that photograph that they showed him had been one that had been in the newspaper but
01:11:20
Brown also said he may have met someone named Claire in the80s and that he might
01:11:26
have had sex with her iale says Brown was just being honest I think that he said he had met a CLA but the CLA that
01:11:35
he was talking about was a woman who was 30 years old even the investigators seem
01:11:41
to acknowledge in the affidavit that this woman did not sound like Claire Huff but remember Brown had allegedly
01:11:49
also told a friend that he photographed a girl who was found dead on the beach the man to whom this statement is
01:11:57
attributed says he never said such a thing Gretchen Von Helms argues investigators had tunnel vision and
01:12:05
interpreted everything Kevin Brown said as evidence of his guilt she says that's
01:12:10
what happened when Brown told the detective he had no idea Claire was 14 they immediately think the the
01:12:19
suspicious guilty version of that versus oh my God you're telling me that's awful
01:12:24
CME a normal citizen when they're told about this awful crime and say oh my gosh this poor child was 14 how awful
01:12:30
this is the attorneys admit Kevin Brown's personality did little to help him during the
01:12:37
investigation he was one of the worst public speakers let's say in the history of the San Diego Police Department lab
01:12:45
he was kind of like a nervous Nelly retired criminalist John dorina and Jim Stam say Kevin Brown was at best a shaky
01:12:54
witness for the police in court cases whenever he got confronted he got very nervous and very upset he wanted to
01:13:01
agree he wanted to please them but Kevin Brown's shyness or awkwardness cannot explain his DNA on that swab several
01:13:09
swabs were taken from inside CLA during the autopsy the medical examiner tested one of them in
01:13:16
1984 and found nothing another swab was sent to the San Diego Police Department lab and that's where the lawyer ERS say
01:13:26
the trouble began it was not kept in a way that would ensure the Integrity of the evidence it was the early 80s before
01:13:34
much was known about DNA and the procedures now used to prevent contamination did not exist how
01:13:42
different were the procedures back then a lot I we didn't wear mask for sure Kevin Brown did not work on the clar
01:13:49
Huff case but he worked near the criminalist who processed the evidence including that swab where a minute
01:13:57
amount of Brown's DNA was later found the swab itself was put to dry in the open air without a cap on a table near
01:14:09
where Mr Brown worked everything that was able to be airborne could have gone and touched that swab the the the
01:14:18
problem though with this case is seems to me that the allegation is that this isn't sweat or spit it's his seen how
01:14:27
how would his seen get on a swab you can still have cross-contamination of seen because they had to have fresh samples
01:14:36
of semen in the San Diego Lab at the time of Clare Huff's murder criminalists would often bring their own seminol
01:14:43
fluid to the lab and use it to ensure the chemicals used to detect seamen were working correctly darina and Stam
01:14:51
believe that all the criminalists in the lab did it I I think Kevin was doing that same thing the San Diego Police
01:14:59
Department however insists that contamination was not possible but the retired criminalists know what they saw
01:15:08
most likely Kevin's Seaman standard was in that lab and several analysts may have even had it it may have been even
01:15:15
used on that particular on on Miss Hoff's case we didn't switch gloves back then either so let's say the analyst
01:15:22
took Kevin's Seaman sample wearing the same gloves and then handled the deep vaginal swab there is a logical
01:15:31
explanation for the contamination cross-contamination does happen there have been cases of lab
01:15:38
technicians DNA ending up on evidence documented in several States and at least four other countries so given the
01:15:47
lab procedures in effect at the time and the lack of other solid evidence Kevin Brown was assured the case against him
01:15:56
was weak and I believed that they lacked the evidence necessary to charge Mr Kevin Brown with these murders but by
01:16:06
mid 2014 the stress of the investigation which was dragging on was making Kevin Brown very anxious I said call him and
01:16:17
get it straightened out and he said they just said you know you killed her and you may as well
01:16:22
confess and he hung up the phone and he said I didn't even say anything back to him back cuz I didn't know what else to
01:16:27
say at this point he said I didn't do it and they're not going to ever believe me
01:16:30
Rebecca hoped their nightmare would soon end but it would not end in a way that anyone
01:16:45
[Music] expected on the morning of October 20th 2014 Rebecca Brown came home from work
01:16:56
and found her husband's Bible sitting on the table in it he had underlined a Psalm about being wrongfully accused his
01:17:06
watch was there and his cell phone was there and so I asked my mother where is Kevin and she had just said he went
01:17:15
somewhere he went out he was cleaned up he' shaved he' showered looked nice and said I have
01:17:22
things to do Kevin didn't come home that night and the following day Rebecca got
01:17:27
the news she feared most and I was just sitting there waiting and then there was
01:17:33
the door knock and it was the detective and he said we found your husband and he's gone a ranger at a
01:17:43
