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[Music] my name's Adam duxter I am a local news reporter and in the summer of 2021 I was
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working as a multimedia journalist for WIC news3 news3 now in Madison Wisconsin Madison is not New York City it's not la
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where there's news happening all the time a missing person especially a husband and wife that would be news the
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dean County Sheriff's Office shared this photo of Bart and Christa helders spending today interviewing neighbors
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are too many unanswered questions you know cars go off the road um things happen you know there's a storm or
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there's a crash or XYZ you just don't know my boss was calling her or emailing her or texting her I was doing the same
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I was texting Bart and there was just never any response I met Christa through work at zimri body shop and then I met
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her husband through her obviously and then um you know they just did anything for anybody like even people they didn't
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know so I'm on the Christa side we are related through my dad's side of the family and we mostly saw each other in
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Wisconsin at our family Cottage cabin during Summers and family reunions they both gave 100% to raising their
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boys Mitchell was a little more outgoing very easygoing uh Chandler was a little
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more sensitive a little quieter her whole goal for her being a mom was and I'm quoting her she said I want my
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children to be the best men they can be the biggest concern for me was just figuring out where they are police say
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the couple had planned to go to their cabin in l County our investigation began on July 7th when Chandler reported
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his parents missing we knew exactly what Chandler had told us we knew that his two parents were gone uh they had left
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for the 4th of July weekend supposedly to go to their cabin in northern Wisconsin I've never been assigned to a
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case where a couple is gone we ask even more questions to try to get a story and
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get a timeline of when did the halderson go missing and everything was just happening so fast in those first couple
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of days when we first got the email saying that Bart and Christal were missing it didn't compute like what do
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you mean they're missing like they went up to the cabin and then it didn't come back and huh did you think possibly they
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had been in a car accident and just hadn't been found I thought about that or I did
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think about the boat did something happen out on the lake and all these stories are swirling around and not
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making any sense and it's you know taking weirder and weirder turns and we needed to search this area
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um because of how remote it is and wooded it is and the access to water to see if we could find any evidence no way
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I would have ever ever guessed what was about to be revealed never nobody saw this coming
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[Music] [Music] Bart and Christa halderson had everything a couple could want a beautiful home in Windsor Wisconsin and
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two sons they adored 24-year-old Mitchell who worked in Tech and 23-year-old Chandler a college student
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living at home Chandler had big Ambitions he talked of getting his it degree of his promising internship at an
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insurance company and was especially excited about a new job he landed at SpaceX founded by one of the richest
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people in the world Elon Musk everything seemed to be going well for the halderson so on Friday morning July 2nd
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when Christa just didn't show up at the office Dan croner remembers becoming concerned how unusual was it for were
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number one for Kristen not to show up for work not to call and just not show up how unusual extremely unusual Dan and
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Kristen not only worked together they were close friends so when she hadn't said anything to me I was like well
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that's kind of weird it wasn't something that she would ever do Dan says he texted and called her several times but
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got no response later that afternoon he and his girlfriend drove over to the halderson
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home a neighbor's security camera shows them arriving you know knocked on the door
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didn't hear anything peered through the window the only thing that seemed weird was there was a coffee table on its side
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you looked through the door it was kind of off to the right over by they had a fireplace over there then Dan says he
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walked over to the garage window I looked in both cars were there I was like why are both cars here and I was
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starting to go around the back of the house and then Chandler came out the side door and he came out in a towel
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saying I just got out of the shower you know hey what's going on I was like oh we're just looking for Bart and Christa
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and he said oh yeah they went had to go up North this morning for uh an emergency up at the cabin Dan says he
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was relieved to know that Bart and Christo were at the family cabin over the holiday weekend he kept in touch
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with Chandler to see if he had heard from his mom and dad but he said yeah they don't have very good service up
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there so you kind of have to wait till the clouds clear before they get a message on Sunday July 4th Dan says
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Chandler called him and said he was bored and needed something to do so Dan invited him over to watch the fireworks
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and asked Chandler about his parents he mentioned that he talked to them and they're going to be back Monday all
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right when he said that he had talked to them did he say he talked to both his parents or just his mom what did he say
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do you remember I don't think he was specific I mean I was asking about his mom because I knew she had a doctor's
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appointment coming up that she was really wanted to be at I think it had been rescheduled before but Christa
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didn't show up for work on Monday and again on Tuesday by Wednesday July 7th when there was still no word Dan knew
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something was wrong and now she's missed her appointment so now it's all out concern you know something's happened to
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her now right right Dan pushed Chandler to file a missing person's report that morning Chandler halderson walked into
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one of our pre sinks to report his parents missing detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk with the D County
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Sheriff's Office would lead the team to track down the missing couple we had a lot of detectives assisting us with the
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with the case load their first stop the holders Home on Oak Spring Circle Drive so when you
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first got there who was home it was just Chan there we're inside the house with him and detectives are getting
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information outside and so we're either getting you know phone calls or text messages of you know hey maybe ask about
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this we're walking around the house with him he's pointing out things at the house things that were missing that his
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parents took when they traveled to the cabin while deputies began interviewing neighbors and Friends Barbie Townsen
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Chris's first cousin who lives in Southern California knew only what she had seen on the news that the halon's
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23-year-old son Chandler had gone to the police telling them his parents were missing what does that mean what does
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missing mean and that they had gone up to our cabin family Cottage and didn't return bed Chrissa had not mentioned to
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co-workers or their older son Mitchell that they had been planning to go to the cabin that weekend but according to
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Chandler another couple who he didn't know picked up his parents and drove them there
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the cabin was a remote rustic Lakeside Retreat and a treasured family heirloom Barbie and Christ's grandparents built
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it in the 1940s you know you start to think of crazy things cuz our cabin's up in the
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woods and so that's we were worried that are they being held hostage somewhere are they tied up
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somewhere the day after Chandler reported them missing his brother Mitchell and his fiance drove three
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hours up north to see if he could find any sign of his parents why would they not call why wouldn't there be a text or
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something you know your mind just starts to go down really murky Trails because you're trying to figure out what's going
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on hi there there are you guys um the H you okay you are affiliated with them yes the police met Mitchell and his
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fiance at the cabin maybe we could just take a walk around and see you would know the property probably better than
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we would prepared for the worst Sheriff's Office anybody inside now it's your presence make yourselves
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[Music] [Music] known when the holders disappeared it stunned everyone who knew them Barbie
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towns and said neither her cousin Christa nor her husband Bart would just leave on a whim he was more structured
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she was the more nurturing you know indulging mom it was a wonderful combination she worked as a customer
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service representative for an auto body shop and loved art projects He was a managing director for an international
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accounting firm and enjoyed woodworking they were 100% about the family he was very involved in The Scouting and all
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the things they did the halers work together on father Day in June 2021 less than a month before Bart
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disappeared Mitchell is smiling and Chandler who had a mild concussion from a fall is wearing a neck
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brace investigators anxious to find out what had happened to Bart and Christa halderson asked deputies from the
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langlay county sheriff's office to help Mitchell who brought along his fiance searched the family's cabin a 3-hour
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drive north of the family home when they got inside it was dark there were no signs of Christa and
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Bart they also checked a shed the canoe was there it was obvious no one had been
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to the cabin in a very long time they're believed to be with another couple someone else at least okay when Mitchell
