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a driveby shooting on an Alaskan Highway
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and a bomb sent through the
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mail two apparently random acts of
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Senseless violence until forensic
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science discovered an important link
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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on an October night in 1990 Rob
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Chamberlain and his friend were driving
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along Glenn Highway in Anchorage Alaska
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headed to a local
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restaurant as he approached the exit
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ramp Chamberlain heard a loud
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crack he looked back and saw a hole in
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his rear window then he saw his friend
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20-year-old Jeffrey Caine slumped in his
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seat and covered in blood the bullet
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entered the back of his head exited out
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the front of his head uh death was
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instantaneous Kane's parents were called
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to the scene
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I couldn't understand why Jeff had to be
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the one that was shot maybe I'm just you
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know like there's other people why not
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shoot the bed people Jeff was a computer
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programmer with no known enemies the
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driver Rob Chamberlain said he had no
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idea why they were targeted our first
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impression was maybe it was uh a drug
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deal gone bad and somebody was following
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this young man and something had
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happened we really pressed the issue
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were you targeted for some apparent
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reason
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were you involved in something do you
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know do you have any enemies have you
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been involved in anything that would
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have led somebody to Target
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you not far from the sight of the
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shooting police found a shell casing on
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the side of the highway people it
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probably came from another vehicle uh
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that was traveling uh in the same
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direction as our our victim vehicle the
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casing was from a high powered assault
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style rifle a Heckler and Coke or HK91
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police wondered whether the shooting was
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intentional or a random act they were
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concerned that somewhere there was a
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shooter out there not knowing what had
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happened or what led to it they just
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knew that there was somebody out there
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who randomly shot a teenage boy on the
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road it's kind of scary to think that
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you could be driving down the road and
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get shot it was very tense at the time
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they knew there was a shooter out there
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still and somebody who had just killed
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somebody with little else to go on
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police asked the public through local
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media outlets for any witnesses to come
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forward I would not think it was a stray
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bullet I would think somebody was aiming
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at that car why that particular car we
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don't know but no one reported seeing
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anything
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unusual so there wasn't a lot of traffic
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on on the freeway incoming into
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Anchorage at the time so there was
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nobody else in another vehicle who you
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know called the police and said wow I
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just saw a guy fire a shot out of a
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vehicle the investigation had barely
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started and was already stalled it is an
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unlimited pool of suspects you know at
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that particular time we have no idea who
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would have done this we have no idea why
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they targeted that car so it's just wide
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open at that
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[Music]
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time Jeff Kane's family and friends
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tried to make sense of the highway
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shooting that took his life kids driving
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speeding maybe a car accident but never
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ever just sitting in the car and getting
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shot there something you read about in
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Los Angeles not
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Alaska the shell casing found on the
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highway LED police to believe that Jeff
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had been hit with a bullet fired from
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another
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car it looked like the shooter waited
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until the car exited the highway and
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reduced speed before firing the Fatal
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shot I believe what happened was that
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the suspects in this case uh were pacing
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the victim vehicle until they can get
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the best shot
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possible the next morning news of the
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shooting appeared in the local
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newspaper and when 19-year-old George
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Kerr saw it he felt he had no choice but
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to call police can I explain my
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situation here sure I mean these guys
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are these guys are friends okay friends
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I would say I mean and I usually
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wouldn't rat out my friends but this is
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just so severe I got to do it KR said he
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and his two friends Rd Chile and Doug
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gustaffson bought an assault rifle
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earlier in the day later when they were
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driving home a car cut them off on the
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highway just pissed Rd off so he turns
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to gon he said shoot that
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mother he claimed that gustofson raised
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the rifle and fired a single shot
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towards the
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car Kerr claimed he didn't know anyone
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had been hurt until he read the
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newspaper did he actually aim it like a
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rifle uh it was really quick I don't
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know I was sitting in the back and I was
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telling them you don't want to do that I
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still didn't think he'd do it George
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Kerr's story of the shooting it's very
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credible because by that time we had
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worked this uh crime scene and the
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highway all night it was uh very
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consistent with what we had and he
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definitely had information that hadn't
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been released to the media Kerr claimed
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he didn't know what Guston did with the
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rifle after the shooting investigators
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weren't entirely convinced that Kerr
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would testify against his friends in
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open court I'll be honest with I never
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trusted George you know he's one of
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these that he's going to flip on you
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he's going to flip-flop because on the
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one hand he'd to go oh how terrible this
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was and this kid didn't deserve to die
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to the other turn talking about these
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are his best friends you know and we
