00:00:11
the evil clowns you've seen in the movies. Well, it came to life in this case. >> When your mom was growing up, was she
00:00:20
fascinated with clowns? >> She was. She even painted pictures of them. My mother, Marlene Warren, was a
00:00:31
beautiful person. She was loving, caring, kind. On May 26th, 1990, a woman answered her
00:00:41
door in front of her 21-year-old [music] son and saw a clown at the door handing
00:00:46
her balloons and flowers. >> That was the worst day of my life. We were eating breakfast. We saw the
00:00:57
colors of the reflections through the glass. It looked like a clown costume. My mother opened the door and I heard
00:01:04
how pretty. And I heard bang. I saw her fall and I ran toward her as the clown was walking away and I saw
00:01:20
that she'd been shot in the face. At that moment, I felt my heart, my soul just rip out of my body.
00:01:30
>> What did you see on the clown's face? >> Well, it was a white face, nose, or orangeish red hair, and it was just a
00:01:38
clown suit. >> What does the clown do? >> Calmly walks right back to the car like
00:01:46
nothing happened. A person disguised as a clown walked up to Marlene Warren's AOC Club home in
00:01:51
Wellington and shot her in the mouth. >> I was working as a prosecutor here in this office when it happened and it was
00:01:59
big news. >> Meanwhile, at her home, investigators gather evidence searching for clues.
00:02:04
>> Killing with a great costume to conceal one's identity. [music] And anybody passing by would probably say, "Oh, it's
00:02:12
not nice. Somebody's getting flowers." It wouldn't be suspicious and it would certainly make for the perfect crime.
00:02:23
>> Marlene Warren was someone without any known enemies, someone who [music] cared
00:02:28
deeply about her family and they lived in a home in a pretty secluded part of Palm Beach County.
00:02:36
>> Michael Warren was married to Marlene Warren. Michael was a local businessman in the
00:02:43
car business. The Warren's marriage seemed to be an ideal marriage, but for the people on the inside that knew
00:02:50
better, Marlene was expressing issues with Michael Warren. The people closest to Michael Warren
00:02:56
that worked with them knew there was something [music] wrong because they were observing Michael Warren's
00:03:01
interactions with a woman by the name of Sheila Keane. >> And the rumors [music] was what about
00:03:07
Sheila and Mike? >> Well, it was more than a rumor that Sheila Keane and Michael Warren were
00:03:12
having an affair. It was not hidden from any of the employees. [music] >> In the hours after the murder of Marlene
00:03:18
Warren, the suspects became clear it was Sheila Keane and was Michael Warren. But
00:03:24
Michael Warren had an alibi. Michael and Sheila thought that they could get away with [music] anything.
00:03:32
>> It took over 30 years to make sense of it all. >> [music] [music] [music] [music]
00:04:25
>> This house was the scene of a bizarre murder. >> That shooter, a clown carrying flowers
00:04:30
and balloons. >> It's easy to see why this case has so much interest. Who isn't afraid of a
00:04:36
killer clown? The 1990 murder of Marlene Warren, shot by someone dressed as a clown, haunted
00:04:43
not just the public, but the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office. Despite identifying two suspects, the case for
00:04:52
decades went unsolved. Dave Arenberg is the current state attorney. >> This was an assassination. This was not
00:05:00
a random act of violence. This was not a robbery. The unknowingness of this heinous crime,
00:05:08
the fear, it was hell. >> Joe Arenss was 21, living at home with his stepfather, Mike, and his mother,
00:05:17
Marlene, when she was murdered. >> She was a good mother. Everything she did, she took pride in.
00:05:26
>> The morning of May 26, [music] 1990, had started as a cheerful one. Joe, recuperating [music] from a broken
00:05:33
leg, was having breakfast at home with his mom and three friends when they saw a clown approaching, carrying balloons
00:05:42
and flowers. >> And we kind of figured I had cast on. Somebody was sending to heal and for
00:05:49
gesture. >> This is like, oh, what a delightful gift to cheer you up with your broken leg,
00:05:55
right? My mother opened the door and then we heard bang and she fell. At that point,
00:06:03
we knew something was wrong. My mother was struggling to breathe and then I jumped to the phone. You know, call 911
00:06:10
right away. >> As the clown slowly and silently walked to a car, Joe and some of his friends
00:06:16
tried to get a closer look at anything that might help describe the disguised attacker. The only thing that didn't
00:06:24
have any color on it was the shoes that were solid black and the white gloves. >> And did you notice anything about the
00:06:31
clown's eyes? >> I did. That That's the most thing I I saw was the big brown eyes.
00:06:37
>> And the clown gets in the car. What kind of car was it? >> It was a white Learon.
00:06:43
>> And does the car peel off? >> No. It goes into gear and drives off like nothing happened.
00:06:51
While some of Joe's friends remained at his house waiting for EMS, Joe got into Marlene's car and tried to chase down
00:06:59
the clown, but he couldn't catch up. He is seen here back home afterwards where TV news crews were on the scene.
00:07:08
Meanwhile, with the clown's balloons and flowers left behind, Marlene was rushed
00:07:13
to the hospital, barely alive, where she was [music] put on life support. I kept
00:07:19
telling her I love her and I don't want her to go and please don't leave me. >> Two days later, with no hope of a
00:07:25
recovery, life's support was removed and Marlene died. >> I knew my life was going to change and I
00:07:32
knew it was going to become hell cuz she wasn't here to help me. >> A top clue the Palm Beach County
00:07:38
Sheriff's Office had was Joe's description [music] of the clown. about 6'1, tall, skinny, with orange hair, a
00:07:46
red nose, and a big orange smile, and male. And those balloons left behind, they now seemed cruy mocking. "You're
00:07:56
the [music] greatest," one said. The other had a picture of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Authorities had also
00:08:04
spoken with Joe's [music] stepfather, Mike Warren, who they learned had an alibi. He was in a car with friends
00:08:11
[music] heading to a racetrack when the shooting took place. Growing up with Mike Warren, what was that like? Was he
00:08:18
a good dad? >> I thought so. That's the only father I knew. I mean, I was really young when my
00:08:24
real father and mother separated. >> Marlene and Mike were married when Joe was just three. They had built a
00:08:32
comfortable [music] life in Wellington, Florida, an affluent suburb. Marlene owned several businesses, including
00:08:39
apartment [music] complexes, and the couple ran Bargain Motors, specializing in used cars [music] and rentals. While
00:08:47
business was good, the marriage says Joe was troubled. He says his mother became
00:08:53
convinced Mike was having an affair, making her fearful. >> She said, "If anything does happen to
00:09:00
me, your father did it." >> She said that to I told her, "No way. He would never do anything like that." She
00:09:07
said, "Don't put it past him." >> Marlene shared that same fear with her mother, Shirley Twing.
00:09:15
>> She says, "If anything happens to me, Mike did it." >> We interviewed Shirley in 2017 when 48
00:09:25
hours started investigating Marlene's murder. >> That's an ominous thing to say. Did you
00:09:31
sense fear in her voice? >> Sure. Yes, I did. >> So, when Shirley learned her daughter
00:09:37
had been murdered, her mind went to Mike. >> Right away, I figured Mike had something
00:09:44
to do with it. That's for damn sure. >> But Mike had that alibi. So, authorities
00:09:49
were looking for someone else. And when they visited Bargain Motors, Mike's place of business, one name kept popping
00:09:57
up. That woman with whom Mike was supposedly having an affair. Everybody at the Bargain Motors were
00:10:05
reporting that you should look first at Sheila Keane. >> Altha McRoberts, an assistant state
00:10:12
attorney in Palm Beach County, has worked on the case from the beginning. >> And within the next day or so, tips were
00:10:20
being called in that you really should investigate Sheila Keane and Michael Warren.
00:10:25
>> They were definitely seeing one another. >> Dela Ward worked at Bargain Motors with
00:10:30
Mike Warren. He had a lot of compassion, a lot of empathy, and people just were drawn to him, especially women.
00:10:38
>> One of those women Dela believed was Sheila Keane. >> I found her very nice, very bubbly. You
00:10:46
knew the way she looked at Michael, you just you loved them. You could see it. >> Sheila, who also had a reputation for
00:10:53
toughness, was a repo woman, repossessing cars at Bargain Motors. to do repos, you have to you have to have
00:11:02
some kind of guns. She told me, "I keep a gun for my protection because people are crazy what they do."
00:11:09
>> Sheila told investigators she was out working at the time of Marlene's murder.
00:11:14
>> She claimed that she was looking for repossession vehicles, but she was unable to provide any address that she
00:11:21
went to so that they could follow up and confirm it. As for the affair, both Sheila and Mike told investigators they
00:11:29
were just friends. But that's not what authorities learned when they talked to Sheila's neighbors.
00:11:35
>> The neighbors at that apartment complex believed that Michael Warren and Sheila
00:11:38
Keane were husband and wife. >> Is there any doubt in your mind that there was a romantic relationship?
00:11:43
>> There's no doubt and they didn't hide it. >> An affair, [music] though, isn't
00:11:49
necessarily a motive for murder. Did anyone profit financially from Marlene's death?
00:11:55
>> Yes. So, Michael Warren profited. Largely the properties and assets that they owned together were in her name.
00:12:04
So, by her predesceasing him, he was able to obtain 100% of the assets. >> Investigators were also trying to locate
00:12:13
local stores that [music] had recently sold clown outfits. Deborah Offford had been working at a costume shop when two
00:12:22
nights before Marlene's murder, a customer knocked at the door at closing time. >> She wanted to see the clown costumes. I
00:12:30
said, "Can you come back tomorrow?" And she [music] said, "No, I need something right now."
00:12:35
>> Deborah told investigators the customer paid cash, buying a clown suit, an orange wig, makeup, and a red clown
00:12:44
nose. She was, I would say, about 510. Um, long, thick, straight, like chocolate color hair, big brown eyes.
00:12:58
>> Detectives later presented Deborah with a photo lineup that included a picture
00:13:03
of Sheila Keane. Deborah identified Keen and one other woman as [music] possibly
00:13:09
being the person who bought the clown costume. The sheriff's office also believed they located where the shooter
00:13:16
bought those flowers and balloons. This supermarket, the buyer described as a white female with dark brown hair.
00:13:25
>> The description of the customer given by the worker at the supermarket, brown
00:13:29
hair and at the costume store, brown hair, brown eyes was consistent with Sheila Keane. And there was Sheila's
00:13:38
reported affair with Mike Warren. It was intriguing circumstantial evidence, but
00:13:43
would it be enough to make an arrest? before they turn the machine off on my mother.
00:14:19
>> God, I wish you could be [music] here with me. >> I told her that I loved her very much
00:14:25
and that we were going to get justice. As Joe Erenss mourned the loss of his mother, Marlene,
00:14:38
investigators continued looking for additional evidence tying Sheila Keane to Marleene Warren's murder.
00:14:45
>> You talk about this case to anyone and the first place people go is, yeah, it's
00:14:49
the mistress. So, investigators focused on Sheila Keane. And soon a big break when detectives
00:14:57
located this abandoned white Chrysler Learon matching the description witnesses gave of the getaway car.
00:15:05
>> What was found inside that Chrysler Learon? >> There was synthetic fibers similar type
00:15:12
fibers to the clown wig. >> They were orange, the same color as the wig Joe Aaron says the asalent was
00:15:19
wearing. Also inside the car, they found a human hair. It was brown like Sheila Keane.
00:15:29
>> Sheriff's detectives executed a search warrant at the home of Sheila Keane. >> Inside Sheila Keane's closet, detectives
00:15:36
say they recovered orange fibers that a forensic examination later concluded were similar to the ones found in the
00:15:43
Chrysler Learum. And another breakthrough was made when Sheila's hair from her apartment was compared to the
00:15:50
one recovered from the getaway car >> that was scientifically microscopically examined and found to be consistent
00:16:00
>> consistent with Sheila's hair. But DNA technology was still in its infancy in
00:16:05
1990 and scientists were unable to make a definitive connection. There were other challenges for investigators. The
00:16:14
gun used to kill Marlene and the actual costume the killer clown wore were never
00:16:19
found. And remember, Joe thought the attacker was a 6- foot tall man. Sheila didn't fit either of those descriptions.
