00:00:10
It's so [music] powerful to see how my mom handled this situation. >> She's amazing, you know, and she's
00:00:18
really, really strong. >> How often do residential kidnappings happen here? >> Very rare.
00:00:26
>> Yeah, not very often at all. Shauna Hanley is at her home with her daughter [music] Isabella.
00:00:34
Her friend came over just to come and visit with her. >> We talked for about 5 or 10 minutes and
00:00:40
the doorbell rang and so I went to the door and it's [music] these two men. >> These two individuals essentially
00:00:47
present themselves to be delivery men of some sort. Shauna sees them, says, "Look, I have a friend over. Now is not
00:00:53
a good time." She goes to close the door on them. They force themselves in with guns.
00:00:59
They started to scream to get the F on the floor and don't move. They handcuffed me in front like this.
00:01:07
>> I was just stunned. I saw that my mom and her friend were handcuffed. >> I said, "I have valuables. I have
00:01:14
jewelry. I have cash. I have precious metals. I can [music] get you money." Didn't interest them at all.
00:01:22
>> I said, "Come with me." And she went and then they came back and asked me and I
00:01:26
said, "No." and they just accepted [music] that and left. >> They put her in the van.
00:01:35
>> I'm hooded. [music] They hooded me as soon as I went into the van. It was a van that didn't have the windows in the
00:01:40
back and it was just a rubber mat without seats back there and [music] laid me on the floor.
00:01:47
>> And then they leave. These guys are heading out of town with Sean Hanley in the back of that van.
00:01:56
One of the guys sat on top of me, you know, so he stayed screaming at me. He had the gun to my head. I was trying to
00:02:03
pay attention to where we were. I could feel when we picked up speed that we had
00:02:07
made a turn. I was like, "Oh no." My heart sunk. I was like, "We're on an interstate or something." And the guy
00:02:16
stripped me. They threatened to assault me sexually. He put a pill in my mouth and he gave me another.
00:02:25
I said, "What are you giving me?" And he said, "Don't worry about that." And so I
00:02:31
guess I started to maybe drift a little and I started praying. >> So this particular day I got out of
00:02:40
work. As I was traveling, there was a wreck on the interstate. I got stopped behind a white van. I could kind of see
00:02:46
the the driver of the van was starting to get nervous in the mirror. He was looking at me. He decided to get into
00:02:51
the shoulder and speed off, but it didn't sit right with me. So, I got in behind him. I put my emergency lights,
00:02:57
sirens on. Then I hear sirens, and I was like, "Yeah, yeah, okay. Thank you, God."
00:03:12
This is where the vehicle exited. It's a dead end onto a dirt road, which had been mud cuz it just rained. Their van
00:03:19
got stuck. That's when they exited the vehicle and kept running. >> The siren stopped and it just sunk
00:03:29
again. And I was like, "What happened? [music] Did I imagine the sirens? What's going on?" And I'm full of anxiety.
00:03:40
>> When you approached the van, you've got your gun drawn. >> Yes, sir. I opened the rear door of the
00:03:44
van and in the van, what I thought was a mannequin moved. Scared me. Startled me.
00:03:48
So I jump back and I shut the door. Said, "Oh my god, things aren't always what they seem.
00:04:10
[music] >> [music] [music] >> I didn't know what was going on with my [music] mom. There was no one really
00:04:49
telling me what was happening. >> Police say the woman was forcefully removed from her home in Lafayette.
00:04:56
[music] >> With her childhood home now a crime scene and her mother, Shondaanda Hanley,
00:05:01
just abducted by armed intruders. [music] Isabella Cumberland found herself confused amidst a crowd of investigators
00:05:08
and forensic analysts. They wanted to go over the fingerprints on the doors upstairs, my phone, and it just kind of
00:05:15
felt like I was another piece of evidence. >> Isabella, then just 14 years old, was
00:05:21
trying to process the sight of the violent kidnapping [music] she had just witnessed at her family's home in
00:05:26
Lafayette, Louisiana on August 6th, 2017. >> As they're driving away with her, [music] did you think that was the last
00:05:34
time you'd ever see her? >> I thought there was a chance. Lafayette investigators and Isabella had
00:05:41
no idea that about an hour after the kidnapping, just across the state near Baton Rouge, Chad Martin, an Iberville
00:05:48
Paris sheriff's deputy, had just pulled over a suspicious white van after a brief pursuit. There were two men
00:05:54
inside. When they pulled into this parking spot, they got stuck in the mud. So, the men
00:06:01
jump out and they take off running. And right behind us is the inter coastal waterway. They jump in and disappear.
00:06:11
And when Martin went to clear that vehicle, he discovered Sha Handley handcuffed and naked in the back.
00:06:19
>> She looked at me and I'll never forget this. She said, "Are you the real police
00:06:22
or are you the one that's going to kill me?" >> And he was like, "You're safe. You're
00:06:27
safe." Just minutes before, Martin was rushing home for Sunday dinner in his squad car after clocking out, unaware of
00:06:35
Shondaanda's kidnapping nearly 60 m away. His biggest worry at that time was his wife's wrath.
00:06:42
>> I heard you were habitually late for dinners. >> I had a tendency >> Uhhuh. >> to be late for everything.
00:06:49
>> Now he had unwittingly made the rescue of a lifetime. >> What's going through your head? I mean,
00:06:56
you were just trying to pull over a couple of guys who looked a little suspicious.
00:07:00
>> I can't really tell you what was going through my head. Almost like I went into
00:07:03
like robot mode and I was just trying to get this woman help. >> Shondaanda told him a harrowing story
00:07:09
that the kidnappers had drugged her and threatened to rape her and kill her >> if not for Chad Martin.
00:07:18
>> Oh, I would be dead. I can't even imagine. But I know it wasn't [music] going to be quick and swift.
00:07:25
>> Martin relayed the news of Shondaanda's rescue to dispatch and it soon reached
00:07:29
Isabella. >> Whenever they told me that she was safe, I felt this relief. >> Law enforcement began to ask questions.
00:07:38
Who were Shonda's kidnappers? And why did they abduct her? But for Shondaanda, there was no mystery who was
00:07:45
behind it. She had said that she believed that her husband is the one that had paid them to
00:07:51
kill her. >> Her estranged husband, Michael Hanley. Shondaanda says that before the
00:07:59
difficult months leading up to the kidnapping, Michael would have been the last person she could have imagined
00:08:04
would harm her. They had met in 2005 through friends in Lafayette at a time when both [music] were single parents
00:08:11
and emerging from failed marriages. He was really catering and just sweet and compassionate.
00:08:20
>> Another thing they had in common, both were in recovery [music] for addiction.
00:08:24
At that time, I had been sober for about 18 years. >> Oh, wow. >> Michael was newly clean and sober. He
00:08:35
had about a year. >> The new couple hit it off and a year later, they were married in Hawaii.
00:08:42
Isabella took an immediate liking to Michael. >> He well was my dad from when I was 2
00:08:51
years old. And so that's how I saw him was really as my dad. [music] >> In 2007, Michael and Shondaanda found
00:08:57
success, channeling their experience in recovery [music] into a new business. >> We're going to provide care and we're
00:09:04
going to meet you where you are. >> Partnering with a doctor to start a chain of addiction treatment [music]
00:09:08
centers. So we wound up opening at one point I think there were 14 centers throughout the south.
00:09:15
>> Eight years later they made a decision. >> We sold the company. >> How much did y'all make on the sale?
00:09:21
>> The two of them, Michael and his partner, we sold the company for $21.5 million.
00:09:29
>> Wow. >> Yeah. >> But their life as happy millionaires didn't last long. Say prosecutors Donald
00:09:37
Ket and Kenny Abear. You know, money and free time with someone with an addictive
00:09:41
personality isn't a great combination. >> Shondaanda was seeing that firsthand with Michael in 2017, less than 2 years
00:09:48
after the sale of their company, when she found a bottle of Adderall with Michael Hanley's name on it.
00:09:54
>> So, what we believed at our treatment center was that use of something like that amphetamine
00:10:03
could open the doors to a world of trouble. So when I found the bottle, it terrified me. And I can remember telling
00:10:11
him, "This could lead to death. [music] This could lead to something devastating."
00:10:17
>> And soon things got even worse when Shondaanda discovered that Michael was seeing another woman.
00:10:23
>> He was having an affair. And all I could think was like, I don't even know who
00:10:28
this man is. >> Shondaa issued an ultimatum. Michael had to go into treatment. But when he
00:10:35
refused to get help, she made a difficult decision. >> I changed the locks and Michael was
00:10:42
locked out of the house and he started to lose his mind at that point. And so after a couple of weeks, he said,
00:10:51
"You're going to regret this." And then that turned into, "I'm telling you, it's going to get
00:10:58
bad." >> The Hanley's life together was falling apart fast. Michael accused Shondaanda
00:11:04
of assaulting him. She was charged but later acquitted by a judge. All while Shonda was begging the authorities to
00:11:11
see that she was the one in danger. >> If Michael wasn't apprehended, he was going to kill me.
00:11:35
As Shondaanda Hanley was recovering in the hospital, investigators were learning the details of her tumultuous
00:11:40
[music] past with Michael Hanley. They knew they had to find him and the kidnappers fast. They started scouring
00:11:48
the last place her abductors had been seen, this canal. There's a fisherman and he reported these two individuals
00:11:57
waiting by him in the water and one of them pointed a gun at him and said, "Be cool."
00:12:04
>> But as the kidnappers had been swimming towards freedom, the canal's unforgiving
00:12:09
current had other plans. >> Behind me at the Inter Coastal Canal is where two bodies were found yesterday.
00:12:15
>> They found them floating in the inter coastal canal drowned. Dead. Dead. They
00:12:20
were later identified as Sylvester Bracie and Arcenio Haynes. >> What did you think when you found out
00:12:26
they were dead? I >> thought I'm not going to have to worry about them hurting me. As sad as that
00:12:32
is. >> While investigators suspected Michael Hanley was responsible for the abduction, proving it might have been
00:12:40
difficult with their main witnesses, the kidnappers, dead. But Handley, it seemed, had made it kind of easy for
00:12:47
them. detectives are running the VIN number on the white van. That VIN number leads them to an Enterprise dealership
00:12:54
in Baton Rouge. Said, well, a few days ago, an individual named Lawrence Michael Hanley came in and rented the
00:13:00
van. And then a couple days before that, he went to Barney's Police Depot, which
00:13:06
is a store that carries specifically police issue merchandise. Handley was seen on store surveillance
00:13:13
cameras as he pulls up and purchases handcuffs. Finding evidence allegedly connecting
00:13:19
Hanley to the kidnapping wasn't difficult, but finding him turned out to be the challenge.
00:13:26
>> I'm asking if Michael's been apprehended and they said no. And so they said we
00:13:32
need to like lay low for a little while. With a fortune at his fingertips, investigators feared he could be
00:13:39
anywhere and a danger to Shondaa once she was released from the hospital. So they came up with a plan of action.
00:13:46
>> We decided on a safe house outside of Lafayette. >> Sid Abear, a former Louisiana sheriff,
00:13:53
was part of the security detail watching Sha 247. >> We had a Lafayette sheriff's deputy in a
00:14:00
marked unit on premises. No visitors, no package deliveries, nothing until further notice.
00:14:08
>> Even in hiding, Shondaanda was feeling relief that Michael was finally being recognized as a threat after living in
00:14:17
constant fear prior to the kidnapping. >> The terror that I was in for those 3 months, the kidnapping was nothing
00:14:26
in comparison. The kidnapping was a blessing. >> What? The kidnapping is what allowed me
00:14:35
to get to a place where people were willing to support me. >> In the beginning, how many people
00:14:41
believed Shondaanda? >> Not many. >> But Shondaanda had found [music] a fierce ally in Christine Mir, her
00:14:50
divorce attorney. Christine knew all too well what Shondaanda had experienced. >> The most dangerous case I have ever
00:14:59
heard about, [music] let alone been a part of. What made it so dangerous? >> Michael Hanley.
00:15:04
He was constantly stalking her, telling her that he knew where she was, [music] threatening her, threatening her
00:15:13
daughter with harm. >> Shondaa called the police several times, but felt she wasn't taken seriously.
00:15:20
Christine helped Shonda secure a restraining order, but says Michael found creative ways to make it
00:15:25
effectively worthless. >> He disguised his voice. He also used an app that picked up dummy numbers that he
00:15:33
used to contact her. So there was no proof that it was him that was actually violating the protective order.
00:15:40
>> And he seemed to be tracking Shondaanda's every move. >> He was able to spy on her through her
00:15:46
own laptop computers, her alarm [music] system. He compromised all of that. Nothing was out of balance.
00:15:53
>> Michael's behavior was growing increasingly erratic. Even though he was the one to initially file for divorce in
00:16:00
the spring of 2017, he soon changed his mind. And Shondaanda says now he was demanding they reconcile or she'd pay a
00:16:09
humiliating price. >> He says some of our private videos are going to go out to people in the community.
00:16:19
>> Intimate videos. >> Intimate videos. Shondaanda struggled over this but knew she couldn't take him back.
00:16:28
>> So videos went out to hundreds of people in the community, my cousins, uncles,
00:16:34
administration at the school, political friends, neighbors. I sat and cried and was sick to my
00:16:44
stomach. I almost didn't stand up. Just when Shondaanda thought she couldn't take anymore, on June 8th, 2017, almost
00:16:53
2 months to the day before the kidnapping, Michael Hanley slipped into her house through the garage.
00:17:00
He was enraged. He rigged of alcohol. He was he was furious. And he had me pinned up against the wall
00:17:10
and [music] I screamed, "Isabella." Well, he put his hand over my mouth and he pulled out a gun. A 9mm.
00:17:19
>> A gun. >> He pulls out a handgun and he said, "If you scream or anybody comes to
00:17:27
interfere, I will shoot you both. I will kill you both. Do you understand me?" >> Shondaanda says that after hours saying
00:17:35
anything she could think of to calm him down, she finally convinced Michael to leave. As soon as he walked out of that
00:17:43
gate, I ran in the house, bolted the [music] door, and I started screaming and crying. When Michael left that day
00:17:51
after he had attacked me, I was 100% positive he was going to kill me. >> Police were called once again, but they
00:18:00
didn't arrest Michael Hanley. >> I can see in your eyes that you're getting emotional. Oh, I felt as though
00:18:08
I was being told that that I was lying and that I was making it up. >> This is why women don't report abuse
00:18:17
because they fear they [music] will not be believed. >> How many times had Shondaanda filed a
00:18:23
report against Michael? >> I believe that the actual reports filed were a couple dozen, if not more.
00:18:32
As far as how many times was there an arrest made, there wasn't. >> Why? A lot of times he was out of state,
00:18:38
sometimes the investigators felt like they didn't have enough evidence to actually go forward and get a warrant
00:18:43
for the arrest. >> After the kidnapping, investigators were confident that this time they had more
00:18:50
than enough evidence to make an arrest. But could they find him in time? >> So somehow Michael is able to track Sha
00:18:58
down to the place that she's seeking refuge. Does Michael Hanley know that the cops
00:19:23
are on to him? Yes, because at some point he tried to charter a private plane and so the pilot essentially said,
00:19:30
"I am not going to be taking you anywhere u because you're a wanted man." >> The pilot reported it to police, [music]
00:19:36
but Michael was long gone. And as he continued to evade authorities, Shondaanda got a text message from a
00:19:44
strange number claiming that Michael had also been kidnapped, saying in part, "Pay the ransom for your husband and pay
00:19:52
us 500 large or we will send him home in pieces." A day later, friends received a shocking
00:19:59
photo of Michael. He was nude, handcuffed, [music] and seemingly injured. >> And he's got blood on it, right? It
00:20:07
appeared to be from Shauna's kidnappers, but investigators knew that couldn't be
00:20:12
true. >> We know that obviously wasn't from them because they're dead at this point.
00:20:16
>> So, Michael is behind these messages. >> On August 11th, 2017, after a 4-day manhunt, detectives finally cornered the
00:20:26
multi-millionaire. Once accustomed to private jets in five-star hotels, he was in this
00:20:31
off-ramp motel in Slidell, Louisiana. We begin with new information on the arrest
00:20:36
of a Lafayette kidnapping suspect. As they took an oddly smiling Michael Hanley into custody, investigators began
00:20:46
sifting through the nearly $10,000 in cash, pizza boxes, and illicit drugs, finding this to-do list. [music] On it
00:20:54
were things like burner phone, hair dye, cash. But its final task was even more ominous, says prosecutor Kenny Abear.