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would die for each other there wasn't
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any proof that all this happened other
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than what George was saying see what I'm
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saying so they couldn't just run in and
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make an arrest at that time to confirm
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Kerr's version of events police asked
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him to wear a hidden
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microphone and meet with Chile and
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gustaffson the meeting took place in a
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restaurant at the Anchorage
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International
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Airport two undercover policemen sat
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nearby the recording device was in a car
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outside George ker said words to the
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effect of you know Doug why'd you have
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to kill that guy and gusterson responded
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with words to the effect of well I
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didn't mean to George and uh absolutely
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corroborated what Kerr had just told
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told the uh told the uh the the
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detectives but Guston wouldn't say where
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he hid the
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gun nevertheless police arrested Rd
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chiley and Doug gustofson and charged
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them with Jeffrey Kane's
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murder George Kerr accepted a plea
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bargain and agreed to testify for the
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prosecution in exchange for immunity
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without the murder weapon he was their
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entire case George KR was very important
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to the prosecution without George CT
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would have been very difficult I think
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to put them at the scene and to actually
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have an eye witness who witnessed not
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only the shooting but what happened
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before and
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after but as the trial was about to
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begin George Kerr changed his
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[Music]
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story police had two men in custody for
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the shooting death of F Kane based on
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information provided by their eyewitness
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George
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Kerr Kerr initially said that Doug
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Guston fired an assault rifle at Jeff
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Kane from approximately 10 yards away
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which killed him
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instantly but soon Kerr changed his
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story it wasn't like the aim thing it
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was just pointed in the general
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direction of the car he now claimed that
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Guston pointed the gun out the window
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and fired a shot from 200 yd away which
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hit the car I believe that this was done
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so as to throw a bone to his friends
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that is to give them uh an out to say
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that it wasn't first-degree murder that
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maybe it was something lesser than that
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like a criminally negligent homicide or
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manslaughter uh basically something to
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try to appease his
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friends the shell casing at the scene
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indicated the weapon was an HK91 assault
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rifle receipts from a local gun store
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supported George Kerr's claim that Doug
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gusterson had bought an
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HK91 the day of the
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murder Kerr also said that he Chile and
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gustofson had been shooting the gun
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earlier that day and they used a road
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sign as a
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Target investigators found that sign
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with three bullet
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holes to test K's story investigators
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turned to forensic analyst Robert Shem
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he test fired an HK91 into a piece of
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metal the same thickness as the road
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sign then using a rubberlike casting
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substance called
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microsil he made impressions of the
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bullet holes in the road
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sign and those produced by his test
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firing of the same type of gun
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the castings were compared under a
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microscope once I removed the rubber I
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was able to establish that the holes in
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the sign were indeed 30 caliber and they
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possessed the same rifling
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characteristics as an
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HK91 the test prove kurr's claim that
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the boys were using an HK91 that
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day but could investigators prove the
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shooting was in
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[Music]
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intentional the Fatal bullet entered the
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car through the back window hit the
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victim and exited through the passenger
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side
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window here investigators got a lucky
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break there was tinting film on the
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Windows of the victim's car had the
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vehicle not had tinting film The
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tempered glass that was on the back
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window of the vehicle and on the
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passenger side window would have
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shattered and probably been completely
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lost the tinting film held the glass
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together as a result The Bullet Hole was
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still visible Shem took what was left of
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the passenger
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window and made a cardboard template
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then recreated The Bullet
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Hole he placed the template in the
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victim's passenger side
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window and then he conducted a simple
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test
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he ran a string from The Bullet Hole in
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the back
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window through the hole in the
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headrest to the hole in the passenger
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side
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[Music]
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window what we found was that after
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stringing the trajectory that the angle
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was approximately 47° off the back of
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the
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vehicle if the shot had been fired from
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200 yd away as George Kerr now claimed
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the trajectory angle would be
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approximately
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95° but the 47° angle placed the
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shooter's car very close within 7 to 15
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yards away this then put the vehicles in
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such a close position that it rendered a
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very easy shot for Mr guers when he shot
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at the victim
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vehicle at the murder trial George Kurt
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testified against his two friends but
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continued to insist their car was 200
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yard away from the victim's car when the
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shot was
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fired because I think it's
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just not a first
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murder and you base that on
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what cuz you shooting at the car not to
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kill but the forensic evidence proved
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they were less than 15 yds away which
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meant
