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[Music] it's never dull in Palm Beach [Music] County we have some of the most famous
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people in the country or the world living here in our [Music] backyard this is my County this is my
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town and catching criminals I enjoy it this case began back in March of 2020 the Corona virus pandemic shuts
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down schools sporting events and businesses at the time everyone was preoccupied with the Corona virus
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lockdowns had started gret and Anthony was a resident of a well-to-do community in Jupiter
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Florida right here in pal meach County I met David and gret and Anthony several years ago at a local gym
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here the first thing that you noticed about her just big blue eyes and a giant smile blond hair tan
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athletic David's very attractive man very Charming he had a big smile as well there was magic there and the energy
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between them was [Music] amazing local officials issued an order not to leave your home unless absolutely
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necessary Gretch and Anthony starts to send text messages to friends and family members stating that she has been
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diagnosed with the Corona virus and she describes it as being an acute case a serious case
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yes they're very concerned they've only talked to her via text no one ever spoke with Gretchen on
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the phone and she never answered her phone who would go to voicemail yes so efforts were made to speak with
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her spouse so there's a dual track here where is Gretchen and Anthony and where is her husband David Anthony yes neither
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one can be found please did A Ware check of Gres and Anthony and what they learned was
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disturbing so this is where the investigation began investigators were approached by a
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neighbor she heard a blood curdling scream something horribly nefarious had happened
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this case really hit differently I mean we are talking about someone who is a mother a daughter a sister a
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friend all I wanted to do was to be able to find her and I wanted to find her alive and so the chase was on
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[Music] [Music] back in March 2020 friends and family of Gretchen Anthony were alarmed when they
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began receiving texts from her saying she had tested positive for Corona virus you know the news is saying it's serious
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the town of Palm Beach announced a state of emergency and then all of the sudden
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numbers are being reported and people are dying the number of confirmed cases continues to grow with 2 it was hard for
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Gretchen anon's friends like Kelly Hannah to picture her dying of anything much less this frightening virus at 51
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years old Gretchen was a picture of Fitness she worked out at the gym very hard she took her health very seriously
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Gretchen is someone who is tremendously heart-c centered she's just radiant and just a very caring beautiful
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spirit but above all else she was a devoted mother to her 12-year-old daughter Gretchen was Raising her child
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in this house in Jupiter Florida while sharing custody with an ex-husband Gretchen's daughter was her
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world she was everything to her cret Mixon an assistant State's attorney for Palm Beach County got involved in
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Gretchen's case early on there was nothing that Gretchen wouldn't do for her daughter she hated being away
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from her after her divorce friends say Gretchen fell in love with David Anthony the two met at a local gym where he was
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a trainer G Anthony here don't forget the 90minut workout coming this Sunday was he kind of a rock star at the
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gym oh he was the young hot trainer for sure he has a huge presence David was a popular trainer at a gym
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owned by Tabitha Hopkins nice job guys your hustle she says he brought in lots of new members he was intelligent well
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spoken he was Charming she didn't have to tell anybody that there was an attraction there there was absolute
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Sparks there was magic there no question about it that attraction soon led to the
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couple getting married at an Elvis Chapel in Las Vegas in 2015 they seemed like the happiest couple ever did you
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feel like she'd found the man of her dreams absolutely David in all appearances was
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a phenomenal stepparent she called him bonus dad but friends say the couple's dream life came apart in late 2019 when
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they separated and David moved out of their home and it kind of sounded like they both lost themselves a little bit
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and they were searching more for their own self-identity now Gretchen's Inner Circle was dealing with a potential life
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or death situation and then all of a sudden there's bizarre cell phone messages over several days starting on
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March 23rd friends and family received a series of texts from Gretchen who said she was at home in quarantine she sent
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this one to her daughter who was staying with her ex-husband good morning tested positive
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for Corona virus early this morning that means I have to stay here for at least 2
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weeks her daughter replied okay I really hope you get better crochet Mixon says there were
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multiple texts from Gretchen's phone over the next 3 days describing her deteriorating condition I consulted with
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the virus screening hotline and admitted myself into to the Jupiter Medical Center's emergency room so this is
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serious stuff what does the family do with these texts the family finds the text messages that they're getting from
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Gretchen to be worrisome alarming what Disturbed everyone receiving these texts is that no one not even Gretchen's
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daughter had received a phone call from her that just there's so many things that are so wrong including these TX
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claiming that she'd been transferred to an off-site medical facility being run directly by the CDC in belade more than
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an hour away in Central Florida but there's a problem there is no CDC facility in belade Florida so this text
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message allegedly from Gretchen's own phone apparently was not sent by Gretchen it definitely was not sent by
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Gretchen Dave aronburg the state attorney for Palm Beach County agrees clearly whoever had sent those text
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messages were trying to take advantage of this pandemic of the fear out there trying to exploit the situation so
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things were not adding up and things were not adding up very quickly the family along with friends
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made the decision to reach out to law enforcement to do a welfare check on Gretch and
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Anthony I need get help for my friend that's missing I don't know how to put into words but I know she's in very
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great danger right now Jupiter police detective Jared kerson caught the case on the night
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shift we reached out to the Jupiter Medical Center and they did not have a record of Gretch and Anthony being a
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patient at their facility during that time period so all of a sudden this is getting serious yeah that's a huge
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concern of mine desperate for Clues police checked out the Jupiter Medical Center's parking
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lot they hit Pay Dirt gret and Anthony's Mini Cooper was recovered in the parking
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lot of Jupiter Medical Center detective kenerson says what they found inside Gretchen's car was
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worrisome her purse sitting in plain sight I think a woman normally carries their purse with them if gret and
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Anthony is not in a facility in a hospital anywhere being treated for Co if she doesn't have covid then where is
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Gretchen that was a million doll question no one knew where Gretchen was [Music]
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[Music] [Applause] 5 days had passed since anyone had seen gret and Anthony Jupiter police
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investigators were determined to find her so they canvased her neighborhood wearing body cameras looking for
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Clues they were stunned when a resident approached them to say that early on the
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morning of Saturday March 21st she heard something terrifying I heard a really serious
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woman scream like um just screaming like she was being attacked and then I heard her scream no
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and then I heard something about it hurts stop it the scream was really serious did this woman call 911 she did
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not some people are apprehensive about calling the police when you heard that story what are you thinking I'm thinking
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that something definitely happened at Gretchen Anthony's home Saturday morning officers became even more concerned when
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another neighbor told them he later noticed a soapy substance flowing from underneath Gretchen's garage door
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somebody was in there cleaning that's what I take from that we discovered that um her entrance door that leads from her
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patio into her garage that door was locked and it had the key broken off in the in the dead bolt could Gretchen be
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inside investigators wasted no time finding out they forced entry into the garage and there was no Gretchen inside
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however they noticed that there was a strong pungent smell of a cleaning agent in the garage with body cameras rolling
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investigators searched the home several times they found evidence suggesting a violent
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struggle a broken picture frame shards of glass on Gretchen's bed and a stained towel there was a piece of cloth that
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had what is referred to as BLS a blood-like substance on it they got a huge break when they discovered
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neighbors had taken photos of a black Nissan pickup truck parked near Gretchen's home after the terrifying