state park near where the Browns had a vacation cabin had found Kevin hanging from a
01:17:51
tree were you surprised even after everything that he'd been through we tried to I tried to
01:17:58
keep his spirits up you thought you had kept him safe oh my yeah Rebecca Brown is adamant that her
01:18:12
husband's suicide was not an admission of guilt I totally understand why he did it he knew there would be people who
01:18:22
would think even if he went to court and was found not guilty that would believe it this was going to
01:18:28
tarnish his reputation that he prided himself in he didn't Escape that of course after he died the police held the
01:18:37
news conference yeah 3 days after his death the San Diego Police Department publicly named Kevin Brown as one of two
01:18:47
suspects in Clare Huff's murder we were able to establish a very strong case that Ronald Tatro and Kevin Brown were
01:18:57
the suspects in the murder of Claire huff and also an arrest for brown would be forthcoming you never had enough to
01:19:06
arrest him in his lifetime and now that he's gone you're going to just say he did it case solved it's done Rebecca has
01:19:13
answered the police charges with charges of her own she's filed suit against two
01:19:19
police detectives for misconduct and wrongful death he was not a rapist and a killer he was
01:19:27
a quiet good man and I'm hoping the legal system will help set things right the San Diego Police Department refused
01:19:34
our request for an interview but Penny and Sam Huff Claire's parents have the answers they need we're confident in the
01:19:43
San Diego Police Department and their discoveries the Huff family says after 30 years the details surrounding their
01:19:51
daughter's death are not as important to them as remembering her life we've learned to live with her death we've
01:19:59
learned to live without her physical presence in our family to us what's important is what Claire was and what
01:20:08
Claire meant to us and and to the people around her and this is sort of a still life I guess that's a ninth grade one
01:20:16
Claire left her mother and father with a lot of memories well it looks like all her favorite rock groups and at 14 she
01:20:24
had the foresight to leave a will telling her family and friends that she loved them and not to be
01:20:32
sad you've made me realize how precious and beautiful life is thank you I wish I
01:20:39
could list all the wonderful things you've done but everyone would fall asleep I love you both what did it mean
01:20:48
to you that she had done this and she had written this it's always a puzzle why she did it but it is also a
01:20:57
treasure but the family of Barbara Nantes the first victim in this case still has as many questions about her
01:21:04
murder as they did in 1978 reality what happened to her it's just so hard to I want to know her I
01:21:13
want I want police now say Barbara and Claire's cases are not connected I would like a viable suspect
01:21:24
but we don't have one Ronald Tetra was in prison for rape at the time of Barbara's murder and Kevin Brown was
01:21:31
attending college in Sacramento 500 miles away Barbara's boyfriend Jim alt what has it done to you over the years
01:21:42
especially with the developments in Claire's case to see this case still remain open it's devastating we want
01:21:50
answers we want to know what they're doing to solve this even today Jim alt says he's suffering
01:21:57
from survivors guilt it has stayed with him even though Barbara's father Ralph sent him a letter long ago apologizing
01:22:06
for having blamed him for her death I want you to know that I don't hold you responsible for Barbara's death when I
01:22:14
was grieving over her death I needed to blame someone and since she was with you
01:22:19
I lashed out at you Jim you were trying to be alone with Barbara is probably what every red blooded American Boy
01:22:26
dreams of unfortunately the time you spent together turned out to be a disaster but the chance of that
01:22:32
happening was probably one in a million Yours Truly Ralph NZ it still is hard for you to read that
01:22:41
without choking up yes sir he's absolving you in a way does that help you when I first read
01:22:49
it it did but you can't hide what what happened because of a decision Barbara and I made
01:22:58
she never came home so I I own part of that decision and I'll take that the grave with
01:23:15
[Music] me CBS next Saturday 48 Hours brings you back back to back episodes all summer
01:23:26
long next week Dressed to Kill the evil clowns you've seen in the movies well it
01:23:31
came to life the public knew this man as the zombie hunter 48 Hours Crime Time double feature next Saturday on CBS and
01:23:39
streaming on Paramount Plus [Music] [Music] because come on tell us it's [Music]
01:24:07
got my name is Jane dtic I spent 20 years in prison for a crime I did not commit I thought truth and Justice was
01:24:17
at the front of everything and it certainly has not been in my case [Music] I wish I just knew what really happened
01:24:28
I wish there was some way to piece it together somebody to come forward with the
01:24:34
truth on February 13 2000 Jane and Bob dork are living together in North San Diego he said he was going out for a jog
01:24:45
that was it that was the last I talked to him she reports her husband missing there was a search for him as a missing
01:24:53
person the next day he was found in a location 2 or 3 miles away from their home and I stop about right here I could
01:25:01