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the shot was intentional based on this
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evidence the driver Rd Chile was
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convicted of second degree murder Doug
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gustofson the shooter was convicted of
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first deegree
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murder both were sentenced to life in
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prison since George Kerr had immunity
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from prosecution he left Alaska soon
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after the trial
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ended but the story didn't and
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[Music]
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there about a year after the highway
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shooting a package was mailed to George
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Kerr in care of his family's address in
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euta Alaska
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[Music]
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[Music]
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since George was out of state his father
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decided to open
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[Music]
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it 44-year-old David Kerr was killed
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instantly George's stepmother Michelle
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was barely alive every bone in her face
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was broken her eard drums
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shattered police questioned her on the
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way to the hospital convinced she would
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not
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survive there's some police officers
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here just repeat what you think happened
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go ahead well we got a
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package for
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George from the state of
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Alaska I know it was from Doug how do
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you know that it was from Doug Michelle
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cuz George put him in jail okay George
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testified Michelle thought the bomb had
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to have come from the two men her
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stepson put in jail Doug gustaffson and
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RD Chile the bomb was not meant to
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frighten someone to intimidate someone
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This was meant to kill and it succeeded
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killing the wrong person but could the
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forensic evidence prove it at David
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Kerr's
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autopsy investigators found a tiny metal
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Post in his chest the kind used in a
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switch ultimately our crime lab was able
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to determine the type of switch that
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that post would be a part of a
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manufacturer and to whom did the
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manufacturer provide the circuit or the
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switch Radio Shack well there are lots
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of Radio Shacks but at least we knew
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there were Radio Shacks in
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Anchorage but both ch ke and Guston were
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incarcerated at the time how could they
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have done it from jail how could they do
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this how could they do that you know
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which was all of our qu all of our
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questions you know how could somebody do
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that from jail since prisons routinely
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record all inmate
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conversations investigators found this
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coded conversation between gustaffson
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and his sister Peggy it took place
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shortly before the
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bombing yeah now this is to fix your car
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remember as soon as you find out which
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way is on which way is off on the the
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sliding one glue it in place like I
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describe right below the surface uhhuh
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so that when it's pushed towards the
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side it's on and when it's pushed
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towards the center it's off right okay
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superficially just sounded like the Doug
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giving his sister some some help fixing
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her car but had too much connected with
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it to to be just that so as you listen
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to it over and over again you you know
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it became clear that they were talking
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about Doug was giving Peggy instructions
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on how to create a circuit for an
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improvised explosive device those audio
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tapes were the Smoking Gun other
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conversations revealed Peggy didn't have
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the technical ability to build the
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device so she brought in another member
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of the family their elder brother Craig
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who was a mechanic Panic apparently both
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Peggy and Craig Guston believed their
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brother was innocent in the highway
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shooting death and that George Kerr was
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responsible to give some idea of the
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depth of her emotions and her feelings
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of
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Revenge Peggy
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Guston is 9 months pregnant she is in
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fact within 3 days of delivering her
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second child into the world when she
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delivers the bomb package to the post
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office Rock Phelps was in prison with
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Doug Guston and RD Chile when the
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bombing occurred and he knew they wanted
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Revenge Rd didn't give a [ __ ] who who
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got killed as long as a George ker got
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killed he was wanting to kill George
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little George is what we called it we
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had actually a number of inmates who
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told us that they had seen a list of
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names that Raymond chiley had with him
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at the jail and that chiley had told
00:19:02
them that in fact this was a hit list it
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was a list of of people that he wanted
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to kill and uh they were able to
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describe the list that the first person
00:19:09
on that list was George Kerr other names
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on The Hit List included the judge and
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prosecutor at their
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trial when Peggy and Craig gustofson
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were brought in for questioning and they
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heard the taped conversations from
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prison they immediately confessed when
00:19:29
Peggy cooperated Peggy was able to tell
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us which store she went to to purchase
00:19:35
those switches we were able to find
00:19:38
through an old receip uh at that store
00:19:41
didn't have Peggy's name on it but it
00:19:42
did show a transaction it right during
00:19:45
the time frame that would be very
00:19:48
relevant to our case of those types of
00:19:50
switches being purchased this bombing
00:19:52
could was totally preventable it never
00:19:55
should have happened the Department of
00:19:57
Corrections failed Dave and faed K me
00:19:59
their job is to protect the public and
00:20:01
not simply house prisoners Michelle Kerr
00:20:05
sued the state of Alaska and won more
00:20:07
than $1 million in
00:20:10
Damages Peggy and Craig gustaffson were
00:20:13
both convicted for their role in Mr
00:20:15
Kerr's murder and will serve a minimum
00:20:18
of 22 years in jail Rd Chile and Doug
00:20:23
Guston received additional life
00:20:25
sentences they should even have wasted a
00:20:28
trial on them they should have took them
00:20:29
out let the family shoot them in the
00:20:31
back of the head it's the way I feel
00:20:33
about it but that's Alaska Justice you
00:20:35
know we do things a little different up
00:20:38
here used to
00:20:41
anyway in the end a half dozen families
00:20:45
were destroyed and prosecutors believe
00:20:48
there would have been more victims if
00:20:51
forensic science hadn't ended chiley and
00:20:55
guston's killing
00:20:57
spree you can't just take science by
00:21:00
itself and build a case or rare
00:21:03
occasions can you you use a combination
00:21:05
of what are people telling you what do
00:21:06
you know about this person that person
00:21:08
and you use your science and it all just
00:21:11
meshes right together and it builds your
00:21:14
case you but without that you know we'd
00:21:17
still be back in the dark ages of of
00:21:18
investigating crime
00:21:29
why
00:21:30
[Music]
00:21:49
[Music]