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was with the police searching the family's cabin Chandler was on his own hunt throughout the
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neighborhood here he is seen on video doorbell cameras going door Todo asking homeowners if they had seen or heard
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from his parents it's kind of difficult to track him [Music] [Applause] down Adam Ducker now with a CBS station
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WCCO in Minneapolis worked in Madison Wisconsin at the time he IM immediately started calling his
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sources SO waiting to hear back from the Sheriff's Office and um my boss at the time he um was like well you can't just
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sit around you know you got to got to go start shooting something and so packed my gear in my car and drove out there to
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their street in Windor he knocked on the alderson's front door the missing couple
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son Chandler answered and so I'm like if you'd be willing I'd love to do a quick interview and he was like
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yeah I'll do that but I don't want you to film me I don't want to be shown but you can record my voice so my last uh
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message I got from them they were going to White Lake for the 4th of July other than that their plan or from to my
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knowledge they were going to langlade County to a cabin their cabin at the time I got this sense like
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he was in shock this is someone who's roughly my age and so I'm thinking like yeah if my parents just went missing he
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probably hasn't slept he's probably really nervous Alex gravat knew Chandler well I was roommates with Chandler for a
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little while I called him Chaz the two friends shared an apartment from 2019 to 2020 we grew up together and we played
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soccer together did Cub Scouts together um and just hung out together he was a great swimmer so I know that the swim
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team really got along with him Alex says his friend Chandler who went by the name
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Chaz could be a playful guy he was a a goon a hooligan in a lot of Senses what do you mean by that yeah I mean he would
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so he would play pranks and he would make lots of jokes or poke fun at people Alex described Chaz as popular with
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women college student Katherine malander known as cat was his longtime girlfriend
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he was a relatively attractive guy I mean he he looked good he had great hair he kept up on appearances according to
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Alex when they were roommates Chaz often bragged to friends about hooking up with
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different women behind cat's back when she found out about it she grilled him she was like are you seeing other people
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and he just kept denying it but cat remained suspicious and began tracking her boyfriend on social media Alex says
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Chaz became more secretive and moved back home with his parents and now those parents were missing
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detectiv Shunk and Sims began followup interviews at that point you know what do we really have we don't know what we
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have then they got a tip they desperately needed from the owner of a farm outside
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town we received information from someone that yes Chandler had been out to my property over Fourth of July
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weekend the owner was a friend of Chandler's girlfriend cat the owner said she was with the couple at her Farm on
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July 4th she told deputies she was surprised to see Chandler again the very next day and this time he was alone and
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I saw him coming from the Woodline his car was parked backed up to the field so of course right from that
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interview um well we want to go search that property as deputies began searching detectives wanted to know why
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Chandler had never mentioned he had gone back to the farm by himself police picked up Chandler and took him
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to the station what's going on detective Brian chunk asked him to once again describe
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the last time he had seen his parents it's Thursday morning how we go what time is it 6
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Chandler said his dad Bart was at home working and that later he had dinner with both
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parents that's where they told me while we were eating it they they were going to go with their friends and I was like
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oh cool um and they said they were going cabin yeah we're going up north while detectives questioned Chandler deputies
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were out searching the farm and made a discovery that quickly changed the tone of the interview listen to me this is
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the only chance you're going to have to tell us the truth okay okay what we listen listen I'm I can't tell you what
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we know but we know you're not telling us the truth you need to tell the truth there's listen listen you need to tell
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the truth about what happened and just tell us why it happened I'm not bsing you
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okay so can we do that okay they okay um Chandler's request for a lawyer ended that interview detective Sims remembers
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the moment she learned what deputies told her they had found near that field you know Brian and I were in the command
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post together and I said um what did you say you know I just couldn't believe what I was
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hearing they had discovered human remains on Thursday July 8 2021 in the village of Windsor Wisconsin
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the community struggle to make sense of the disturbing news the remains of an adult male have
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been found on a farm 20 mil from B and Christa alderson's home at this point it's very early in
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our investigation Dane County Sheriff Calvin Barrett warn resident not to jump to conclusions I don't want
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to make any uh uncorroborated speculations at this time the gruesome Discovery was made the
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day after Bard and Christa had been reported missing by their son and it was something detectives Brian chunk and
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Sabrina Sims had never encountered the grass had been matted down and they followed it to a trail
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which led to um the discovery of a male torso that was um concealed with sticks and twigs that was really the moment
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right it was huge I think of other death investigations or homicide cases we've worked and I don't remember a time that
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I've worked a dismemberment case and what other evidence was found out there we found um some cutting
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instruments some um that were hidden in a an old oil drum um some scissors um pruning shears uh a broken bow saw and
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it was all in the same wooded area where the halderson son Chandler had been seen
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earlier in the week detective Sims had a pretty good idea who the victim was knowing in my gut that that um was most
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likely Bart halderson and his son was seen in that area police turned their full attention
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to Chandler halderson he was now a person of interest and the prime suspect while tests were being
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done to confirm the victim's identity detectives arrested Chandler and charged him with lying to them the arrest was
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based on him providing false information in regards to a missing person Christa holders son's cousin Barbie Townsen what
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did you think they arrested him for giving false information about a missing person that was the first day
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that I started to suspect Foul Play from their own son I checked my phone and I saw that and it was that he had been
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arrested and it was pretty wild Alex Kat his childhood friend learned about it on social media my eyes
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got wide I I kind of just sat there for a second reading it my first thought was
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if he's being arrested for giving misinformation to the police I didn't think that there was really much of a
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chance that he wasn't involved somehow but there's someone who had a hard time imagining Chandler was
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involved his girlfriend cat she spoke to police just before his arrest you don't
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think he had anything to do with his mom and dad being unheard from no I just no
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that' be crazy but I just don't see him killing Mr Mrs halderson like he had SpaceX like
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why would he jeopardize something he like would dream of you know like there's parents for Christmas they got him and
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his brother matching tool sets like come on okay he cooks dinner for them they have ruper floats together they play
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Mario Kart whenever his parents want to but on Saturday July 10th 2021 the victim found in the wood WS was
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identified as Bart halderson it just changed everything like that moment changed everything
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preliminary autopsy results would reveal Bart had been shot at least two times in
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the back and there was still the troubling question where was Christa Christa holders remains a missing person and we
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continue to ask for citizen involvement CHR co-worker Dan cronier ran through all the different
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possibilities did you at that moment Wonder like maybe Chris was involved in this too it had definitely crossed my
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mind start to wonder well why is Chandler lying is he covering for himself or is he covering for perhaps
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his mother is she involved but the more investigators looked it seemed the only person
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Chandler halderson was covering for was himself self you know he just lied to everybody and in his lies police
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started to believe they found a motive for murder for months he had been telling everyone including his childhood
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friend Alex Kat that he was enrolled at Madison College during the 2021 spring semester did you have any idea he had
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flunked out he didn't tell you no it was surprising detectives believe his parents had no idea he wasn't in
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school they say when his parents questioned him about his transcripts the computer savvy Chandler halderson
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crafted a chain of emails that seemed to come from the college Chandler creates people that work for Madison College and
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communicates via email with them you know Bart's on some of those as well talking to who he believes as employees
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of the school and do any of those people actually exist no in June 2021 Bart halderson called