see the body and I said this is Mr Doric he was found to have blunt force trauma
01:25:08
to his head he was found to have injuries consistent with strangulation it was obvious to me that
01:25:14
it was a homicide they found Bob's blood in his bedroom the detectives decided because they saw some blood that they
01:25:21
were in the crime scene and that Jane was the only only one with access to that bedroom and to Bob there was only
01:25:29
one person that could have done this to Mr doorack and that was his wife Jane DCH he said you're under arrest I was
01:25:36
like what I would never hurt my husband police say circumstantial and blood evidence links Jane dtic to her
01:25:45
husband's murder the bedroom was not a crime scene I don't doubt that this occurred at the home and I don't doubt
01:25:51
that she's involved there was blood on the comforter there was blood Blood on the pillow shamp there was blood on the
01:25:56
headboard when you have a home that's a working Ranch you're going to find blood
01:26:01
around it's just problem on top of problem on top of problem I would declare this crime scene very
01:26:07
contaminated they focused on one person and turn a blind eye to anything else Jane dtic chose murder over divorce it
01:26:16
felt like a nightmare and I kept saying when am I going to wake up do you believe that Jane dork got a fair trial
01:26:23
no I I'm in no position to say who did what I don't have a crystal ball to tell you
01:26:29
what happened to that man what do you believe happened to Bob I believe Bob somehow fell into some kind of situation
01:26:39
I don't know I lost my husband and then I lost my freedom [Music] [Music] Jane how would you describe what the
01:27:34
last 22 years have been like for you it's been torturous in many ways I suppose many moments when I thought how do I
01:27:45
keep going I always used to say this is the most peaceful place on the face of the
01:27:53
Earth nothing feels peaceful anymore when we first met Jane dork in 2000 the stress of all of it on everyone
01:28:03
has been incredible um the life she had once found so Serene in the Foothills outside of San Diego a life she had
01:28:12
shared with her husband Bob had taken an unimaginable turn how can this be how can this happen surely I'll wake up and
01:28:21
it's a dream Jane had become the prime suspect in Bob's murder authorities believe that she viciously attacked him
01:28:29
in their home I certainly didn't do this I loved my husband Jane 53 years old at
01:28:36
the time and Bob 55 share more than half their lives together I was 23 when we were married Bob was a wonderful loving
01:28:47
creative person and welcome everyone here those that who' been mared before and those who haven't Bob spent most his
01:28:54
career as an engineer Jane worked as a nurse and later as an executive in the health care industry the couple raised
01:29:02
three children Alex Claire and Nick the family is has always been incredibly important to both of us also important
01:29:13
to Jane were their horses you while Jane's passion was breeding and writing I'm having a good old time here Bob was
01:29:23
an avid jogger and that says Jane is the last image she has of her husband Bob was sitting
01:29:30
actually in this chair facing the TV although Jane was Under Suspicion she allowed us into her home he said he was
01:29:38
going out for a jog and he was actually had his jogging suit on was tying his shoes that was the last I talked to him
01:29:46
it was around 10000 p.m. on February 13th 2000 when Jane says Bob left to go for that run as hours passed without any
01:29:56
word from him Jane says she grew concerned it was beginning to get dark I decided to go out and look this is the
01:30:05
route Jane says she took to search for Bob driving up and down the hill where he sometimes ran by 7:45 p.m. Jane's
01:30:14
concern turned to fear I said enough this is enough something is wrong and that's when I made the call to the
01:30:23
Sheriff's Department my first thought that night was maybe this man had a heart attack and fell
01:30:28
down the embankment along Lake Wolford Road as Deputy James Blackman and others from the San Diego County Sheriff's
01:30:36
Department search for Bob concerned friends and family gathered at the door house the minute I saw my mom's face I
01:30:44
knew right away something terrible had happened the DK's daughter Claire 24 at the time had spent the weekend visiting
01:30:53
her aunt and returned home to a distraught chane she was freaked out she was scared she was nervous she
01:31:02
was crying it was a horrifying feeling that got more and more horrifying when he wasn't
01:31:09
found and then in the pre-dawn hours of February 14th Deputy Blackman turned into this driveway several miles from
01:31:18
the door Teck home and noticed a body off the road at this point I could see the shirt the pants and he was uh laying
01:31:28
on his back from Jane's description he immediately knew it was Bob dtic I got there a little after 7 in the
01:31:39
morning San Diego County Sheriff's detective Rick emson was called to the scene there was no evidence of any type
01:31:46
of vehicle accident the evidence Epson did find suggested something else I could see that he had uh blood on his
01:31:56
face there was blood near the back of his head and I could see that there was a rope around his neck Bob dork had been
01:32:04
bludgeoned and strangled the one-time missing person case had turned into a homicide
01:32:12
investigation is there anybody you could think who would want to see your husband
01:32:16