00:21:02
said Shondaanda's safe house was just 35 miles away. >> But on the bottom of that list were the
00:21:09
words, "Finish the job." >> And finish the job would mean, >> in our opinion, he was going to kill
00:21:15
her. >> With Michael Hanley now in jail, Shondaanda and her security team decided
00:21:21
it was finally safe for her to come out of hiding. >> It was time to go home, and that's what
00:21:26
she said. I just want to go home and rebuild my life. But with his track record of evading justice, Isabella was
00:21:34
skeptical that the worst was behind them. >> I remember thinking that it was almost
00:21:40
pointless that he was being arrested. It felt like he had all the power and he was going to keep all the power.
00:21:46
>> Michael Hanley pleaded not guilty to a litany of charges, including conspiracy
00:21:52
to commit seconddegree murder, and prosecutors got to work building their case against him. Anytime you're on our
00:21:59
side of the table, you start thinking what's the defense going to be. We could not figure out what his defense
00:22:05
was going to be. >> There was no question that she was a victim of a kidnapping.
00:22:09
>> But says Kevin Stockstill, the man who Michael Hanley hired to defend him. The
00:22:14
physical evidence doesn't prove his client played a part in any of it. >> Were the van and the handcuffs enough to
00:22:22
convict him? >> I don't think so. That is because Stock Still says there is an explanation for everything. It
00:22:30
started when Michael hired Sylvester [music] Bracie, not to kidnap his wife, but instead, he claims, to move some
00:22:37
furniture. That was the reason Michael rented the van, he says, and made no effort to hide it.
00:22:44
>> Mr. Hanley, you know, goes into the Enterprise uh rental car location with his credit card in one hand and driver's
00:22:52
license in the other. So, you thought you could explain to the jury, "Hey, listen. Nobody who's actually going to
00:22:56
commit this crime is going to go in with their license and ID and buy it themselves."
00:23:00
>> Correct. >> It was all innocent enough, Stock Still [music] says. Until the wouldbe mover
00:23:06
went rogue. Stock Still theorizes Sylvester Bracie saw Michael's desperation to [music] get his wife back
00:23:13
and decided to use it to his advantage. That's when he enlisted Arenio Haynes to
00:23:18
help him kidnap Shonda and hold her for ransom. So, you're thinking the kidnappers
00:23:25
could have wanted to extort Michael to get money from him so they would have kidnapped his wife
00:23:30
>> potentially. >> And of course, he did buy the handcuffs, but Stockstill says he only used them to
00:23:37
stage that fake kidnapping photo. >> So, as he's bound and gagged, he's bound with handcuffs. It was just the latest
00:23:46
example according to Stockstill. >> Hey Shondaanda >> of photos and videos that Michael had
00:23:51
been sending to Shondaanda for months showing him in emotional distress and in one case apparently beaten up in a
00:24:00
misguided attempt to try and win her back. I love you. I love you. Because Michael had he had a proclivity
00:24:09
to try and stage these things to to get, you [music] know, sympathy from Shondaanda.
00:24:15
But as the defense prepared to argue that the kidnappers [music] acted on their own, Shondaanda Hanley made a
00:24:21
damning discovery while cleaning out a remote Mississippi property they owned. Sha starts getting some of her personal
00:24:28
belongings. Well, one of the things that they found was this camera. >> It was a type of camera called Arlo, and
00:24:36
Michael Hanley used it for security. >> When Arlo detects sound and video, Arlo starts recording.
00:24:42
>> That's right. That's right. >> Well, it turns out [music] he accidentally turned the camera on
00:24:48
himself. >> All put together, what did the camera record? Yeah, >> I mean, hundreds of hours. Hundreds of
00:24:58
hours. >> One of the first videos is from 2 months before the kidnapping. Michael is by
00:25:05
himself in a hotel room and is apparently talking to himself. You see him moving around and at some point he
00:25:12
picks the camera up and he puts it in a bag and you hear him say the words, "I'm
00:25:17
going to kill her. I'm going to kill her. Kill her. Kill her." >> Prosecutors believe the her intended to
00:25:27
kill was Shondaanda and that Michael was even more explicit just days later in a
00:25:33
conversation with a friend in the living room of the Mississippi house. [music] They're having beers and they're
00:25:39
discussing the issues that he's having with >> Shondaanda, right? Yeah. She's not going to and
00:25:49
you're not going to. >> The friend later said he didn't recall hearing what Michael said next.
00:25:55
>> That's why she didn't die. >> Michael says that's why she's going to have to die.
00:26:01
So, matter of fact. In yet another clip from just two weeks before the kidnapping, Michael Hanley is
00:26:08
caught with Sylvester Bracie at that property planning how [music] it was the perfect place, prosecutors say, to bring
00:26:14
Shondaanda to torture her and possibly worse. He specifically says, "It's almost impossible [music] for anyone to
00:26:22
get in here." To which Bracie responds, "And it'll be impossible for her to get out."
00:26:28
>> You can't break it. >> I see you. They can't break it. because I guess it happened.
00:26:37
>> I mean, did you think you had a rockolid case before that? >> Yes. Well, what did you think after it?
00:26:44
>> Uh, I thought I must have done something right in the world. >> Then, in a move no one saw coming,
00:26:51
>> God gave us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Stop God. >> I do.
00:26:54
>> Michael Hanley agreed to tell his side of things. [music] While awaiting trial for the kidnapping
00:27:15
of his aranged wife, Shondaanda, Michael Hanley was held in the Lafayette Parish
00:27:19
Correctional Center. But Shondaanda says even though Michael was behind bars, he
00:27:25
continued to harass her. I've received a lot of mail letters while he's been incarcerated.
00:27:33
Got numerous calls. >> Can't they stop him from calling you? >> I guess not. >> On top of that, Shondaanda lived in fear
00:27:42
that Michael just might get out. That's because at one point the defense argued that Michael was suffering from mental
00:27:49
illness and was not guilty by reason of insanity. When Michael was [music] sober, he was a
00:28:00
fantastic individual, you know, very talented, willing to help people. When he was found at the hotel in Slidell, I
00:28:08
mean, there were drugs there. You know, there's no question that he was using. Again,
00:28:13
I don't know the level of his responsibility, but I think it's a combination of um
00:28:19
substance abuse and some mental illness. For prosecutor Kenny Abear, however, it
00:28:26
was a desperate attempt to get Michael released. >> They did it so that they could get some
00:28:32
psychological professionals on the stand to say he needs to be out of jail and he
00:28:37
needs to go to these mental health facilities. Well, we're talking about mental health
00:28:42
facilities that don't have nearly the security that a jail has. Michael's defense team submitted mental health
00:28:49
records showing that he suffered from bipolar disorder complicated by drug addiction, which they say rendered him
00:28:56
legally insane during the time leading up to the kidnapping. Two courtappointed doctors agreed, but
00:29:03
the judge ruled that Michael was competent to stay in trial and must remain behind bars.
00:29:10
>> Once they initially failed to get him out, they withdrew that plea. >> And what did they change it to? They
00:29:14
just changed it to regular not guilty. >> While Michael Hanley's criminal battle
00:29:19
was heating up, in March 2018, his divorce from Shondaanda became finalized. Shondaa was awarded all of
00:29:27
the assets. There was only one problem. >> There is no money. There's no money. You
00:29:34
know, millions of dollars vanished. >> Michael was a very eccentric person. He was obsessed with the collapse of the
00:29:42
American dollar. So much of their money was in gold bars. >> Shondaanda said she had seen gold before
00:29:49
and knew that there was gold somewhere on that property. I believe people actually went out with metal detectors
00:29:54
to try to figure out if he stashed it somewhere. >> No gold was ever recovered. >> So there's all of this money that's
00:30:01
unaccounted for, but we know it's got to be out there somewhere. On top of being left with nothing,
00:30:08
Shondaanda says she suddenly found herself responsible for repaying her now ex-husband's massive debts. How much of
00:30:15
a hole did he leave you in? >> 750,000. I can't comprehend how I'm now in a position where I owe this sort of money.
00:30:26
>> Shondaa felt like it was a slap in the face after enduring so much. But it wasn't all for not. During the
00:30:34
settlement negotiations, Shondaanda's divorce attorney, Christine Mir, had subpoenaed Michael for a deposition. And
00:30:41
surprisingly, he agreed. >> I mean, that's wild. >> It is. >> I can imagine that someone with the
00:30:48
arrogance that Michael Hanley had insisted that he was going to be testifying. It was going to be fine cuz
00:30:54
he is the smartest person in the room. Shondaanda's divorce attorney and the prosecutors had agreed to cooperate with
00:31:01
each other and everyone was interested in hearing what Michael Hanley had to say.
00:31:08
>> It was a risk >> cuz he might go into that deposition and say stuff that really jeopardizes his
00:31:12
criminal case. >> I've never been more nervous in a deposition than that. >> Sir, please. Do you saw me swear the
00:31:18
testimony about to give us the truth? The whole truth. Dressed in a striped prison uniform, Michael answered
00:31:23
questions for 10 hours over 3 days. >> I was hanging on every question. >> I bet you were.
00:31:29
>> Yeah. >> It was a chaotic and hectic time. I was living out of hotels. I've been moving
00:31:33
from hotel to hotel for several months. >> Michael was asked about his relationship
00:31:38
with Sylvester Bracie and the reason he rented that van. >> I had hired him to move furniture. I
00:31:44
rented the van to make a move to move the furniture. He stuck with his original story.
00:31:52
>> He said that he had hired movers in order to move furniture and they went rogue because they thought he had money.
00:31:59
>> I got a phone call. As soon as I answered the phone, I said, "Hello." They screamed um they screamed, "We've
00:32:07
got your mother wife." And um I just remember cuz it was like I got punched every day. It's like one of those
00:32:15
moments when you go into a It's not real. >> But when pressed about the details of
00:32:24
how he first met Bracie, >> I don't recall. Michael claimed he couldn't remember much about the weeks
00:32:30
leading up to the kidnapping. >> I don't remember. [music] I don't know. I don't recall. That's why I'm
00:32:35
hesitating. I don't remember. I don't recall. I don't recall. I don't recall. There are big gaps in my memory. I don't
00:32:41
know. I don't know. The reason that I don't recall is [music] because I was high. I was living like a rockstar. I
00:32:47
was on and off medications during this period of time and I was under the influence of [music] substances.
00:32:52
>> Mental illness is tough. You know, >> but he insisted despite the gaps in memory, there [music] was one thing he
00:33:00
knew for certain. >> I would not kidnap my wife. >> He would cry and say that he loved her
00:33:07
so much. >> I don't remember. >> That he was so sorry. It was that type of manipulation.
00:33:13
>> I have a tremendous regret. During the deposition, Christine pulled that Arlo camera [music] recording in
00:33:22
which prosecutors believe Bracie and Handley were caught talking about the plot to kidnap Shondaanda. The wife
00:33:29
Hanley [music] claimed he loved so much. >> I queued up where one [music] of the
00:33:34
kidnappers was telling Michael, "And you know, if she gets out of line, I won't hesitate to kill her."
00:33:44
And I said, "What kind of movers tell that to you?" And his fear was palpable. And he said, "Oh, I don't know,
00:33:53
Christine. People tell me all sorts of things." >> Michael Hanley withered under
00:33:58
questioning, poking holes in his own defense with his own words. >> The civil attorneys provided us with
00:34:06
those deposition transcripts shortly after receiving them. And with the trial date fast approaching, Michael's defense
00:34:12
attorney feared the worst. >> We were of the opinion that he ran a significant risk of of a conviction.
00:34:21
>> With the walls closing in and hours before the trial was set to start, Michael Hanley indicated he was open to
00:34:28
a deal. >> He would plead, you know, to seconddegree kidnapping. Um the minimum sentence would be 15 years. The maximum
00:34:36
sentence would be 35 years. Prosecutors Donnie Kette and Kenny Abear say there was a lot to take into
00:34:43
consideration. >> The problem with a jury trial is you you almost never know. But I also knew that
00:34:49
there's Shauna Hanley, there's Isabella, you've got victims that have to relive that moment if you go to trial.
00:34:55
>> Ultimately, the decision to take the deal or go to trial was shas. I was so scared that if we went to trial
00:35:06
that it could work out beautifully for him because Michael always lands on his feet.
00:35:13
Once Michael's out, I'm no longer free. In July 2021, all Sha de Hanley wanted was for her ex-husband, Michael Hanley,
00:35:39
to stay behind bars. So, she agreed to accept his plea of guilty to secondderee kidnapping.
00:35:47
>> I didn't want to take any risks. I would rather the plea deal than to take the
00:35:52
chance and go to trial. Less than a year later, on March 24th, 2022, Shondaanda was in the courtroom to
00:36:00
find out what Michael's sentence would be. Isabella was there, too, as was Michael.
00:36:08
>> What was it like to come face to face with him in court? It was so surreal, you know, and I think honestly for both
00:36:15
of us, it was this really strong, powerful emotion that we both felt, but mine was hatred.
00:36:24
>> Hoping to help convince the judge to give Michael the maximum sentence. Isabella chose to give a victim impact
00:36:31
statement. >> What did you say at the hearing? I really kind of told a story about how
00:36:39
difficult it really made my life and how difficult it still makes my life because
00:36:43
I didn't think he knew that it affected me as well as it affected her. >> Shondaanda also had something she wanted
00:36:50
to say to Michael. >> I told him that he wrecked everything and that he destroyed everything and
00:36:56
that how could you like we had like a really we had a good life. We had a good family and we we adored
00:37:06
each other. He was the person I most admired in this world until then. >> Do you think Michael [music] understands
00:37:16
his actions have had an effect on his former wife and stepchild? >> I think that he does.
00:37:22
>> Do you get to sense the guy's sorry? >> I think so. I think he's capable of remorse. Yet, when it was Michael's turn
00:37:29
to speak, instead of a tearful apology, he gave yet another new story. This time, he admitted he did in fact hire
00:37:38
the two men to kidnap Shonda. But he claimed it was all fake and staged so that he could swoop in, save her, and be
00:37:47
the hero. What he really wanted to do was emerge as the white knight who came in and rescued her. It was a way for him
00:37:55
to try to win her back, but he never really intended to hurt her. It was all a big game.
00:38:02
>> In the end, the judge sided with the prosecution and gave Michael Hanley the maximum penalty.
00:38:09
>> A Lafayette man was sentenced today in the 2017 kidnapping case of his aranged
00:38:15
wife. Lawrence Michael Hanley received 35 years in prison for the crime. 35 years
00:38:23
minus five for time served puts him out when he's 79. >> 79. >> Are you okay with that?
00:38:31
>> I'd rather he never get out. >> Are you still afraid even with him behind bars?
00:38:36
>> Oh, yeah. >> That concern is something Isabella shares. >> Do you fear for your safety from Michael
00:38:45
[music] Hanley? >> Yeah, I do. Nothing could stop him. I just see him as a villain, not a good
00:38:53
person. And I'm not sad about it. In my mind, he's changed to a completely different person. So, it doesn't feel
00:39:01
like I've lost my dad. It feels like I've lost a stranger. >> The now 20-year-old college junior
00:39:08
chooses to focus on the valuable lesson that she learned from her mother. >> It's so
00:39:14
powerful to see how my mom handled this situation. She's shown me how she can overcome something [music]
00:39:23
so horrible and turn it into something great and become an even better person out of it.
00:39:29
>> Welcome. Welcome to our house. I'm glad that um you're here. >> Shondaa has found renewed purpose
00:39:35
working with others like her. >> I know the ladies >> she sold property, took out a loan, and
00:39:39
opened two sober living homes dedicated to helping women get back on their feet.
