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[music playing] NARRATOR: The murder of
a young college student baffled investigators,
until evidence
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suggested he knew his attacker. Three tiny hairs and some
microscopic skin cells
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uncovered a trail of lies,
deceit, and retaliation. [theme music] NARRATOR: During
the school year,
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more than 27,000 students
from all over the world call the University
of Missouri home.
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JOSH HINKLE: It is
largely a college town. A lot of students live here. So it's usually pretty quiet.
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No big crimes. There have only
been about 80 to 90 murders in the past 25 years.
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NARRATOR: One of those murders
occurred in June of 2004. A group of college students
found a body on the grass
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in between two apartment
buildings near campus. MORLEY SWINGLE:
The body was naked,
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except for a pair of
blue running shorts. And it was apparent to
these college students,
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even from a distance, that
there was a lot of blood around the neck, and
that the person was dead.
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NARRATOR: At first,
police thought it might be an accident. JEFF NICHOLS: This
individual could
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have been jumping from
one rooftop to the next. And being a college town, we
see all kinds of crazy things
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that happen here. And a stunt like that would
not be out of the norm. MORLEY SWINGLE: They got up,
though, and looked at the roof,
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and saw there was not blood
on the edge of the roof. They looked at the
air conditioning unit
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and saw there wasn't
any blood there. And they rather quickly
ruled out that idea,
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that it would have been a fall. NARRATOR: But a
closer inspection revealed the throat
wound looked more
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like it was made by a knife
or some other sharp object. And the blood evidence
indicated the murder took place
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in the spot where the body
was found, and not elsewhere. The victim was identified as
22-year-old Jesse Valencia,
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a pre-law major
at the university. He worked part-time as a
clerk at a local motel.
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-I just fell apart. I wouldn't talk to anybody,
and I just sat and cried all night long
and about all day.
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JEFF NICHOLS: What I know about
Jesse is, he was a great guy. He socialized quite a bit.
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He didn't have any real
enemies that anyone knew of. -He was very carefree, and
he had a lot of friends.
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And I think he really valued
those friendships a lot. NARRATOR: But Jesse
had a reputation
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for defending what
he believed in. And he seldom backed down. -All of Jesse's friends
were in agreement
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that he was a confrontational
kind of person. He wanted to be
a lawyer someday. He actually liked arguments.
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He was flamboyant. NARRATOR: Investigators
learned that on the night before the murder, Jesse
Valencia worked at the motel,
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went to a party, and
then headed home. MORLEY SWINGLE: He had
been drinking that night.
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His blood alcohol
level in his body showed he was still under
the influence of alcohol
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at the time he was killed. NARRATOR: Investigators
wondered why Jesse was outside in bare feet and
wearing only shorts that night.
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Jesse lived alone
in an apartment a block from where
he was murdered. Investigators found the
door to his apartment ajar.
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But there was no sign of
foul play or a struggle. Under a pile of
clothes, they found
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a possible clue, a used condom. Was it possible that
the condom contained biological evidence
of the killer?
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Jesse Valencia's autopsy
provided a lot of information. Based on rigor mortis
and insect activity,
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the medical examiner
estimated Jesse was killed some
time before dawn. The murder weapon
was a serrated knife
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that cut the arteries
and his neck. VALERIE RAO: There was
something unique to the blade.
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We were very fortunate
we were able to see some of those features. For example, there was an
interrupted parallel pattern
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that, to me, suggested
there was something serrated about the blade. NARRATOR: The autopsy
revealed no defensive wounds,
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which is unusual
in a knife attack. -Usually, if someone sees
someone coming at them
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with a knife, the
hands will go up. As your attacker is
slashing with the knife,
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you're putting your hands up. And you find characteristic
defense wounds to the hands.
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There were no wounds,
whatsoever, to the hands. NARRATOR: And the medical
examiner found out why.
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VALERIE RAO: So on the
surface of the windpipe, he had areas of hemorrhage that
we see, also, when somebody is
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deprived of oxygen or in
strangulation type deaths. MORLEY SWINGLE: She
also said she found
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petechiae hemorrhaging
in the eyes, which is consistent with
somebody being choked,
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or somebody having
compression put to their neck. NARRATOR: This
meant that Jesse was
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unconscious before
he was killed. DNA testing of the condom
found in Jesse's apartment
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showed it contained
biological material from two different people. One was Jesse's.