dead nobody nobody as law enforcement asked Jane questions about Bob she let them into
01:32:25
her home come in search look for anything detective emson noticed a piece of rope hanging from the porch that
01:32:33
caught his attention thinking he had just seen something similar on Bob dtic it appeared to be the exact same type of
01:32:41
rope that was found around his neck uh the sliding glass door going into the master bedroom and when investigators
01:32:48
got to Bob and Jane's bedroom they found something more troubling they believe they were looking at blood
01:32:56
spatter there was no question our M that this uh assault occurred in the master bedroom they documented their findings
01:33:05
in this diagram taking photos along the way of what they believed to be blood on
01:33:11
various items in the bedroom and of what appeared to be a large blood stain on the underside of the mattress I do know
01:33:20
when Bob had a nose bleed he made a comment about getting some blood on the mattress
01:33:24
I Jane says there was a logical explanation for some of the other blood too they had dogs who were injured and
01:33:32
have blood this little dog had an abscess on her cheek that was openly draining at the time and little drops of
01:33:39
blood we'd find as she sat on the couch the carpet pieces are what the detectives removed feeling that there
01:33:47
was blood on the carpet the spots of blood investigators said they found all over the bedroom surprised Jane do you
01:33:56
have any other explanation of how that blood spatter could have gotten there on the ceiling on the window on the walls
01:34:03
no adding to Authority's suspicions was this bloody syringe found in the bathroom garbage Jane told us she used
01:34:12
it to medicate her horses I know that I give the horses shots all the time if you go look in my fridge right now
01:34:20
you'll find horse syringes invest instigators theorized that Jane hit her husband with an object
01:34:27
in the bedroom and strangled him she then dressed him in his jogging suit put him in their truck and dumped him along
01:34:35
the side of the road where his body was found why do they believe you killed your husband you
01:34:42
know I guess I've been through that one a billion times I don't know but investigators thought they knew
01:34:51
believing the motive was money and and escaping a troubled marriage Jame was the main bread winner and they learned
01:34:58
the couple had split up for a year in 1997 I don't make any apologies for the fact that we had rough times but that
01:35:08
doesn't change the fact that we loved each other and that love says Jane is why they reconciled they have been back
01:35:16
living together as a couple for a year and a half before Bob was killed I really think the separation
01:35:25
caused us to really regroup and think about what was important they were getting along better than they ever had
01:35:30
in the past I was living there I can tell you that but law enforcement was unmoved and 3 days after Bob DK's body
01:35:39
was found Jane was arrested and charged with first-degree murder I know I didn't
01:35:47
do this I know there's a killer out there but how am I going to clear myself well she's back baffled cuz I don't
01:35:54
think she knows what happened released on bail Jane started preparing her defense hiring Attorney K stiger Walt
01:36:02
she knows that she's placed as the Killer and she's not the Killer and at trial Jane's attorney would present a
01:36:10
surprised suspect who he felt was responsible for Bob DK's murder [Music] come on I know that I'm innocent but I don't
01:36:33
have any more faith in the legal system I believe I could be convicted for something that I didn't do and that's
01:36:40
very scary while Jane worried about her outcome at trial Claire dork was much more confident about her mother's
01:36:50
chances my mom could not have done this crime she didn't have the motive and she
01:36:55
didn't have the opportunity but when the case went to trial in 2001 a year after the murder
01:37:02
prosecutor Bonnie Howard rean described the doric's marriage as seriously troubled and told jurors that Jane
01:37:09
didn't want to pay Bob alimony in a divorce Bob dork never went jogging and he never left that residence
01:37:19
alive according to the state Bob had actually been killed s Saturday night nearly a day before Jane reported him
01:37:27
missing the autopsy performed by Dr Christopher swell showed undigested food consistent with what Jane said they had
01:37:36
for dinner that night are you able to give us an estimate of how long after Mr dork ate how long after that he he was
01:37:46
killed yes it was very shortly after he ate I would say it probably within a couple of
01:37:53
hours and he wasn't killed on the side of the road the prosecutor said there wasn't enough blood there instead she
01:38:02
said Bob's blood was all over the bedroom lead detective Rick empson testified he had asked Jane to explain
01:38:11
that she had indicated initially that she had a dog that um had been bleeding and then indicated that approximately a
01:38:19
week prior Bob had a bloody nose over in the corner by the stove and that Bob had cleaned it up there was
01:38:26
evidence someone cleaned the bedroom the carpet next to the pop belly stove and tile floor was wet and had blood stains
01:38:35
underneath did any of the blood from his nose bleed go on the carpet mhm do you know where mhm right next to
01:38:44
the tile cuz I'm the one that helped him clean it authorities dismissed Jane's explanations their theory was that Jane
