A missing wife and a tangled web of secrets | Forensic Files

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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website [Music]
on the morning of wednesday february 8 2006 wyoming resident bonnie burns sat by her telephone willing it to ring
minutes ticked by but the phone remained silent with each passing moment bonnie's
growing sense of unease increased further she was waiting for a call from her daughter 41 year old tami rhea who lived
interstate in the small south dakota city of pier every single morning without fail tammy
would call bonnie for an early catch-up sometimes the calls were brief other times they were long but not a morning
went by without one this was the first morning that tammy hadn't called unable to contain her concern any longer
bonnie picked up the receiver and dialed tammy's home number she sat listening as the call rang out
with no answer bonnie hung up and tried tammy's cell phone this time the call went to voicemail
bonnie informed her husband and other two daughters that she was unable to get a hold of tammy and they too began
taking turns trying to reach her but no matter how many times they tried every single call went unanswered
[Music] [Music] there was a one-hour time difference between bonnie's home in lander wyoming
and tammy's home in pier south dakota when bonnie realised it was almost 9 a.m where tammy lived she decided to try her
daughter at work tammy was employed part-time in the shoe department of a kmart store
bonnie soon got a hold of one of tammy's colleagues who paged tammy over the store's loudspeaker system
bonnie listened closely as her daughter's name echoed throughout the store but there was no response
tammy wasn't there bonnie's concern swelled into panic there were approximately 550 miles
between her and tammy and she had no way of searching for her daughter from such
a distance wondering what to do next bonnie suddenly remembered the name of one of
tammy's work colleagues brian clark tammy had recently told her mother that she and brian had become good friends so
bonnie thought he might have some insight as to where tammy might be bonnie dialed the kmart's phone number
again this time asking if there was a brian there [Music] brian clark had just started his shift
when bonnie's call came through he picked up the phone and listened as bonnie introduced herself and asked if
he knew where tammy was brian said that he didn't he had last seen tammy at about five
o'clock the previous afternoon however he did offer one new piece of information
tammy was supposed to be starting a new job at a nearby pharmacy that day brian offered to call the pharmacy to
see if tammy had arrived bonnie gratefully accepted and waited eagerly for the phone to ring
within a few minutes he called back but not with the news bonnie wanted to hear there was no sign of tammy at the
pharmacy either bonnie's anxiety peaked she decided it was time to call the police
brian offered to make the call himself he hung up then dialed 9-1-1 when the operator answered brian told
them he needed to file a missing person's report he gave them a brief description of what
tammy was wearing the previous afternoon a black turtleneck he then added foul play could be suspected here
the operator asked brian why he would think such a thing brian answered hopefully this is discreet but me and
her have been having an affair and apparently her husband has found out about it
earlier that morning when 12 year old hayley rhea sat down to eat breakfast something was off
her father brad raya was milling about but her mother tammy was nowhere to be seen
tammy was usually bustling about in the kitchen and preparing for the day ahead but on this particular morning the house
was strangely quiet hayley headed to her mother's bedroom the bed was unmade and tammy's cell
phone was on the dresser but tammy wasn't there hayley went into the garage and saw that
her mother's car was still parked there confused she walked back into the kitchen
she noticed that tammy's purse and keys were sitting on the counter haley wasn't sure what was happening
her mother was always home in the morning and it made no sense that she'd be out without her car purse phone or
keys the two had spent the previous evening together while brad had been working
late it had been a normal uneventful evening tammy had watched hayley play volleyball
at her middle school then they'd gone grocery shopping and grabbed some mexican takeaway for dinner
at no point did tammy mention anything about going anywhere the next day baffled as to where her mother might be
haley asked her father what was going on in a quiet voice brad replied honey she's probably at her boyfriend's
house she'll be back in a couple of days [Music] tammy burns had met her future husband
brad rhea when she was a 27 year old living in billings montana the pair had been introduced by tammy's
sister who worked alongside brad at a restaurant tammy and brad immediately hit it off
and within a year tammy was pregnant she couldn't have been happier it had been her dream to get married and have a
daughter tammy and brad tied the knot and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl they
named haley tammy absolutely adored being a mother she thrived in the role taking care of
hayley and the home while brad focused on building his career he got a job at walmart and slowly
climbed his way up the ranks although he was busy he always made time for tammy and hayley
in 2004 brad's hard work paid off he was offered a promotion to assistant manager but it required the family to
relocate interstate to peer although pierre was the capital of south dakota it was home to less than 14 000
people and there wasn't a lot of action its biggest attraction was the awahi dam
and its adjoining lake which was a hot spot for fishing and hunting regardless pierre offered a scenic and
safe place to raise a family so brad accepted the promotion the news wasn't well received by haley
who didn't want to leave her school and friends tammy's feelings were mixed she wanted to support her husband's
career but was reluctant to leave her life in billings behind regardless the move went ahead and
