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[Music] oregon city attorney james o'leary was in his office on tuesday july 27 1976 when a man and woman entered
00:02:24
wishing to speak to him disheveled and exhausted they had just emerged from the mount hood national
00:02:31
forest after a weekend spent camping and fishing in the wilderness they planned to speak to the police
00:02:38
regarding a tragedy that had happened there but were apprehensive about doing so without seeking legal advice first
00:02:47
after hearing their incredible story james o'leary escorted the distraught pair to the county sheriff's office
00:02:55
when detectives asked why they hadn't come forward sooner the men remarked i have a criminal record and i didn't
00:03:03
want to face authorities i was afraid they wouldn't believe me [Music] [Music] it was getting late on friday july 23
00:03:38
1976 29 year old tom brown was driving his old red gmc pickup truck deep into the
00:03:45
mount hood national forest by the time he reached the north fork dam on the clackamas river daylight was
00:03:53
fading and there were very few people around tom brought his car to a stop near a
00:04:00
boat launch area and left his engine running as he hurried over to a nearby fish ladder
00:04:06
the long and narrow canal-like structure ran parallel to the river and was built
00:04:11
to help fish migrate easily upstream [Music] tom was standing alone observing the
00:04:17
water when a young man approached and started talking to him his name was giulio torres and he was
00:04:25
camping in the forest with his wife for their one-year wedding anniversary an avid fisherman giulio had been
00:04:33
struggling to catch anything in the area and was seeking any possible advice from
00:04:38
tom tom was less than enthused by the interruption and made this clear by averting his gaze and giving kurt
00:04:46
responses julio persisted all we found were a couple of suckers he told the disinterested tom
00:04:55
[Music] minutes later giulio's teenaged wife kendra appeared and joined in the conversation
00:05:05
her presence loosened up the standoffish tom who managed to crack a smile turning back to julio he finally offered
00:05:14
some insider information to help the struggling couple earlier that day he'd been doing some
00:05:21
logging work in the forest when he saw a truckload of fish being offloaded into the river nearby
00:05:28
other fishermen giulio had spoken to throughout the day had also mentioned a fish dump and giulio was intrigued
00:05:37
that's where i'm headed tom told him giulio was keen to go there as well but had driven his sedan down to just half a
00:05:49
tank of gas traveling further into the forest who didn't seem wise tom reassured him
00:05:58
the fishing spot wasn't too far away and half a tank should get them there if giulio and kandra wound up stranded
00:06:06
tom was willing to drop off some gas in the morning to get them moving again the trio headed back to their respective
00:06:15
cars tom drove off in the direction of the fishing spot and giulio having weighed
00:06:21
up the risks followed behind when tom pulled over for a brief stop so too did giulio
00:06:30
the sedan's emptying fuel tank remained a concern so tom offered to drive julio and kandra in his truck the remainder of
00:06:38
the way to preserve what little gas they had [Music] the couple declined the offer as they
00:06:45
had been using their car to sleep in where is this spot julio asked just beyond bagby hot springs road tom
00:06:56
explained before returning to his truck and continuing onwards the sedan tailed him once more
00:07:06
by now the road was curving deeper into more isolated areas of the forest once on bagby hot springs road the
00:07:16
two-car convoy passed another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction with a father and daughter inside
00:07:23
they encountered no one else tom turned down an unpaved bumpy logging road that snaked through the looming
00:07:32
pine and fur trees the sedan followed suit by now the sun had almost sat and tom
00:07:41
pulled over to set up camp for the night julio and kandra joined him the couple were also traveling with
00:07:51
their pet dog a collie named rusty and as the sky darkened the group settled around a fire to eat their
00:07:58
dinner tom drank some liquor which he offered giulio and kandra who each took a sip
00:08:07
after eating tom collected a rifle from his truck and set out to take a night walk in the surrounding woodland
00:08:16
giulio and kandra accompanied him on the short hike tom was familiar with the area and
00:08:22
headed to a nearby meadow explaining that he hunted deer there as they approached the clearing tom
00:08:30
offered the couple his binoculars so they could observe several deer foraging up ahead
00:08:37
a little further away from them several bear cubs were playing tom julio and kendra eventually returned
00:08:47
to their camp where they slept in their vehicles tom worked first the following morning
00:08:54
at roughly 5 am he wandered over to the sedan and banged on its hood to wake giulio and kandra
00:09:02
then the trio decided to try catching a fish for breakfast tom drove the others to
00:09:09
another area of the forest before leading them on foot along an overgrown trail that led to the riverbank
00:09:17
once there julio and kandra perched themselves on a rock tom fished by himself a little further
00:09:26
away time slipped by and nothing seemed to be biting eventually the group gave up and
00:09:35
returned to their campsite empty-handed there tom and julio came up with a new plan
00:09:44
they'd head back into the woods and try their luck at hunting some deer instead hunting was illegal in oregon during the
00:09:52
summer months but that didn't dissuade them tom had two rifles on him a winchester
00:10:00
lever action and a 22 caliber savage he handed one to giulio and kept the other for himself
00:10:13