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Madison College pretending to be Chandler and got an answer he wasn't expecting said I don't see that you were
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admitted in any program you said they were you know it's the it degrees in there right no those are just classes
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you might have just took the classes but not be in the program Bart learned that
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not only had his son been lying about that it degree but there was no internship with an insurance company
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either and remember that big job with SpaceX turns out that was just another elaborate
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lie the delusional reality that he concocted that is shocking to me according to detectives Bart was
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planning to meet at the college with his son on Thursday July 1st around 2: p.m. Bart was working from
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home sent his son this text I'm ready whenever you are that text is believed to be the last message Bart
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sent 7 Days Later Bart's remains were found investigators got a search warrant for the halderson
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home no weapon was found there but a shell casing was discovered in the basement in several areas inside the
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house tested positive for blood Chandler midle initial M last name halderson age 23 of Windsor is now being
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charged with first-degree homicide hiding a corpse and mutilating a corpse on July 15th 2021 Chandler
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halderson was formally charged with his father's murder Chandler is currently being held
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in the D County Jail I mean I I don't know what else to say like how how could you do that to your
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father but where was his mother Christa Chandler halderson had lawyered up and wasn't talking but someone very close to
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him was she had communicated with him that whole weekend that loyal girlfriend Katherine malander had a potentially
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damning piece of evidence about her boyfriend on the social media app Snapchat she actually consented to a
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download of her phone so that was a breakthrough how do you feel about allowing people to track you on social
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media apps join the conversation now on social [Music] media Chandler halderson was charged
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with his father's murder but his mother's whereabouts were still unknown lead detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian
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chunk knew if Christa was alive they needed to find her fast at that point we were hoping for
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the best it was one of those things where we just needed to to push on detectives turned to alderson's
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girlfriend for help she had given them permission to download information from her phone Chandler had lied to her
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before and had cheated on her before and so she um you know would track his location cat had convinced halderson to
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let her track his movements using SnapChat the popular social media app which allows users to send messages and
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share their location in real time um and that was an agreement that yes you will
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have your locations on so I can see where you're going detectives were most intrigued by messages posted early on
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the morning of July 1st the day Chandler halderson and his father were supposed to meet with Madison college officials
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alerson whose online name was chazel Dazzle messaged cat at 7:30 a.m. I hardly slept I'm sorry be why I don't
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know stuff hasn't really been going well for me lately so I'm trying to plan for
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the next thing to exploitive me over be it's going to be okay yeah I just had a great future planned and it's falling
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apart [Music] according to detectives the tone of those messages worried cat so two days
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later when cat checked Snapchat and noticed her boyfriend's Avatar that's hubby on her screen indicated that he
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was nearly 25 miles from home cat saved the image to her phone it was a Snapchat
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screenshot um of Chandler almost 900 in the morning um out by the Wisconsin River
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detectiv Sims and Shunk took us to that location on the River where they had hoped to find Christa so where are we
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exactly what would you call this area it's the Wisconsin State lower Riverway and it's a familiar place to
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the former High School swimmer Chandler halderson close to his favorite swimming
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hole this is him at the same place in a photo taken a year earlier holding a large
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knife law enforcement throughout Daye County searched the wooded area and how long was he
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here 45 minutes I believe just keep in mind in July but it's definitely far thicker than what you're seeing here
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now still no sign of Christa halers said but search teams refused to give up let's go hit one more area and that was
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where they ended up discovering the remains and what exactly did they find there they ended up finding two legs cut
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into different sections DNA tests confirmed it was Christa halderson the concerned son who had reported his mom
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and dad missing was now charged with both of their murders Christa's cousins were
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horrified you couldn't write this it just wasn't um anything that you could possibly come up with in your head how
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do you make sense of it we don't and that's the hard part we don't have a why in January of 2022 at the D County
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Courthouse Chandler halderson went on trial for the murder of his parents all right for the jury he was also facing
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charges for lying to the police and for mutilating and hiding their bodies our job is to over the course of the next
00:31:00
couple of weeks present evidence to show you the path of what we believed happened assistant district
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attorney William Brown that Chandler harderson killed his parents dismembered their
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bodies and hid them around southern Wisconsin prosecutors laid out a motive they say chandler murdered his parents
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when his lies were about to be exposed and that for months he had been trying to hide the truth from them among the
00:31:31
evidence those fake email accounts he created no one uses a Gmail account is their official Madison College email no
00:31:41
and his fictitious internship with an insurance company I found no record of that person working for American
00:31:51
Family investigators believe the murder weapon was a semi-automatic rifle that had been hidden in a barn at that farm
00:31:58
where Bart's remains were discovered good afternoon sir could you please state your name and then spell it out
00:32:04
Andrew Smith how do you spoke Alpha November Delta Romeo Echo whiskey the rifle came from this man Andrew Smith
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who testified that he was in the military when he met halderson online how did you meet Cham halderson playing
00:32:19
video games while I was station in Germany sir halderson had wanted a gun smith testified he had no idea what
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halderson wanted to do with the weapon and in June 2021 he gave him that semi-automatic rifle as a gift I'm going
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to give it to someone who might actually appreciate this weapon and take care of
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it and nearly 480 rounds of ammunition how did Chandler react when you give him the gun oh he was happy what do you mean
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but how do you know he was happy or how do you how do you know that cuz he had a
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big smile on his face when I had given it to him as a gift but the most anticipated witness in
00:32:55
this trial good morning would be alderson's girlfriend did you verbally answer yes to the oath yes who gave
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police that Snapchat screenshot what is that screenshot of Chandler by the Wisconsin
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River what do you make of the prosecution's case against Chandler halderson see more evidence at 48
00:33:21
[Music] hours.com could you please State and spell your name for us uh Catherine
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melander for 3 hours cat Mander sat on the stand telling the jury about the young man she thought she knew Chandler
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halderson did you go on a lot of dates together uh yeah we would um grab dinners um have movie dates just sit at
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home and watch movies go on walks quite often cat told the jury that she was working on July 1st when authorities
00:33:57
believe the murders happened and didn't see her boyfriend in person that day but
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you weren't with him I was not with him did you know that Barton Crystal halderson had
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died no according to investigators Alderson asked cat to bring a few cleaning supplies to his home the
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following day he told her he had stepped on some broken glass from the fireplace
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she brought him a Swiffer mop and a bottle of hydro nitrogen peroxide cat did you have absolutely anything to do
00:34:32
with cleaning anything up or their disappearance investigators say there's no evidence that CAD had any involvement
00:34:41
in the murders they believe Chandler halderson acted alone prosecutors showed the jury police
00:34:50
video from inside the halderson home these walkthrough videos will document the home as is at first plants it seemed
00:34:58
NE and clean but test results revealed what appeared to be blood is that all blood that it's reacting to this could
00:35:08
be blood that it's reacting to yes and that it appears that there's been some wiping or clean up for Barbie Townson
00:35:16
the most disturbing part was when the jury was shown a view of the halderson home from a neighbor's security camera I
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was talking to one of my cousins we said one of the images that is going to be ser in our
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minds is when they showed that video of the window flickering window from July 2nd and it was the flickering glow from
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the fireplace for like hours that is haunting knowing what was happening a forensic expert testified
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that more than 200 bone fragments were discovered in the fireplace there's a white area in the
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middle of that burnt based on my training experience that appeared to be bone alderson's defense attorney
00:36:02
Katherine dorl did not address the bone and blood evidence found in the home but
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insisted that did not mean her client was the killer Chandler halderson did not murder his
00:36:16
parents he is not guilty of those crimes she reminded the jury there were too many unanswered questions what happened
00:36:26
to the halderson what happened in that alderson's home you just aren't going to know what
00:36:35
happened Chandler halderson himself didn't testify and his defense didn't call any Witnesses you have to go back
00:36:45
and look at everything instead attorney Crystal Vera closed the case and urged jury to find reasonable doubt she admits
00:36:54
halderson told a lot of lies but she argues there isn't enough direct evidence to tie him to the murders I
00:37:03