within a few months of the ria family's arrival in pier things started looking up
hayley joined several sporting teams which opened at the doors for her and tammy to meet new people
things improved further when tammy applied for a part-time job at kmart it was there that she met brian clark
when hayley couldn't find tammy on the morning of wednesday february 8 2006 she was shocked when brad said she was
likely at her boyfriend's house this was the first haley had heard about her mother having a boyfriend although
she was aware that her parents relationship was in trouble two weeks earlier brad and tammy had sat
her down to break the news that they were getting a divorce brad had been working incredibly long
shifts sometimes up to 100 hours a week and it had taken a toll on their marriage
brad and tammy assured their daughter that everything was going to be ok and they would do their best to ensure
things didn't change too much the couple planned on staying together until the end of the school year so that
the transition didn't impact hayley's education brad would then move out while tammy and
haley continued living in the family home tammy had already found a full-time job
doing medicare billing for a local pharmacy so she could provide as a single mother
the news of the divorce caught hayley completely off guard her parents never fought and she had no
reason to believe that a divorce was on the horizon she was devastated with brad now revealing that tammy had a
boyfriend hayley didn't know what to think why hadn't her mother mentioned anything
the two were incredibly close and shared similar personality traits tammy was a strong athlete who'd earned
a volleyball scholarship as a teenager hayley had inherited her mother's love of sports as well as her fun and
outgoing manner the two had never kept secrets from one another before haley continued getting ready for school
but all she could think about was her mother after dropping hayley off at school brad
ria made his way to work he hadn't been there long when two detectives suddenly entered the building
and asked to speak with him they had received the missing person report from brian clark and hoped that
brad might have information about tammy's whereabouts when brad heard that tammy hadn't shown
up for work and police suspected she was missing he was visibly shocked he explained that he hadn't seen tammy
since the day before brad had arrived home from work just after 10 p.m to find haley asleep in bed
but strangely tammy wasn't at home several hours passed with no sign of her [Music]
then at around 1am brad heard a car pull up outside he peered through a window and saw tammy
park her car a black dodge durango suv another car then pulled up behind her and tammy got out of her durango and
into the other vehicle brad had recently learned that tammy was seeing another man so he assumed that's
who the other car belonged to acting on impulse he hopped into tammy's durango and attempted to follow them
however after driving a short distance the durango broke down and brad had to pull over to the side of the road
a passing highway patrol officer noticed him and pulled over to provide assistance
by the time brad got the car started again he'd long lost sight of tammy so he drove back home and went to bed
when he woke in the morning to find tammy still wasn't at home he just assumed she had taken off with her
boyfriend and would be home in a couple of days [Music] the detectives listened attentively to
brad's account of the previous night's events at just five foot seven and 115 pounds
he didn't look like a dangerous man and there was nothing in his demeanor to suggest he was lying
the detectives asked whether it was possible that tami had since returned to the family home
perhaps she decided to pack some belongings knowing her husband was at work brad offered to escort them to the house
in case tammy was there what he didn't know was that the detectives had already stopped off at
his home before going to visit him at work one of them had peered through the garage window and noticed something that
caught his eye [Music] and the detectives drove to the residence where brad signed a form
consenting to a search of the property he waited outside while one detective entered to look for tammy and the other
went to search her vehicle upon entering the garage the detective saw a reddish-brown stain on the door of
tammy's durango this is what he'd noticed earlier when looking through the window and had
suspected it was blood as he moved closer he also saw what appeared to be blood dripping from the
vehicle's side running board each drop fell in a small pool on the concrete floor below
at a rate that indicated someone had lost a significant amount of blood the detective opened the durango's back
door and was overwhelmed by the strong stench of bleach he noticed swells on the vehicle's
upholstery that suggested someone had tried to wipe something up everything about the situation suggested
fair play but the detective didn't want to alert brad to what he'd found brad could withdraw his consent for the
search at any time and the detective wanted to secure an official search warrant before the homeowner changed his
mind instead the two detectives asked the brad to join them at the station to answer some questions
while he was away from home they would covertly apply for a search warrant meanwhile hayley was sitting in class
worrying about her mother when a message suddenly bled over the loudspeaker summoning her to the front office
hayley's mind started to race she nervously walked to the office and was greeted by a police officer who
wanted to ask her some questions about her parents relationship haley said that her mom and dad didn't
fight and there had never been any violence between them because of this the recent news of their
divorce had been very unexpected when she had gone to bed the night before tammy was at home and nothing
seemed out of the ordinary while hayley was being questioned police contacted some of tami's friends and
family to see if they knew where tammy could be there was a reason why tammy's mother
hadn't contacted brad when tammy missed their early morning phone call during the recent christmas break tammy
had visited her family in wyoming and told them she planned on leaving her husband