00:39:44
>> We want you to feel comfortable. I want you to feel like this is a safe place
00:39:49
where you can start a new. >> It's been really, really rewarding. And, you know, from my experiences that I've
00:39:55
had, um, the challenges that I've had, I'm able to show them firsthand that we get up, we keep going, we put one foot
00:40:03
in front of the other, and, uh, we [music] will persevere. An important part of moving forward for
00:40:10
Shondaanda has been recognizing those who stood by her. And while she did speak on [music] the phone with Chad
00:40:18
Martin, that officer who saved her, >> she never got the [music] chance to thank him in person until now when we
00:40:25
arranged for them to meet. >> So good to meet you. >> Good to see you again. [music]
00:40:30
>> Yeah, I'm looking at you to see if I can remember. >> I remember. I'm really glad that uh I
00:40:38
was in the right place at the right time to help you. >> Really glad. >> Yeah. >> Thank [music] you. Feel like I owe you
00:40:44
everything. I guess my greatest gratitude in you saving [music] my life is that my
00:40:50
daughter gets to have her mom and have a good life. >> Thank you. Give you another hug. Wow.
00:41:09
48 hours. To miss it would be a crime. >> Were you at all prepared for what happened in this case?
00:41:22
[music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> I've never spoken publicly before about
00:42:04
any of this. Never really fully healed from any of what happened. It's like waking up every morning and
00:42:18
having the same phone call. >> 911. What is the address? That's the emergency. >> 911 call came in October 2nd, 2017. It
00:42:27
was called in as a welfare check. >> Something happened at my ex-husband's house over the evening and my two
00:42:34
children came to my house this morning. >> Okay. And what did they tell you exactly?
00:42:39
>> Their dad's gone. Their older sister's gone. >> Where are we, officer? Set the scene for
00:42:45
us. >> This is Benson Street. [music] For me, this is just another welfare check.
00:42:51
But we don't know what we're walking into. >> What is your ex-husband's name? >> Aaron Frier.
00:42:59
>> I learned that he was a good guy. He was a good dad. [music] >> What is your daughter's name?
00:43:07
>> My oldest daughter's name is Ellen Frier. >> How old is she? >> She's 15. >> Ellie was in the marching band. Very
00:43:16
bright, very intelligent. with the older daughter missing. It was very suspicious. [music] We didn't really
00:43:21
know how suspicious it was until we saw what we saw when we got here. >> Left for police. Knock yourself.
00:43:28
[snorts] >> We clear the house and in the living room based on the blood splatter.
00:43:34
There was a serious assault, probable murder that occurred. [music] >> So time was of the essence.
00:43:41
>> Absolutely. Time is always of the essence. You know it. The only information I had was from the patrol
00:43:46
officers and what Sierra was able to tell us on scene. >> I remember waking up in the middle of
00:43:56
the night. >> We know at around 5:30 that Sierra heard the glass breaking. [music]
00:44:04
>> I just started listening, just listening to try and understand what was happening.
00:44:10
I was certain she had heard the assault, but she hadn't realized that. >> Thank God she didn't walk out and
00:44:18
interrupt this thing. >> I was very terrified. [music] Based on what she had seen at the house, she knew
00:44:23
somebody wasn't okay. She went over to the couch. She felt something wet and when she pulled her hand up, it was
00:44:30
covered in blood. [music] I just was in like a state of shock. >> [music] >> Sierra could not locate her father Aaron
00:44:39
and her teenage sister Ellie. We treated it as a missing person's serious assault
00:44:46
until we know otherwise. Everyone was out looking. There was also a potential that this was
00:44:53
what we could refer to as a nobody homicide. And those cases are always tough to work.
00:45:00
As of right now in my family, there are two family members [music] missing. It's still like an open wound every day.
00:45:25
>> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] Heat. [music] The quiet city of Medford, Oregon, was
00:46:03
shaken by Maggie Frier's desperate 911 call in the early morning hours of October 2nd, 2017.
00:46:11
>> I don't know where my ex-husband or my oldest daughter is. >> I understand that
00:46:15
>> something happened at the house. Something happened over there. Maggie Frier's ex-husband Aaron Frier
00:46:22
and their 15-year-old daughter Ellen, nicknamed Ellie, were [music] missing. >> My concern is for the both of them. We
00:46:29
don't know where they are. >> You can only imagine all the things that were running around in my mind. I didn't
00:46:35
know who was dead and who was alive. >> When Medford police officer Logan Boyd arrived at Aaron's house, he found that
00:46:44
gruesome scene. >> There was blood everywhere. Blood spattered walls, shattered glass,
00:46:52
and a trail of blood to nowhere. [music] >> See, it starts from there and kind of
00:46:56
goes all the way out in the dirt. >> It goes out towards the carport. >> Yeah, that's not good.
00:47:01
>> This led investigators to notice what also was missing. Aaron Frier's car. Seen here on a neighbor's security
00:47:09
camera leaving the Frier home around 5:30 that morning. We're kind of dealing with what I would
00:47:15
describe as like a two-headed monster. >> An all hands on deck call went out to every Medford police detective,
00:47:23
including Detective Bill Ford. >> We didn't know at that particular time whether this was a missing person case
00:47:29
or a kidnapping. We just didn't know. >> Detective Shannon Reynolds, Bill Ford's
00:47:35
colleague and wife of 20 years, had a different take. In my mind, I automatically assumed that the
00:47:43
15year-old daughter was the victim of a homicide. >> So, a case like this, where did this one
00:47:48
sort of fit in? >> Probably one of the most interesting um heinous um crimes I've seen in my career.
00:47:56
>> Investigators [music] hoped Ellie's younger sister, 11-year-old Sierra, might shed light on
00:48:01
the unknown. Detective Reynolds, who specializes in crimes against children, was tasked with interviewing her. Sarah
00:48:09
wasn't like outright [music] crying. Um, but you could tell she was worried. Who
00:48:14
was she worried about? Um, her dad and Ellie. >> I try not to really think about that
00:48:19
time a lot. But >> Sierra, 18 years old at the time of this exclusive interview, still finds it
00:48:25
difficult to speak about the day her father and sister [music] vanished. I was, you know, just a child and um
00:48:35
I'm sorry. >> The second of three girls, Sierra says she loved being in the middle.
00:48:41
>> I get to be an older sister and a younger sister, so I get like the best of [music] both worlds.
00:48:47
I like the connection and the bonds that we have. >> Sierra says her older sister, Ellie,
00:48:53
loved music and could play many instruments. >> [music] >> a skill Ellie seemed to have picked up
00:49:02
from their father. >> One time he tried to teach me how to play the drums, but I wasn't very good
00:49:07
at it. So, >> in 2016, Sierra's parents, Maggie and Aaron, ended their marriage. Sierra says
00:49:15
the divorce took a toll on her and her sisters. >> It affected us a lot. It was actually
00:49:22
not a very great experience [music] for everyone involved. Sierra says that when her parents
00:49:27
separated, her dad moved into that small two-bedroom house. Maggie and Aaron shared custody and the girls would stay
00:49:35
with their dad every other weekend. [music] In September 2017, Sierra decided to live with her dad full time.
00:49:44
>> I want to be around him and fill my life with him. Then around 5:30 a.m. on October 2nd,
00:49:53
2017, the Frier family was forever broken. Sierra was asleep in the bedroom she shared with her younger sister. [music]
00:50:03
>> I woke up and it was just pitch black. I remember waking up to like a dinging
00:50:10
noise over and over and over again. Then I heard [music] glass shatter and I heard the fight that occurred. The sound
00:50:18
was coming from the living room. >> So then what does she hear? Because she really is sort of an ear witness to all
00:50:25
that happened. She heard her dad yell the f-word. She heard dragging. She heard things being moved.
00:50:33
>> After that, it was completely silent. >> Did she have any idea what was going on
00:50:38
at the time? >> No. She was frightened enough to stay in her room until she felt like it was okay
00:50:42
to come out. When Sierra finally did come out, she found that horrific scene. >> It had to be so scary, though.
00:50:51
>> So scary. >> Sierra told Detective Reynolds that before leaving her room, she had seen
00:50:56
something out of her bedroom window. [music] She could see people walking back and forth.
00:51:02
>> Sierra saw two young men outside of her dad's house. One was a person Sierra didn't know. The second was someone
00:51:10
Sierra immediately recognized. It was Gavin McFarland. >> He was Ellen's boyfriend at the time.
00:51:17
This was her big love. According to her, he was a great guy, but according to my
00:51:23
parents, he was not a great guy. Sierra insinuated this was a little bit of a forbidden love. Dad had forbade Ellie
00:51:31
from seeing Gavin. >> This was the break investigators had been hoping for. >> Once we have a name, Gavin McFarland,
00:51:39
now we got a picture. Now we know who we're looking for. >> The search for Aaron and Ellie Frier and
00:51:46
now Gavin McFarland was on. We probably had 70 75 people out on the streets of Medford.
00:51:58
>> Ellie and Aaron's phones were found in the house. Investigators now began tracking Gavin's phone. We started
00:52:05
getting cell phone tower hits up in the East Medford area. >> Patrol officers immediately headed in
00:52:13
that direction. >> A patrol sergeant locates the car. That was huge. >> As the officers approached Aaron Frier's
00:52:20
vehicle, they realized that something wasn't right. [music] >> We could see there was blood on the
00:52:26
outside of the bumper that had been dripping down. When this trunk is opened up, [music] there is large amounts of
00:52:33
blood. I mean, it is soaked into the carpet, >> but no Aaron and no Ellie. But the car
00:52:40
was still warm, [music] so the police knew they were close. >> We had tons of people up there driving
00:52:47
around looking for them. >> And then just an hour later, investigators couldn't believe who they
00:52:53
found next. their dad's gone. Their older sister's gone. >> Then just 4 hours after that 911 call
00:53:23
reporting her missing, Medford police found Ellie Frier. She was alive, seemingly unharmed, and had been walking
00:53:32
down a busy street with Gavin McFarland. >> They're walking down the sidewalk >> in plain sight.
00:53:39
>> Plain sight. So now we know Ellie's safe, >> which made two things clear. Aaron Frier
00:53:46
was the victim. And based on all that blood in his car and at the house, time was quickly running out to find him. We
00:53:55
had Aaron out there either seriously injured or deceased. >> Walking along with Gavin and Ellie was
00:54:05
someone investigators hadn't been looking for. >> Do you have ID with your name on there?
00:54:10
>> Uh, no I don't. I hardly ever carry my ID around. >> Okay. >> He turned out to be Russell Jones.
00:54:16
>> Have a seat real quick. >> A friend of Gavins. >> I won't make it hard on you.
00:54:22
>> All right. Russell had apparently made an impression on Sierra Frier, says Detective Shannon Reynolds. He matched
00:54:29
the description of that second young man she saw at her father's house that morning.
00:54:34
>> So, she got a really good look at this person. >> Investigators now had a witness placing
00:54:39
Gavin and Russell at the crime scene. Detective Ford says he wasn't sure what to make of Ellie being found with them.
00:54:48
That doesn't mean that Ellie's involved in something. >> But Ford says that she, Gavin, or
00:54:53
Russell might hold the key to finding Aaron. >> Ellie, we're going to walk. >> Gavin and Russell are separated. Go
00:55:02
>> with us. >> Detained and transported to the Medford Police Department for questioning.
00:55:09
>> Hi. Hello. >> Detective Stephanie Jackson was tasked with getting Ellie Frier's account of
00:55:15
the previous 24 hours. So, what have you been up to today? >> I haven't been home and now I'm really
00:55:22
concerned about what's been going on. >> Mhm. >> Where were you? >> How? >> Ellie was saying everything had seemed
00:55:33
normal when she left her father's house for a long walk. >> And you were walking down the street, it
00:55:40
sounds like today. >> Mhm. >> Who were you with? >> I was with my friends. According to
00:55:45
Ellie, she had run into those friends, Gavin and Russell, only by chance, not long before being spotted by police.
00:55:55
And so, everybody is really concerned because we actually don't know where your dad is right now.
00:56:00
>> That's really disturbing to hear. Maybe he was looking for me. >> We are very worried about your dad.
00:56:08
>> So am I. Ellie was saying she had no idea where her father was or what happened at the house. [snorts]
00:56:16
>> So, where did all the blood come from in your house? >> I don't know. >> Around that time, Detective Ford was
00:56:24
preparing to interrogate the other two detainees. Strategically, he decided to let Gavin
00:56:30
wait in a holding cell and began interviewing Russell. >> Spin around in your chair
00:56:36
[clears throat] there and face me so I can talk to you. He's a talker. Very, very talkative. So,
00:56:42
I kind of knew he would have a hard time keeping his mouth shut. >> Yeah, I have nothing to hide. So,
00:56:47
>> Russell was ready to talk, but he wanted something first. A cigarette. >> I talk better when I have a cigarette.
00:56:55
>> Detective Ford took him outside. >> Just kind of smoking and joking is what we call it. The camera didn't record
00:57:04
audio, but Detective Ford says Russell began telling him that he and Gavin had gone over to the frier house early that
00:57:11
morning. >> He told us that he was trying to help get Ellie out of a bad situation.
00:57:19
>> That bad situation, according to Russell, was Aaron Frier. >> And the first thing that he tells us is
00:57:27
he's not a good person. >> Aaron Frier is not a good person. >> Correct. He didn't elaborate further about Aaron,
00:57:34
but Russell was claiming he and Gavin were only there to secretly move Ellie out.
00:57:40
>> So, the next thing I tell him is, "Look, Russell, we got detectives out there
00:57:45
right now pulling video from every house, the alleys. So, if this ain't the truth, you need to be truthful with me
00:57:52
right now." And he looks me square in the eyes and he says, "Well, 95% of it's the truth and there's five 5% of it's a
00:57:59
lie." So, I'm thinking automatically, well, what's the lie here? >> Detective Ford decided it was time for a
00:58:06
new tactic and tried appealing to Russell's conscience. >> I look at him and I'm like, you know,
00:58:13
Russell, I don't want a child to find Aaron out there somewhere, come across something like that.
00:58:21
I said, can you take us to Aaron? He didn't beat an eye. He's just like, "Yeah, I'll take you to him."
00:58:29
The veteran detective wasted no time. >> We load Russell up. He's actually sitting in the seat that you're sitting
00:58:36
in now. >> Okay. >> We got him handcuffed in front. >> He's basically telling us, "Okay, turn
00:58:42
right, turn left." >> They were ascending a rural mountain pass 20 [music] m outside town.
00:58:51
>> And all of a sudden, Russell says, "Stop. Stop right here. >> [music] >> Where did you stop your car back there?
00:59:23
>> Uh, probably right where that rock is. Do you see the body right away? >> You could see the tarp. You couldn't see
00:59:31
any portion of the body >> right here in this green tarp. >> Detectives descended the wooded ravine
00:59:39
and pulled back that tarp, revealing that just [music] 6 hours after that 911 call, they had found Aaron Frier.
00:59:49
>> It was obvious that he was deceased. When you found out your husband was dead, what did [music] you think? Uh uh
01:00:02
>> I was just completely shocked. I didn't know what to think. >> Maggie says the police hadn't yet told
01:00:08
her Ellie was in their custody being questioned or even that she had been found.
01:00:13
>> I was very worried about the fate of my daughter. I had no idea if my daughter
01:00:17
was even alive, too. Maggie [music] then faced the unimaginable task of sharing the news of
01:00:25
Aaron's death [music] with their two younger daughters. The reality was almost too much for then 11-year-old
01:00:31
Sierra. [music] >> I just really didn't want to believe it for a really long time. [snorts]
01:00:39
>> While investigators began processing the scene, Detective Ford drove Russell Jones back to police headquarters. He
01:00:48
says Russell was claiming that all he had done was help dispose of Aaron's remains.
01:00:54
>> He's like, "I'm not going to be a witness against Gavin." >> Russell was saying Gavin was Aaron's
01:01:00
killer, but that Gavin had been provoked. >> His story was that Aaron had a rifle and
01:01:07
was pointed at Gavin. So >> So making it seem like a self-defense because if he had a gun pointed at him.
01:01:13
>> Exactly. >> You can sit in that chair over there. Okay. Back at the station, Detective
01:01:17
Ford returned Russell to the interrogation room while detectives gathered for a briefing.
01:01:23
>> You're listening in on my conversations, aren't you? >> That's when Russell began taunting them
01:01:29
through the camera. >> I can still twist your little mind. Don't piss me off. This, I imagine, got everybody to stop
01:01:43
what they were doing and gather around the monitor and watch this. >> That's what you do.