three days later tom brown arrived at the office of oregon city attorney james o'leary where he announced that giulio
00:10:21
torres was dead tom explained that he and julio had been hunting in the mount hood national
00:10:28
forest when a terrible accident took place giulio was scoping out the area with a
00:10:34
pair of binoculars when he spotted a deer tom handed giulio his rifle to free up
00:10:41
his hands so he too could have a look through the binoculars after observing the deer for himself tom
00:10:49
decided he'd take a shot at it he returned to the binoculars to giulio who in turn handed tom back his rifle
00:11:00
as the winchester was being passed between them tom grabbed the firearms balance point with one finger on the
00:11:07
trigger although he didn't pull it the rifle fired mid exchange [Music] the single bullet penetrated giulio's
00:11:17
head killing him instantly tom's shocking story was supported by the only other person with him that
00:11:27
weekend kendra torres she had escorted tom to james o'leary's office to ensure he wouldn't be charged
00:11:36
for a crime he didn't commit between sobs kandra revealed that she had witnessed the shooting with her own
00:11:44
eyes as she was standing a couple of feet behind the two men when it happened her panicked screams had startled her
00:11:53
pet dog rusty who turned aggressive as tom brown rushed back to the campsite rusty ran at him growling
00:12:04
certain the dog was about to attack tom scrambled his rifle into position and fired killing the animal in self-defense
00:12:14
later that day kendra cried and nodded along as tom repeated their story to detectives at the county sheriff's
00:12:22
office when asked why they hadn't come forward sooner thomad admitted that he was
00:12:28
initially reluctant to go to the police due to the previous run-ins he'd had with the law
00:12:38
tom had a string of offences listed against his name most of which were petty and related to robbery
00:12:46
after accidentally killing giulio torres tom sat in shock at the group's campsite
00:12:51
mulling over what to do next he was convinced that with his criminal record officers would try to charge him
00:12:59
with murder i finally knew i had to split that no one would believe me tom told detectives
00:13:09
i told kendra she could do what she wanted but that i was going to head to the mountains
00:13:14
she said i couldn't leave her there that i had to take her back to civilization but i said no way i'm going
00:13:23
i told her she could go with me if she wanted but she'd better hurry and get her stuff together
00:13:31
unable to navigate out of the sprawling unfamiliar and dangerous forest alone kendra opted to stay with tom hoping he
00:13:40
would come to his senses tom covered julio and rusty's bodies with shrubbery to deter animals from
00:13:47
scavenging their remains then over the next three days he trudged deeper and deeper into the forest with
00:13:55
candra in tow they dressed under the stars in a sleeping bag and at a certain point tom
00:14:03
tossed the rifle that had killed giulio into the surrounding brush along with a bag of ammunition
00:14:11
sensing tom had since calmed down kendra worked to convince him to return to town
00:14:17
and tell police what had happened her persistence paid off and tom finally agreed
00:14:26
by then the pair were well and truly lost it took a while for tom to find his way
00:14:32
back to a familiar trail but once he did he managed to get them both back to the
00:14:38
campsite he then drove candra straight to oregon city to see james o'leary an attorney
00:14:45
who had represented tom in his previous criminal matters this was a precautionary measure to
00:14:52
ensure tom wouldn't be tricked into facing any murder charges by the time they met with police tom and
00:15:01
kandra were distraught but cooperative they agreed to provide formal statements separately
00:15:10
this gave detectives the opportunity to check for inconsistencies in their story and determine if anything was
00:15:16
afoot but nothing raised their suspicions the pair's account even when told individually was consistent and matching
00:15:27
while obviously upset kendra was lucid and rational she was adamant that the shooting was
00:15:34
not tom's fault she was also appreciative of tom had he not helped her she would still be lost
00:15:43
in the immense forest all alone later that night tom brown escorted investigators into the mount hood
00:15:55
national forest it was almost 8 30 when the group arrived at the location where tom julio
00:16:03
and kendra had set up camp sweeping the area with high-powered torches investigators spotted the trio's
00:16:11
burnt out cooking fire and the torrez's sedan 200 yards away beneath the fronds of
00:16:19
some ferns was the body of giulio torres he lay face down about 30 feet off the road and down an embankment
00:16:30
there was blood on the ground higher up by the edge of the road pinpointing the location where the shooting had taken
00:16:37
place due to the hot summer weather giulio's body was already in an advanced state of
00:16:44
decomposition but a gunshot wound was clearly visible in his head rusty had sustained a similar wound
00:16:53
his body was found further along the trail also haphazardly covered with leaves tom had since willingly surrendered the
00:17:04
22-caliber savage rifle he had used to shoot rusty the following morning he led investigators through a heavily wooded
00:17:13
area to where he had discarded the winchester rifle that killed giulio they had to go on foot trekking through
00:17:22
thick vegetation as they followed the colorwash river upstream they walked for hours through the forest
00:17:30
across the river and then along another stream the forest had become a dense disorientating maze but there was one
00:17:39
clue that indicated they were heading in the right direction investigators noticed a set of tom's
00:17:46
footprints that had been previously crushed into the earth a smaller pair believed to be candras
00:17:53