tammy's family suspected she might have been seeing someone else as she had mentioned brian's name several times but
they had impressed her on the matter brad had even called tammy's mother bonnie asking for her help to save their
marriage but it was clear that tammy had already made up her mind back at the peer police station brad was
cooperative as detectives sat him down for a chat he told them that tami had recently
revealed she was dating another man and wanted a divorce but brad didn't know who the other man was or where he lived
he said that he didn't want to know and wasn't curious to find out brad strongly denied having anything to
do with tammy's disappearance and insisted he had no idea where she could be when the detectives told brad that blood
had been found on the running board of tammy's durango he was visibly shocked he admitted he was the last person to
drive the vehicle when attempting to trail tammy the night before repeating his story about breaking down and a
highway patrol officer offering assistance brad insisted that after restarting the
car he drove straight home he didn't recall hitting an animal or anything else when he got home he parked the durango
in the garage if tammy or anyone else had returned to retrieve the vehicle he didn't know
about it while brad was questioned the search warrant for his house was approved
police examined each room but nothing appeared to be out of place the beds were all made and the washer
and dryer were filled with clean laundry there was no sign of tammy and no indication that anything untoward had
happened other than the blood in tammy's vehicle it appeared to be a warm and loving
family home yet when investigators swabbed the durango for forensic evidence they realised
there was much more blood than they initially thought samples were sent to a forensic lab
along with some of tammy's personal belongings to confirm whether it was a match for her dna
the interviewing detectives were at a loss brad didn't have a criminal record and
there was no evidence to suggest he was responsible for tammy's disappearance however the amount of blood found in her
car indicated she had been seriously harmed and most likely killed if this was the case brad was the most
likely suspect he had access to tammy's car and her desire for a divorce suggested an
obvious motive the problem was without a body they couldn't even be certain that tammy was
dead brad was interrogated for five hours with detectives slowly increasing the pressure
despite their persistent questioning brad continued to deny having any knowledge of tammy's whereabouts
desperate for answers the detectives flatly accused him of lying this accusation was the final straw for
brad he asked for a lawyer now the detectives were faced with a difficult decision
they still couldn't be 100 certain that tammy was dead but all science pointed to homicide
if brad was responsible and they let him go it would give him an opportunity to destroy any potential evidence
under pressure to make a call they abruptly arrested brad for first-degree murder setting bail at one hundred
thousand dollars brad was incredulous and staunchly maintained his innocence haley was placed in foster care
overnight as tammy's family in wyoming were brought up to speed with what was going on
unable to bear the thought of haley being on her own tammy's father got in his car and began the nearly nine-hour
drive to be with his granddaughter brad's friends were stunned to learn he'd been arrested for murder
brad was a gentle family man and they couldn't imagine him ever raising a hand to his wife let alone launching a
vicious and deadly attack however they weren't surprised to hear that he hadn't pushed tammy for information
about the other men she was seeing brad was a mild-mannered person hounding tammy wouldn't be in his nature
with brad in custody the next step for detectives was to question tammy's boyfriend brian clark
he was summoned to the police station and arrived with a lawyer by his side like tammy brian was also married with a
daughter the two co-workers had initially hit it off as friends but their friendship had
slowly become physical and blossomed into a romance brian told detectives the last time he
saw tammy was on the afternoon of tuesday february 7 the day before she went missing
the two had met at the thorn motel in pier afterwards brian dropped tammy home at
around 5 pm from there he attended a local basketball game with his wife and daughter
when the game finished he went home with his family and didn't leave the house again until going to work the next
morning brian said his wife could verify his alibi the only problem was that she didn't
know about his affair with tammy and he didn't want her to know he was reluctant for police to question
her as there would be no way to do so without revealing this information once again the detectives weren't sure
what to think brian seemed genuine but the fact that he'd already retained and brought a
lawyer with him seemed suspicious if he was innocent why did he feel compelled to seek legal counsel from the
get-go the fact that brian's wife didn't know about his affair with tammy also gave
brian a strong motive for murder perhaps after tammy came clean to brad about her relationship with brian she
had pushed brian to do the same with his spouse maybe she wanted brian to get a divorce
but he wasn't prepared to do so tammy might have threatened to approach brian's wife herself which could have
pushed him over the edge the blood pointed towards brad who undisputedly had access to tammy's
vehicle however if brad was telling the truth about trailing tammy and her boyfriend
in the early morning hours of wednesday february 8th it was possible that brian had killed tammy and then planted blood
on her vehicle in an attempt to frame brad both men had a motive but only one of
them could be telling the truth [Music] inquiries were made with the highway patrol unit to check brad's claim that
he'd broken down while trailing tammy dash cam footage confirmed that at 1 40 am a state trooper had found the durango
pulled over on the side of the road with brad ria behind the wheel the trooper asked abrad for id but he