00:16:28
>> We're talking about an event that took seconds. Glances of this clown was a second or two. Also, McRoberts says any
00:16:38
eyewitness would have a hard time describing someone in a baggy clown costume, makeup, and a wig.
00:16:46
>> It's basically a clown is a clown. >> And there was Sheila's alleged affair with Mike Warren. those fiber and hair
00:16:54
results and those sales clerks at the costume and grocery stores whose description of the customer purchasing
00:17:01
the clown outfit, balloons, and flowers was consistent with Sheila. >> This sounds like the evidence is really
00:17:09
building up. Like you've got enough there to make an arrest. What happens? Well, there was certainly argument about
00:17:15
that and opinions that differed at the time and then there's a an indecision about do I do it now or should we keep
00:17:22
trying and get a little bit more. >> As investigators looked for more evidence, they discovered that Mike
00:17:31
Warren's business, Bargain Motors, was connected to the suspected getaway car. They learned an employee stole the car
00:17:40
from a competitor several weeks before the murder >> and that's how they got the Chrysler
00:17:46
Learon. >> Sheriff's detectives spent about 5 hours Thursday night searching the offices of
00:17:52
Bargain Motors at >> and as they investigated Mike Warren's business, they discovered widespread
00:17:57
fraud, charging him with racketeering, insurance fraud, and odometer tampering. He ultimately was convicted on 43 counts
00:18:08
of fraud and sent to prison. >> It was for fraud. And so, you know, you just can't extrapolate one to the next.
00:18:15
I mean, there's no evidence that he's a murderer. We do have our suspicions, though.
00:18:19
>> He was not charged with any crime in connection with Marlene's murder. And Warren felt he was a victim in this
00:18:28
case. Sentiments he shared in a radio interview before he went to prison. They wanted to put me out of business.
00:18:36
>> Warren speculated that Marlene might actually have been the victim of an angry tenant or car buyer.
00:18:43
>> I really can't think of a reason why uh other than the fact of the type of businesses that we're in as far as them
00:18:52
landlords and crossing a few people by repossessing their car. But law enforcement did not think
00:19:00
Marlene Warren's murder was the work of a disgruntled tenant or customer. And as
00:19:06
the years passed, the case grew cold. And as for Sheila Keane, she seemed to disappear.
00:19:14
>> Nobody ever brought her name up again. >> You know, for many years, I was suffering in in despair. After Mike
00:19:22
Warren went to prison, Joe says he and his stepfather became estranged. And as he continued to grieve the loss of his
00:19:30
mother, he was consumed by her case going unsolved. And give me a sense of what problems you fell into after your
00:19:39
mother's murder. >> Ah, wow. Where do we start? Alcoholism, drugs, I mean, you name it.
00:19:48
>> It was especially painful, says Joe. on each passing anniversary of the shooting.
00:19:54
>> I would blow up that day and go get drunk, you know, and just go to her grave site. It was sad.
00:20:00
>> Would you go out to her grave to talk to her? >> I did a lot to try to find answers, you
00:20:05
know, but I was so confused. I was getting nothing. I was just lost. I miss you. I wish you could help me through
00:20:13
these hard times. Joe eventually emerged from the fog of drugs and despair. With that behind him,
00:20:22
he became increasingly certain of who murdered his mother. >> I concluded that Sheila was the one that
00:20:31
did it. >> She probably never thought in a million years she'd be held accountable for her
00:20:35
crimes. She thought she got away with it. >> [music] >> These are paintings that Marlene had
00:20:53
painted when she was about 14 years old. I kind of grin cuz I can almost see her
00:20:59
doing this. >> Shirley Twing and her daughter Marlene shared a fascination with clowns. And
00:21:05
over here >> in Shirley's home, she even kept a room full of clown art [music] and figurines.
00:21:12
>> This one says to me, "Things will get better." >> The sad, sometimes unsettling images
00:21:20
brought comfort to Shirley, despite the fact that a clown [music] had so brutally ended her daughter's life.
00:21:27
>> I don't hate clowns. I just hate one. Although the Palm Beach County Sheriff's
00:21:33
Office hadn't given up on solving Marlene's murder, 27 long years had passed without an arrest.
00:21:41
Then by 2017, a cold case unit made a breakthrough. State Attorney Dave Arenberg finally had new important
00:21:51
evidence. >> The hairs that were found in the Learon were able to be traced to Sheila Keen
00:21:58
through DNA technology. With that new DNA match, detectives believed they could now definitively
00:22:05
connect Sheila to the alleged getaway car and [music] to Marleene Warren's murder.
00:22:11
And when sheriffs found suspect Sheila Keane, they were blown away to learn whom she had married.
00:22:20
After Michael Warren got out of prison, he reconnected with Sheila Keane. Here's
00:22:25
someone whose wife had been murdered and he just married the chief suspect. What
00:22:30
did that tell you? >> When you combine the fact that the two of them were in affair at the time of
00:22:35
the murder and then later they got married, it did seem like mission accomplished.
00:22:41
>> That marriage was in 2002. The Warren, [music] now middle-aged, settled into a
00:22:47
new life in Tennessee, running this burger joint called Purple Cow. She took Mike's last name, but in an interesting
00:22:56
twist, assistant state attorney Altha McRoberts says she changed her first name.
00:23:02
>> Sheila Keen Warren introduced herself to their friends in that life that her name
00:23:08
was Debbie. She had dyed her hair blonde, changed her name, and was living a full life. We would have dinners. They
00:23:16
were wonderful cooks. >> The Warren befriended Brooke Blevens. This is Mike Warren's house,
00:23:22
>> a neighbor at a weekend property the couple purchased in the Virginia mountains. When we spoke to Brooke in
00:23:28
2018, she said she knew Mike's wife as Debbie and was told it was a childhood nickname.
00:23:36
>> Her dad nicknamed her that when she was small. I never called her Sheila. I always called her Debbie. Former Purple
00:23:42
Cow employees Ashley Ston and Cynthia Swaafford say they knew Debbie as a tough boss.
00:23:50
>> I mean, she was awful aggressive mean >> and even heard an alarming rumor about
00:23:56
her past. >> The rumor around Purple Cow when we worked there was Debbie killed Mike's
00:24:05
ex-wife. I thought they was blowing off steam. And I was like, "Okay, whatever."
00:24:13
>> But the rumors said it more than once, even to where we knew she dressed up like a clown.
00:24:20
>> According to an employee, Sheila had appeared [music] in clown makeup at the restaurant one year during Halloween. By
00:24:28
the fall of 2017, the Warren had sold the business and retired fulltime to the House in Virginia.
00:24:37
Meanwhile, state attorney Aaron [music] Berg felt the case against Sheila had only gotten stronger.
00:24:44
>> When you combine the fact that they got married and seemingly lived happily ever
00:24:48
after with the new DNA breakthrough, we're able to get enough evidence to make an arrest.
00:24:54
>> On September 26th, 2017, 27 years after Marlene's murder, authorities arrested Sheila Warren
00:25:03
driving on a road near their home. She was charged with firstdegree murder. >> Sheila did not murder Marlene Warren.
00:25:14
>> Greg Rosenfeld, Sheila Keane Warren's defense attorney, says Sheila was not the shooter.
00:25:21
>> Everything was so methodical. [music] This person walking up to the house, committing the shooting, and then slowly
00:25:28
walking away. We're dealing with someone who had experience in committing a hit or a
00:25:37
murder. >> That's not Sheila. >> That is not Sheila. >> Shortly after Sheila's arrest, Dave
00:25:44
Arenberg addressed reporters. >> Today, we filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty in this case.
00:25:51
>> Can you say whether Michael Warren is a suspect? >> I can't say that. Altha McRoberts says there was something
00:25:58
Sheila asked as she was being taken into custody that caught prosecutor's attention.
00:26:05
>> One of the first things she said is, "Well, are you going to arrest him, too?" Pointing to her husband,
00:26:10
>> which suggests what to you? >> That she knew exactly what she was being arrested for, and they had done it
00:26:15
together. >> Joe had come to the same conclusion that his stepfather and Sheila were both
00:26:22
involved in his mother's murder. Would you like to see Mike Warren charged in the murder of your mother?
00:26:29
>> Yes, I would. >> With Sheila in custody, [music] we wanted to speak with Mike Warren.
00:26:36
>> We're going to go to his front door, give it a knock, and see if he'll answer
00:26:41
a couple of questions. After the arrest of Sheila Warren in 2017, 48 Hours wanted to talk to Mike Warren
00:27:14
about what he knew about his wife's murder. Here he comes. >> Hey, Mike. I'm Peter Vans with CBS News.
00:27:22
>> He wouldn't open the door, but we [music] spoke through it for several minutes, competing with a barking dog.
00:27:30
>> Did you have anything to do [music] with planning the murder of your wife, Marlene?
00:27:37
>> You did not. >> He was adamant that neither he nor Sheila Keane Warren had anything to do
00:27:44
with Marlene's murder. Did you suggest to Sheila that she dress in a clown outfit?
00:27:50
>> You're saying Sheila. Sheila, who said Sheila did that? >> I don't think she had anything. If I
00:27:56
thought she had been with >> Do you believe based on the evidence over the years that Mike Warren knew
00:28:05
what was going to happen that day? >> I don't believe there's any direct evidence of that.
00:28:11
>> There just wasn't enough evidence to prosecute Michael Warren. But if evidence emerges, we'll pursue it.
00:28:18
[music] >> As they prepared for trial, despite never recovering the clown disguise or
00:28:23
the gun, prosecutors were confident they [music] could prove that Sheila Keane Warren committed the murder so that she
00:28:31
could marry Mike Warren. >> Sheila Keen Warren had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to do this.
00:28:38
We will never know who killed Marlene Warren because the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the State
00:28:45
Attorney's Office did such a poor job investigating this case. I can tell you without question that it
00:28:55
was not Sheila Keane. Sheila Keane Warren's defense attorney, Greg Rosenfeld, says she's innocent, a victim
00:29:03
of the state attorney's reckless desire to close a notorious cold case. >> And they said, "You know what? This is
00:29:10
our suspect. We're going to stick with it." Even though the pieces of the puzzle didn't fit the puzzle. Rosenfeld
00:29:18
says there were other potential suspects authorities ignored, including an inmate
00:29:24
who supposedly bragged in prison [music] about murdering Marlene. But prosecutors
00:29:29
say he was investigated and cleared. >> It's not surprising that they would try to point the finger at law enforcement
00:29:38
for not looking at every potential suspect, but if you look at the evidence, it pointed to one person all
00:29:42
along, Sheila Keem Warren. The state was confident Sheila Keane Warren was responsible for Marlene's
00:29:51
murder, but Rosenfeld plans to poke holes in its case at trial. How do you overcome DNA evidence? The state
00:29:59
attorney's office should be embarrassed about the DNA evidence in this case. Rosenfeld agrees the hair prosecutors
00:30:06
say was found in the Leberaron getaway car could be from Sheila Warren, but he says it could also be from about 4% of
00:30:16
the US Caucasian population. >> They couldn't exclude Marlene Warren from that hair sample. So that was their
00:30:24
groundbreaking DNA evidence. And if you concede that the hair is from Sheila Keane Warren, says Rosenfeld, there's an
00:30:31
innocent explanation as to how it got there. The labar was on the lot at Bargain Motors where she worked.
00:30:39
>> Sheila may have been in the car used in this murder. That's it. >> The defense attorney says, "Well, of
00:30:47
course, her hair might be in there. It doesn't suggest that she was driving at the time of the murder." What do you say
00:30:54
to that? It's just one more link. Once you put that one thing with the totality of all the circumstances,
00:31:01
then it starts to become overwhelming. >> Rosenfeld says the orange fibers found
00:31:08
in the car, which prosecutors say could be from the clown costume, should also be excluded.