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screams and who owns a black Nissan pickup truck I'm David Anthony David Anthony Gretchen's
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estranged husband his vehicle was there that morning investigators learned from Friends and family that Gretchen had
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filed for divorce in February of 2020 and David had moved in with his mother that's when David's former boss
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Tabitha Hopkins says he became increasingly unstable he regressed behavior-wise um slowly became more hard
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to manage Gretchen's family told investigators she worried about her safety after the separation and had
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security cameras installed throughout her home and garage who was she afraid of I was told that she had the cameras
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installed because David had returned to her home after he left after they'd separated that's
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correct kenerson discovered those cameras had been removed from the walls possibly to destroy incriminating
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evidence but he learned that while the cameras were gone the images they once recorded could be recovered from the
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cloud and we sent a search warrant to her camera provider It is believed that this
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could potentially be the best piece of evidence at this point that could give us some direction as to where is Gretch
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and Anthony while they waited for that crucial evidence investigators scrambled to find out just what David Anthony knew
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about Gretchen's disappearance they went to look for him at his mother's home again with with body cameras
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rolling Jupiter police hello hi hi Jupiter police sorry to bother you David's mom said she too
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had received a concerning text from Gretchen Gretchen's been in touch with me cuz she's in the CDC Center she has
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the virus okay what CDC Center is she at I don't know she texted me this morning
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and said she was in there I have the text would you like to see it i' would love to thank you
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all right no problem okay when officers asked her where her son was they became alarmed he had said he
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was going to Costa [Music] Rica David's mother told them that he packed up his truck and on Tuesday March
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24th 3 days after Gretchen disappeared he grabbed his dog Kobe and hit the road once they know that he is attempting to
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flee the country he definitely becomes a suspect they are very suspicious of him adding to their suspicion what they
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discovered on the video retrieved from the Jupiter Medical Center parking lot where Gretchen's car was
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found there was security footage that showed Gretchen Anthony's Mini Cooper pulling into a parking space and there
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is a tall figure walking away from her vehicle David Anthony is about 6768 and does that look like somebody
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who could be 6768 absolutely investigators were convinced David Anthony was somehow involved in
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Gretchen's disappearance Now tracking Gretchen's cell phone could be the key to finding David they find the
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Gretchen's phone is panging off a tower um in the area of Pensacola Florida that's like 600 miles away yes her phone
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is on the Move there's a lot of moving Parts here right so we're trying to still answer
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the question where is gret and Anthony where is David Anthony and so these cell phone records become a very critical
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part in in locating David Anthony investigators say phone records help track David across Florida as he left a
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paper and video trail cameras recorded him stopping at jewelry stores to sell Gretchen's jewelry one store owner
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shared a memorable conversation that he came in wanting to sell some jewelry um that had been left
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to him by a family member that had died from covid-19 Co yes Co strikes again Co
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strikes again and in all these videos that we were able to obtain from these different
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businesses nowhere was Gretchen seen while David Anthony was leaving a tantalizing trail of electronic
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breadcrumbs he had one huge Advantage remember they had learned from his mother that he was on his way to
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Costa Rica and could be long gone we are not operating days behind David Anthony
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under understanding that his intentions at this point are to leave the country so it's now from his perspective Catch
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Me If You Can yes now we're on the hunt for David [Applause] Anthony tour friend Kelly Hannah
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Gretchen Anthony was someone who connected instantly with everyone she met oh she was so radiant and just had
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this gentle gracefulness about her had the most beautiful laugh someone who should somehow be
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protected from harm in a perfect world you would hope and pray those people have Angels around
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them to keep them safe but now Gretchen had been missing for 6 days what is going on and why is my beautiful
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friend missing assistant prosecutor cret Mixon knew the key to finding Gretchen was
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finding her estranged husband David Anthony she had been told David was on the run to Costa Rica and had a head
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start we're trying to make up time we're trying to move quickly and play catchup investigators tracked Gretchen
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and D David's cell phone signals which appeared to place both phones traveling together heading Westward across Texas
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now does that suggest the two of them maybe on a trip together that she could possibly still be alive it suggests that
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their phones are pinging together to me detective Jared kenerson didn't know what happened to Gretchen but feared the
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worst as he waited for evidence taken from Gretchen's home to come back from the lab
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he issued a bolo an alert to be on the lookout for David's black Nissan truck his vehicle was listed as a felony
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vehicle investigators dug into David's past and what they learned was stunning so David Anthony originally was
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known as David Anthony Deutsch and then later changed his name to David Anthony nobody knew that he's local here to the
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Palm Beach area he went to the same High School my children went to it was weird
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that nobody realized that there was a difference nobody realized for instance that as David Anthony Deutsch a star
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college basketball player he held up a Blockbuster Video Store armed with a squirt gun and assaulted a police
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officer he reached a plea deal in each case and spent a short stint in jail David Anthony has had a history of of
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criminal conduct it's not that uncommon for someone with a Criminal past to try to escape that past Tabitha Hopkins
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David's former boss at the gym in Jupiter had noticed something odd about David he's very talented and his skill
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level was amazing but his moods could be high or low do you feel as though he does have this jual and hide personality
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100% Tabitha says he became so difficult to manage she was forced to fire him in
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2017 she gave him a second chance a few years later but by early 2020 he was increasingly unstable I basically said
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what's going on what's wrong with you you you are not the same person that I knew Tabitha says she was forced to fire
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him again and this time she caught a glimpse of David's frightening rage that look I'd never seen before he was angry
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shaken tab texted Gretchen at the time separated from David with a warning stay away from him she had said that he is
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crazy and that's the last time I talked to Gretchen that was February of 2020 then a few weeks later just 7 days
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before Gretchen disappeared this happened can I get up no get down I'm standing up get down police received a
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report that David was allegedly following teenage girls at a nearby shopping center once again police body
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cameras were rolling when they approached him get out now get out with Kobe sitting quietly in the
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truck he's got a dog in the car David lashed out and was charged with resisting arrest resisting me sir
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on your out like an airplane David spent just a few days in jail you have the right to remain silent anything you say
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can and will be used against you in the court of law investigators learned he posted bail and was released just 3 days
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before Gretchen disappeared we're going to stand up all right now as they tracked him cross
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country they knew they had a volatile man on the loose and he was being KY he would turn turn on cell phones um and we
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would be able to get a location and then he would turn cell phones off David's phone pinged here in posos
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Texas more than 1600 miles away from Jupiter the next day David's phone pinged here in Los cruus New
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Mexico kerson immediately reached out to Los crusis police for help still tracking his phone and armed
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with a description of the truck Los cruus police located David and pulled him over Put Your Hands Up Up When
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officers asked David about Gretchen he told them she had covid um last I heard she was in a CDC facility getting
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treatment for uh Corona virus Los cruus police seized David's truck and his possessions including his phone and
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Gretchen's phone but they did have enough evidence to bring David in for questioning so along with Kobe he was
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allowed to just walk away where does he go I don't know where he went but I knew
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that he he was in Las cruus on foot and you're here in Florida what do you do we
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are waiting the results of gret and Anthony's video cameras Jupiter police finally received
