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Robert T was convicted in Maricopa
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County of murdering philanthropist Mark
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Jones during an armed robbery the
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prosecution is seeking the death
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penalty Robert to putting the zip tie
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around Mark Jones's
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neck and listening to the noises that
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Mark Jones made and he tightened it
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until was
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dead Robert to was a
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killer we didn't need to kill this man
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but he did
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anyway that was a drug addicted wild
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crazed human that I don't
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recognize the day before this murder
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took place he and his girlfriend had
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robbed a
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restaurant so he was on a
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bender Robert was convicted of murder
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and sentenced to death when the judge
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said I sentenced you to death I had this
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urge to just jump over the railing and
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hug
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him my name is Christine toy
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mlan there's my brother my
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sober
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non-addicted
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brother and then there's the monster
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they killed the man
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[Music]
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[Music]
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in
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2012 47-year-old killer Robert toy was
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on death row in
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Arizona when a date was set for his
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execution he made one final plea for
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clemency good morning there are two
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things that we'll be considering today
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and they would be number one Mr T's
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request for a commutation of his
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sentence after which we will then take a
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vote on whether or not a reprieve uh of
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Mr T's schedule of execution should be
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recommended to the governor Mr to go
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ahead
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[Music]
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first and foremost I'd like to apologize
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to Mark's
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family I have the deepest regrets for
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what I
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did and
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then and I'm truly sorry for their loss
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for what I did to
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them I truly wish with my heart that I
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had not taken Mark's
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life and it's a terrible thing that I
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did and I should never have it should
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never have
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happened to said that he knew he didn't
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need to kill this man but he did anyway
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he put a zip tie around the man's neck
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and just pulled it tight until the man
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was
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dead Robert Tower's sister attended in
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support of her brother and to testify
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about the abuse she and Robert had
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suffered at the hands of their
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mother um I'm Robert's
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sister it wasn't mile Che abuse that we
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went through and post-traumatic stress
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syndrome has affected all of our
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lives a member of the clemency board
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stated their
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opinion he thought quite rationally that
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a gun makes noise and zip ties don't
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that to me is a rational thought product
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I'm not convinced that he was under the
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the dire influence of all these evil
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things that had occurred to the man in a
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in a in a very
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wretched environment up to through
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[Music]
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childhood I would like to apologize to