said he didn't have any as he was just ducking out to grab something from the store
he willingly provided his full name and the trooper didn't notice anything suspicious about his behavior
nor did he see anything strange in or on the car once brad got the car started again he
drove off in the direction of his home the detectives now had a confirmation of the story he had consistently told them
from the beginning with so many unanswered questions the case couldn't progress any further until
tammy was found when morning broke on thursday february 9 a search party made up of police
officers firefighters and local volunteers gathered to comb the vast countryside surrounding pier
time was of the essence the hills around the city saw very little foot traffic except for the
hunters who flocked to the area between october and january hunting season had just concluded
this meant that if tammy was lying undiscovered in the area it was highly unlikely that anyone would come across
her body until the next hunting season began in eight months time by that point wild animals would have
likely found her first on foot and with the help of cadaver dogs the search party covered mile upon
mile of the rolling hills and prairies law enforcement managed to secure a helicopter from the national guard to
cover the area overhead but even with the advantage of a bird's eye view there was no sign of tammy anywhere
as the sun began to descend for the day the helicopter pilot decided to do one last sweep of an isolated prairie
approximately 10 miles north of pier as they passed over a spillway running off the awahi dam they noticed something
in the rugged terrain below it was the naked body of tamira [Music] tammy had been stabbed upwards of 35
times and her throat had been slashed it appeared that some of the injuries had been made after she was already dead
sometime after the initial attack her hands were covered in knife wounds indicating she had attempted to fight
off her killer one cut was so deep that the bone had been exposed as though tammy had taken
hold of the knife during the attack it was the most extreme case of overkill that attending detectives had ever
witnessed yet there was no blood on the scene meaning that the attack itself had
occurred elsewhere officers searched the area for clues and found a t-shirt shredded with knife
carts as well as a pair of blood-stained gloves nothing was found that identified the
killer [Music] tammy's father don was nearing pierre on his drive from wyoming when his cell
phone rang and a police officer broke the dreaded news that tammy's body had been found
to save him the pain of seeing her injuries don was told he wouldn't need to formally identify his daughter
haley had been hoping with all her might that her mother would be found alive when she received the terrible news she
refused to believe that brad could be responsible there was no way that the father she
knew could be capable of such a heinous crime tammy's body was autopsied but it didn't
reveal any forensic evidence tying either brad or brian to her murder police returned to the rear property and
conducted another search this time testing surfaces around the house with luminol
once again they found nothing tammy and brad had been sleeping in separate bedrooms and both their beds
were microscopically examined but there was no trace of blood anywhere investigators began to wonder if they
had arrested an innocent man the evidence simply wasn't adding up against brad rhea
instead they turned their attention to brian clark they had no choice but to question
brian's wife kerry not her real name in turn forcing brian to break the news to her about his affair with taming
kerry was obviously crushed but when the detectives asked her about brian's whereabouts on the night of tuesday
february 7. she confirmed that he had been with her and their daughter at a local basketball game
afterwards they spent the rest of the night at home but there was one problem although carrie and brian shared at the
same bedroom kerry suffered from ongoing back pain and sometimes slept in a recliner chair downstairs
the night tammy was killed she had slept in the recliner this manta was possible that brian had
sneaked out in the middle of the night without his wife's knowledge brad remained in custody while the
investigation continued haley hoped the police would find the evidence to clear her father so that she
wouldn't have to live without both of her parents but investigators still didn't have any
evidence to charge brian and there were no other suspects however with no crime scene and no hard
proof who the killer was the case couldn't proceed to trial until the prosecution could build a solid case
against brad then on march 9 one month after tammy's murder an envelope arrived at the office of the
attorney general that contained some startling revelations [Music] case file will be back shortly thank you
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episode's ads by supporting our sponsors you support case file inside the envelope was a letter written
by one of brian clark's cousins he had information that he needed to get off his chest
according to the letter brian had confided that on the afternoon of tuesday february 7 he and tammy had met
at the fawn motel where they had sex they wanted to meet up again later so that night brian drove to tammy's house
for a second rendezvous the couple took some blankets and drove tammy's durango out to a remote area
they laid the blankets down and tammy removed all of her clothes except for her t-shirt
she then asked brian to use a condom but brian didn't want to tammy insisted which triggered a surge
of rage in brian they began fighting and brian forced himself on tammy raping her
she tried to fight him off losing her wedding ring in the process during the attack the condom came off
inside of tammy's body in a violent frenzy brian took out a knife and began stabbing tammy she tried
to get up and run away but brian chased after her and fatally stabbed her in the
back he then wrapped her body in the blankets they had brought and loaded her into the
durango after dumping tami's body he drove the vehicle back to her house and parked it
in the garage brian had subsequently confided the details of this attack to his cousin who