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the electronic recordings from Gretchen's home they released portions of that evidence like this video from
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security cameras revealing a tall figure hidden in the Shadows on the patio waiting to Ambush her the figure moves
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throughout the patio area other footage was too disturbing to release to 48 hours including the moment Gretchen
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appears on the patio and the figure forces her into the garage investigators also retrieved recordings from
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Gretchen's Alexa device where she can be heard calling out for help she was screaming for Alexa to call 911 she's
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calling out to that electronic box call 911 in other words call the police Gretchen didn't know it but unless you
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specifically program your Alexa device to do so it does not call the police in an emergency do you think if the Alexa
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unit had called 911 that gret and Anthony might be alive today it's possible video retrieved from cameras in the
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garage show the last images of Gretchen alive there comes a point where this person that we see grab Gretchen muffle
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her screams and take her into the garage this person looks up at the camera realizes that it's a camera and proceeds
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to take that camera and snatch it down off the wall and throws it on the floor and what do you
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see we see David Anthony looking up into the camera we knew that David Anthony killed Grant Anthony he was the
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killer investigators finally had the proof they needed to make an arrest detective kenerson raced to Los crusis
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to look for David Anthony we searched um homeless areas we searched hotels were you n nous he's going to get
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away I was very nervous I didn't know where he could have [Music] gone that evening officers got a lucky
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break when they spotted David walking his dog Kobe David was detained and Kobe was taken to a
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shelter hey David who are you my name is Jared kenerson I'm a detective with the
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Jupiter Police Department with all 6' 7 in of David Anthony crammed into the back seat of a small police car
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detective kenerson knelt down and looked directly in the eyes at the man he was certain had killed
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Gretchen there's a warrant for your arrest and I'm going to explain that when we get bound back to the excuse me
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what homicide for who who do you think that's why I as a question we'll talk about at the
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headquarters okay okay all right kerson had his man but still had one looming question we still don't have a body
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where is gret and Anthony [Music] right handcuff right handcuff gotting to cut off situation after a Manhunt
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Crossing Six States spanning nearly 2,000 miles David Anthony was finally in custody for the murder of his estranged
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wife Gretchen i d it my name is Kelly Jupiter detectives Kelly Sanders and Jared kenerson would interrogate him
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here at the State Police Headquarters in Los crusis New Mexico they had one goal get David to
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reveal the location of Gretchen's body we were in search of the truth we're in search of where is Gretchen Anthony I
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wanted to be able to tell her family tell her daughter I know where she is and that was very important to us right
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away David made it clear it wouldn't be easy we have obtained a warrant for your
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arrest for murder okay she's a liar kenerson was stunned when David claimed Gretchen wasn't dead I I was in
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disbelief I I I knew that she wasn't with us anymore but he's defiant with you that's correct defiant and dishonest
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police say the story David told was pure fiction she was in with me okay up until
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Al Paso we were driving separate vehicles so she she she bolted he said Gretchen was on the run because she
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discovered illegal activities at the company where she worked and someone was after her are you buying any of this I'm
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not buying it now when asked about the text messages sent from Gretchen's phone claiming she had covid David was evasive
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there was no record of her being at any Hospital hospital for covid-19 okay zero
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record doesn't doesn't mean anything when the detectives pushed harder insisting David sent the messages he
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pushed right back you have her phone you sent the text messages you planted her car at Jupiter Medical Center because
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you're on video doing it have all that information do it she had me do it kenerson and Sanders even
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confronted David with the evidence captured on Gretchen's own video system you put your hand hand over her mouth
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and dragged her into the garage it's on video David still alive David's story never changed he repeatedly told the
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detectives Gretchen was alive Gretchen's still alive in fact during the course of
00:31:44
the interrogation David Anthony made that claim she's still alive Bron's alive I told you that she's still alive
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she's still alive 35 times in fact he says that over and over and over that she's alive why is he saying that he's
00:31:58
trying to deflect David is trying to deflect away from himself with each denial the detective's
00:32:05
anger Rose it's very frustrated because we know she's not alive we have evidence
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of her not being alive so kenerson switched tactics and tried to appeal to David's bond with Gretchen's young
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daughter you see that little girl right there I want you to look at I love her de I know look at her real good and for
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a brief moment it seems like it might work I was the one who taught her how to ride a bicycle and she hoop and use her
00:32:33
awareness yep and that is awesome then do what's right for her I would never hurt her not I would never hurt either
00:32:39
one of them well you're hurting her indirectly by not letting us know where her mom is you have to ask her we can't
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ask her she's dead she's dead her mother is still alive that's she she not alive
00:32:51
and then David tried a new tactic he dared them to prove their case you don't have video of me killing
00:32:58
her how do you know what we have show it to me show me the video herad show me the video her dead body is right there
00:33:06
show me the video I know that it exists okay then show it to me the detectives decided it was time to
00:33:14
take a break they left and sent officers to adjust David's handcuffs givey water
00:33:23
kerson came back alone this time quiet and friendly he made one last emotional plea by
00:33:32
playing an audio recording of Gretchen's daughter begging David to tell them where they could find her
00:33:39
mother even that didn't work raised the girl since she was 2 years old David claimed falsely that it wasn't
00:33:47
Gretchen's daughter's voice infuriated kerson decided to let him have it you had nothing to do with it you didn't
00:33:56
even like you didn't even you're not even doing your homework monster for your homework Jared you are
00:34:02
a monster for what you did and everybody is going to look at you like that after
00:34:06
more than 2 hours David abruptly ended the interview I'll ask for a lawyer no problem I'm not asking any more
00:34:13
questions I'm still wondering where Gretchen is um I wasn't able to leave that interview um knowing where she was
00:34:21
um and that didn't necessarily sit well with me David Anthony was charged with second
00:34:28
deegree murder and extradited to Florida Days Later his dog Kobe was adopted by new
00:34:37
owners in Jupiter David's arrest made the news according to a just released arrest report a neighbor heard of
00:34:43
woman's blood curdling scream at about 6:00 in the morning March 21st when Kelly Hannah saw the story she
00:34:51
says it broke her heart I just sat down on my bedroom floor and just cried my eyes out cried my eyes out for her
00:34:58
daughter for her sisters for her parents for everyone that loved her David's former boss Tabitha Hopkins felt she'd
00:35:07
lost two friends it was just shocking I wanted to believe it wasn't true but it was
00:35:14
[Music] obviously prosecutor Dave aronberg had evidence and a suspect in custody but he
00:35:22
knew getting a conviction wouldn't be easy the most troubling thing for the family and for all of us quite frankly
00:35:29
was that we did not have Gretchen's body and when you don't have a body those are
00:35:34
challenging cases to prosecute and David Anthony knew it while David Anthony was held in
00:35:52
custody in Palm Beach County Florida a grand jury indicted him on the charge of kidnapping and raised the murder charge
00:36:00
from second degree to First could he have faced the death penalty with these charges potentially yes for first Dee
00:36:07
Murder One traffic one but the search for Gretchen Anthony's remains continued that was the thing he had in his favor
00:36:17
if this ever went to trial it was almost as though it was his ticket it was the worst part of it for
00:36:25
me the fact that he was able to use evidence of his crime as leverage that fact also weighed heavily
00:36:33
on Gretchen's family the thought of Gretchen being out there alone forever was very unsettling for
00:36:43
them I think the family wanted life in prison but they wanted gret him December 2020 with the winter
00:36:55
holidays looming it was becoming tragically apparent that authorities may never find Gretchen without her alleged
00:37:03
Killer's help and so we entered into negotiations with David Anthony's defense lawyer and were're able to work
00:37:11
out a settlement of 38 years in prison that settlement required David Anthony to plead guilty to Second
00:37:19
deegree murder and reveal the location of Gretchen's remains David Anthony appeared in court today
00:37:33
pleading guilty David Anthony pleads guilty 9 months to the day after gret and Anthony went missing David Anthony
00:37:42
finally admits what everyone already knew he murdered his wife we were able to find Gretchen that
00:37:53
day it was a relief because I know that is what her family wanted and to be able to give that to
00:38:04
them it meant a lot David Anthony chose this nondescript patch of grass just a few miles from
00:38:13
Gretchen's House behind a Walmart and next to a retirement home to hide his wife's remains detective Jared kenerson
00:38:23
took us there how does someone bury a body here and not get caught I I I don't know I don't know this discovery that
00:38:33
must have been quite a moment for you it it was very emotional for me it was very
00:38:38
emotional for um for all of us that were involved after months of uncertainty Gretchen's family could finally lay her
00:38:47
to rest and I could see as hard of a time as this has been or had been for the family I could see that there was some
00:38:58
sort of Peace an autopsy was performed which explained why that neighbor heard screams the morning Gretchen
00:39:08
disappeared what was the cause of death cause of death um was stab wounds to the
00:39:15
neck and to the Torso there were some defensive wounds she fought for her life you used what you did to negotiate
00:39:33
something for yourself you are pure evil Gretchen's Sister Sarah Cary and the rest of their family came face to
00:39:43
face with David Anthony at his sentencing hearing you stole a mother away from her child a daughter away from
00:39:52
