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A home invasion in Iowa with more questions than answers

March 29, 2025 / 01:31:05

This episode covers the tragic home invasion of the Roberts family in Early, Iowa, on December 13, 2001, involving Tracy Roberts, her children, and intruder Dustin Wedi. The discussion includes the events leading up to the invasion, the aftermath, and the subsequent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Dustin's death.

Tracy Roberts was home with her three children when two intruders broke in. During the struggle, Tracy managed to shoot Dustin Wedi, a family acquaintance, who was later found dead in her bedroom. The episode details Tracy's frantic efforts to protect her family and the confusion surrounding the motives behind the attack.

As the investigation unfolded, suspicions arose regarding Tracy's ex-husband, John Pitman, and his potential involvement in orchestrating the attack. The episode highlights the complexities of Tracy's past, including allegations of abuse and a contentious custody battle over her son, Bert.

The narrative also examines the impact of the incident on the community and the families involved, particularly focusing on the emotional turmoil experienced by both the Roberts and Wedi families. The episode concludes with Tracy's eventual conviction for murder and the ongoing debates about her innocence.

Overall, this episode presents a detailed account of a shocking crime that shattered a small-town community and left lasting scars on all involved.

TL;DR

Tracy Roberts shot intruder Dustin Wedi during a home invasion, leading to a complex investigation and her eventual murder conviction.

Episode

1:31:05

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[Music]

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our episodes deal with serious and often

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distressing incidents if you feel at any

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time you need support please contact

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your local crisis center for suggested

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warnings please please see the show

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notes for this episode on your app or on

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our

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website the evening of Thursday December

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13 2001 started out like any other for

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married couple Kenley and Jane

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showmaker the two were relaxing at home

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in the rural town of early Iowa when

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Suddenly at around 7:07 p.m. their Pages

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started frantically beeping

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[Music]

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the couple volunteered as emergency

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medical technicians for the early fire

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department and the page announced that

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there had just been a home invasion at a

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residential address a few doors

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down gunshots had been fired and at

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least one Intruder was injured while

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another had fled the

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scene the showmakers were

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stunned such an incident was completely

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out of the ordinary for the small town

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of roughly 650 50 residents where

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serious crimes were virtually

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non-existent they rushed to the property

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in question a blue two-story Victorian

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style house that they knew was home to

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married couple Michael and Tracy Roberts

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and their three young

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children the Robert's family had moved

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to there from Chicago 2 years earlier

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seeking a change of pace from the big

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city Michael an Australian expad was a

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computer security expert who ran a

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computer business out of the property

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next door to their

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home they were an upstanding Christian

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family who fit in well with the

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close-nit

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community the showmakers arrived before

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law enforcement did as EMTs they'd been

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taught never to enter a home until it

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had been cleared by

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police so they waited across the street

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for several minutes until the first

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officer

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arrived the officer approached

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cautiously with their weapon raised

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scouring the property for any sign of

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danger the homeowner 35-year-old Tracy

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Roberts appeared on the back porch

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telling the officer that two men had

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broken into her house and launched an

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attack she'd managed to escape into her

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bedroom and grab one of her husband's

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guns which she'd used to shoot one of

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The

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Intruders the other had fled on foot

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though she wasn't sure in in which

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direction more officers arrived and

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cleared each room of the house before

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waving the EMTs

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inside the showmakers raced upstairs to

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the main

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bedroom numerous empty shell casings

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were scattered near the doorway and the

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air red of

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gunpowder on the floor at the bottom of

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the bed a young man wearing a brown

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leather jacket lay slumped in a thick

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puddle of blood his body resting in the

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Fatal position

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he'd been shot several times in the head

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one of the bullets striking him directly

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through the eye

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socket blood spatter covered the

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northern wall of the

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bedroom Kenley showmaker checked for a

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pulse but found

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none declaring the man to be deceased

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his next priority was to check on the

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Robert's

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family Tracy and her three children were

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gathered in the downstairs dining room

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frantically trying to tell the officers

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what

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happened while the kids were unharmed

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there was a red mark about 2 to 3 in

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thick running horizontally across

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Tracy's

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neck she explained one of The Intruders

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had tried to strangle her and she was

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having trouble

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swallowing while Tracy had initially

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appeared relatively calm she was

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becoming increasingly

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hysterical her husband Michael was away

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on a business trip but Tracy said she

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was expecting him home any

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minute it dawned on her that the man

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she'd shot could have been

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Michael oh God is it my husband she

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asked her breathing becoming short and

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shallow as the panic in her voice

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grew Tracy's 11-year-old son Bert chimed

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in no he said I think it's Dustin wedi

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[Music]

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after being taken to the hospital for

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assessment Tracy Roberts was given the

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all clear to provide her full version of

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events to the police

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Tracy explained that she'd been upstairs

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giving her one-year-old daughter a bath

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when she heard two men talking at the

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bottom of the

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stairs initially Tracy thought it was

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her husband Michael and his business

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partner as she was expecting them home

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from their business trip that

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evening she bundled her daughter up and

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carried her out to say

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hello that's when she realized the man

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climbing the stairs wasn't her husband

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but a complete stranger

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terrified Tracy yelled out to her eldest

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child 11-year-old Bert someone's in the

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house she bolted towards Bert's room

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where he and Tracy's three-year-old son

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were watching

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television Tracy hurled the baby into

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the room when suddenly the man grabbed

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her from behind and yanked her into the

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hallway Tracy yelled at Bert to shut his

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door and stay inside

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she began fighting against the man with

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all her might thrusting backwards so

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hard that she caused him to stumble into

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the

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wall you [ __ ] [ __ ] he scouted

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yelling out to the other man get

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her at that point Tracy felt something

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tighten around her neck and she was

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yanked back by her

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ponytail all she could think about was

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protecting her

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family she managed to break free and

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race into her bed room where her husband

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kept a safe full of guns under the

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bed through the dark she dove into the

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space between her bed and the dresser

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got her hands on the safe and pulled it

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out she tried to enter the combination

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but her glasses had been knocked off

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during the scuffle and she couldn't see

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what she was

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doing the safe wouldn't

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unlock she tried again to no

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avail then one of the men grabbed her by

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the neck back from behind her hands

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still clutching the safe she pushed in

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the numbers one more

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time this time it clicked

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open Tracy grabbed onto the first gun

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that she touched a 9mm Baretta aimed it

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over her right shoulder and pulled the

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trigger something snapped but it didn't

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fire desperately trying to remember how

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the gun worked Tracy clocked the hammer

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back and a over her shoulder a second

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time this time a loud shot rang out but

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the man continued to struggle against

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her Tracy got to her knees turned as far

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as she could to her right and pulled the

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trigger several more

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times this time the attacker stopped

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moving Tracy couldn't see much through

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the dark terrified she sat still and

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listened

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the man was still breathing heavily but

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she couldn't tell where exactly he

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was then towards the doorway Tracy saw a

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silhouette died away followed by the

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sound of footsteps descending the

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stairs Tracy grabbed a second gun a six-

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shot revolver and tried to summon the

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courage to leave the

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bedroom she saw something lying on her

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bedroom floor but couldn't tell if it

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was the man or or something else

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entirely like a duffel

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bag eventually she got the nerve to

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stand

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up both guns raised she turned on the

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light the man she'd shot was lying face

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down on the bedroom

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floor Tracy carefully approached him

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when suddenly he

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moved stay there she

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warned it looked like he was trying to

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either get up or roll

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over he moved

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again Tracy pulled the trigger on the

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Beretta but it was

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empty she pulled the trigger on the

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revolver

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instead several bullets shot into the

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back of the man's head until the weapon

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clicked

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empty 11-year-old Bert told police he'd

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been watching a movie with his little

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brother in his bedroom when Tracy thrust

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their baby sister at them and told them

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to stay

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inside Bert did as he was told grabbing

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a baseball bat from his bedroom locker

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and pressing his ear to the

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door he could hear the commotion

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unfolding outside along with the voices

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of two

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men while he couldn't be sure exactly

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what the men were saying Bert told the

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police it sounded like one of them said

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okay boss followed by something about an

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axe

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Bert thought it was a

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prank he yelled out to his mom asking if

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she was

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okay one of the men opened Bert's

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bedroom door and warned shut up or

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you're

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next in the hallway Bert heard the man

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discussing something about his dad being

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killed he recognized one of their

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voices it sounded like Dustin wedi a

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20-year-old friend of the family

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shortly after this Bert heard a

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gunshot a man's voice said holy

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[ __ ] then there were several more

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gunshots followed by the sound of

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someone

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running Tracy rushed into Bert's room

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and told him to take his siblings

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downstairs and call

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911 Bert did as he was told telling the

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operator my mom somebody came into our

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house and they tied her up and they were

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they were choking

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her my mom got the gun and shot the

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other one and one ran

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off other than the injury to Tracy's

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neck which was deemed to have been

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caused by a pair of panty hoes and some

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slight bruising to her left arm she and

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her children were

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unharmed but Bert's assumption was

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correct the Intruder in Tracy's bedroom

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was confirmed to be 20-year-old Dustin

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wedi when Tracy was informed of this she

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was

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shocked she told police she barely knew

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Dustin his mother Mona worked parttime

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for the Roberts's computer business and

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her husband Michael had taken Dustin

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under his

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wing Dustin was socially awkward and

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didn't have many friends so Michael had

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invited him out paintballing a few times

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to help build his

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confidence Tracy told the police that

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Dustin had knocked on her door several

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hours before the home invasion asking if

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she had any odd jobs he could do because

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he needed

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money Tracy felt uncomfortable being

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around to Dustin alone claiming Mona had

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told her that he'd been physically

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violent towards both her and her two

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daughters Tracy told Dustin to come back

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once Michael had returned from his

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business trip the next

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day she told the police she couldn't

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think of any reason why Dustin would

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want to hurt

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her robbery seemed an obvious motive yet

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nothing of value had been stolen despite

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there being expensive jewelry cash and

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Firearms kept on the

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premises the only item missing was an

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old computer which had next to no

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monetary

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value police found the computer packed

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neatly into the back of Dustin's car

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which was parked outside of the

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Roberts's business and the hard drive

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contained nothing to indicate a

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motive Tracy had never seen the other

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Intruder

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before she described him as being around

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35 to 40 years old tall and of average

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build with dark wavy

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hair he wore a black leather jacket was

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goodlooking and spoke with a Chicago

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accent

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searches of the property and surrounding

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areas turned up no sign of him or any

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clue as to who he might

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be but when the police asked if Tracy

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could think of anyone else who might

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wish her harm one person immediately

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sprang to mind her ex-husband John

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[Music]

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Pitman Tracy had met John when she was

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just 20 years old at the time time she