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my
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family for being such a train wreck for
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so many
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years I'm sorry that my actions 20 years
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ago is bringing back all the pain of our
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pass Robert toy was born on July 20th
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1964 Christine was 2 and 1/2 years old I
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remember feeling this sense of
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excitement about having a little brother
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coming to the
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family this
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picture is from August of 1965 and he
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was
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born in July so he was about a year old
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I'm looking like I'm not very happy in
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this
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his mother was very abusive physically
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abusive emotionally
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abusive Robert had no Father Figure in
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his life his birth father left shortly
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after he was
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born Robert and Christine's mother was
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left alone to raise her young
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children in
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1966 the family left Florida and moved
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to
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Arizona this picture might have been
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right after he moved to Arizona because
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there's no dad in the picture so I think
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this was after my mom
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left it's crazy to me cuz I look at
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these pictures and when they said smile
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we smiled I think we just obeyed
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everything because if I look at her face
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now and I think back on seeing that
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woman there was just so much violence
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happening to all of us at that time
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we were beaten regularly we were
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screamed at all the time one of the
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things I remember is her continually
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telling Bobby you're going to end up in
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prison for the rest of your life you're
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no good you're
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[Music]
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awful I was in fear for my life I was
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always afraid that she was going to kill
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me you know I've got scars on my
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body that some of them I know are her
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doing
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when their mother was on a rampage they
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would hide
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there Robbie as they called him would
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bear the brunt of that and and you know
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usually be be beaten
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savagely it's unbelievable how much
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distress and disturbance and violence
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those children would have experienced in
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the family environment that Christine is
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describing it sounds horrific absolutely
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horrific even away from his mother
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Robert wasn't
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safe by the time he was six he had been
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raped by a
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neighbor he had been accidentally
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shot and I don't know the exact
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circumstances of how he was shot but he
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had experience all of this abuse the
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only people Robert and Christine felt
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they could count on
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on were each other he and I were very
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close growing
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up throughout it all like he and I
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always just had each other's back like
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there was just this connection there
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when we were little and we'd get
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banished to our rooms his was right
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across from mine and we would use these
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little hot wheel
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cars we would put notes on that little
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car and like scooted across the hallway
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to each other and then communicate back