01:01:49
>> So, we can play it the easy way or the hard way. >> He would go into these rants and making
01:01:56
demands and stuff. >> Gavin and Ellie are to be released to me. >> And Russell was claiming he still hadn't
01:02:07
been totally truthful. and Mr. Ford. You want the whole story? Cuz I did miss a few parts.
01:02:19
>> For her part, Ellie [music] was now saying Russell was the one responsible. >> I I believe that Russell's the one that
01:02:26
killed my father. >> All right. >> With the conflicting claims, Detective Ford decided it was finally time to
01:02:34
interview Gavin McFarland. I know I'm in serious trouble, aren't I? >> Well, we need to figure out what
01:02:41
happened. >> Gavin started by saying how volatile Aaron Frier could be. >> He's threatened my life. He's like, "No,
01:02:49
stay away from my daughter. I'm going to kill you." >> One month earlier, Gavin [music] had
01:02:54
called the police, claiming Aaron had shown up at his house, banging on his door, threatening to kill him.
01:03:01
>> I don't know what caused him to not like me anymore. Detectives discovered at least one
01:03:08
reason, Gavin's age. He was 19 years old, dating 15-year-old [music] Ellie. And making things worse, Gavin was now
01:03:18
claiming Ellie was going to have his baby. >> She told you she was pregnant? >> I've known for about 2 weeks now.
01:03:25
While Gavin was admitting to having a sexual relationship with a minor, itself a crime, he was accusing Aaron of
01:03:32
[music] being the one who had been abusive to Ellie. >> The anger had just been building up
01:03:38
because of the things Ellie had been telling me. >> Mhm. >> Try to protect Ellie.
01:03:44
>> My possible trial. Gavin was claiming he and Russell had gone to the house that morning. But
01:03:51
unlike what Russell [music] said, that Aaron had not confronted him with the gun. Instead, Gavin was saying Aaron had
01:03:59
been in the living room asleep on the couch and that Gavin had crept in armed with a baseball [music] bat. Then Gavin
01:04:07
made a startling admission. >> I just acted on instinct. >> Okay, tell him what happened.
01:04:15
I just swung the bat downwards. It was dark. I couldn't see. >> How many times do you think you hit him?
01:04:21
>> Like five or six, maybe? >> Five or six times. >> Yeah. >> The physical evidence [music]
01:04:29
would back up Gavin's story. Aaron had died from blunt [music] force trauma to his head, and a bat was recovered from a
01:04:38
tree branch above where his remains had been found. So this is aluminum bat discoloration.
01:04:45
You can see it's red here. This is all blood. >> Testing would confirm the blood was
01:04:51
Aaron's. >> And he demonstrated for us in the interview room how hard he swung it down
01:04:57
on Aaron's head. >> I went over the shoulder the first time and then I started going up above my
01:05:03
head. >> I mean there were five distinct blows to his head. >> Explaining that dinging sound. Sierra
01:05:11
Frier had heard. >> I fractured his skull, caved his skull into his brain. >> I'm I'm really sorry.
01:05:24
>> And investigators soon found evidence that Aaron's murder had been meticulously plotted for weeks. They
01:05:32
discovered notes, [music] some in Russell's handwriting, at Gavin's house. We found several murder plans and they
01:05:41
actually had plan A, plan B. There were multiple plans and I think ultimately they come up with the bat.
01:05:51
>> And based on what you could see from the planning, who's the mastermind of all of
01:05:55
this? >> Ellie, believe it or not. Detective Ford says he believes it was Ellie who wanted
01:06:03
Aaron murdered, pointing to messages Ford [music] says she sent to Gavin. In one, she says, "We need to make sure
01:06:11
he's dead by the time we leave his house." And in another, she asked, "You want to kill him now, [music] don't you?
01:06:19
And then you can kill him in less than a minute, right?" >> She's pushing it all.
01:06:27
She wants to be with Gavin. She wants to be out from underneath the authority of
01:06:32
her father. >> Ellie wanted me to kill him, but I didn't want to. [music] >> Detective Ford says Ellie might have
01:06:39
made up those abuse allegations, possibly [music] as a way to motivate Gavin to kill her
01:06:46
father. >> She is very manipulative. From me watching that entire interview, she lied.
01:06:57
>> Are you Ellie? No. >> Then lied. >> How old are you? >> 18. >> And lied. >> How did Gavin get in the house this
01:07:05
morning? >> He wasn't in the house. [music] >> After several hours, Ellie did eventually admit some of her role, even
01:07:15
saying that she had handed Gavin the murder weapon. >> And what do you say to Gavin?
01:07:21
>> I said, "I'm ready when you are." >> Okay. What did you mean by that? >> When you do this, we're in it together.
01:07:28
What did you mean when you said when you do this? >> Kill my dad. [music] >> With evidence they all conspired to kill
01:07:36
Aaron. Gavin, Russell, and Ellie were charged with his murder. [music] From the day after she was arrested,
01:07:49
there was this narrative and her side was never told. [music] Until now, the story that the state has,
01:08:00
why is it the right one? My daughter left to go stay at my ex-husband's house for the weekend and
01:08:21
never came home. >> I imagine [music] that moment haunts you still. >> Of course it does. My child never came
01:08:29
home. >> After hours of worry, [music] Maggie Frier was finally told her 15-year-old
01:08:38
daughter Ellie had been located. I got a phone call from a police officer that they found [music] her.
01:08:47
>> But worry morphed into anger when she was then told Ellie had been arrested for her father's murder.
01:08:55
>> Go and take a seat. >> And I said, "So, you've had my daughter in your custody interrogating her, and
01:09:01
you never once called me to let me know so I could maybe get her some representation."
01:09:07
Alisa Kaplan eventually became one of Ellie's attorneys. She says the narrative about Ellie Frier has been
01:09:14
wrong from the very beginning. In this case, she was made out to be the mastermind or something. You know, she
01:09:23
planned all of this when she was 15 years old and they were 19 and 22. >> She was the manipulator.
01:09:29
>> She was the manipulator, right? And that this was all because of her relationship
01:09:33
with an older man. But Kaplan [music] says this crime actually happened because of the alleged abuse Ellie
01:09:40
suffered at the hands of her father, Aaron. >> She was sexually abused, emotionally
01:09:46
abused, and physically abused. >> Abuse that Ellie described in her police interrogation.
01:09:52
>> He used to be a good father, but he started getting abusive about 3 years ago.
01:09:59
I picked out a bunch [music] of things, but >> reading from the case file, Kaplan
01:10:03
recounted several allegations of molestation [music] and abuse. Warning, the following may be disturbing
01:10:10
to hear. >> Her father would grab at her breasts. He told her to give in to him.
01:10:18
>> And he tried to take my clothes off and I slapped him away. I was trying to pull.
01:10:24
>> He would masturbate on top of her when he thought she was sleeping. felt so dirty
01:10:30
and so ashamed of myself. >> He pushed her downstairs, called her [ __ ] idiot, stupid, [ __ ]
01:10:39
shamed her. >> And you would pin me up against the wall and you would call me those names.
01:10:44
>> And then when he would get drunk, it would all get worse. >> As a police [music] report shows, three
01:10:50
of Ellie's friends told investigators that Ellie said her dad abuses her. Ellie shared that her dad was rough on
01:10:57
her and emotionally and physically abused her. And Ellie said her dad mentally and verbally abused [music]
01:11:04
her. But Ellie admits she never told her friends about the sexual molestation. And neither Ellie nor her friends told
01:11:12
the [music] police about any kind of abuse before her father's murder. And as far as allegations of abuse, [music] was
01:11:20
there any evidence whatsoever that your detectives could find to back up what Ellen Frier was saying happened to her?
01:11:28
>> No, there was not. >> Detective Ford says with Aaron's death, the possibility of proving abuse may
01:11:37
have died with him. >> We can't go to Aaron and ask Aaron, "Were you abusing your daughter?"
01:11:44
We may never know the truth. if she told her mom. Did she tell her mom ahead of time?
01:11:49
>> Have you thought about having a conversation with your mom about that? >> No. I'm horrified to even talk about it.
01:11:57
>> Who have you talked to about your dad masturbating? >> I told Gavin about it, but that's it.
01:12:04
>> Ellie [music] told Detective Jackson that the first time she had told Gavin was 2 days before he bludgeoned her
01:12:11
father to death. Cuz I know this is hard to talk about. >> I know. >> Why me? Why did he do it to me? I don't I have
01:12:23
no idea what he's done to my sisters. >> I see a teenager who would do anything to survive and to protect her sisters.
01:12:36
Detective Shannon Reynolds says 11-year-old Sierra was asked if there were any problems at home.
01:12:42
>> She actually only had good things to say about her father. >> When Detective Reynolds interviewed the
01:12:49
youngest Frier daughter, she recalled the last conversation she [music] had with Ellie minutes after their father's
01:12:56
murder. She had said that Ellie had woken [music] her up and she said she was leaving and that she was leaving because
01:13:04
mom and dad were abusive. >> Before Reynolds could say anything, the 8-year-old gave her opinion on the
01:13:11
matter. And she told me, "My mom and dad were not abusive." Both of Ellie's sisters told Reynolds that what Ellie
01:13:19
had called abuse was actually their parents disciplining her for sneaking around with Gavin. cuz [music] they took
01:13:26
her electronics away and they yelled at her. >> What do you say to that? >> Yeah.
01:13:31
>> Well, they were younger, right? This is actually very common in families where
01:13:36
there's abuse that there's one child who takes on the majority of it and want to
01:13:42
protect the others in the family. [music] >> You know, you you describe her as this
01:13:48
protective older sister, but yet she left them there at the house. How is that [music] protecting them? Yeah. And
01:13:55
I think, you know, those are things that Ellen will live with for the rest of her
01:13:59
life. [music] And she clearly understands how much damage she has caused her sister.
01:14:07
Detective Ford says that with no evidence to back [music] up Ellie's abuse claims, he remains suspicious that
01:14:13
she may have made it all up to manipulate [music] Gavin. Seen here with Ellie on a store
01:14:19
security camera hours [music] after the murder. And it turns out Ellie was never
01:14:25
pregnant. >> I think you got to look at it two ways. Maybe she thought she was pregnant, or
01:14:30
maybe she's using that to influence Gavin to kill her dad. >> Ellie's legal team says Ellie [music]
01:14:38
did think she was pregnant, which is why she bought a pregnancy test while at the
01:14:43
store. Investigators say it's clear Ellie [music] Frier has an issue with the truth. She lied during that interview
01:14:52
for no reason. >> Kaplan says much has been made of the many lies Ellie told during her police
01:14:59
interrogation. >> As a parent, [music] we all we all know that our kids sometimes do that.
01:15:04
>> But Kaplan says the real focus should be on the hours and hours and hours Ellie
01:15:11
spent in that interview room. >> I have the right to remain silent. >> She asked to not talk. She said, "I want
01:15:17
to remain silent." Right. She was there for 10 hours straight. >> But with your wishing to remain silent,
01:15:25
it's really difficult to kind of get to the bottom of all of that. >> Then let's talk.
01:15:32
>> A minor without a guardian or attorney. Is it normal to keep a 15-year-old in an
01:15:39
interrogation room for 10 hours like that? >> Yeah. I mean, there's no law against it.
01:15:44
So, we gave her breaks. >> I found blankets. There was times where she laid on the
01:15:50
floor and slept. >> Kaplan [music] says that although it may have been legal in Oregon, it wasn't
01:15:57
right. And look, police have their jobs to do. I get it. I just think the rules are really different [music] when you
01:16:04
have a kid. And in that, she looks like a kid. She's acting like a kid. She's in fear like a kid would be.
01:16:16
A kid who [music] Kaplan says was taken advantage of by someone she calls another abuser. 19-year-old Gavin
01:16:25
McFarland. A grown man reaching over to a 15-year-old girl who was so vulnerable.
01:16:34
No matter what her text messages [music] said, no matter what her involvement was, I don't even understand how you
01:16:40
don't look at that as him being the controller. Detective Reynolds says she saw some of
01:16:48
that controlling behavior on display [music] in letters Gavin wrote to Ellie after they were arrested.
01:16:56
He was saying that she needed to be sure to say that her dad was abusing her and
01:17:02
he was [music] telling her, "We're going to take this to a jury and we're going to win the jury over."
01:17:08
And the way to do that is to cry. Make sure you cry. >> [music] >> I've given everything I can and [music]
01:17:39
when this goes to court I would like to be tried as an But there would be no trial. In January
01:17:47
of 2019, a little more than a year after her father's death, Ellie Frier took a plea deal. [music] How did you feel
01:17:55
about that decision? >> I didn't like it cuz I'm pretty sure that she did it cuz she was scared. I
01:18:01
don't think she wanted to go to court. >> Ellie Frier pleaded guilty to an adult
01:18:08
charge of conspiring [music] to murder her father, Aaron. I'm the first light to say that I'm
01:18:14
sorry for all the pain that I've caused to others in this whole resident. >> The deal was brokered by a different
01:18:20
defense attorney. [music] According to court documents, that attorney wrote that Ellie Frier's codefendants, Gavin
01:18:26
McFarland and Russell Jones were going to be testifying against her and say that she was the mastermind behind all
01:18:34
of this. It was her idea from the beginning. Ellie's text messages would have been used against her at trial,
01:18:41
too. Elisa Kaplan began working on Ellie Frier's behalf in 2024. >> I run the criminal justice reform
01:18:50
clinic. We are looking at Ellen's case mostly because we believe that she has an excessive sentence.
01:18:57
>> And what is her sentence? >> 25 years. McFarland and Jones also took plea [music] deals with Gavin McFarland
01:19:04
pleading guilty to murder and murder conspiracy charges. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Russell
01:19:13
Jones entered a no contest plea to conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to 15 years. Kaplan is
01:19:21
fighting to reduce Ellie Frier's sentence. She says Ellie should not have been sentenced to 10 more years than
01:19:28
Jones for the same crime. >> She was 15. He was 22. And her sentence is so much bigger than
01:19:37
his. the idea that Ellen is the master manipulator. I mean, she's a 15year-old. I mean, don't they bear more
01:19:44
responsibility because they're the adults? >> I don't I wouldn't agree with that.
01:19:51
Ellie is absolutely just as responsible as Gavin, except Gavin was the one that took and held the bat in his hands.
01:20:00
>> Detective Shannon Reynolds isn't as certain as her husband about Ellie Frier's role. I go back and forth. The
01:20:08
mastermind of it I initially thought was Ellie. Then reading the letters from Gavin that he wrote to Ellie telling her
01:20:14
what she needed to say. Then I started to think maybe Gavin was the mastermind of all this. I go back and forth.
01:20:21
>> Ford says regardless of who crafted the plan, all three are responsible in the
01:20:27
eyes of the law >> because without her this wouldn't have happened. Without Gavin, this wouldn't
01:20:33
have happened. I doubt without Russell it could have happened. >> I want to be very clear. She was
01:20:39
involved. She participated. She was a co-conspirator. No doubt. Right. She takes full
01:20:46
accountability for her role in this crime. Ellie Frier, now 23, has been serving her sentence in a juvenile
01:20:53
detention center. In December of 2026, she'll be moved to an adult prison. And she recently earned two master's
01:21:02
degrees. one in psychology and another in justice studies, >> which by the way is not that easy to do
01:21:09
when you're in prison. She's really incredible. I'm very proud of her. I've always been proud of her after what she
01:21:18
went through. >> Aaron's dead. Who's going to speak out for Aaron? >> Sierra Frier will. My dad was a kind man
01:21:32
who loved me and my sisters and always tried to fill my life with joy. He was a great father to me. He goes
01:21:45
with me wherever I go. >> Sierra has joined the National Guard, something she says her father always
01:21:51
wanted for her. >> It's mind-blowing that that the little girl I interviewed is now grown up. The
01:21:57
fact that she's joining the National Guard lets me know she didn't let this, you know, derail her life. A life Sierra
01:22:04
has had to live without her father, whose memory has been marred by those abuse allegations. A 48 hours producer
01:22:12
asked Sierra about them. >> Ellie claims that your father abused her. What do you have to say to that?