her mother you are a monster you are a coward you can never be forgiven then it came time for the man
00:40:04
who created all this pain to speak and he gave a bizarre explanation for his actions my illusion s the C pandemic as
00:40:14
an end of the world prophecy an armag again that I felt compelled to escape no matter the
00:40:20
cost instead of being a man I chose to be a coward I tried to steal what wasn't mine and in the process I ended the
00:40:29
life her life had value her life had meaning and I st that life I'll call BS on that
00:40:39
hard hogwash that's appalling absolutely appalling and he left so many questions
00:40:49
unanswered we will never know we will never know we will never know why he ended Gretchen's
00:41:02
life I think that's the hardest question to ask is why and sometimes you just need
00:41:10
to believe that there are higher powers in place that have a bigger plan and now Gretchen's friends and
00:41:19
family are left trying to make sense of it all how is Gretchen's daughter doing you know are resilient she is blessed to
00:41:30
have her father in her life and she appears to be doing well if one person was touched by how
00:41:38
much she loved people by how much she loved her child by how much she just loved living life to the fullest then
00:41:46
her life mattered [Music] 48 hours to miss it would be a crime were you at all prepare for what
00:42:08
happened in this case [Music] hello you have an emergency there's a house that's on fire on the other side
00:43:02
of the fence there's Fire coming out of the window I think I heard screaming and
00:43:06
crying I don't know it sound like it was coming from the resent yeah I think so the lead detective called me he
00:43:16
said um there was an accident in your parents [Music] house and he said there was a fire your
00:43:24
parents didn't didn't make it I just started hysterically crying so I flew up on the first flight
00:43:33
I'm out the next day and that's when they told us um what had really happened the fire wasn't an accident my parents
00:43:42
had been shot and the fire was a cover how why and who Neighbors on this usually quiet street are stunned it's
00:43:51
not real I wanted to know why this happened to Scott and Janet I wanted to know who did this they were great people they
00:44:01
were giving people and it's not the way it's supposed to go did your parents have any kind of conflict with people
00:44:09
that might want to hurt them not that I'm aware of no it didn't make sense that this could or would
00:44:17
happen how soon did investigators focus on Brandon petet as the killer instantly
00:44:24
they focused on Brandon as soon as one of the neighbors said oh they have a son that's weird is there any physical
00:44:31
evidence that TI your brother to the murder no there is no DNA there are no fingerprints there is no blood but what
00:44:37
you do have here is a Litany of statements and actions that point to Brandon the most damaging evidence
00:44:47
against Brandon came out of his own mouth he terrible um in his ability to figure out what's appropriate he
00:44:55
referred to his parents as and that he wanted his dad dead I mean and this is like just a few weeks before
00:45:01
the murder and you have more than once where your parents di said wish my parents
00:45:09
foret people say that about their parents it's clear that your brother isn't like everyone else isn't it mhm he
00:45:16
told them he had Asbergers when somebody's autistic they're different than you he's doesn't act the same way
00:45:24
as you I might act if you your de on the body bag you what you're already pass it
00:45:30
I'm not pass it you have no emotional response you want me to break down and cry because I don't normally
00:45:38
cry autism is the reason I focused on him it's the reason that they became convinced that he was guilty I don't
00:45:46
know who killed my parents no I don't no yes no your brother was working that night right he has an alibi yeah you
00:45:57
murdered your pars I didn't do anything he intended it he desired it and he did it I think there's a lot more to this
00:46:04
story I love my parents words don't make you a murderer [Music] [Music] the morning of August 8th 2013 had
00:47:01
started out full of promise for then 28-year-old Lauren Pettit living in Los Angeles I remember I had texted one of
00:47:09
my best friends that morning today's going to be a good [Music] day what she did know was that 300 miles
00:47:17
away in Modesto California firefighters had been called to her parents' home at 3:00 in the morning their bedroom had
00:47:25
gone up in flames fire crew is still trying to determine where that fire started we were
00:47:32
investigators Lauren's parents Scott and Janet Pettit were found dead inside how would you describe your mom
00:47:40
and dad you really miss them don't you they were [Music] amazing two of the family's dogs also
00:47:55
didn't make it but but one Bailey survived is it kind of a miracle she's even here it's insane mhm Bailey means a
00:48:05
lot to you now everything she's like my lifeline Mike Anderson a close friend of
00:48:14
the family had arrived at the scene after getting a call that something terrible had happened when I turned on
00:48:21
to Scott and Janet Street there was fire trucks ambulances and so my heart [Music]
00:48:33
sank I to say it's like losing an arm or something you lose a part of your soul a
00:48:37
part of your body and that's what it felt like this can't be happening but it was and things only got worse
00:48:50
investigators soon determined the fire was no accident Scott and Janet had been shot a total of seven times and evidence
00:48:59
of an accelerant was found throughout their upstairs room more than 12 hours after firefighters made the gruesome
00:49:07
Discovery police investigators remain sifting through clues in what they are now calling a pair of suspicious deaths
00:49:14
the community lost two people that did more for their communities than hundreds of people will ever do
00:49:27
Scott was an avid car collector and owner of a martial arts studio in nearby Riverbank the local paper once called
00:49:34
him citizen of the Year Janet a neonatal nurse had recently earned her PhD when you think about your mom what
00:49:49
comes to mind she was just incredible you know very caring and selfless my D was very sarcastic very witty loved to
00:49:57
give back loved to help everyone the couple had been in their late 20s when they first met Scott was working as a
00:50:04
paramedic then I believe the story is he was bringing a baby in from the ambulance and she was the receiving one
00:50:12
of the receiving nurses the two would later marry and start a family Lauren was 2 years old
00:50:19
when her brother Brandon was born and the family was complete your mom writes Lauren was so excited
00:50:27
to have her baby brother home you do look very happy to have a little brother first kiss from a big sister M I think I
00:50:36
thought I had a new toy growing up Lauren says Brandon L playing pranks on people but when it
00:50:48
came to Career aspirations that was something he was serious about what did he want to do he really enjoyed like
00:50:56
firefighting I guess just like helping people in some way shape or form police force things
00:51:02
like that she says Brandon was smart but struggled socially do you remember how old you
00:51:10
were when you noticed any difference with Brandon when you started realizing that he wasn't quite like everybody
00:51:17
else's little brother Early Childhood definitely I was under the age of 10 for sure like sevenish what do you think you
00:51:23
first noticed um him being really stubborn and disobedient in a sense and she says he
00:51:30
had trouble making friends you know he was almost looked down upon or looked looked at as if he just didn't fit in
00:51:38
and that was hard was he lonely I'm sure so lonely says Lauren that he would tell stories and make things up just to
00:51:47
get attention I don't think he ever thought that he was telling a story or lying it was just you know I can do this
00:51:54
or I can do that or you know I can get This and like okay let's come back down to earth and like let's figure out
00:52:00
whether or not it's reality Scott and janard had long been aware of Brandon's struggles they took
00:52:06
him to see numerous Specialists and when Brandon was in high school he was diagnosed with aspergers a developmental
00:52:15
disorder affecting his ability to communicate and at times read social cues now Asbergers falls under autism
00:52:24
spectrum disorder what with Asbergers I think it's really difficult for him to be aware of how he's presenting himself
00:52:32
and what he's saying and how he's saying things and how he's reacting to certain
00:52:35
things or not reacting and whether or not he's doing what people would consider the norm so when Lauren called
00:52:42
Brandon then 25 shortly after they both learned of their parents' deaths his unusual reaction she says was usual for
00:52:52
him how is he dealing with it in his normal manner which is you know very emotionless when he's sad kind of just
00:53:02
keeps it all in but it was a red flag to police who soon zeroed in on Brandon the day after
00:53:10
the murders before Lauren even got to see him Brandon ended up in a police interrogation room for 9 and 1 half
00:53:18
hours and he went along with it mhm and why do you think he was so willing to talk to the police probably the same
00:53:25
reason I was like just wanting answers Brandon was again called in for questioning just over a week after the
00:53:34
murders Lauren drove him to the station did the investigators give you any idea that your brother was a suspect M he was
00:53:43
by them wasn't he mhm if you had known what was going on if you had any idea your brother was a suspect would you
00:53:50
have taken him over there so willingly I wouldn't have taken them there period we
00:53:53
would have had an attorney after nearly 4 hours police arrested Brandon for the murder of his
00:54:05
parents I think I lost my voice and my breath for a little bit I was like what why
00:54:27
just over a week after suddenly losing her parents Lauren now had to deal with the news that her brother had been
00:54:33
arrested and charged with the murders I think I just started to hyperventilate and was like I don't even know what's
00:54:39
going on in addition to Brandon a man named Felix Val had also been arrested and charged Lauren had never heard of
00:54:48
Felix Val but Brandon and Felix were both members of a group called The clampers a more than Century old for
00:54:56
etal organization dedicated to the historical preservation of the American West but clampers are also known for
00:55:04
enjoying getting together to drink I think his the only reason he was a part of that was because he thought
00:55:11
they he thought he would have friends did your parents ever express concern about any of these people that your
00:55:19
brother might be hanging out with mm I never heard about them Brandon was staying at his parents house but on the
00:55:26
night of the fire he was outworking the graveyard shift as a security guard and there are people who can say he was
00:55:35
there yep he has an alibi his boss or his Superior confirmed he was there but his Alibi didn't seem to matter to
00:55:43
investigators they believe that Brandon paid Felix to commit the murders the alleged motive to inherit his parents'
00:55:52
money but Lauren couldn't make sense of it she said says Brandon loved their parents and actually benefited more with
00:56:00
their parents alive they paid his bills my brother didn't even know the value of
00:56:05
a dollar if anything happened to your parents was your brother going to inherit anything not that he knew of not
00:56:12
that I know of either police first began looking at Felix after Brandon in his first
00:56:20
interview with police mentioned other friends but curiously failed to mention and Felix that led to a search of
00:56:29
Felix's apartment where their suspicions paid off they found keys to the petted home Scott and Janet's wallets a box of
00:56:39
ammunition and seven spent shell casings concealed in a planter outside significant because Brandon's parents
00:56:48
were shot a total of seven times hours later police called Brandon in for that second taped interview and confronted
00:56:59
him how would he come up with the key to kill your parents I don't know be gave him to I didn't give him but the
00:57:07
detective told Brandon that Felix was telling a different story phix says she gave him the keys and the keys both fit
00:57:16
the garage door and the front door Brandon if you think for a minute that anybody anybody is going to believe your
00:57:24
story including your sister and you what the think about Felix is your life to make him more
00:57:32
believable he's I mean remorseful hell do that mean sorry the detective also told Brandon
00:57:43
that he had phone records showing that Brandon and Felix spoke the night of the murders my bra I was asking him what
00:57:51
we're doing until the weekend despite the pressure brand and repeatedly denied having anything to do
00:57:59
with the deaths of his parents I don't know who killed my parents yes you do no I don't just no yes no but in that