tailed them as detailed in the book empty promises by true crime author ian rule after 10
00:18:02
hours of hiking tom eventually stopped pointed and remarked there it is there's my rifle
00:18:13
they had arrived at the site where he and kendra camped on their second night together in the wilderness
00:18:20
although tom said he'd thrown a plastic bag that contained about 11 bullets into
00:18:25
the underbrush nearby they were unable to find it detectives did recover a sleeping bag
00:18:33
that almost looked like it had been shredded due to being dragged through the rough terrain
00:18:39
tom said he and kendra had thrown it away once they found the trail home again over the coming days tom remained
00:18:48
obliging and eager to assist with the investigation he willingly provided a second statement
00:18:55
and underwent a polygraph test which he passed with everything aligning with tom and
00:19:02
kendra's version of advance giulio torres's death was ruled accidental lola bates was deeply worried about her
00:19:14
daughter kandra at just 16 years old kendra was too young to suddenly find herself a widow
00:19:25
the weekend camping trip into the mount hood national forest was supposed to be a celebration of kandra and julio's
00:19:31
first wedding anniversary kendra had been a young bride having married giulio who was five years older
00:19:39
than her when she was just 15. kendra's family was religious and her father had encouraged kendra and julio
00:19:48
to marry before their relationship became too physical wedding photos showed kendra in a
00:19:55
long-sleeved lace dress her long dark red hair parted down the middle and hanging over her shoulders
00:20:03
in one picture she fed a cake to a beaming julio who was tall and broad-shouldered with thick dark hair
00:20:11
matching sideburns and a mustache the oregon-based couple lived in a small apartment in the small city of camby
00:20:20
with rusty their rough collie dog who had been candra's pet since childhood following julio and rusty's sudden and
00:20:30
violent deaths kendra stayed with her parents so they could look after her lola watched her daughter closely in
00:20:39
those first few days she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right
00:20:47
kendra's voice when describing the shootings didn't sound like her usual self as lola told the television program
00:20:56
forensic files it was as though kendra's words were coming out of a stereo being
00:21:03
replayed or something perhaps this was simply the way she was processing her grief but it still gave
00:21:11
lola pause it wasn't until kendra returned to the apartment she'd shared with the giulio
00:21:19
that her demeanor changed her parents went with her and as soon as kendra stepped through the door she
00:21:26
broke down in sobs kendra suddenly began begging her parents mama and daddy don't hate me
00:21:37
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that's b e t t e r h e l p dot com slash case file ever since she'd returned home kendra
00:24:47
torres had struggled to comprehend her thoughts and feelings it was as though her mind was a blur
00:24:53
with many details missing she remembered the lead up to that fateful weekend she and julio didn't have much money but
00:25:03
they still wanted to celebrate their first anniversary with a trip away somewhere
00:25:08
the obvious answer was to go camping kendra suggested that they travel to the coast where they had their honeymoon but
00:25:17
julio loved fishing and wanted to share the hobby with his wife so he asked if they could instead head into the
00:25:24
mountains kandra agreed telling herself they could always visit the beach another time
00:25:31
[Music] the night before they left for the mount hood national forest kendra's sleep was
00:25:37
disrupted by a nightmare she woke terrified but was unable to remember the exact details of her dream
00:25:47
all she knew was that it had something to do with their impending trip kendra told a friend about her bad dream
00:25:56
the next morning of thursday july 22 they advised her to take a bible with her for spiritual protection and kandra
00:26:05
tucked one away in amongst her clothes and other belongings she also brought up her nightmare to
00:26:12
julio thinking he would settle her nerves to kandra's surprise julio admitted that he too felt
00:26:21
inexplicably anxious about the trip for peace of mind they decided to invite one of giulio's friends to camp with
00:26:30
them but he wasn't at home when they arrived to extend their invitation they left a hastily scribbled note for
00:26:39
him to read upon his return we were by to ask you to go to the mountains with us
00:26:46
sorry you missed the fun by the time julio and kandra arrived in the mountains the weather was warm and
00:26:57
the sky was blue amidst the bright light and picturesque setting the couple's fears melted away
00:27:07
a wrong turn led them deeper into the forest on a road they'd never been down before
00:27:13
there was something about the road that gave julio the creeps eventually they realised their mistake
00:27:21
and turned around that night the pair slept in their car giulio spent the next day fishing but he
00:27:31
failed to catch anything the couple moved on to a different location to see if julio would have
00:27:38
better luck there they followed the clackamas river downstream stopping periodically to cast
00:27:46
the line during one stop they spoke to another fisherman who'd also been struggling
00:27:53
he'd heard that a truck full of fish had recently been moved to the colorwash river a 12-mile tributary of the
00:28:00
clackamas river and suggested that the couple check in with the park rangers to see if that was true
00:28:09
giulio and kendra weren't sure what to do they'd filled up their car with gas when
00:28:14
they left but now its tank was getting very low they only had 20 dollars left and needed
00:28:21
to hang on to it in case of an emergency after talking their predicament over the