00:31:15
>> So, the fibers found in the car were synthetic fibers. That same type of fiber can be used in
00:31:24
thousands of different products. So the state likes to present it as clown wig fibers, but that's factually incorrect.
00:31:32
>> Even more troubling than the evidence gathered, says Rosenfeld, is how it was
00:31:37
handled over the decades. >> What are we looking at here? These are evidence bags at the Palm
00:31:44
Beach County Sheriff's Office evidence unit torn open. Just gaping holes in these evidence
00:31:52
bags. >> If there's gaping holes, what can that do to the evidence inside? >> That's precisely how how you have
00:31:59
crosscontamination. Now, look at if I can zoom in here. This bag contains a clown wig investigators purchased
00:32:09
similar to the one they believe was worn by the asalent. They used it to compare
00:32:14
to the fibers found in the labaron and in Sheila's home. >> This is an open evidence bag with the
00:32:21
wig sticking out. This is horrifying. >> And so your bottom line is is that this
00:32:26
evidence is unreliable. Now, >> without question, >> can it not be argued that some of the
00:32:33
evidence in this case was indeed bungled? >> You know, it's you're asking a lot of
00:32:38
law enforcement to be perfect from 1990 to today. Some of the evidence was kept in an evidence storage area that wasn't
00:32:49
ideal. Any mistake, any small opening will be exploited by defense lawyers. Prosecutors were still certain they had
00:33:00
[clears throat] the right person for Marlene's murder, but in February 2020, after a re-evaluation of Sheila Warren's
00:33:08
case, they announced they would no longer seek the death penalty. Were you told by the prosecutor's office that
00:33:15
there was always a chance in a jury trial that she might even be acquitted? >> Yes.
00:33:36
When you think of your mom today, [music] what do you think about? What images come to mind?
00:33:42
>> Well, she was robbed and so was I. >> It is said the wheels of justice turned
00:33:47
slowly and when it came to the murder of Marlene Warren, that grind often seemed
00:33:52
to come to a halt. After the 27-year wait for an arrest, Sheila Keen Warren's trial kept getting
00:34:00
delayed. By 2022, she [music] had spent 5 years in jail. Her trial postponed six
00:34:08
times >> and then we had CO. So, it just was one thing after another. Decades of
00:34:16
accumulation of files and photographs and mountains of evidence and documents. Defense attorney Greg Rosenfeld was also
00:34:24
trying to work his way through all that evidence [music] and he says adding to the delays was a lack of cooperation
00:34:32
from the state. >> Evidence kept I'd say disappearing. >> Rosenfeld says one crucial piece of
00:34:39
evidence for the defense that disappeared for years was what investigators called the clown sighting
00:34:47
file. These were all the tips about people who alleged to have seen clowns in the area.
00:34:53
>> That opens up for you new avenues as to possible suspects, right? >> Absolutely. Absolutely. I think the
00:35:01
sheriff's office and the state attorney's office just decided they didn't want to look for this evidence.
00:35:08
>> But then suddenly in [music] October of 2022, as another trial date neared, the
00:35:14
file was found. It was located not with the Sheila Keane clown murder boxes. It was actually a file out of place.
00:35:23
>> They find this clown setting file and there's 35 tips. We begin to investigate
00:35:29
them. Now we're 32 years after the murder. You know, we couldn't track down these witnesses.
00:35:35
>> I've seen it and it's silly things. Clearly clown sightings that had nothing to do with Marlene Warren
00:35:42
>> and it wasn't being intentionally hidden from the defense. >> Absolutely not. We were meticulous about
00:35:47
making sure they had everything. >> Though as the trial neared, the decades of delays were causing problems [music]
00:35:54
for the prosecution as well. >> Every day that went by, it was a tougher case. Witnesses die, memories [music]
00:36:01
fade, evidence spoils. One of our key witnesses passed away. He was the one who compiled the evidence and without
00:36:09
him we lost [music] a chain of custody for some crucial evidence relating to the fibers. If I can zoom in here, this
00:36:16
is an open evidence [music] bag. >> Evidence the defense already claimed had been poorly stored and mishandled,
00:36:23
>> contaminated, inadmissible, unreliable. It just [music] goes to show you how poor of an investigation that was done.
00:36:31
They were going to be able to argue that because of the opening of the bags that
00:36:35
the evidence was spoiled and because of the break in the chain of custody, because of the death of our witnesses,
00:36:40
it shouldn't even be admitted. So, you had some real potential for reasonable doubt.
00:36:45
>> There was beyond reasonable doubt. On April 25th, 2023, two weeks before Sheila Keen Warren's
00:36:53
trial for the murder of Marlene Warren was to begin, there was yet another surprise in a case that had been filled
00:37:01
with the unexpected. A plea deal was reached. >> Miss Keen Warren, the defendant herein,
00:37:08
will agree to withdraw her previously entered plea of not guilty and her plea of guilty. Sheila Keane Warren, whose
00:37:14
case at one time included the death penalty, then life in prison, would now plead guilty to secondderee murder and
00:37:23
be sentenced to 12 years in prison. Under sentencing guidelines for time served, she is expected to be released
00:37:31
in 2025, perhaps sooner. We had to make a judgment based on what we had >> because the fear is what if you take
00:37:39
this to trial. >> The worst thing that could happen would be that Sheila Keen Warren would be
00:37:45
found not guilty. Not because she was innocent, but because after 33 years, we could not prove beyond a reasonable
00:37:52
doubt that she was the one who did it. >> But Sheila Keen Warren did have to publicly pay a price for this plea deal,
00:38:00
admitting in open court that she in fact Yes, >> did murder Marleene Warren. >> If this case were to proceed to jury
00:38:08
trial, the state would present evidence that on or about May the 26th of 1990, the defendant was responsible for the
00:38:14
death of Marlene Warren. >> Warren, did you hear all that? >> Yes, sir. >> And do you agree with that factual
00:38:19
basis? >> Yes. >> Despite admitting her crime, Sheila Keen Warren through her attorney still
00:38:26
maintains [music] she is innocent. >> Sheila did not commit this murder. It was very difficult for her to [music]
00:38:35
admit to committing a crime that she did not commit. >> But as a matter of law, she has admitted
00:38:42
to committing the murder by saying yes. >> Correct. For the purpose of >> So she is a convicted murderer.
00:38:50
>> And so far as the law goes, sure. But when you're told you could be home or you know you can
00:38:59
play Russian roulette and risk spending the rest of your life in prison, it's kind of a no-brainer.
00:39:04
>> The defense cannot have it both ways. So she will be a murderer for every day for
00:39:08
the rest of her life. Even when she gets out of prison one day, she'll still be a
00:39:12
convicted murderer. >> When she does get out of prison, she will reunite with her husband, Michael
00:39:18
Warren. >> Sheila is going home to Tennessee. She's going back to [music] her life.
00:39:26
Michael Warren in a statement provided to 48 hours regarding the plea said, "My wife did not commit this crime. It was
00:39:35
difficult to see her plea to a crime she did not commit, but it wasn't worth the
00:39:40
gamble when she was offered a deal that'll have her home in [music] 16 to 18 months. With this deal, there is a
00:39:48
chance that Sheila might get out of prison within the next year or two. Are you all right with that?
00:39:58
>> Well, I'm not [clears throat] all right with it, but I have to be. >> Still, Joe Erenss approved the plea
00:40:04
deal, feeling it wasn't worth the gamble of going to trial. >> That was very emotional because that was
00:40:11
the end of something so huge that grew for 33 years of my life. >> Finally, it's over. Finally, you know,
00:40:20
it was >> the demons that once occupied Joe's mind are gone, replaced with loving memories
00:40:29
of how his mother [music] Marleene lived rather than how that life was so violently taken.
00:40:37
>> What would you say to your mother if [music] you could speak to her today? >> Wow. What could I say to my mother?
00:40:43
Thank you for showing me how to love and be peaceful. And thank you for being in
00:40:48
my life. Hurts. [music] [music] 48 hours to miss it. would be a crime. >> Were you at all prepared for [music]
00:41:15
what happened in this case? [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Moscow will forever be known as the
00:42:03
scene of one of the most tragic crimes. times in American history. There's still sort of a a darkness
00:42:10
whenever you talk to people. It will be ever part of the university's history and the town's history.
00:42:19
>> There are four very, very important names in this case. Kaylee Gonzalez, Madison Mogan,
00:42:27
Xanodal, and Ethan Chapen. And if you're going to remember any names from this case, I ask that it be all four. My name
00:42:36
is Olivia Gonzalez and Kaye was my little sister. Everybody's going to work and you look
00:42:43
out the window and there's kids running down the street laughing and you're just
00:42:45
like, how can you be out there playing? My daughter is dead. You know, Kayla Gonzalez is gone.
00:42:54
Stop everything. Everybody in the whole world, stop. and everything just keeps [music] going.
00:43:03
>> My sister Zanna Kernodal is one of the happiest, funniest people I've ever met. And I had the awesome
00:43:14
privilege of growing up with her and I still have a hard time coming to terms with the facts that did happen.
00:43:25
Brent Coberg is accused of stabbing these four University of Idaho students in the pre-dawn hours on November
00:43:32
[music] 13th, 2022. Uh the murder weapon, which was a knife, has never been found. This is type of survival
00:43:38
knife. Brian Coberger did not make his own plea. The judge entered a plea for him of not guilty.
00:43:46
>> Maximum penalties, life in prison, or the death penalty. Due to the nature of
00:43:51
the crimes, the state of Idaho is seeking the death penalty. He was there to kill.
00:43:55
>> He came in with a kit. I believe he had a kill kit. And you believe that everything right down to the implement
00:44:02
of destruction, this large marine knife, that was all planned. >> All planned. It
00:44:08
>> was inhumane. You wouldn't do these type of things to any living creature, let
00:44:13
alone an innocent human being. The star piece of evidence in the [music] prosecution's case is the DNA
00:44:22
that was found on the knife sheath that was left at the crime scene. But there's
00:44:26
so much other evidence [music] that's also pointing towards nobody else that we're aware of.
00:44:33
How was Brian Cobberger's car spotted leaving the scene? Why was his cell phone seen there 12 times, including the
00:44:41
morning after the offense? prosecution would like everyone to believe that it's an open and shut case. But I think the
00:44:49
facts they have make the case more open than open and shut. According to the defense, [music] there
00:44:57
is no connection whatsoever between Brian Cobberger and the victims. And if there is no connection, then there is no
00:45:05
motive. And if there is no motive, then it [music] becomes very hard to make the
00:45:10
case that he is the killer. And this is a graduate student, not a trained assassin.
00:45:16
>> It's more so about putting these pieces together because I know what the puzzle
00:45:21
looks like at the end. I have the box in front of me, but I'm [music] missing so
00:45:24
many pieces. How did all of these pieces [music] fall to create what I'm living in right
00:45:33
now? Where did where [music] did this come from? [music] >> [music] [music] [music]
00:46:24
>> It was not the new Steve and Christy Gonzalev. wanted to hear. In August of 2023, just
00:46:31
6 weeks before the murder trial of Brian Coberger [music] was set to begin, he waved his right to a speedy trial.
00:46:39
>> Should you want to begin? >> Absolutely. >> They would have to wait indefinitely for
00:46:45
their day in court. I was really hoping that um we could get this show on the road because uh the not
00:46:54
knowing it just it's agony. It's agony. Steve and Christy, the parents of Kaye, haven't left anything to chance. After
00:47:07
the judge issued a gag order to attorneys and law enforcement, quote, to preserve the right to a fair trial, they
00:47:15
drilled down on their own investigation and are now sharing what they believe that investigation found. Steve says he
00:47:24
believes transparency is the best path to justice. >> We're not going to just sit back and
00:47:32
cross our fingers and pray that we're going to get justice. It has been a long and painful journey
00:47:42
for the families of Kaylee Gonzalez, Mattie Mogan, Zana Kernodal, and Ethan Chapen. the four University of Idaho
00:47:52
students who were savagely murdered by a knife wielding asalent in the wee hours
00:47:57
of November 13th, 2022 as they settled down to sleep in their off-campus house on King Road.