00:58:08
second interview Brandon made incriminating admissions Brandon said that he gave Felix bullets sometime in
00:58:17
the weeks leading up to the murders he had asked me for the box of bullets that I had because my 22 hasn't
00:58:24
been fired in 2 years because I don't have a than and he admitted giving Felix $100 just days after the
00:58:36
murders but the most jaw-dropping part of Brandon's story was when he told detectives that about a month before The
00:58:44
Fire Felix had threatened to kill Brandon's parents unless Brandon paid him $10,000 and you haven't told us
00:58:54
something that is this important and you're telling us now I'm remembering a you know
00:59:01
what and where'd you go did you go to the police station no my par oh no instead you give a box of
00:59:10
bullets I can see that was a bad idea that was a bad idea that's a bad excuse that's even worse
00:59:17
lie even if it was the truth why would Brandon wait 9 days after the murders to tell them all of this
00:59:26
why I didn't want to talk to anybody do you not want to solve that crime I wanted to do it myself oh wow did I
00:59:36
wanted to find out who did it myself and more damaging why did Brandon remain friendly with Felix not only after the
00:59:44
threat was made but even after Brandon's parents wound up dead so he tells you he's going to kill his parents you give
00:59:52
him ammunition and then you give him 100 bucks he said he had paid his bills and
00:59:58
needed some money I had a 100 bucks so I figured I'd help him out until he got paid to the guy that just was
01:00:05
threatening to kill with your parents if you didn't pay money you're helping them
01:00:09
out matter fact you're hanging out with them afterwards all buddy buddy I didn't
01:00:14
believe he would actually do it investigators were convinced that Brandon was The Mastermind behind his
01:00:21
parents' deaths but Martha Carlton mag an attorney appointed to represent Brandon after his arrest says the
01:00:29
interview proves nothing he didn't have anything to do with it he doesn't know what happened she says detectives
01:00:37
weren't interested in the truth and they lied to Brandon when they told him that
01:00:41
Felix had already confessed they've already decided he's the suspect and they're really trying to
01:00:49
feed him a lot of information so that he'll regurgitate it back she says the detectives knew Brandon had asked bers
01:00:56
in this whole asers thing I'm not buying any and suggests they mishandled the interview do you believe they were
01:01:04
taking advantage of his condition I think they were doing what they always do and because of Brandon's condition he
01:01:10
was more uh vulnerable to that kind of interrogation everything in that second interview needs to be taken with a grain
01:01:17
of salt Lauren agrees and firmly believes her brother is innocent he really is a good person does
01:01:25
this seem at all in your brother's character to have your parents killed not at all but Brandon statements in that
01:01:35
interview wouldn't be the only hurdle that his defense would have to overcome a young woman by the name of Sarah
01:01:42
Wilson had surfaced in the weeks leading up to the Murder She says Brandon had been promising her the world things that
01:01:50
only money could buy what do you make of Brandon's statements to police Sarah Wilson and Brandon pet met
01:02:13
when they were in high school but Sarah says they reconnected online in the summer of
01:02:19
2013 shortly before the murders we got to talking seeing how we were doing throughout the year years Brandon had
01:02:27
just gone through a messy breakup with a woman named Susan Sanchez Susan was pregnant with
01:02:34
Brandon's child how did your brother feel about becoming a dad very excited the family was everything to him so but
01:02:43
with his relationship with Susan over Brandon was apparently ready to shift his attention to someone new I had some
01:02:51
inclinations that he had a little crush on me but I didn't pursue anything with them I didn't give him any hints that I
01:02:59
was attracted to him in that way that didn't seem to deter Brandon who ended up making her an offer
01:03:07
she says she couldn't refuse he had mentioned that his parents were going to buy him a million dooll home in Georgia
01:03:14
and he said that I can move in with him I of course said yes who wouldn't want to live in a million doll
01:03:20
home I was going through a lot of stuff in my personal life I just really wanted
01:03:25
to get out of California as enticing as it all was Sarah suspected it might be too good to be true I took it with the
01:03:34
grain of salt I didn't think it was really going to happen but Sarah says Brandon would send her real estate
01:03:41
listings daily oh the houses had a shower the size of my bedroom now they were just
01:03:51
gorgeous and he showed her the email conversation he was having with a realtor which kind of made me think okay
01:03:58
this is really going to happen and the promises didn't stop there he one day mentioned that oh my mom seeing how
01:04:07
happy I am how excited I am to be moving with you that after we move she will open a boutique for you to run yourself
01:04:15
I did find it kind of strange that his parents would spend this amount of money on a business for me when I had never
01:04:24
met them Sarah says she thought she'd finally meet them since Brandon told her his parents had bought planing tickets
01:04:31
to take them all to Atlanta to look at homes but a couple of days before that supposed trip Sarah received a strange
01:04:40
text from Brandon I got a text out of nowhere from Brandon saying you're getting a boob job for Christmas
01:04:47
LOL the text came in at 10:43 p.m. on August 7th just a few hours later Brandon's parents were discovered dead
01:04:58
he delivered the news to Sarah the next morning I got a text from Brandon saying
01:05:04
my parents died last night in a house fire I didn't press them for any information I just figured that's a
01:05:11
touchy subject his parents had just died on August 9th after Brandon's first interview with detectives Sarah says he
01:05:20
called her and they met up he told me that his aunt had canceled the flight tickets and they just want to keep that
01:05:28
under wrap so don't tell the detectives that I thought that was very odd that's when I started to think you know
01:05:35
something's kind of weird Sarah would later learn there were no airline tickets no trip to Georgia
01:05:44
planned and Brandon's parents didn't die in a house fire they were murdered it wasn't long before detectives showed up
01:05:53
at her door they just started asking me questions about Brandon she told them everything about those million dooll
01:06:03
homes the supposed trip to Georgia and the text Brandon sent promising her a breast enhancement just hours before his
01:06:13
parents were killed for police it amounted to a financial motive for murder but Lauren Pettit believes it
01:06:22
actually amounts to nothing do you believe your brother really told her those things possibly but I mean that
01:06:29
was just who my brother was Brandon's defense attorney agrees and says Brandon's conversations with Sarah
01:06:37
shouldn't be given much weight at all that was a fantasy he was playing out with a girlfriend to impress her which
01:06:43
he'd always done Brandon actually called a realtor and actually pinpointed some houses is it possible that Brandon
01:06:52
decided he was going to make that fantasy come true true and killed his parents so he'd have the money to
01:06:59
actually buy that house I don't see that as being realistic I see that as being something that Brandon
01:07:07
did in order to impress friends what about the fact though right before his parents died he had texted Sarah Wilson
01:07:16
and said for Christmas you're going to get breast enhancement surgery just a coincidence
01:07:24
Martha yeah honestly yeah I'm not sure it was the was the first time he said it either you
01:07:33
know somebody could say you know Brandon lies a lot he lies to girlfriends you know he lies to the police if you're
01:07:41
right how do you know when to believe Brandon then you don't Brandon lies a lot and very badly
01:07:48
there's no question about that so you don't you look to the evidence and hard definitive evidence directly time
01:07:56
Brandon to the murder of his parents says Martha just isn't there Lauren pet stood by her brother
01:08:26
Brandon he's so much bigger than I am as he awaited trial convinced of his innocence but as the case dragged on she
01:08:35
was all too aware there was a possibility she might end up losing him too it's a huge burden on your shoulders
01:08:43
isn't it mhm I mean it's not really about me anymore my brother depends on me what do you think your parents would
01:08:55
want you either too I mean fight for my brother absolutely cuz that's what they would
01:09:01
do I take care of myself on the 4year anniversary of her parents' deaths we were with Lauren as
01:09:11
she made the trip to the cemetery on that same day she visited Brandon in jail as well
01:09:27
instead of it being face to face it's video visitation and I see him on a screen for 30
01:09:34
minutes one Court delay after another it was seven long years from the time of the murders of Scott and Janet Pettit to
01:09:42
when Brandon pettit's trial finally began on September 1st 2020 cameras were not allowed in court defense attorney
01:09:51
Robert Winston was now representing Brandon and he was up for the challenge I've had a lot of cases over the years
01:10:00
so the basic case wasn't that unusual the fact that Brandon had Aspergers that put a new dimension on
01:10:08
the case Brandon was initially supposed to be tried alongside Felix vality but about a month before the trial the judge
01:10:18
made a rare finding that valarity was incompetent to stand trial that means the man man who may have actually done
01:10:26
the killing is unavailable to the defense how can Brandon be put on trial when the the person who police believe
01:10:37
actually did the killing is considered incompetent that's our law I mean is that fair to Brandon sadly fairness
01:10:46
rarely enters into it valver was placed in psychiatric treatment with the hope that he might be able to go on trial at
01:10:54
a later date due to Val's still pending case the prosecutor's office declined our request
01:11:01
for an interview we asked Mary fulan a CBS News consultant and former Federal prosecutor to analyze the state's case
01:11:11
you have to look at the totality of the evidence and as you look at the totality
01:11:15
of his statements and his actions I think it's very difficult to say he did not plan it he did not plot it he did
01:11:25
not desire it he did not intend it he did not want it but the physical evidence only connects Felix
01:11:32
vality the prosecution began by calling investigators who detailed all that evidence found at Felix's apartment
01:11:40
Scott and Janet's wallets the box of ammunition those seven spent shell casings and most important they would
01:11:48
argue keys to the pet at home how would Felix get a hold of the keys to the house the keys were given to him by
01:11:57
Brandon and that was so that he could access the house so he get into the house and and kill his parents easily
01:12:03
the prosecution also called Witnesses who knew Felix and testified that he had obtained a new gun like this one in the
01:12:11
weeks leading up to the murders that gun however says defense attorney Robert Winston was never
01:12:19
found it was a western style 22 revolver we certain don't know that that was the
01:12:26
murder weapon it wasn't recovered don't know where it is we don't even know if that type of weapon was consistent with
01:12:35
the bullet fragments that were found in the bodies there was no hard evidence of
01:12:40
anything they don't know if a 22 was used to kill the B well what they do know though and this is critical in a
01:12:47
circumstantial evidence case they do know they were shot seven times they found Seven 22 caliber shell Cas casings
01:12:53
and a planter outside of Felix Val's house in an effort to directly tie Brandon to the murders the prosecution
01:13:02
called Mike Anderson the pettit's close family friend he testified about a conversation he says he had with Brandon
01:13:10
a few months before the murders he just told me if my parents weren't here my life would be
01:13:18
better Mike says he didn't think much of it at the time but with Scott and Janet
01:13:23
now gone and and Brandon on trial for their murders that comment carried a whole new weight I felt like I didn't
01:13:32
help him but I had to tell the truth it it it was hard it was sad and that wasn't all Mike testified to he
01:13:44
also told the jury that in the days following the murders Brandon was looking to sell his dad's prize cars
01:13:52
including a 1961 Corvette vet he wanted to sell the vet and move to Georgia it made me feel very uneasy it made
01:14:05
me question everything the prosecution also called Susan Sanchez Brandon's ex-girlfriend the mother of his then
01:14:14
six-year-old daughter who still had a strain relationship with him she said Brandon once mentioned that Corvette to