00:28:28
couple decided to try one last location before giving up and returning home the sun was setting when they reached
00:28:37
the north fork dam there giulio spotted a lone man observing the nearby fish ladder
00:28:48
meeting tom brown was crystal clear in kendra's memory she remembered how he lit up and flashed
00:28:54
her a wide smile when she approached it was sleazy as if he were undressing her with his eyes
00:29:03
she never shook the uneasy feeling he gave her that night around the campfire tom
00:29:12
retrieved a milk carton from his truck and showed it to julio and kendra it contained a dead bird
00:29:22
i picked it off on the way here tom bragged kendra was unimpressed she didn't believe in shooting animals
00:29:30
for sport not unless you have to for food she told tom he told her not to worry and said he
00:29:40
planned to eat the bird on the walk the trio took later that night tom unsettled kandra further when
00:29:49
he raised his rifle at several bear cubs playing in the distance she turned away in disapproval fearful
00:29:57
his actions would attract the bear's mother and put them in danger tom flashed kendra yet another unnerving
00:30:06
smile and lowered his weapon kendra struggled to sleep that night she didn't like tom and the way he
00:30:15
seemed to enjoy killing for its own sake she expressed her concerns to giulio who
00:30:22
regarded tom as eccentric but harmless although he did tell kendra to button up her blouse to hide her bikini top
00:30:34
kendra's anxieties only increased the following day she noticed how tom loosely carried his
00:30:41
rifle while keeping its barrel pointed at julio then he made a disturbing joke about her
00:30:49
beloved dog there are only two things wrong with rusty tom said as he padded the collie
00:30:57
he's alive and walking despite remembering all of this lead up to julio's death kendra realized that
00:31:07
she couldn't actually recall the exact moment he was killed she genuinely believed she had witnessed
00:31:15
the shooting as she told detectives but she couldn't picture it in her mind all that kendra could remember was the
00:31:23
sound of a loud rifle blast then the side of julio's body covered in blood she tried to record more but her mind
00:31:32
was blank over the course of a few days another picture arose from kendra's subconscious
00:31:44
she could clearly see tom brown's face plastered with a wide smile it wasn't until kendra returned to the
00:31:52
apartment she and julio shared that something was unlocked within her after begging her parents not to hate
00:32:00
her and being reassured that they never could kendra made a confession she didn't know if julio's death was an
00:32:09
accident or not because she hadn't actually seen it for herself in shock her mother lola replied
00:32:20
my god kendra don't you realize that man murdered your husband six days after kendra torres and tom
00:32:30
brown had emerged from the wilderness kendra paid another visit to the county sheriff's office
00:32:37
this time she was accompanied by her parents i want to tell you what really happened
00:32:45
kendra said it wasn't an accident on the morning of saturday july 24 kendra gave giulio a quick kiss before
00:32:57
he left the campsite to go hunting with tom brown kendra stayed put with rusty who was
00:33:04
resting in the sun a sense of foreboding washed over her the air was extremely still and quiet
00:33:14
suddenly kendra was startled by the unmistakable sound of a gunshot ringing through the forest
00:33:22
for a split second kendra was overcome with the impulse to run into the woods with rusty
00:33:28
but then she told herself to stop being silly she had no way to navigate the forest
00:33:34
and would only end up getting lost which would worry julio there was no need to run
00:33:41
julio and tom must have found a deer kendra remained where she was and waited for their return
00:33:52
a little while later she saw tom walking towards the campsite there was no sign of julio
00:34:00
as reported in the book empty promises tom called out to candra we got us a deer
00:34:09
he added that giulio was still in the clearing cleaning the carcass candra was immediately suspicious
00:34:19
it made no sense to her that giulio would remain behind with the deer as he wasn't a hunter and wouldn't know how to
00:34:26
gut an animal gripped with a fear that had been bubbling since she first met tom brown
00:34:33
candra got up and ran towards the clearing another gunshot rang out kendra stopped and turned around
00:34:43
[Music] rusty who had been beside her a moment ago had fallen on the ground his legs jerked and his head was stained
00:34:53
with blood tom stood a little distance behind holding a smouldering rifle he then pointed it at candra
00:35:04
you shot my dog she cried a broad grin appeared on tom's face as he replied yeah i know
00:35:15
i shot your husband too at that moment kendra torres was certain she was going to die
00:35:27
barely able to comprehend the enormity of the situation she was in kendra begged tom not to hurt her
00:35:35
although he had been aiming his rifle at her tom didn't fire it instead he forced kandra to drag rusty's
00:35:44
corpse off the trail and cover it with foliage as she moved rusty's body kendra noticed
00:35:51
that his paws were still twitching thinking he might be merely injured and able to be saved kendra asked tom to let
00:36:00
her look after him tom refused those are his reflexes he told kendra i never have to shoot anything more than
00:36:12
once i don't like to see anything suffer [Music] once kendra covered rusty's body tom
00:36:23
bound her wrists and took her to the clearing where he had shot julio he warned her not to look at julio's
00:36:30
body as it would distress her and left her standing nearby while he retrieved a watch that giulio had been wearing
00:36:40
when tom returned he said to kendra you're not allowed to cry i'm going to tell you a story
00:36:51