01:22:19
>> Uh, I don't really want to talk about that just cuz I have my own feelings about it. Sierra is just as guarded when
01:22:27
it comes to her thoughts about her sister Ellie, though the two have maintained a relationship over the
01:22:32
years. It's very hard to explain because a lot of people wouldn't understand. I've got my own feelings about her.
01:22:45
>> But Sierra's feelings about her father are very clear. >> I love him and I'm so sorry for
01:22:52
everything that happened. I have faith and I have hope that one day, you know, we'll meet again.
01:23:03
[music] 48 hours. Don't miss an episode. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> You go back to the first days after the
01:24:06
murder. This might have been a dispute [music] between teenagers. It might have involved a girl. It might have involved
01:24:14
drinking. Whoever knew about John's killing kept this secret for over 40 years. >> That's one small step for man, one giant
01:24:29
leap for mankind. >> September 26th, 1969 is the day that changed the lives of Bill and Neville
01:24:43
[music] and McCabe forever. I I don't think I've had a whole night's sleep since it's happened.
01:24:58
>> If it's not too painful, can you tell me about his last day? >> Went to a dance, his second dance.
01:25:05
>> 15-year-old John McCabe was looking forward to going to the Knights of Columbus dance that evening. took a
01:25:11
shower, scrubbed his hair, put his father's after shave on. He didn't shave, but he put his father's after
01:25:18
shave on. Oh, yeah. He got all spruced up. 11:00 I started looking out the window.
01:25:25
That's when the dance closes. He should be home by midnight. So, I went down to the dance and checked
01:25:33
the road, screaming out the window, "John. John." No, John. I started praying at that
01:25:43
point. >> The day after John McCabe went missing, three young kids were cutting through a
01:25:52
vacant lot when they made a horrifying discovery, which was the body of John McCabe.
01:25:59
He had been bound and gagged and tied with rope. After John's body was found, Bill
01:26:05
McCabe, a pillar of strength, had to do the unspeakable. That was identify the body of his dead son.
01:26:13
>> Never forget it. People keep talking about closure. You can't shake it. >> He then had to go home and inform his
01:26:22
family of what had happened. >> Bill said, "Honey, our son's dead." Well, I was a senior in high school.
01:26:34
>> Were you fearful? >> Yes. They hadn't caught the people that killed my brother.
01:26:38
>> Did you think when you looked at kids in your classes, maybe it's him, maybe it's
01:26:44
him? >> Maybe it was them. Maybe they knew something. How could they not know anything?
01:26:48
>> Without physical evidence, without a witness, this case remained unsolved for
01:26:52
several years. And several years became decades. >> You ready? >> This is it. I pray every day justice
01:27:02
will be served. >> There was only one way this case was going to be solved. >> Do you solemnly swear?
01:27:09
>> And how old were you in 1969? >> 17. >> And that's if someone came forward and
01:27:15
talked. >> How do you know how John McCabe died? I was there. [music] >> [music]
01:27:49
[music] [music] >> It took almost every ounce of strength left in his 85year-old body to get to
01:28:21
the witness stand, but Bill McCabe waited 43 years for this day and the start of this trial in January 2013.
01:28:32
>> Good morning, Mr. McCabe. Do you remember September 27th, 1969? >> Yes, sir. >> How old was John at that day?
01:28:41
>> He was 15 years, 6 months, and two weeks. >> I always visualized him as being a big
01:28:53
shot somewhere. John Joseph McCabe, my son JJ, you know, but I never got to see any of those things.
01:29:05
In the fall of 1969, two men had just landed on the moon. >> Beautiful. Just beautiful.
01:29:14
>> Thousands had just crashed at Woodstock. And John McCabe, 15 years, 6 months, and
01:29:21
2 weeks old, was living with his family in Tukesbury, Massachusetts. >> I think we have a right to be proud of
01:29:28
him. Yeah. John's father, Bill, was an engineer. His mother, Evelyn, worked at the school library. His sisters,
01:29:37
Roberta, who was six, and Debbie, who was 17, remember a brother who was always busy doing what brothers do.
01:29:47
>> It was pretty interesting. You open the closet door and your closet's filled with grasshoppers.
01:29:51
>> I just remember his hands were always dirty, like with oil or grease or a frog
01:29:55
in his hand. >> So, you brought home a goose once, too. >> Oh, yeah. Canadian goose. Big sucker.
01:30:01
>> It's fun to watch you talk about this because your eyes light up. I mean, you
01:30:04
have very fond memories of those days. >> Yeah. >> Evelyn holds on to any reminder of her
01:30:11
son. >> I have John's money. >> I can't spend it. >> And you've had it all these years.
01:30:17
>> Yeah. 45 years. Every now and then I the smell's gone off of it now. it. I almost
01:30:24
put it in the casket with him and then I thought, "No, I'll just keep it with me
01:30:30
and when I see him again, I'll give it to him." >> When she last saw John, Evelyn gave him
01:30:38
permission to go to that dance at the Nights of Columbus Hall. >> I let him go. I let him go out the door.
01:30:46
I shouldn't have. The next day, police came to the house and took Evelyn's husband to the
01:30:54
basement to talk. >> They didn't want me to know anything. >> But you heard? >> I heard them.
01:31:02
>> Evelyn got on her knees and pressed her ear to a vent in the bathroom. This is where I could hear everything
01:31:11
that was going on down SA. >> The police were telling her husband John's body was discovered in a vacant
01:31:20
lot in the neighboring gritty city of Lel. >> Well, what did you hear? >> I heard that he was tied up and there
01:31:31
was tape on [music] his eyes and his mouth. I heard a lot. I cried. I laid there and cried.
01:31:43
>> A huge investigation was launched by the lol Tukesbury and Massachusetts state
01:31:49
police. >> What evidence did they collect at the scene? >> The rope that was used to tie John up.
01:31:57
Uh tape that was used to tape his eyes and his mouth. Um all of his clothing. Um his shoes.
01:32:04
Jerry Leone was the local DA who years later took on the case. Today he's a partner in the law firm Nixon Peabody.
01:32:14
>> There was forensic evidence, but it wasn't really meaningful because it you couldn't tie it to anyone in particular.
01:32:22
>> But the case looked promising at first. A witness had spotted a car near the crime scene that night. I believe the
01:32:32
way he had described it was a 1965 Chevy Impala colored uh plum on maroon. >> Then another tip led police to a
01:32:44
schoolmate of John's, 16-year-old Mike Ferrer, who says he barely knew John. >> I probably seen him like a handful of
01:32:52
times in my life. I don't, you know, I didn't really, he wasn't a friend. Ferrer and his friend Nancy Williams
01:33:00
were questioned because they had picked up John when he was hitchhiking on his way to the dance. I picked him up and I
01:33:07
gave him a ride to the corner and I never saw him again. >> Ferrer told police that while the dance
01:33:12
was underway, he left Nancy and met up with his best friend, Walter Shel. >> Me, Walter, and Bob Ryan took a ride to
01:33:21
LOL try to get some beer. >> They were in Walter Shel's car. It was maroon and it was a 1965 Chevy Impala.
01:33:32
Police searched it but found no evidence. Still, Walter Shel was now a person of
01:33:38
interest. He was brought in for questioning and later polygraphed five times. The test showed he was lying in
01:33:47
all vital areas of the questioning. >> If you read the reports now, you start seeing Ferrer and Shelly, Shelly and
01:33:54
Ferrer. Ferrer was questioned multiple times. >> I know where they were going. Not
01:34:02
totally stupid. >> But Ferrer wasn't helping himself. At one point, while joy riding with some
01:34:08
friends, he suddenly blurted out that he killed John. >> I was 16. We're drinking, joking, and I
01:34:18
said, "Yeah, I did it." They knew I was joking. I was a joker. Leone says police
01:34:23
were not amused, but there was no way to corroborate what Ferrer said. >> Without physical evidence, without a
01:34:30
witness statement putting him at the scene, the Ferrer lead kept drying up. >> There were dozens of other people police
01:34:40
investigated, other teens, local drug dealers, and pedophiles. Detectives worked this case hard for two years
01:34:49
while Bill McCabe worked on a record of his son's life. I wasn't trying to be an author or
01:35:00
anything like that. I I I was just looking at ways to hold on to him, keep his keep his memory.
01:35:07
>> He also tried to make sure the police never forgot his son. >> I was always on the phone talking to the
01:35:14
police. I'd be up in the middle of the night. She'd be saying, "What the hell are you
01:35:18
doing? I'd get back to bed." >> Despite Bill's persistence and the intense police effort, there were no
01:35:25
arrests. >> Shelley and Ferrer went into the service in 1970. So, the following year, the two
01:35:32
of them left the area. >> And the McCabe family was left without any answers for decades.
01:35:45
>> [music] [bell] [music] >> This is a little compass so he can find his way home.
01:36:11
With each passing season, John McCabe's case grew colder. But his mother kept asking the most painful questions about
01:36:21
how he died. I tried to strangle myself just to visualize what it felt like. I wondered, did he call for me?
01:36:37
What kind of a mother was I? I wasn't there for him. >> For a time, Evelyn set a place for John
01:36:45
at the dinner table. His absence was a constant presence in the house. You can't just do something
01:36:54
wrong and not have to pay for it. >> The case stalled for some 30 years until November 2000. Sean and I went just
01:37:04
about everywhere. You know, >> when Jack Ward, a childhood friend of John's, made good on a decades old
01:37:11
promise to Bill McCabe. >> He would say, "Jackie, you hear anything about John? You keep your eyes open. Let
01:37:18
me know." I says, "If I ever hear anything, Mr. McCabe, you know, I'm going to tell you."
01:37:22
>> Ward had been at a cookout at this house in Tukesbury where he ran into a kid
01:37:28
from the old neighborhood, Mike Ferrer. This photo was taken that day. >> We're all sitting around drinking and
01:37:37
that's when he just blurted out, "I know who killed John." And he said it to me again, "I know who killed John." And you
01:37:47
know, finally I said, "Who?" He says, "Walter." I said, "Walter Shel." He says, "Yeah,
01:37:53
>> Walter Shelly." >> I said, "What would be Walter's motive to kill John?" You said Marala because
01:38:01
of Mara. >> Mara Shiner. Ward said she was Walter Shel's girlfriend back then, but he said
01:38:08
the trouble was Mara also seemed to like John McCabe. And by all accounts, Walter
01:38:15
Shel was one very jealous young man. The footage you see was taken a few years after the murder. Ward admits he sat on
01:38:25
the information for a while, worried about how to tell Bill McCabe. You go knock on somebody's door and say,
01:38:35
"Hey, I know who killed your son. You better have it right." >> I was shocked when he told me. So, I
01:38:42
scribbled it on a piece of paper and I put it in the Bible on the page beginning the book of John so I wouldn't
01:38:48
forget it. And I immediately called the police. But it took many more calls from Bill
01:38:57
McCabe and three more years for police to show up at Ferrer's door. It was now 2003. Ferrer worked as a forklift
01:39:07
operator, lived in Salem, New Hampshire, and Nancy Williams, his friend back in the day, was now his wife.
01:39:16
>> Mike wouldn't hurt a fly. Never. I know he wouldn't. Ferrer says he remembers
01:39:21
the cookout conversation with Jack Ward very differently. Jackie went and told them I said Walter Shelley killed him. I
01:39:29
never said that. And at this cookout, you know, I already had a few drinks and he's running his mouth. Shel did it.
01:39:37
Shel did it. And this went on all afternoon and finally I got sick of hearing that. I says, "He probably did
01:39:43
it." Next thing I know, 3 years, four years later, I think the cops down my house wanted to talk to me about John
01:39:49
McCabe. >> Ferrer also denies discussing the jealousy motive with Ward. >> That's his theory. I never said that.
01:39:58
>> But again, there was no corroborating evidence. So again, the case stalled. >> Well, what did they tell you about the
01:40:07
investigation? >> It's going fine. It was always going fine. >> And how long did they tell you that?
01:40:14
And you know what? It was sitting on a freaking shelf. >> But the police had not forgotten John
01:40:20
McCabe. >> All right. Thanks. >> In January of 2007, 37 years after the murder, Jerry Leone was sworn in as
01:40:30
Middle Sex County District Attorney. The lower police department took it upon themselves to visit me weeks after I'd
01:40:38
been elected to say, "We'd actually like you to focus on this one and and take a
01:40:42
hard look at it with us." >> Investigators had gone back over the files and a name jumped out at them in
01:40:52
Mike Ferrer's latest interview with police. In recounting the night of the murder, Ferrer said he was with Walter
01:40:59
Shelley, but this time he added a name and [music] said the other guy with them was Allan Brown.
01:41:08
>> Edward Allen Brown's name surfaces as someone who we're going to focus on. >> Edward Allen Brown was 17 and lived not
01:41:17
far from the McCabes when John was killed. He had long since moved away, but when
01:41:24
police tracked him down, he said he knew nothing about the murder. Never even heard of it. So, how likely is it that
01:41:32
he would never even heard of the murder of John McCabe in a town the size of Tukesbury?
01:41:37
>> I'd say curious at the time. >> And police got a call from Brown's wife that was even more curious.
01:41:45
>> His wife told police that she thought he was lying. his wife said that she thought he was lying.
01:41:51
>> Right. Carolyn Brown indicates to police that 20 to 25 years earlier, her husband
01:41:58
had told her about an evening um where he was involved in a young man being killed.
01:42:05
>> But even that wasn't enough. It was the same old story. There was no corroborating evidence and
01:42:13
no real movement in the case until 2011 when Detective Linda Coughlin was assigned to find the killers.
01:42:23
>> You think this case really took off when you met Detective Linda Coughlin? >> Yes, definitely.
01:42:29
>> Why did you feel that way? >> Because of her attitude. She She said, "I'm going to get them."
01:42:38
And she did. Detective Coughlin zeroed back in on Edward Allen Brown. He was retired from
01:42:45
the Air Force and living in New Hampshire. Coughlin interrogated Brown just twice. But when Brown learned he
01:42:53
failed a polygraph, he suddenly broke down. He confessed that he was there when Walter Shelley and Mike Ferrer killed
01:43:05
John McCabe. Why? >> Lowel police brought in the McCabes and told them Brown's story about John's
01:43:22
final hours. >> My dad started crying. He killed over on the table. On April 15th, 2011, nearly 42 years
01:43:38
after John McCabe's body was found in that vacant lot, his father's perseverance finally paid off.
01:43:47
>> Mr. McCabe held our feet to the fire. He never let us forget John McCabe's murder.
01:43:54
The DA's office announced the indictments of Edward Allen Brown for manslaughter and Michael Ferrer and
01:44:01
Walter Shelley for firstdegree murder. Two names known to police since day one. Two names also gathering dust here in
01:44:12
John's Book of Mourners. >> The murderers [music] came to the wake and they came to the funeral.
01:44:23
>> [music] >> Why do you think Edward Allen Brown confessed? Chat now on Facebook and X.
01:44:37
[music] It would take almost 2 years to bring the men accused of killing John McCabe
01:44:44
to trial. Two more years the Mabes would have to wait. Do you solemnly swear the
01:44:50
testimony? >> January 18th, 2013. >> Would you please be seated? >> Edward Allen Brown was called to testify
01:44:58
against his one-time friend, Mike Ferrer, the first defendant to go on trial. >> Do you see Michael Ferrara in the
01:45:06
courtroom today? >> Yes, over there. >> Mr. Brown, >> for the first time, Brown publicly
01:45:14
shared the details of the night John died. Brown says he was at home watching television when Mike Ferrer and Walter
01:45:23
Shelley pulled up to his house. >> They wanted me to go with them to help them. >> Helped them do what?
01:45:29
>> I didn't know at the time until I got in the car and we left. >> Brown testified they were on their way
01:45:35
to the Knights of Columbus Hall when he learned of their plan. >> They said they wanted to go u find this
01:45:42
kid that had been uh you know messing around with Mara to teach him a lesson. And how did you know Mara Shiner?
01:45:49
>> That was Walter's girlfriend. Michael noticed John McCabe was thumbming and he said, "There he is."
01:45:59
Then we pulled up next to John. Michael got out and grabbed him and uh pushed him in the back seat where I was.