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was working as a radiographer at a

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teaching Hospital in Chicago where

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30-year-old John was completing the

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fourth year of his medical

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degree the two worked together before

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things took a romantic turn and they

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were married in

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1988 but as Tracy explained to the

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police it didn't take long for Jon to

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reveal his controlling

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side Tracy claimed JN was abusive and

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domineering and also had some Str

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strange sexual

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habits Tracy said she put up with it

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because she was young and had lived a

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sheltered life being raised to believe

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that kind of behavior was

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normal as time went by Tracy gave birth

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to Bert who was the couple's first and

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only

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child Tracy was thrilled to be a mother

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but she soon found out that John was

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cheating on her she tried to make things

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work but by 19 1992 she'd reached the

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end of her

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tether the couple separated and began

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sharing custody of ber until the

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3-year-old disclosed a shocking

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Revelation his father had been touching

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him

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inappropriately Tracy took ber to see a

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doctor who suspected that toddler was

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being sexually

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abused Tracy reported the allegations to

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authorities and Social Services got

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involved but John firmly denied the

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claims and no formal charges were ever

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laid against

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him a bitter divorce and custody battle

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ensued which lasted for many years even

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after both Tracy and John remarried and

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had other

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children at the time of the home

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invasion the custody battle was still

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ongoing John Pitman lived with his

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second wife over a thousand miles away

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in the state of Virginia but as far as

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Tracy was concerned Jon had the motive

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to want her out of the picture and was

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capable of orchestrating an attack

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against

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her when Tracy's husband Michael Roberts

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returned from his business trip to find

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his wife and kids being evaluated in the

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hospital he agreed that John Pitman

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could be a potential

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suspect it had been a constant source of

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disbelief for Michael that Jon was

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continuing to fight for C of Bert

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despite the allegations against

00:17:02

him after one particularly heated day in

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court John allegedly called Michael and

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warned that nothing would make him give

00:17:11

up

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saying I have very Deep

00:17:16

Pockets yet despite this John Pitman

00:17:20

wasn't the first person Michael thought

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of when it came to who might want to

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harm his wife

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4 years earlier Tracy had confided

00:17:32

something to Michael that he hadn't been

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able to

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shake it was an incident that had

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occurred just after he and Tracy had

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gotten

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married Michael was still living in

00:17:43

Australia at the time and was in the

00:17:45

process of relocating to the United

00:17:48

States while Tracy was living in Chicago

00:17:51

and working part-time as an assistant

00:17:53

for an oral surgeon named Dr Jonathan

00:17:56

Spencer not his real name

00:17:59

Tracy told Michael that Dr Spencer

00:18:02

agreed to treat her for jaw pain she'd

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been

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experiencing he gave her some gas to

00:18:07

sedate her for the procedure but the

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mask slipped off halfway through and

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Tracy regained

00:18:15

Consciousness she found a Dr Spencer on

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top of her

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masturbating Tracy's underwear had been

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removed and she'd been dressed in thigh

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high stockings with a pair of high heels

00:18:27

that were a size to

00:18:28

[Music]

00:18:30

small realizing what was going on Tracy

00:18:33

kicked at Dr Spencer in the genal and

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jumped to her

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feet after getting her bearings she

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managed to grab her pepper spray and