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and forth like that I remember going and
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sitting in your room a lot sometimes
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when you weren't even there it was like
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the only place I felt safe I guess for
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mom I always felt as so you'd protect me
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even when you told on me and I got in
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trouble I know you never told on me to
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get me
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hurt they do have a sense of loving one
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another as siblings but also they had
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something in common which was there was
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a monster in the
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home who was the mother figure who was
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supposed to be loving and taking care of
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them and she was the antagonist so they
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banded together to support each other
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that's a sensible survival
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method as Robert and Christine grew up
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their mother had a number of
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Partners In
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1976 she started a new relationship with
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a man who would play a pivotal role in
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Robert's life he would come and work on
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my mom's
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car and Robbie was probably 12 years old
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and so they would be out there working
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on the cars together or so we
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thought it turns out he was teaching him
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how to steal cars and how to rob
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people our neighbors had this Volkswagen
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that they parked in front of their house
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and one morning I looked out there and
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I'm like their tires are gone where are
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their tires for their car
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Robbie goes he taught me how to do that
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so that was like his
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mentorship this is the most loving
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figure of a parental nature that Robert
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had so that's what he did he's found a
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way to function in a world because he
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had no other
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alternative out of the blue Christine
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and Robert's mom decided to leave
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Arizona and went to live with her sister
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and brother-in-law in
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Louisiana my brother moved with my
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mother to Louisiana he was probably 15
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or
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16 I didn't go with because I was like
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oh heck no I've had enough of this I'm
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going to stay here and live my life and
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I had already had a
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job I felt bad when he left because I
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knew that that he was going to be alone
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with her and that was kind of scary to
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think
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about in Louisiana teenage Robert
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continued his life of
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crime and he also found a new
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Vice that's when he was first introduced
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to the hard drugs my aunt and uncle tell
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me the story about how you know he'd
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show up and they would kick him off the
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property because he was just Wildey and
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crazy
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Robert increasingly got involved in
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crime he worked both sides of being a
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mechanic fixing cars and knowing how to
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steal them and how to steal the
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parts he was a
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monster he was fueled by
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methamphetamines and anger and a a
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wretched hor
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[Music]
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upbringing Robert to had been living in
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Louisiana for 2 years he was now 177 a
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drug addict and committing crimes to
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feed his habit my aunt called me one day
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and said okay your brother's off he's
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off to