01:46:07
Michael was facing back um at John trying to to to smack him and John had his arms up to try to to stop him from
01:46:17
doing that. We went under the spaghetti belt bridge. >> Brown says they drove up a dirt road to
01:46:24
the vacant lot and pulled over >> and we got him outside the car. >> Who pushed John out of the car?
01:46:30
>> I did. I thought they were just going to slap him around. >> What happened next? Then Michael and
01:46:37
Walter uh wrestled John, tripped him up and got him on the ground. >> Brown testified that he and Shelley held
01:46:44
John McCabe down while Ferrer tied him up. >> Michael tied his ankles, then went
01:46:51
around and tied his his uh wrists together. Then he took another piece of rope around his ankles and attached it
01:46:57
up to his neck. They had put tape on his mouth. John's uh squirming, wiggling, trying to get out. He's lying on his
01:47:06
belly uh with his legs up in the air and his um his head turned sideways. Then they [clears throat] said um
01:47:14
that this will teach you to uh to mess with Marlor anymore and we got in the car and left.
01:47:25
>> Brown says they drove around drinking beer for a while. Then um I I told him that we we should
01:47:33
go back and let him go. Brown says they eventually returned to the lot. >> Michael and Walter got out of the car
01:47:41
and went over to him. They were there for about 30 to 45 seconds and they came quickly back to
01:47:47
the car. We started to drive off and one of them said that he wasn't breathing. >> John McCabe had died of strangulation.
01:48:05
I wonder I wonder what he thought of that night. >> Then they uh they brought me home.
01:48:17
>> What did you do? >> I remember I think I cried. Brown says he kept the murder a secret
01:48:26
for 41 years because he was afraid of Michael Ferrer. >> Michael said if anybody talks to anybody
01:48:35
about this, I'll kill him. Alan Brown's a freaking liar. And I mean, they know that. According to the prosecutor, he's
01:48:41
been a Iraq in Afghanistan five years. Maybe he's got something wrong in his head.
01:48:46
>> They talk about these people that give false confessions. Either he did it with somebody else or by himself or he
01:48:56
is really a messed up human being. >> My sense of Edward Brown was he was easily led.
01:49:03
>> Eric Wilson, Michael Ferrer's attorney, believes that police pressured Edward
01:49:07
Allen Brown because he was someone they could force into confessing to a crime he did not commit. They also offered him
01:49:16
a deal, no jail time. Edward Brown did not walk into LOL Police Department headquarters and say, "Look, I got to
01:49:23
get this off my chest." After being interrogated by trained detectives over the course of many days, he was faced
01:49:29
with the threat of spending the rest of his life in jail. Uh, or he could tell the police what they wanted to hear.
01:49:35
>> Walter Shel and Mike Ferrer picked you up at your house at 10:30, right? >> Yes.
01:49:39
>> The question that I had to answer for the jury is why would he tell them that
01:49:45
if he didn't do it? >> Did you think you could do that? That's a tough cell. >> It was a tough cell. Um, but
01:49:53
Ed Brown gave me a lot to work with. >> You were fed information. It was a dirt lot, right?
01:49:57
>> Yes. >> Over the course of two days, Ferrer's attorney grilled Brown relentlessly.
01:50:03
>> And in your four or five trial prep sessions >> until Brown admitted that the
01:50:08
prosecution had fed him parts of his story. >> You were fed information that it was
01:50:13
near a rare tower, right? >> Yes. And you're being told that Shelley was jealous over Mara Shiner, right?
01:50:18
>> Yes. >> There are certain pieces of information that an investigator may provide to
01:50:23
someone who they're interviewing to see whether or not they know anything about that, to see whether or not it jogs
01:50:29
their memory. >> Well, but couldn't that also be a way of telegraphing to the witness what you
01:50:35
want him to say? Well, in this case, that didn't have to happen because Brown was the one who talked about the rope,
01:50:41
the tape, the binding of John. However, Brown got his story. Wilson claims it cannot be true because it does not fit
01:50:51
the evidence. In fact, in the 1969 police reports, detectives noted that they were unable to find any evidence of
01:50:59
a scuffle. There was no suggestion anywhere around John McCabe's body or the scene that
01:51:05
that struggle described by Edward Brown ever took place. >> Why would Edward Allen Brown lie and
01:51:13
implicate himself so directly in what happened unless it was the truth? >> Your testimony has not always been
01:51:19
10:30, has it? >> Wilson thought it was not enough to try to discredit Brown. He also had to punch
01:51:25
holes in the alleged motive, jealousy over a girl. He'll do it by calling that girl.
01:51:33
>> My name is Marla Shiner >> to the witness stand. >> That you would have known each other
01:51:37
from being Mr. Brown, you've lied under oath when you're scared, right? >> Yes. >> You've lied under oath when you're
01:51:56
nervous, right? >> Yes. >> You've lied under oath when you're frightened, right?
01:51:59
>> Correct. >> Prosecutors had a problem with their star witness, Edward Allen Brown. He
01:52:06
seemed to wither under strong cross-examination from the defense. >> You still can't get your facts straight,
01:52:12
can you? >> No. So, prosecutor Tom O'Reilly called Detective Linda Coughlin to counter
01:52:18
accusations that she'd forced Edward Allen Brown to confess and fed him details.
01:52:24
>> At any point, did you feed him information as to the investigation? >> Never.
01:52:30
>> But Eric Wilson says Coughlin also had tunnel vision and ignored evidence of other suspects. There were a number of
01:52:38
investigative reports and material that you either overlooked or didn't even know about. True.
01:52:45
>> I don't know what you're referring to. >> How about Richard Santos? >> Richard Santos was flagged in this
01:52:51
Tukesberry police report as a suspect in the McCabe murder in 1974. Santos was arrested for committing a
01:53:01
crime eerily similar to John McCabe's murder. This young woman was abducted on Route
01:53:09
38. Her feet were bound, her hands were tied behind her back, her mouth was duct
01:53:14
taped, and her eyes were taped shut. All of the facts that surround Santos as a possible subject lead you to be
01:53:23
suspicious. But there was never anything tying him to mode of opportunity means.
01:53:30
>> Information on Richard Santos. Still, the judge allowed the jury to hear about
01:53:34
Santos and another suspect. >> With respect to Robert Mley, >> Robert Mley, a local 25year-old who
01:53:43
reportedly knew both Ferrer and Shelley and was suffering from mental illness. >> He was labeled long before you were
01:53:52
assigned this case as a strong suspect. Right. There is a report that uses the word for
01:54:02
him strong suspect and the very same report mentions Mr. Ferrer as a prime suspect.
01:54:09
>> But it's how Mori became a strong suspect that makes him so interesting. Police learned about him shortly after
01:54:16
the crime from his own brothers. But more his own brothers went in and said that they thought he might have been
01:54:23
involved in it. Yeah, they thought he might have. >> Former DA Jerry Leone says Morley's
01:54:30
brothers were mistaken. >> I think what happens in matters like this is people will say, um, sure, you
01:54:36
should take a look at X or Y because they have a profile of somebody who would do something like this and they
01:54:43
were around the area at the time. But then you have to look at the evidence and see whether or not the evidence
01:54:49
leads you to believe that they had anything to do with it. Do the brothers have any specific evidence that you're
01:54:56
aware of? >> They did not. >> He split to Florida the day after he was questioned by police.
01:55:01
>> Mr. Morley, years later, in my estimate, committed suicide. >> You learned of his death is suicide,
01:55:08
right? He jumped off a bridge, right? >> His brother says he fell off a bridge. >> The defense also tried to punch holes in
01:55:16
the alleged motive for the murder and called a surprising witness to do it. Yes, my name is Marla Shiner and my
01:55:23
spelling of my last name is S H I N E R. >> Thank you. >> Mara Shiner, the girl who Walter Shelley
01:55:31
and Mike Ferrer allegedly killed for. Edward Allen Brown had just testified that Mara was Shel's girlfriend in
01:55:39
September of ' 69. And Shelley was jealous because Jon was flirting with her. But Mara says Jon never flirted
01:55:49
with her. Did you ever go to a dance with John McCabe? >> Never. >> Ever convey to you that he had any type
01:55:54
of romantic interest in you in August or September of 1969? >> None. >> The McCabe say it doesn't matter if the
01:56:02
flirting was real or imagined. >> She could have been just stopped and said hello to John
01:56:08
and Shelley could have walked by and seen it. >> And he's going to explode. >> Next, Mara threw the prosecution a
01:56:16
curveball. September 26th, 1969. Were you dating Walter Shel? >> No, I was not dating Walter when when
01:56:26
John McCabe died. >> When did you start dating him then? >> I believe it was after that death.
01:56:31
>> How old were you? >> 13. >> You 13 September 69. >> I don't know. I can't do the math right
01:56:38
here. But according to police, Mara told them she was dating Shelley at the time
01:56:43
and was just 12 years old when they started seeing each other. >> You didn't tell the police that you were
01:56:49
dating Walter Shel >> in 1969 when John McCabe was killed. >> I No, I don't believe I did tell him
01:56:57
that. >> Why lie about dating someone unless it was because of her that John was
01:57:02
murdered? 48 Hours had questions for Mara Shiner, too, but she declined our request for an interview. Mara
01:57:11
eventually married Walter Shel, but it didn't last. She said he was very violent.
01:57:18
>> Miss Sha, was Walter Shel a jealous man? >> Absolutely. >> It appears that [music] we're ready to
01:57:25
proceed then. >> Judge, at this point in time, the defendant would rest. This was a
01:57:30
hard-fought trial till the end and then it was up to the jury to decide. Did Mike Ferrer help Walter Shelley killed
01:57:38
John McCabe over a girl? Or was Edward Allen Brown telling a story the prosecution wanted to hear.
01:57:47
>> It only took jurors 5 hours to decide. >> I told Michael that we had to hope for
01:57:52
the best, but be prepared for the worst. And uh he was ready for that. May I have the verdict slip, please?
01:58:01
>> For the McCabe family, more than four [snorts] decades of waiting and working
01:58:07
came down to this moment. What did you think the verdict was going to be? >> Guilty.
01:58:14
My god, he was guilty. If for no other reason, he was there. >> It's hard to understand how the jury
01:58:23
could, you know, anticipate otherwise. Bill McCabe was too nervous and too sick to sit in the courtroom that day. So he
01:58:32
waited in another room while Evelyn and their daughters heard the verdict. >> What say you to this indictment, ma'am?
01:58:40
Is the defendant guilty or not guilty? >> Not guilty. >> Not guilty. >> Michael Ferrer.
01:58:46
>> Everyone, including Mike Ferrer, was so stunned. It took a while to sink in when
01:58:53
the verdict came in. When you heard that that Ferrer had been acquainted, >> I had to go tell my husband that.
01:58:58
>> Were you afraid to tell him? >> Yes. >> Why? >> I was afraid he was going to die.
01:59:04
>> Tragically, Evelyn was right. Just 4 days after the verdict, Bill McCabe's heart gave out and he gave up.
01:59:18
>> What do you think killed your husband? >> Stress. the stress of the trial. >> While Evelyn McCabe laid her husband to
01:59:29
rest next to their son, the DA's office had a decision to make after losing the case against Mike Ferrer. Would it go
01:59:38
ahead with the trial of Walter Shelley? There goes Jack. >> All the girls are singing love songs.
02:00:00
All the boys are >> I still don't believe Bill's gone. I can still hear him snore [music] in the
02:00:10
night and then I I feel the bed. He's not there. Evelyn McCabe was determined to honor
02:00:20
her husband's dying [music] wish. >> He laid in the hospital bed and I says, "I'll pick up and take over for you."
02:00:29
>> She'd see to it that someone would pay for John's murder. >> The jurors find Michael Ferrer not
02:00:35
guilty. [music] >> Watching Michael Ferrer go free was tough for some jurors, too. So, how hard
02:00:42
was it for you to acquit him? It was very difficult. >> One of the jurors, Michael Duket, says
02:00:48
the biggest problem was Edward Allen Brown. The >> plan was to teach him a lesson for
02:00:53
messing with Maron. >> Did the majority of the jurors believe him? >> No. >> Why not?
02:00:58
>> They just felt that he was not telling the truth. >> I thought they were just going to slap
02:01:03
him around and >> they felt that he had been fed information and that didn't make a ton
02:01:07
of sense to me. Maybe he wasn't the best witness, but I just can't see somebody saying I did it when they didn't do it.
02:01:16
>> Det came to believe Brown and wanted to find Michael Ferrer guilty of something,
02:01:22
but the only choices the jurors had were first and seconddegree murder. So, what
02:01:28
did you want to convict him of? >> Manslaughter, and it wasn't an option. >> We are extremely pleased with the jury's
02:01:35
verdict. Despite the Ferrer loss, prosecutors decided to try to convict the other suspect in the murder, Walter
02:01:44
Shelley. >> The acquitt in the Ferrer case didn't do anything to lessen our belief that we
02:01:48
had the right people who were responsible for killing John McCabe. >> All right.
02:01:53
>> September 3rd, 2013, 7 months after Michael Ferrer's acquitt, >> this murder was about John McCabe.
02:02:01
>> It was Walter Shel's turn to stand trial. Shelley was 17 the night of John's murder. He's now 61, remarried,
02:02:11
and has lived quietly in Tukesbury ever since. Just a few miles from Evelyn McCabe.
02:02:18
>> Walter Shel is sitting on the small of his back holding hands. >> If convicted of firstdegree murder, Shel
02:02:24
could spend the rest of his life in prison. >> They wrestle him to the ground. It was
02:02:30
the same case prosecutors presented against Michael Ferrer. The same motive, >> jealousy,
02:02:37
>> and the same evidence. >> The ropes that came off the victim's body >> presented by the same witnesses, Marla
02:02:44
Shiner, Detective Linda Coughlin, and once again, the state's star witness, >> Edward Allen Brown.
02:02:52
>> I heard one of them say he's not breathing. >> Was it any easier to sit through the
02:02:57
second trial? No, I want to say it was harder. Dad wasn't there for backup. >> You were called a liar repeatedly.
02:03:04
>> Yes, I was. >> Brown seemed less rattled this time, more confident, and the McCabes allowed
02:03:11
themselves to hope. >> I can keep my fingers, my toes, everything crossed. >> During closing arguments, the defense
02:03:19
called Brown a liar. >> He'll tell you whatever you want to hear. But the prosecution argued that
02:03:25
Brown would never implicate himself in a crime he did not commit. >> What did he confess for? He was talked
02:03:32
into it. >> The week-long trial went to the jury. This would be the McCabe's last chance
02:03:39
to see someone held accountable for killing John. >> We had faith that the jury was going to
02:03:46
come with the right answer this time. >> Finally, two days later, a verdict. person. Has your jury agreed upon its
02:03:53
verdict? >> Yes, we have. >> Pass the verdict of solo, please. >> Walter Shel's wife and family waited
02:03:59
nervously. Evelyn McCabe couldn't bring herself to even sit in the courtroom and
02:04:05
had to wait outside. >> She couldn't hear another not guilty. >> And the verdicts be reportedly.
02:04:13
>> She was scared she was going to drop dead. >> Charging the defendant, Walter Shel,
02:04:17
with the offense of murder. What say was the defendant guilty or not guilty? Guilty.
02:04:24
>> Guilty of what? >> First degree. >> Guilty. And life behind bars for Walter Shelley. This jury believed Brown.
02:04:35
>> So when you heard guilty, do you remember the first thing you thought? >> I thought my father would be proud.
02:04:42
We got one of them. It was the final twist in a mystery filled with them. For the same crime and
02:04:54
on the same evidence, one man walked free, one man went to prison. Hey, John, guess what?
02:05:11
We got him. Billy, it turned out beautifully. >> He didn't live to write about it, but
02:05:21
Bill McCabe finally got the end he was looking for to the story he wrote about John's life and death. A story that took
02:05:32
four decades to play out. He was 15 years 6 months and two weeks >> about his boy who will be 15 years 6
02:05:43
months and 2 weeks old forever. >> He's done. Please [snorts] take good care of him
02:05:51
till I get there. Please. And then I will [snorts] >> [music] [music] >> CBS Next. A step-daughter's trust
02:06:36
betrayed. >> She found naked photos of herself on her stepdad's computer. >> Hundreds. Hundreds.
02:06:42
>> Then Tom Marman is found dead. Was it revenge? >> Did you want your stepfather dead? 48
02:06:47
hours prime time double feature continues next on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.