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The other was, obviously,
Jesse's sexual partner. An individual police
wanted to identify.
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Jesse's cellphone
records showed he had a number of conversations
with a fellow student, Ed
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McDevitt, on the
night he was killed. -The cell phone records of both
Jesse Valencia and Ed McDevitt
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confirmed that he
and McDevitt had had a phone call about 3:13 AM. So obviously, Ed
McDevitt becomes
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one of the potential suspects. NARRATOR: McDevitt admitted
the two had been lovers.
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And said, the last
time he was intimate with Jesse was two
nights before the murder.
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DNA testing confirmed that
McDevitt's DNA matched the biological evidence on the
condom in Jesse's apartment.
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-So obvious, at that
point, Ed McDevitt can't be ruled out as a suspect. NARRATOR: McDevitt insisted
he didn't kill Jesse,
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and claimed he was at
home with his roommate at the time of the murder. The roommate corroborated
McDevitt's claim.
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But evidence under
Jesse's fingernails undercut that alibi. -As I started examining
the shavings and clippings,
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I noticed that two
fingernails appeared to have some reddish-blackish
stains on them.
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NARRATOR: These cells were
subjected to DNA testing. The results were surprising.
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-I noticed that the
profile from the right hand was characteristic of a mixture
of possibly three individuals.
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NARRATOR: The first
source was Jesse, himself, which was expected. The second, was
from Ed McDevitt.
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He claimed this DNA,
like the condom, resulted from their
sexual encounter two nights before the murder.
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-Maybe this DNA was
from just not washing his hands as often
as he should have. NARRATOR: To solve the
case, investigators
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would need to identify the
source of the third DNA sample. One of Jesse's friends,
Andy Schermerhorn,
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had information that would help. MORLEY SWINGLE:
Their relationship was a little unusual for
mid-America to understand.
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They were friends who
would sometimes have sex. They had known each
other for several months,
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and they had had sex
about five times. But Andy was quick to tell
me, we weren't boyfriends.
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NARRATOR: Andy said he
was in Jesse's apartment several months earlier and
witness a bizarre incident.
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MORLEY SWINGLE: engaged in sexual
activity in Jesse's bed. And a knock came to the door.
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Jesse got up and went
to the door opened it, and it was a police
officer, in uniform.
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The officer came in
with a flashlight. He shined the flashlight
around the apartment,
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and then he said, uh, keep
doing what you're doing. And Andy Schermerhorn said, I
was standing up in bed, naked,
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holding a sheet up. And Jesse said, no.
He's cool. He's cool.
-He's cool. NARRATOR: It was clear that
Jesse knew the police officer
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and invited him to join them. MORLEY SWINGLE: Then the officer got up real quickly.
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Turned on a lamp and said
to Andy Schermerhorn, this has got to remain a secret.
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The officer went to the door. And Jessie said to the office,
when will I see you again?
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And the officer
made some comment, you'll see me when you see
me, or something like that.
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It wasn't clear to
Andy Schermerhorn that Jesse would never know
when this officer would show up.
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And the officer left. NARRATOR: Needless
to say, investigators wanted to know the identity of
this mysterious police officer.
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Was it possible he had
information about the murder? One of Jesse Valencia's
lovers told investigators
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that Jesse was also involved
with a police officer. Jesse's family confirmed
the relationship.
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But Jesse never told
them the officer's name. LINDA VALENCIA: Whenever
I talked to Jesse,
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he would tell me
that the guy was just practically stalking him. That's the word Jesse used.
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He said he practically
stalks me everywhere I go. NARRATOR: Apparently this police
officer hadn't given Jesse
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his real name, or any other
information about himself. -It was like, the cop wanted
to know everything about Jesse.
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But he didn't want Jesse
to know anything about him. And he would just
tell him, oh, I
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just live nearby, or whatever. And that's when Jesse started
getting suspicious, and started
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telling me, he
said, you know, I'm beginning to wonder
about this guy. NARRATOR: Andy
Schermerhorn claimed
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he had a sexual
encounter with both Jesse and the police officer. He said the man was
young, in his 20's,
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Hispanic with dark hair,
and slightly built. Investigators asked Andy to
come to police headquarters
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to look at some photographs. As they were leading him
to the conference room, something unexpected happened.