01:38:52
hit bob in the head head in their bedroom with an object while he was lying in bed although they never
01:38:59
identified or found any weapon Charles Merritt a criminalist and bloodstain pattern analyst for the San
01:39:07
Diego County Sheriff's crime lab recounted 20 locations where he saw blood stains on one of the pillows on a
01:39:16
lamp this particular nightstand on the pot belly stove was on the ceiling itself been on the underside of the
01:39:25
mattress the jury was also shown this evidence of tire tracks found near Bob's body the states expert Anthony Di Maria
01:39:35
said he matched the three different types of tires Ono deex truck are you saying the measurements taken at the
01:39:42
scene were equal to the measurements taken off the actual vehicle yes the most telling evidence connecting Jane to
01:39:51
the murder according to the prosec computer was that syringe found in the bathroom it had traces of a horse
01:39:59
tranquilizer inside and even though there was no evidence that Bob had been injected with anything it had Bob's
01:40:07
blood and a bloody fingerprint on it the evidence will show that the fingerprint
01:40:12
on this syringe was Jane dtic can you explain that I can't really explain it other
01:40:19
than um I know that I helped Bob clean up a nose bleed and if that's the same time when I took the syringes and threw
01:40:26
them in the trash and there was some blood on my hand that could have made that happen but perhaps the most
01:40:34
powerful Witnesses were the doric's two sons Nick and Alex they both testified against their
01:40:43
mother did you say anything specifically about the syringe well I asked her um how it got
01:40:49
there and what it was doing there and what was your mother's response she said that uh her biggest fear in all of this
01:40:55
was that the that us family members would start questioning her your mother always settled things logically tried to
01:41:04
no you wouldn't agree with that statement nope it would be my mom basically saying this is what you have
01:41:09
to accept and then my dad would either accept it or there would be threats of divorce or
01:41:17
something that's what I remember from growing up Jane's attorneys carries Zer Walt and
01:41:24
Cole casy admitted it was a big blow would you say that's been the most damaging testimony yeah it's not what
01:41:33
they said it's the fact that they were there testifying for the prosecution when it came time for the defense to
01:41:39
present its case stiger Wald actually agreed with the prosecution on a major point that the murder took place in the
01:41:47
bedroom but he had a jawdropping alternative suspect Flair d itic ladies and gentlemen CLA hated her
01:41:57
father he claimed Claire an avid horsewoman hated her father because he threatened to sell the animals she loved
01:42:06
and suggested that she was capable of murder that's what Claire is a hot-tempered
01:42:14
explosive individual it was a risky strategy that Jane reluctantly agreed to all I can do
01:42:23
is trust what Carrie says is the best way to go are you at all concerned that the jury will wonder about a woman who
01:42:31
would allow herself to be defended by pointing the finger at her daughter could that work against the two of you
01:42:38
it may I don't know I think it is the most viable defense and I think it's supported by the best evidence stiger
01:42:46
wal insisted Jame wasn't physically able to commit the murder but Claire was she
01:42:53
runs marathons and she's a personal trainer she is as fit a woman as you will see at the age of
01:43:03
24 but remember Claire and her aunt said they were together 2 hours away they call the ant that's the extent of the
01:43:12
investigation on The Alibi of clar Dork did Miss clar dork please step forward that alibi is nonsense uh you are going
01:43:21
to assert your freck moment right the jurors never heard from Claire or Jane who chose not to
01:43:28
testify but they did hear from a woman who said she thought she saw Bob the day he disappeared sitting between two men
01:43:37
in a black pickup truck not far from where his body was found who killed Robert dork was it Claire
01:43:46
dork or ladies and gentlemen was it someone else in his closing argument stiger wal accused investigators of
01:43:55
dismissing Witnesses like that woman and focusing only on Jane the prosecution had focused on one person and that's not
01:44:03
the way to conduct an investigation it's not the way to run a case Jane dork and
01:44:07
Bob dork were the only two people in that home that weekend Bonnie Howard Regan says there's no need to
01:44:15
investigate further when you have sufficient evidence they searched that bedroom and they saw all the blood and
01:44:22
they knew that was the crime scene what more investigation do they need to do it
01:44:28
took the jury 4 days to return a verdict we the jury in the above title cause find the defendant Jane Margaret dork
01:44:37
guilty of the crime of Murder in the First Degree in violation of pin code section when did Jane dork get a fair
01:44:45
trial no no because fairness means that you're presenting things accurately and it it appears like it was not done
01:44:56
accurately juror number eight yes juror number n yes jur number 10 yes go behind
01:45:05
the scenes with the 48 Hours postmortem podcast it almost didn't register for a minute it's like no this can't be I was
01:45:25
so certain that I was walking out I thought they would see the truth Jane dork never imagined she'd be found
01:45:35