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jail we had him arrested because he's
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been stealing from us he's been stealing
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from the neighbors and he's not doing
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[Music]
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okay when he was arrested they searched
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the house that they lived in they found
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money stashed in the
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walls when the cops put him in the car
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they were standing behind the patrol car
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and he turned around and looked at them
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through the back window and they
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described this look on his face that
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scared them and they called it like it
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bone
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chilling they were literally afraid that
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if he ever got out that he would hurt
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them Robert to was sent to a juvenile
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detention center
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when my brother got arrested and was put
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in juvenile detention I we may have
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written some letters because I have some
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memory of knowing that he was very
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afraid talking about Louisiana you know
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it's humid it's hot the cells were
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filthy the food was
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moldy Robert's previous crimes committed
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in his home state of Arizona eventually
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caught up with him and around 2 years
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later he was suddenly transferred to an
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adult prison back in Arizona he had
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committed crimes while he was here
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before he left to Louisiana and they
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brought him back the crimes were
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committed before he was
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[Music]
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18 with her brother now closer to home
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Christine went to visit
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him I visited him probably once or twice
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a month for
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sure we developed our closest Bond he
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was
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sober and that's I think when our adult
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relation ship probably was most
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developed during that time that I was
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visiting him in
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prison it was just so good to have him
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in my life
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again and he was my best friend and
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somebody that I cared deeply
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[Music]
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about after 5 years in perville state
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prison Robert toy now 24 was released
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and placed on parole when he was
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released from perville I had this Camaro
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and I put champagne and ice bucket in
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the back
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trunk I picked him
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up we got in the car and I said I have
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some champagne in the back we're going
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to
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celebrate when we took these pictures
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he's fresh out of prison he looks very
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calm and soft but when he's doing like
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the full body pose you know he's he's
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posturing the look on his face is so
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different and dark when he's with my mom
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than the contrast than when he's with
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me Robert got work as a
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mechanic he was living the good life he
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was working he had a woman in his life
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he was so
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excited just having a normal life he was
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doing
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well a year later Christine began to
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notice a change in her brother's
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behavior that worried
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her there were times when he'd show up
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and he was perfectly fine and there were
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times when he would show up and I would
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be like I'm smelling it again he and I
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were so close that I could feel his mood