00:48:05
>> Do you ever dream of your sister? >> Yeah, I've had some dreams of her. There's times where I prayed and asked
00:48:15
God to see her another time and I did and just gives me some peace knowing that I know she's okay.
00:48:26
Jasmine Kernodal who is speaking for [music] the first time was a senior at Washington State University and lived
00:48:33
only 15 minutes away from her younger sister Zana. often mistaken as twins growing up, she says they were best
00:48:42
friends. >> She just was always fun and she was uplifting and she took any bad situation
00:48:48
and turned it into a good one. >> Jeeoff, what did you love most about your daughter?
00:48:54
>> Everything. She cared about people. She was a people person. She cared about her friends just as much as like her
00:49:03
family. For the first time in her life, Zana had fallen in love with fellow student Ethan Chapen, a triplet who
00:49:12
loved his siblings, boats, and working on a tulip farm. [music] >> The sweetest kid ever. They were just
00:49:19
two happy people. And [music] there's just seeing the videos and photos of them, you can just like tell how happy
00:49:25
they are. They [music] were just amazing together. Sadly, they will now forever be linked
00:49:31
in death. On Sunday morning, November 13th, Zanna's friends started calling Jasmine,
00:49:39
saying something bad [music] had happened on King Road. Jasmine rushed over to Zana's house.
00:49:46
>> And while you're driving that 8 n miles over to the house, are you trying to reach your sister then?
00:49:52
>> Mhm. >> How many times did you call her? >> A lot. I called her a lot. Called Ethan
00:49:56
a lot. Her next [music] call was to her father. Jeffree had been visiting Jasmine for dad's weekend and was on his
00:50:04
way home. >> So you answer the phone. What do you hear? >> I hear her kind of crying and just
00:50:09
telling me to get back to Moscow and meet me at Santa's house and [snorts] you know my heart drops.
00:50:22
He instantly raced back down there. The house was cordoned off and swarming with investigators. As soon as Jeffree
00:50:31
said he was Zana's father, he and Jasmine were escorted to the Moscow Police Department.
00:50:37
>> And Jasmine, what does the officer say to you and your father? >> Oh, I don't remember exactly. Just that
00:50:46
four people passed away and that one was Santa. >> The worst day of your life. is your
00:50:54
worst nightmare. It >> just happened. You know what do you do? You can't do a damn thing.
00:51:05
>> 100 miles away, the Gonzalez family also had been getting frantic calls saying
00:51:11
something bad had happened to their daughter Kaye, but no one knew what. >> I just kept saying over and what do I
00:51:18
do? What do we do? What do we do? Finally, at around 4:00 in the afternoon, a deputy appeared at their
00:51:25
door >> and we said, "What's going on? I can confirm your daughter's died. It's passed away."
00:51:31
>> Point. He said, "There were four victims." And we and I said, "Four?" And he said, "Yes, ma'am." I said, "Can
00:51:36
you tell us if one of the victims was Mattie Mogan?" And he said, "Yes, ma'am." [music]
00:51:43
>> Maddie Mogan, Kayle's best friend from childhood. give us a sense of just how
00:51:49
close uh Kaye and Maddie were in life. >> I think that they had a very amazing relationship.
00:51:59
The epitome of true best friends from very early. I mean, they were sisters through and through.
00:52:06
>> They were um completely inseparable. As soon as the news hit, Olivia, the eldest of the five Gonzalez children,
00:52:15
and her parents, went into detective mode. We had zero details. We just knew they were gone.
00:52:22
>> Olivia got into her sister's call log and frantically started cold calling recent [music] numbers. She says a
00:52:29
friend told her that Kaye had been at the corner club bar around 1:07 a.m. and later texted a rid share driver who
00:52:38
Olivia managed to track down. >> The ride share driver said around [music] 1:45 Kaye had texted him requesting a ride
00:52:47
from the Grub Truck, which is the local mac and cheese food truck to take her back home [music] to 1122 King. and she
00:52:55
had with her another female. >> Olivia then uncovered one of the most important leads in the case. The ride
00:53:03
share driver told [music] her about a camera mounted on the grub truck. >> So I was able to look it up and um find
00:53:11
Kaye on the video and I saw the girl that she was with was Maddie. So at that point [music] I knew Kaylee and Maddie
00:53:18
were together. They got into the car to go home together and [music] alone. The driver told her the exact time Kaye and
00:53:25
Maddie were dropped off at their house on King Road, 1:56 a.m. A timeline she says she confirmed before the police.
00:53:36
>> I immediately took it to the police officers. Here's her phone information. Here's the ride share driver's name.
00:53:45
>> Olivia says Kaye made a call to her boyfriend at 2:56 a.m., but he didn't answer. The Gonzales believe Kaye fell
00:53:54
asleep shortly after. According to the police affidavit, Kaye and Maddie were stabbed to death between 4 and 4:25 a.m.
00:54:05
Just as they had done since they were little girls, they were sleeping in the same bed.
00:54:11
>> Those two best friends, since little girls, I don't think there's anything more
00:54:18
terrifying than what they went through. I really don't. >> The killer took four lives in a matter
00:54:26
of minutes, but he left behind two surviving roommates, one of whom would provide a key description of the
00:54:35
intruder. >> He was dressed [music] in black but muscular build and very bushy eyebrows.
00:54:59
If there is one picture that speaks to the Idaho student murders, it is this. [music]
00:55:05
Six smiling college students blissfully unaware of the carnage to come. >> It's staged in a way that is almost
00:55:15
In a strange way, ominously predicting, >> investigative journalist Howard Bloom
00:55:20
has written extensively on the student murders for Graden Carter's online magazine, Airmail. [music] He is now
00:55:27
writing a book on the case. >> On the ends of the picture are the two survivors. [music]
00:55:33
In the middle are are the victims, and they're huddled together. >> Kaye with a beaming Maddie on her
00:55:39
shoulders, [music] friends for life. Ethan with his arm around Zana. Young love in full bloom. A moment that should
00:55:48
have been a memory of their idyllic college years would eternally be a reminder of [music] the gruesome murders
00:55:55
that put them in their graves. What makes it so tragic is they're forever preserved in this
00:56:04
moment. They'll never be able to leave this moment. Hours after this photo was taken, the
00:56:11
four friends would be murdered. Their deaths so violent, even the house seemed to be bleeding.
00:56:18
>> There was literally blood oozing out from the home. Uh you could see it on the exterior walls.
00:56:23
>> CBS News consultant Brianna Fox is a former FBI agent and professor of criminology at the University of South
00:56:32
Florida. >> That's how bloody and gruesome the crime scene is. According to the affidavit,
00:56:38
which outlines law enforcement's investigation, the bodies of Zana and Ethan, who was sleeping over, were found
00:56:45
in or near her bedroom on the second [music] floor. The bodies of Kaye and Maddie were on the third floor in the
00:56:54
same single bed in Mattiey's room. >> How did your daughter die in that house? What do you know? We know the autopsy.
00:57:03
We know the means. What is officially how she died? She was assaulted and stabbed
00:57:09
>> several several times. Her death certificate is the ugliest, disgusting piece of paper that you will ever see in
00:57:17
your life. >> And every line is a horror show. >> Every line. Cuz there's causes of death
00:57:23
and then there's contributions to death. Christy and Steve spoke to coroner Kathy
00:57:29
Mbott before the gag order was issued and they say she told them how the two friends were positioned [music] in the
00:57:36
bed. >> The bed was up against the wall. The headboard was touching the wall and the
00:57:41
left side of the bed was touching the wall and we believe that Maddie was on the outside and Kaye was on the inside.
00:57:49
>> According to coroner Mbott, the killer's first victim was Maddie, says Steve. And
00:57:54
then from [music] Maddie, he moved on to your daughter. You believe she had awakened at that point?
00:58:01
>> Yes. [music] >> Yeah. There's evidence to show that she awakened and >> tried to get out of that situation.
00:58:07
>> The way the bed was set up is what >> she was trapped. >> She was trapped. >> We know from the affidavit that
00:58:14
Coberger's cell phone pinged in the vicinity of the house 12 times prior to the murders. Steve says before the gag
00:58:22
order, one of the lead investigators told him they believe Coberger had been scouting out the house.
00:58:29
>> You believe these visits were like he was like on an intelligence mission, a scouting mission, looking at lifestyle
00:58:37
patterns, when they came and went, who came to the house methodically? >> Yeah. He had to know when people were
00:58:43
coming, people were going. It makes the Gonzalez's wonder if he'd ever gone inside the house.
00:58:50
>> I think that he at least had opened that door, went in, tested the waters, looked
00:58:56
around. >> Steve says the coroner told him the killer's rampage started on the third
00:59:02
floor where both Maddie and Kaye had their bedrooms. Christy thinks he wasn't expecting to find the two friends
00:59:09
together in the same bed. >> I do think that his plan went ary. I do think that, you know, he intended to
00:59:15
kill one and killed four. >> Brianna Fox also believes Zana and Ethan were collateral damage. According to the
00:59:22
affidavit, Zana received a Door Dash food delivery at 400 a.m., then went back to her room on the second floor.
00:59:31
It's possible, says Fox, that Zana, still awake, came face to face with the killer.
00:59:38
>> And she sees somebody that she doesn't expect. and I don't think he was expecting to see her [music] either.
00:59:44
>> One of the two surviving roommates, Dylan Mortonson, later told the police that she heard what she thought was
00:59:52
crying coming from Zana's room. She heard a male voice say something to the effect, "It's okay. I'm going to help
01:00:00
you." Not something a killer would likely say to an intended target, says Fox. >> He probably was trying to make a
01:00:08
split-second decision. Do I run away? Do I kill her? What do I do? And he decided
01:00:14
to kill her. >> At approximately 4:17 a.m., police say an outside security camera less than 50
01:00:22
ft from Zanna's room, picked up distorted audio of what sounded like voices or a whimper followed by a loud
01:00:30
thud. Shortly after, Dylan, the surviving roommate whose bedroom was near Zanna's, opened the door. According
01:00:38
to the police affidavit, when Dylan opens the door, she saw a man dressed in black with a black mask and she says he
01:00:47
has bushy eyebrows. Those bushy eyebrows become very important when the police are
01:00:55
making their identification. >> The man with the bushy eyebrows kept walking to the rear of the house without
01:01:02
harming Dylan. >> Why was Dylan not killed? Again, there is no definitive answer. He He didn't
01:01:10
kill her because he didn't see her. He was sort of transfixed on getting out. He didn't kill her because he was
01:01:18
satiated. >> Or he was simply too depleted to kill again, says Fox. >> Even stabbing somebody for a minute and
01:01:25
a half. Not only is that overkill, but it actually would become rather exhausting.
01:01:31
The police believe the murder weapon, which has not been found, was a militarystyle KBAR knife similar to this
01:01:39
one. The details are disturbing. >> This is not a civilian knife. It was actually meant to tear apart bone,
01:01:47
ligaments, organs. So this is a extremely brutal and something that you would never expect a person to walk in
01:01:59
and want to commit unless they took some pleasure out of the brutality of it. >> After seeing the intruder, Dylan, the
01:02:08
surviving roommate, told investigators she locked herself in her room. It would be almost eight hours before 911 was
01:02:17
called, causing an uproar on social media criticizing Dylan's alleged inaction. But Brianna Fox says it's not
01:02:26
unusual for people to freeze or be too afraid to intervene. >> She had no reason to, you know, know how
01:02:34
to handle herself in that moment. According to the affidavit, the male walked towards the backs sliding glass
01:02:41
door [music] and presumably left the scene. But committing murder and getting away with it are two different things,
01:02:48
says Fox. >> For an offender to get away with a crime, a murder, they have to bat a
01:02:54
thousand. They [music] have to be absolutely perfect. They make one singular mistake. That's all it takes.