guilty it's hard to keep going at the time of her conviction for the murder of her husband she was 54 years old and
01:45:44
sentenced to 25 years to life I mean I just I can't see my way clear to a life in prison I just can't see it determined
01:45:55
to prove the jury got it wrong Jane became her own Advocate working on her case for many years we spoke with Jane
01:46:03
again two decades later about her efforts all through the prison my prison journey I continued to write all
01:46:11
innocence projects I could think of asking for help at the same time realized that I had to fight for myself
01:46:18
Jane filed motions from prison citing such issues as in insufficient evidence an ineffective assistance of counsel I
01:46:28
would describe my defense as limited and inadequate in her filings Jane indicated
01:46:34
that she wanted to testify at her trial but had left that decision up to her attorney and that had she testified she
01:46:43
could have explained Bob's stomach contents stating that he sometimes ate leftovers from the previous night she
01:46:50
also described her attorney's alter its suspect Theory pointing to her daughter Claire as the killer as
01:46:59
absurd do you believe that your daughter Claire had anything to do with the death
01:47:04
of her absolutely unequivocally not and my defense attorney everybody knew she was away for that
01:47:12
weekend okay in regard to that defense strategy Claire later wrote in a book how could I be angry at my mother when
01:47:20
all I did was worry about her Jane's lawyer whom we interviewed at the time of her trial did not speak with us
01:47:28
again that was the worst strategy of my life ever I said to my attorney if anything happens to Claire I'm going to
01:47:38
stand up and say I did it in her filings Jane also questioned why her defense attorney accepted the bad forensics
01:47:46
pointing to the bedroom as the murder scene rather than presenting other scenarios as to where and how Bob dork
01:47:55
could have been murdered did the defense too easily accept the bedroom as a crime scene that
01:48:03
is a very legitimate argument CBS News consultant Matthew tryano a former prosecutor and
01:48:11
current defense attorney was not involved in the DOR case but he reviewed some of the court documents at our
01:48:18
request the defense made a strategic decision are we going to dispute that a crime happened in this location or are
01:48:27
we essentially going to concede that it happened there and then come up with a different Narrative of how it happened
01:48:33
there and they chose the latter and that decision trano says likely led the defense to point the finger at Claire
01:48:41
for the murder they had to blame somebody else for something that happened in a specific location and they at least as
01:48:50
it relates to the daughter you know went back to her having some disagreement with her father about something and it
01:48:58
was it was a risk have you ever seen that kind of Defense you you don't you don't see it I mean you could happen
01:49:03
when there are clear facts and evidence to support it but when there are none that's you know that's a
01:49:12
showstopper and in fact Claire was never charged with any wrongdoing in connection to her father's murder the
01:49:19
defense accepting the bedroom as the murder scene scene is especially puzzling to troyano as there were
01:49:27
reports from several eyewitnesses who said they saw a man jogging that day accounts consistent with Jane's
01:49:35
depiction of events not the prosecutions that's critical critical evidence and all of that was really not
01:49:43
pursued and I didn't know of all of the witnesses had there been a thorough investigation initially all of that
01:49:51
would have come out Through The Years in filings Jane raised problems with the entire case against
01:49:59
her arguing that authorities focused on her from the very beginning of the investigation and failed to follow other
01:50:07
investigative leads but motion after motion was denied and regarding Jane's ineffective Council Claims the judge
01:50:17
rejected them all ruling that her attorney's performance was not deficient and that his actions had not affected
01:50:25
the outcome of the case there were many moments where I doubted when is this ever going to turn
01:50:33
around many many moments still jane didn't give up she continued looking for new evidence to clear her especially as
01:50:42
DNA testing became more advanced in 2012 she filed a petition for DNA testing of
01:50:49
that rope found around Bob's neck and other items like Bob's fingernail clippings which had been saved but never
01:50:58
tested and in 2015 the motion was granted is that unusual that she finally even got testing based on her filing
01:51:10
motions on her own yes it's it's very atypical it was at this time that Jane finally got the attention of a wrongful
01:51:19
conviction group lyola law school's project for the innocent I get this wonderful letter from Lola saying you've
01:51:27
contacted us and we're interested in your case and after that lyola took over got the testing done and what that
01:51:35
testing revealed as well as a fresh examination of other evidence would change the course of the case that's
01:51:43
really what flips the script to say that there's more here this is more than just
01:51:48
an inadequate investigation there is a different narrative that's running through these
01:51:55
test results there is physical evidence that another person could be [Music] involved when you talk about the
01:52:13