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and feel him kind of like is this the
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Good Robbie is this the evil
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Robbie I've seen the scared Robbie I've
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seen the evil Robbie I've seen the good
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Robbie Robert was back on drugs
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he was doing so much methamphetamine
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that he could how he didn't die is
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beyond me how he didn't overdose is
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beyond
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me this is what I need to do as a
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survival mechanism this is who I am this
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is how I live it just goes into this
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massive vicious cycle of drug abuse
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crime that's the path he's taken as an
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adult he was going down a darker Road
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and I knew that and there was just a
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disconnect I don't think we talked very
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much at all during that
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time I knew that he had started his own
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business he was an auto mechanic so he
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was doing like this mobile service so I
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knew that he was working I think that
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was kind of why I just didn't really
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worry about it too
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much so he was busy having his life and
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doing his thing and I was busy doing
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mine Robert Tower needed to fund his
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drug addiction and went to rob a local
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restaurant he had gone to a restaurant
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to steal money from the
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till when he went in he had a gun he
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Shot the Jukebox to scare everybody to
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stop them and then there was only like
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five or six people I guess in there he
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tied them all up with zip ties and they
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robbed it his girlfriend was waiting in
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the car for him
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they sped away from the scene of the
00:17:06
[Music]
00:17:09
crime in the evening of September 4th
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1991 27-year-old Robert to and his
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friend Randy Barker waved down a cab and
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told the driver to take them to Paradise
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Valley and to the house of a well-known
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local philanthropist Mark
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Jones Paradise Valley is a very richy
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area the houses tend to be large you
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know they're far enough away from each
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other that uh you wouldn't necessarily
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hear anything you wouldn't necessarily
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notice
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anything Robert had done business with
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Mark Jones before he had borrowed money
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from him and he had done mechanical work
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for him so he knew that he he knew that
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he had cash he knew that he he knew that
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he had a a well apportioned
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home their story was that uh the car
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broke down and they wanted to use the
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phone Robert had said you remember
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me and Mark Jones let them
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in they both knew the victim they had
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been to his home on a number of
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occasions on this particular day uh they
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they went there uh to Rob
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him Robert pulled a gun on
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him and made him lay down in the bed so
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he could be more comfortable and then
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had brought large long zip ties uh one
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of which he put around uh uh Mark
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Jones's
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neck while my brother was ran in the
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house and stealing things Randy was
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holding a gun on Mark to keep him from
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getting away from keeping him from
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escaping and then at some point in time
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my brother came into the room and ended
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up using zip ties to choke Mark to death