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used it to incapacitate

00:18:44

him at this point Tracy noticed several

00:18:48

Polaroid photos on the

00:18:50

counter they were provocative images of

00:18:53

her taken while she was

00:18:56

unconscious Dr Spencer who was married

00:18:59

begged Tracy not to tell

00:19:01

anyone he said he had friends in high

00:19:04

places and it wouldn't end well for her

00:19:07

if she attempted to press

00:19:10

charges eventually after some

00:19:13

negotiations the two came to a mutual

00:19:16

agreement in exchange for Tracy's

00:19:19

silence Dr Spencer would give her

00:19:23

$150,000 he also agreed to pay for Tracy

00:19:27

to attend an annual conference in

00:19:29

Florida as well as the return air fars

00:19:31

for her and Michael to visit Australia

00:19:34

that coming

00:19:35

Christmas furthermore Tracy would be

00:19:38

excused from repaying

00:19:41

$118,000 that she had recently borrowed

00:19:43

from Dr Spencer to buy a new car after

00:19:46

hers was in an

00:19:49

accident Tracy agreed on the condition

00:19:52

that Dr Spencer put all of this in

00:19:55

writing they put together a contract in

00:19:58

which Dr Spencer admitted to duping

00:20:00

Tracy into consenting to be

00:20:03

sedated he confessed that he

00:20:06

quote secretly intended to remove and

00:20:09

replace articles of Tracy Robert's

00:20:11

clothing fundle her breasts and genitals

00:20:14

take photographs of her and make

00:20:16

subliminal

00:20:18

suggestions he also admitted that he had

00:20:21

a problem with the Deviant sexual

00:20:23

behavior and pharmaceutical drugs for

00:20:25

which he agreed to seek help

00:20:29

Tracy didn't tell Michael about the

00:20:31

assault or the contractual agreement

00:20:34

until Dr Spencer failed to pay her as

00:20:37

promised she then filed a civil lawsuit

00:20:40

against him for medical malpractice but

00:20:43

still he refused to uphold his end of

00:20:45

the

00:20:46

bargain Dr Spencer disputed the civil

00:20:50

suit and eventually he and Tracy settled

00:20:52

outside of

00:20:54

Court Spencer agreed to pay Tracy just

00:20:57

$6,000

00:20:59

in exchange for her dropping the civil

00:21:01

lawsuit

00:21:03

entirely the settlement had been reached

00:21:05

on Tuesday December 9 2001 just 2 days

00:21:10

before the attack on

00:21:15

Tracy Police investigating the home

00:21:18

invasion couldn't ignore the potential

00:21:21

significance they looked into Dr

00:21:23

Jonathan Spencer's whereabouts at the

00:21:25

time of the crime but he had an air tied

00:21:28

up

00:21:29

Albi furthermore he was still located in

00:21:32

Chicago which was roughly 450 mi from

00:21:36

early and they could find no link

00:21:38

between him and Dustin

00:21:41

wedi the same went for Tracy's

00:21:43

ex-husband John Pitman who had been

00:21:46

nowhere near early on the night of the

00:21:49

crime John told the police he didn't

00:21:51

have met dust and wedi and had no

00:21:54

connection to him

00:21:56

whatsoever but an item found in Dustin's

00:21:59

Vehicles suggested

00:22:01

otherwise on his front seat was a hot

00:22:04

pink spiral bound notebook that

00:22:07

contained six pages of strangely worded

00:22:09

and convoluted

00:22:11

handwriting it appeared to be Dustin's

00:22:15

journal the first undated posts began

00:22:18

with the

00:22:20

words one day about 20 years ago a boy

00:22:23

was born into a middle class

00:22:27

life directly C underneath that was a

00:22:30

series of numbered entries in which

00:22:32

Dustin said that a mysterious fellow

00:22:34

named John Pitman had offered him some

00:22:38

work Dustin wrote that he'd decided to

00:22:41

start a journal so there was a record of

00:22:43

this man whom he henceforth referred to

00:22:46

as

00:22:48

JP he went on to list several oddly

00:22:51

worded facts about JP including that he

00:22:54

was a white male from Virginia who was

00:22:57

aged in his 40s

00:22:58

and that he worked as some kind of

00:23:01

doctor Dustin wrote that JP quote had a

00:23:06

thing for strippers and hookers and that

00:23:09

he tortures victims with household items

00:23:12

from their

00:23:13

homes he claimed that JP had an

00:23:16

obsessive hatred for both Tracy Roberts

00:23:19

and his current wife whom he wanted to

00:23:23

divorce Dustin wrote that while JP loved

00:23:27

his son he wanted him dead he

00:23:31

explained JP wants me to force his ex TR

00:23:36

to kill her son Bert and then commit

00:23:40

suicide if that plan failed Dustin was

00:23:43

to quote make it appear as though tar

00:23:47

committed the murder of her son and then

00:23:49

committed

00:23:51

suicide if the plan worked Dustin wrote

00:23:55

that JP would then hire him to kill JP's

00:23:58

parents and frame his wife for the crime

00:24:01

in order to collect an insurance

00:24:04

payout The Notebook also implicated JP's

00:24:08

lawyer a man named Steven Comey in the

00:24:11

murder for H plot saying that he would

00:24:14

facilitate the payment on JP's

00:24:20

behalf unsure exactly what to make of

00:24:23

the notebook the police quickly decided

00:24:25

not to tell anyone outside of the

00:24:27

investigation about

00:24:29

it they simply showed a sample of the

00:24:32

handwriting to Dustin's parents Mona and

00:24:35

brat weedi who immediately recognized it

00:24:38

as their son's distinct

00:24:41

penmanship however the weedies refused

00:24:43

to believe that their son could have

00:24:45

entered the Roberts's home with any ill

00:24:49

intent while Dustin had a history of

00:24:51

mental illness and had always struggled

00:24:53

to fit in his mother Mona described him

00:24:57

as a sweet boy with a huge

00:24:59

heart she felt he'd been misunderstood

00:25:03

from a young

00:25:04

age diagnosis for various conditions

00:25:08

including attention deficit

00:25:09

hyperactivity disorder and Oppositional

00:25:12

Defiant Disorder had leted others to

00:25:15

unfairly label

00:25:17

him having been bullied throughout his

00:25:20

childhood Dustin had very few friends

00:25:23

and he was therefore thrilled when

00:25:25

Tracy's husband Michael Roberts offered

00:25:27

to take him under his

00:25:29

wing he looked forward to their

00:25:31

paintballing trips immensely and was

00:25:33

constantly asking Mona when he could go

00:25:36

out with Michael

00:25:37

again it therefore made no sense to the

00:25:40

wadies that Dustin would do anything to

00:25:42

hurt Michael's

00:25:44

family if anything they wondered whether

00:25:47

Dustin had been in the house because he

00:25:49

was actually trying to protect Tracy and

00:25:51

her

00:25:53

children perhaps he'd witnessed

00:25:55

something sinister going down and tried

00:25:57

to come to the

00:26:00

rescue yet a search of Dustin's room

00:26:03

turned up another

00:26:05

notebook inside it Dustin had scrolled

00:26:08

two words that appeared to read I killer

00:26:13

Pitman given that Bert's last name was

00:26:16

Pitman they wondered whether this was

00:26:18

further evidence of Dustin's intention

00:26:20

to kill Bert or

00:26:22

Tracy they searched the weedy's home and

00:26:25

ran forensic checks on Dustin's computer

00:26:28

but uncovered nothing to indicate a link

00:26:31

between Dustin John Pitman or John's

00:26:33

lawyer Steven

00:26:35

Comey there were no suspicious online

00:26:38

searches nor was there any evidence that

00:26:41

Dustin had been corresponding with

00:26:43

anyone let alone planning the home

00:26:45

invasion or any other

00:26:48

crime police also checked the wedi

00:26:50

family's phone records from Thursday

00:26:53

December 13

00:26:55

2001 at 4:34 p.m. a call had come

00:26:59

through that hadn't been

00:27:01

answered police traced it to a local man

00:27:04

28-year-old Jeremy

00:27:07

Collins Jeremy was an Army vet who'd

00:27:10

been discharged from service after

00:27:12

suffering a traumatic brain injury and

00:27:14

being diagnosed with post-traumatic

00:27:16

stress

00:27:18

disorder more recently he worked as a

00:27:20

delivery driver for a frozen food

00:27:24

company Jeremy Collins vaguely fit the

00:27:27

suspect description of the second

00:27:29

Intruder in that he was of similar age

00:27:32

height and had dark

00:27:34

hair when confronted Jeremy said he knew

00:27:38

who Dustin wedi was but he denied that

00:27:41

the two had ever spoken or spent any

00:27:44

time

00:27:48

together police canvased neighbors and

00:27:51

local businesses but nobody had

00:27:53

witnessed anything suspicious on the

00:27:55

evening of December 13

00:27:59

as days passed with no arrests or

00:28:01

breakthroughs in the case Tracy Roberts

00:28:04

gave an interview to a local reporter

00:28:06

from the Storm Lake times speaking at

00:28:08

length about the

00:28:10

attack she rejected the possibility that

00:28:13

Dustin wedi could have entered her home

00:28:15

with Good Will

00:28:17

saying it was Dustin who was pulling on

00:28:20

me that kid was not coming in my house

00:28:23

to save

00:28:25

me struggling to understand it all Tracy

00:28:28

told the

00:28:29

reporter a lot of things don't make

00:28:32

sense why were they there they never

00:28:35

asked for money or

00:28:37

jewelry why me and why my

00:28:41

family despite the trauma of her ordeal

00:28:44

Tracy

00:28:45

stated I want the weedies to know that

00:28:48

we care about them that our heart goes

00:28:51

out to

00:28:53

them that empathy was shared by the

00:28:56

local community with hundreds of

00:28:58

residents gathering at the early United

00:29:00

Methodist Church for Dustin's

00:29:03

funeral the Reverend told those in

00:29:07

attendant there can be a moment of shock

00:29:10

disbelief and even anger when we learn

00:29:12

of the violent death of a loved

00:29:15

one Dustin enjoyed his short

00:29:18

life this is such a tender delicate hour

00:29:22

probably for the Roberts

00:29:24

too it's time to acknowledge a fractured

00:29:27

community a town once known for its

00:29:29

safety that suddenly reels for

00:29:34

answers early was the kind of place

00:29:37

where residents trusted one another and

00:29:39

rarely bothered to lock their

00:29:41

doors but with the second intrud us

00:29:44

still on the loose the tight-nit

00:29:46

community was gripped by

00:29:49

fear they commended Tracy Roberts for

00:29:52

her bravery with many labeling her a

00:29:54

hero for doing what she needed to

00:29:56

protect herself and and her

00:29:59

family the accolades did a little to

00:30:02

quell Tracy's

00:30:04

anxiety terrified that the second

00:30:06

perpetrator would come after her again

00:30:09

she began wearing a panic button that

00:30:11

was connected to an alarm

00:30:13

system to make sure investigators were

00:30:16

doing their jobs she drove past the

00:30:18

county attorney's office in the evenings

00:30:21

to check if the office light was still

00:30:23

on Tracy told the police that she

00:30:26

couldn't stop thinking about who could

00:30:28

have done this to

00:30:30

her there's a 100 possibilities running

00:30:33

through my head she said and right now

00:30:37

I'm afraid of all of

00:30:40

them Tracy remained convinced that her

00:30:43

ex-husband John Pitman had something to

00:30:45

do with

00:30:46

it her son Bert thought so

00:30:50

too according to a report released by

00:30:53

dateline in the weeks following the

00:30:56

crime Bert told a social worker that

00:30:58

John didn't call in the wake of the

00:31:00

attack to see how he was

00:31:03

doing Bert

00:31:05

said if you were actually like a good

00:31:08

father I think if you're worried you'd

00:31:13

call while the police continued to

00:31:16

search for any potential links between

00:31:18

John Pitman and Dustin wedi Dustin's

00:31:21

mother Mona contacted them saying there

00:31:24

was something she needed to get off her

00:31:26

chest

00:31:32

Mona wedi was tortured by her son's

00:31:35

untimely death and was willing to

00:31:37

consider all possible explanations as to

00:31:39

how he came to be in the Robert's home

00:31:42

on the night he was

00:31:43

killed she therefore admitted to the

00:31:46

police that she was having an affair

00:31:48

with the Jeremy Collins the 28-year-old

00:31:51

who had called her home phone hours

00:31:54

before Dustin was

00:31:56

killed however Mona was perplexed by

00:31:59

Jeremy's incoming

00:32:01

call she'd been out Christmas shopping

00:32:03

on Thursday December 13 2001 which

00:32:07

Jeremy had been aware

00:32:09

of why would he call her house at a time

00:32:12

he knew she wouldn't be

00:32:15

available just hours after Dustin was

00:32:18

killed Jeremy had called Mona to end

00:32:21

their

00:32:22

relationship he'd also quit his job as a

00:32:25

delivery driver days before the attack

00:32:29

although Mona didn't think it was

00:32:31

plausible she told the police she was

00:32:33

concerned Jeremy could have been the

00:32:35

second

00:32:37

Intruder maybe he'd gotten involved with

00:32:39

the Dustin

00:32:42

somehow investigators agreed that the

00:32:45

timings seemed

00:32:47

suspicious they spoke to Jeremy's wife

00:32:50

who said she'd been angry at Jeremy on

00:32:52

the night of December 13 because he'd

00:32:55

failed to show up for dinner

00:32:58

she called him several times and

00:33:00

discovered he was drinking at a bar in

00:33:03

downtown Ida Grove a 30-minute Drive

00:33:06

Southwest of

00:33:08

early Jeremy invited his wife to meet

00:33:11

him there but she was so angry that she

00:33:13

took their children to spend the night

00:33:15

at her mother's house

00:33:18

instead on the drive there she passed by

00:33:21

the bar at around 700 p.m. and saw his

00:33:24

vehicle parked at the

00:33:26

front pH records confirmed her story

00:33:30

giving Jeremy a solid

00:33:32

Alibi furthermore police found nothing

00:33:36

tying Jeremy Collins to John Pitman nor

00:33:39

was there any evidence that he was

00:33:41

connected to Dustin wedi beyond having

00:33:43

an affair with his

00:33:46

mother as the days passed by with no

00:33:49

developments in the case Tracy's husband

00:33:52

Michael Roberts plastered Flyers around

00:33:55

town he was offering a $10,000 reward

00:33:59

for anyone with information that led to

00:34:01

the arrest and conviction of the second

00:34:03

Intruder who he said had tried to quote

00:34:07

murder my wife and best friend Tracy by

00:34:13

strangulation Michael told local

00:34:15

reporters that he thought the second

00:34:17

Intruder was the one behind the attack

00:34:20

while Dustin wedi was just acting under

00:34:22

their

00:34:24

influence with the custody battle over

00:34:26

Bert continuing ing Michael was now

00:34:29

convinced that Tracy's X John Pitman had

00:34:32

something to do with the

00:34:34

crime others in early weren't so

00:34:38

sure while Michael claimed to be out of

00:34:41

town on a business trip on the night of

00:34:43

Thursday December 13 one early resident

00:34:47

came forward to suggest

00:34:56

otherwise in 19 1996 Australian

00:34:59

businessman Michael Roberts began

00:35:01

frequenting online dating sites and

00:35:03

crossed paths with the recently divorced

00:35:06

Tracy in a chat room for Christian

00:35:09

singles online dating Was A New Concept

00:35:12

at the time and limited technology meant

00:35:15

users couldn't instantly share photos

00:35:17

and chat via video like they can today

00:35:20

but the two quickly hit it

00:35:22

off Tracy reassured Michael that she

00:35:25

used to be a model and he would not be

00:35:27

disappointed by her

00:35:29

looks they had been speaking regularly

00:35:32

when Tracy suddenly announced that she

00:35:34

was flying to Australia to visit

00:35:37

Michael 18 days after her arrival they

00:35:41

were

00:35:42

married Michael moved to Chicago to live

00:35:45

with his new bride the pair soon

00:35:48

relocated to early to raise their family

00:35:51

and to start Michael's computer

00:35:54

business on the outside they presented

00:35:57

as the perfect couple living a

00:35:59

successful and happy life Behind Closed

00:36:02

Doors it was a different

00:36:06

story in December 2000 a year before the

00:36:10

Fatal home invasion Tracy believed that

00:36:12

her husband's business was doing well

00:36:16

she was therefore shocked to receive a

00:36:18

call from the bank asking for her

00:36:20

signature on a

00:36:22

$75,000 business loan that Michael had

00:36:24

applied for against their house

00:36:27

Furious Tracy confronted Michael in his

00:36:30

office but he dismissed her concerns

00:36:33

saying the loan was none of her

00:36:36

business according to Tracy she went

00:36:39

into the office kitchen and took out her

00:36:41

frustration by kicking a hole in the

00:36:44

wall Michael ran in and threw her onto

00:36:47

the ground he grabbed her by the hair

00:36:50

and slammed her head into the drywall

00:36:52

yelling you [ __ ]

