Forensic Files - Season 8, Episode 32 - Over and Out - Full Episode | Forensic Files

NARRATOR: A homemade bomb ripped through a rural home, and investigators had no idea who was responsible.
The device was made with common items found in any store, but a tiny battery number and the label inside a computer
uncovered a bizarre tale of revenge. [theme music] The tiny town of Fair Haven, Vermont
is about as far removed from big city life as any place in the country. Violence was virtually unheard of,
but even so, locals used to joke that Sheila Rockwell and her 17-year-old son, Chris Marquis
lived in the safest place in town, about 100 feet away from the police station. But all of that changed one March afternoon in 1998.
SHEILA ROCKWELL: There was a knock on the door. It was the UPS man. [knocking] And he had handed me a package.
-Hi, I have a package for delivery. -And I looked at the package, and the package
had said, um, Samantha Brown on it. Well, it didn't ring a bell to me, because I don't know who any Samantha Brown was.
So I brought it into Chris. SHEILA ROCKWELL (VOICEOVER): You got a package here.
NARRATOR: Chris was sitting at his desk in his bedroom, and he didn't know a Samantha Brown, either.
He opened the box. Inside was a smaller box, wrapped with string. He cut the string, and there was an explosion.
[explosion] [coughing] SHEILA ROCKWELL: And I did realize that I was hit, because my fingers were gone.
I tried crawling to Chris because he was moaning. And that's when I realized that my knee wasn't there
and that I couldn't get to him. NARRATOR: Chief Ray Viger heard the explosion and ran over to investigate.
CHIEF RAYMOND VIGER: I walked down this little corridor to, uh, into the living room, and then
we could see some stuff coming out of the hallway there, and young Chris was laying right there
in the hallway, half in the room and half out. [sirens] NARRATOR: Both Sheila and Chris were rushed to the hospital.
PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: A large piece of the shrapnel, in this case, went towards Christopher Marquis' leg
and essentially blew a large hole in his thigh and severed his femoral artery, and he bled to death.
SHEILA ROCKWELL: I kept asking, where is Chris? Where is Chris? How is Chris doing?
And Dr.Hartman came in, and he put his hand on mine, and he said, "Sheila, Chris didn't make it."
And I can remember just letting out a scream, and then they had, you know, put me under.
[explosion] NARRATOR: The shrapnel found at the bomb scene indicated it was a pipe bomb, the favorite device
of amateur bombers. Tiny brass hex nuts had been wrapped around the bomb to make it even more deadly.
PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: It's a terrible circumstance of violent crime that somebody's just--
hooks up with the wrong person at the wrong time and becomes the victim of this kind of outrageous activity.
NARRATOR: The return address on the package said Samantha Brown from Bucyrus, Ohio.
When police checked the name and address, they found both were fictitious. Chris Marquis was a 17-year-old high school dropout, a loner.
Because of an eye condition, he was slowly going blind. He spent most of his time indoors,
and he had few friends. Yet, someone clearly wanted to kill him. But who? As police looked into his background,
they found Chris had a secret life-- something his family knew nothing about. As police combed through the wreckage of Chris Marquis'
bedroom, they had one question-- who wanted him dead? The package were shipped from Ohio
and was addressed to the The CB Shack in care of Chris Marquis. It was a small business Chris ran out of his home,
selling Citizens band radios and parts through the internet. SHEILA ROCKWELL: Well, it wasn't really a business.
It was mainly local people. You know, friends of his that he would fix their radio,
or people would hear him on the radio, probably bragging and telling them how he could fix radios,
you know. And it was pretty much the locals. NARRATOR: But investigators soon discovered that Chris Marquis
didn't always treat his customers fairly. PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: I think it's fair to say that Christopher
Marquis was not completely honest in all of his business dealings with other people prior to his murder.
CHIEF RAYMOND VIGER: Chris Marquis made enemies by not living up to the agreements
that he had made with individuals on purchasing and selling of CB sets and other various equipment.
NARRATOR: Customers told police that Chris would promise to send one model of radio, but after he received payment would
ship another lower priced radio. JOHN HERSH: Obviously a number of these individuals
were upset over this, and therefore it was necessary for the investigation to locate and interview these individuals
in order to determine if that anger grows to the level where they would do such a violet crime.
[phone ringing] NARRATOR: With hundreds of customers, investigators now had hundreds of suspects.
Investigators discovered that the packages was shipped by the United Parcel Service from Mansfield, Ohio.
The name and town on the return address were both fictitious. At the crime scene, investigators
sifted through the debris looking for evidence. DAVID ALBRITTEN: An extensive search was required.
We were meticulously going through every room, where any piece of evidence that we're looking for-- a wire, a tool,
a hex nut-- we were taking sweepings and going room to room. NARRATOR: Bomb experts say bombs are unique-- that each bomber
has a signature style, and the bomb that killed Chris Marquis had a signature all its own.
PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: One of the things that we knew from the murder scene was that small brass hex nuts had been included
in the bomb that killed Chris Marquis. So the FBI and ATF agents in the search were looking for hex nuts that might be physically consistent
with the hex nuts in the bomb. NARRATOR: Investigators also found pieces of Styrofoam used
to pack the bomb, a piece of the battery used to detonate it, and they were able to identify the chemical makeup of the gun
powder used in the explosion. But all of these items were available in any hardware store
or gun shop. The bombing death of Chris Marquis made the national news. DAVID ALBRITTEN: The witness realized
that he had information that was important to law enforcement. It was at that point that the cooperating witness contacted
law enforcement to relay his information that he had. NARRATOR: The informant told investigators
that a long-distance truck driver in Indiana, Christopher Dean, had purchased a CB radio from someone
through the internet and was angry about it. JOHN HERSH: This witness informed the FBI
that he was present in a discussion with Mr. Dean when he spoke of his problems with the sale of a CB radio
and a young man in Vermont. PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: There was information that he'd said he was going to come to Vermont and, you know,
beat up Mr. Marquis. NARRATOR: When questioned, Dean confirmed he had purchased a CB
radio from Chris Marquis for $400 and had been sent a cheaper model instead. JOHN HERSH: Mr. Dean was very angered.
At one time, his wife actually called Christopher Marquis and indicated that her husband was quite upset
and may be traveling to Vermont, and that, uh, he would not be very happy if he did.
SHEILA ROCKWELL: There was a lot of phone calls. And a lot of times, I would answer the phone,
and he asked for my son. And Chris would say, I'm not here. You know, he'd give me the motion
he didn't want to answer the phone call. NARRATOR: Sheila admitted her son didn't return Dean's money.
But Dean denied sending the bomb. He had no prior criminal record, and he lived in Indiana.
The package had been shipped from Ohio. BRADLEY STETLER: He was described as a very hard working person, reliable, honest--
had a very loving family. He had plenty of friends and neighbors who trusted him, who thought he was a generous, regular guy.
NARRATOR: Investigators wondered whether forensic evidence in Dean's home would contradict his story.
SHEILA ROCKWELL: I can't really believe that somebody would do this. Chris was my pride and joy.
He was my youngest child. They say that you have to forgive. And because of my religion, I believe I do have to forgive.
But I don't think I've come to that yet. NARRATOR: Armed with a warrant, investigators
searched Christopher Dean's home-- their prime suspect in the bombing death of Chris Marquis.
DAVID ALBRITTEN: We are looking everywhere that any place a hex nut could be-- a wooden clothes pin, thumb tacks, batteries,
any type of insulating materials-- as well as taking sweepings from carpet, looking for powders-- anything that may
have held any type of explosive powders. NARRATOR: In Christopher Dean's basement,
they found hex nuts similar to those used in the fatal bond. To find out if they were the same,
analysts used a process known as plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. They took samples from the hex nuts found with the bomb
and those found in Dean's house. These samples were dissolved in a neutral chemical solution,
which was then vaporized at extremely high temperatures. Different components, like zinc and copper,
will vaporize at different speeds, all of which is monitored by a computer. Investigators concluded the hex nuts
had the same chemical make-up. JOHN HERSH: Identical hex nuts, from a metallurgical point
of view, were recovered from Mr. Dean's residence. They were stored in a container near his workbench, where we
alleged the bomb was constructed. NARRATOR: In the rest of the house was even more evidence.
Investigators found the same type of wiring used in the bomb's detonator. They found the same type of pipe used in the fatal bomb
and the same type of Styrofoam packing material was discovered in Dean's garage.
PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: This pipe bomb used smokeless powder. One of the things we were looking for
was powder like that. Now, interestingly enough, there was no container of powder found.
NARRATOR: But in the kitchen, investigators found a small plastic funnel that looked like it might contain a clue.
DAVID ALBRITTEN: That funnel-- we could visibly see that there appeared to have been some type of power used in that.
NARRATOR: The powder was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope that uses x-rays
to reveal its chemical components. That sample was compared to the powder found at the bomb scene.
Both samples were smokeless gun powder. And both had a 17% concentration of nitroglycerin,
in addition to the stabilizing component, nitrocellulose. PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: The smokeless power
matched the smokeless powder from the murder bomb and from the smokeless powder we found inside his house.
NARRATOR: But there was a problem. All of these items in Dean's home were available at stores
at every state in the country. There was nothing unique or unusual about the gun
powder, the pipe, or the hex nuts. Investigators knew that sometimes the tiniest piece
of evidence is the most telling, so they return to the bomb scene. Among the thousands of pieces of debris,
they found a mangled nine volt battery. With a magnifying glass, investigators saw a series of numbers and letters
on the side of the battery-- 3G24G205. A call to the manufacturer revealed this was a lot number that identified the day
and the assembly line on which the battery was assembled. Inside Christopher Dean's home, investigators
found an open pack of the same brand of nine volt batteries with one missing. The lot numbers on the unused batteries
were the same as the one used to detonate the pipe bomb. PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: And that lot number
meant that those batteries were manufactured at the same day on the same line. NARRATOR: Just when prosecutors thought their case against Dean
would primarily be circumstantial, a computer forensic expert found even more evidence
inside Chris Dean's computer. It was a file Dean thought he had deleted but hadn't.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors found evidence that Christopher Dean ordered a CB radio from Chris Marquis
and sent a check for $400. But Marquis sent a less expensive CB radio than the one Dean ordered.
JOHN HERSH: The motive for Mr. Dean's actions in this murder of Christopher Marquis appears to be, unfortunately,
his extreme anger over the fact that Christopher Marquis swindled him out of a $400 CB radio.
NARRATOR: There was one last item in Chris Dean's home investigators needed to evaluate-- his computer.
A computer forensic analysis uncovered evidence that Dean had recently downloaded information
on how to build a pipe bomb. JASON STANFORD: If an investigator were looking for evidence of searches for pipe bomb
material on the internet, it is not difficult to locate, especially if the computer user himself is
not savvy in how to cover his tracks. NARRATOR: And on the hard drive of his computer,
there was a copy-- or template-- of the label used on the box that held the pipe bomb,
with the same fictitious return address that was found on the pipe bomb package.
Mr. Dean attempted to delete the file, but remnants of the file were still on the computer's hard drive.
JASON STANFORD: He probably thought he covered his tracks and deleted all the files.
However, because he printed it, the computer generated a second file on the system for the printer.
And that is what was found. DAVID ALBRITTEN: It would be remarkable for anybody else
to have made up the exact name and exact address that was contained on Christopher Dean's computer.
PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: And I characterized this computer label as a computer fingerprint.
It was conclusive, in my mind, that somebody had-- that this bomb was associated with that house,
that somebody had created the address label used in this bomb at the Dean residence.
NARRATOR: Christopher Dean was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors had plenty of evidence
to prove Dean chose violence as a way to resolve his dispute with Chris Marquis.
In making the bomb, Dean unwittingly used a nine volt battery which identified the date and the factory in which it was manufactured--
a battery which matched the ones found in his home. Logs from Mr. Dean's trucking company
indicated he was in Mansfield, Ohio on the day the fatal package was sent. JOHN HERSH: We even went a step further than that.
The witness at the UPS facility in Ohio identified Christopher Dean as the person
who shipped that box. PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: We were able to compare the handwriting
on the UPS receipt with Mr. Dean's handwriting. And handwriting experts would say
that it was the same person. NARRATOR: And Dean had no idea he was dealing with a teenager.
PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: They communicated over the internet and a little bit over the telephone,
so they'd never met each other. Mr. Dean didn't know what Mr. Marquis looked like,
didn't know he was a 17-year-old boy. NARRATOR: In February of 2000, Christopher Dean pleaded guilty
to first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
For Sheila Rockwell, there was little satisfaction in the sentence. She still bears the scars of the bomb that killed her son.
She limps from the shrapnel that tore through her leg, and her hands will never recover from the blast.
But mostly, she mourns the loss of her 17-year-old son. SHEILA ROCKWELL: Why? Why would anybody ever do this over a CB radio?
You know, if only I had known-- I would try to, you know, reason with Dean. You know-- pay him for the radio.
Send him back the radio. Whatever the case may be. But it was just unbelievable that somebody that crazy
would do something like that. PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: Sitting here today, I still can't fathom how one person would be of a mindset
that just because they got ripped off for a couple hundred bucks, that they would want to kill somebody
that they've never seen before. NARRATOR: For investigators, the case proved something
that Christopher Dean never thought possible. He was convinced that since he'd never been to Vermont,
and he had never met Chris Marquis, that no one could tie him to the fatal bomb.
But he never realized forensic science would identify him. The materials he used to build the bomb, the lot numbers
on the batteries, and the fictitious name and address that was recovered from his computer
left no doubt that he was the one who killed Chris Marquis. PAUL VAN DE GRAFF: We had a lot of evidence in this case,
but the forensic evidence, to me, was the linchpin of the prosecution, and we not only had one piece of forensic evidence,
but we had many, many different kinds of forensic evidence. SHEILA ROCKWELL: It was just amazing, the way that they had
pin pointed the paper wrapper, the Styrofoam, the bomb, everything that he had, you know,
had put in the bomb-- the hex nuts-- were all right back to the manufacture. It was unbelievable that science was that good.
[theme music]

When a pipe bomb ripped through a rural home, police had no idea who was responsible. A lot number on a 9-volt battery and the remnants of a mailing label found on a hard drive led investigators to who sent the bomb and why.

Forensic Files is the longest-running true crime series in television history. Evidence and interviews with experts help solve real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world.

#truecrime #forensicfiles #fullepisodes Click here to watch full episodes from Forensic Files - Season 8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gAB0hcY3Z0&list=PLC4mqmKvz1IbdnLKfCt8--pOV0xEpMIP5 Forensic Files is the longest-running true crime series in television history. Evidence and interviews with experts help solve real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world.

Brief Summary

A bomb killed Chris Marquis, leading to Christopher Dean's arrest for murder over a CB radio dispute.

Key points

A Bombing in Fair Haven. A homemade bomb explodes in a rural home, leading to a tale of revenge.
The Tragic Loss of Chris Marquis. Chris Marquis, a 17-year-old, dies from injuries sustained in the explosion.
The Investigation Unfolds. Investigators uncover a web of deceit surrounding Chris Marquis's secret life.
Forensic Evidence Leads to Arrest. Forensic science ties Christopher Dean to the bomb that killed Chris Marquis.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I kept asking, where is Chris?

Sheila Rockwell's desperate search for her son after the explosion.

3:03WatchDec 16, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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