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and pulling it tight and listening to
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the noises that Mark Jones
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made at a point where he thought that
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Mark Jones was dead
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he had stop making noises and then
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realized he was not dead and he did it
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again and he tightened
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it until Jones was
00:19:40
[Music]
00:19:44
dead 24 hours after the drug fueled
00:19:47
robbery and murder the body of Mark
00:19:50
Jones was found by police after a
00:19:52
neighbor had called to ask them to do a
00:19:55
welfare check on Mark
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as Mark Jones's house became an active
00:20:01
crime scene Towery was visited by police
00:20:04
who were questioning him about the armed
00:20:06
robbery he recently committed one of the
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waitresses that he had not tied up he
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whispered in her ear you're going to get
00:20:12
out soon you'll be fine just give me
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five so he had not tied her up he just
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wanted the
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money they got into a fight long enough
00:20:24
that they didn't drive away the waitress
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and all the people got free and they
00:20:27
came outside and got the license
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plate the license plate had led the
00:20:32
police to Robert Tower's
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door as the police searched his home
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they made a shocking
00:20:40
Discovery they found equipment stereo
00:20:43
equipment and other stuff that belong to
00:20:45
Mark and that's how they found out that
00:20:47
he had been there and stolen all that
00:20:49
stuff from him Robert to was immediately
00:20:52
arrested and charged with four counts of
00:20:54
robbery and four counts of kidnapping
00:20:59
and the murder of Mark
00:21:02
Jones when my brother first got caught
00:21:06
he was still using he was still the
00:21:09
typical meth liar he denied it denied it
00:21:13
he was pleading not guilty to everybody
00:21:15
including
00:21:16
me when I found out that he killed a man
00:21:19
I was
00:21:20
mad and how selfish of you to like go
00:21:24
down this road and get this screwed up
00:21:25
and take somebody's life an innocent
00:21:28
man's life what a wretched human you
00:21:31
are I felt like you know what whatever
00:21:33
he gets he deserves seriously and also I
00:21:37
remember being worried about people
00:21:40
finding out that it was my
00:21:44
brother because I was
00:21:46
[Music]
00:21:52
ashamed 27-year-old Robert to had been
00:21:56
arrested and charged for the murder of
00:21:58
of Mark Jones and for armed robbery and
00:22:01
kidnapping at a local restaurant was
00:22:04
found guilty of robbing and
00:22:06
kidnapping the only communication that
00:22:08
we had during that time was just through
00:22:11
phone calls and
00:22:13
letters on May 1st
00:22:16
1992 to was sentenced to life
00:22:23
imprisonment 3 months later on August
00:22:26
3rd
00:22:29
Robert toy went on trial for the murder
00:22:32
of Mark Jones he plad not
00:22:38
guilty Christine was called to the
00:22:41
witness stand by her brother's defense
00:22:45
lawyer how do you defend somebody who
00:22:48
did something like that but the defense
00:22:51
attorney had said you need to take the
00:22:52
stand because they were really going to
00:22:54
push on this abuse the child abuse the
00:22:57
drug abuse all that
00:23:00
when I took the
00:23:02
stand I was so callous in the beginning
00:23:04
because I was angry with him I guess I
00:23:08
said whatever he did there's no excuse
00:23:12
for it doesn't matter how you're brought
00:23:14
up it doesn't matter if you're on drugs
00:23:17
or what you're on drugs you still make
00:23:18
these
00:23:20
choices the Jud said I'm looking at two
00:23:23
women who seem to have come from the
00:23:26
same place and they fine they're not
00:23:30
murderers they're not thieves they're
00:23:32
not drug addicts they're
00:23:43
fine Robert toy was found guilty of the
00:23:47
murder of Mark Jones and on November
00:23:50
20th was sentenced to
00:23:54
[Music]
00:23:56
death when the judge said I sentenc you
00:23:58
to death I had this urge to just jump
00:24:02
over the railing and hug him and I
00:24:06
didn't for two reasons I didn't want to
00:24:10
get in
00:24:11
trouble my second thought was what if he
00:24:13
grabs you and like I'm going to kill her
00:24:15
if you don't let me out of
00:24:16
here the moment was more full of Fear
00:24:21
And
00:24:22
Regret than anything else cuz I wanted
00:24:26
to hug him and hold him he just got
00:24:27
sentenced to death and I couldn't do
00:24:33
that my name is Dale be I represented
00:24:38
Robert towry when he was on death row in
00:24:43
Arizona in order to be eligible for the
00:24:46
death penalty in
00:24:48
Arizona there has to be murder plus
00:24:51
something more that would
00:24:54
be what's called aggravating
00:24:56
circumstances so for instance if a
00:24:59
murder is committed uh in the course of
00:25:02
a robbery uh that murder would be
00:25:05
eligible for the death
00:25:09
[Music]
00:25:12
penalty there's two people there there's
00:25:16
the
00:25:18
murderer who nobody has any feelings for
00:25:22
and then there's the human who's my
00:25:23
brother who I've loved my whole life and
00:25:26
I love him still
00:25:29
I wasn't going to think about it every
00:25:30
day I was going to make it like Define
00:25:32
my life and what I was
00:25:34
doing so I didn't visit him very much
00:25:36
because when you when you go to visit it
00:25:39
brings everything to the
00:25:41
foreground in the beginning because I
00:25:43
was so mad and honestly really kind of
00:25:47
callous about
00:25:49
it he was an imposition to
00:25:52
me he had not owned it yet he had not
00:25:54
apologized he didn't show remorse and
00:25:57
throughout that time I had no respect
00:25:58
for
00:26:00
him Randy Barker Robert to's friend was
00:26:05
also charged with murder but it did not
00:26:08
go to trial Randy Barker entered into a
00:26:10
plea agreement the second degree murder
00:26:13
in exchange for his testimony against
00:26:15
Robert
00:26:18