01:03:00
And that one possible mistake in this case may have been the sheath to the KBAR knife. One like this was found on
01:03:08
the bed next to Mattie Mogan. It would lead investigators to the door of a [music] man studying for a career in
01:03:15
criminology. Brian Cobberger, the alleged killer. To see a timeline of the case, go to
01:03:26
48our.com. Day after day and week after [music] week pass and there is no suspect that
01:03:55
is arrested. What was that time like for you? >> That was the worst. For 47 days after
01:04:02
the murders, the families of Kaye, Maddie, Zana, and Ethan, and the country waited. We do not have a suspect at this
01:04:11
time and wept and weighed in. >> The people of Idaho and those throughout our nation who provided information has
01:04:23
been very impressive. We've received over 19,000 tips. Then on December 30th, 2022, Brian
01:04:32
Cobberger was arrested in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. At the time, his attorney said Coberger
01:04:41
looked forward to being exonerated. >> What goes through your mind when you see the face of the alleged killer?
01:04:48
>> Oh, I wonder why. Who? Who is this? Why? You know, never heard of the person before. [music] It still is confusing.
01:04:55
Why? At this point, the families knew as much about Coberger as the public did, a
01:05:01
PhD candidate studying criminology just 10 miles away at Washington State University in Pullman.
01:05:10
>> I remember thinking, I only have a few minutes to [music] look up this individual and to
01:05:17
try to get any credible information before things start getting wonky. Some of Olivia Gonzalez's online discoveries
01:05:26
of Coberger made her uneasy. >> He had made a few posts on Reddit [music] in which he was conducting seems
01:05:35
like a questionnaire to uh people in prison or jail who had committed crimes. How did you pick your victim or your
01:05:44
target? >> For 7 weeks, the families and the country were left wondering. I think for this type of an
01:05:53
investigation, 47 days is actually quick. Criminologist and CBS News consultant Brianna Fox says
01:06:02
the Moscow police kept things moving, starting with a video canvas which produced footage from those early
01:06:11
morning hours, showing a white car [music] making three passes by the girl's house starting around 3:30 a.m.
01:06:21
Less than an hour later, investigators say the killer struck. They noticed that this car approached
01:06:28
[music] King Road, left, came back, uh, almost did a Uturn, finally went there around
01:06:36
4:06 in the morning, [music] and that car then departed in about 25 minutes and sped off.
01:06:46
Multiple surveillance cameras then [music] captured that white car as it traveled what appeared to be a less
01:06:52
direct [music] route back to Pullman, Washington, arriving around 5:30 a.m. That information helped investigators
01:07:02
identify the make and model of the vehicle. >> And we're looking for a 2011 to a 2013
01:07:09
Hyundai Elantre. Washington State Police find the car parked outside graduate housing. Uh they get the license plate
01:07:18
and they get Brian Cobberger's name. They then get the driver's license and they see the bushy eyebrows that in the
01:07:26
eyes of one of the Moscow detectives must be the eyebrows of the killer. Now armed with a warrant, investigators
01:07:33
retrieved cell tower data from that morning, which captured Coberger's phone around 2:47 a.m. in Pullman when it
01:07:43
suddenly stopped connecting to the network. According to the affidavit, this was also around the time cameras
01:07:50
caught a white Alantra leaving his apartment complex. There was an indication [music] that he turned off
01:07:57
his cell phone, which is something that a lot of people do when they want to avoid law enforcement knowing their
01:08:03
whereabouts. [music] >> His cell phone signal was picked up again 2 hours later south of Moscow as
01:08:10
it traveled back toward his apartment building. The affidavit described a deeper dive into Coberger's phone
01:08:18
history that revealed this was a familiar neighborhood to him, going back several months. Cell phone records
01:08:25
indicated [music] that he has traveled past and was very near the vicinity of this crime scene on 12 separate
01:08:32
occasions. >> And Towers actually captured a 13th trip just hours after the murders.
01:08:40
>> Anecdotally, a lot of killers, they like revisiting the memory of the crime. You
01:08:44
know, I won. I was able to get away with this and you guys won't catch me. >> But they had one secret weapon to make
01:08:51
their case. They had the knife sheath and there was a microscopic spot of DNA on this. Could they tie this [music] DNA
01:08:59
to Coberg? >> According to the affidavit, the DNA was found on the button snap of the sheath,
01:09:06
but when investigators ran it through the national database, there were no matches.
01:09:12
It's unclear if Brian Coberger knew law enforcement was watching when he left Washington in mid December. Coberger and
01:09:20
his father, who had flown in from Pennsylvania, drove back home together in his white Elantra.
01:09:27
>> Coberger, from what I've heard, tells the father that he's in trouble with his
01:09:31
his job. He's concerned enough about his son to want to make the drive back with
01:09:35
him. >> On the 2500 mile journey from Washington, they are stopped twice for traffic violations.
01:09:44
>> Hello. What's also interesting is Coberger's reaction to the police. >> Is this your car?
01:09:50
>> Okay, cool. >> He's pretty calm and cool. >> Father and son made it home to Alitesville, Pennsylvania, where Bloom
01:09:59
says investigators initiated a stealth operation. >> What they did is they sent a team of
01:10:06
Pennsylvania state troopers to Coberger's family's house. Law enforcement [music] recovered Coberger's
01:10:13
father's DNA from the trash outside their home, which tested as a high probability it was the biological father
01:10:22
of whoever left DNA on the knife sheath. >> So that was the Eureka moment which they
01:10:28
decided they could get an arrest warrant. >> At that point, they made the arrest of
01:10:32
Brian Cobberger and they got a separate [music] essentially a search warrant for
01:10:35
his DNA. And when investigators compared his DNA to the DNA on the knife sheath,
01:10:42
they say it was a statistical match. At least 5.37 octillion times more likely to be Coberers than anyone else.
01:11:04
Where you sit today, are you certain that Brian Coberger is the killer? >> With what you know?
01:11:10
>> I don't trust anybody or anything. So, I have to see it myself. I have to see
01:11:14
everything. >> As the months pass, Steve and Christy Gonzalez remain a united front in
01:11:22
wanting justice. But their weight has brought different perspectives. Your mind is still open to the potential. Of
01:11:29
course, >> that it could have been someone else. >> Of course. Yep. I go into that 100%.
01:11:34
Yep. Of course. >> That's not where you are. >> No. >> No, that's fine. >> I don't think there's any slam dunk.
01:11:46
>> Criminologist Brianna Fox says with the gag order in place, any hint of Coberger's defense has come from court
01:11:54
documents. It seems that the defense is alleging there was a rush to judgment. Law enforcement made an arrest too fast
01:12:00
and they focused on their client too quickly. >> A defense filing did reveal Coberger's
01:12:06
alibi for the night of the murders. It simply stated Mr. Coberger was out driving alone. [music]
01:12:13
>> The defense is not necessarily having to prove that he's innocent. They just have
01:12:18
to raise doubt. Both Fox and Howard Bloom think the defense can find ways to poke holes in the prosecution's case,
01:12:26
challenging some of the key evidence presented in the affidavit, including the cell phone location data and the
01:12:34
white Elantra. >> There's other concerns such as [music] whether Brian Coberger's car was
01:12:40
accurately identified at the onset or if that was revised after knowing what Brian Coberger drove. The cell phone
01:12:46
data makes one suspicious of Coberger, but it's not convincing. It's not putting someone at someone's
01:12:54
doorstep. It's putting someone in someone's neighborhood. If you can raise doubts about the
01:13:02
validity and the accuracy of the cell phone data, I think you're half way there to getting the case against
01:13:09
Coberger, >> either a hung jury or a not-uilty verdict. And there's more. According to the
01:13:17
defense, >> that there was no DNA or forensic [music] evidence found from the crime
01:13:22
scene at the apartment, car office, or on Brian Cobberger's person. So, [music] they were basically alleging how could
01:13:31
he have committed such a brutal murder and yet have [music] no evidence found on him of that. After consulting their
01:13:38
own investigators, Christy and Steve theorize that Coberger [music] likely brought what they call a kill kit
01:13:46
with him. >> What do you mean by a kill kit? I think he had a backpack. >> Change of clothes. We don't know if it
01:13:52
was covers, pants, hoodie. We don't know. >> A defense filing also claimed the presence of other unidentified male DNA
01:14:02
was found on the premises. Three separate and distinct male DNA profiles were found from the crime scene. Two
01:14:11
were inside the house. One was outside on a glove. >> The defense wants to know who are these
01:14:16
people and what role could they have played in this whole story. So what the defense is doing now is trying to look
01:14:24
for other narratives that make sense. Howard Bloom has written extensively about this case, including a piece on a
01:14:34
possible alternative defense theory involving drugs. >> Maybe someone had renegged on a drug
01:14:40
payment, and this was a retribution of vengeance for people not paying for drugs they had ordered. I want you guys
01:14:48
to respond to one thing that's out there because the speculation that somehow drugs were involved in this attack.
01:14:56
>> That's just Hollywood nonsense. I I just dismiss that because I I understand our
01:15:02
society wants to believe in some of these movies that they watch. They don't have these crazy lives where they're
01:15:09
crossing paths with people like that. That storyline of it being drugs gives people a reason to think why it happened
01:15:17
because nobody knows why. And the reason I think it happened is because he wanted
01:15:21
to. That's what he wanted to do. He wanted to commit a murder. >> Brian Coberger's defense attorneys argue
01:15:28
there's a lack of evidence linking their client to the students. >> The defense is claiming that the
01:15:34
defendant, Brian Coberger, and the victims have absolutely no connection. [music] There's no motive. In the
01:15:40
minutes after Brian Coberger was publicly named, the Gonzalez family went online.
01:15:46
>> They just told us the name and we immediately started googling. >> They believe they had found a possible
01:15:52
connection through Instagram and immediately took these screenshots. >> From our investigation of the account,
01:16:00
it appeared to be the real Brian Cobberger account. Among the people this account was following were Maddie Mogan
01:16:08
and Kaye Gonzalez in addition to several people with the name Coberger. >> But when we looked through those it
01:16:15
appeared to have other family members that were related to him. >> At first, Steve, who works in it, was
01:16:23
skeptical, thinking someone created a fake account immediately following Coberger's arrest. But according to the
01:16:31
family, they uncovered more possible connections. >> You would go to Mattie's Instagram
01:16:37
account and look at her pictures and he liked them. Brian's name was under a lot
01:16:42
of Maddiey's pictures like that picture and that picture and that picture and that picture. So he was actively
01:16:48
looking at the Instagram accounts >> and the importance of that is what? >> Just digital evidence that this
01:16:55
particular account had some type of connection with the with the victims. 48 hours has not confirmed [music] the
01:17:03
authenticity of this account, which has since been deleted, and the gag order prevents investigators from commenting.
01:17:13
After dedicating months looking for their own answers, the Gonzalez say they are mentally prepared for trial, no
01:17:22
matter when it begins. >> I think he's [music] done. He's going to feel all of us just staring at the back
01:17:29
of his head. And he's going to know that we are the Golova family. And he knows what he did to our daughter.
01:17:54
>> [music] >> How could this happen to a group of kids that are doing everything the way
01:18:00
they're supposed to do? To not known [music] is what keeps you awake at night. And it's every day, all day. It never
01:18:10
stops. Why? Why? Why? There is no why. [music] It is as unexplainable today as it was
01:18:18
the day Kaylee Gonzalez, Maddie Mogan, Zanna Kernodal, and Ethan Chapen were murdered.
01:18:26
>> I wish I wish we knew. >> They were all four of them were just such great people and made such an
01:18:36
impact on the lives around them. For now, the families are left with thoughts of what might [music] have
01:18:45
been. >> Kaylee Jade Gonzalez has been recommended to receive aostumous bachelor's degree.
01:18:56
>> Her family will receive the diploma of the University of Idaho. [music] On May 13th, 2023, exactly 6
01:19:06
months from the day of the murders, an occasion that would have been a cause for celebration, graduation was instead
01:19:14
another reminder of what was lost. >> Seeing all those graduation photos, it just they should be here. [snorts]
01:19:25
>> Graduation is just one of many milestones that will be missed. She would have been my maid of honor and
01:19:33
I probably would have been hers and it's like sad to [music] have to go through those life moments
01:19:39
without her. >> Jasmine Kernodal planned to work side by side with her sister Zana creating their
01:19:48
own marketing business. >> It's just not the same without her [music] because she just brought like
01:19:55
such a crazy different energy than anybody else I've ever met. >> [snorts] >> Kaylee Gonzalez's future was in sight.