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-As Andy Schermerhorn was
going down the hallway to look at the photographs
of the person he thought
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was the killer,
he saw the killer coming at him in the hallway. He recognized him
as the person he
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had seen having sex
with Jesse Valencia. -That's him?
-Yes. MORLEY SWINGLE: It
scared him to death.
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NARRATOR: The man was
28-year-old Steven Rios, a three year veteran
of the department.
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He was known for
being very ambitious. JOSH HINKLE: Steven
Rios seemed like he was well respected in the police
force and in the community.
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I know he had
political aspirations. And what he wanted
something bigger. But I also think
that Steven Rios
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was a very rigid individual. And he played everything by
the rules, was very strict.
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NARRATOR: Rios was
married and had just become a father
for the first time. His son was only
a few months old.
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There had never been any
rumors that he was sexually involved with anyone
of the same gender.
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-We certainly did not want to
believe that Stephen Rios could have been, in any way, involved
in the murder Jessica Valencia.
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NARRATOR: When
questioned, Rios denied Schermerhorn's allegations. MORLEY SWINGLE: The
detective says, I've
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talked to another boy who says
he was there when you came by. And he saw you have sex
with Jesse Valencia.
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And Rios said, what? Sex? And acted real surprised. NARRATOR: Rios said
he had an alibi
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for the night of the murder. That he was home in
bed with his wife. -Steven Rios told
me on the phone
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that he would never
harm Jesse Valencia, and he had nothing
to do with his death.
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NARRATOR: Just to be sure,
Rios provided his DNA to compare to the
unidentified cells
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found under Jesse's fingernails. It seemed to match. But with DNA from
three different people,
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it was impossible to
tell conclusively. -He said that looking at the
DNA under the fingernail,
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that there was a
1 in 7,000 chance that you could pluck any
person at random off the street
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and that they would be a match. That they could have
contributed to this sample.
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NARRATOR: And even if it was
a Rios' DNA under Jesse's fingernails, it
didn't prove murder.
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Ed McDevitt's DNA was under
Jesse's fingernails, too. MORLEY SWINGLE: Medical
science can't tell you
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how long DNA would stay
under somebody's fingernail. You know, common sense tell you,
every time you wash your hands
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some of it is going to go away. But you can't say, with
scientific certainly, how long
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is DNA going to stay under
somebody's fingernail. NARRATOR: Police wondered
if this was the one case
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that forensic science
wouldn't be able to solve. In the search for Jesse
Valencia's killer,
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investigators had several
suspects, all of whom had an alibi. Then investigators took one
last look at Jesse's body
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and made a startling discovery. They found a large horizontal
bruise along the victim's
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chest, the kind caused
by a police restraint maneuver known as
a shoulder pin. It's a hold in which the officer
grabs the offender from behind
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and renders him
unconscious by cutting off blood flow to the brain. -Some people go out as
quickly as five seconds.
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And my personal experience,
working with my partner in training, he said that when
he applied the technique to me
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and I tried to get out of
it, I became unconscious in about five to six seconds.
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NARRATOR: That is, if the
hold is done correctly. TODD BURKE: And when I saw
the bruising on Mr. Valencia,
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on both sides of his
chest and on his back, my comment to Mr.
Swingle was, that could be consistent with
this technique done wrong,
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where they were
wrestling and fighting. And maybe he was trying--
he was getting out of it,
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and it wasn't working. NARRATOR: When investigators
examined Steve Rios' police training file, they made
a shocking discovery.
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Rios took this
course and failed. -What happened with
Steven Rios' scoring was, he scored below an 80%.
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So he was not certified in
the Defensive Tactics system. NARRATOR: And on Jessie chest,
about where you would put
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your arm in this
police hold, there was some of the victim's blood. And stuck to it
were several hairs.
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They appeared to be
from an arm or leg. WILLIAM RANDALL: The
characteristics we typically
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see which limb hairs are
curved-like features, long tapering tips. Head hairs are different.
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They're longer. They don't necessarily
taper at the end. They're often cut or
rounded off at the ends.
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NARRATOR: Miraculously,
three of the hair contained the root, a rich source of DNA.
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Scientists performed a PCR DNA
test on all three hair roots. All three were from
the same person.
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The hairs weren't from Jesse
Valencia or his friends Andy Schermerhorn
or Ed McDevitt.