00:36:55

[ __ ] Tracy was so shaken by the

00:36:58

incident that she called the police to

00:37:00

Lodge a

00:37:01

report when officers came to the

00:37:03

Robert's house to take Tracy's statement

00:37:06

young Bert alleged that he too had been

00:37:08

a victim of Michael's physical

00:37:11

abuse Michael was subsequently charged

00:37:15

with domestic violence and taken into

00:37:17

custody for the night while Child

00:37:19

Protective Services looked into Bert's

00:37:22

allegations but when pressed further

00:37:25

Bert clarified that he hadn't been

00:37:27

talking about Michael Roberts when he

00:37:29

said his father abused him he'd meant

00:37:31

his biological father John

00:37:35

Pitman the following day Michael pleaded

00:37:38

no contest to the Lesser charge of

00:37:40

disturbing the peace and was free to

00:37:43

return

00:37:44

home although the domestic incident was

00:37:47

kept on the down low the following year

00:37:49

when news broke that Tracy had been the

00:37:52

target of a potential murder plot many

00:37:54

towns folk were quick to point the

00:37:56

finger at Michael

00:37:58

Roberts some felt there was simply

00:38:01

something strange about

00:38:03

him it was a feeling shared by the

00:38:06

police who had been wary of Michael from

00:38:08

the outset of their

00:38:11

investigation they thought it was odd

00:38:13

that an Australian businessman would

00:38:15

choose the small town of early Iowa of

00:38:17

all places to relocate

00:38:20

to they wondered if Michael could be

00:38:23

hiding from

00:38:24

something police spoke to Tracy's friend

00:38:27

friend who described Michael as

00:38:30

controlling he was also the only person

00:38:33

in the Robert's household who had a

00:38:34

direct connection to Dustin

00:38:37

wedi given that Dustin didn't have many

00:38:40

friends and wasn't close to his own

00:38:42

father police questioned whether Michael

00:38:45

could have taken advantage of

00:38:47

this perhaps he'd convinced a Dustin to

00:38:50

try and kill Tracy on his behalf or had

00:38:53

offered him money to do

00:38:55

so Tracy's life was was insured for a

00:38:58

million

00:38:59

doar with Michael's business struggling

00:39:02

financially perhaps he saw her death as

00:39:05

a way out of his

00:39:08

problems while Michael claimed that he

00:39:10

was out of town on a business trip on

00:39:12

Thursday December 13 2001 a local doctor

00:39:16

came forward to report having seen him

00:39:18

at a bank in early that

00:39:21

morning he remembered it because Michael

00:39:24

seemed to be in a

00:39:25

hurry police questioned the bank teller

00:39:28

who was working that day but they didn't

00:39:31

recall seeing Michael

00:39:33

Roberts Michael's Alibi was double

00:39:36

checked and police confirmed that he

00:39:38

wasn't in early when the home invasion

00:39:40

took place however that didn't mean he

00:39:44

couldn't have orchestrated the

00:39:47

Attack 2 months after the home invasion

00:39:50

the police summoned Michael Roberts to

00:39:52

the station to s a polygraph

00:39:54

test they asked him three simple

00:39:58

questions did you hire anyone to kill

00:40:00

your wife did you help or plan with

00:40:03

anyone to break into your home on

00:40:05

December 13

00:40:07

2001 do you really know for sure who the

00:40:10

second person was who broke into your

00:40:13

home Michael answered each question with

00:40:16

a firm

00:40:19

no the results were in conclusive with

00:40:22

the polygraph report

00:40:24

stating it is the opinion of The

00:40:26

Examiner that the subject is

00:40:28

unresponsive to this technique and no

00:40:31

conclusion as to guilt or innocence can

00:40:33

be made in this case at this

00:40:39

time by this point Tracy had heard The

00:40:43

Whispers around town that Michael could

00:40:45

have been

00:40:46

involved a friend told her that Michael

00:40:49

had undergone a polygraph and failed Yet

00:40:52

Michael hadn't told Tracy a single thing

00:40:54

about

00:40:55

it even ber started to think that

00:40:58

Michael could be behind at

00:41:00

all he later told Dateline that he was

00:41:03

troubled by the way Michael reacted upon

00:41:06

arriving at the hospital on the night

00:41:07

Dustin was

00:41:09

killed to Bert it seems like Michael was

00:41:12

surprised to find that his wife and

00:41:15

children were still

00:41:17

alive regardless of these suspicions

00:41:20

Tracy stood by Michael and police

00:41:23

uncovered no evidence linking him or

00:41:25

anyone else to the botched home

00:41:28

Invasion within 2 months the case went

00:41:32

cold as the crime was committed just 2

00:41:35

months after the September 11 terrorist

00:41:37

attacks police resources were stretched

00:41:41

thin with Tracy's actions deemed

00:41:44

justifiable self-defense and one of the

00:41:46

perpetrators already dead figuring out

00:41:49

the identity of the second perpetrator

00:41:52

and who orchestrated the crime wasn't a

00:41:55

priority the detectives working Tracy's

00:41:58

case were reassigned to the more

00:42:00

pressing joint terrorism task force

00:42:04

instead for Dustin weedy's mother Mona

00:42:08

this wasn't good enough Not only was she

00:42:11

left a reeling from the loss of her

00:42:13

eldest child but she and her husband

00:42:15

brat had since

00:42:17

divorced it pained Mona that everyone

00:42:20

unequivocally accepted Tracy's version

00:42:23

of events and was curious to know who

00:42:25

masterminded the attack while not

00:42:27

seeming to care about what happened to

00:42:30

her

00:42:31

son Mona had some serious questions

00:42:34

about what transpired on December 13

00:42:37

2001 starting with Tracy's claim that

00:42:40

she didn't feel comfortable being left

00:42:42

alone with the

00:42:45

Dustin Tracy had told police that on the

00:42:48

afternoon of the home invasion Dustin

00:42:50

stopped by asking for work and she told

00:42:53

him to come back when Michael was home

00:42:55

later in the week

00:42:58

according to Mona this wasn't the case

00:43:01

at

00:43:02

all just a few days before the shooting

00:43:06

one of Mona's daughters had been

00:43:07

babysitting the Robert's kids when Tracy

00:43:10

mentioned she had some work for Dustin

00:43:12

if he was

00:43:14

interested Dustin had recently lost his

00:43:16

job at a local ethanol plant and while

00:43:19

Mona thought it was important that he

00:43:21

kept himself busy she didn't think he

00:43:23

had the skills to work for the Roberts's

00:43:25

computer business

00:43:28

during a phone call with Tracy a couple

00:43:30

of days before the shooting Mona voiced

00:43:33

her

00:43:34

reservations Tracy assured Mona she just

00:43:37

needed him to make some photoc copies

00:43:39

and perform other basic tasks and they

00:43:42

could give it a go on a trial

00:43:44

basis she told Mona to send Dustin over

00:43:47

to their place in the next couple of

00:43:51

days for Mona this explained why Dustin

00:43:55

had visited the Robert's home on

00:43:56

December

00:43:57

13 after all his car had been parked

00:44:01

outside the office next door to their

00:44:03

house in full view of the

00:44:05

neighbors if he'd been intending to pull

00:44:08

off an attack she wondered why he would

00:44:10

leave his car where anyone could see it

00:44:14

and why would he park at the office

00:44:16

instead of right outside the house to

00:44:18

facilitate a quicker

00:44:21

getaway police had also found no signs

00:44:24

of forced entry which suggested to Mona

00:44:27

that Dustin had been invited

00:44:30

inside monor also thought it was

00:44:32

incredibly strange that the one item

00:44:35

Dustin allegedly stole from the Roberts

00:44:37

was an old

00:44:39

computer it was an obsolete model packed

00:44:42

Bell which Mona described as a piece of

00:44:46

junk Dustin had a strong interest in

00:44:48

computers and electronics so it didn't

00:44:51

make sense that he would take this

00:44:52

valueless item when the Robert's home

00:44:55

was filled with expensive topof the

00:44:57

range

00:44:59

machines Tracy claimed the computer had

00:45:01

been taken from her children's bedroom

00:45:04

but as far as Mona was concerned there

00:45:06

was no way Dustin could have gone

00:45:07

upstairs to remove the computer taken it

00:45:10

down into his car and then gone back

00:45:13

upstairs to confront

00:45:15

Tracy furthermore when Dustin's body was

00:45:19

found he didn't have a single weapon on

00:45:22

him if he'd planned to hurt Tracy or

00:45:25

anyone else in the house mono wondered

00:45:27

how he intended to do

00:45:29

it Dustin wasn't particularly strong and

00:45:33

certainly not the intimidating figure

00:45:35

Tracy made him out to

00:45:37

be while he'd had his fair share of

00:45:39

struggles MOA knew Dustin as a sweet Boy

00:45:42

Who Loved golf computer games

00:45:45

snowmobiling and entertaining his family

00:45:47

with Goofy

00:45:49

Impressions he'd been so excited to have

00:45:52

a friendly relationship with the

00:45:54

Robert's family it simply didn't make

00:45:56

sense that he would be part of any plan

00:45:58

to kill

00:46:04

them Mona wasn't the only one reeling in

00:46:07

the wake of Dustin's death 7 months

00:46:11

after the incident Tracy Roberts told

00:46:13

the De Moine register that she was

00:46:15

constantly on edge she refused to let

00:46:19

anyone into their home and cringed

00:46:21

whenever she heard a car drive by

00:46:24

slowly Simple Pleasures like going to to

00:46:27

the movies became a thing of the past

00:46:29

with Tracy

00:46:31

explaining I can't bear to see anybody

00:46:33

getting attacked you don't realize how

00:46:36

much violence there is even on TV until

00:46:39

you have been in the

00:46:42

situation she told another source she

00:46:45

could no longer bring herself to wear

00:46:47

panty hoose nor could she stand the

00:46:49

smell of leather as it reminded her of

00:46:52

the jacket Dustin wedi was wearing

00:46:54

during the attack

00:46:57

both Tracy and Michael appeared on The

00:46:59

Montel Williams talk show to share

00:47:01

Tracy's incredible Story of Survival

00:47:04

with the national

00:47:06

audience Tracy credited her quick

00:47:08

thinking actions to her maternal

00:47:11

instincts while she was hurt that Dustin

00:47:13

had died as a result she

00:47:16

explained I did what I had to do to

00:47:19

protect my

00:47:22

family as the one-year anniversary of

00:47:25

Dustin's death approached his father

00:47:27

Brett wedi reached his Breaking

00:47:31

Point Brett was utterly tormented by

00:47:33

Dustin's death and the accusations

00:47:36

against him not a day had gone by since

00:47:40

that night that brat hadn't ended up in

00:47:43

tears on Thanksgiving in 2002 brat wrote

00:47:47

four letters and left them on his

00:47:49

kitchen

00:47:50

table he then drove to the cemetery

00:47:53

where Dustin was buried to visit his

00:47:55

grave

00:47:57

Brett wrapped one arm around Dustin's

00:47:59

marble headstone took out a gun then

00:48:03

shot himself through the

00:48:05

[Music]