guarantee you that the 12 of you that are going to go back and deliberate are all going to have 12 different theories
00:37:09
on what happened and that's a problem I'm asking you to find him not guilty of first degree intentional
00:37:18
homicide prosecutors had the final word this is a first-degree intentional homicide you cannot shoot someone in the
00:37:27
in the back you cannot chop them up you cannot scatter their remains and come to
00:37:32
any other conclusion and there is only one person who did those things here and that is Chandler halderson we're asking
00:37:42
you to find him guilty thank you it didn't take long for the jury to [Music] decide breaking news in just about a
00:37:55
little over two hours a jury has reached a verdict in the Chandler halderson case we the jury find the defendant
00:38:04
Chandler M halderson guilty of first-degree intentional homicide as to B halderson guilty of providing false
00:38:11
information about guilty of mutilating a corpse of first-degree intentional homicide of mutilating ail of hiding a
00:38:18
corpse guilty on all eight charges I think it was just overwhelming from all the work that we put in on it
00:38:28
in March 2022 at his sentencing hearing good afternoon alerson who had been silent during his trial surprised
00:38:37
Everyone by indicating he finally had something to say Mr halderson wishes to make a
00:38:43
statement your honor I want to take this opportunity to State my intent to appeal
00:38:48
my convictions if there are any lawyers listening and willing to take on my appeal take a moment to please reach out
00:38:56
to me it's not that I do not have feelings it's that I was warned to not show them
00:39:03
due to the scrutiny of this case thank you what was your reaction when he had the chance to speak and all he did was
00:39:12
ask for a lawyer to take an appeal what was your I was actually disgusted I just
00:39:17
couldn't believe it like you can't even say I'm sorry we are Jed thank you halderson was sentenced to life in
00:39:25
prison without the possib ability of thr when do you miss them oh I think about him just about every day really
00:39:39
yeah we're building a pond in our backyard you know they would love to see that and love to be a part of
00:39:47
it Mitchell halderson B and Chris's oldest son is now living with an unimaginable loss Barbie shared a text
00:39:56
and this photo that Christa sent to the family just 3 months before she died happy Easter yes the boys and their
00:40:06
women Mitchell is still at Epic Systems and will turn 25 this year yikes Chandler is currently interning with
00:40:13
American Family Insurance as an IT administrator but his other degree sustainability management has given him
00:40:20
an edge you see in her text how proud she was of her boys and how 100% completely believing chantler
00:40:32
she can't help but wonder what would have happened if halderson had just been honest with everyone if he had just gone
00:40:41
and thrown himself at the mercy of his parents what do you think Chris and Bart would have done they would have helped
00:40:46
him they definitely would have confronted him on it but after the confrontation and the truth telling
00:40:54
would have come the grace how do we go forward how do we help you how do we get your life back on track they would have
00:41:01
helped [Music] him it was deemed unsolvable prior to my involvement very small amount of GNA
00:41:28
just a speck of a speck decades later can it help this expert catch the Killer and I scream today's your day Rock 48
00:41:36
hours Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount [Music] plus Joey's missing he's somewhere it's got to be
00:42:00
somewhere Hey where's Joey have you heard from Joey this isn't like him to not call me
00:42:08
[Music] back there's something really wrong let's go back to November 12th 2016 a bunch of people were going out to
00:42:24
New York City Joey would go in tomb and had an a good amount he would meet all of our friends
00:42:34
there he had hundreds of friends hundreds of friends Joey always had this positive
00:42:42
outlook on life when you were with him you felt like you could fly he was an athlete Lov Sports bright
00:42:49
future smart kid that night we went to the Gilded Lily the Gilded Lily is in the meat packing
00:43:01
District it's a lounge it has Club type music it's kind of high-end everyone dresses
00:43:09
up were you drinking we were drinking how would you describe Joey he looked fine he didn't look like he was even
00:43:17
buzzed 3:30 or so the night was ending so everyone exits I remember Joey on my left and
00:43:26
these girls were looking at him a certain way and he was looking back at me and just smiling like you know that
00:43:32
he was interested I get approached on my right side by two guys and they try to start
00:43:40
some conversation with me Joey's on my left and they kind of form a group on that side he jumped in a cab and went
00:43:49
off with these two guys why do you think he did do you know I just don't know but
00:43:53
I guarantee they're saying that they have a penthouse apartment there's a girls this guy's dad's a
00:44:00
jeweler and that jeweler was the Jeweler to the Stars talking about Oprah Winfrey
00:44:05
you're talking about Jennifer Lopez he sold an engagement rank to Melania and Donald
00:44:11
Trump Saturday night came and went I can't get in touch with him has your son ever gone a whole day without
00:44:20
texting or calling you no I started getting phone calls from a bunch of our friends have you heard from Joey spoke
00:44:27
to Joey Joey's with you right they thought he was at my house what [Music] happened so I went on Instagram I went
00:44:35
on Facebook I called everyone on my phone we go and we just start looking for them Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
00:44:45
everyone was still trying to get a clear-cut answer as to what was going on sources say 26-year-old Joseph communale
00:44:52
came to this building early Sunday morning with friends why why were you there why why did you meet them why did
00:44:58
you go out that night if you were invited to go to Su place you would want to go there it's like its own private
00:45:05
Enclave that only money can penetrate commun Al's father reported him missing when he never came home
00:45:12
what's now going through your mind the worst the worst yeah what do you think happened in
00:45:20
apartment fory there something went terribly terribly wrong [Laughter] [Music] [Music]
00:45:45
48 Hours what happened in apartment 4C reported by Aaron morti [Music] [Music] I met Joey freshman year of college
00:46:07
we've been best friends ever since Joey was one of my best friends my best friend best friend everybody called him
00:46:13
their best friend but I was his best friend Joey C aly's Father Pat knew his 26-year-old
00:46:20
son well and at first he wasn't worried when he couldn't reach him the morning after Joey went out with some friends on
00:46:28
Saturday night November 12th 2016 I know it sounds crazy but in New York things don't really start until 8
00:46:35
it's not unheard of for kids to come home at 6:00 in the morning and I figured he's
00:46:41
sleeping he was sick earlier in the day looking back Joey's friends like Steven naso will tell you that Joey never even
00:46:50
intended to go out that Saturday night I think he took a nap for like 3 hours but
00:46:55
then Joey's College buddy pream Daka barbu a part-time promoter texted and offered Joey VIP treatment at the Gilded
00:47:04
Lily a club then located in the Chic meat packing District in downtown Manhattan I was working so I'd be able
00:47:12
to take care of everyone that came in did you ever worry about him I worried about Joey because I loved him
00:47:20
but I knew that you know he always surrounded himself with good people Alisa laeto dated Joey konell on and off
00:47:27
but mostly on for 5 Years first at Hoffer University and later when Joey became a sales associate at his father's
00:47:37
security company and Alisa became a teacher he is like the rest of us he wants to have fun doesn't want any
00:47:44
problems but that particular Saturday she and Joey like a lot of longtime couples were taking a break we had a
00:47:52
little bit of like a disagreement and I was like you know what I just need a little bit of space like I'll talk to
00:47:57
him in the morning so Joey headed into Manhattan from Stanford Connecticut we hop on the
00:48:05
Mayor Parkway shoot down in New York City Joey was with Steven nasso and they met up with a group of friends it was
00:48:11
always a good time to meet people and that's why Joey and them came out to guilda that
00:48:20
night as the club was closing you could see Joey and his friends exiting on surveillance video
00:48:28
it was early Sunday morning and the crowd emptied onto the street that's when Joey began talking to three women
00:48:37
standing outside the club then out of the blue two men joined them the men did not know the women and they didn't know
00:48:45
Joey and his friends either there's 6 or 7 million people in New York City and they cross paths with us at that point
00:48:52
Steven borrowed Joey's phone and stepped away from the group when Steven turned back Joey and the group were gone and
00:49:01
this new group that he had met somebody said hey you want to go to a friend's apartment in Sutton Place and continue
00:49:07
having some fun Veteran New York crime reporter Murray Weiss covered the Joey Kelli story when it first broke and is
00:49:15
now working for 48 hours so Joey went along leaving his phone behind with his friend thinking I'll get it tomorrow no
00:49:22
big deal they just jumped in a couple of cabs and off they went [Applause] Steven got word that Joey had gone to a
00:49:32
party uptown at someone's apartment so he headed home with Joey's phone hours later on Sunday afternoon back in
00:49:40
Steven's apartment Joe's phone began ringing it was his father he said Hey where's Joey I said he stayed in the
00:49:49
city and he was like all right well something happened um find him for me so then I went to Joey's place and he
00:49:55
wasn't there did you talk to every day yeah every day talk about the Yankees and the Rangers
00:50:06
and Steven got in touch with pream who Tracked Down the phone number of a guy named Larry who had been at the party
00:50:14
Larry told us that he doesn't know where Joey went that's when the vast network of
00:50:22
Joey's friends got to work homing through social media searching for any scrap of information friend Mike Mullen
00:50:30
says they plugged Larry's phone number into Google and got a last name and actually his Facebook popped up Lawrence
00:50:40
Delon is this the kid yeah that's the kid we were with last night Max was the one who really put
00:50:49
everything in motion Max branchinelli was perhaps Joey's closest friend he manages a restaurant but when he heard
00:50:56
Jo Joey was missing he turned himself into an online detective had you ever tried to track down or retrace
00:51:04
somebody's steps before using social media no you're in a panic and you're trying to find your your friend so show
00:51:11
me where you started so I went on Instagram here and why Instagram why would you start there Instagram you can
00:51:19
click on the location of the place and it will show people that posted a picture there from that place here's
00:51:26
what Max did he began using Instagram's locator function for the Gilded Lily looking for users who had posted the
00:51:34
previous night and that morning he kept his eye out for Joey as I was scrolling I landed on this picture and why did
00:51:44
this catch your eye this caught my eye because I happened to know him in the middle by total coincidence Max spotted
00:51:51
a friend Alvin but that's not the only reason he stopped at the photo I know the type of girls Joey chases their dark
00:52:00
features and I just had a buch i screenshotted the picture and I sent it to the group of the guys that were out
00:52:07
at the club with him the night before and what' they say they're like yeah it's that girl right there on the right
00:52:11
and I was like wow that woman had also gone to the Sutton Place party that night Max called his friend Alvin who
00:52:19
had her phone number so I then hit her up you remember being with Joey last night like we can't find him he's
00:52:25
missing and and she told me like yeah we were with him last night she told him that when the party
00:52:33
ended early that Sunday morning Larry dilon and Joey walked her and her friends to an Uber she told me they
00:52:41
waved and he looked like he was going back inside with Larry but when Max called Larry dilon he said Joey did not
00:52:49
go back inside the building and he's like he left with the girls he left in the Uber with the
00:52:55
girls those were two very different stories at this point I'm not sure who's lying to
00:53:02
[Music] me how does a 26-year-old man simply disappear Joey Kelli was part of a close-knit loving family with a younger
00:53:26
sister Alexa and parents Pat and Lisa he loved going to the city he did it all the time he loved it you know
00:53:35
he'd go to Ranger games he'd go to the Yankee games he'd go to the Giant games Pat konali lives in a Tony part of
00:53:43
Connecticut but he's a bronx kid at heart he moved here met his future wife Lisa and founded a successful security
00:53:52
firm that he later sold for more than $400 million but that meant nothing now that
00:54:00
his only son was missing how important is family to you pass yeah family's important
00:54:15
that's that's everything tell me about his relationship with his dad I have never
00:54:21
seen a person admire their father so much I've never seen a father admire their son so much they were
00:54:30