01:20:04
She had accepted a job in Austin working for an IT firm. Kaye not only pushed herself, say her parents, but pushed
01:20:12
them. >> We lost that person that would force us to make new memories and force us to go
01:20:18
and take on something that seems a little daunting at first. >> One of you guys,
01:20:23
>> guys. For the Gonzalez, amid all the loss, there was an addition to the family when in February, Olivia gave
01:20:32
birth to a baby girl. >> So, her name is Theodora Mattie Kay. Obviously, Mattie Kay is after Maddie
01:20:39
[music] and Kaye. >> And if one were to believe in signs, there were, says Olivia, several with
01:20:46
Theodora Mattie Kay's arrival in the hospital. Her room number 1113 was the same as the date of the murders,
01:20:56
November 13th. And eerily, the time of birth, 4:21 a.m., is in the time frame that Kaye and
01:21:04
Maddie are believed to have been killed. >> To have birth and life and firsts, first
01:21:12
[music] giggles, first walks, that they would be there somehow, you know, even if it's just a namesake.
01:21:22
This is the Gonzalez family. Maddie has truly been a blessing in our lives. >> I'm Zana's sister.
01:21:28
>> The families of Kaye, Maddie, Zana, and [music] Ethan have all searched for ways, sometimes together, to cope with a
01:21:38
horrible new normal. >> We all are always going to be there for each [music] other, and it's just
01:21:44
difficult. We all We're all going through it in our own ways. For Ethan's [music] parents, Stacy and
01:21:51
Jim Chapen, one way of coping involves creating a foundation. Ethan's smile. >> Ethan just had a great smile. I mean,
01:21:59
smiled all the time. >> Raising money [music] for scholarships by selling tulips planted in honor of
01:22:05
Ethan, who had worked at a tulip farm. >> So, Ethan will live on through the foundation. [music]
01:22:12
That's what motivates us to to do this. How do you live with this, Jeff? >> It's not easy.
01:22:23
>> Just got to keep going. You know, >> I think just like living our lives like Zana would want us to, I know that she
01:22:32
would want us to talk about [music] the life that she lived and to be her voice right now.
01:22:39
She had a beautiful smile. her and Maddie. >> The memories that [music] we shared, we
01:22:45
don't do it lightly because they are very private memories and sometimes it feels like I'm giving away [music] a
01:22:52
part of them. But I do it for the importance to realize how great of a loss it is
01:23:00
because nothing's going to bring them back. CBS next Saturday. 48 Hours brings you
01:23:33
backtoback episodes all summer long. Next week, Beachside Homicide. >> How could a single mom be executed in
01:23:41
Cape Cod? >> I was knocked unconscious. I couldn't protect her. >> 48 hours crime time. Double feature next
01:23:47
Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus. We don't want to accept that there's
01:23:59
actually evil that walks amongst us, but it does. And this was pure evil. >> The Han family. I felt better whenever I
01:24:16
spent time with Henry, Jenny, and Emily. Henry was born to be a healer. Henry was
01:24:24
the [music] guy. In the alternative medicine world, patients would come in from all different parts of the country
01:24:30
to see him. [music] When you go to the clinic, it just kind of oozed of peacefulness.
01:24:36
He had the magic. Emily had her own little table and her crayons. Her mom Jenny was there working
01:24:46
in the clinic. It's kind of good therapy to be with the three of them. [music] >> They did make a good team.
01:24:53
>> We were business partners with Henry and we were becoming friends. >> We really had a beautiful road ahead of
01:24:59
us. >> He had a 10:00 a.m. meeting with his normal investment group. It was probably, you know, a good 45 minutes
01:25:09
[music] um after the meeting was supposed to start that we all kind of went, "Where
01:25:13
is Henry?" >> If he was going to be two minutes late, he called. >> We're trying to call Henry and was going
01:25:18
straight to [music] voicemail. So, for him to miss this meeting would be a big deal.
01:25:23
>> He just wouldn't. [music] Something was not right. >> We all had a pit in our stomach and we
01:25:27
were trying to find a reason why that pit shouldn't be there. Emily's birthday is coming [music] up. Maybe they took
01:25:35
her to Disneyland. Somebody's got to go over to their house and check [music] on
01:25:38
them. Mark finally gets in touch with Don Goldberg. >> Very unusual not to get any
01:25:44
communication from either Jenny or Henry. By midday, I decided to go to the home. From the outside, it looked
01:25:52
normal. Went to the front door. [music] Door was closed, but it was not locked. The two vehicles were in the garage,
01:25:58
which you could see through the windows at the top of the garage door. Then I called uh 911. They came over and did a
01:26:06
welfare check. >> Around 5:30 that evening, two deputies arrived, made entry, called out, no
01:26:13
response, [music] and then started to look to see if there was any sign of foul play. And that's what led them to
01:26:20
open the garage door. And then if you walk around the first car, they can see what appears to be three bodies wrapped
01:26:28
in plastic and duct tape. within a minute or two sunk in that the the three bodies were Henry, Jenny, and Emily. My
01:26:40
friends were gone. There's a certain amount of shock that that sets in. >> We didn't hear back from Don. We didn't
01:26:47
eat that night. We didn't sleep [music] that night. >> A 5-year-old 3 days short of her
01:26:54
birthday. It shook us all to [music] our core. It was rough. things started rapidly going into the
01:27:03
next phase. Who, how, and why. It's a huge home. There was biological evidence throughout, primarily in the
01:27:12
upstairs [music] and the bedrooms where the murders took place. The smell of bleach was there indicating a cleanup
01:27:18
[music] attempt. An entire family killed presumably while they slept. We knew there was a monster out there and we
01:27:26
were going to find him and get him. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Mark and Mara Palumbo were concerned
01:28:19
when their friend and business partner, Dr. Henry Han, failed to show up for a meeting.
01:28:25
on March 23rd, 2016. They would learn the horrific reason why the following day from a news report.
01:28:33
>> I was in the kitchen on my computer and I kept checking and I just remember screaming, "They're all dead."
01:28:43
>> Dr. Han, his wife Jenny, and their 5-year-old daughter Emily were found dead in the garage of their Santa
01:28:50
Barbara home. Mark had just seen them on his way back from a business trip. >> We went out for dinner, played Connect 4
01:28:59
with Emily. >> He brought his phone to me and I'm just looking at all these pictures of [music]
01:29:03
Emily and they were taken the Friday before. Just horrific. Yeah. And she was just [music] goofing around
01:29:13
with a book, making all these funny [music] faces. and you could tell she was loving life.
01:29:24
>> The Palumbos had recently embarked on a new business venture with Dr. Han. >> I really love the guy. I mean, he really
01:29:31
was smart and curious and open-minded. >> He had to come with food and [music] in
01:29:36
shorts and flip-flops, you know, just no air about him. But what made you trust him? His passion.
01:29:44
>> Yeah. The way he cared about people. >> Don Goldberg [music] had known Dr. Han
01:29:48
for more than 25 years and thought of him as a brother. To Dawn, he [music] was just Henry.
01:29:55
>> I was approximately 10 years older than Henry, but he still [music] called me
01:29:59
his younger brother. You just don't come across a friend like Henry. It's once in
01:30:07
a lifetime friendship. When they met, Henry was making a name for himself after immigrating from
01:30:15
[music] China, where he came from a family of physicians. He would soon take over the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic.
01:30:22
>> I had several patients who had had medication side effects. They would say, "I went to see Dr. Han and it went
01:30:31
away." And it was like, "I got to meet this guy." >> Dr. Dr. Glenn Miller, a psychiatrist,
01:30:37
says he and Henry developed a mutual respect and even partnered on a book about how Eastern and Western medicine
01:30:45
could work together to improve patients quality of life. [music] >> Henry's practice was flourishing as far
01:30:52
as active patients he would see like in a month was hundreds. But he also tried to balance it.
01:31:00
In 2009, that balance he was seeking became a reality when Henry met and married Jenny U.
01:31:09
>> He seemed [music] incredibly happy. It was good to see Henry that happy. >> Jenny was absolutely warm [music] and
01:31:17
lovely. >> When they had Emily, the dream was complete. [music] >> Henry was just on cloud nine. He was
01:31:26
very proud father. They were often together at the clinic where Jenny had quickly become Henry's
01:31:34
right hand, says her friend Isaiah Oregon. >> He really trusted [music] her and let
01:31:39
her kind of take the reigns. >> In the spring of 2016, >> it's my turn. >> They were getting ready to celebrate
01:31:47
Emily's sixth birthday. >> Where should I go? >> Wherever. >> Go wherever. We were making plans for
01:31:53
her birthday party and, you know, had all her presents wrapped. >> But just 3 days shy of her birthday, her
01:32:00
loved ones were stricken with grief. [music] >> I don't really have adequate words to
01:32:06
describe how I felt. The sadness is too deep. >> As night fell on the Han estate on
01:32:15
Wednesday, March 23rd, Don tried to process what he had just witnessed. He had called 911 when he couldn't find the
01:32:23
Hans anywhere. And he was with sheriff's deputies [music] when they discovered the bodies in the garage wrapped in
01:32:30
plastic. >> None of it made any sense at all. >> Prosecutor Ben Leinig says it was
01:32:38
shortly before midnight when Santa Barbara Sheriff's investigators obtained a search warrant [music] and began to
01:32:45
piece together what had happened inside the house. It appeared the family had been shot
01:32:51
while they slept upstairs [music] on the second floor. Henry in the couple's bedroom and Jenny and Emily across the
01:32:59
hall in Emily's room. [music] >> Emily's room was tough to see. Mom probably read her stories to have Emily
01:33:08
go to sleep that night and was sleeping with her. >> What did that tell you about the
01:33:12
depravity of the kind of person who could do something like that? What were they after?
01:33:18
>> We didn't know what he was after, but the depravity, I've never seen anything
01:33:24
like it. >> Detectives picked up on the distinct smell of the murderer's attempts to
01:33:29
cover his [music] tracks. >> The smell of bleach was there. We had bleach bottles found. There were bleach
01:33:35
stains on the carpet and throughout other items upstairs. And then you see [music] bloody things in a washing
01:33:42
machine. All the bedding which had been stripped from the beds was found piled in the
01:33:48
laundry room and in the machine. >> The washing machine, the alarm had gone off because it the load was unbalanced.
01:33:55
And within there are a huge group of bloody sheets >> wedged in pillows in the laundry. Crime
01:34:03
scene investigators found a 22 caliber bullet and bullet fragments. Three matching shell casings were found within
01:34:10
the wrapping of Jenny's body. and one was later found lodged between the baseboard and box spring of Emily's bed.
01:34:18
>> We had one bullet that was a through and through. It was perfect for comparison
01:34:23
for the murder weapon. As things are going, we start to find clues as to [music]
01:34:31
who potentially could be involved. Inside a paper bag next to Henry's bed, detectives found a document signed the
01:34:40
last day Henry was seen alive. It provided a name. >> It's basically a four-page business
01:34:47
contract between two partners. Partner one, Pierre Hopp, and partner two, Dr. Han.
01:34:53
>> Don Goldberg knew a Pierre that Dr. Han was associated with. [music] But Don thought he was harmless. I did not think
01:35:01
that Pierre was capable of murder. I never really saw Pierre become angry or agitated.
01:35:09
>> But the Palumbos had a bad feeling. He didn't trust him. >> I did not. This community
01:35:35
was left with a scar. The indelible scar left by the murders was the kind that not even Dr. Han could have healed.
01:35:45
>> Wow. It was like a bomb exploded. Nobody could move for weeks. There was something [music] very, very, very dark
01:35:54
going on. Kimberly Ruff says Dr. Han treated her family for two decades. He could do anything.
01:36:01
>> Ever since she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer shortly after giving birth to her son, Kimberly says Dr.