helped him get rid of evidence the information provided throughout the letter matched several known aspects of
the crime that hadn't been released to the public there was no way the letters author
could have known these details unless they had intimate knowledge from the killer themselves
but there was one detail that didn't quite make sense tammy's body had been autopsied and
there was no condom found inside her as brian's cousin claimed determined to find out the truth
investigators called for a second autopsy upon re-examination the pathologist discovered that there was indeed a used
condom lodged inside tammy's body a crucial piece of evidence that had somehow been missed during the first
post-mortem examination it appeared that brian's cousin was telling the truth [Music]
the condom promised to be the major breakthrough the investigators had been waiting for
it was forensically tested in the hopes it would identify tammy's killer once and for all
unfortunately due to the amount of time it had spent inside tammy's body all traces of dna
had degraded and couldn't be identified what had looked like a promising piece of evidence was now raising even more
questions whoever wrote the letter clearly had insider knowledge of tammy's murder but
there still wasn't any physical evidence to back their claim that brian clarke was the killer
the biggest problem was that investigators still had no idea where the murder had been committed
police returned to the rear home to conduct yet another search hoping to find even the smallest of clues
as one officer rummaged through brad's dresser drawers they came across something of interest
it was a small digital audio recorder as they pressed play a static noise filled the air
the officer waited but nothing else followed finally after about 15 minutes of static
tammy's voice filled the room it sounded as though the recording had captured her side of a phone
conversation the officer listened as tammy asked to speak to brian clark when brian presumably picked up the
other line tammy told him it's just me i just needed to hear your voice they chatted for a few minutes before
tammy said i love you very very much from the beginning of the investigation brad had maintained that he didn't know
who tammy was dating but the recording clearly featured brian's first and last the names
if the audio recorder belonged to brad then this was irrefutable proof that he'd been lying
however the officers were aware that just because the device was found in brad's drawer it didn't necessarily mean
it belonged to him or that he knew what was on it investigators got to work trying to
figure out when the phone call in question had been recorded they discovered that the recording was
made just four days prior to tammy's murder the police were also able to recover
some deleted digital files when an investigator hit play on one of the files a voice spoke over static
airspace testing to see whether the recorder worked by slowly saying [Music] one
two three four it was brad ria it was clear that brad had been the one to record tammy's phone conversation
with brian with police now able to prove that he was lying about knowing who tammy's
boyfriend was they had to consider what else he could be lying about the transcripts of his initial police
interrogation were reviewed and one investigator noted something that stuck out as odd
when the heat was placed on him for tammy's murder brad said all this evidence points at me but i'm
hoping that the body is found because there'll be something to set me free maybe dna
something like that investigators believed this suggested brad knew the used condom would be found
inside tammy's body most likely because he had planted it there in an attempt to frame brian clark
but if this was the case how would he have obtained a condom with brian's dna on it
investigators questioned brian and learned that he would sometimes dispose of used condoms by throwing them out of
his car window investigators began to suspect that brad had tailed tammy and brian on more than
one occasion he had already admitted to having done so on the night of his wife's murder
police believed he had most likely followed them before and saw brian throw away the condom prompting him to hatch a
plan to frame brian by planting his dna on tammy's body he likely didn't know that the dna could
disintegrate over time when exposed to bodily acids brad had probably been confident that
the condom would exonerate him for some time investigators had been recording brad's phone conversations in
jail in the hopes they might hear something that would finally solve the case brad had a twin brother named brett rhea
whom he spoke to regularly during one conversation between the brothers brad had told brett to bring a
notepad next time he came to visit detectives thought this seemed suspicious so they set up a covert video
camera to capture the meeting [Music] brett sat down opposite brad in a meeting room separated by plexiglas
brad told his brother that he wanted him to send some letters on his behalf then he pressed a piece of paper up
against the glass brett examined the paper and took out a yellow notebook quickly scribbling down
some notes brad said there's a reason behind it do you see where i'm going with this
stuff after brett left the jail police trailed his car they watched as he posted some letters
later that day they eventually pulled bread over three hours west of pier in the south dakota town of spearfish
they searched his car and found the yellow notebook in it were notes containing the same
details that appeared in the letter that eventually arrived at the office of the
attorney general claiming to be from a cousin of brian clark brett rhea was arrested and charged with
being an accessory to a felony brad denied asking his brother to write a letter framing brian
he claimed the visiting jail was simply because he owned some valuable baseball cards that he wanted brett to secure for
him given that the letter contained details only the killer could know investigators now knew for certain that
brad was the real perpetrator however from a legal standpoint there still wasn't any physical evidence tying