toy he was sentenced then to 10 years in
00:26:22
prison after 5 years behind bars
00:26:25
Christine started to see a positive ch
00:26:28
change in her brother everything changed
00:26:30
when he admitted to me that he did it
00:26:32
and I could see that he felt bad and had
00:26:34
remorse for doing it that's when things
00:26:36
shifted dramatically for me as far as my
00:26:39
how I felt about him Christine continued
00:26:42
to visit her brother over the next 20
00:26:45
years I didn't visit as much as I
00:26:47
probably should have or could have but I
00:26:50
wrote a lot of letters we had a lot of
00:26:52
phone
00:26:53
calls every time I went to see him I
00:26:57
dreaded the experience
00:26:59
because it made everything real again it
00:27:01
brought everything to the
00:27:02
foreground while I was in the visit
00:27:04
itself I was perfectly fine we were we'd
00:27:08
have good
00:27:09
conversations and he'd play with the
00:27:11
kids and we had good
00:27:13
times but then I would get
00:27:16
home and I'd be all messed up again
00:27:20
because it was now real it was now in my
00:27:22
face again that this was actually my
00:27:23
life this is my brother's life and it
00:27:26
was an inconvenience and I'm guilty I'm
00:27:28
feeling guilty because I don't want to
00:27:30
spend my time visiting him but yet there
00:27:32
he is all
00:27:33
alone 20 years after his conviction
00:27:37
Robert to's execution date was set for
00:27:40
March 8th
00:27:44
2012 I met Robert uh probably 6 months
00:27:50
before he was scheduled to be
00:27:55
executed I was very impressed with him
00:27:59
as a
00:28:01
person I saw uh a lot of uh remorse uh
00:28:07
and Humanity in
00:28:09
Robert he was approaching his scheduled
00:28:12
execution date and we tried to put
00:28:15
together a case uh asking for Robert's
00:28:19
life to be
00:28:22
spared on February 2nd
00:28:25
2012 48-year-old Robert how was moved to
00:28:30
death watch 35 days before uh a
00:28:34
scheduled execution date uh the prisoner
00:28:37
is removed from his cell on death
00:28:41
row and put in a special
00:28:44
cell a person is watched at 24 hours a
00:28:48
day 7 days a week it's a very
00:28:51
restrictive
00:28:53
environment if Robert needed toilet
00:28:56
paper he would have to ask for it
00:28:59
they're just watch they want to make
00:29:01
sure that the person does not commit
00:29:05
suicide you know which
00:29:07
is which is ironic U that they want to
00:29:11
make sure that the person is executed
00:29:14
rather than um taking his own
00:29:17
life a month later on March
00:29:22
2nd Robert to and his team of lawyers
00:29:25
including Dale Bach tried to get his
00:29:28
death sentence commuted to life in
00:29:31
prison Robert wanted a clemency hearing
00:29:34
because Robert wanted to
00:29:36
live Robert wanted to publicly uh
00:29:41
Express uh the remorse uh for uh what he
00:29:46
did and to
00:29:48
apologize to the family of Mr
00:29:52
Jones first and foremost I'd like to
00:29:55
apologize to Mark's family
00:29:59
I have the deepest regrets for what I
00:30:01
[Music]
00:30:03
did I was at the Clemy hearing the
00:30:06
clency hearings are held in a big
00:30:09
Auditorium where they had death rad it's
00:30:12
the last chance uh that uh uh a
00:30:16
condemned person can uh can possibly you
00:30:19
know ask that their sentence be commuted
00:30:22
that uh that the execution be
00:30:26
stayed Robert wanted to live because he
00:30:30
was able to build a life while he was on
00:30:33
death row uh he was no longer using
00:30:37
meth um he had sobered up uh and Robert
00:30:43
grew uh as a person he rebuilt his
00:30:47
relationship with his family he was
00:30:51
mentoring his sister's son who did not
00:30:54
have a father figure in his life so
00:30:57
Robert had a lot to live for and he was
00:30:59
willing to spend the rest of his life uh
00:31:02
in
00:31:04
prison he's a human being he wasn't
00:31:08
sitting at a table Shackled or whatever
00:31:09
he was literally in a cage like an
00:31:13
animal I was like
00:31:16
why why why is he in a cage it's
00:31:18
ridiculous to's defense team spoke about
00:31:22
the trauma Robert experienced at the
00:31:24
hands of his
00:31:26
mother Robert's about 6 years old in
00:31:29
this Photograph this is the year that
00:31:31
Robert almost lost his leg to his
00:31:32
mother's discipline Robert's about 8
00:31:35
years old in this picture this is around
00:31:37
the time that Robert's mother bound and
00:31:39
gagged him and stuck him in the
00:31:40
floorboard of the Family's
00:31:45
car it was then the prosecutor's turn in
00:31:48
the
00:31:49
hearing your story is very similar to a
00:31:54
lot of individuals we see in your
00:31:57
situation
00:31:58
they've come from horrendous
00:32:00
backgrounds they're drug addicts and
00:32:04
commit a crime that they terribly regret
00:32:08
years later they've done well in prison
00:32:11
but the issue is the crime why should we
00:32:16
look at you any different than any of
00:32:18
the other folks in the same
00:32:24
situation all I know is that I've done
00:32:27
my best to Chang my life 20 years I've
00:32:31
spent getting it together and trying to
00:32:34
be a good dad and good
00:32:37
uncle that's all I can do and try to
00:32:41
speak about the life destroying aspects
00:32:44
of
00:32:45
drugs I'm nothing
00:32:49
special Robbie was pretty emotional
00:32:51
during the clemency hearing he was
00:32:53
speaking from his heart he had his
00:32:55
statement prepared he choked up during
00:32:59
it I truly wish with my heart that I had
00:33:01
not taken Mark's
00:33:03
life and it's a terrible thing that I
00:33:06
did and I should never have it should
00:33:07
never have
00:33:11
happened the prosecution responded this
00:33:16
individual that committed this crime but
00:33:19
now he's cloaked as a victim I tell you
00:33:23
that right is right and Justice is
00:33:25
justice
00:33:26
[Music]
00:33:29
and I ask that you not buy into this
00:33:32
notion that he's a victim and I ask you
00:33:34
to not commute his sentence a decision
00:33:37
on the fate of Robert toy was made Mr
00:33:40
chairman I come down on the side of not
00:33:43
favoring a commutation to Mr
00:33:47
to this crime was one of the worst of
00:33:49
the worst and when he perpetrated this
00:33:52
crime Mr toy was one of the worst of the
00:33:55
worst but it was just too late you know
00:33:58
[Music]
00:34:05
4 days after the clemency hearing and
00:34:07
the evening before Robert to's
00:34:11
execution Christine and Dale went to
00:34:14
visit him he hadn't had any human touch
00:34:16
for 20 years and I hadn't hugged him in
00:34:19
20 years and he was about to be
00:34:21
killed I said so when does that happen
00:34:23
she goes well it doesn't Arizona doesn't