01:36:08
Han's holistic approach allowed her to nurse her newborn while still treating her tumors. [music] No matter how scared
01:36:16
you might be or or frightened, you just left feeling like it's going to [music] be okay.
01:36:22
Yeah, he was something. Instilling hope may have been one of the secrets [music]
01:36:27
to why his patients say Dr. Han could heal just about anything. >> Dr. Han like [music] saved my life.
01:36:35
>> Sher Buron was also a young mother with cancer when she went to Dr. Han. [music]
01:36:40
>> My daughter Abby was 15 months old. I felt a lump under my armpit. >> Even though she had the prescribed
01:36:48
surgery and chemotherapy, she credits Dr. Han with her survival. There was so many people that passed away around me.
01:36:56
He got me through it. >> What was the impact for you of his loss? >> It's the fear of if something comes back
01:37:02
and I'm trying every day to be positive and try to stay with his level of calm and how much confidence he had that like
01:37:10
everything's taken care of. >> That conviction is what had drawn the Palumbos who worked in the skinare
01:37:16
industry into their partnership with Dr. Han hoping to treat various skin maladies. Henry was very interested in
01:37:23
[music] CBD. >> Having used CBD in his practice to treat pain and inflammation, Henry wanted to
01:37:29
harness its full potential. It was [music] groundbreaking science at the time, and he wanted 25-year-old Pierre
01:37:36
Hopp to help develop [music] it. >> Pierre, from what we gathered, had a lot of experience uh in laboratories, in
01:37:46
this case relating to CBD. Henry had taken a liking to Pierre after meeting him through another associate. But the
01:37:53
Palumbos were uncomfortable with Pierre from the start. >> You know how when you meet somebody, you
01:37:59
can't put your finger on it, but something's not right? That was Pierre. >> There was always this kind of little
01:38:06
boiling simmer. >> When it came time to do the lab work, the Palumbos say the results were
01:38:13
disturbing. What we came to find out was he was using toxic materials. When we called him on it, he said, "You know,
01:38:21
I'm just learning more about the molecules." It was just weird. [music] >> As it turned out, Pierre wasn't a
01:38:27
formerly trained scientist. He didn't even have a college degree. >> The more you got [music] under that
01:38:32
surface, the more you realize that he could talk a [music] game and stay over the folks heads a bit scientifically.
01:38:41
Sounds like he was sort of a snake oil salesman type, right? >> He was sophisticated one, but yes.
01:38:47
>> Yeah, very sophisticated one. >> There was more eyebrow raising behavior. Pier had also made odd charges on
01:38:54
Henry's account. >> I was doing all the finances. And I'm like, this doesn't look right. Not a
01:39:00
business expense. >> Not at all. >> After Mara flagged the charges to Henry, he discovered they were for escort
01:39:07
services. Henry was, you won't believe this, Pierre's out. >> That was the final straw.
01:39:12
>> That was Henry's final straw. >> But then a few weeks before the murders, Mark and Mara say Henry brought up
01:39:19
Pierre out of the blue. >> Henry mentioned that he had learned a lot more about Pierre's upbringing, how
01:39:27
much Pierre had to overcome from his childhood. Mark Norai really responded. We didn't want to have Pierre back in
01:39:36
our fold at all. >> The Palumbos were not alone in being wary of Pierre. [music]
01:39:42
Jenny's friend Isaiah says Jenny also had concerns and confided in him about them 4 days before the murders.
01:39:50
>> It was weighing on her heavily. Do we trust him? Do we give him another chance? I was like, absolutely [music]
01:39:56
not. If he stole from you before, he's going to steal from you again. But Pierre had already ingratiated himself
01:40:02
back into Henry's goodwill. [music] >> Henry had a very trusting nature. Henry had shared with me that Pierre told him
01:40:10
that he was ill, that it was late cancer and that he was going to do what he could to help Pierre
01:40:18
>> using Henry's good nature by lying to him, by manipulating him. Authorities learned that Pierre had been an
01:40:25
overnight guest at the Hans home before the murders and had formed a new partnership with the healer. There was
01:40:33
that contract found in the master bedroom they had signed the last day of Henry's life, but prosecutor Ben Leenig
01:40:40
says it didn't seem legitimate. >> It was like a college sophomore drafted it. It was not notorized, not witnessed.
01:40:49
Detectives had found something else of interest. >> A brilliant detective [music] found
01:40:55
packaging to the plastic wrapping that all three of the Han family were wrapped in in a trash can in the kitchen area
01:41:02
next to packaging of 3M duct tape, similar to the duct tape [music] that was used to wrap all three of the
01:41:09
bodies. He recognized the plastic wrap was a Home Depot brand and reached out to the company's security department.
01:41:17
[music] >> And Home Depot was within hours of us getting entry into the house able to run
01:41:25
those two [music] items together to see if they had been purchased in the Southern California region within the
01:41:31
last [music] several days or weeks. A Home Depot in Oceanside, California, had security footage of a man who matched
01:41:40
the DMV photo of Pierre Hopp, who also happened to have an Oceanside address. [music]
01:41:46
>> And that was bam. We knew he's walking out with three huge plastic rolls and sure enough, duct tape. [music]
01:41:54
>> So within hours of the crime scene being discovered, Pierre Hopp became [music]
01:42:00
person of interest. >> Yes. But where was Pierre now? Detectives had a hunch. Data from the Han cell phones,
01:42:08
which were missing, showed they were traveling south, further and further from Santa Barbara.
01:42:15
>> Then inexplicably, Henry's phone goes dark, but Jenny's is still on and it keeps going south. We're getting
01:42:23
basically digital footprints leading down to the Oceanside area from a dead [music] woman's phone.
01:42:46
>> Anytime you're trying to stop somebody that is wanted for homicide, the stakes
01:42:50
are going to be high. The day after the Han family was found murdered, a manhunt
01:42:55
was underway in Oceanside, California, nearly 200 miles from the crime scene. Sergeant Anthony Flores and his partner
01:43:03
were part of the local Oceanside police team assisting the Santa Barbara investigation.
01:43:09
>> We had come in to work with our special enforcement section and we were going to
01:43:13
be the stop car for that day if given a window of opportunity to take him into custody or potentially stop him.
01:43:20
Meanwhile, undercover detectives were conducting surveillance at the residence Pierre Hop shared with his father and
01:43:27
updating all units, including the homicide team that had driven down from Santa Barbara with prosecutor Ben
01:43:34
Leidden. >> All of a sudden, we get chatter on our intercoms. Dad's on the move. The
01:43:40
surveillance team followed Pierre's father as he drove to a Walmart parking lot where security cameras captured him
01:43:48
meeting up with none other than Pierre. [music] >> That's dad driving in sedan. And then
01:43:55
you see the Lexus following shortly behind. They appear to be communicating briefly together. You [music] can just
01:44:03
see that trunk pop. >> Yeah. >> On dad's car. After transferring two large duffel bags [music] to Pierre's
01:44:09
car, they both drove off. >> We got to move quickly. >> It was a little after midnight and we
01:44:16
just got the update that the suspect was on the move. As we're traveling, we're hearing that he's pulling into the Arco
01:44:23
station. >> He had a few miles of a head start. The other units and laden had pulled over by
01:44:28
the Arco station waiting for the arrest team to arrive. >> Then all of a sudden you see an unmarked
01:44:35
car drive right through the middle of that intersection. Sparks fly and it just basically comes in and pulls in and
01:44:41
lays on the brakes. Two huge dudes get out of the car and pull gun on him and prone them out. [music] And our eyes are
01:44:48
like saw. We're like whoa. >> Wow. It's 200 miles away that this investigation started and it culminated
01:44:55
here. Sergeant Flores had handcuffed Pierre. What do you remember about that arrest?
01:45:01
>> I remember it going down really fast. All of our senses were heightened. >> Within 48 hours of the murders,
01:45:07
investigators had the Han family's alleged killer in custody. Pierre Hopp waved his Miranda rights and started
01:45:15
talking to detectives. what he told them was something out of a spy thriller. He
01:45:21
claimed that his life was in danger. >> Over the past couple of days, I I kid you not, I've been shot at probably
01:45:28
about five individuals so far that I shot in self-defense. >> He claimed he was being targeted because
01:45:38
of a scientific marvel he had invented. >> What does it do? It's um it's a very very advanced energy source. It's it's a
01:45:45
quantum kind of energy source. I think probably at least 15 individuals who have been connected to this project are
01:45:52
are dead. >> Pierre said he had gone to Dr. Han's house earlier in the week to install one
01:45:57
of his perpetual energy devices and that the plastic wrap and duct tape he was seen purchasing were for that purpose.
01:46:05
>> Dr. Henry, we um we signed a contract together. He was going to facilitate taking the technology out to China.
01:46:11
Loved the guy to death. He really um really liked this project. >> Pierre said he had left Santa Barbara
01:46:18
around 2:00 p.m. on March 22nd, the day before the murders after signing the contract, [music] but detectives pushed
01:46:25
back. >> Is there more to this story that you're not telling me? Dr. Han is dead.
01:46:30
>> What? >> I had [music] no clue that Oh my gosh. Everything was perfectly fine when I
01:46:38
left. Pierre was adamant he would never hurt the family and insisted the shadowy
01:46:43
figures who had been after him had killed the Hans and were trying to frame him for murder.
01:46:49
>> I invented a technology that changes the world at oil companies and people don't
01:46:54
want this technology out there. >> It was this massive conspiracy to keep this next level energy system from
01:47:01
getting out to market. James Bond, Mission Impossible, this fantastical life. I jumped out the window.
01:47:08
>> Pier's outlandish story continued, but then detectives received an unexpected
01:47:13
call from someone who claimed to have information about the murders. >> I'm a pretty rough around the edges guy.
01:47:20
I have rough around the edges friends. >> TJ Dorito was a marijuana grower who said Dr. Han had approached him about
01:47:27
supplying CBDrich strains. TJ had also met Pierre. >> Dr. Henry had told me that he was like a
01:47:34
prodigy street chemist. He had done some stuff that was ahead of his time. >> So, a little bit of a mad scientist.
01:47:41
Yeah. >> According to TJ, Pierre had a penchant for making up grandiose stories to seek
01:47:47
attention, but he befriended him nonetheless. >> He was that awkward kid that wanted to
01:47:53
fit in, and I was the guy in high school that stuck up for kids like that. So, I
01:47:59
took an interest in him in that regard. Do you think he trusted you then? >> Oh, he absolutely trusted me.
01:48:05
>> As TJ revealed to detectives, Pierre had reached out to him via text the morning
01:48:11
of the murders. The message sent at 9:39 a.m. said, "I need your help with something urgently, like it's urgent."
01:48:21
>> What was he asking for? >> Uh, he needed my help moving something. He says Pierre told him he was in Santa
01:48:28
Barbara and needed to talk face to face. So TJ had him come to his house in Thousand Oaks about an hour away.
01:48:37
>> The first thing out of his mouth, just so you know, I'm a monster. He had told
01:48:40
me right then and there that he had killed Dr. Henry, his wife, and his child, and needed help.
01:48:46
>> Did he give you details of what he did? >> He did. TJ told detectives Pierre said
01:48:53
he had tried to put the bodies in his car, [music] but they wouldn't all fit and Henry was too heavy. Details Leenig
01:49:00
says only the killer would know. >> How the killings were done, how the bodies were wrapped up, how he had the
01:49:07
doctor's phone. >> TJ told detectives [music] Pierre had also revealed his motive, $20
01:49:13
million that he planned to drain from Henry's accounts after killing [music] the family. TJ says he didn't know if
01:49:20
what he was hearing was another one of Pierre's far-fetched stories. And until he knew for sure, he decided to play
01:49:27
along. >> I just wanted to get him out of the house and confirm whether what he had
01:49:32
just said was true or not. I said, "Let me work on it and I'll call you later." [music]
01:49:36
>> Once Pierre was gone, TJ tried to reach Dr. Han and anyone who might have information to no avail.