him to tammy's murder if the case went to court state prosecutors couldn't be sure there was
enough for a jury to find him guilty then investigators came across another letter
this one was written by brad to his twin brother brat in it brad described some good fishing
spots near pier he drew a map directing brett to several locations around the awahi dam
with brad facing charges for murder investigators thought it unlikely that he was focused on something as trivial
as fishing they were convinced that these locations held some other kind of significance
with the help of sniffer dogs a search team went to check the locations brad had pinpointed on his map
at an area near the awahi dam power station they foraged through the scrub and came upon a cluster of juniper
bushes hidden among them were three black garbage bags inside were several items of bedding
including sheets blankets quilts and pillowcases all were soaked with blood one of the bags also contained a pair of
bloody rubber gloves women's underwear and an open box of condoms one was missing
the bedding and blood were confirmed to be tammy's amongst the linens was another
particularly interesting item a large blood-stained tarpaulin given there was no blood evidence found
inside the rear home the tarp allowed investigators to piece together a probable scenario
[Music] they deduced that brad had likely fitted the tarp over tammy's mattress without
her knowledge then lined it with several sheets so she wouldn't be able to feel it was there
after she went to bed on the night of february 7 brad walked in and launched a brutal attack
stabbing her five times in the back and slitting her throat while she slept [Music]
the amount of blankets on the bed would have instantly soaked up the blood and prevented any spatter
explaining why there was no blood found at the crime scene afterwards brad had wrapped tammy's body
in the blankets and tarp then carried her out to the garage which was only five feet away from her bedroom
he loaded her into the durango and planted the used condom inside her either while they were in the vehicle or
when they arrived at the awahi dam spillway brad decided to launch another attack
inflicting multiple stab wounds to tammy's chest finally he disposed of her body and the
garbage bags full of evidence as for brad's story about breaking down on the side of the road and having a
conversation with a highway patrol officer investigators theorised that this was
likely a close call brad had been driving in the direction of brian clark's house and it was
possible that he had been heading there with the intention of planting evidence he'd likely assumed the condom would be
found and dna testing would link it back to brian thereby framing him for the murder
but once brad realised this key piece of evidence was missed during tammy's autopsy he hatched a scheme to write
false confession letters and enlisted his twin brother's help to send them from outside of jail
at the time of brad's arrest traces of vegetation were found on his shoes these were tested and confirmed to match
the juniper bushes where the blood-soaked evidence was dumped furthermore the garbage bags used to
dispose of the evidence were the exact same kind as others found inside the rear home
this undisputedly placed him at the crime scene and the existence of the tarp indicated premeditation
with all of these elements combined the prosecution finally felt they had a strong enough case to take brad to trial
the trial commenced in january of 2007 with brad raya pleading not guilty to first-degree murder
considering the death penalty wasn't being sought south dakota law dictated that if brad was convicted he'd
automatically receive a mandatory life sentence the prosecution anticipated a short
trial for what they believed to be an open and shut case but brad made a rare decision for a
defendant he agreed to take the stand in his own defense no one quite knew what to expect when it
came time for him to testify what he said shocked the courtroom especially members of tammy's family
[Music] unable to conceal the lies any longer brad felt he finally had to come clean
it wasn't him who killed tammy but he's now 13 year old daughter hayley he testified that the trouble began when
he and tammy told hayley they were getting a divorce haley was devastated she liked her house
and her family and didn't want anything to change she was furious that her parents didn't
want to work things out and had been depressed about the impending divorce for days
on the night of tuesday february 7 brad came home late from work to find both tammy and hayley already asleep
he went to bed himself only to be awoken around midnight by the family's cat he heard some noise from tammy's room
and went to see what it was to his shock he saw hayley standing over tammy's body
she was covered in blood and holding a knife her nose was also bleeding as a result
of being hit by tammy as she fought back brad cried out asking hayley what she'd
done but hayley didn't respond she was catatonic brad jumped on tammy and tried to give
her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but it was no use she was already dead hayley showed no emotion or reaction and
seemed barely conscious it was then that brad realised she was sleepwalking in a panic he carried hayley back to bed
and wiped all the blood off of her then he tried to clean up the crime scene he bundled up the blood-soaked bed
linens through their bloodied clothing in the washing machine and carried tammy's body into her car
wanting to protect his daughter he made the snap decision to plant the condom in
an attempt to blame the man tammy was dating when hayley woke the next day she acted
completely normal and it was clear to brad that she had no recollection of what had happened
his initial plan had been to take hayley and flee to mexico but he was arrested before he could act
on it brad said hayley had always exhibited some troubling behaviors claiming that when she was a child she
used to stab her stuffed animals brad knew his daughter needed psychological treatment but didn't think
she'd get it if she was sent to prison so he decided to lie to authorities to protect her
he acknowledged that he'd broken the law and should be charged accordingly but because his lies were based on the