02:07:07
There's nothing in this world that anybody can ever do to me that's going to be worse than what I've
02:07:14
seen. >> [music] >> I received a call from the sheriff's department that there had been a
02:07:23
homicide. [music] >> It was very devastating. There wasn't a lot of murders in Washington County.
02:07:31
Everyone knew everyone. [music] They all knew Michael. They all went to school with him. Everyone knew Rita.
02:07:41
>> I was really close to my mom. She was always at my football games, my baseball game. She's always had the
02:07:48
camcorder out. She was recording me. >> Come on, son. >> This murder was as brutal as they come.
02:08:01
>> The first responders called this crime scene horrific. >> There's blood all over the room.
02:08:12
Some sort of object was used to hit Rita at least once. >> Mike finds her body burning on the floor
02:08:19
of her room. >> I was scared to death. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who to call. I
02:08:23
didn't know I didn't know what to do. [music] >> My name is Michael Polite and when I was
02:08:30
14 years old, I was arrested for the murder of my mother. >> Would either [music] one of you ever,
02:08:37
ever think, and be honest with me, that he might hurt your mother? No, >> I never thought he would hurt our mom.
02:08:42
No, >> she was very close with Michael. You know, [music] he was her baby. >> Tell me about December 4th, 1998. Do you
02:08:54
remember that evening >> vividly? I was home and then I see headlights coming down the the driveway and it's my
02:09:02
mom and uh she comes into the house and she said, "I love you. Good night. I'll see you in the morning."
02:09:08
>> Is that the last thing your mom ever said? That's the last thing she ever said to me.
02:09:13
[snorts] Next thing I remember, I I woke up and I see a light haze in my room. I opened my
02:09:19
door, I could see her feet and she was on fire from the waist up [snorts] and I could hear it.
02:09:30
>> What could you hear? >> Cracking of a fire. [music] How soon did investigators focus [music]
02:09:41
on Michael? >> Immediately. >> Immediately. >> He is a suspect from the moment they
02:09:46
arrive at the scene. They said this kid [music] didn't act the way they expected. He wasn't emotional enough.
02:09:53
You look like a pretty good suspect. You were [music] a person who loved to set fires. You had had arguments with your
02:10:01
mother. You were having trouble in school. But none of that suggests [music] anything about murder.
02:10:07
>> Were there any injuries on Michael? On your brother? >> None. >> Any blood found on him, on his clothing?
02:10:14
[music] >> No. >> And no weapon? No. >> Let me ask you a question. What 14-year-old [music] kid could commit a
02:10:22
crime that violent and that vicious and not leave any any forensic evidence behind whatsoever? That's not possible.
02:10:32
Michael was convicted of murder in the second degree. >> He was sentenced [music] to life.
02:10:39
>> Michael, did you kill your mom? >> No. >> And there's only one individual that I
02:10:46
know that hates her that much to do that to her. >> [music] [music] [music] [music]
02:11:39
[music] >> This is where the Pit family home once stood on December 5th, 1998. The day
02:11:47
Michael Pit says he woke up to find his mother's body lying on her bedroom floor
02:11:53
on fire. What I seen was hatred and evil. >> He was 14 years old. >> The individual that did that to my
02:12:03
mother hated her with everything inside of him. >> Rita Pite was [music] just 40 when she
02:12:11
died. >> There's a lot of pictures of us and mom. >> All these years later, Michael's older
02:12:17
sisters, Crystal and Melanie, still [music] have vivid memories. >> That's Crystal. That's mom. And that's
02:12:24
me. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Rita? >> Her laugh. She
02:12:30
>> was [laughter] always laughing, smiling. >> Michael and his sisters grew up in the
02:12:38
tiny rural community of Hopewell, Missouri. It's about 70 mi southwest of St. Louis.
02:12:45
>> We didn't lock our doors. We lived by all of our family. >> We rode bicycles and motorcycles. I was
02:12:51
happy. Michael went by the nickname Bernie back then. >> His middle name is Bernard. It's short
02:12:58
for Bernard. >> Their parents, Edward and Rita, got married as teens. And Crystal and
02:13:03
Melanie say the couple had their struggles. He was very mentally abusive. >> He also cheated on her a lot.
02:13:16
>> But she loved him. love. It outweighed any other feeling she ever had. >> Eventually though, love wasn't enough.
02:13:27
>> I witnessed violence between the two of them. >> There were allegations of domestic
02:13:31
violence on both sides. The year before the murder, there was an incident where police were called. Michael told an
02:13:39
officer that his dad pushed his mom to the floor and choked her. The couple ultimately divorced in the summer of
02:13:46
1998 after [music] more than 20 years of marriage. The divorce decree cited Edward's infidelity.
02:13:55
>> My dad would he would try to pay me to come live with him. I wouldn't I want to
02:13:58
live with mom. >> Michael ended up having to split time [music] between both parents.
02:14:06
On December 4th, 1998, he was at his mom's. That night she was out working at a local bar and Michael was home alone.
02:14:16
>> Probably 7, 8 or so. I get bored. I ride my bicycle down to a general store. >> It's there that Michael says he met up
02:14:24
with his friend, 15-year-old Josh Sonsy, who he invited to sleep over. The two hung out for hours until Michael's mom
02:14:33
got home around midnight. >> I asked him, I said, "Man, where do you want to sleep at? You can sleep here in
02:14:39
the living room on a fold out couch or you can just sleep in, you know, in the floor in my room. He's like, I just
02:14:44
crash in the floor. [bell] >> Michael says he slept through the night until just before 6:30 a.m. when he and
02:14:52
Josh awoke and noticed smoke in the room. >> We ran out of the room. My mom's bedroom
02:14:58
door is facing me and I can see the glow, an orange glow in that area. [music] He says he called out to his mom, but
02:15:08
there was no answer. >> Michael, what are you feeling at this point? >> Panic, fear.
02:15:15
>> Michael says he went and grabbed a hose outside and then ran toward his mom's
02:15:19
room. And what he saw he'd never forget. >> I seen blood on her legs. Then she was on fire from the waist up.
02:15:29
Now I turn the water hose on. I don't know how long it set to her. It could have been minutes. It could
02:15:37
have been seconds. I don't know. >> Josh ran to get help, but it was too late. >> Crystal would soon get a call from her
02:15:49
brother with the news. >> I just sat on my bed and I just kept saying, "I don't want to go.
02:15:57
I don't want to go. I don't want to go." Because you know then you know it's real.
02:16:06
>> Crystal picked Melanie up and by the time they got to the scene police cars and fire trucks were lining the
02:16:13
driveway. Mike was in the front seat, passenger side of the police car, and we just ran up to the window, asked him
02:16:21
what was like, "What happened?" And he had sit on his face and he had tear marks all down his face and he said, "I
02:16:30
don't know. Mom's dead." You could smell the smoke. You could smell flesh. >> [music]
02:16:37
>> Tammy Nash worked for the Washington County Sheriff's Office back then and was one of the responding officers.
02:16:46
It was clear that this was a murder. Rita had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and blood was visible on her
02:16:54
bedroom walls, indicating a struggle had occurred. A fire marshal quickly concluded that an accelerant was used to
02:17:03
set her on fire. What was your job at that point? What was your assignment? >> Together the evidence.
02:17:10
We was looking for anything that she could have been struck with. [music] We never found a weapon.
02:17:17
While Tammy processed the scene, Michael and Josh were taken away to the sheriff's office for questioning. A
02:17:25
police report indicates that on the way, Michael asked an officer something that
02:17:30
quickly put him under suspicion. He asked, "What's going to happen to my mom's truck?"
02:17:37
>> Isn't that an odd thing to say after you just saw your mother on fire? >> I don't think so.
02:17:44
>> When you lose someone, you want to hang on to things. To me, that's all it was,
02:17:48
you know, and our mom loved that truck. >> But it did raise eyebrows. And at the
02:17:54
sheriff's office, Michael was given a voice stress test. >> And then they told me that I failed.
02:18:00
Investigators also took Michael's shoes so that an accelerant sniffing dog could
02:18:06
examine them. >> They said the dog alerted to my shoes to an accelerant. >> How would you describe the tone of the
02:18:12
questioning after the dogs alerted on your shoes and after you failed this voice stress test?
02:18:19
>> They wasn't questioning me no more. They were telling me that I did something.
02:18:26
Michael and Josh both insisted they didn't know [music] what happened to Rita, that they had stayed in Michael's
02:18:32
room all night, but investigators told them they didn't believe them. The boys were questioned repeatedly, and 2 days
02:18:41
after the murder, Josh gave a videotaped statement [music] with an officer on each side and his
02:18:47
mother present. That statement seemed to poke a hole in Michael's account. He said he woke up to a noise in the middle
02:18:56
of the night. >> I heard a little thud and I thought I heard like a a woman's voice.
02:19:03
>> Did Bernie wake up too or did you see Bernie in the room at that time? >> No.
02:19:08
>> Bernie wasn't in bed? >> I didn't see him. >> Could you have seen him if he was you?
02:19:14
>> Is that yes or no? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, there's no doubt he wasn't in bed. >> Okay. And was he anywhere else in that
02:19:22
bedroom? >> No. >> Shortly after Josh gave that statement on December 7th, 1998,
02:19:31
14-year-old Michael Pit was arrested for his mother's murder. >> I always believed
02:19:38
that I was going to be found innocent because having anything to do with what happened to my mother.
02:19:45
Oh, was I in for a rude awakening. He looks like a really happy kid. He was always really happy.
02:20:09
>> When Melanie and Crystal learned that their 14-year-old brother had been arrested for their mother's murder, they
02:20:16
say they couldn't believe it. How are they coming up with that conclusion? I I just thought they were crazy. [music]
02:20:22
>> He didn't do it. No one had cleared. >> Chuck and Paty Skyles are Michael's uncle and aunt. They live next door to
02:20:29
where the crime took place. They also felt police had made a mistake. >> You know, we was the first ones to see
02:20:36
him after it happened. He had no scratches, no nothing on him. >> He's always giving his mom a hug.
02:20:43
>> He loved his [music] mom. But while Michael's family believed in his innocence, the truth is Michael was
02:20:51
hardly the model child. Something that even he admits. >> You failed seventh grade three times.
02:20:59
>> Yeah, I was on my third year uh because I became I just wasn't going. Skipping school is one thing, but 10
02:21:07
months before the murder, things got so bad that Michael was hospitalized for behavioral issues after he threatened to
02:21:15
kill his mother and himself. >> For whatever reason, I told her that I would put her six feet under just like
02:21:21
her mom and dad. >> Did you mean that, Michael? >> No, I didn't. And it's the biggest
02:21:27
regret of my life. >> Melanie and Crystal blame Michael's misbehavior on their parents' divorce.
02:21:33
Our dad would kind of put him in the middle. >> Michael was clearly an angry, troubled
02:21:39
teenager. >> Yeah, I think he was mad at our dad for sure. Was he mad at your mom as well?
02:21:44
>> No, I think I mean I know they didn't always get along perfectly. Um I don't think any parent and child does.
02:21:53
>> Three years passed with Michael in custody awaiting trial and then the prosecution came to him with a deal.
02:22:01
plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and he'd [music] spend a maximum of 15 years in prison.
02:22:08
>> I rejected it. >> You didn't [music] think about it? >> Nope. >> Why not? >> Cuz I didn't murder my mother.
02:22:14
>> In January 2002, Michael P, then 17 years old, went on trial. His life was on the line. The prosecutors and defense
02:22:25
attorney who tried the case [music] didn't respond to our calls. But Josh Hedgecourt, the current prosecutor of
02:22:31
Washington County, where the murder took place, was willing to talk about the case. What was the most important
02:22:39
evidence? >> The scientific evidence, and that would start with the shoes that he was wearing
02:22:45
at the sheriff's office. Not only had a dog detected an accelerant on Michael's shoes, according
02:22:52
to the prosecution, [music] later testing also confirmed the presence of gasoline on them. And there
02:22:59
was testimony that an accelerant had been used to burn Rita's body. >> And so all of these components together,
02:23:06
I think, solidified that he must [music] have set the fire. But Michael had told
02:23:10
police the gasoline found on his shoes meant nothing [music] and that he and his friends would often set fires for
02:23:17
fun. >> But we all did that. It was in it was in the country. [music] >> In fact, Michael told police that just
02:23:23
hours before the murder. He and his friend Josh used gasoline to set a fire on the railroad tracks near his house
02:23:31
before Rita got home. >> Does show the persistence of fire. But the prosecution used that admission as
02:23:38
another piece of evidence against Michael. >> See the heavy charring in it? >> They argued the burn pattern on the
02:23:45
tracks matched [music] the burn pattern on Rita. >> See the outlets showing nothing
02:23:49
electrical that could have caused the fire. >> Linda Dickerson Bell and Jonathan
02:23:54
[music] Peterson were jurors on the case. >> I'm like that's it's not looking good
02:23:59
for him. What they were telling us was that Michael had a problem with burning and that he was the only person that
02:24:05
could have done this. >> The jurors never heard about Michael's problems at school and that threat to
02:24:11
his mother, but a [music] witness testified about a disagreement that Michael had with his mother weeks before
02:24:18
the murder. It was over money and he sat [music] flicking a lighter afterwards. >> It happened, but not in the way that the
02:24:27
state portrayed it. I was flicking the wheel on the lighter. That's that. >> You weren't threatening your mother with
02:24:32
that? >> No. >> And there was something even more damaging. The prosecution claimed that
02:24:39
Michael had actually confessed [music] to the crime. during a suicide attempt at a juvenile detention center exactly
02:24:47
one month after the murder. Three witnesses who worked there wrote in reports that Michael said, "I haven't
02:24:55
cared since I killed my mom." But Michael says that's not what he said. When they asked you why you were trying
02:25:03
to kill yourself, you say you said what? >> I haven't cared since I killed my mom.
02:25:08
It's the difference of one word, but that one word carried a lot of weight, and the jury would never hear from
02:25:17
Michael because when it was the defense's turn, he didn't take the stand. >> Today's date is the 7th day of December,
02:25:25
1998. And leaving the jury with even more unanswered questions was the fact that they were told that Josh, the other
02:25:33
boy in the house that night, had been granted immunity. >> I kept waiting, thinking, "Okay, well,
02:25:39
if he's been given immunity, then he's got to have something to offer." >> But the jury never saw or heard from
02:25:45
Josh at all. He wasn't called to the stand, [music] and they were never shown his videotape statement. Michael's
02:25:53
sisters also weren't called. But I never really heard anybody in his defense say
02:25:57
Michael didn't do this. >> Instead, the defense hinged its case on the lack of direct evidence. No murder
02:26:05
weapon had been found. And despite the violence of the attack, Michael had no injuries and no blood on his clothing.
02:26:14
After 3 days of testimony, the case went to the jury. >> To hold someone's life in your hand,
02:26:22
have you ever done that? It's not a pleasant thing to do. I wanted to get it right.
02:26:28
>> But Linda and Jonathan say they were left with so many questions. Too many questions. And they felt pressured by
02:26:36
other members of the jury. >> I I think everybody finally just got to me and just like, you know, we're ready
02:26:43
to go home. And then I was like, yeah, but you're ready to go home and this kid's ready to go to prison.
02:26:52
After more than four hours, the jury filed into the courtroom with their verdict. Guilty of seconddegree murder.
02:27:02
>> I wept. >> Why? >> Because it was wrong. >> Michael was sentenced to life in prison.
02:27:20
It was um it was it was unbelievable. It was I I never thought [music] it would happen.
02:27:26
>> Michael would spend years in a Missouri prison before a new team of lawyers would take his case and make it their
02:27:33
mission to turn it around. The state essentially never really had any case against this kid, but the case that they
02:27:41
even did have back at trial has been indisputably proven false. After Michael Pulite was convicted and
02:28:03
sentenced to life at the age of 18, he was sent to the Missouri State Penitentiary, once called the bloodiest
02:28:10
47 acres in America. >> Being so young, I was a target. I got in a fight my first day there. Dudes were
02:28:18
trying to rape me. >> Michael says he became desperate for some sense of safety.
02:28:24
>> You became a skin [music] head? >> Yeah. Join a gang. >> That's where you got the tattoos.