inseparable by Sunday evening with Joey now missing about 10 hours Pat phon Larry dilon who had been at the Sutton
00:54:39
Place apartment with Joey Larry says they walked the girls out to the car and that's the last they saw of them but
00:54:47
then dilom provided one small additional detail about Joey that to Pat seemed off
00:54:56
these said the last I heard he said he was going to get cigarettes did that make sense didn't make any sense cuz if
00:55:01
you talk to his his friends I'll tell you that he never bought a pack of cigarettes in his life Joey smokes
00:55:05
cigarettes from time to time but he never bought them that's that's why it doesn't make any sense Pat thought so
00:55:11
too he decided to file a missing person's report so I said all right let me go to
00:55:18
the Stanford PD by then Pat had Larry dillion's phone number the on duty Sergeant called dilon who denied knowing
00:55:27
where Joey was but he did provide the names and numbers of two friends at the party James rackover and Max Gemma dilon
00:55:38
also provided the address 418 East 59th Street in Manhattan a building that calls itself the Grand
00:55:48
Sutton the Grand Sutton is a luxury condo in one of the wealthiest sections of New York City and an apartment 4C was
00:55:58
home to 25-year-old James rackover you're not expecting an issue in Sutton Place Sutton Place is a is a beautiful
00:56:08
place to live no one would disagree over the years the neighborhood's been home to a parade of
00:56:15
celebrities including Marilyn Monroe Michael Jackson and Rockstar Fredy Mercury what could go wrong on the Upper
00:56:25
East Side and do you know anything about Larry dilon or James rackover or Max Gemma at that point you know nothing
00:56:32
about them but as the days passed the police would find out a lot more about the three young men all in their 20s who
00:56:41
partied that morning with Joey the three young men in the story are young men of
00:56:46
privilege Larry dilon worked in real estate and came from a well-off New Jersey family that owned thoroughbred
00:56:55
horses Ma Max Gemma was a computer software salesman whose father was once the mayor of Oceanport New Jersey and
00:57:03
had been in business with Jared Kushner president Trump's son-in-law but no one appeared to live a
00:57:10
more Charmed life than James rackover who was living in Sutton plays his father Jeffrey who had a much larger
00:57:19
apartment in the same building on the 32nd Floor specialized in getting oneof a-kind pieces of jewelry for the world's
00:57:27
rich and beautiful I grew up in the same town with Jeffrey rack over we grew up a
00:57:34
block apart and while we weren't close our families knew each other he not only cultivated becoming a jeweler to the
00:57:42
Stars he wanted to be among them he was friends with Jerry Jones me the owner of
00:57:48
the Dallas Cowboys he came to know Oprah his apartment has photographs of himself
00:57:53
with all these personalities James enjoyed the good life he was an aspiring model working in the insurance
00:58:01
business loved boxing and even had a boxer named gloves of course I think Joy had an opportunity to go to a fancy part
00:58:10
of New York City into a fancy apartment and he went along and there were those three young
00:58:18
ladies along for the ride Jenna ssy Katie Conroy and Samantha Guardiola but all that mattered to Pat
00:58:28
was finding his son he had already filed a missing person's Report with the Stanford police but also wanted to alert
00:58:36
the New York City cops so at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning some 25 hours since anyone reported seeing Joey Pat was at
00:58:45
the 17th police precinct where he told NYPD detective Yan Castro everything he knew detective Castro I still remember
00:58:55
saying let's go to the building and we jumped in the police car when they arrived at the Grand Sutton detective
00:59:03
Castro asked to view the building surveillance video and then he starts reviewing video they asked me a couple
00:59:09
times to come in to identify if that was my [Music] son so we did at some point you see your
00:59:24
son so sorry Pat was overcome when he spotted son Joey and Larry dilon walking the
00:59:41
three women out to the curb but them what do you see we see him come back into the
00:59:50
building so you see Larry dilon and your son walking back in the building and what did that say to you they're
00:59:58
lying there's a problem here remember Larry dilion had said Joey did not go back inside the
01:00:06
building it was all too much for Pat detective Castro asked him to wait at the 17th police precinct so as I went
01:00:15
outside to make phone calls the porter started to bring garbage out and I ran back inside and I said to
01:00:24
the police don't let the garbage go make sure you search all the Pags just kind of had that sense that if these guys
01:00:31
were lying there could be something in the garbage and sadly he was right inside those bags police discovered
01:00:40
Joey's bloody pants his shirt and his driver's license also tossed in the trash a
01:00:52
special chain Joey always wore [Music] given to him by his father I said to myself I don't think he
01:01:00
walked out of the building [Music] [Music] alive 14 hours after Joey konali and Larry dilon were seen on video walking
01:01:23
those women to their Uber Sur surveillance cameras caught James rackover taking his father's
01:01:29
mercedesbenz for a drive with the help of npd's network of cameras detectives were able to track some of his movements
01:01:39
they quickly put in rack over's mercedesbenz license play and Bing Bing Bing it started showing up going down
01:01:46
the FDR Drive the car went South around southern Manhattan it then made a turn into the
01:01:57
tunnel that led out to New Jersey but detectives could not pinpoint precisely where the car eventually
01:02:05
stopped they needed a break and they soon got it from Larry dilon he agreed to meet with them and they sensed that
01:02:14
there was something that he wanted to say and so the detective said to him you know what do you want to tell us we have
01:02:20
a missing boy here his family you know wants to know what happened to him on Tuesday dilon began talking the party
01:02:30
at the apartment in the wee early hours of Sunday morning had been Lively he said one of the women videotaped some of
01:02:38
it on her phone there was cocaine and plenty of drinking dilone and rackover even competed to see who could give the
01:02:47
best lap dance but by 6:45 a.m. the women left in that Uber and that's when cameras captured dilon and Joey walking
01:02:58
back into the building and up to apartment 4C where dilon says a fatal argument erupted Larry dilon tells the
01:03:08
police he has an exchange of words with Joey communality that Joey says something like James got the cocaine you
01:03:17
know I got the cigarettes what have you brought to the table and kind of pounded
01:03:20
his hand on a table and Larry dilon admitted to the police that he just flew into a raid
01:03:26
and slamed Joe and knocked him down and hit him a few times dilon says that when he began
01:03:33
punching Joey his friend Max Gemma was asleep on the couch then dilon says rack over a boxing fan who took pride in his
01:03:44
chisel physique jumped right in and according to Larry James starts also beating the crap out of Joey who's now
01:03:52
defenseless and gurgling because he can't hardly breathe commun alley lawyer Bob Abrams has heard dillion's
01:03:59
confession he claims that after he had beaten a defenseless joei and almost killed him Max woke up they got so very
01:04:08
nervous because Raco was now beating the crap out of Joey that they would do anything rakova said and this is really
01:04:16
difficult for me to talk about because what they did and how they did it is just so horrific d dilon says he
01:04:26
told Gemma to leave the room and that's when dilon says rackover began stabbing Joey the stabbing ended Joey's
01:04:38
life dilon says Jemma left the apartment and had no involvement in the murder he says rackover then dragged
01:04:48
Joey's lifeless body into the bathroom he tries to dismember him with a serrated knife
01:04:56
dismembering somebody is not an easy thing to do and rackover was not able to do
01:05:02
it while they plotted their next move they began a frenzied cleanup of the apartment mopping up Joey's blood with
01:05:10
bleach and paper towels all the while Fielding calls from Joey's friends and his father you're talking to Larry dilon
01:05:21
and your son's still in the apartment and they act like there's nothing wrong yeah incredibly evidence shows that
01:05:30
rackover and dilon took time out to eat placing a delivery order then as shown on building surveillance cameras they
01:05:39
explored the basement looking police a for a way to get Joey's body out of the Grand Sutton without being
01:05:47
seen then they had another idea what they do next is totally insane as dark Darkness settled on the
01:05:56
city dilon claimed he moved Joey's body now wrapped in a comforter to the ledge of rack over's fourth floor window while
01:06:05
rackover moved the mercedesbenz into position on East 59 Street when rack over gave him the class
01:06:15
sign dó pushed the body uh out of the window four floors and nobody saw it we're we're talking about a upscale
01:06:29
apartment Midtown Manhattan and nobody saw it the Grand Sutton faces the Queensboro Bridge in Manhattan and it
01:06:39
was dark it fell into an area where there may have been some bushes and concrete and then when nobody was
01:06:46
looking after Deon came back down they stuffed the body into the trunk of the car and then they drove off
01:06:57
lar had told them that they had driven the body down to Oceanport New Jersey and that they had deposited him in a
01:07:05
wooded area behind a florish shop it was an area that dilon was very familiar with he grew up in Oceanport a
01:07:14
jerseyshore town some 60 M from Manhattan he admits to helping take the body and to participate in digging I
01:07:24
don't want to call it a grave because it's not a grave a hole and then dumping Joey's body in a hole but right before
01:07:32
they were going to cover up the hole rackover took gasoline and started to pour it over Joey's body and in fact
01:07:42
did light Joey's body on fire after dillion's confession police raced out to Oceanport and discovered
01:07:52
Joey's burned body in a field behind the the florish shop exactly where dilon had
01:07:58
said it would be 2 hours later Sergeant Yan Castro arrived at Pat common Al's home in
01:08:09
Stanford you heard a car door closed I popped up and I saw detective uh Castro I already
01:08:36
knew yeah that was it what happened that night did you do it James rackover and Larry dilon were
01:08:47
arrested and charged with second degree murder what happened early Sunday morning did you do it did you kill did
01:08:54
you stab him Max Jemma who remembered dilon insis had nothing to do with Joey's death was arrested later but he
01:09:02
was not charged with murder he was charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence Gemma
01:09:11
was granted bail all three men pleaded not guilty even Larry dilon he challenged his
01:09:19
confession saying police had ignored him when he informed them he had a lawyer but the biggest shock was yet to come
01:09:29
when it was revealed that James rackover who seemed to live such a charm life was
01:09:35
not who he claimed to be James rackover wasn't really James rackover was it [Music]
01:09:52
no and it just seemed like there was always more to learn about James more terrible things to the outside world
01:09:59
James rackover was a wealthy young Heir and would be model living in the lap of luxury on suton place but the man that
01:10:08
Larry dilon claims is the ring leader in Joseph common Ali's vicious murder is not at all what he appears to
01:10:17
be James rackover was not his real name detectives discovered James rackover was not the the son of
01:10:26
celebrity jeweler Jeffrey rackover police say James rackover is also this man James Bowden from Brower County he's
01:10:34
an excon from Florida a world away from the understated wealth of Sutton Place and James Bowden has a WRA sheet dating
01:10:44
back to his teens he spent nearly a year and a half in prison for second degree burglary 3 months after his release in
01:10:53
September 2013 after moving to New York he reportedly met Jeffrey rackover at a gym they were
01:11:01
both working out and they kind of hit it off surprisingly the multi-millionaire Bachelor then in his mid-50s soon
01:11:10
invited the 22-year-old James to live with him in his lavish Grand Sutton apartment on the 32nd Floor and if
01:11:19
anyone asked why the two were suddenly living together Jeffrey explained it this way
01:11:26
Jeffrey rackover told his closest friends and relatives that one day there was a knock on his door and a young man
01:11:33
was standing at the door and said you don't know me but I'm your son Jeffrey even took the extraordinary step of
01:11:41
allowing James to change his last name to rackover James claimed he was Jeffrey's biological son these are the
01:11:50
documents for name change they put this in a legal document James rackover said Jeffrey rackover is his biological
01:11:57
father he lied in this document didn't he James lied in that document and Jeffrey rakov confirmed the information
01:12:05
commun Al family attorney Bob Abrams says it was all an act they're not related they are not related Abrams
01:12:13
alleges there was a sexual relationship between the two but jeffy's lawyer categorically denies it what's more
01:12:21
james' defense attorneys Rob cendo and Maurice cirar say they've only seen a fatherson
01:12:29
relationship Jeffrey rackover provided structure in the life of this young man Jeffrey paid for James's education and