desire to protect his daughter he urged the jury not to find him guilty of murder
brad's lawyer argued that because hayley was unconscious when she stabbed tammy she couldn't be held legally responsible
telling the jury there's a lot that could have been going on between haley and tammy without us
knowing about it he referenced haley's strong athletic abilities with particular focus on her
volleyball skills indicating that her overarm serving style was similar to the downward
stabbing motion used in tammy's murder the defense lawyer said if brad ria is telling us the truth
shame on us all brad watched intently as hayley was put on the stand she vehemently denied his accusations
hayley spoke of her deep love for her mother and said she would never have done anything to hurt her
this contrasted with her relationship to her father haley had never been very close to brad
and was now afraid of him on the night of tammy's murder haley went to sleep with her bedroom door open
at around midnight she woke up to find it was closed her father opened the door and was
holding an arm full of clothing haley asked what he was doing to which brad replied
nothing he put the clothes down and laid down in hayley's bed telling her he loved her
hayley fell back asleep and when she woke the next morning her mother was gone and her father was doing laundry
when she had asked him where her mother was brad had initially claimed she was in her room
but haley had checked the entire house and there was no trace of tammy as for the lawyer's inference that she
was capable of stabbing her mother based on her volleyball serve haley said she didn't use an overarm
serve at all but an underarm one the prosecution was outraged by brad's claim that haley was the killer
the stab wounds on tammy's body were incredibly deep some two inches longer than the blade of the weapon itself
the sheer force of the knife wounds alone couldn't have been afflicted by someone of hayley's size
nor did she have any history of sleepwalking during cross-examination brad said that
he and tammy had a happy marriage but his long work hours had ultimately driven her away
arguing against haley's claim that she wasn't close with him brad claimed they were so close that he
was willing to go to prison for her brad's testimony only served to hurt his defense as he gave inconsistent answers
to facts that had already been established he claimed he didn't know tammy was having an affair until after he was
arrested even though he'd already admitted this fact to detectives when tammy was first
reported missing he also claimed that the blood haley was covered in was predominantly from her
bloody nose not tammy's injuries given how many wounds were inflicted this seemed highly unlikely
similarly he said that when giving tammy mouth-to-mouth resuscitation he didn't notice any stab wounds just blood
given the amount of injuries to tammy's chest the prosecution argued it would have been impossible not to notice the
wounds if brad really did attempt to revive her brad's attempt to place the blame on his
daughter was fruitless his brother brett had already admitted to writing the letters aimed at framing
brian clark after his arrest brett had cooperated fully with investigators agreeing to
testify against his twin in exchange for being released from jail after serving 172 days
brett said he was genuinely sorry for the part he played and regretted trying to help brad
brett told the court his brother deserved to be sent to prison he was released immediately after
testifying the judge believed he had already suffered enough the twins mother had recently passed
away from an aneurysm after visiting her sons in jail it was also revealed just how brad had
figured out who tammy was dating he'd bugged her car with the audio recording device and then placed a bunch
of flowers in the vehicle along with a letter that read i'm sorry let's make up just as brad had hoped tammy thought the
flowers were from her boyfriend and called brian to thank him thus revealing his identity to brad
it took the jury just three hours to find brad ria guilty of first degree murder
his attempt to place the blame on haley had made him look more guilty and only served to anger members of the jury
the prosecutor stated brad was one of the best witnesses i had his testimony hurt him a bunch
following the verdict tammy's family released a statement that read justice was finally served and all the
lies can stop tammy was such a wonderful person with such a zest for life unfortunately
she was not given an opportunity to make a better life for herself and hayley despite the mandatory life sentence for
first-degree murder an official sentencing date was set so that tami's loved ones could have their moment to
speak about the impact the murder had on their lives haley chose not to speak instead
providing the judge with an undisclosed written statement as tammy's mother bonnie addressed the
courtroom brad rhea stood with his eyes glued to the floor bonnie said we trusted you for so many years and you
deceived us you have taken all you can from this family on this earth you will not receive
enough punishment for your heinous crime she added that brad should be ashamed of
himself for trying to blame his own daughter quipping i'm surprised he didn't try to blame
their cat a video slideshow celebrating tammy's life was played but brad showed zero
emotion at no point did he apologize he seemed intent on sticking to his story that haley was the real killer
telling the cord i gave up my life because i love her the judge concluded that brad was a
calculated cold-blooded murderer motivated to kill tammy out of revenge for her having an affair and wanting a
divorce she told brad he had unsuccessfully attempted to paint himself as the victim
quote you are not a victim you are a predator along with a life sentence the judge
ordered that brad be forbidden from having contact with haley or tammy's family ever again
brad tried to appeal the conviction and called for a retrial he argued that haley's dna was never
compared to dna found at the crime scene and that his defense lawyer had failed him by not pursuing any other dna
evidence he also claimed that investigators had falsified evidence against him his appeal was unanimously rejected