02:28:28
>> Yep. >> It was something that I felt like I needed to do to survive. It's not the
02:28:32
way that I feel. Um it's not the way that mom raised me. I just didn't fit in. >> Michael says he longed to prove his
02:28:42
innocence and get out of prison. he needed to hire a lawyer. So he says he asked his dad for help.
02:28:49
>> Did he? >> Nope. >> So how did you keep up any hope at all? >> I didn't for a few years. I was heroin
02:28:55
addict. Um anytime I left my cell, I was looking for drugs. I was just self-medicating.
02:29:03
>> That's the way [music] things were until Michael finally found something that
02:29:07
gave him hope. >> [music] >> 5 years after his conviction, he wrote a letter to the Midwest Innocence Project
02:29:15
and they agreed to take his case. The organization worked on it for years and eventually attorneys Trisha Bushnell,
02:29:23
Megan Crane, and Mark Emerson became involved. >> Mike [music] was convicted because he
02:29:30
was a kid, pure and simple. They said he wasn't emotional enough. Trauma doesn't
02:29:35
look like what people think it should [music] look like. Trisha, Megan, and Mark picked apart the case against
02:29:42
Michael. [music] They say it was based on bad science. >> Break his trips. >> Started with the prosecution's claim
02:29:49
that an accelerant was used to set the fire that killed Rita. When the fire investigator came to the scene, they
02:29:57
immediately determined it was a fuel-fed fire based on just visual patterns just
02:30:03
based on looking at the scene which at the time violated gold standards of fire investigation. There has to be lab
02:30:11
testing. >> Control sample taken there >> and lab testing was done on carpet samples from the crime scene. No
02:30:19
accelerant was detected. The prosecution explained that away by saying it could have burned up, but defense attorney
02:30:28
Megan Crane says that suggestion isn't reasonable. >> There's no scientific basis for that
02:30:34
being possible. >> Do you believe that the jury believed that in fact there was an accelerant
02:30:39
used to set Rita on fire? >> Absolutely. The main case against Michael was that it was a gasoline fire
02:30:47
and in order to attempt to tie Mike to the crime, the only physical evidence was the gasoline that the state alleged
02:30:54
was on his shoes. >> But Michael's new lawyers say that Michael's shoes didn't have gasoline on
02:31:00
them either. >> Another footprint found. >> They say [music] a chemical used in the
02:31:05
shoe manufacturing process was wrongly identified as gasoline at trial. And even the Missouri State Crime Lab
02:31:13
agrees. In this 2020 [music] letter, officials say it is now known that solvents found in footwear
02:31:20
adhesives have similarities to gasoline, [music] but that in the late 1990s, this
02:31:27
knowledge was not widely known. Could the dogs have been alerting to the chemicals used in the shoes?
02:31:35
>> Absolutely. >> The jurors cared about the gas on the shoes. They asked to see the shoes. It
02:31:40
was the nail in the coffin. >> But what about Michael's alleged confession at the juvenile detention
02:31:48
[music] center? Witnesses wrote that they heard him say, "I haven't cared since I killed my mom." But Michael
02:31:56
insists he said, "I haven't cared since they killed my mom." In the same way we talk about tunnel
02:32:04
vision, people can hear what they want to hear. [music] We're talking about one word in a room where there's lots of
02:32:11
activity happening. They have a a kid in the detention center that they believe has probably committed this crime,
02:32:17
right? And so that's their view of him. There is one big question that remains. What about Josh Sansi? Remember, the
02:32:29
jury was told he got immunity and there was that videotape statement where he told police that he woke up in the
02:32:37
middle of the night and [music] Michael wasn't there. >> So, there's no doubt he wasn't in bed.
02:32:44
>> Okay. And was he anywhere else in that bedroom? >> No. >> Now, many years after the crime, Josh is
02:32:50
[music] speaking publicly for the first time about what he says really happened that night. I spent the majority of my
02:32:59
life just trying to forget about it. I've done pretty good just moving on with it.
02:33:21
But I mean it's it's still it's always there, you know. Josh Sansusi is now 39 years old.
02:33:34
He says he's never been quite the same since he woke up from that sleepover at Michaels at the age of 15 and found
02:33:41
himself in the middle of a murder investigation. He says he was questioned by police
02:33:49
repeatedly for hours at a time. Every time I tell them something, they would be like, "No, that's not what happened.
02:33:56
This is what happened." I remember telling my mom, I said, I said said, "They keep saying [music]
02:34:01
that I'm lying." I said, "I don't even know if I'm telling the truth anymore." >> But the truth, Josh says, is that
02:34:07
nothing out of the ordinary happened on that night in question. >> It was just like a normal night.
02:34:14
>> I couldn't sleep very good at night. I was kind of waking up. I woke up one time. But what about that videotape
02:34:19
statement where Josh told police that he woke up in the middle of the night and Michael wasn't there?
02:34:25
>> So there's no doubt he wasn't in bed. Okay. And was he anywhere else in that bedroom?
02:34:31
>> No. >> I don't remember ever saying that. And I feel like if I said that, then it was
02:34:36
maybe at a weak point or something. >> Michael's attorneys say they've seen this all too often in interrogations.
02:34:44
What we see in Josh's interrogation is the result of hours and hours of interrogation. And every other time he
02:34:50
has never ever said that that was what happened. >> In a deposition right before Michael
02:34:54
went on trial, Josh said that he never sat up from where he was sleeping on the floor and that it's not that I did not
02:35:02
see him in his bed. It's I couldn't see him in his bed. >> There's no way I could see anything
02:35:08
that's on top of the bed. So, why did Josh take that immunity deal? >> I just wanted it because I knew they was
02:35:16
going to try to pin it on me or Bernie. I was like, well, if they'll give me immunity, then maybe I don't have
02:35:24
anything to worry about. You know, >> Michael's lawyers say the prosecution was likely trying to get Josh to flip on
02:35:31
Michael. And the fact they didn't even put Josh on the stand says it all. They didn't [snorts] call him because it
02:35:38
wasn't going to go well for them. He had nothing helpful to say for the state. Why didn't the defense call Josh? That's
02:35:45
a great question, Aaron. And there's a lot of great questions about what the defense didn't do and who they didn't
02:35:51
call. >> Michael's trial attorney was a public defender back then. In a court affidavit, he admits that Michael's case
02:35:58
was the first homicide case that he had tried on his own and that today he would
02:36:03
handle his representation of Michael differently. Michael's new legal team was committed
02:36:10
to getting him out of prison. They filed court documents suggesting an alternative suspect, Michael's father,
02:36:18
Edward Pit. >> I believe he is responsible for what happened to the mother. If that's true, [music] that means
02:36:26
Michael's own father stood by and let his son take the fall for a murder that he was behind.
02:36:34
Michael's sisters say their father was furious over the financial terms of the divorce. A judge had finalized them just
02:36:43
4 days before the murder. >> She got half of his retirement >> maintenance >> maintenance child support
02:36:51
>> alimony. And the one thing that I remember about growing up with our dad is you don't mess with his money. You
02:36:59
just don't do it. He had an outburst in the court. He said, "You'll never live to see a
02:37:06
dime of that money." Police did interview Edward Pit after the murder. He had an alibi. He was home
02:37:16
more than 80 miles away at the time of the murder. But Michael's defense team says investigators didn't look hard
02:37:23
enough. >> They didn't at all investigate the possibility that perhaps Ed did this
02:37:28
with someone else. >> And Michael says he believes his dad did arrange the murder and had help.
02:37:34
>> I think he hired Johnny to murder my mother. >> Johnny is Johnny Pite, Edward's [music]
02:37:41
cousin. Michael's legal team identified witnesses who placed Johnny near the crime scene on the morning of the murder
02:37:50
just [music] as first responders were arriving. >> Well, I'd heard sirens and uh as I'm
02:37:59
coming up the road and I'm approaching the railroad tracks, Johnny Polley was walking down railroad tracks.
02:38:06
>> Larry Lee is one of those witnesses. He's known Johnny for years. As he's walking up to my truck, he asked
02:38:17
me if I I heard about Rita. He said, "Somebody killed her." And I'm like, "Do what?"
02:38:26
>> About a week later, [music] Larry's wife, Carolyn, says Johnny came to their door
02:38:33
>> and it was like 6:00 in the morning. He said, "I [music] need to know what you know about Rita's death." He said,
02:38:42
"Me and Edward are doing our own investigation and we heard you were up at the store talking about it." And I
02:38:49
said, "Johnny, I don't know nothing." "No, we need to know what you know," he said. And I said, "You know, I [music]
02:38:55
think it's time for you to go." >> Were you scared? >> A little bit. >> Did the two of you talk to investigators
02:39:03
about this? >> No. We think back now and we wish we would have. >> And I ain't saying he had anything to do
02:39:09
with anything either. I I don't know. But you know, >> another man places Johnny Pit's truck
02:39:18
near the same spot that Larry Lee says he ran into Johnny on the morning of the murder. In an affidavit filed by
02:39:26
Michael's team, the man says he saw the truck just as emergency vehicles were coming down the road. Former
02:39:34
investigator Tammy Nash says she doesn't remember hearing that Johnny Pit had been seen that morning, but she does
02:39:42
recall something that happened in the days after the murder. Once the crime scene had been released,
02:39:51
somebody came in to the sheriff's department and said that they had found a tire iron or tire tool or something
02:39:59
[music] in the closet. Whose closet? Michael's [music] closet. >> Police records show the person who found
02:40:10
that tire tool was Johnny Pit. >> Could you have missed that in your first search?
02:40:17
>> No. >> Are you absolutely sure? >> I am positive I did not miss that. >> If it wasn't there when you searched,
02:40:23
what does that mean? >> That somebody placed it there. >> Tammy went and retrieved the tire tool
02:40:30
from Michael's closet. It was later ruled out as the murder weapon. >> Do you believe that tire iron was put in
02:40:37
your closet to set you up? >> I do. >> Johnny and Edward P didn't respond to our request for an interview. Neither
02:40:47
has been charged in the case. It's been years since Michael and his sisters have
02:40:52
spoken to their father, but they say they did ask him whether he had anything to do with their mother's murder, and he
02:41:00
denied it. It's not our our job and it's not our focus to say who who did commit
02:41:04
this crime. But what we do know is it was not Michael Pulite. >> And while Michael's lawyers were trying
02:41:10
to prove that, [cheering] the case would take a turn. >> Best day in the world. >> I never thought this day would come.
02:41:18
It's amazing. Take an in-depth look at the case at 48 hours. It's hard. It's real hard here in
02:41:35
Missouri to get these convictions overturned. It's a battle. >> I don't know why they don't want to have
02:41:41
a hearing. >> Michael's legal team was shut down [music] by appeals courts at every turn.
02:41:48
It is a constant fight [music] with, you know, Goliath really is what it feels like.
02:41:53
>> Despite the letdowns, Michael and his sisters kept up hope that one day he would be freed. And in 2021, there was
02:42:02
an unexpected development. A bill passed in Missouri giving juvenile offenders convicted of serious crimes a second
02:42:11
chance. >> It gave me an immediate pole hearing. Michael went before the parole board
02:42:16
asking for his release. >> I told him I was innocent and I told him, "This is why I'm innocent. This is
02:42:21
why you should believe I'm innocent." >> It worked. >> On April [music] 22nd, 2022,
02:42:34
Melanie and Crystal brought friends and family >> and a change of clothes to the Jefferson
02:42:41
City Correctional [music] Center. It was a really great day. It was a dream come
02:42:45
true really. >> On that [music] day, Michael Pipe walked out of prison. [laughter]
02:43:01
I love you. I love you. >> Incarcerated at just 14 years old. >> Oh, man. I love you guys, man.
02:43:09
>> He was now 38. >> Where's my lawyer? >> It's overwhelming to see all the love.
02:43:16
All the nights sitting in my cell wondering what it would be like to be out here and have this moment
02:43:20
>> and have it finally come through. It's awesome. >> Yeah, it's it's finally here.
02:43:26
>> I'm free. >> How you doing? Can I have a hug? Michael says he felt his mom's presence when a
02:43:31
bird flew by overhead. >> Hey, mom. >> She's always in my thoughts. She's always in my mind. And everything I do
02:43:39
and everything that I process through today is guided by her. >> Michael [music] left prison that day
02:43:45
doing one of the things he enjoyed most before he went in. >> We're going to take a bike ride from the
02:43:49
parking lot to the railroad tracks. >> You ready to go, man? >> I'm ready. >> I'm leaving here the same way that I
02:43:55
came in here. Riding a bicycle. [laughter] Justice for Rita. Let's go. >> Let's go, man.
02:44:02
[applause and cheering] [laughter] >> Felt good. It was the best bike ride in the world.
02:44:09
>> Welcome home, Mike. >> This is it. >> Welcome home. >> Following his release, Michael moved in
02:44:14
with his sister, Melanie. >> You ready? >> Drum roll. Hey, >> he started getting those reminders of
02:44:21
prison, his tattoos, covered up with this new art. He also found job as a carpenter and got his driver's license.
02:44:31
>> You're now out. Is that enough? >> No, it ain't enough. >> Because as you sit right now, you are a
02:44:37
convicted felon on parole. >> You have a criminal record that says you killed your mother. Yep.
02:44:45
>> Michael wants to clear his name, and it just might happen because Josh Hedgeorth, the current prosecutor in the
02:44:53
county where the murder took place, has filed a motion asking for Michael's conviction to be overturned.
02:45:00
>> To me, it all always comes back to the science. >> Hedge court agrees with Michael's
02:45:04
attorneys that the scientific evidence used to convict Michael is problematic. So, I don't believe that Michael
02:45:12
received a fair trial. I can't say that the prosecutor at the time knew what he was putting on was false. It just
02:45:19
shouldn't have been presented. >> Could you retry Michael Pulite for the murder of his mother based on the
02:45:25
evidence you have today? >> On the evidence I have today, I don't believe I would file this case.
02:45:32
But while the local prosecutor believes Michael's conviction should be thrown out,
02:45:37
>> another public official, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt is fighting it.
02:45:43
>> And every exoneration Missouri, the attorney general fights it because they say we have to respect, honor, and
02:45:48
protect the verdict of these jurors. Well, that goes out the window when the jurors themselves want this verdict
02:45:54
overturned. In sworn affidavits, five jurors have questioned whether Michael got a fair trial, including Jonathan
02:46:02
Peterson and Linda Dickerson Bell. >> I do not believe that Michael Pit killed his mother, but I don't know how to fix
02:46:10
it. >> The Attorney General's office didn't reply to our request for comment, but in
02:46:16
a court filing, they say that Michael cannot meet the standard for actual innocence. And the AG has argued that
02:46:25
the evidence against Johnny and Edward Pit would have been inadmissible at trial.
02:46:32
>> There you go. >> Michael hopes that a judge will hear the case and decide to overturn his
02:46:37
conviction. But in the meantime, prosecutor Josh Hedgecourt has revealed to us that the local sheriff's
02:46:45
department has reopened the investigation into Rita's murder. >> We want to do the right thing. If
02:46:52
someone else did this, we want to know that even if it's new evidence that it was Michael.
02:46:58
>> Neither Hedgecourt nor the local sheriff would comment on the specifics of the
02:47:02
investigation, including whether Johnny Ped or Edward Pit are persons of interest.
02:47:13
And I feel bad for Bernie and his family. I mean, everything they had to go through, Bernie lost his whole
02:47:18
childhood. Josh Sonsy hasn't seen Michael Pit since they were kids, but they hope to one day reunite.
02:47:28
The night of [music] that sleepover and its aftermath has haunted Josh all these
02:47:33
years. >> What would you say to him? >> I'm sorry. And that you know he didn't do anything wrong.
02:47:47
In Possi, Missouri, not far from where the murder took place, Rita's truck has sat all these years.
02:47:53
>> It's going to need new tires. >> So much smaller than I remember. >> Her family says they held on to it
02:48:01
because it's [music] one of the only things they have left of her. >> That's her truck. You know, it's a part
02:48:06
of hers that that belongs to her. >> They hope to [music] fix it up and get it running again.
02:48:13
>> We're going to get justice for her. I believe that one day we're going to we're going to get justice for Rita.
02:48:24
[music] [music] >> [music] [music]