00:48:09

heart Brett's suicide Left Mona even

00:48:13

more desperate for answers she hired an

00:48:16

attorney who began looking over the case

00:48:18

for themselves they quickly noticed that

00:48:21

the version of events Tracy Roberts gave

00:48:23

to various meteor outlets in the days

00:48:26

after the crime varied significantly to

00:48:29

what she told the police in the

00:48:30

immediate

00:48:32

aftermath further inconsistencies arose

00:48:35

when she spoke to detectives a week

00:48:38

later some were small like whether the

00:48:41

lights in the house were on or off or

00:48:43

when she first noticed The

00:48:46

Intruders others were more significant

00:48:49

such as how the altercation in the

00:48:51

hallway played

00:48:52

out Tracy initially told police she

00:48:55

didn't know what she'd been strangled

00:48:57

with but told reporters that she'd been

00:49:00

strangled with a pair of panty hoses

00:49:02

that had been hanging over the stair

00:49:04

banister while she told police she

00:49:07

didn't know who the intruders were she

00:49:09

informed reporters she knew one of the

00:49:11

men was

00:49:13

Dustin she also said to reporters that

00:49:16

she'd blacked out during the struggle

00:49:18

while making no mention of this to the

00:49:21

police furthermore Tracy initially told

00:49:24

the police there had been not two but

00:49:27

three

00:49:28

Intruders very early on she dropped the

00:49:31

mention of the third Intruder and police

00:49:34

didn't question it any

00:49:37

further there were also some questions

00:49:39

about 11-year-old Bert's version of

00:49:42

events most notably Bert had told the

00:49:45

police that when Tracy came into his

00:49:47

room after shooting Dustin her hands

00:49:50

were tied with

00:49:52

nylon not only had Tracy made no mention

00:49:55

of this at all

00:49:57

it also raised the question if Tracy's

00:50:00

hands were bound how had she managed to

00:50:03

shoot not one but two guns and with such

00:50:09

accuracy Mona didn't shy away from

00:50:12

speaking to others about these

00:50:15

inconsistencies her brother-in-law even

00:50:17

wrote a letter to the editor of a local

00:50:19

publication in which he raised several

00:50:22

questions about the

00:50:24

investigation rumors began circulating

00:50:27

around town that Tracy could have been

00:50:29

having an affair with the

00:50:31

Dustin in response Tracy sent Mona a

00:50:35

scathing five-page email in which she

00:50:38

defended her actions and vilified Mona

00:50:40

for spreading

00:50:42

[Music]

00:50:43

misinformation as reported by true crime

00:50:46

author M William Phelps Tracy claimed

00:50:49

her version of events had been

00:50:51

consistent from the

00:50:53

get-go she had no doubt that Dustin had

00:50:56

acted with Criminal Intent and even

00:50:58

accused Theona of having romantic

00:51:00

feelings for Tracy's husband

00:51:03

Michael if anything Tracy believed Mona

00:51:07

helped orchestrate the home invasion

00:51:09

either by convincing Dustin to murder

00:51:11

Tracy or by co-c conspiring with her

00:51:14

ex-husband John

00:51:17

Pitman these accusations further

00:51:20

convinced Mona that Tracy had something

00:51:23

to

00:51:24

hide in a bid to get clear answers Mona

00:51:27

wedi filed a wrongful death lawsuit

00:51:30

against Tracy Roberts in

00:51:32

2003 this required Tracy and ber to give

00:51:36

depositions under oath during which

00:51:38

their stories revealed even more

00:51:43

inconsistencies to finance Tracy's

00:51:45

defense she and Michael lodged a claim

00:51:48

with their insurance provider claiming

00:51:50

that Tracy's self-defense efforts should

00:51:52

be covered under their homeowners

00:51:54

liability policy

00:51:57

this prompted yet another deposition

00:51:59

during which Tracy added even more

00:52:02

contradictory

00:52:04

details ultimately the insurance

00:52:06

provider denied the claim arguing that

00:52:09

Tracy's actions were intentional and

00:52:11

therefore excluded under the terms of

00:52:13

the

00:52:15

policy while Tracy fought the lawsuit

00:52:18

her marriage to Michael

00:52:20

crumbled in April 2004 Tracy filed a

00:52:24

police report against Michael claiming

00:52:26

he was mentally

00:52:28

ill she said he'd become paranoid and

00:52:31

was convinced that Tracy was out to get

00:52:34

him nervous about what he was capable of

00:52:38

she turned in one of his guns and told

00:52:40

police where they could find several

00:52:42

other firearms on their

00:52:44

property 2 weeks later Michael filed for

00:52:48

divorce while Tracy filed for a

00:52:50

protective order against him she was

00:52:53

ultimately granted primary custody of

00:52:55

the children and they moved inter state

00:52:58

to Nebraska to start a

00:53:01

fresh meanwhile the home invasion that

00:53:04

resulted in Dustin weedy's death sat

00:53:06

untouched in the cold case files at

00:53:09

Iowa's division of criminal

00:53:10

investigation more or less forgotten

00:53:13

about until 2008 when special agent

00:53:17

Trent Villa came

00:53:22

along agent Villa was relatively new to

00:53:26

the DCI when he first started looking

00:53:28

through the bungled home invasion case

00:53:31

File when he saw the crime scene photos

00:53:34

he was

00:53:35

stunned Tracy Roberts had fired 11 shots

00:53:39

in total from two different guns and

00:53:41

nine of the bullets struck Dustin wedi

00:53:45

directly Tracy claimed the shots from

00:53:47

the first gun were fired over her

00:53:50

shoulder while she tried to fight Dustin

00:53:52

off she claimed it had been dark at the

00:53:55

time and her GL glasses were knocked off

00:53:57

during the

00:53:58

struggle if this was the case agent

00:54:01

Villa wondered how Tracy had managed to

00:54:04

strike Dustin with such

00:54:08

accuracy looking at the crime scene

00:54:10

agent Viller could see no other signs of

00:54:13

a violent

00:54:14

struggle Tracy claimed she'd reached the

00:54:17

gun safe while fighting Dustin off yet

00:54:20

nothing seemed to be out of

00:54:23

place Villa found it hard to believe

00:54:26

that Tracy could have made it to the gun

00:54:28

safe at all under such circumstances let

00:54:30

alone opened it and retrieved not one

00:54:33

but two

00:54:35

guns furthermore firing a gun so close

00:54:39

to her ear would have shattered her

00:54:40

eardrum or at the very least caused a

00:54:43

damage to her hearing but Tracy reported

00:54:46

no such

00:54:48

thing to agent Viller it didn't look as

00:54:51

though Dustin had been shot in

00:54:54

self-defense it looked like he'd been

00:54:56

straight up

00:54:59

murdered then there was the question of

00:55:02

where the second perpetrator was while

00:55:04

this was happening and Bert's claims

00:55:06

that Tracy's hands were tied up at the

00:55:08

same

00:55:10

time the more agent Viller learned about

00:55:13

the case the more convinced he became

00:55:16

that Tracy hadn't been telling the truth

00:55:18

about what happened that

00:55:20

night when he discovered that Tracy and

00:55:23

Michael were now divorced and in the

00:55:25

middle of a bitter custody battle agent

00:55:27

Villa recognized his

00:55:30

chance if either of them knew more than

00:55:33

they were letting on this just might be

00:55:36

their time to

00:55:39

talk agent Villa started corresponding

00:55:42

with Tracy via email and all it took was

00:55:45

the mere mention of Michael's name to

00:55:47

rile her

00:55:48

up in the Years following their divorce

00:55:51

Michael had defaulted in his child

00:55:53

support payments and his relationship

00:55:55

with Thea Tracy had grown even more

00:55:58

hostile Tracy who' reverted to her

00:56:01

maiden name of RoR claimed Michael

00:56:04

harassed her

00:56:06

constantly she was convinced he was the

00:56:08

one who orchestrated the home invasion

00:56:11

telling agent vill she'd heard Whispers

00:56:13

that Dustin wedi and Michael were having

00:56:16

an

00:56:17

affair but when investigators reached

00:56:20

out to Michael Roberts a very different

00:56:23

story emerged

00:56:26

[Music]

00:56:30

according to Michael Roberts he'd only

00:56:32

been married to Tracy for a couple of

00:56:34

months when the cracks began to

00:56:37

show Michael claimed that shortly after

00:56:40

he moved from Australia to be with Tracy

00:56:43

he discovered that she was having an

00:56:45

affair Michael was a born again

00:56:47

Christian who didn't want to be yet

00:56:49

another statistic in the divorce rates

00:56:52

so he decided to do his very best to

00:56:54

make the marriage work

00:56:58

there were a few happy years as they

00:56:59

settled down and had children but

00:57:02

Michael remained wary of Tracy's

00:57:05

Behavior things came to a head in

00:57:07

December 2000 after Tracy discovered

00:57:10

that Michael had applied for a business

00:57:12

loan against their

00:57:14

house at the time Tracy told the police

00:57:18

that after she'd kicked the wall in

00:57:20

frustration Michael had violently thrown

00:57:22

her to the floor slammed her head into

00:57:25

the drywall and verbally abused

00:57:28

her speaking to agent Villa following

00:57:31

their divorce Michael claimed this was

00:57:34

an outright

00:57:36

lie he said that Tracy had become so

00:57:39

enraged that she'd kicked holes in the

00:57:41

drywall in turn damaging a 220 volt

00:57:45

heater scared she was going to

00:57:48

electrocute herself Michael forced her

00:57:50

to the

00:57:52

floor it was only after Tracy went home

00:57:54

and had a bath that she decided to

00:57:56

report him for domestic

00:58:00

violence according to Michael things

00:58:02

took a turn after the home invasion that

00:58:05

resulted in Dustin weedy's

00:58:07

death Michael became so convinced that

00:58:10

Tracy was going to try and implicate him

00:58:13

in coordinating the attack that he

00:58:15

eventually started mentally preparing

00:58:17

himself for the prospect of facing

00:58:19

prison

00:58:20

time when he later found out that Tracy

00:58:23

had applied for several life insurance

00:58:25

policies against him he was certain that

00:58:28

she was going to kill

00:58:30

him then in March 2004 with their

00:58:34

marriage barely hanging on by a thread

00:58:36

Tracy suggested they participate in what

00:58:39

she called a trust building

00:58:42

exercise desperate to regain Tracy's

00:58:45

trust Michael

00:58:48

agreed Tracy instructed him to lay down

00:58:51

on a king-sized bed sheet with his arms

00:58:53

by his

00:58:55

side she then wrapped him in the sheet

00:58:57

as tightly as she could leaving only his

00:59:00

head

00:59:01

exposed she secured the sheet with

00:59:03

safety pins so that Michael couldn't

00:59:05

move and then covered his eyes with a

00:59:09

blindfold Tracy left Michael alone on

00:59:12

the bed while she went about some

00:59:15

chores she returned about 45 minutes

00:59:18

later with a plastic bag and put it over

00:59:20

Michael's head pulling it tight around

00:59:23

his neck and poking two small air holes

00:59:26

near his

00:59:27

mouth Tracy encouraged Michael to take a

00:59:30

deep breaths promising that she'd remove

00:59:33

the bag just before he passed

00:59:36

out she claimed this would prove to

00:59:39

Michael that she wouldn't kill him even

00:59:41

if she was given the

00:59:44

chance it didn't take long for Michael

00:59:46

to

00:59:48

panic as he started seeing Stars he

00:59:51

begged Tracy to take the bag off she

00:59:55

refused telling him to remain

00:59:58

calm in a fit of desperation Michael

01:00:02

managed to break free of the bed sheet

01:00:04

cocoon but just as he went to rip off

01:00:07

the bag Tracy reached over and removed

01:00:10

it

01:00:11

first days later Michael filed for

01:00:16

divorce he claimed Tracy had been trying

01:00:19

to ruin his life ever since taking

01:00:21

custody of their children while painting

01:00:24

him as the bad guy and in his

01:00:27

[Music]