evidence in this case the subsequent testing reveals that you might have a different explanation for things that
01:52:20
really shed light on what may have happened here Jane dork spent years behind bars asking
01:52:26
for a new examination of the evidence used to convict her of her husband Bob's murder now working with a team from
01:52:34
lyola project for the innocent the court allowed them to have new DNA testing on
01:52:40
items such as the Rope found around Bob DK's neck his fingernails and clothing appeal filing state that foreign male
01:52:50
DNA was found on several items the results of that none of my DNA anywhere there is physical evidence from
01:53:00
fingernail clippings from a rope from his clothing that is foreign to Jane the team from lyola project for the
01:53:10
innocent declined to be interviewed we asked Nathan lent a professor of biology and forensic science at John J College
01:53:18
of Criminal Justice who was not involved in the case to review court documents about new evidence such as the DNA on
01:53:26
the Rope while they didn't get a profile that would be good enough to search a database or even match to a suspect they
01:53:33
did get enough DNA uh that is not attributable to Bob or to Jane but while Jane and her team believed the results
01:53:42
pointed to her innocence the state came to a different conclusion stating in filings the DNA obtained was too low
01:53:51
level to make any reliable interpretation lent agrees the DNA levels were low but he believes it was
01:54:00
enough to exclude Jane and that the absence of Jane's DNA on the Rope as well as under Bob's fingernails or on
01:54:08
his clothing is significant with the theory of crime that they presented you would expect a
01:54:14
lot of Jane's DNA on Bob and if if she had moved his body you know there's a lot of DNA transfer that might have
01:54:20
taken place there that wasn't found the appell team also reviewed the bedroom blood evidence the prosecutor told the
01:54:28
jury was fully tested and was Bob's now the evidence will show that all this blood has been described to you the
01:54:37
observations made in this bedroom that it was all sent out for DNA analysis and it all came back to Bob doric's
01:54:44
blood but according to the appeal not every single spot in the bedroom believed to be blood was tested instead
01:54:53
representative samples were tested there were cases where just simply one swab with a control was taken
01:55:01
and it was representative of a variety of spots that's not good practice it just invites
01:55:08
misinterpretations when you're talking about blood spatter and you're trying to analyze how it got there you need to do
01:55:14
a fairly comprehensive test to be able to draw the conclusion that you're drawing but I think the prosecution
01:55:21
could AR you can't afford to test can you every single drop that looks like blood right but when you say we did
01:55:29
everything and that's not accurate that's where the problem lies in fact the appell team says that
01:55:38
several blood-like stains on items including a pillow sham the nightstand a lampshade turned out not to be blood and
01:55:48
there were those stains on the bed spread which criminalist Charles Merit pointed to a trial and described as
01:55:55
Bob's blood two of the actual stains circled by little red dots Jane's lawyers learned those particular spots
01:56:06
were never tested at all and due to improper storage the beds spread could not be tested again so we don't know
01:56:15
that it was blood at all the handling of the evidence over the course of the entire investigation was also raised on
01:56:22
appeal this one is hard to even look at um you have an investigator who definitely should know better um you
01:56:29
know handling murder evidence with his bare hands in addition to obviously depositing his own DNA all around this
01:56:35
crime scene he's also risking transferring evidence from among the various spots that he's collecting and
01:56:41
there's that syringe with Bob's blood and Jane's fingerprint found in the bathroom garbage something the appell
01:56:48
team and lent thought could be explained and if you throw that syringe in the garbage can Bob throws a bloody Kleenex
01:56:56
in that garbage can they could transfer transfer of DNA from one object to another in a trash can is not unexpected
01:57:03
lent feels the fact that the syringe was even found in the garbage points fingers
01:57:09
away from Jane if you're cleaning up after a murder you won't leave the bloody syringe in the waist backet
01:57:16
basket but the state stood by its original investigation Main maining the bedroom was the murder scene stating
01:57:25
that the evidence still points to Jane dork as the Killer and that the defense arguments are largely derived from
01:57:33
speculation and misstatements of fact Jane's Appel team though maintains the bedroom did not even look like a crime
01:57:42
scene something lent also believes there is not a consistent pattern to the evidence that indicates a violent
01:57:51
bludgeoning that took place in that bedroom if Bob were alive today and investigators had walked in his room no
01:57:58
one would say oh this looks like someone was murdered here if you just look at all of the pieces of evidence that lyola
01:58:06
was able to absolutely take apart and yet we know what was told to the jury in the original conviction so um how can
01:58:16
that happen as her attorneys reviewed evidence Jane dork in 2020 was temporarily and conditionally let out of
01:58:26