01:12:38
helped him find a job he even paid James's nearly $4,000 a month rent when in early
01:12:46
2016 James moved into a partment 4C at the Grand Sutton after James was arrested for Joey Kelli's murder
01:12:55
Jeffrey paid at least initially for James's defense attorney what does James rack over face if he's convicted of all
01:13:04
charges he faces spending the rest of his life in jail charged with second deegree murder and other crimes James is
01:13:11
set to St on trial first before Larry dilon and Max Jemma cirar has a unique strategy he says James is guilty of
01:13:22
covering up a murder but not of committing one you were asking this jury to separate the murder from other pretty
01:13:32
terrible acts trying to cut up the body getting rid of the body burying the body
01:13:37
burning the body it is tough but but they are separate things they say it was Larry dilon who killed Joey in October
01:13:47
2018 2 years after Joey's murder James Rover's trial began opening statements to today in the murder trial of James
01:13:57
rackover but Jeffrey James's biggest supporter and surrogate father did not appear in the
01:14:05
courtroom it was a much different scene for Joey whose family and friends pack the courtroom every
01:14:13
day what's been the worst part every day Pat was the first witness and his emotional testimony quieted the
01:14:27
courtroom I know it affected the jury it affects the jury in any murdered case prosecutors painted James rackover as a
01:14:35
monstrously callous killer playing this phone call recorded in jail where James brags to a friend I don't know if you've
01:14:44
been following but I start trial September so I'm looking at being home around October is my bre's going to be
01:14:49
up there bro like my we when I hit the street they're gonna be like yo this kid just be this Rocky and he's home oh my
01:14:57
God prosecutors called to the stand women who had attended that party then atii and Katie Conroy but parts of their
01:15:06
testimony helped the defense Katie in particular said Dilly was the one brandishing a knife he was using it to
01:15:16
do Coke off of the women uh painted a picture of him being pretty quick to use this knife for any variety of tasks
01:15:26
James's defense lawyers also point out that he had nothing to gain but everything to lose by killing Joey James
01:15:34
knew that if Jeffrey ever found out that a dead body had been discovered in his apartment that was the end of their
01:15:42
relationship and that had to be factored into account as well when you consider why James felt so compelled to get that
01:15:50
body out of the apartment after more than a week of testimony prosecutors had a strong case proving
01:15:57
the cover up but there was nothing that directly pointed to James rackover as Joey's killer they seem to need
01:16:06
something or someone more and sure enough they announced that they had a star witness who was going to take the
01:16:13
stand prosecutors hope to Seal James Rover's conviction by unleashing an 11th Hour
01:16:34
witness Lewis rugiero a close friend of James rackover the new witness turned out to be the troubled son of a very
01:16:43
very popular New York television morning anchor woman named Rosanna Scot popular
01:16:49
and well connected Good Day New York I'm rosan Scot Rosanna Scot is as hometown as New York gats and her 24-year-old son
01:16:58
told the court that he met James because of his mother's friendship with Jeweler
01:17:03
Jeffrey rackover the day after Joey kali's murder rugiero said he was working out
01:17:11
at the gym when James called him desperate to talk Lewis testified that James looked strung out he had bags
01:17:20
under his eyes and he said that James told him I've done something awful there was a kid in the apartment lren de Leon
01:17:29
got into a fight with him kind of knocked him out and then James says I got my own licks in there and I didn't
01:17:37
want a dead body in my apartment so I slid his throat we then put him in a comforter threw him out the window drove
01:17:46
him 60 Mi and buried him in a grave and then he adds don't worry about it because I bleach clean the entire
01:17:55
apartment and nobody will know about it rugiero testified he thought James was just making a sick joke but the reaction
01:18:04
in the courtroom was very different gasps came out of half of the room that was filled with Joey's family and
01:18:11
friends you could see the jurors actually recoil when he used the word I slid his throat it was a stunning moment
01:18:20
because rugiero was the first witness who directly implicated James rackover in Joey Kelli's murder the testimony by
01:18:29
Mr rugiero was very damaging but defense attorney Maurice cirar maintains that ruo's testimony was riddled with factual
01:18:39
errors rugiero testified that my client slid his throat Joseph comunali did not have his throat slit cirar stuck to his
01:18:49
defense that rackover is guilty of the cover up but not the murder on cross-examination the defense attacked
01:18:58
rugiero he had a lot of issues attorney Robert cendo in the fall of 2016 he was in the throws of as bad a drug problem
01:19:08
as you could have rugiero admitted on the stand that he had been spending $1,200 a day on marijuana oxycotton
01:19:18
xanax and cocaine he never called police to tell them about James's confession there were a number of reasons to think
01:19:27
that Mr rugiero might not be the person you want to hang the Hat of a murder conviction on the prosecution rested
01:19:34
soon after ruo's damaging testimony the defense then presented only one piece of evidence the ring
01:19:43
reportedly worn by Larry dilon when the fight broke out and why is that ring so important the ring had a sizable dent in
01:19:52
it and if you conclude that he hit Joseph so hard that he dented it that certainly uh is a fact that we would
01:20:00
want the jury to consider and it certainly speaks to who might have committed murder and who might not
01:20:05
have in his closing argument cir cars had one last surprise he showed jurs four minutes of video where James could
01:20:14
be seen in a building elevator and then in Jeffrey Rover's bedroom where Jeffrey
01:20:19
is sleeping cir cars argued that in those 4 minutes when and James was not in apartment 4C dilon alone killed Joey
01:20:31
4 minutes is plenty of time but prosecutors have a different theory that James was looking for cocaine in jeffy's
01:20:38
bedroom didn't find any and the fight broke out when he returned to apartment 4C
01:20:47
empty-handed after 10 days of witness testimony and evidence the jury got the case
01:20:55
just got to get Justice that's really it now it's a waiting game on Friday November 2nd
01:21:04
2018 after nearly 5 hours of deliberations the jury announced it had reached a verdict the former James
01:21:13
Bowden of Florida now James rackover from New York was convicted on all counts for the murder of Joey
01:21:21
Kali the verdict was greeted with relief and tears I want to thank the Manhattan
01:21:28
District's attorney's office I couldn't be more proud of the NYPD and all Joey's
01:21:38
friends and everybody else who supported us over the last two years I can't wait
01:21:49
to get these other two sons of to go down just like this ass part of my language this picture is me
01:21:58
and Joey in Manhattan those who knew Joey best like girlfriend Alyssa Lao this is actually one of my favorite
01:22:06
pictures it just shows how much I love him are left with their memories I definitely thought I was going to marry
01:22:12
him one day honestly um he was just a beautiful person inside and out and my life without him has been
01:22:21
crazy Joey's mother Lisa can barely speak about her only son so this was our last family photo
01:22:31
together what do you think when you take a look at Joey just miss him every day as a way of remembering Joey some of
01:22:45
his friends got tattoos with a number nine which is the number Joey always wore when he played Sports I do have one
01:22:55
but of course Pat common alley just had to get the most elaborate tattoo can you
01:23:02
see so your son's always going to be with you yeah I said I don't want you better make sure it looks just like him
01:23:08
and it does honestly I never saw a kid cry never one time it's ironic I'm making up for
01:23:18
it he was a special kid he really was [Music] [Music] [Music] every time I seen her she would be
01:24:41
texting or Facebooking and she was constantly on her phone I'm Nicole L and I'm I've been nominated for the ALS Ice
01:24:51
Bucket Challenge you want to get SI oh she's a happy go-lucky kid yes she smiled and she sang All the
01:25:04
[Music] Time Tonight the search intensifies for a missing teen from blackburg take a
01:25:12
good look this is Nicole Lovel she's 13 and was last seen in the Lantern Ridge area of blackburg between midnight and 7
01:25:20
Wednesday morning her father posted this message to Facebook book Nicole honey if
01:25:27
you see this if you're out there you can come to me I'm not mad at you I'm worried about you police were looking
01:25:35
into whether an app popular with teens was used to lure the girl that night I was going to knock on
01:25:41
the wall and tell her to come in and sleep with me like she usually does and I didn't do it it's with a
01:25:50
heavy heart that I have to announce that we've located the remains of 13y old Nicole Madison
01:25:57
level 100 Secom in Route 89 West Snowbird curve so where was Nicole level's body
01:26:06
Nicole was from what we understand in the trunk of the car and they move her right over here got close to the edge
01:26:12
and just a very preliminary determination of the cause of death is stabbing I went to high school with
01:26:25
David Eisenhower everything he did he worked hard at and he wanted to be the best
01:26:33
at investigators have said the 18-year-old College athlete and Engineering student knew the little girl
01:26:39
and quote used the relationship to his advantage to abductor at 12:39 a.m. just past midnight Nicole sends her last
01:26:49
electronic message to Dr tombstone David Eisenhower's Kick account username I don't want to go to
01:27:00
jail I didn't Doing It Wrong the second Virginia Tech student Natalie Keepers has also been charged
01:27:11
Natalie Keepers was an extremely smart person she was very academically driven she had connections to
01:27:21
NASA they stopped Walmart they buy cleaning supplies gloves wipes bleach the defendant purchase a garden
01:27:35
shovel I'm so sorry I wish I could have stopped I trust the courts will do what they feel is just this is really scary I
01:27:49
don't think anyone ever expected any of our classmates to become a alleged murderer it's no longer a situation
01:27:58
where you worry about your child meeting a stranger in the park you really need to worry about the stranger your child's
01:28:04
meeting on the phone that you gave them for Christmas this is the new crime of our time
01:28:12
[Music] [Music] 48 Hours killer app reported by Peter Van Sant continues in 90 seconds
01:28:47
[Music] [Music] [Music] every morning I come out here sit with her for an hour it's just been a nightmare I still
01:29:20
hope that she would come around the corner when she gets off the bus or she'll come out of her
01:29:29
room the nightmare for Nole level's mother Tammy weeks began on the morning of January 27th
01:29:38
2016 I pushed the door open and the nightstand was up against the door sometime in the middle of the night
01:29:48
the 13-year-old had climbed out of her bedroom window taking along her phone and her favorite blue cartoon blanket
01:29:56
did you call her cell phone oh yeah a bunch of times and what would happen it go straight to voicemail I text messag
01:30:04
her everybody was calling her texting her Tammy called police and began scouring the area before long a
01:30:13
neighborhood mother gave her some chilling news Nicole had been playing with her daughters and said that Nicole
01:30:21
was said she was going out on the date like millions of teens Nicole spent a lot of her social Time online so Tammy
01:30:33
feared she might have left to see someone she'd met on the internet you must be a bit panicked at this point
01:30:40
yeah the FBI has now joined Regional and state law enforcement in the search this
01:30:45
afternoon they canvased her neighbor Nicole's disappearance also sent shock waves through her hometown blackburg
01:30:52
Virginia more than 1,00 Searchers are on a mission to find the 13-year-old volunteers even brought this
01:31:02
infrared drone I know she wouldn't go nowhere for that many hours without her medicine Nicole was born with a damaged
01:31:14
liver and needed a transplant before her first birthday now a teenager she still
01:31:20
needed her anti-rejection medication every day to survive her illness in surgical treatment had left Nicole with
01:31:29
scars on her stomach and neck tamy says Nicole had emotional scars as well so she was being bullied
01:31:39
yeah she didn't she hated going to school she would always make me write her a note for Jim because they would
01:31:45
pick on her about her scar Nicole's social media posts reveal a sadly typical teenage story so lonely she had
01:31:54
Suicidal Thoughts longing for love and convinced nobody cared for her Tammy says Nicole not only had trouble fitting
01:32:03
in she also had a difficult relationship with her father David Lovel he did prison time on a drug charge and he's
01:32:12
had other problems with the law she wanted his attention she wanted his love I have regrets that I wasn't
01:32:21
there I feel you know what did I do on why wasn't I there for her more often he'd left Tammy before Nicole was born
01:32:29
the two were never married when you would go to work was there anyone supervising her yeah my parents your