01:00:32

reputation with this information coming

01:00:34

to light agent Viller also reached out

01:00:37

to Dr Jonathan Spencer the oral surgeon

01:00:40

whom Tracy accused of drugging and

01:00:42

sexually assaulting her in

01:00:46

1997 according to Dr Spencer Tracy's

01:00:49

allegations against him couldn't be

01:00:51

further from the

01:00:53

truth he claimed the two had already had

01:00:56

consensual sex a couple of times when

01:00:59

Tracy showed up at his office one

01:01:00

evening and asked him to go into one of

01:01:02

the private rooms with

01:01:04

her she said she wanted to live out a

01:01:07

fantasy of hers which involved the two

01:01:10

of them having sex while high on nitrous

01:01:12

oxide otherwise known as Laughing

01:01:16

Gas Dr Spencer agreed he got into the

01:01:20

chair first and started inhaling the gas

01:01:23

at which point Tracy suggested he inject

01:01:26

some melam

01:01:28

instead melam is a common sedative used

01:01:31

in dental procedures to help patients

01:01:34

relax while also having a retro amnesic

01:01:38

effect again Dr Spencer

01:01:42

agreed the last thing he remembered was

01:01:45

Tracy walking towards him with his bag

01:01:47

of medical supplies holding the handle

01:01:50

with a napkin presumably so she didn't

01:01:52

leave any fingerprints

01:01:56

Dr Spencer woke up alone in the chair at

01:01:58

4:00 a.m. with a Band-Aid on his arm

01:02:01

where an IV had been and no signs of any

01:02:04

sexual activity having taken

01:02:07

place the next day he checked his

01:02:10

mailbox and found a copy of the

01:02:12

contractual agreement that it apparently

01:02:14

made with Tracy in which he admitted to

01:02:16

drugging and sexually abusing her and

01:02:19

agreed to pay

01:02:20

$150,000 as well as other expenses in

01:02:24

exchange for her silence

01:02:27

Dr Spencer was stunned Not only was the

01:02:30

entire contract full of lies he did

01:02:33

never signed any such

01:02:36

document he then remembered that Tracy

01:02:39

had previously convinced him to provide

01:02:41

his signature on a blank piece of

01:02:44

paper she'd claimed she was going to

01:02:47

scan it to his computer so that his

01:02:49

assistants could send paperwork on his

01:02:53

behalf Dr Spencer was more Modified by

01:02:56

the entire

01:02:58

experience after seeking advice from his

01:03:01

attorney he refused to pay the money but

01:03:04

decided not to report Tracy's extortion

01:03:06

attempt to the

01:03:08

police after Tracy filed a civil law

01:03:11

suit against him he eventually agreed to

01:03:14

settle out of court for

01:03:16

$6,000 eager to put the situation behind

01:03:20

him Dr Spencer was adamant about one

01:03:24

thing tra RoR was not the innocent

01:03:27

victim she portrayed herself

01:03:34

as from the outset of the investigation

01:03:38

Tracy's ex-husband John Pitman had been

01:03:40

named as a person of

01:03:42

interest but as agent Trent Viller read

01:03:46

over the statement Tracy gave police

01:03:48

immediately following Dustin weedy's

01:03:50

shooting he noticed that she seemed very

01:03:53

eager to bring up Jon's name

01:03:56

without being asked Tracy had gone into

01:03:59

great detail about their marriage

01:04:01

including the allegations that JN had

01:04:03

sexually abused their son

01:04:06

Bert this alone made agent Viller

01:04:11

suspicious given everything Tracy had

01:04:13

just gone through why was she so eager

01:04:16

to talk about

01:04:17

JN furthermore since Tracy and Michael

01:04:21

had divorced Bert had gone to live with

01:04:23

John in Virginia

01:04:26

it was hard to believe Tracy would

01:04:28

willingly agree to such a thing if she

01:04:31

genuinely believed John had been abusing

01:04:34

their

01:04:35

son agent Viller picked up the phone and

01:04:39

dialed John pitman's

01:04:41

number like Michael and Dr Spencer he

01:04:45

was eager to set the record straight

01:04:47

when it came to Tracy's allegations

01:04:49

against

01:04:50

him according to John he hadn't harassed

01:04:53

and abused Tracy it was the other way

01:04:57

around he claimed that Tracy had a

01:05:00

history of acting erratically and that

01:05:02

he'd long held concerns about her mental

01:05:06

state John claimed Tracy had cheated on

01:05:09

him throughout their entire marriage

01:05:11

having one Affair after another while

01:05:14

accusing JN of being

01:05:17

unfaithful as well as lying constantly

01:05:20

she burnt through their money

01:05:21

frivolously and without

01:05:24

explanation she once used Jon's credit

01:05:27

card to buy expensive gifts for one of

01:05:29

her secret

01:05:31

boyfriends when Jon confronted her about

01:05:33

it she claimed his credit card had been

01:05:37

stolen every job she had ended in drama

01:05:41

or controversy with Tracy always

01:05:43

claiming to be the

01:05:46

victim John recounted one story in which

01:05:50

Tracy had accosted him one night in a

01:05:52

fit of rage after he left a pair of

01:05:54

dirty shoes in their house

01:05:56

house she threatened to kill him and

01:05:59

ordered that he leave the

01:06:01

house scared of what she might do John

01:06:05

was walking out the door when he heard a

01:06:08

gunshot he went into the loung room and

01:06:10

found Tracy sitting calmly on the couch

01:06:13

with a bullet hole in the

01:06:15

ceiling she told him I tried to kill

01:06:19

myself but I'm fine

01:06:23

now worried about Tracy's mental Health

01:06:26

John called

01:06:28

911 when paramedics arrived Tracy begged

01:06:31

them not to take her

01:06:33

away a social worker came out to do an

01:06:36

evaluation and John agreed she could

01:06:40

stay after that things calmed down for a

01:06:44

while but Tracy soon went back to her

01:06:46

old

01:06:48

ways when John discovered that she'd

01:06:50

taken out a life insurance policy on him

01:06:53

without his approval he hired a private

01:06:55

investigator to follow her

01:06:58

around the pi confirmed that Tracy was

01:07:01

dating several other men including a

01:07:05

bodybuilder he also claimed that she had

01:07:08

stolen one of Jon's prescription pads

01:07:10

and used it to fraudulently obtained

01:07:12

steroids which she then

01:07:15

sold the pi warned John that his life

01:07:18

might be in danger and advised him to

01:07:21

leave the

01:07:23

marriage John initiated divorce

01:07:26

proceedings and that's when things got

01:07:28

really

01:07:29

ugly as he and Tracy tried to reach a

01:07:32

custody agreement John noticed that Bert

01:07:35

would often show up for visitations

01:07:37

covered in

01:07:39

bruises one day Bert arrived with a welt

01:07:42

on his face and said Tracy had hit

01:07:46

him concerned that Tracy was physically

01:07:49

abusing and neglecting their son Jon

01:07:52

raised the

01:07:53

alarm it was only then that Tracy turned

01:07:57

around and started accusing him of

01:07:59

sexually abusing

01:08:00

bird she took him to a doctor who

01:08:03

supported her

01:08:07

claims bird was questioned by social

01:08:09

services and examined by an independent

01:08:12

Doctor Who found no evidence whatsoever

01:08:15

to support Tracy's

01:08:17

accusations John filed a legal action

01:08:20

against Tracy on the grounds that she

01:08:22

was trying to interfere with his

01:08:24

visitation rights

01:08:27

no charges were ever filed against John

01:08:29

Pitman and he was granted joint custody

01:08:32

of

01:08:33

Bert when Tracy remarried and Bert went

01:08:36

to live with her and Michael Roberts in

01:08:38

Iowa johon began fighting for soul

01:08:42

custody at the time Dustin wedi was

01:08:45

killed a custody hearing was looming and

01:08:48

Tracy stood to lose not only primary

01:08:51

custody of Bert but also $11,000 per

01:08:54

month in child support payments from

01:08:57

John as far as John Pitman was concerned

01:09:01

Tracy framed him in the murder for

01:09:03

higher plot so that he'd be arrested and

01:09:06

the custody hearing couldn't go

01:09:09

ahead John believed if anyone was

01:09:12

capable of orchestrating the purported

01:09:14

home invasion that resulted in Dustin

01:09:16

weedy's death it was

01:09:22

Tracy while agent vill dug deeper into

01:09:25

the investigation the custody battle

01:09:27

between Tracy and Michael Roberts raged

01:09:31

on Tracy spoke to agent vill offen

01:09:34

casting suspicion on Michael as The

01:09:36

Mastermind behind the home invasion

01:09:39

plot in early 2009 Tracy called 911 to

01:09:45

report that someone had broken into her

01:09:47

car and left a disturbing photo of

01:09:49

Dustin weedy's dead body on the front

01:09:52

seat she accused Michael telling

01:09:55

officers on the scene that he was trying

01:09:57

to terrorize

01:10:00

her officers immediately suspected Tracy

01:10:03

was lying Not only was there no evidence

01:10:07

of a Breakin Michael had recently been

01:10:09

granted a protection order against Tracy

01:10:12

and in response she'd filed one against

01:10:15

him

01:10:16

too the hearing was scheduled to take

01:10:19

place the following day leading police

01:10:22

to suspect she was trying to delay or

01:10:24

influence

01:10:26

proceedings suspicions raised police

01:10:29

were granted a search warrant for trac's

01:10:32

apartment on the hard drive of her

01:10:34

computer they discovered some disturbing

01:10:37

finds including what was described as

01:10:39

bizarre pornography and pictures of dead

01:10:43

bodies they also found a passport that

01:10:46

featured Tracy's photo but was issued in

01:10:49

the name of Sophie

01:10:51

Edwards she also had an Iowa driver's

01:10:54

license and a social security number in

01:10:56

the same

01:10:58

name police discovered that Tracy had

01:11:01

obtained these items by providing the

01:11:03

Iowa Department of Transportation with

01:11:05

forged documents which were also found

01:11:08

in her

01:11:09

home Tracy claimed she'd changed her

01:11:12

name to avoid ongoing harassment from

01:11:15

Michael Roberts but law enforcement

01:11:18

suspected

01:11:20

otherwise believing she was trying to

01:11:22

flee the country to escape the heat of

01:11:24

the Dustin weedi investigation they

01:11:27

charged her with perjury and criminal

01:11:29

impersonation which was a felony