01:49:44
>> I didn't want to call the police because I didn't I wasn't sure yet. It was chaotic. It was it was scary and also
01:49:49
confusing. >> Pierre kept messaging him around 5:00 p.m. [music] when TJ still hadn't
01:49:56
provided any assistance. Pierre texted him with a proposition. Want to come [music] to Vegas tonight? All pay. What
01:50:03
did you think the reason for that all of a sudden trip to Vegas? >> At that point, I wasn't sure. Didn't
01:50:10
sound right. It was probably going to kill me and somehow make it look like I had something to do with it. you were
01:50:16
going to be the fall guy, >> right? >> TJ made up an excuse why he couldn't go. And Pierre would send him one final text
01:50:23
at 7:35 that night. Yep, I'm screwed. [music] They just found everything. My life's
01:50:30
over. Only if I'd got to it all sooner. Leig says Pierre had just returned to the crime scene with a big truck to
01:50:39
transport the bodies, but law enforcement had beaten him to the scene. He knew his goose was cooked.
01:50:54
[music] Pierre Hopscha's arrest near Oceanside, California had come at a critical
01:51:03
juncture. He was armed with a 9mm handgun that was in plain view on the [music] driver's side floorboard. He
01:51:12
also had his passport and those duffel bags [music] which he had received from his father minutes earlier.
01:51:18
>> Two go bags, basically [music] whatever you need, clothes, everything for the person to live for months.
01:51:25
>> Hopsh's father was also detained and questioned, but he was released later that morning.
01:51:31
>> We could have charged him as an accessory, but we didn't have any indication that dad was involved in any
01:51:38
way, shape, or form in the killing. The next day, during a closer examination of
01:51:43
Hopsia's car at the crime lab, >> you name it, we found it in that car. >> There was Henry's wallet, [music]
01:51:49
credit card, and social security number along with an expended shell [music] casing. There were also the victim's
01:51:56
phones and tablet, all wrapped in aluminum foil [music] in an attempt to evade tracking. In the trunk, you lift
01:52:04
up where the spare tire would be, the murder weapon, suppressor, [music] silencer, ammunition.
01:52:10
>> A week after the murders, the autopsies revealed the victims had been shot 14
01:52:15
[music] times, three each into Henry and Jenny and most disturbing, eight in Emily.
01:52:23
>> That ammunition is the same stuff that we found at the crime scene in the deedants bodies. Match, match, match,
01:52:30
match, match everything. Pierre Hopp was charged with three counts of firstdegree
01:52:35
murder, making him eligible for the death penalty. >> It was one of the most challenging
01:52:41
cases, if not the most challenging case I ever came upon. >> Defense attorney Christine Voss, who was
01:52:47
with the public defenders office at the time, represented Hopph. >> He really wanted to be vindicated. To
01:52:54
me, the goal was for him to not get death. At the 11th hour, the DA's office agreed to wave the death penalty in
01:53:03
exchange for a more expedient bench trial, which meant a judge, not jury, would render a verdict. On October 25th,
01:53:12
2021, more than 5 and a half years after the murders, the prosecution delivered its opening statement [music]
01:53:19
and laid out its theory of the case that Pierre Hops had plotted the murder of the Han family for financial gain. They
01:53:27
[music] painted him as a career con man who up until the murders flaunted his intelligence and supposed wealth. His
01:53:35
entire [music] life's drive was being rich. He sent screenshots of his Chase account
01:53:41
[music] from anywhere from about $3 million up to $940 million to various people
01:53:48
attempting to dupe them [music] that he's this jet setting billionaire. Hopped claimed he had received big
01:53:54
offers for his energy technology. >> I am not a scientist, but I don't know that there's a such thing as a perpetual
01:54:00
energy machine. >> But several years before the murders, Hopp was actually being paid to build
01:54:06
one. >> It was going to be a new source of energy as if he was, you know, an Elon
01:54:11
Musk. >> Samantha Spyell met Pierre Hopp circa 2012 when he moved into a penthouse
01:54:17
apartment in a luxury high-rise she managed in Tempe, Arizona. He pulled up and had this bright red Ferrari. It was
01:54:24
very flashy. >> Leinik says Hopp had duped a group of high rolling investors into financing
01:54:31
his invention until they realized it didn't actually work. >> He had basically defrauded all these
01:54:38
people and the money dried up. When the murders were committed, I think he had less than $500 to his name.
01:54:45
Prosecutors presented a detailed timeline retracing Hopscha's movements, including his digital footprint in the
01:54:52
days before and after the murders. They say as early as March 17th, 6 days before the murders, he had looked into
01:55:02
impersonating the doctor at his bank. >> He's searching for Asian disguises and real flesh masks,
01:55:09
>> like a Mission Impossible face mask, >> 100%. This is his fantastical world that
01:55:14
he lived in. >> There's no evidence he ever purchased a mask, but a timestamped receipt and
01:55:20
security video placed him at [music] an Arizona gun store 4 days before the murders. Purchasing ammunition and two
01:55:29
firearms, including the alleged murder weapon, >> 22 [music] pistol with a threaded barrel
01:55:37
for what is a silencer or suppressor. On March 20th, he was back in Oceanside, California, buying supplies before
01:55:45
driving up to the Hans house under the guise of installing the energy machine. Instead, Leine [music] says Hopsch
01:55:53
bugged Henry's computer with a spyware app called a key logger. >> What key loggers do is every stroke,
01:56:01
every click of the mouse, every navigation page you go, it documents all of it. To their surprise, investigators
01:56:09
also found the key logger on Hopscha's laptop. On March 21st, while Hops was still at the Hans home, the key logger
01:56:18
had recorded chilling [music] search terms on his laptop. >> What part of the skull is more
01:56:24
penetrable? What ammunition would be better? >> As a guest in Dr. Han's house, you've
01:56:29
been [music] staying there for the two nights before planning this execution style murder.
01:56:35
>> Yes. Pierre Hopp left the Han residence on March 22nd, but prosecutors allege he
01:56:41
went back around 4:00 a.m. [music] the next morning to carry out the murders. They say later that day, he began
01:56:47
[music] frantically trying to siphon money from Henry's accounts. >> He's using phones. [music] He's using
01:56:54
fake email accounts. He's doing all these things from personal identifying information of Dr. Hans that he stole
01:57:02
earlier that week. A Chase fraud alert had flagged an attempted payment for $72,000.
01:57:10
Meanwhile, Hopsch also rented that big truck. He allegedly drove to the crime scene, hoping to move the bodies.
01:57:17
>> There are black and whites all over that house. The crime scenes being processed.
01:57:22
>> The Plumbos say the meeting they were supposed to have with Henry just hours after he was murdered had foiled Pierre
01:57:29
Hopp's plans. He thought that he had that whole day to clean up his mess before Henry would be missed
01:57:37
>> if we screwed it up for him happily. >> That's when prosecutors say he fled, driving south toward Oceanside. Leenig
01:57:46
argues Hopp's [music] subsequent searches betray his guilty conscience. Is cars searched [music] entering
01:57:53
Tijuana? How crime scene investigation works? and how long do fingerprints take to process? Incredibly, he even
01:58:02
consulted an online psychic named [music] Count Marco and asked him, "Will I get caught for what I did?"
01:58:10
>> And Count Marco replies, [music] "Well, what did you do, Pierre?" >> Pierre Hopp never gave Count Marco an
01:58:18
explanation, [music] but on the stand, he couldn't stop talking. This was a tough case,
01:58:43
but that didn't change the fact that Pierre was entitled to a vigorous defense. >> Defense attorney Christine Voss was in
01:58:50
an unusual position. This was a really well investigated case because my client wanted to have a trial and wanted me to
01:59:00
turn every stone. I did >> turn every stone and raise any possible reasonable doubt.
01:59:07
>> You argued that there were elements presented that were implausible, unprovable, and simply impossible. Those
01:59:14
were your words. >> Yeah. Voss expressed concerns that the alleged murder weapon and silencer
01:59:19
[music] found in Hoppa's car didn't match up. >> It absolutely did not connect to the
01:59:26
firearm that they [music] believed was the murder weapon. >> She seized on discrepancies in the
01:59:32
location data from Hops's car and phone that the prosecution had used in its timeline. He could not possibly have
01:59:39
been in San Diego and Santa Barbara simultaneously or Thousand Oaks and Santa Barbara simultaneously, but that's
01:59:47
what the GPS data showed. >> And she attacked the credibility of the prosecution's star witness, TJ Darita.
01:59:56
Voss questioned why Darita waited nearly 2 days to contact authorities and argued
02:00:03
in that time he could have gotten details about the crime [music] scene that the prosecution claimed only the
02:00:09
killer knew. >> It was not the best kept crime scene. He was making various phone calls after he
02:00:17
heard about the death of Dr. Han. But Voss concedes much of Darita's testimony was corroborated by the evidence.
02:00:26
>> This case was over within the first 72 hours. >> In fact, the only witness who provided
02:00:33
testimony that someone other than Pierre Hopp was the killer was Pierre Hopp. During three days on the stand, he
02:00:41
repeated the action-packed account he had given detectives about having shootouts with shadowy figures. Now, he
02:00:49
said he was sure they were sent by the Department of Energy. >> It sounds like there'd be a trail of
02:00:55
bodies, but yet is there proof of this trail of bodies anywhere to your knowledge?
02:01:01
>> No. Which further made him believe it was the Department of Energy? >> And what about all that evidence
02:01:08
investigators found? >> The DOE planted them there. It's all a frame. All that stuff is framed. That
02:01:15
banking stuff frame job. What's in my car? for frame job. >> It was difficult for me to embrace
02:01:23
[music] Pierre's testimony. >> Do you think he himself believed some of the things he was saying [music] were
02:01:30
true? >> Oh yeah, definitely. >> He was obsessed with the government. >> Samantha Spyell attests there were some
02:01:38
kernels of truth in his stories. Pierre mentioned that [music] his dad had ties to the CIA and I could tell that he
02:01:50
wanted his dad's approval. When his father died in 2023, his obituary stated he was a key player in
02:01:59
clandestine central intelligence agency operations during the 1980s. Hopsch also told Spyell that his sister
02:02:06
was going to star in a reality TV show. She got cast on a newlyweds reality show
02:02:14
and Pier was gonna be in it. Come to find out that was true. [music] >> In fact, both Hops and his father made
02:02:22
appearances on the second season of the Bravo TV series [music] newlyweds the first year.
02:02:29
>> Start by filling that up. >> Pierre was even shown giving his brother-in-law a cooking lesson.
02:02:34
>> More black pepper. But prosecutor Ben Leadenig argued any grains of authenticity in Hopsia's life were far
02:02:43
outweighed by deceit. You called him a lying liar who lies about lying, >> right? Lie, lie, lie, lie. Hundreds of
02:02:55
lies we found on him. His life was a con. >> On November 24th, 2021, [music] Judge Brian Hill would get the case.
02:03:05
None of Pierre Hopp's family [music] members attended his trial. The judge made his ruling. Guilty [music] on all
02:03:13
counts. The judge when he issued his ruling said his decision was beyond a shadow of a doubt. Absolutely no doubt
02:03:21
[music] of Pierre Hops's guilt. >> Yeah. Very satisfactory to hear that. >> I wasn't surprised. And what was
02:03:29
Pierre's reaction upon hearing that ruling? Well, he was visibly disappointed. >> On April 15th, 2022, Pierre Hopp was
02:03:40
sentenced [music] to three life terms without the possibility of parole. It was little comfort to those still
02:03:48
mourning Henry, Jenny, and Emily. >> I don't understand how there really could be justice.
02:03:57
>> He's still alive and and they're not. He took precious moments that we'll never [music] get.
02:04:06
>> I want him to feel every pain possible for what he did. >> Not enough bad things can happen for
02:04:12
him. >> Nearly a decade after the murders, [music] the wounds are still raw. >> It's hard to think of him.
02:04:22
>> He was a really good man. >> You don't replace a Henry Han. >> No. Pretty much every day I think of
02:04:31
Henry [music] and Jenny and Emily. >> There's an old phrase that a good man and a good family lives for a limited
02:04:43
time, but a good name shall live forever. They lived too short, but their name lives on forever.
02:05:02
>> [music] >> Hey, hey, hey.