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-Whenever I compared those
back to the known reference standards from the
individuals in this case,
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I was able to eliminate
all individuals except for Steven Rios. NARRATOR: This put police
officer Steven Rios' arm
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around Jesse's chest
when he was bleeding. -He said, they match
to Steven Rios. And statistically, only 1
in 757.6 trillion people
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would match.
And Rios matches. NARRATOR: And
investigators discovered how Rios and Jesse met.
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Police records showed Rios cited
Jesse for disorderly conduct at a loud party on campus
three months before the murder.
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When confronted
with the evidence, Rios changed his story. He admitted he and Jessie
Valencia became lovers.
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And said he lied to
protect his family. But he continued to
deny killing him. -Anybody's heart would go out
to the wife of Stephen Rios,
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because, in a course of about
48 hours, she found out, number one, her husband's
having an affair.
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Number two, he's
having it with a man. And number three,
it's quite likely he killed this man to keep
him quiet about the affair.
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So for her life
and was devastated in a very short period of time. NARRATOR: And a closer look at
Rios' activities on the night
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of the murder revealed
a 45 minute time frame for which Rios couldn't account. And prosecutors think
they know the motive.
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Jesse told his family he had
been involved with a police officer, but just learned he
was married and had a child.
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And he planned to end
their relationship. -He thought, you
know, it's not right.
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If he's married, I don't
want anything to do with him. And, um, he told me he
was going to confront him.
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And he says, well, I am
going to forget about it. He said, I've been
trying to avoid him,
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but he just keeps
following me around. JOSH HINKLE: Steven Rios was
hiding it from his family
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and from the police force
and from his friends. Jesse Valencia thought that he
could maybe pretend like he was
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threatening Steven Rios to
tell the police about Steven Rios having this affair,
to tell the police chief.
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But I don't think
Jesse Valencia ever realized how much
danger he was in. [knocking]
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NARRATOR: On the
night of the murder, prosecutors believe Steven Rios
stopped by Jesse's apartment
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after his shift ended. Jesse told him the
relationship was over. Rios got angry.
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Jesse threatened to
tell Rios' superiors if he didn't leave him alone. NARRATOR: What are you
talking about, we're done?
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-Listen to me. I don't want to have to
go to your supervisor. -You're going to stand
here and threaten me?
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NARRATOR: And then
he went outside, hoping to end the confrontation. -Don't threaten me.
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NARRATOR: Rios didn't
want the affair do end. And certainly didn't want
his family or co-workers
00:18:52
to find out. So things turned violent. Rios used a police hold to
render Jesse unconscious.
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It worked, but it
left the bruises. In the struggle, there
was a DNA cross-transfer.
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Jesse scratched Rios and
picked up skin cells. Rios left his arm
hairs on Jesse's chest.
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When Jesse was unconscious,
Rios used his knife to kill him. He left, thinking
his secret was safe.
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If might have been, had it not
been for the forensic evidence. -Jurors want to see that.
00:19:35
They want to see fingerprints. They want to see DNA evidence. They want to see, you know,
something more than just
00:19:41
listening to witnesses
talk about the evidence. They want to see objective
evidence on the case.
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JEFF NICHOLS:
Without a doubt, this is the worst case in our
department's history.
00:19:53
And I think any department
would agree, no matter how large or how small it is,
to have something
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like this is devastating. NARRATOR: The weapon used in
the murder, the serrated knife,
00:20:05
has never been recovered. BAILIFF: Case number
167984, State versus Rios. NARRATOR: Steven Rios
was tried and convicted
00:20:14
of first-degree murder and
sentenced to life in prison without parole. He still maintains
his innocence.
00:20:22
-You think a police
officer is someone who is hired to serve
and protect community.
00:20:28
You never expect them to
be on the opposite end and be a killer. -In this trial, in
closing argument,
00:20:35
I quoted the comedy skit by
the comedian Richard Pryor. And in that skit, a woman
comes home unexpectedly
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and she catches her husband
in bed with another man. And the husband
looks up and says,
00:20:47
who are going to believe,
me or your lying eyes? Steven Rios is saying to
you, 1 in 757 trillion?
00:20:54
Who are you gonna believe,
me or your lying eyes? And the jury, obviously,
agreed with me
00:21:00
that the scientific
evidence in this case proved, beyond a reasonable
doubt, that he was the killer.
00:21:06
[theme music]