01:11:35

offense in late 2010 special agent Trent

01:11:39

Viller took everything he'd uncovered to

01:11:42

the newly appointed County prosecutor

01:11:44

Ben

01:11:45

Smith after reviewing all the files Ben

01:11:49

agreed that the case had been poorly

01:11:51

investigated the first time around and

01:11:54

that Tracy was lying about what

01:11:56

transpired in her house the night dam

01:11:58

was

01:11:59

killed the investigators agreed that

01:12:02

Tracy had orchestrated the entire attack

01:12:05

in the hopes of implicating John Pitman

01:12:08

thus giving her an advantage in their

01:12:10

upcoming custody

01:12:12

proceedings she' somehow convinced Bert

01:12:14

to lie on her

01:12:17

behalf with that plan and her second

01:12:20

marriage failing she turned suspicion

01:12:23

onto Michael Roberts instead

01:12:26

but as convinced as the investigators

01:12:29

were they lacked the evidence to prove

01:12:32

it if they were going to press charges

01:12:35

against Tracy they'd need something more

01:12:39

concrete back in December 2001 the

01:12:43

police had spoken to Tracy's friend Mary

01:12:46

Higgins who had defended

01:12:48

Tracy knowing that loyalties change over

01:12:52

time in 2011 the new investig team

01:12:55

summoned Mary in for another

01:12:58

interview this time Mary admitted she

01:13:01

had many lingering questions of her own

01:13:04

about the supposed home

01:13:06

invasion Tracy had told Mary that the

01:13:09

second Intruder had been wearing a ski

01:13:12

mask if this was the case Mary wondered

01:13:16

how Tracy had provided a description of

01:13:18

his

01:13:20

face Mary had also been taken aback by

01:13:23

the nonchalant emotional

01:13:25

way that Tracy spoke about the shooting

01:13:28

as though she was reading items of a

01:13:30

grocery

01:13:32

list Mary accused Tracy of being a

01:13:35

terrible mother who was physically

01:13:37

abusive towards

01:13:39

bir she detailed one occasion when she

01:13:42

and Tracy were discussing the home

01:13:44

invasion and Bert entered the

01:13:47

room Mary claimed that Bert became

01:13:50

extremely agitated and started banging

01:13:52

his head on the table saying

01:13:56

why did you go back up there you didn't

01:13:58

have to shoot

01:14:00

him Mary said that in the wake of the

01:14:03

home invasion Tracy had told her that

01:14:06

police suspected her ex-husband John

01:14:08

Pitman hired Dustin to murder

01:14:11

her Mary explained to the

01:14:15

investigators Tracy told me all the

01:14:18

stuff in the notebook showed that Dr

01:14:20

Pitman was behind

01:14:22

it at this a Trent Villar and prosecutor

01:14:27

Ben Smith exchanged a

01:14:29

look for all these years the pink

01:14:32

notebook found in Dustin weedy's car had

01:14:35

been concealed from anyone outside of

01:14:37

law enforcement including

01:14:41

Tracy the only way she could have known

01:14:43

about the notebook was if she herself

01:14:46

had something to do with

01:14:51

it by this point agent Villa had amassed

01:14:54

a number of of emails between himself

01:14:56

and Tracy

01:14:58

RoR looking over them he noted that

01:15:01

Tracy had described her ex-husband John

01:15:03

Pitman as enjoying playing mind

01:15:06

games she wrote that he'd wanted to be a

01:15:09

psychiatrist but his parents wouldn't

01:15:11

allow

01:15:13

it agent Viller realized this sounded

01:15:17

familiar he looked over the pink

01:15:19

notebook and noticed that when

01:15:21

describing John Dustin had not only

01:15:24

written that he liked to play mind games

01:15:27

but also that he

01:15:29

quote wanted to be a shrink family

01:15:34

disapproved investigators were convinced

01:15:37

that Tracy had dictated the contents of

01:15:39

the notebook to Dustin they just weren't

01:15:42

sure how or

01:15:44

when there was no evidence of the pair

01:15:47

ever speaking or spending time alone

01:15:50

together yet if Mona was correct in

01:15:53

claiming that tra had offered Dustin

01:15:56

some work for their business then this

01:15:58

provided a window where Tracy could have

01:16:00

manipulated Dustin into riding in the

01:16:03

notebook possibly using money or

01:16:07

Sachs the police who first investigated

01:16:10

the crime had found a notebook in

01:16:12

Dustin's house which they believed

01:16:14

contained the words I killer

01:16:17

Pitman at the time this had been deemed

01:16:20

further evidence that Dustin had been

01:16:22

part of a plot to kill Tracy and

01:16:25

Bert prosecutor Ben Smith was flipping

01:16:28

through Dustin weedy's High School

01:16:30

yearbook when he noticed a picture of a

01:16:32

foreign exchange student named Ila

01:16:36

ditmer something about her name looked

01:16:40

familiar Ben compared her name to

01:16:43

Dustin's distinct handwriting and

01:16:45

thought the supposed I killer Pitman

01:16:48

text could have just as easily read Ila

01:16:53

dimar he spoke to Demona wedi who

01:16:56

confirmed that Dustin had a crush on

01:16:58

ilka and had once delivered flowers to

01:17:00

her

01:17:03

home an independent medical examiner was

01:17:06

tasked with reviewing the photos of

01:17:08

Tracy's neck

01:17:10

injuries he determined that the marks on

01:17:12

Tracy's neck weren't consistent with

01:17:14

ligature marks but friction

01:17:18

Burns in some accounts Tracy claimed

01:17:21

she'd passed out from the strangulation

01:17:23

attempt yet the friction Burns were

01:17:26

positioned in such a way that they

01:17:28

wouldn't have caused a loss of

01:17:31

consciousness as far as the medical

01:17:33

examiner was concerned it was entirely

01:17:36

possible that Tracy had staged being

01:17:40

choked ballistic experts and a blood

01:17:43

spatter analyst returned to the scene of

01:17:45

the crime to conduct a

01:17:48

reconstruction they determined that the

01:17:50

first shots could have been fired from

01:17:53

the space between Tracy's Bell into the

01:17:55

wall but they weren't shot over her

01:17:58

shoulder as she

01:18:00

claimed they'd been fired while Tracy

01:18:03

was either crouched down or kneeling and

01:18:05

it was possible that she'd been wearing

01:18:07

earplugs at the

01:18:10

time Tracy had always claimed that she'd

01:18:13

shot Dustin in the head with the second

01:18:15

gun because he started moving and she

01:18:18

thought he was trying to stand

01:18:20

up the blood spatter analysis determined

01:18:24

that they shots had actually been fired

01:18:26

into coagulated blood while Dustin's

01:18:29

head was on the

01:18:31

floor this meant Dustin was already dead

01:18:34

when Tracy stood above him and shot him

01:18:37

in the

01:18:38

head not only did this Pro that Tracy

01:18:41

lied about what happened it also proved

01:18:45

that Dustin was no longer a threat when

01:18:47

she shot him again thus debunking her

01:18:50

claims of self-defense

01:18:56

the Cold Case team had spent 3 years

01:18:58

diligently sifting through the cracks in

01:19:01

Tracy R's story before they finally felt

01:19:04

they had enough evidence to make their

01:19:07

move in Late July 2011 Tracy was

01:19:11

summoned to a Starbucks coffee shop

01:19:13

under false pretenses where members of

01:19:15

law enforcement from both Iowa and

01:19:17

Nebraska placed the now 45-year-old

01:19:20

under arrest for the first-degree murder

01:19:23

of Dustin wedi

01:19:26

Tracy firmly denied the allegations and

01:19:29

the case went to trial in late October

01:19:33

2011 Tracy's defense team discounted the

01:19:36

importance of the pink notebook

01:19:38

recovered from Dustin's car saying it

01:19:41

didn't provide any information about

01:19:43

what transpired inside the Robert's home

01:19:45

on the night that Dustin was

01:19:48

killed they argued that Tracy was a

01:19:51

heroic mother who'd acted purely in

01:19:53

self-defense dur during a terrifying

01:19:55

home

01:19:57

invasion the failure to catch the second

01:19:59

perpetrator and get to the bottom of the

01:20:01

plot was blamed on incompetent police

01:20:04

work in the early days of the

01:20:07

investigation the defense cast suspicion

01:20:10

on Jeremy Collins the man Mona wedi had

01:20:13

been having an affair with at the time

01:20:15

while describing Dustin as an

01:20:17

unpredictable man with the history of

01:20:19

mental health and behavioral

01:20:22

issues but Pitman and took the stand as

01:20:25

the star witness for his mother's

01:20:28

defense the now 21-year-old was as

01:20:31

supportive of Tracy at the trial as he

01:20:34

had been throughout the entire

01:20:37

investigation he told the court he had

01:20:39

no doubt that Dustin wedi had bad

01:20:42

intentions when entering their home that

01:20:44

night testifying that Dustin looked

01:20:47

angry and

01:20:49

threatening but said that he'd been very

01:20:53

very very scared that night night and

01:20:55

that he thought he and his siblings were

01:20:57

going to

01:20:59

die ber denied Mary Higgins claims that

01:21:02

he'd been upset with his mother for

01:21:04

shooting Dustin saying he had no doubt

01:21:07

that Tracy's actions had saved the lives

01:21:09

of herself and their family

01:21:13

stating if it wasn't for what my mom did

01:21:16

I wouldn't be sitting here

01:21:20

today then for the first time Bert made

01:21:23

a shocking

01:21:25

admission he claimed that he'd seen

01:21:28

Dustin trying to stand up after Tracy

01:21:30

had shot him the first time round thus

01:21:33

disputing the forensic evidence that

01:21:35

Dustin was already dead when Tracy shot

01:21:38

him in the

01:21:39

head for the prosecution this just added

01:21:42

further fuel to their belief that Bert

01:21:45

was lying to protect his

01:21:47

mother under cross-examination they

01:21:50

asked Bert which versions of events had

01:21:53

been his most accurate

01:21:55

Bert agreed that the most accurate was

01:21:58

the statement he'd given to police on

01:22:00

the night of the

01:22:02

shooting the prosecution then presented

01:22:04

him with all the inconsistencies he'd

01:22:07

introduced since

01:22:09

then they questioned why he didn't

01:22:11

mention any of those details during his

01:22:13

initial

01:22:15

statement Bert's explanation was that he

01:22:18

might have given those details but the

01:22:20