prison due to covid health concerns the question now became was the New Evidence
01:58:32
her lawyers were finding enough to make her release permanent what do you think about the
01:58:41
new DNA test results chat now with Erin morti on x [Music] in the summer of 2020 Jane dork and her
01:58:56
team hoped a court would overturn the jury's verdict turning her temporary release from prison into lasting
01:59:05
Freedom what were their major points the testing that was done initially was insufficient the way that that testing
01:59:14
was presented to the jury was inaccurate there were a number of different arguments that they made a hearing was
01:59:22
scheduled but then suddenly the state requested an unplanned virtual hearing the people are willing to concede
01:59:30
petitioners new evidence claim the prosecution admitted what Jane's lawyers had argued all along the DNA evidence as
01:59:38
it exists now in 2020 is much different in quality and quantity than presented at trial
01:59:46
in1 that the new DNA test results as well as issues with how the sheriff's crime lab handled evidence cast doubt on
01:59:55
the verdict but what came next was even more unexpected the state requested that
02:00:01
Jane's murder conviction be overturned and the judge agreed I'm going to Grant the motion for the rent
02:00:11
thank your honor I always believ that at some point the truth would come out but
02:00:17
Jane's ordeal wasn't over 3 months later in another shocking move the DA's office
02:00:25
decided to retry her I don't think any of us thought that San Diego County would attempt to retry me but they did
02:00:34
the state believes that she did this and they want to pursue it but in order to retry the prosecution first had to
02:00:43
demonstrate to the judge that there was still enough evidence to prove Jane killed Bob despite the new DNA results
02:00:51
and the question about the initial testing we are back on the record all party then you have this battle in court
02:00:59
if you're conceding that there were problems how are you going to do it again essentially with the same evidence
02:01:05
it was astounding to sit in that courtroom and see what they try and put forward as actual evidence and then also
02:01:14
thrilling to see my team take it apart the youth only state that the Jane's attorneys question The credibility of
02:01:22
several of the state's experts including Charles Merritt of the sheriff's crime lab the judge ultimately ruled that the
02:01:30
new trial could go ahead but that some key evidence presented in her original trial would not be admissible including
02:01:40
those tire tracks near where Bob's body was found that were linked to Jane's truck you have a number of different
02:01:48
trucks that could be consistent with those fire tracks it's in essence kind of junk sciency in May 2022 just as jury
02:01:58
selection was about to begin the prosecution surprise everyone yet again remain seated and come to order this
02:02:06
courtroom is now in session we go into court as the jury is assembled and ready to come into the courtroom Monday
02:02:13
morning and Everything's changed we no longer feel that the evidence is sufficient to show proof
02:02:20
Beyond A Reasonable Doubt in convinced 12 members of the jury so we are requesting the court dismiss the charges
02:02:25
at this time thank you Store check you are free to go and good luck to you is overwhelming to realize that now
02:02:39
I can determine my own future it's something I've prayed for and hoped for after the hearing Jane's attorney spoke
02:02:47
about her decades long fight Jane's dignity and standing in up and stoically fighting for her innocence against every
02:02:56
risk and every threat that's why this case got dismissed today and as far as we're concerned we're moving on the
02:03:04
District Attorney's office and Sheriff's Department declined to speak with 48 Hours the case against Jane dork was
02:03:12
dismissed without prejudice which means if new evidence surfaces charges could be brought again someday but then
02:03:22
doesn't that leave still a shadow over Jane dork oh sure it does I mean there's no question about it from a practical
02:03:31
perspective do I think it's over yeah I think it's over but from a legal perspective
02:03:36
no Jane dork is working to rebuild her life after spending nearly two decades in prison my entire family has been
02:03:47
blown apart by this hurricane of events it's been hard breaking on so many levels Claire dork did not respond to
02:03:56
our request for comment but Jane says they are still close her son Nick died in 2023 Alex dork did not provide a comment
02:04:07
to 48 hours but according to filings by the state he remains convinced his mother killed his father do you have
02:04:16
hope that your family will come together at some point of course I do of course I
02:04:23
have hope Jane also has hope that she could make a difference in other people's lives as she works with advocacy groups
02:04:32
that help incarcerated women to me it's not just about my story and yes we can all sit here and say this is so
02:04:41
horrendous and how did this happen to this woman but unless we look systemically how many others are we
02:04:47
going to find and to me that's critically important having a good old here many unanswered
02:04:56
questions about this case remain including perhaps the most important one what happened here we don't know
02:05:07
what happened to Bob dorek where's Justice for Bob where's Justice for Robert dorek
02:05:22
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