hayley rhea lost to both parents on the day her father made the decision to murder her mother
she went to live with tammy's family in wyoming and never saw brad again in the wake of the crime tammy's sister
holly told nbc reporter josh menkewicz quote the best you can do is try to stay strong for hayley
it's really like having someone cut your arm off i mean it's a piece of you that
you never get back and thank goodness we still have hayley because she is so much like her mum
tammy's family successfully filed a wrongful death lawsuit against brad for 5.3 million dollars
while brad didn't have that much money the ruling allowed them to sell off his personal property and give the proceeds
to haley growing up without tammy was incredibly difficult for hayley but she refused to
let the tragedy define her after graduating high school she studied criminal justice at university before
getting married and having a son of her own the unconditional love her mother gave
her has been an ongoing motivator for haley who continues to look up to tammy and aspire to be the type of parent she
was looking back haley now realises that just because her father wasn't physically violent it doesn't mean he
wasn't abusing tammy in other ways brad was known to constantly hover over tammy
often not letting her out of his sight his controlling behavior bordered on obsessive
when he wasn't at work he'd often show up unannounced wherever tami was when the couple would visit tammy's
family in wyoming tammy's sisters and mother noticed that brad would sit so close to tammy that no one else could
come near her while brad had sulked and barely ate for days after the couple told hayley they
were getting divorced tammy had appeared unaffected it was as though a weight had finally
been lifted wanting to make sure her mother didn't lose her life in vain hayley has used
her experience to educate others on the early warning signs of domestic violence
she has worked with various charities and organizations traveling the united states to speak about victims rights and
the red flags to look out for haley shares her journey on a facebook page titled in memory of tammy bernsrea
in a 2016 ted talk hayley said people always ask me how i am doing and how i go on living
it is hard but i do it in honor and memory of my mum i want my life to be a reflection of the
person she would want me to be it is my mission that people will continue to spread the word about
domestic violence and to raise awareness my mum will forever be my hero and i miss her terribly but i can't bring her
back however what i can do is be her voice i will speak out for her and so many others who did not get the chance
just because my mum didn't have physical scars that everyone could see she had emotional scars
ones that never go away not every situation has to end the way ours did but i will continue to be my mum's voice
because silence will not break the violence [Music] i've been writing about real police
cases for nearly three decades now and they're a few more tragic than the case of sarah mcdermott with sarah's
disappearance there's an element of patience of being collected she was always a very good
daughter if she was out someone going to be late she would ring and let us know she was
seen by several witnesses walking toward the car park and then sarah mcdermott was gone when she's come down the bottom
of the stairs and walked towards the car park she's virtually walked into the darkness when sarah's family reported
her missing police mounted an extensive search i could see blood on the bitumen underneath the car that
was parked at the driver's side of her car the the blood on the ground it sort of indicated to everybody that there'd
been foul play a couple of suspects emerged ahead of the rest and he said well when i do get out you'll be one of
the first people i look for and i said why is that and he said because i just like to kill you
she said you know that murder that was up at the cannanook station i was there with two other blokes and i'm worried
because i don't know how staunch they are who knows what he did if he killed sarah and disposed of her body maybe he
thinks i can get away with this they don't know where she is they don't know who did it just how many other women
were followed from the canonical railway station will never know so i was walking along there and i could
hear footsteps behind me and they were getting closer and they yelled out to me don't take the shortcut take the bridge
i just think those men at the dotto saved my life the evidence is out there so pulled out a couple of the cards and
looked at the name and it said sarah mcdermott searching for sarah mcdermott out now for free only on spotify

Case 198: Tami Reay

When Kmart employee Tami Reay failed to show up at work in Pierre, South Dakota on the morning of Wednesday, February 8 2006, her co-worker Brian Clark called the police to report her missing. Brian had reason to suspect that Tami might have fallen victim of foul play. He and Tami had been having an affair, and her husband had just found out...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-198-tami-reay

Brief Summary

Tammy Rhea's murder reveals a complex web of lies, leading to her husband's conviction for first-degree murder.

Key points

A Mother's Growing Concern. Bonnie Burns waits anxiously for her daughter Tammy's usual morning call, but it never comes.
The Disappearance of Tammy Rhea. On February 8, 2006, Tammy Rhea goes missing, sparking a frantic search by her family.
The Shocking Affair. Brian Clark reveals to police that he was having an affair with Tammy, raising suspicions.
Brad's Arrest. Brad Rhea is arrested for first-degree murder after blood is found in Tammy's vehicle.
Tammy's Body Found. Tammy was discovered with multiple stab wounds, indicating a brutal murder.
Letter Reveals Shocking Confession. A letter from Brian's cousin details the events leading to Tammy's murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Foul play could be suspected here.

A chilling revelation during the investigation.

7:08WatchNov 27, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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