00:34:25
allow for that
00:34:28
that was the first time I broke down
00:34:29
into tears because I had been planning
00:34:33
on seeing him hugging him and and
00:34:36
touching him for the first time in 20
00:34:38
years before they did
00:34:40
that I saw Robert the night before he
00:34:45
was scheduled to be
00:34:47
executed he was strong his Spirit was
00:34:50
strong um he was preparing
00:34:54
himself uh to die we went into VIs it
00:34:58
and he had reconciled himself he knew
00:35:00
this was coming he felt like he deserved
00:35:03
what was coming and he's like I'm I'm
00:35:06
good he called me Chris then he's like
00:35:08
Chris I'm
00:35:09
good and the guard says time's up and
00:35:13
I'm like no not not yet they're like no
00:35:15
you got to go and that's when everything
00:35:18
kind of it it flipped in that
00:35:20
moment I looked at him and as we were
00:35:23
saying
00:35:24
goodbye we put our hands up against the
00:35:26
glass
00:35:28
and he just started crying and I started
00:35:30
crying and I can't to this day I can
00:35:33
still see the agony in his face and it
00:35:36
wasn't the fear of what was going to
00:35:37
happen the next day it was the pain you
00:35:41
know of like the reality the end of the
00:35:44
story that is well it was really
00:35:47
happening I didn't want to
00:35:50
leave I didn't get to hug him I didn't
00:35:54
get to talk to him without the glass
00:35:56
between us
00:36:00
the day of the execution had
00:36:04
arrived Christine was at the prison to
00:36:07
support her brother the day of the
00:36:10
execution was very very
00:36:12
strange we're standing there they file
00:36:15
in the curtains open up and I was the
00:36:20
biggest shock of my
00:36:24
life he's laying on the table
00:36:28
and I immediately can see in his face
00:36:31
that the person I saw the night before
00:36:33
is not the same person I'm looking at
00:36:35
now something went wrong when I tell the
00:36:39
story about when he was a little baby
00:36:41
like a very young child and my mom had
00:36:43
him on the floorboard and he was duct
00:36:44
taped and he his hands were tied and he
00:36:46
was like looking at me crying Help Me
00:36:48
Help me that face was there again he was
00:36:52
looking tortured he had clearly been
00:36:56
crying
00:36:58
I'm standing there like I'm 12 years old
00:37:00
again and my mom is in charge and I
00:37:02
can't move and here's my brother who
00:37:04
needs my help and again I'm not saving
00:37:06
him didn't save him the car didn't save
00:37:08
him when he was drug addicted and I'm
00:37:10
not able to save him again here he is
00:37:14
strapped and I can't stop it I can't
00:37:16
save
00:37:19
him it was never Christine's job to
00:37:21
raise her younger brother it's the
00:37:24
primary caregivers that's their job it's
00:37:26
your mom and dad or whoever is is there
00:37:28
to take care of you it's the adults job
00:37:31
to look after the children not the
00:37:33
children's job to look after the other
00:37:36
children Robert noted I feel like a true
00:37:41
monster for putting my kids through this
00:37:44
when I think about what I put Mar
00:37:46
Jones's family through 20 years ago I'm
00:37:49
right where I should be I literally
00:37:51
destroy two families with what I did I
00:37:55
wish I could take it all back I'm
00:38:00
sorry so he closes his
00:38:03
eyes and then he gas for
00:38:09
air I continued to watch um as uh the
00:38:14
color left Robert's face a few minutes
00:38:18
later there was an announcement that the
00:38:21
execution uh has been
00:38:24
completed and the curtains closed
00:38:29
I looked at my watch and I'm like it's
00:38:33
11:16 he's
00:38:37
dead on March 8th
00:38:40
2012 Robert chry was executed by lisal
00:38:54
injection she stayed afterwards and
00:38:56
later in the day they allowed her to to
00:39:00
go see his
00:39:02
body and as she described it to me she
00:39:07
went in and he was there and she just
00:39:11
started to cry and she said
00:39:14
Robbie you're finally
00:39:18
[Music]
00:39:23
free the family members are so often the
00:39:27
Forgotten
00:39:29
victims we tend to forget that they have
00:39:32
also lost
00:39:33
someone they're also related to the
00:39:37
perpetrator they have to carry that
00:39:39
burden for the rest of their
00:39:43
lives I want to make it really clear I'm
00:39:46
not looking for sympathy on this we need
00:39:49
to help people that are on drugs we need
00:39:51
to help people that have mental
00:39:52
illnesses we need families to love each
00:39:56
other more to be more present to be more
00:39:59
aware to be a little braver so when you
00:40:02
see something move forward move into it
00:40:05
and don't give up don't give up on that
00:40:10
[Music]
00:40:14
person in my heart when I think about my
00:40:17
brother as a
00:40:18
murderer I feel like I'm culpable in so
00:40:21
many ways because I didn't save
00:40:24
him which was my goal as a child it was
00:40:28
always my goal to save
00:40:30
him I wished I could have had him in my
00:40:33
life when I needed
00:40:35
him and
00:40:37
me not doing more to stop
00:40:41
it which is so weird because what power
00:40:44
did I have
00:40:48
none she can see that what he did was
00:40:52
Dreadful but she also loved him it's so
00:40:56
complex for
00:40:58
her and I'm just in awe about the way
00:41:00
that
00:41:01
she describes that those threads of
00:41:06
trauma because that that is what she's
00:41:08
living with every
00:41:10
single every single day when she thinks
00:41:12
about her own
00:41:14
life Christine often thinks back to the
00:41:18
day Robert was sentenced to
00:41:21
death and to the moment she shared with
00:41:24
the sister of her brother's victim Mark
00:41:26
Jones
00:41:27
[Music]
00:41:29
I got a sympathy card and I wrote on
00:41:32
there I am so sorry for the loss of your
00:41:34
brother today I will lose mine
00:41:36
[Music]
00:41:38
too so I handed her the
00:41:40
card the most incredible thing
00:41:44
happened there was a pathway magically
00:41:46
there and she and I met in the center of
00:41:49
the courtroom and we hugged each other
00:41:52
and we both
00:41:53
cried and it was such a good feeling on
00:41:56
the worst day of my life
00:41:58
because I had somehow made it better
00:42:01
somehow made
00:42:03
it I needed her to know I was as sad for
00:42:06
her as as as I
00:42:13
was the monster that he was if I look at
00:42:17
and think about that drug addicted
00:42:20
violent
00:42:22
[Music]
00:42:23
monster I have no pain about his death
00:42:27
but that's not who they
00:42:31
killed the person that ended up being
00:42:33
executed was not the same
00:42:38
person I love him he's my brother
00:42:44
[Music]
00:42:53
[Music]