his name wasn't really tom he told her it was kent and he wasn't a logger he was a hitman
00:36:59
for an organised crime group he'd murdered five or six people and was wanted across several different states
00:37:09
but now tom was on the run from the mobsters he'd worked for because he had killed quote one man too many
00:37:18
the reason he shot giulio was because he wanted a female companion and kendra looked strong enough to live off the
00:37:24
land with him after he finished explaining all of this he said now you can cry kendra wept uncontrollably before
00:37:38
telling tom that she had no idea how to live off the land tom just smiled and tried to hug her
00:37:46
instead after a little while tom made kendra pack up some belongings so they could
00:37:57
begin hiking through the forest claiming that the criminals he'd worked for were after them he ordered her to
00:38:04
change into a pair of army pants as camouflage toms said that if the mobsters managed
00:38:11
to find them kendra should run in the opposite direction as him for survival the people pursuing him wouldn't harm
00:38:19
her if they separated they hiked for four hours tommy insisted that kendra only step on
00:38:28
rocks and stones to avoid leading footprints if an aircraft flew overhead she had to
00:38:35
dark as they walked tom occasionally discarded items by tossing them into the brush
00:38:45
kandra suspected he was trying to throw people off their path they eventually stopped by the river
00:38:54
while kendra went into the water to wash up tom lay on a sleeping bag then he demanded she'd join him and
00:39:02
threatened her with a knife before raping her as she cried after hiking throughout the rest of the
00:39:11
day they set up camp tom constantly told kandra disturbing things he said he could have killed giulio with
00:39:20
his bare hands if he wanted but he chose to shoot him instead because it was quick and painless
00:39:28
he also revealed that he'd initially planned to murder giulio the previous evening but decided to let the couple
00:39:35
have one final night together out of kindness kandra asked why he hadn't just left
00:39:42
giulio tied up somewhere before abducting her that would have been mean tom replied
00:39:51
likewise he said he had killed rusty as an act of mercy because the dog wouldn't
00:39:56
have been able to survive their journey tom told candra stories about his violent past and the many murders he had
00:40:06
committed he was a big fan of adolf hitler and said he hated his family when he wasn't ranting tom would rape
00:40:16
kandra she was struck by how nasty looking his eyes were [Music] kendra was led further into the woods
00:40:29
whenever tom paused to take a break kendra pulled out the bible her friend had encouraged her to pack and read
00:40:36
aloud from it taking note of her faith tom told candra that he too had been a christian once
00:40:44
but he knew that god had given up on him kendra replied that god didn't give up on anybody
00:40:54
as time went on the pair continued to talk they had long conversations about a wide
00:41:01
range of topics from films and books to deeper subjects such as the nature of humanity
00:41:09
at one point tom told kandra how the human mind held multiple doors that one could open and close at will
00:41:17
[Music] when he needed to kill a person he simply opened a door in his brain that
00:41:22
allowed that kendra found herself gradually forgetting about the terrible things tom
00:41:30
had done but his mood could change in an instant he would go from being caring and
00:41:36
considerate too angry without warning on monday july 26 two days after the murder of giulio tom woke up with a bad
00:41:48
cough and told kendra that he thought he had pneumonia he asked her for some paper so he could
00:41:55
write letters to friends explaining that he would probably be dead soon at the thought of being left lost in the
00:42:04
forest all alone kendra began to cry and for the first time so did tom then he told kendra something
00:42:16
he hadn't actually meant to kill giulio but he was worried no one would believe him
00:42:22
as described by kandra in the forensic files episode head games tom said i didn't kill your husband on purpose it
00:42:33
was an accident the reason that i brought you up here is because i'm afraid to go back to prison
00:42:41
kendra asked tom if he was sure it was an accident he told her over and over that he was
00:42:50
slowly candra began to believe him armed with this new information she made a promise
00:43:01
if you're sure i'll go to the police with you and tell them i saw it kendra said
00:43:09
her words made tom smile case file will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening to this
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you support case file to continue to deliver quality content tom brown agreed to take keandra torres
00:46:51
back to the campsite where giulio and rusty's bodies still lay then he would head back into the forest
00:46:57
while kendra could make her way back home through repeated conversations kendra managed to convince tom to join her in
00:47:06
reporting the accident to authorities the thought of leaving an ill man alone in the woods made her uneasy
00:47:15
when she promised to vouch for him with law enforcement he agreed to join her they made it back to the area where
00:47:23
they'd left their vehicles and got into tom's truck by the time they arrived at his lawyer's
00:47:29
office the following morning keandra had heard tom describe how the rifle had misfired so many times that she truly
00:47:36
believed she had seen it with her own eyes tom also insisted that he only shot rusty in self-defense after the dog
00:47:45
attacked him kendra was convinced of this too detectives were stunned as they listened
00:47:55
to kendra relate this entirely new version of events they had believed the story that she and
00:48:01
tom brown had originally told them and considered the case nothing more than an unfortunate accident
00:48:09