01:14:21
her too he couldn't wait for his dad to be dead so that it would be all his and he's also told Susan Sanchez on at least
01:14:29
five or six occasions she testified to that he wanted his parents dead and there was more Susan testified she had
01:14:37
an ex-husband whom she had mentioned to branded he said look if you want to make
01:14:43
him disappear I've Got a Friend Felix belverde who you can pay $500 to and your ex will
01:14:50
disappear coincidences too many Brandon's high school friend Sarah Wilson also took the
01:14:58
stand and testified about all those promises Brandon had made her and the lead detective detailed what Brandon had
01:15:06
said in that second interview so he tells you he said he his parents you give him ammunition and then
01:15:13
you give him a 100 bucks he said he had paid his bills and needed some money it's a circumstantial
01:15:21
case the strongest evidence against Brandon his own words and actions before and after the murders has there ever
01:15:31
been a moment though through any of this that you've been wondering maybe my brother did it no but you I'm not going
01:15:39
to lie I'm not naive I still believe that my brother is Innocent but if someone can prove to me that he's not
01:15:46
with actual evidence not just words you know then it is what it is and I'll deal with that
01:15:55
Brandon did plan and plot the murder of his parents he wanted the Corvette he wanted the house he did it for money but
01:16:03
would Brandon kill the parents he loved and leaned on the defense has to raise delts with their star witness who knows
01:16:12
Brandon best you're testifying for someone you love so much and in your head all you think about is what if I
01:16:19
say the wrong [Music] thing see more of the evidence against Brandon peted at 48
01:16:39
hours.com 7 years after both of her parents were murdered Lauren petett took the stand to try to save the man accused
01:16:47
of killing them her own brother now 32 years old there's so many things going through
01:16:53
your head and there's no coaching there's no nothing you're just here you go good
01:16:59
luck defense attorney Robert Winston wanted the jury to see a very different side of Brandon and his family this was
01:17:08
not a family where there was hatred there was animosity that there was a motive to
01:17:15
kill it just didn't exist Lauren described how important family was to her brother it was his
01:17:24
whole world and the dogs who died in the fire she says Brandon loved them too I have photos and videos glore of him with
01:17:34
his dogs he would skip out on family vacations just to stay home and make sure the dogs were safe and okay Lauren
01:17:41
also questioned the alleged Financial motive telling the jury that her parents were actually in debt at the time of
01:17:48
their death and that Corvette that brenon supposedly wanted she says it was already partially in his name but
01:17:57
perhaps the most crucial part of her testimony cast doubt on the prosecution's theory that Felix vality
01:18:04
got into the pet at home with house keys that Brandon gave him my parents had a an extra large size dog door um on their
01:18:14
back sliding glass door which is how I gotten into the house the day after they passed how the detective told us he had
01:18:21
gotten into the house earlier that day and he was a much larger so the detective himself went through
01:18:28
the doggy door and that was never considered as the way the killer might have gotten into the house correct but
01:18:35
then how did Felix get those keys to the peted home I think the keys were probably in my parents
01:18:43
wallets Lauren says her parents had digital door locks where you punch a code to enter but in the event the
01:18:51
battery powered locks died she says her parents kept spare keys tucked inside their wallets and left those wallets out
01:19:00
in the open on the kitchen counter picture it this way Felix Val goes to the house he crawls in now he's inside
01:19:10
he sees a purse he sees a wallet he either thinks I'll get these on the way out or he picks them up right
01:19:18
then and he goes upstairs and he does what he does but when he when he picked up the
01:19:26
wallet of Scott petett it had a key in it when he picked up the wallet of Janet pet it it had a key in it if Brandon
01:19:35
didn't hire Felix if he didn't ask him to kill his parents why would Felix do it on his own two motives one Felix
01:19:45
thought there was money in the house the other theory is that he heard Brandon say these things about his
01:19:53
parents and he thought that Brandon would be happy with him but there was one big
01:19:59
problem with the defenses theory in a section of Brandon's videotaped interview not shown in court he admitted
01:20:08
giving Felix the keys I know how he got the keys you know okay how did he get the keys I got the keys I never intended
01:20:16
him to actually do anything you supposed to scare him okay not hurt them okay it was an admission
01:20:26
that could destroy his defense Brandon actually admitted that he sent Felix to his home to convince his parents to stop
01:20:36
contacting his ex-girlfriend Susan but because Brandon said it after he had asked for a lawyer the judge didn't
01:20:44
allow it in his evidence and as bad as it sounds defense attorney Robert Winston claims that Brandon made it up
01:20:52
in an effort to end the interrogation it seemed as though Brandon was saying I'll tell you anything you want to hear
01:21:01
just let me out of here Winston was determined to show the jury why they shouldn't believe much of what Brandon
01:21:08
said he called Dr Laura Gyer a clinical psychologist appointed by the court who testified that Brandon's Asbergers could
01:21:18
explain his questionable statements and behavior Dr guer does she believe that that Brandon's Asperger's
01:21:30
autism interfered in that police interview to his detriment absolutely people with
01:21:38
Autism take information in differently than we do so when the police ask a question there's always the worry is it
01:21:48
really understood Winston was feeling optimistic when after 9 days of testimony from 23 Witnesses the case
01:21:57
went to the jury deliberation stretched on for about a day and a half and then a
01:22:05
verdict guilty our camera caught a glimpse of Brandon as he was led out of the courtroom how did your brother react to
01:22:17
the verdict he was shocked and then really scared scared of what his future 4 months later Brandon was given
01:22:29
the maximum sentence two life terms without the possibility of parole Lauren was
01:22:37
devastated it was hard not to feel paternal towards her she's lost everything hasn't she really yes she
01:22:47
has Lauren remains convinced her brother is innocent she hopes one day Felix Val
01:22:54
Verity will go on trial and maybe then she'll get the answers she's looking for do you think Felix valver killed your
01:23:05
parents I think he probably had something to do with It Felix has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys
01:23:12
declined our request for an interview as Lauren begins to pick up the pieces she sadly no longer has her
01:23:20
dog Bailey to comfort her he passed away in 20 19 now a new friend jelly is helping to
01:23:28
put a smile back on her face and yet nothing and no one will ever feel that void left by the loss of her once
01:23:38
close-nit family what do you miss the most about your parents everything my dad's
01:23:47
jokes my mom tirelessly working to you know make sure I'm okay I would give anything to haveen
01:24:07
[Music] back a young woman disappears after a Snapchat revu I try to keep my hopes
01:24:20
high but after 6 months it's a little hard for that the murder that inspired HED a law Nikki's story has allowed us
01:24:26
to take a giant leap forward and started a movement 48 hours Saturday at 109 Central on
01:24:34
[Music] CBS you go back to the first days after the murder this might have been a dispute
01:24:55
between teenagers it might have involved a girl it might have involved drinking whoever knew about Jon's
01:25:04
killing kept this secret for over 40 years that's one small step for man one Le for
01:25:16
[Music] man sept member 26th 1969 is the day that changed the lives of Bill and Neville and mccab
01:25:33
[Music] forever I I don't think I've had a whole night's sleep since it's happened if it's not too painful can you
01:25:46
tell me about his last day went to a dance his second dance 15-year-old John mccab was looking forward to going to
01:25:54
the Nights of Columbus dance that evening took a shower scrubbed his hair put his father's after to shave on he
01:26:01
didn't shave but his father have to shave on oh yeah he got all spruced up 11:00 I started looking out the
01:26:10
window that's when the dance closes he should be home by midnight so I went down to the dance and
01:26:18
checked the road screaming out the window John John no John I started praying at that
01:26:31
point the day after John mccab went missing three young kids were cutting through a vacant lot when they made a
01:26:39
horrifying discovery which was the body of John mccab he had been bound and gagged and
01:26:46
tied with rope after John's body was found Bill mccab a Pillar of Strength had to do the
01:26:53
UN speakable that was identify the body of his dead son never forget it people keep talking about
01:27:02
closure you can't shake it he then had to go home and inform his family of what had
01:27:09
happened Bill said honey a son's dead well I was a senior in high school were you fearful yes they hadn't caught
01:27:22
the people that killed my brother did you think when you looked at kids in your classes maybe it's him maybe it's
01:27:29
him maybe it was them maybe they knew something how could they not know anything without physical evidence
01:27:35
without a witness this case remained unsolved for several years and several years became
01:27:43
decades ready this is it I pray every day Justice will be served there was only one way this case
01:27:52
was going to be solved do you solemnly swear the and how old were you in 1969 17 and that's if someone came
01:27:59
forward and talked how do you know how John macave died I was there [Music] n [Music]
01:28:41
[Music] it took almost every ounce of strength left in his 85-year-old body to get to
01:29:07
the witness stand but Bill mccab waited 43 years for this day and the start of this trial in January
01:29:16
2013 good morning Mr mcab do you remember September 27th 1969 yes sir how old was John at that day he was 15
01:29:29
years 6 months and two weeks I always visualized him as being a big shot somewhere John Joseph mccab my
01:29:42
son JJ you know but I never got to see any of those things in the fall of 1969 two men had just landed on the moon
01:29:56
beautiful just beautiful thousands had just crashed at Woodstock and John mccab 15 years 6
01:30:06
months and 2 weeks old was living with his family in tuxbury Massachusetts I think we have a right to be proud of him
01:30:14
yeah John's father bill was an engineer his mother Evelyn worked at the school library his sisters Roberta who was six
01:30:24
and Debbie who was 17 remember a brother who was always busy doing what brothers
01:30:31
do it was pretty interesting you open the closet door and your closet's filled with grasshoppers I just remember his
01:30:37
hands were always dirty like with oil or grease or a frog in his hand so he brought home a goose once too oh yeah
01:30:44
Canadian goose big sucker it's fun to watch you talk about this cuz your eyes light up I mean you have very fond
01:30:50
memories of those days yeah Evelyn holds on on to any reminder of her son I have
01:30:57
John's money I can't spend it and you've had it all these years yeah 45 years every now
01:31:04
and then I the smell's gone off of it now it I almost put it in the casket with him and then I thought no I'll just
01:31:14
keep it with me and when I see him again I'll give it to him when she last saw John Evelyn gave
01:31:23
him permission to go to that dance at the Nights of Columbus Hall I let him go I let him go out the door I shouldn't
01:31:34
have the next day police came to the house and took Evelyn's husband to the basement to talk they didn't want me to
01:31:43
know anything but you heard I heard them Evelyn got on her knees and pressed her
01:31:50
ear to a vent in the bathroom this is where I could hear everything that was going on down
01:32:00
Sol the police were telling her husband Jon's body was discovered in a vacant lot in the neighboring gritty city of
01:32:10
L what did you hear I heard that he was tied up and there was tape on his eyes and his
01:32:19
mouth I heard a lot I cried I laid there and cried a huge investigation was launched
01:32:31
by the LOL tubry and Massachusetts State Police what evidence did they collect at
01:32:38
the scene the rope that was used to tie John up uh tape that was used to tape his eyes and his mouth um all of his
01:32:47
clothing um his shoes Jerry Leone was the local da who years later took on the case today he's a partner in the law
01:32:57
firm Nixon Peabody there was forensic evidence but it wasn't really meaningful because it you couldn't tie it to anyone
01:33:05