01:32:38
parent did they live at the house yes so she never went unsupervised no no but Nicole was leading an unsupervised life
01:32:46
online through the social media apps on her smartphone it's like a loaded gun good morning BL County it's your
01:32:54
district attorney Pamela Casey Alabama da Pamela Casey is on a national Crusade warning people about the dangers of
01:33:03
social media if you pick up your child's phone and you don't know the password that's a problem if you don't know she
01:33:08
began speaking out long before Nicole level disappeared in Virginia and her online safety videos have been seen by
01:33:16
millions across the country I could actually go live on Periscope and post updates to you guys if I can do that
01:33:24
live sitting in my office then your child can do that live in their bedroom years ago you had to worry about your
01:33:30
kid getting snatched parents don't realize that essentially your kid can get snatched um their life taken by
01:33:37
somebody they meet in their own bedroom by late on the day Nicole level vanished her parents Hope was fading
01:33:47
with the winter light we love you Nicole we miss you we want you home I didn't sleep at all that night I
01:33:57
waited but it would be 3 days before Nicole's parents had to face the horrifying news that her body had been
01:34:07
found your whole world just comes toing down cuz she was my everything Coe had a passion of for
01:34:23
pandas music dancing Nicole touched many people throughout her short life shock and sadness were everywhere
01:34:41
but investigators had gotten a big break and it came from Nicole level herself she'd Left Behind virtual evidence of a
01:34:51
real life murder want to know what's really on your kids phone our tips for safety are on our
01:35:00
website at 48 hours.com Nicole's dad David level says even before her body was found
01:35:17
investigators had found a solid lead something she had handwritten on her bedroom wall
01:35:24
she wrote all her usernames and passwords to all her accounts FBI computer forensics experts
01:35:31
traced Nicole's account information and quickly established that she'd regularly
01:35:36
used kick a popular chat app attractive to teens in part because they can communicate anonymously without their
01:35:45
parents knowing when you had her phone did you ever click on the kick app just to see
01:35:52
what was inside no no I just made her delete it uninstall it do you believe she reinstalled it yeah so the FBI puts
01:36:01
in what they call an emergency disclosure request to kick they want to see Nicole's personal account and they
01:36:09
make a startling Discovery it turns out that in the last two days of her life she'd been messaging with a person who
01:36:17
had a chilling username Dr Tombstone using an IP address provided by Kick investigators Trac the Dr
01:36:27
Tombstone screen name to this young man David Eisenhower 18 a freshman engineering student at Virginia Tech I
01:36:37
will personally not stop until I reach my Peak Performance track and field champion from Mar David Eisenhower
01:36:44
seemed the last person in the world capable of killing a 13-year-old girl he'd been a high school track star
01:36:52
former classmate Dorothy Callahan says his brains and Charisma were as strong as his strides he was a very celebrated
01:37:01
student he always had Straight A's and he was sort of cocky and he was like yeah I'm David Eisenhower I was just on
01:37:11
the local news I'm a big deal 3 days after Nicole went missing Eisenhower was picked up by police at his dorm and
01:37:20
taken in for questioning his roommate Jeremy buo walked in on the startling aftermath I went to my room and I saw
01:37:31
the door open I got turned around by the Virginia State Police and the FBI and what did they say they said don't worry
01:37:37
it's not about you it's about your roommate bazo told 48 Hours That Eisenhower's Behavior the night Nicole
01:37:44
level vanished was really odd they put on boots but it wasn't raining that hard for boots but you know I just let it go
01:37:53
and then he came back at 2:00 in the morning and did you ever see a knife in the room yes he usually Le it on his
01:38:00
desk was it on his desk when the cop showed up no they couldn't find it Eisenhower soon admitted to police he
01:38:07
talked to Nicole outside her house that night he was arrested and charged with abduction Eisenhower's statements LED
01:38:16
them to another young woman Natalie Keepers she was brought in for questioning too siging a job in this
01:38:23
economy has gotten to be extremely important what did 19-year-old Natalie Keepers know about what happened to
01:38:31
Nicole Keepers another Virginia Tech freshman and another unlikely Person of Interest Mark Jenkins used to be her
01:38:41
boyfriend she wanted to study engineering and be like her father who worked for uh NASA investigators
01:38:49
strongly suspected Natalie was involved she too was was arrested 18-year-old Eisenhower a Virginia Tech freshman
01:38:56
engineering major and his friend Natalie Keepers with two people in custody police made a Grizzly Discovery Nicole's
01:39:04
nude body was located 90 Mi away in North Carolina says Sur County Sheriff Graham
01:39:12
Atkinson what kind of wounds were on her body she was stabbed and her throat was
01:39:19
cut and then the thoughts turned to who were the animals that could have done something like this to
01:39:25
her sometimes it's usually the people we least expect da Pamela Casey says David
01:39:30
Eisenhower may represent a new kind of Predator they could be your nextd door neighbor they can stay behind their
01:39:37
phone and hide behind their phone and just like your child is doing Casey says criminals often use apps like kick why
01:39:46
because it's where kids hang out online in fact kick a Canadian company claims that millions of American and teens use
01:39:54
their app every month with David Eisenhower Behind Bars it wasn't kick but an online gaming site
01:40:03
that led investigators to this man's door Bryce Dustin I know I almost felt like he was like a little brother it was
01:40:11
on this gaming site that Bryce first chatted with Eisenhower and though they never met in
01:40:18
person they began a six-year-long internet friendship David you know kept coming back to me
01:40:27
for advice on everything what kind of problems would he ask you advice about um girls was a big one Dustin told us he
01:40:35
remembers Eisenhower talking about a problem he had with one girl in particular a girl Dustin now believes
01:40:43
was Nicole he told me that he found out she was underage and that she wanted to be
01:40:50
with him and that she was going to expose him if he wasn't with her he says Eisenhower was worried about being outed
01:40:58
in a relationship with an underage girl so he offered some big brother kind of advice if she wants to be your
01:41:05
girlfriend you know let her but don't be the greatest boyfriend you know just like just don't text her just ignore her
01:41:12
she'll go away this family was about to have one of their daughters go away as well in
01:41:21
the car of an online predator in Spokane Washington this guy wants to kidnap my daughter tonight he's planning to kidnap
01:41:31
my daughter [Music] tonight her last moments is what flashes in my mind that's my
01:41:56
nightmare David Lovel wishes he had done better in protecting Nicole if it can happen to my family it can happen to
01:42:03
anybody I mean flat out anybody it can happen to any family including one here in Spokane Washington
01:42:14
about 2500 mil from Virginia the parents here got a tip that their 15-year-old daughter was being targeted by a 30-y
01:42:23
old man and what's worse the two were planning to run away that very night she was going to leave her
01:42:34
iPad hop in the car with a man she doesn't really even [Music] know it was June 7th 2013 when detective
01:42:46
Elise Robertson of the Spokane Police Department's Special Victims Unit got the kind of call cops all over the
01:42:54
country have come to expect a father was saying that his daughter was having a internet relationship with a 30-year old
01:43:01
man and he had just found out and then that's when everything broke loose until that moment Brandy sarachin
01:43:11
and her husband Brandon seemed to have the quintessential American Family she teaching at a local church he studying
01:43:19
for a PhD in Psychology they'd been hands on parents raising their two sons Joshua and Josiah
01:43:27
and two daughters Ariel and Elizabeth they shared a love of God Country Sports and each other my parents
01:43:39
were pretty strict sometimes too strict said Elizabeth 18 at the time of our interview I felt like my parents were
01:43:49
holding me back from what the average kid gets to experience and how much did your parents monitor your life I would
01:43:57
say that they thought that they were monitoring me they didn't understand that they actually weren't monitoring me
01:44:03
they probably had no clue about kick in those dating sites but her parents did become suspicious when Elizabeth then 15
01:44:13
suddenly started acting strangely she would be going to bed earlier than normal Elizabeth seemed distracted less
01:44:21
interested in family AC activities in church even in friends her parents took her smartphone away and asked to see her
01:44:29
social media accounts she refused and at that point you're like okay yeah something's really wrong
01:44:37
here they were stunned to learn just how wrong it all started with a phone call from Elizabeth's best friend's mother a
01:44:45
call that turned their world upside down Elizabeth is dating a 30-year-old and he
01:44:51
plans on coming down and getting her at 3:00 in the morning that very day yeah and we're like
01:45:01
What Elizabeth was angry and evasive but her parents finally got her passwords and soon discovered the truth she had
01:45:11
been communicating with a stranger a 30-year-old Seattle area man named Jason Jason Richard says when I see you baby I
01:45:20
grabbing you pulling you close to me and holding you tightly what does Elizabeth
01:45:34
say no kiss and Jason says baby I'm going to kiss you deeply this guy's evil she's foed she's
01:45:46
lured in initially Elizabeth told Jason she was 18 but later admitted her age 15
01:45:55
the cachin were stunned to learn that the pair had already met in person and been intimate they were even discussing
01:46:03
leaving the country the two had used apps including Facebook and kick this is playing out in some ways like your own
01:46:12
personal family horror film yeah yeah the horror continued as the cachin realized that within hours Jason would
01:46:20
be driving the 280 m from Seattle to Spokan to pick up their daughter they locked Elizabeth in her room with no
01:46:29
phone or internet access and called police this guy wants to kidnap my daughter tonight he's planning to kidnap
01:46:37
my daughter tonight were your hands kind of tied what do you do at that moment you have a 15-year-old girl who's your
01:46:42
only witness who's denying everything detective Robertson says that without hard evidence of an actual crime police
01:46:50
had to stay on the sidelines so there's nothing they can do for you there's absolutely nothing they can do for me
01:46:56
when you hear that you feel totally helpless and it's like okay well what are you going to do now what they did
01:47:02
was hatch their own plan to turn the tables on the man who was about to lure their daughter away this is my daughter
01:47:10
and nobody's going to mess with her and nobody's going to get her and I'm going to do what it takes Jason had already
01:47:16
message from the car I needed to communicate with him to get him to our house gritting her teeth Brandy went
01:47:24
online impersonating her own daughter for 7 hours I sat there and listen to him oh baby I can't
01:47:37
wait to see you I can't wait to get you in my arms lay in the same bed together wake up in the
01:47:43
morning and for 7 hours I communicated back oh baby I love you too I can't wait you the pit of your stomach that
01:47:54
must have it made me sick Jason is getting ever closer to your house ever closer to your
01:48:06
daughter my wife was up there and she was on the iPad she's communicating with him yes posing as your daughter exactly
01:48:17
yes while Brandy kept the conversation with Jason going in the alley behind behind the
01:48:23
cirin's house Brandon and his friends had set up a sting operation like something out of an action movie I am
01:48:32
over here with my car and my friend Phil we're getting updates from my wife on the phone my friend Damon is on this
01:48:41
side of the street so the idea is like a pincer right you're going to you're going to trap it's like a bear trap
01:48:47
that's going to close Brandon's friend Phil brought his 12 gate shotgun he'd been trained in Special Forces and had
01:48:57
no idea how Jason would react are you ready to use this if I have to [Music] yes he pulls right in this drive right
01:49:21
here it was 3 3 a.m. in Spokane Washington but could just as easily B High Noon he comes all the way in here
01:49:31
and about as Brandon cachin and his team laid in wait headlights appeared at one
01:49:36
end of the alley a 30-year-old man's sexual road trip to take a 15-year-old girl from her family was about to come
01:49:44
to a shocking end he pulls in at this time we go ahead and we call Damon down here and Damon is just looks it and I'm
01:49:54
pulling in here Jason pulls in right there Brandon's friend Phil quickly approached the vehicle shotgun raised I
01:50:02
said driver put your hands on the steering wheel do not move or I will shoot you couple of times he moved his
01:50:09
hands and I said what part of do not move do you not understand if Jason makes some sort of move are you prepared