after hearing kendra's amended account they asked her to sit a polygraph test tom had already taken one after being
00:48:17
interviewed twice and he had passed with no problems at all kendra agreed to their request
00:48:25
but to her dismay she failed the exam despite this investigators were intrigued by kendra's new story
00:48:35
the truth was that tom whose full name was thomas leslie brown had an extensive criminal history that included a number
00:48:43
of violent crimes at the age of 16 he acquired a rifle and ammunition from a friend then went out
00:48:52
looking for people to rob he and another teenager drove towards the city of camby and spotted a woman
00:48:59
also driving on the same road they ran her off the bitumen then raced up to her car while wielding the gun and
00:49:07
demanding money the woman locked her vehicle's doors so brown fired the rifle twice
00:49:16
believing he'd hit the woman he and his friends ran into a nearby forest when they emerged a little while later
00:49:24
the woman's car was still parked by the side of the road but there was no sign of her
00:49:31
she had fled unscathed from the vehicle tom and his friend got back in their car
00:49:38
and sped away in the hopes of finding another victim suddenly a police car appeared in front
00:49:45
of them its lights flashing realising it was coming for them the two teenagers veered towards a turn off and
00:49:53
hit a truck their car flipped over tom fired out a window at the pursuing police officer but missed
00:50:03
he crawled from the car and fled on foot spotting a male passer-by he went up to
00:50:09
him and demanded his car keys the man said he had none so tom tried his luck at a house instead
00:50:19
a teenage girl answered the door and when tom threatened her she ran across the street to a neighbor's property
00:50:27
noticing the neighbor's pickup truck parked outside tom decided to steal it he aimed his rifle at a young man
00:50:36
standing in the window of the house and fired this time his shot hit its mark the young man was wounded in the stomach
00:50:47
tom got into the pickup truck but immediately discovered there wasn't enough room in its cab for him to aim
00:50:53
his weapon he hopped out again just as sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene when officers later interviewed tom and
00:51:03
asked if he was responsible for shooting the young man tom replied yeah i wanted his car and i was willing
00:51:12
to kill to get it luckily his victim survived tom brown was sent to a reform school
00:51:24
but picked up his criminal career again upon release for a while he mostly engaged in petty
00:51:31
crimes before developing an interest in a woman who had two young children after a short period she ended their
00:51:39
relationship furious at this tom abducted the woman and her children then took them up to
00:51:46
the mountains he held them hostage overnight before releasing them the woman declined to press charges he
00:51:55
had a fear that tom would come after her he openly spoke of the incident with police stating
00:52:05
i was going to have her one way or another i would have burned down her house used
00:52:10
a gun whatever it took so no one else would have her either after this tom relocated to the midwestern state of
00:52:20
nebraska and started working on a farm his employer lent tom his red gmc pickup truck
00:52:29
one day tom told his boss he planned to drive the truck into town he had two of his employers rifles with
00:52:37
him at the time an entire day went by with no sign of tom or the truck when tom's employer realised he'd been
00:52:47
robbed he filed a stolen vehicle report with the police there was a warrant out for tom's arrest
00:52:54
in nebraska but law enforcement there never caught sight of him again it turned out that he had driven the
00:53:01
stolen pickup all the way back to oregon tom's history of violence made investigators inclined to believe kendra
00:53:12
torrez's second account of advance despite her failing her polygraph test although polygraphs are used in some
00:53:21
jurisdictions as an interrogative tool and are sometimes referred to as lie detectors they cannot detect lies
00:53:30
they measure physiological responses to different questions and an individual's results will depend on many factors
00:53:39
countermeasures such as controlled breathing and thought exercises can help someone pass a polygraph
00:53:46
likewise a person who is nervous and emotional may provide responses that the examiner perceives as dishonest
00:53:55
as kendra torres's mother later told forensic files polygraphs do not measure truth or lie
00:54:03
what they measure is emotion and if you were a sixteen-year-old girl that had been raped marched up in the
00:54:10
mountain you're talking about your husband that you loved that was shot by this murderer
00:54:17
would you be emotional i think so however investigators knew that they needed more information if they were to
00:54:27
proceed with a murder charge they referred kandra to a forensic psychiatrist in the hopes he might be
00:54:34
able to shed further light on what had happened dr joseph trelevan worked at oregon
00:54:43
state hospital as head of the psychiatric security unit he spent several hours interviewing
00:54:50
kendra torres about her ordeal dr trelevan sought to determine why candra had vehemently defended and
00:54:58
supported her rapist than kidnapper who she knew deep down had gunned down her husband and dog
00:55:06
he noted that kendra's early defense of her captor reminded him of stories he had read about american pows during the
00:55:14
korean war in situations where these hostages were isolated tortured and lived in fear of
00:55:22
being killed they sometimes began to identify with their captors point of view occasionally they even went so far as to
00:55:30
testify against the united states those who studied this phenomenon dubbed it brainwashing
00:55:41
in 1973 three years before giulio and kendra torres encountered tom brown it became known as stockholm syndrome after