in particular but the case looked promising at first a witness had spotted a car near
01:33:15
the crime scene that night I believe the way he had described it was a 1965 Chevy Impala colored uh Plum or
01:33:26
maroon then another tip LED police to a schoolmate of John's 16-year-old Mike Ferrera who says he barely knew John I
01:33:37
probably seen him like a handful of times in my life I don't you know I didn't really he wasn't a friend Ferrera
01:33:44
and his friend Nancy Williams were questioned because they had picked up John when he was hitchhiking on his way
01:33:50
to the dance I picked him up and I gave him a ride to the corner and I never saw
01:33:55
him again Ferrera told police that while the dance was underway he left Nancy and
01:34:01
met up with his best friend Walter Shelly me Walter and Bob Ryan took a ride to L try to get some beer they were
01:34:09
in Walter Shell's car it was maroon and it was a 1965 Chevy Impala police searched it but found no
01:34:20
evidence still Walter Shelly was now a Person of Interest he was brought in for questioning and later polygraphed five
01:34:29
times the test showed he was lying in all vital areas of the questioning if you read the reports now you start
01:34:37
seeing Ferrera and Shelly Shelly and Ferrera Ferrera was questioned multiple times I know where they were going not
01:34:47
totally stupid but Ferrera wasn't helping himself at one point while Joy writing with some friends he suddenly
01:34:55
blurted out that he killed John I was 16 we're drinking joking and I said yeah I
01:35:04
did it they knew I was joking I was a joker Leone says police were not amused but there was no way to corroborate what
01:35:12
Ferrera said without physical evidence without a witness statement putting him at the scene the Ferrera lead kept
01:35:21
drying up there were dozens of other people police investigated other teens local drug dealers and pedophiles
01:35:31
detectives worked this case hard for two years while Bill mccab worked on a record of his son's
01:35:42
life I wasn't trying to be an author or anything like that I I I was just looking ways to hold on to him keep his
01:35:50
keep his memory he also tried to make sure the police never forgot his son I was always
01:35:58
on the phone talking to the police I'd be up in the middle of the night she'd be saying what the hell are
01:36:04
you doing up get back to bed despite Bill's persistence and the intense police effort there were no arrests
01:36:12
Shelly and Ferrera went into the service in 1970 so the following year the two of
01:36:18
them left the area and the mccab family was left without any answers for [Music]
01:36:50
decades this is the little compass so he can find his way home with each passing season John
01:36:58
McCabe's case grew colder but his mother kept asking the most painful questions about how he
01:37:09
died I tried to strangle myself just to visualize what it felt like I wondered did he call for
01:37:22
me what kind of a mother was I I wasn't there for him for a Time Evelyn set a place for
01:37:30
John at the dinner table his absence was a constant presence in the house you can't just do
01:37:39
something wrong and not have to pay for it the case stalled for some 30 years until November 2000 John and I went just
01:37:50
about everywhere you know when Jack Ward a child Ood friend of John's made good on a decades old promise to Bill
01:37:59
mccab he would say Jackie you he anything about John you keep your eyes out you let me know I says if I ever
01:38:05
hear anything you know I'm going to tell you ward had been at a cookout at this house in tuxbury where he ran into a kid
01:38:14
from the old neighborhood Mike Ferrera this photo was taken that day we're all sitting around
01:38:21
drinking and that's where just blurted out I know who killed John and he said it to me again I know who killed John
01:38:32
and you know finally I said who and he says Walter I said Walter Shelly he says yeah
01:38:39
Walter Shelly I said what would be Walter's motive kill John he said Mala because of
01:38:46
Mala Mara Shiner Ward said she was Walter Shell's girlfriend back then but he said the trouble was Mara also seemed
01:38:56
to like John McCabe and by all accounts Walter shell was one very jealous young man the footage you see was taken a few
01:39:07
years after the murder Ward admits he sat on the information for a while worried about how to tell Bill
01:39:17
McCabe you go knock on somebody's door and say hey I know who killed your son you better have it right I was shocked
01:39:26
when he told me so I scribbl it on a piece of paper I put it in the Bible on a page beginning the book of joint so it
01:39:33
wouldn't forget it and I immediately called the police but it took many more calls from
01:39:42
Bill mccab and three more years for police to show up at ferrera's door it was now 2003 Ferrera worked as a
01:39:51
forklift operator lived in Salem New Hampshire and Nancy Williams his friend back in the day was now his wife Mike
01:40:01
wouldn't hurt a fly no I know he wouldn't Ferrera says he remembers the cookout conversation with Jack Ward very
01:40:11
differently Jackie went and told them I said Walter shy killed him I never said that and at this
01:40:18
cookout you know I already had a few drinks and he's running his mouth shy did it Shy did it and this went on all
01:40:24
afternoon and finally I got sick of hair it I says he probably did it next thing
01:40:30
I know three years four years later I had the cops down my house wanted to talk to me about John mcabe Ferrera also
01:40:37
denies discussing the jealousy motive with Ward that's his theory I never said that but again there was no
01:40:46
corroborating evidence so again the case stalled well what did they tell you about the investigation
01:40:54
it's going fine it was always going fine and how long did they tell you that for
01:40:59
and you know what it was sitting on a freaking shelf but the police had not forgotten
01:41:05
John McCabe all right thanks in January of 2007 37 years after the murder Jerry Leone was sworn in as middle sex County
01:41:17
district attorney the Lowel Police Department took it upon themselves to visit me weeks after after I'd been
01:41:23
elected to say we'd actually like you to focus on this one and and take a hard look at it with
01:41:31
us investigators had gone back over the files and a name jumped out at them in Mike ferrera's latest interview with
01:41:39
police in recounting the night of the murder Ferrera said he was with Walter Shelly but this time he added a name and
01:41:48
said the other guy with them was Allan Brown Edward Allen Brown's name surfaces as
01:41:56
someone who we're going to focus on Edward Allen Brown was 17 and lived not far from the mabes when John was
01:42:06
killed he had long since moved away but when police tracked him down he said he knew nothing about the murder never even
01:42:15
heard of it so How likely is it that he would never even heard of the murder of John mccab in a town the size of tuesy
01:42:23
I'd say curious at the time and police got a call from Brown's wife that was even more Curious his wife told police
01:42:32
that she thought he was lying his wife said that she thought he was lying right Carolyn Brown indicates to police that
01:42:40
20 to 25 years earlier her husband had told her about an evening um where he was involved in a young man being
01:42:50
killed but even that wasn't enough it was the same old story there was no corroborating evidence and no real
01:42:59
movement in the case until 2011 when detective Linda Coughlin was assigned to find the killers you think
01:43:09
this case really took off when you met detective Linda Coughlin yes definitely why did you feel that way because of her
01:43:18
attitude she she said I'm going to get them and she did detective Coughlin zeroed
01:43:27
back in on Edward Allen Brown he was retired from the Air Force and living in New Hampshire Coughlin interrogated
01:43:35
Brown just twice but when Brown learned he failed a polygraph he suddenly broke down he confessed that he was there when
01:43:47
Walter Shelly and Mike Ferrera killed John mccab why LEL police brought in the mccabes
01:44:04
and told them Brown's story about Jon's Final hours my dad started crying he killed
01:44:13
over on the [Music] table on April 15th 2011 nearly 4 2 years after John McCabe's body was found
01:44:26
in that vacant lot his father's perseverance finally paid off Mr mccab held our feet to the fire he never let
01:44:36
us forget John McCabe's murder the DA's office announced the indictments of Edward Allen Brown for manslaughter and
01:44:45
Michael Ferrera and Walter Shelly for first deegree murder two names known to police since day day one two names also
01:44:55
Gathering dust here in John's book of mourners the murderers came to the wake and they came to the
01:45:09
[Music] funeral why do you think Edward Allen Brown confessed chat now on Facebook
01:45:16
andex [Music] it would take almost two years to bring the men accused of killing John mccab to
01:45:30
trial two more years the mccabes would have to wait do you solemnly swear the Tes January 18th 2013 would you please
01:45:39
be seated Edward Allen Brown was called to testify against his one-time friend Mike ferera the first defendant to go on
01:45:49
trial do you see Michael Ferrara in the courtroom today yes over there Mr Brown for the first
01:45:57
time Brown publicly shared the details of the night John died Brown says he was at home watching television when Mike
01:46:07
Ferrera and Walter Shelly pulled up to his house they wanted me to go with them to help them help them do what I didn't
01:46:15
know at the time until I got in the car and we left Brown testified they were on their
01:46:20
way to the Knights of Columbus Hall when when he learned of their plan they said
01:46:26
they wanted to go U find this kid that had been uh you know messing around with Mara to teach him a lesson and how did
01:46:33
you know Mara Shiner that was Walter's girlfriend Michael noticed John mccab was thumbing and he said there he
01:46:43
is and we pulled up next to John Michael got out and grabbed him and uh pushed him in the back seat where I was
01:46:53
Michael was facing back um at John trying to to to smack him and John had his arms up to try to to stop him from
01:47:03
doing that we went under the spaghetti bille bridge Brown says they drove up a dirt
01:47:09
road to the vacant lot and pulled over and we got him outside the car who pushed John out of the car I did I
01:47:17
thought they were just going to slap Mor what happened next then Michael and w uh wrestled John tripped him up and got
01:47:26
him on the ground Brown testified that he and Shelly held John mcabe down while Ferrera tied him up Michael tied his
01:47:35
ankles then went around and tied his his uh wrists together then he took another
01:47:41
piece of rope around his ankles and attached it up to his neck they had put tape on his mouth John's uh squirming
01:47:48
wiggling trying to get out he's lying on his belly uh uh with his legs up in the
01:47:54
air and his um his head turned sideways then they said um that this this will teach you to uh
01:48:01
to mess with maror anymore and we got in the car and left Brown says they drove around
01:48:12
drinking beer for a while then um I I told him that we we should go back and let him go Brown says
01:48:21
they eventually returned to the Michael and Walter got out of the car and went over to
01:48:28
him they were there for about 30 45 seconds and they came quickly back to the car we started to drive off and one of
01:48:37
them said that he wasn't breathing John McCabe had died of [Music] strangulation I wonder
01:48:52
I wonder what he thought of that night then they uh they brought me home what did you
01:49:04
do I don't remember I think I cried Brown says he kept the murder a secret for 41 years because he was
01:49:15
afraid of Michael Ferrera Michael said if anybody talks to anybody about this I'll kill him hel Brown is a freaking
01:49:23
liar and I mean they know that according to the prosecutor he's been Iraq and Afghanistan five tours maybe he's got
01:49:31
something wrong in his head they talk about these people that give false confessions either he did
01:49:38
it with somebody else or by himself or he is really a messed up human being my sense of Edward Brown was he was easily
01:49:48
LED Eric Wilson Michael ferrera's attorney believes that police pressure Edward Allen Brown because he was
01:49:55
someone they could force into confessing to a crime he did not commit they also offered him a deal no jail time Edward
01:50:04
Brown did not walk into L Police Department headquarters and say look I got to get this off my chest after being
01:50:10
interrogated by trained detectives over the course of many days he was faced with the threat of spending the rest of
01:50:16
his life in jail uh or he could tell the police what they wanted to hear Walter Shelly and Mike for picked you up at
01:50:23
your house at 10:30 right yes the question that I had to answer for the jury is why would he tell them that if
01:50:30
he didn't do it did you think you could do that that's a tough sell it was a tough
01:50:36
sell um but Ed Brown gave me a lot to work with you have fed information it was a dirt