interviewing officer might not have

01:22:22

written them down

01:22:25

after hearing all the evidence it took

01:22:28

the jury less than 5 hours to reach a

01:22:30

unanimous

01:22:32

decision they declared Tracy RoR guilty

01:22:35

of Dustin weedy's

01:22:38

murder Tracy slumped forward as the

01:22:41

verdict was delivered bursting into

01:22:43

tears while her legal team appeared

01:22:46

genuinely

01:22:47

shocked Bert sat stone-faced before

01:22:51

starting to cry

01:22:54

the next day Tracy's father 69-year-old

01:22:57

Bernard RoR who wasn't present for the

01:23:00

trial collapsed from a heart attack at

01:23:02

his home and

01:23:07

died for Dustin weedy's family Tracy's

01:23:11

guilty verdict was a major

01:23:14

relief ever since Dustin's death and his

01:23:17

father's subsequent suicide Mona had

01:23:19

struggled with depression and alcohol

01:23:22

abuse it pained her to hear Dustin being

01:23:25

described in court as someone capable of

01:23:28

hurting

01:23:29

others while Dustin had his own unique

01:23:32

set of challenges Mona had never known

01:23:35

him to be violent and she resented

01:23:37

Tracy's claims that Mona had been afraid

01:23:39

of

01:23:41

him the guilty verdict brought some

01:23:44

justice in restoring Dustin's good

01:23:46

character and the family were able to

01:23:48

speak on his behalf at a subsequent

01:23:50

sentencing

01:23:51

hearing the experience was too much much

01:23:54

for one of Dustin's sisters who became

01:23:57

too overwhelmed with emotion and was

01:23:59

unable to deliver her Victim Impact

01:24:02

statement his other sister addressed

01:24:04

Tracy directly as she

01:24:07

said the worst part of all this is that

01:24:10

you cheated my brother Dustin out of his

01:24:13

future he never got to fall in love he

01:24:16

never got to get married or buy a car or

01:24:18

a house he never got to have kids he

01:24:22

missed everything because of you

01:24:25

[Music]

01:24:27

Mona told the court about how much she'd

01:24:29

struggled in the years since Dustin's

01:24:31

murder her hands shaking as she

01:24:35

said there's not one day I don't

01:24:37

Envision my son's body see his blood or

01:24:41

that I don't live with the horror of my

01:24:43

son's

01:24:44

death I don't deserve to have to live my

01:24:47

life with this pain without my

01:24:51

child addressing Tracy

01:24:55

said I can only wish that when you hear

01:24:58

the sound of your door closing in your

01:25:00

cold cell you're haunted by all the pain

01:25:03

and misery you have caused to me my

01:25:05

family and everyone else you have used

01:25:08

and

01:25:10

abused Tracy who had chosen not to

01:25:13

testify at the trial was also given the

01:25:16

opportunity to speak at the

01:25:18

hearing she maintained that she'd killed

01:25:21

Dustin in self-defense and expressed her

01:25:24

Sympathy for the wedy family saying she

01:25:27

would rather spend the rest of her life

01:25:29

behind bars for a crime she didn't

01:25:31

commit than lose one of her

01:25:34

children she continued to cast suspicion

01:25:37

on her ex-husband Michael Roberts and

01:25:40

tried to introduce inadmissible evidence

01:25:43

before the judge had to call her into

01:25:46

line with that he sentenced Tracy RoR to

01:25:50

life in prison without the possibility

01:25:52

of parole

01:25:58

in the wake of Tracy's conviction

01:26:00

Michael Roberts feared for his

01:26:03

life he told television news program 60

01:26:06

Minutes that members of Tracy's family

01:26:08

harassed him

01:26:10

relentlessly having been granted custody

01:26:13

of his and Tracy's two children Michael

01:26:16

moved around constantly in an attempt to

01:26:18

keep them away from Tracy's

01:26:21

family he wanted to take his children to

01:26:24

in Australia but Tracy refused to sign

01:26:27

their passport

01:26:29

applications he was also required by a

01:26:31

court order to take the children to

01:26:33

visit Tracy in

01:26:35

prison the entire situation left Tracy

01:26:39

and Michael's oldest son feeling

01:26:42

conflicted he told 60 Minutes that all

01:26:45

he wanted was to get on an airplane and

01:26:47

leave but he didn't want to leave his

01:26:50

mother behind regardless of what she'd

01:26:53

done

01:26:54

marking there's a war going on inside my

01:26:59

head Mona wedi told 60 minutes she

01:27:03

supported Michael's campaign to move the

01:27:05

children to Australia

01:27:07

saying Tracy's not coming back out she

01:27:10

has no rights to her children she gave

01:27:13

up her rights when she pulled the

01:27:15

trigger on my son as far as I'm

01:27:19

concerned Tracy RoR has a dedicated

01:27:22

group of supporters who continue to

01:27:24

protest her

01:27:26

innocence among them is her son Bert who

01:27:29

maintains that he's telling the truth

01:27:31

about what happened on the night of the

01:27:32

home

01:27:33

invasion on Bert's torso he has a large

01:27:37

tattoo depicting the home

01:27:39

invasion Inked in graywash it shows a

01:27:42

guardian angel with the head of a demon

01:27:45

being embraced by a woman who is meant

01:27:47

to be

01:27:49

Tracy Bert showed the tattoo to dat line

01:27:52

producers saying

01:27:54

I know for a fact that if my mom didn't

01:27:57

do what she did I would be

01:28:00

[Music]

01:28:01

dead until 2021 Bert ran a Facebook page

01:28:06

called free Tracy RoR in which he

01:28:08

petitioned for Tracy's release from

01:28:11

prison the Facebook group has been

01:28:13

temporarily paused with Bert explaining

01:28:16

that a new website is in the

01:28:18

works whether that website will ever be

01:28:21

launched is unknown

01:28:24

Mona wedi has no doubt that Tracy killed

01:28:27

Dustin to gain advantage in the custody

01:28:30

battle over

01:28:31

Bert through tears Mona told 60

01:28:36

Minutes finding out the true reason of

01:28:38

why Tracy took my son's life to this day

01:28:41

haunts me because in her process of

01:28:44

trying to save her own son from her

01:28:46

husband she chose to take my son

01:28:50

away that's just so hard in my opinion

01:28:55

she killed my husband

01:28:57

too he didn't just go out to our son's

01:29:00

grave site and put a bullet in his heart

01:29:02

because he had no pain she did that to

01:29:05

him she drove him to

01:29:09

that Brett wedi was buried directly

01:29:13

behind Dustin his gravestone highlighted

01:29:16

by a heart-shaped ornament on Dustin's

01:29:19

grave Mona does her best to remember the

01:29:22

good times

01:29:25

speaking to wartha M William Phelps for

01:29:28

his comprehensive book on the case

01:29:30

titled beautifully cruel she relived a

01:29:33

fond memory from Christmas morning when

01:29:35

Dustin was just 2 years

01:29:38

old Mona and brat had bought Dustin the

01:29:41

most complicated Transformer toy they

01:29:43

could find but when they opened it up

01:29:46

they realized just how difficult it

01:29:48

would be to put

01:29:50

together Brett started reading the

01:29:52

instructions to figure fig it out when

01:29:55

they looked over to find Dustin sitting

01:29:57

quietly in the corner of the

01:29:59

room the toddler had somehow managed to

01:30:03

assemble the entire Transformer on his

01:30:06

own to Mona this was just one moment

01:30:10

that highlighted how intelligent Dustin

01:30:13

was she told

01:30:15

Phelps people called my son slow and a

01:30:18

special needs child but he was not he

01:30:23

was just special

01:30:25

[Music]

01:30:41

[Music]

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Episode Highlights

A Night of Terror
On December 13, 2001, a home invasion turned deadly for the Roberts family.
“The couple was stunned; such an incident was completely out of the ordinary.”
@ 01m 23s
March 29, 2025
The Shocking Revelation
Tracy learns that one of the intruders was Dustin Wedi, a family friend.
“I barely knew Dustin; he was a sweet boy with a huge heart.”
@ 12m 06s
March 29, 2025
Community Grief
The local community mourned the loss of Dustin Wedi, gathering for his funeral.
“This is such a tender delicate hour”
@ 29m 15s
March 29, 2025
Mona's Doubts
Mona Wedi questioned the circumstances of her son's death and Tracy's account of events.
@ 42m 31s
March 29, 2025
Tracy's Bravery
Tracy Roberts faced a terrifying home invasion and fought back to protect her family.
“I did what I had to do to protect my family”
@ 47m 19s
March 29, 2025
Tracy's Scathing Email
Tracy defends her actions in a five-page email to Mona, accusing her of spreading lies.
“Tracy claimed her version of events had been consistent from the get-go.”
@ 50m 46s
March 29, 2025
Tracy's Trust-Building Exercise
Tracy's bizarre trust exercise with Michael involved wrapping him in a sheet and suffocating him.
“She promised she wouldn't kill him even if given the chance.”
@ 58m 39s
March 29, 2025
Disturbing Finds in Tracy's Apartment
Police discover bizarre pornography and forged documents in Tracy's apartment during a search.
“They suspected she was trying to flee the country.”
@ 01h 11m 01s
March 29, 2025
Tracy's Arrest
In July 2011, Tracy was arrested for the first-degree murder of Dustin Weedy.
@ 01h 19m 20s
March 29, 2025
Bert's Support for Tracy
Bert testified in defense of his mother, claiming she acted to protect their family.
@ 01h 20m 28s
March 29, 2025
The Guilty Verdict
Tracy RoR was found guilty of murder, leading to an emotional reaction in court.
@ 01h 22m 35s
March 29, 2025
Mona's Heartbreak
Mona expressed her pain over losing her son and the impact of Tracy's actions.
@ 01h 24m 37s
March 29, 2025

Episode Quotes

Someone's in the house!
A home invasion in Iowa with more questions than answers
I have very deep pockets.
A home invasion in Iowa with more questions than answers
There's a 100 possibilities running through my head.
A home invasion in Iowa with more questions than answers
I did what I had to do to protect my family.
A home invasion in Iowa with more questions than answers
I tried to kill myself but I'm fine now.
A home invasion in Iowa with more questions than answers
You cheated my brother Dustin out of his future.
A home invasion in Iowa with more questions than answers

Key Moments

Tracy's Panic04:41
Custody Battle17:12
Dustin's Funeral29:00
Scathing Email50:35
Trial Begins1:19:29
Guilty Verdict1:22:35
Mona's Pain1:24:37
Life Sentence1:25:50

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown