Fatal First Date | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] this wasn't just a crime scene was it no it was not this one was bad two innocent people that were on
their first date had their lives destroyed for what reason how well did Leslie Reeves know
chrismith first date Chris was in a band and a singer and they had connected and he
asked her out the night before Thanksgiving they decided just to meet up go to the
bar he lived 65 mil away in a really small farming Community the bar that night was very
busy the place was packed wall to- wall Chris and Leslie were talking a lot laughing getting along with everyone
around them she texted me around 10: and she said everything's going okay she did
then text a second text that said I feel like something's a little bit off or something I'm not sure what she meant
was that text the last time you heard from Leslie Reeves mhm yes it was [Music] did you try texting her in the morning
mhm and did she respond no I just started driving towards Farmersville cuz I had the address and
called the police department in that area Montgomery County Sheriff's Office this is Jeff hi I'm greatly concerned
about my friend can someone do a welfare check what are you feeling at this point
Nana a lot of anxiety because I don't know what I'm going to walk into uh going up there to this
house I pulled up in front of the address and then who came while you're sitting there while I'm sitting there uh
who's this uh woman parked I said well maybe I'll roll my window down and talk to her I asked her
if she was checking on Chris and she said she was checking on her friend and that's when I went up to the
door I saw the back door was broken and then I saw Chris laying there and then I ran back to my car and
called 911 nobody's answering the door and and the back window's shattered and there's a body and there's a foot I fell
on the floor I'm only 16 I can't deal with this I was in shock I think Sheriff's Office Jeff Jeff give me
some help I got one alive and one dead I just remember them bring bringing Chris
out on the stretcher to the ambulance I remember there being a sheet over him so
it made me panic a little bit I got a call from our Command Center in Springfield so you are the lead crime
scene investigator yes were you really prepared for what you faced when you walked into that house I was
not why would somebody do this to him why would they try to hurt my baby that's all I kept thinking he's my baby
someone heard him going on a first date and they both end up getting shot is insane
[Music] [Music] on the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day 2021 Nanette Styer sat in her car and
watched anxiously as EMTs and Montgomery County sheriff's deputies descended on a
house in the Tiny Village of Farmersville Illinois I was quite upset and kind of going crazy in the car
Nanette had been unable to reach her good friend Leslie Reeves Nanette knew Leslie had gone to
that house the night before to go on a first date with Chris Smith a man she had met online she was very excited she
thought oh this would this might be um a really good connection but now nette was worried
she'd seen Chris get taken away in an ambulance but there was no sign of Leslie I kept hoping you know okay bring
Leslie out please finally a detective approached and asked Nanette for a photo of Leslie
she showed him her phone and he gave her the horrible news I'm so sorry to have to tell you
this your friend has um been murdered you know shot he said he didn't tell me where but he did
say I want you to know that she went very [Music] quickly EMTs have found Chris barely
conscious and unable to say anything about the shooting they rushed him to the hospital and deputies searched the
house later that day crime scene investigator Josh Easton of the Illinois State Police was called to the scene and
he began cataloging the Mayhem inside what do you see when you first approached the door I noticed the side
door of the house the glass in the door has been broken out the refrigerator was
pulled away from the wall the kitchen table was pushed the the chairs were knocked over no weapon was found leading
investigators to suspect that a third person was involved een took note of every detail including the burnt pizza
in the oven I assumed that maybe they were cooking a pizza for the night and the suspect shows up at the door
they both tried to fight him off and when Chris was shot Leslie went to the living room to try to hide how many
times was she shot she was only shot one time in the head in the head Leslie's body was in the living room while Chris
had been found in the kitchen e said of the 1,800 crime scenes he had been to this
was one of the most horrific there was blood everywhere the cabinets the refrigerator the countertop there was
blood from corner to corner in the Kitchen East spotted two silver colored bullet casings from a 9mm gun one in the
kitchen and the other near Lesley's body as Easton processed the scene detectives
began learning about the victims Chris Smith was a 48-year-old divorced father who worked for a pool
contractor Chris was a nice guy he would hang out here frequently was friends with most people in town everybody knew
him bartender Dina lran says Chris was well known in town as the guy who grew banana trees and giant pumpkins I
remember one Halloween he donated hundreds of pumpkins for decorations for any of the kids to
paint he gave back to his community did either one of you ever worry about Chris no
no Sharon castanza is Chris's mother Ashley hul his sister Chris is a stayhome person that literally would
just work in his backyard Chris lived with a dog named Tiki and an EMT told the family that
Tiki may have helped Chris make it through the night by huddling with him for the roughly 12 hours that Chris was
bleeding before being rescued I think Tiki protected Chris I think she probably laid right right next to
him Chris's close-nit family could not imagine anyone wanting to kill him it was like no way how why like who yeah
who would have done that investigators had the same questions about Leslie and learned that
she was a divorced mother of two children who lived in Troy about an hour south of
Farmersville although Leslie had a master's degree in engineering she chose instead to teach Pilates and to promote
self-defense classes for women hi I'm Leslie from all you studio and Leslie posted this video to her YouTube channel
to advertise one of her classes Empower yourself against aggression and assault as we teach you easy to learn
self-defense techniques power up Leslie tried to help women in abusive relationships but friends say she had
her own TR Nanette told Deputy she was worried about a former boyfriend a contractor by
the name of Robert tar known as Bobby she said I am going to completely block Bobby from email texts phone calls I I
have to go no contact later that evening news of Leslie's murder began circulating and
reached another close friend Amy steinhauer she had met tar a divorced father of three
and did not have a good impression of him but you never see someone and think that they can kill my
friend Amy called the Sheriff's Office that night to give them T's name by then detectives had already set
out to find Bobby tar while 85 miles to the north surgeons were fighting to try to save the life of Chris Smith a bullet
St lodged in his [Music] brain I just want to get there I just want to get there as fast as I could
after learning that Chris had been shot in the head his family rushed to the hospital in Springfield Illinois 2 hours
from their home I was on the phone to everyone I could think of cuz I just needed prayers from
everybody doctors removed part of Chris's skull and some bullet fragments in his brain before putting him in a
medically induced coma his family struggling to piece together what had happened learned that he had been out
with a woman named Leslie Reeves had you ever heard the name Leslie Reeves before
no I looked her up and then I triy to reach out to her friends and then I found her best friend Nanette Nanette
told them the same thing she had told investigators she suspected Leslie's ex-boyfriend Bobby
tar that night sheriff's deputies went to tars home in Collinsville an hour south of the crime scene authorities say
he never asked why they wanted to talk to him and he agreed to go to the police station without a lawyer
t r r correct M although her friend said the couple had broken up tar told investigators that he and Leslie were
still together you Leslie have a lot of problems I wouldn't say no worse than any
average couple it was Leslie the detectives wanted to talk about I want you to to dig down deep here and be as
honest with me as you can okay um Leslie is dead what can you help me shed some light on
this how did she die she was murdered what happened that's why we're here with you
you help me believe that you're not involved in this I'm not involved in anything investigators asked tar about
Farmersville the scene of the crime you know where Farmersville is Farmersville no I can't say that never
been there I've never heard of it and they asked tar where he had been the night before Thanksgiving I went to
buddy of mine's house he left and left me some money out of his shop and I had to go pick it up
the friend lived a short distance from T's home remember what time he came back yeah it wasn't that long
um maybe 630 something like that investigators believe the shooting took place sometime early on Thanksgiving
morning after 1:00 a.m. tar said after he got back he was home all night you can talk to my daughter about me being
home that's exactly what they did detectives brought T's 17-year-old daughter Shelby to a different room at
the police station and she told them that her father actually left home twice that night so first time he left was
roughly 6:30 right and then he he came home about a half hour later and I said he had to go back right and then it was
9:15-ish when he got back home Shelby said he had been gone for more than 2 hours and when he got home he was upset
he gets home he was crying he was soling he said he missed Lesley Shelby said she
went to sleep around 9:30 and was awakened by her father around 2:45 a.m. he started laundry he was pacing walking
around and he was like I can't sleep detectives went back to Tar and told him Shelby's story did not match his tar
then changed his story and said he had gone to his friend's house twice but still insisted he was home by 8 as tar
sat at the police station detectives searched his house and found his phone and a Glock pistol Shelby had told them
her father had a different gun but they didn't find it it's little it's like this big I look at the army green Shelby
told investigators she had seen it the day before Thanksgiving in her father's sock drawer yesterday morning actually I
went to get S and it was there and that it's not there was there yesterday and gone today yeah okay Bobby tar sat at
the police station overnight while authorities continued to investigate they had already learned that his car
had been captured by License Plate Reader cameras just after midnight the night of the shooting the cameras were
near a gas station and investigators discovered the tar had bought gas there just after midnight back at the police
station they confronted him with the gas station receipt so you're Al cuz I don't
remember doing there you don't remember being out after midnight when you have told us you are 100%
positive the gas station is here in Troy yes and the murder occurred here in Farmersville
correct the gas station was near tars home an hour from the crime scene Andrew Arron is the Montgomery County States
Attorney he has distonia a condition that causes muscle ticks and tremors so why is it significant cuz it so he went
out and got some gas it was significant to us cuz why would he lie about it so I
got fuel what does that Pro investigators believed it was proofed tar was lying about his whereabouts that
night they placed him under arrest you're under arrest from AR frzy says they arrested tar
immediately because they feared Chris's life was in danger and they hadn't found the murder
weapon if he was out of custody could he take further steps to dispose of the evidence just one day after Leslie
Reeves was killed and Chris Smith was left fighting for his life investigators believed they had the man responsible in
custody I'm Aaron Mori Bobby but in his only media interview Bobby tart tells 48
hours they got the wrong guy there is so many things Untold that will prove my innocence Bobby tar charged with the
murder of Leslie Reeves and the attempted murder of Chris Smith is nothing if not UNF flappable did you
kill Leslie reefs no did you shoot Chris Smith no he kept his cool even when confronted with a Litany of Lies he told
investigators you told the police you only left the house once that wasn't true correct you told
the police you had no idea where Farmersville is MH that was a lie mhm you lied about getting gas in your car
that night mhm when he spoke with us tar admitted he was at Christmas house the night before Thanksgiving placing
himself at the scene of the crime he says the night began when he met Leslie at her part-time job at this Loft store
she had said she was going to go meet some friends because one of their friends was playing in a band she asked
me if I wanted to go I said well you know I would go but I have my youngest daughter staying with me for a week tar
says that when he declined the invitation Leslie asked if if he would follow her to Farmersville because her
van was unreliable and so he did that makes no sense to Leslie's friend Amy steinhauer she was terrified of
him rightfully so just a few weeks earlier Amy Says Leslie told her that tar had shown up
while she was on a first date with a different guy after that incident Leslie told Amy she was frightened by tar and
texted Amy I could be killed by him someday if I don't cut all contact so you're telling me now that this woman
who was scared of you who had actually texted a friend that she thought you might kill her asked you to follow her
to another man's house does that make any sense no I understand U so I don't understand that
text in general why did she think you might kill her I don't know I've got no clue
tar says Leslie lied to her friends about their relationship he insists she asked him to follow her North to
Farmersville so I went with her up there I think we arrived there around 7:30 I parked in front of her van in
front of his house as as far as I went I left I never went back to Farmersville again if he had an innocent explanation
for why he was in Farmersville why did he lie to to detectives my daughter her and Leslie there was a little bit of
tension between both them I did not want her to know that I was going to meet Leslie that night tar claims that after
he lied to his daughter Shelby about seeing Leslie he stuck to that lie at the police station because he was afraid
they would tell her and he never corrected those lies even when detectives arrested him why not just say
look between you and me I lied to my daughter so let me tell you the truth but let's just not share that with her
why wouldn't you do that I should have done that he's quick to point out the lack of physical evidence connecting him
to the bloody crime scene investigators searched his white Jetta but did not find any shards of glass or blood stains
two tests by the state police were done on my car zero blood found in my car there's zero DNA of mine at the crime
scene anything from the crime scene in my car or on me or any of my clothing or my
shoes zero prosecutor of fronti has to concede that point was any of Ty's DNA found
inside the house no were any of his fingerprints found inside the house and authorities still had not
found the murder weapon but a week after the shooting they got a phone call from
tarr's friend Billy Adams Adams said tar called him from jail that call was recorded what's your day look like today
cuz I need 10 minutes of your time tar ask Adams to go to his house and look for some deck brackets I got some
special aluminum brackets and that I need you to get because there for another job that I
didn't tell that about yet so don't say nothing to him instead Adams contacted the Sheriff's Office Deputy suspected
tar knew the phone call was being recorded and was speaking to his friend in code about something other than deck
brackets yeah get them and get rid of them they thought that was suspicious which was why they went over and
searched investigators were on their hands and knees in T's yard looking for a gun Dan folz is T's defense attorney
they searched that area thoroughly no gun you know what they did find deck brackets a few days later they got
another phone call this time from tarr's Brother asking them to come back to the
house tarr's family gave deputies a ziplock bag they said they had found in the same yard that had been searched
just days earlier inside a Springfield Hellcat 9mm pistol and silver colored ammunition the
Illinois State Police determined the gun was the murder weapon and the ammunition
matched the casings found at the crime scene we still to this day don't know how that ended up there specifically in
the spot that they searched are you saying you were set up someone was framing you yes
but if someone was framing tar he or she would have to be pretty detail oriented
the state police say T's fingerprint was on the Ziploc bag he is adamant that he
would not have been dumb enough that he would have carried it all the way back to his home and said hm where would I
put this gun on my 1 acre lot I think I'll put it next to the front door and tar points out neither his Prince nor de
DNA were found on the gun itself nothing on the firearm no DNA no Prince of mine
on the firearm what I think what happened is is that the gun was cleaned and then Mr tar just missed a spot that
spot was Leslie's DNA say police found on the guide rod of the gun T's explanation the gun wasn't his it
belonged to lesie I purchased the Hellcat and Leslie purchased it from me as investigators continued to build a
case against Bobby tar they say he was hatching a plan to silence the only eyewitness did you ask a inmate to shoot
Chris Smith what do you make of Bobby T's story chat now with the 48 Hours team on
Facebook andex [Music] lesle accompanied me here on several occasions if there's anyone who knew
what guns Leslie Reeves owned it's Howard Bolton her close friend and firearm instructor when I would hold
classes she would actually shoot with us Leslie was becoming a very good shot Bolton says Leslie had organized a class
called girls with guns not long before she was murdered we put the girls through their Paces they would move in
fire they would go forward and fire they would come back and fire and Leslie did
very very well at that Bobby tar insisted to us that Leslie owned the Hellcat that was used to kill her but
Howard says he never saw her use it Leslie never brought a Springfield let alone a Hellcat to class so then how how
did Leslie's DNA get on the guide rod of the murder weapon Howard believes that Leslie's DNA could only be on that guide
rod if the gun was fired at her at close range so when he shot her wherever it was he shot her would have contaminated
that part of the gun in fact Howard says Leslie owned a different gun her friends
say they wish she had taken it with her the night she was killed had Leslie Tak the gun with her I assure you the
outcome would have been different tar declared his innocence but the case against him could hinge on what
Chris Smith the only Survivor remembers would he be able to identify him that was the question as Chris remained in a
coma we were talking to him singing to him and I was always holding this hand hallu well Chris Smith Lay helpless
authorities say tar was plotting to silence him forever a grand jury indicted tar on two
counts of solicitation of murder those charges are based on allegations by an inmate who says tar paid him
$110,000 to shoot and kill the lead detective and Chris did you ask a inmate to shoot Chris Smith no ma'am and to
kill detective roach no ma'am tar says the alleged plot was a lie concocted by a former cellmate tar
says he loaned that cellmate $10,000 for his bond and that it had nothing to do with Chris Smith were you worried he was
going to testify and point to you as a shooter no I was not worried one I OTA the truth was that no one knew what
Chris Smith remembered the first time he regained Consciousness was in early January
2022 about two months after the shooting like egg fu young egg fu young Chris's voice was so weak in those early
days it's already over there that his old friend Mark Reen a talk show host in St Louis 522 971 FM talk barely
recognized Chris on the phone I could not believe that I was hearing from this guy and I cried he cried just talking
about that moment really brings me chills because I just thought he was never going to be someone that was in my
life ever again what did Chris tell you well when Chris came out of this I was pretty sensitive to ask him about what
had happened that night because I think I was a little afraid of even having those conversations so most of the
conversations that we had were really focused on hey how are you are you going to be okay after intense Physical
Therapy he's made incredible strides he's much stronger than when he awoke from a coma but he discovered there are
gaps in his memory what does he remember from that terrible night I wish to God I could
remember something I mean even just a smidgen of something but I remember nothing he remembers nothing of the
shooting or Leslie Reeves I said who the heck Leslie I don't know Lesley you had
no idea no nothing nothing nothing is Chris the same person who used to come on your show before he was shot yeah I
think at the core he's still the same guy that I knew he's still the smartass he's still the guy that's going to talk
about how good he is and how good he was and how much he could lift weights Chris works out at the gym most
mornings trying to regain muscle so that someday he'll be able to walk without assistance
straight them C he's even back to being the lead singer in his rock and roll band I don't
know how he did make it I don't understand how he did he's a miracle but Chris is aware his life is
very different from what it once was so I'm half the man I used to be but I'm trying to get it back as hard as I can
and then my left leg is uh partially paralyzed my hip to my knee then from my knee to my toes completely paralyzed so
if there's any neurosurge out there any researchers out there please get a hold of me I'll be your guinea pig just make
me normal and give me my life back please it's tough isn't it Chris it tough doesn't even describe it
doesn't describe it Chris is resigned to living with part of that hollow point bullet in his brain doctors say it's in
a spot that makes it too dangerous to remove so that's where you got shot yep right here there's a y you still feel it
on my skull right there after decades on his own Chris had to move back into his
mother's house I thank my blessings daily that he's here with us I just wish that this guy didn't take everything
away from him Chris visits with his loyal dog Tiki but no longer lives with her and he'd love to see his 12-year-old
daughter more often but he can't drive and he's living in St leis almost 2 hours away from his daughter and ex-wife
I miss her she was my little PE in the pot I mean we did everything together the trial of Robert tar was set
for April 2024 but Chris would not be there he told the prosecutor he was too angry to attend you didn't think you'd
be able to just sit there oh no no way I I Know Myself there's know what no but Chris's alleged shooter Bobby tar will
be there and he said he was eager to tell the jury that he's not a violent man but on this one night early morning
did you snap no that's not my nature I don't lose it [Music] snap follow along with Chris's
remarkable story at 48 hours.com [Music] when Bobby tar went on trial in April 2024 prosecutors told the jury that he
killed Leslie Reeves rather than allow her to live the life she wanted a life without him Mr tar couldn't deal with
the fact that Leslie was seeing somebody else and he had to go and take care of it Andrew affronti says tar secretly
followed Leslie to Farmersville early that evening and shortly afterwards his phone began showing some interesting
activity he had actually searched Chris Smith on his phone he tried to find his Facebook profile tar headed home and
texted his friend Billy Adams I don't feel like she would drive that far for a party or go out with a girlfriend I
think it's for a dude he also searched whether police could track his phone if he was using a VP n a virtual private
Network he was researching to determine whether or not that would Mas where his location was while he was using the
phone authorities say around midnight tar left home stopping at that gas station and then according to a frony
surveillance videos and cell tower records show that tar drove back to Farmersville you believe he intended to
kill both Chris and Leslie I 100% believe that he went up there with the intent to do serious harm to both of
them with one victim dead and the other with no memory it's difficult to say with certainty what happened but the
prosecution argued that sometime after 1:00 a.m. Bobby tar tried to enter through the back door of Christmas house
Leslie and Chris tried to keep him out there was some kind of altercation or struggle and that's when the glass was
broken crime scene investigator Josh East told the jury what he had observed inside the kitchen the refrigerator was
pulled away from the wall where it appeared it normally was prosecutors believe Leslie was trying to use the
refrigerator to block the door and based on where Chris was shot in his head they
think he was crouching down down to help Leslie I think that while Chris was crouched down trying to hold the door
shut Bobby shot through the door and shuck Chris with Chris incapacitated Arron says Leslie hid in the living room
tar tracked her down shot and killed her I strongly believe that he walked in an
Executor defense attorney Dan folz disputes all of that there is simply no evidence that that's what happened
there's no evidence that Leslie pushed the refrigerator there's no fingerprints and blood on the refrigerator of
Leslie's fol says evidence of a fight in the kitchen tells a different story the
amount of blood in that kitchen was astonishing from looking at that crime scene do you believe that Christopher
Smith had to fight his his as salent in the kitchen it would appear to me that there
was some sign ific struggle in that kitchen between him and someone else and he says the asent could not have been
Bobby tar because he would have been covered in blood they did not identify a single piece of DNA in his car they
didn't identify a bloody fingerprint they did not identify anything tying him to that crime scene but prosecutors
argued the house wasn't bloody when tar left they said Chris bled heavily and in
the 12 hours it took for help to arrive and while the prosecution did not have a
lot of forensic evidence linking tar of the crime scene a fronty says his phone activity his lies to investigators and
the evidence found on the Hellcat all prove his guilt when you put all of that together that's when you get the clear
picture of what happened when it was the defense's turn tar says he wanted to tell his story to the jury but he chose
not to testify why didn't you just decide you were going to talk to the jury and tell
this story if in fact you have a story to tell I should have I very well should have we made a strategic decision
because it may have opened the door for a whole lot of other more damaging evidence to be used uh to cross-examine
him the defense didn't put on any Witnesses and counted on the jury to find Reasonable Doubt in the lack of
physical evidence after 3 hours the jury found Bobby tar guilty of first-degree murder
and attempted murder everyone clapped and Bobby just sat there shaking his head two months later tar was back in
court for sentencing and this time so was Chris to tell the judge how the shooting impacted him and his family
Cameron were not allowed in the courtroom lost my house lost my truck I've literally lost my life about being
killed tar also spoke and denied shooting Leslie and Chris the judge sentenced him to 85 years I hope the
rest of his time on this Earth is Hell Leslie Reeves friends are focused on keeping her memory alive she was a
light of a lot of people's lives she was always smiling she was a very good mother lived for her kids and was an
advocate and champion of women women's rights and especially women that were abused if it can happen to her it could
happen to anyone so we all need to be careful Chris Smith says he never expected he'd be a victim of domestic
violence and cautions other men to take a hard look at their behavior if guys you feel
like that you want you want to hurt a woman get help while Chris Mourns his old life
he's writing a book about his experiences and says he's working to make what he calls Poor Man's Margaritas
out of the lemons and limes he's been handed I've got a doover good Lord give me a do over how many people we'll get a
second chance live Chris has found love with Michelle albre she's an angel loving me and
accepting me the way that I am he proposed to her on stage I just asked her if she'd married me
guys what's the most important lesson out of all of this don't ever give up on anything ever no matter how bad things
are don't ever give up [Music] as a kid growing up in Chicago there was one horror movie I was too scared to
watch it was called Candyman but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly
inspired by an actual murder listen to Candyman the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder wherever you get
your podcasts I'm Erin morard of 48 hours and of all the cases I've covered this is the one that troubles me most
listen to murder in the Orange Grove the trouble case against Crosley green wherever you get your podcast

A couple’s first date ends with an ambush. Both are shot. Can the only survivor identify the shooter? "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV. (Aired Nov. 2, 2024)

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Leslie Reeves was murdered on a first date with Chris Smith, leading to Bobby Tar's arrest and trial for the crimes.

Key points

A First Date Turns Tragic. Leslie Reeves and Chris Smith's first date ends in horror when they are attacked.
The Discovery of a Crime Scene. Nanette Styer anxiously watches as police respond to a house in Farmersville.
Bobby Tar's Alibi Unravels. Bobby Tar's conflicting stories raise suspicion as detectives investigate Leslie's murder.
The Murder Weapon Found. Authorities discover a gun linked to Leslie's murder in Bobby Tar's yard.
Leslie's Gun Skills. Leslie Reeves was becoming a skilled shooter, raising questions about her murder.
Chris Smith's Recovery Journey. After being shot, Chris Smith struggles with memory loss but fights to regain his life.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Why would somebody do this to him?

3:22WatchNov 7, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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