00:55:50
a bank robbery in sweden where hostages subsequently defended their captors the term made headlines in the u.s at
00:55:59
the start of 1976 when heiress paddy hurst was trialed for her role in a bank robbery
00:56:06
hearst had been abducted in 1974 by a left-wing organization and was held hostage by them for 19 months
00:56:16
while prosecutors claimed hurst had willingly aligned herself with her captors and agreed to participate in the
00:56:22
robbery her lawyer insisted she had been brainwashed some experts in psychology say stockholm
00:56:30
syndrome occurs when a victim suffers a traumatic shock at the hands of a captor
00:56:36
who then isolates them indoctrinates them and promises an eventual reward in kendra torrez's case the shooting of
00:56:45
giulio and rusty along with being repeatedly raped qualified as traumatic sharks
00:56:52
she was then isolated and indoctrinated by tom brown who repeatedly told her giulio's shooting was an accident
00:57:01
her reward was being released by tom if she went along with his story [Music] stockholm syndrome is not an official
00:57:10
psychiatric disorder and does not appear in the dsm-5 a diagnostic manual published by the american psychiatric
00:57:18
association some experts and commentators have criticised the theory of stockholm
00:57:24
syndrome pointing out that psychiatrists and psychologists have been unable to reach a consensus on it
00:57:32
the fbi has described the condition as extremely rare the very case that gave the phenomenon
00:57:41
its name is contentious as police actions in the stockholm bank robbery case arguably placed the hostages at
00:57:48
greater risk this provides another explanation for why those hostages may have refused to
00:57:55
testify against their captors regardless of debate about the condition dr trelevan and investigators came to
00:58:05
the conclusion that kendrick torres had allied herself with her abductor as a way to survive
00:58:12
the kendra the thought that her husband and dog had been killed just because a stranger wanted her to himself was
00:58:19
deeply distressing she wanted to believe it had all been a tragic accident because then she
00:58:26
wouldn't feel guilty about what happened talking to producers of forensic files kendra said
00:58:35
i had nobody with me but a murderer do i really want to believe he is a murderer because believing that is
00:58:43
terrifying do i really want to think that my husband died so that someone could rape
00:58:49
me and kidnap me for me denial was the best way to survive although detectives believed keandra's
00:59:02
accusations against tom brown they had no way of proving them kendra's conflicting statements and
00:59:09
failed polygraph exam could be used by a defense to undermine her credibility and
00:59:14
label her an unreliable witness plus she hadn't seen tom shoot julio she had only heard it
00:59:23
they needed physical evidence to prove there had been a murder volcandra said tom shot rusty from
00:59:31
behind tom had claimed he shot the dog as the animal ran towards him if this was true the bullet would have
00:59:39
entered rusty's head from the front sheriff's deputies had taken photographs of rusty's body at the campsite but
00:59:47
didn't arrange an autopsy for the dog with the rusty long since buried in a mass grave they had no way of checking
00:59:56
which version was true however they did have some forensics to go on in giulio's case
01:00:05
experts had found no gunpowder residue on giulio's face where the bullet had entered which indicated that he hadn't
01:00:12
been shot at a very close range in order to find out the minimum distance he could have been shot from
01:00:20
ballistics experts did some tests with tom brown's rifle when fired six inches from its target
01:00:27
had left a visible gunpowder pattern the experts tried firing it at gradually increasing distances and discovered that
01:00:37
it wasn't until the rifle was fired at least 36 inches from its target that the target remained free from gunpowder
01:00:46
this meant tom brown had been a minimum of three feet away from giulio when the rifle went off
01:00:54
this distance combined with the almost horizontal entry and exit wound in julio's head and neck meant tom's story
01:01:02
of an accidental misfire while the gun was being passed between them didn't hold up
01:01:11
detectives couldn't arrest tom brown as he had gone off the grid after their last interview
01:01:18
prosecutors instead took the case to a grand jury to determine whether the death of giulio torres was a murder or
01:01:25
an accident in december 1976 almost five months after giulio was killed the grand jury
01:01:35
reached a decision giulio had been murdered an indictment was handed down charging
01:01:44
tom brown with murder as well as car theft and forgery months went by then one day sheriff's
01:01:53
deputies were stunned to see tom walk into their offices he looked cool calm and collected as he
01:02:02
approached the front desk and explained that he'd heard there was a warrant out for his arrest
01:02:08
tom said he was keen to get it all straightened out the sheriff's office wasted no time in
01:02:15
arresting tom brown and charging him with murder then he was transferred to county jail
01:02:21
to await trial investigators needed a definitive statement from kendra torres that they
01:02:30
could take to court after encouragement from a criminal investigator kendra began writing down
01:02:37
her memories of her ordeal as they came to mind when she was finally finished she had
01:02:44
written 18 pages detailing everything that had happened meanwhile tom brown was pleased to
01:02:52
discover that his county jail cellmate was a man who had previously known as an adolescent at reform school
01:03:00
this individual was given the pseudonym wendell stokeberry by true crime author ian rule in her book empty promises
01:03:08