01:50:16
to pull that trigger if he exited the car abruptly I would have shot him they called the police who arrived
01:50:24
minutes later and arrested Jason in his SUV they found cell phones and a pair of
01:50:31
hunting knives he was caught but it wasn't over 90 minutes later Jason comes face
01:50:38
to face with Spokane detective Elise Robertson so Jason tell me a little bit about I work for a Royal Cup copy
01:50:47
detective Robertson learned Jason was actually Jason Richards a 30-year-old divorc fored coffee distributor from the
01:50:54
Seattle area like David Eisenhower and Natalie Keepers in the level case Jason Richards seemed nice and successful on
01:51:03
the surface who is this guy Jason is the guy next door he tried to turn his crime
01:51:10
into a love story pretty much fell for her very quickly we said I love you uh pretty quickly probably about a week and
01:51:18
a half into really talking with each other at first Richards insisted he had no idea Elizabeth was only 15 until a
01:51:28
policeman told him at the time of his arrest he told told me that she wasn't 18 okay I
01:51:37
responded come again and like she's now she's 18 he was lying the whole time he was lying the
01:51:45
whole time over and over over lie lie lie lie lie to see if her instincts were right would you give me a permission to
01:51:51
look at your account Ive Robertson asked to see Richard's Facebook page there were literally hundreds of exchanges
01:51:58
between him and Elizabeth and I start looking at it and I realized oh he knew he knew before he ever came over here
01:52:04
she was 15 want to tell me the truth now well I looked right at him and I said so
01:52:08
are you going to tell me the truth now I fell in love with her and I didn't know
01:52:12
what to do and she told you that she was 15 and still in school eventually right
01:52:17
this is our first meeting spot Elizabeth told her parents she was going J doging
01:52:23
but instead came to this parking lot when you actually saw him face to face what did you think holy crap like I
01:52:32
think it became a reality to me that it's not just somebody that I'm talking to over the Internet Elizabeth says
01:52:38
Jason took her to a hotel got down on one knee and proposed marriage and then they got in
01:52:47
bed in the following weeks he came to town again on those visits did you have sex with
01:52:56
him each time uh yeah we did for you Jason is what he's a sexual predator I completely just up my life my
01:53:08
life was [Music] destroyed this hits you right now like a like a punch across the face right it's
01:53:17
just absolutely unbelievable Richards pleaded guilty to child rape and communication with a minor for immoral
01:53:25
purposes his lawyer argued Richards has autism which can be a mitigating factor for several crimes in Washington state
01:53:35
he got a light sentence 3 years these apps are apps that children are using take a moment da Pamela Casey
01:53:45
says far too many internet predators are turning to apps like kick and their alleged crimes are making headlines
01:53:53
across the us a lot of stuff's happening without parents knowing I don't think people would let a you know a
01:54:03
50-year-old felon into their house to hang out with their daughter but that's exactly what they're doing online
01:54:08
sometimes and they don't know Jason Richards served his sentence and was released in 2017 with
01:54:16
restrictions including a restraining order to keep him away from Elizabeth the cachin say they wish the judge had
01:54:25
given him as much as life in prison just hard knowing he only got 3 years for everything the pain that he caused
01:54:37
me it's way more deserving than 3 years and he a danger it's not right in Virginia
01:54:53
Nicole lovel's mother says there is no punishment severe enough for David Eisenhower and Natalie Keepers I want
01:55:01
both of them to suffer and she says they aren't the only ones who should have to answer for her
01:55:09
daughter's murder she blames kick too they need to shut kick down it's just disgusting kick is reported to be a
01:55:20
billion dooll company please welcome to the stage Ted Livingston from kick we caught up with the CEO at a Tech
01:55:27
Conference in Brooklyn that's him right there Mr Livingston Peter Van sat how are you I'm good how are you CBS News so
01:55:39
I want to ask a quick question sure what personal responsibility do you have to make sure that children are safe who use
01:55:47
the kick app yeah I I think I have a huge responsibility I'm sure you're familiar with Nicole level a 13-year-old
01:55:54
girl in Virginia what would you say to Nicole's parents like when we heard about that case like that hit the office
01:56:01
and hit me super hard like many social media companies kick posts an online guide for parents and in a statement
01:56:09
told 48 Hours the company cooperates with law enforcement designed it Ted Livingston claims his app is as safe as
01:56:16
the competition I think it's no different than Facebook or Snapchat and or Instagram you know you have people
01:56:22
going as a parent I disagree I can check my child's Facebook account and Twitter
01:56:28
account I friend them but with kick I can yeah I think that's no different than Instagram you have a private mode
01:56:33
you can have private messaging all that exists there that's true but Kick's design is attracting millions of teens
01:56:40
in part because many believe it's parent proof the best app to keep their social
01:56:46
lives secret kids are going to use a messenger if we were to shut down kick tomorrow there will be 10 right find
01:56:53
day and she's like hey do you want to message me on some app called Kick and I was like sure kick isn't on trial but
01:57:02
two once promising college students would soon be in the murder of Nicole Lille [Music]
01:57:29
it was Nicole level's digital footprint that led police to Virginia Tech freshman David Eisenhower when they
01:57:37
brought him in for questioning he said he'd recently encountered the young girl on an anonymous chat app and they moved
01:57:44
over to kick and she's like hey do you want to message me on some app called Kick and I was like sure
01:57:53
Eisenhower said he met Nicole in person just once the night she died that he went to meet her quickly saw how young
01:58:01
she was and left her alive I see someone who probably she was 11 years old climbing out the window and I was like
01:58:10
uhuh uhuh not for me and I'm sitting here just like thinking to myself you got to get out of here you got to get
01:58:16
out of here you got to get out of here but Nicole's Kick account told another story alog together that they had been
01:58:23
on Kick for months they had met in person at least once before and most likely been intimate with reason to
01:58:31
worry Eisenhower volunteered he just purchased a new snow shovel and offered up his
01:58:39
friend would it help to mention I had someone else with me when I bought the shovel for snow purposes her name is uh
01:58:46
Natalie Keepers and so police rounded up that second Virginia Tech student Natalie Keepers they recorded her
01:58:55
telling a stunning tale beginning the day before the murder on Monday there was a general
01:59:03
idea that okay he has to get her into the car somehow keeper said Eisenhower feared
01:59:10
Nicole was about to expose their relationship and asked for help brainstorming ways to kill her on
01:59:18
Tuesday that's when the official plan started coming together they bought the shovel went out to dinner and then
01:59:27
Eisenhower dropped keepers at her dorm he had a pre-arranged date with Nicole then Keepers told the officers
01:59:37
Eisenhower picked Nicole up drove her into the woods and stabbed her to death the next day he and Keepers went back to
01:59:45
Walmart for cleaning supplies and disposed of the body together where she's at a ro at's grandparents house
01:59:56
armed with this news officers raced to find Nicole's body Eisenhower and Keepers were arrested for Nicole's
02:00:06
family a long wait was just beginning is there any doubt who is responsible for the death of your
02:00:17
daughter it took 2 years but in February of 2018 Eisenhower went on trial for her
02:00:26
murder prosecutors described Nicole's Final hours as she waited for her secret date she gives her mom a kiss and she
02:00:36
tells her she's going to bed Cole pushes her dresser in front of the door she climbs out of the window into
02:00:45
the snowy night and into Eisenhower's waiting car Nicole's mother described the horror
02:00:53
of finding her daughter gone when was the next time that you saw Nicole in her coffin security footage showed
02:01:09
Eisenhower and Keepers buying the shovel photos revealed blood stains and the Bloody shovel found in Eisenhower's car
02:01:19
that is a receipt and a Walmart employee read a list of items they purchased before discarding Nicole's body top job
02:01:28
basic bleach cleaner Great Value disinfecting wives and two pairs of cleaning gloves Eisenhower's lawyer said Natalie
02:01:37
Keepers killed Nicole and he said a bloody handprint on the shovel proves it the palm print that made that Bloody
02:01:46
palm print on the shovel was not David Eisenhower it was ruled out as being David Eisenhower it was Natalie
02:02:00
Keepers but on the fourth day of testimony came a bombshell announcement guilty or not guilty no
02:02:08
contest facing a mountain of incriminating evidence Eisenhower suddenly changed his plea from not
02:02:15
guilty to no contest prosecutors read one of his last kick messages with Nico into the court record from the defendant
02:02:26
but I can't stress enough that you don't tell anyone about me because they will find a way to hurt you from Nicole level
02:02:34
who will hurt me who's they why are you scaring me please St the judge accepted his
02:02:42
revised plea and ruled Eisenhower guilty find guilty of Abu as charged in the indictment
02:02:53
But Nicole's family still had one more ordeal to sit through in September 2018 Natalie Keepers went on trial as an
02:03:03
accessory to murder she had already pleaded guilty to helping Eisenhower conceal Nicole's
02:03:10
body prosecutors told new jurors the same story that David isenhower killed Nicole leville but he had help from
02:03:20
Natalie keepers over several weeks they planned out the murder they considered shooting her poisoning her making it
02:03:30
look like it was a suicide prosecutors played audio recordings of Keepers describing Eisenhower's messages to her
02:03:39
on Kick he would say offer Kill The um kill her keeper said she knew knew it was
02:03:52
wrong had no emotion he became a sociopath and he thought of me as a sociopathic training
02:04:03
I guess Keeper's attorney called a neuropsychologist who examined Keepers and diagnosed her with seven mental
02:04:12
disorders including borderline personality disorder and a disorder like schizophrenia these people may look odd
02:04:23
their sense of reality is off their ability to relate to others is off their interpersonal skills are off the doctor
02:04:30
said Keeper's mental state could have made her interview with the officers unreliable such a person would
02:04:38
be highly easily influenced and gullible and would be easily LED and Keeper's lawyers say she was playing along with
02:04:46
Eisenhower to keep his friendship and had no idea he would really kill Nicole you will hear her actually
02:04:55
describe that she thought it was a fantasy something that wasn't real I thought he was joking I didn't
02:05:03
think David could actually kill her but the prosecutors disputed that notion and
02:05:09
read Keeper's kick messages to Eisenhower after the murder telling him he deserved a good night's sleep she's
02:05:18
proud she's proud of what she and David Eisenhower did it's almost like congratulating someone for getting
02:05:25
through five finals in a week you deserve it get some sleep the jury took just over 1 hour to reach a verdict we
02:05:34
the jury unanimously found the defendant Natalie Marie Keepers guilty of being an
02:05:39
accessory before the fact Natalie Keepers was sentenced to 40 years in prison and David Eisenhower was
02:05:45
sentenced to 50 years in prison neither is eligible for parole they they both apologized to Nicole's family I wish I
02:05:55
could have stopped I never intended for this to happen nothing can ever undo what has
02:06:10
been done and for that I am deeply sincerely and forever sorry even with guilty verdicts the question of why may
02:06:18
never be answered the shell shock community of blackburg still doesn't understand how
02:06:25
two intelligent college kids with their lives in front of them would take the life of a 13-year-old
02:06:35
girl I wish he would have done it to me instead of [Music] her I would trade places with her in a
02:06:44
heartbeat [Music] cuz he deserves live and nothing's the same Nicole level's death is a dark reminder of how
02:07:07
social media I'm Nico have profoundly changed Society for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge I hope everybody learns from
02:07:18
this hold their kids Tight cuz it can happen to you today our children have a host of new
02:07:25
ways to live and new ways to die as well [Music] the I was the first female district
02:07:58
judge to be on a criminal bench in Travis County the decisions I make every day someone's not going to leave happy
02:08:07
Travis County 911 please hurry this guy just went up to the car sh my mom and I protected my head with my arm in my hand
02:08:14
I can remember thinking I'm going to die in front of my own son she'd sent a lot
02:08:18
of people to prison we didn't know who did this and it just shows you that you never know who it's going to be next CBS
02:08:27
News original reporting [Music]