01:50:42
lot right yes over the course of two days ferrera's attorney grilled Brown relentlessly and in your four or five
01:50:50
trial prep sessions until Brown aded that the prosecution had fed him parts of his story you have had information
01:50:58
that it was near a railroad tower right yes and you're being told that shell was
01:51:02
jealous over Marla Shiner right yes there are certain pieces of information that an investigator May provide to
01:51:09
someone who they're interviewing to see whether or not they know anything about that to see whether or not it jogs their
01:51:15
memory well but couldn't that also be a way of telegraphing to the witness what you want him to say well in this case
01:51:22
that didn't have to happen because Brown was the one who talked about the Rope the tape The Binding of John however
01:51:30
Brown got his story Wilson claims it cannot be true because it does not fit the evidence in fact in the 1969 police
01:51:40
reports detectives noted that they were unable to find any evidence of a scuffle
01:51:46
there was no suggestion anywhere around John McCabe's body or the scene that that struggle described by
01:51:53
Edward Brown ever took place why would Edward Allen Brown lie and implicate himself so directly in what happened
01:52:02
unless it was the truth your testimony has not always been 10:30 has it Wilson thought it was not enough to try to
01:52:08
discredit Brown he also had to punch holes in the alleged motive jealousy over a girl he'll do it by calling that
01:52:18
girl my name is Mara Shiner to the witness stand that you would have known each other from
01:52:30
[Music] being Mr Brown you've lied under oath when you're scared right yes you've lied
01:52:41
under oath when you're nervous right yes you've lied under oath when you're frightened right correct prosecutors had
01:52:46
a problem with their star witness Edward Allen Brown he seemed to with under strong cross-examination from the
01:52:55
defense you still can't get your fact straight can you no so prosecutor Tom O'Reilly called detective Linda Coughlin
01:53:03
to counter accusations that she'd forced Edward Allen Brown to confess and fed him details at any point did you feed
01:53:12
him information as to the investigation never But Eric Wilson says Coughlin also
01:53:18
had tunnel vision and ignored evidence of other Suspects there were a number of investigative
01:53:25
reports and material that you either overlooked or didn't even know about true I don't know what you're referring
01:53:31
to how about Richard Santos Richard Santos was flagged in this tesy police report as a suspect in the mccab murder
01:53:40
in 1974 Santos was arrested for committing a crime eerily similar to John McCabe's
01:53:51
murder this young woman was abducted on Route 38 her feet were bound her hands were tied behind her back her mouth was
01:53:59
duct taped and her eyes were taped shut all of the facts that surround Santos as
01:54:06
a possible subject lead you to be suspicious but there was never anything tying him to mode of opportunity means
01:54:15
information on Richard Santos still the judge allowed the jury to hear about Santos and another sup ECT with respect
01:54:23
to Robert Morley Robert Morley a local 25-year-old who reportedly knew both fera and Shelly and was suffering from
01:54:33
mental illness he was labeled long before you were assigned this case as a strong suspect right there is
01:54:44
a report that uses the word for him strong suspect in the very same report mentions Mr Ferrera as a prime suspect
01:54:54
but it's how Morley became a strong suspect that makes him so interesting police learned about him shortly after
01:55:02
the crime from his own Brothers well morle his own Brothers went in and said that they thought he might have been
01:55:09
involved in it yeah they thought he might have former da Jerry Leone says Morley's brothers were mistaken I think
01:55:18
what happens in matters like this is people will say um sure you should take a look at X or Y because they have a
01:55:25
profile of somebody who would do something like this and they were around the area at the time but then you have
01:55:32
to look at the evidence and see whether or not the evidence lead you to believe that they had anything to do with it did
01:55:38
the brothers have any specific evidence that you're aware of they did not he split to Florida the day after he was
01:55:45
questioned by police Mr Morley years later in my estimate committed suicide you learned of his death is suicide
01:55:54
right he jumped off a bridge right his brother says he fell off a bridge the defense also tried to punch holes in the
01:56:02
alleged motive for the murder and called a surprising witness to do it yes my name is Marla Shiner in my spelling of
01:56:09
my last name is s sh i n e r thank you Mara Shiner the girl who Walter Shelly and
01:56:17
Mike Ferrera allegedly killed four Edward Allen Brown had just testified that Mara was Shell's girlfriend in
01:56:25
September of 69 and Shelly was jealous because John was flirting with her but Mara says John never flirted with her
01:56:35
did you ever go to a dance with John mccap never never convey to you that he had any type of romantic interest in you
01:56:41
in August or September of 1969 none the mccabes say it doesn't matter if the flirting was real or imagined she
01:56:50
could have been just stopped and said hello to John and shy could have walked by and
01:56:56
seen it and he's going to explode next Mara threw the prosecution a curveball September 26
01:57:05
1969 were you dating Walter Shelly no I was not dating Walter when when John mccab died when did you start dating him
01:57:14
then I believe it was after that death how old were you 13 you 13 September 69 I don't know I can't do the math right
01:57:23
here but according to police Mara told them she was dating Shelly at the time and was just 12 years old when they
01:57:31
started seeing each other you didn't tell the police that you were dating Walter
01:57:36
shell in 1969 when John M was killed I no I don't believe I did tell him that why lie about dating someone unless it
01:57:46
was because of her that John was murdered 48 Hours had questions for Marlo shiner too but she declined our
01:57:54
request for an interview Mara eventually married Walter Shelly but it didn't last
01:58:00
she said he was very violent M sh was Walter shell a jealous man absolutely it appears that we're ready
01:58:10
to proceed then judge at this point in time the defendant would rest this was a hard fought trial till the end and then
01:58:18
it was up to the jury to decide did Mike help Walter Shelly kill John mccab over
01:58:25
a girl or was Edward Allen Brown telling a story The prosecution wanted to hear it only took jurors 5 hours to decide I
01:58:36
told Michael that we had to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst and uh he was ready for
01:58:43
that may I have the verdict slip please for the mccab family more than four Decades of waiting and working came down
01:58:53
to this moment what did you think the verdict was going to be guilty my God he was
01:59:03
guilty if for no other reason he was there it's hard to understand how the jury could you know anticipate otherwise
01:59:12
bill mccab was too nervous and too sick to sit in the courtroom that day so he waited in another room while Evelyn and
01:59:20
their daughters heard the verdict yesterday what say you to this indictment ma'am is the defendant guilty
01:59:26
or not guilty not guilty your upon not guilty fer everyone including Mike Ferrera was so stunned it took a while
01:59:36
to sink in when the verdict came in when you heard that that Ferrera had been I had to go tell my husband that were you
01:59:44
afraid to tell him yes why I was afraid he was going to die tragically Evelyn was
01:59:55
right just 4 days after the verdict Bill mcc's heart gave out and he gave up what
02:00:04
do you think killed your husband stress the stress of the trial while Evelyn mccab laid her
02:00:14
husband to rest next to their son the DA's office had a decision to make after losing the case against m Ferrera would
02:00:23
it go ahead with the trial of Walter [Music] Shelly Jack Lan all the girls are singing Love
02:00:48
Songs those weddding bells I break I still don't believe Bill's gone I can still hear him snore in the
02:00:56
night and then I I feel the bed is not there Evelyn McCabe was determined to honor her husband's dying wish he laid
02:01:08
in the hospital bed I says I'll pick up and take over for you she'd see to it someone would pay for John's murder the
02:01:19
jury find Michael Ferrera not guilty watching Michael Ferrera Go free was tough for some jurors too so how hard
02:01:28
was it for you to acquit him it was very difficult one of the jurors Michael duette says the biggest problem was
02:01:35
Edward Allen Brown plan was to teach him a lesson for messing with Marlin did the
02:01:40
majority of the jurors believe him no why not they just felt that he was not telling the truth I thought they were
02:01:48
just going to slap around and they felt that he had been fed information and that didn't make a ton of sense to me
02:01:54
maybe he wasn't the best witness but I just can't see somebody saying I did it when they didn't do it duette came to
02:02:02
believe Brown and wanted to find Michael Ferrera guilty of something but the only
02:02:08
choices the jurors had were first and second degree murder so what did you want to convict him of manslaughter and
02:02:18
it wasn't an option we are extremely pleased with the jury's verdict despite the Ferrera loss prosecutors decided to
02:02:25
try to convict the other suspect in the murder Walter Shelly the acquit in the Ferrera case didn't do anything to
02:02:32
lessen our belief that we had the right people who were responsible for killing John McCabe all R September 3rd
02:02:40
2013 7 months after Michael ferrera's acquit this murder was about John MCC it was Walter Shell's turn to stand trial
02:02:50
Shelly was 17 the night of John's murder he's now 61 remarried and has lived quietly in tuxbury ever since just a few
02:03:01
miles from Evelyn mccab Walter shell is sitting on small of his back holding the
02:03:06
hands now if convicted of first-degree murder Shelly could spend the rest of his life in prison they wrestle him to
02:03:14
the ground it was the same case prosecutors presented against Michael Ferrera the same motive
02:03:22
and the same evidence ropes that came off the victim bodyy presented by the same Witnesses Mara Shiner detective
02:03:31
Linda Coughlin and once again the state star witness Edward Allen Brown I heard one of them say he's not breathing was
02:03:41
it any easier to sit through the second trial no I want to say it was harder Dad
02:03:46
wasn't there for backup you were called a liar repeatedly yes I was Brown seemed
02:03:52
less rattled this time more confident and the maves allowed themselves to hope I can keep my fingers my toes everything
02:04:01
crossed during closing arguments the defense called Brown a liar happen he'll tell you whatever you want to hear but
02:04:09
the prosecution argued that brown would never implicate himself in a crime he did not commit but he confess one he was
02:04:17
talked into it the week-long trial went to the jury this would be the maves last chance to
02:04:25
see someone held accountable for killing John we had faith that the jury was going to come with the right answer this
02:04:33
time finally two days later a verdict person has a jury agreed upon its verdict yes we have pass the verdict sub
02:04:41
solar please Walter Shell's wife and family waited nervously Evelyn mccab couldn't bring herself to even sit in
02:04:49
the courtroom and had to wait out side she couldn't hear another not guilty May the verdicts be reported you H she was
02:04:59
scared she was going to drop dead charging the defendant Walter Shelly with the offense of murder what say was
02:05:05
the defendant guilty or not guilty guilty Mur guilty of what first agree guilty and life behind bars for
02:05:15
Walter Shelly this jury believed Brown so when you heard heard guilty do you remember the first thing you
02:05:24
thought I thought my father would be proud We got one of them just it was the final twist in a mystery
02:05:36
filled with them for the same crime and on the same evidence one man walked free
02:05:43
one man went to prison [Music] hey John guess what we got him Billy it turned out
02:06:04
beautifully he didn't live to write about it but Bill mccab finally got the end he was looking for to the story he
02:06:12
wrote about John's life and death a story that took four decades to play out he was 15 years is 6 months and 2 weeks
02:06:24
about his boy who will be 15 years 6 months and two weeks old forever please John please take great
02:06:36
care of until I get be please and then I will [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] CBS next a stepdaughter's trust betray
02:07:22
she found naked photos of herself on her stepdad's computer hundreds hundreds then Tom marman is found dead was it
02:07:30
Revenge did you want your stepfather dead 48 Hours Crime Time double feature continues next on CBS and streaming on
02:07:37
Paramount Plus [Music]