[Music] like tom wendell had an extensive criminal background and tom felt comfortable confiding in him
01:03:17
he began discussing his upcoming trial assuring wendell quote i'm going to beat it
01:03:27
tom openly told wendell how he had deliberately shot giulio in the face claiming that he had been hired to
01:03:33
murder him then he bragged about how he had convinced kendra torres to go along with
01:03:40
his story about an accidental shooting and said she wasn't emotionally strong enough to go through with testifying
01:03:47
against him [Music] a jury wouldn't find her convincing either tom said because she looked older
01:03:54
than her actual age and had a seductive demeanor plus he had passed a polygraph test
01:04:03
he'd done that by simply choosing to believe in the lies he had invented tom said that when he was acquitted he'd
01:04:12
killed the case's prosecutors then go after kendra on the off chance that he was convicted
01:04:20
his sentence would probably only be around seven years and he could still get his revenge against candra upon
01:04:26
release wendell reported everything tom told him to prosecutors they believed wendell because there were
01:04:38
details in his story that no one knew except those with an intimate knowledge of the crimes
01:04:45
in exchange for an escape charge removed from his criminal record and a sentence
01:04:50
in an out-of-state prison wendell agreed to testify against his old friend two days before tom brown's trial was
01:05:02
set to begin he managed to source enough money for bail and was released kendra torres was moved to a motel for
01:05:10
her own protection and was kept under 24-hour police guard the defendant was given the choice of a
01:05:18
jury trial or trial by judge adopted for the ladder his former friend wendell appeared as a
01:05:25
witness as did dr joseph trellevin who spoke at length about the phenomenon of stockholm syndrome
01:05:34
despite her continuing fear of the man who'd abducted her kendra torres managed to testify at length over one and a half
01:05:42
days tom brown also took the stand in his own defense he tried to demonstrate how the alleged
01:05:51
accident took place showing how he'd handed over the rifle to giulio but his demonstration fell flat when it
01:05:59
became clear that this handoff was incompatible with the wound that giulio had received
01:06:08
it took the judge three days to reach a ruling he found tom brown guilty and sentenced
01:06:16
him to life in the oregon state penitentiary tom brown has applied for parole a number of times over the ensuing decades
01:06:26
without success as of early 2022 he remains incarcerated but he is scheduled to be released in
01:06:35
august 2023 he is currently 75 years [Music] old the case of giulio and kendra torres
01:06:48
was written about extensively by true crime author ian rule she detailed the events of their camping
01:06:55
trip and the investigation that followed in a chapter of her 2001 book empty promises
01:07:02
although kendra kept a low profile for many years after her ordeal in 2020 she shared her story with fellow kidnapping
01:07:10
survivor elizabeth smart who was abducted from her utah home in 2002 at the age of 14.
01:07:19
the two women revisited the location where kendra was abducted for an episode of the television series elizabeth smart
01:07:27
finding justice it was the first time kendra had been back to mount hood national forest since
01:07:34
giulio's murder she said the visit made her feel empowered kendra torres is grateful for the
01:07:44
physical evidence that helped put her attacker and her husband's killer behind bars
01:07:50
as she told the television program forensic files in 2004 i thank god for forensics
01:07:59
i think that they solve a lot of crimes the angle of the shot and the type of gun that was used and the powder burns
01:08:07
were all proof that this did not happen the way that he said it did so i was very thankful for that evidence
01:08:14
[Music] kandra eventually remarried moved far away and started a family she credits psychiatry with helping her
01:08:26
recover and understand how her memories were able to be distorted and manipulated by tom brown
01:08:34
kendra has found comfort in knowing there is a logical explanation for her reaction to trauma and in having her
01:08:41
name publicly cleared [Music] [Music] in 2016 case file covered the disappearance of 22 year old shano
01:09:16
callahan all you can see is headlights of a car flashing it's blatantly obvious that she got in that car whoever had
01:09:23
taken her had done it for criminal purposes now hear firsthand from loved ones and
01:09:29
lead investigator steve fulcher as we unravel how the case unfolded and the minefield of legal and ethical dilemmas
01:09:37
encountered along the way therefore there's only one way to do this it was at that point that steve
01:09:43
fortune decided to take an extraordinary gamble her life is my responsibility all
01:09:49
i could do was plead with him for her life when a killer confesses do you listen he said you and i should
01:09:57
have a chat the fact of his guilt was unequivocal but what if one interpretation of the law says you
01:10:05
shouldn't accept the confession when he got taken to swindon he got a lawyer all that conversation
01:10:12
those vital confessions disappeared of no value what they were doing what were they doing
01:10:20
what happens to the cop who believes he's making the right choice the whole reason we were there
01:10:27
was losing sight what was wrong in getting a confession from a murderer it obviously rehearsed
01:10:34
this line that you ended with which was it was a pleasure to ruin your career you corrupt bastard if it had been your
01:10:41
loved one steve fulcher was looking for what would you have wanted him to do to crucify somebody
01:10:49
for trying his best to get closure for two families it doesn't make a lot of sense
01:10:55
case file presents the detective's dilemma available for free on march 14 only on spotify
01:11:04
[Music]