Gregory Green | World's Most Evil Killers | Forensic Files

[audio logo] narrator:<i> In the early hours</i> <i> of September the 21st, 2016,</i>
<i> in Dearborn, Michigan,</i> <i> a rage-filled</i> <i> father unleashed a nightmare</i> <i> on his unsuspecting family.</i>
- He made his wife watch while he shot and killed her two teenage children. [gunshot]
I can't imagine anything more cruel. - I'm yelling to him like, "no," you know. "No, my baby."
I was begging him not to shoot her because once he shot her in the back, you know,
she was bleeding from her mouth, and I knew she wasn't going to make it. narrator:<i> The killer was</i> <i> 49-year-old Gregory Green,</i>
<i> and his reign of terror</i> <i> was far from over.</i> [tense music] Trisha Gerard: He carried the two other girls out
to the garage, placed them in the car, tucked them in, shut the door, and turned the car on.
And they ultimately succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Michael Petri: It was probably the most
horrific crime that I've ever seen or dealt with during my career. narrator: <i> But astonishingly, this</i>
<i> wasn't the first time Gregory</i> <i> Green had killed his family.</i> Geoffrey Wansell: Back in 1991, he killed his first wife.
And not only her, but also the unborn child, his child, that she was carrying. narrator:<i> The man who</i> <i> killed his family twice</i>
<i> would forever come to be</i> <i> known as one of the world's</i> <i> most evil killers.</i>
[theme music] ♪ ♪ [somber music] narrator:<i> In 2017, 50-year-old</i> <i> Gregory Green was ordered</i>
<i> to spend the rest of his</i> <i> natural life in prison</i> <i> for the murders of his</i> <i> two stepchildren,</i>
<i> 19-year-old Chadney</i> <i> and 17-year-old Kara,</i> <i> and his two</i> <i> biological daughters,</i>
<i> five-year-old Koi,</i> <i> and Kaleigh, who was just four.</i> - His final act of power over Faith Green, Gregory Green,
allowed her to live and forced her to witness the murder of her children. And that gave him the power in his mind to manipulate her and
make her live with these horrific memories for the rest of her life. [distant police siren]
Michael Petri: I don't understand the mentality, but it seemed like torture to me.
narrator:<i> There was no trial.</i> <i> For the second</i> <i> time in his life,</i>
<i> Gregory Green pled guilty</i> <i> to the murder of his family.</i> [grim music]
Jane Monckton-Smith: This case is a perfect example that shows how incredibly dangerous
coercively controlling people can become. Those children were totally dispensable,
irrespective of whether they were stepchildren or biological children. I have got to make this woman pay.
You lot can pay with your lives so that I can restore my ego. How evil is that? ♪ ♪
narrator:<i> This killer's</i> <i> story begins in Michigan</i> <i> on October 12, 1966.</i>
[unsettling music] ♪ ♪ Geoffrey Wansell: Gregory Green was born in Dearborn and the outskirts of Detroit.
And in fact, he spent his entire life in Dearborn. We don't know a great deal about Green's upbringing,
but we do know that it was a loving household, brought up with his mother and father and siblings.
And I think he described it later in life as a comfortable upbringing. narrator:<i> Green's second</i> <i> wife, Faith, remembers him</i>
<i> talking about his childhood.</i> Faith Harris: He said that like in high school,
he always had nice things. There were times, like, if he didn't want to go to school,
he didn't have to. narrator:<i> By his early 20s,</i> <i> Green had married his first</i>
<i> wife, Tonya, and joined</i> <i> a church community</i> <i> on the outskirts of Detroit,</i> <i> led by Faith's father,</i>
<i> Pastor Fred Harris.</i> [somber music] - As a little girl, I loved going to church.
My dad became a pastor when I was about 11. narrator:<i> It was</i> <i> at church where</i>
<i> Faith first met</i> <i> the man who would turn</i> <i> out to be her future husband.</i>
Faith Harris: I was 14 years old. At that time, he was probably about 24 or 25. He had no clue that I had a crush on him.
I thought that he was cute, things like that. I used to just say hi to him, sometimes, after church,
sitting next to him. [grim music] He was there for a while, then he wasn't there anymore.
narrator:<i> In 1991, unbeknownst</i> <i> to 14-year-old Faith,</i> <i> Gregory Green had</i> <i> been sent to prison</i>
<i> for killing his wife, Tonya.</i> Geoffrey Wansell: On the 14th of July, Green attacked Tonya.
And at that point, she was six months pregnant with Green's child. He attacked her brutally, ferociously,
stabbing her in the face, chest, neck, back, killing not only Tonya but also the unborn child.
[unsettling music] Certainly, one of the factors that triggered Green's behavior
was the fact that she was planning to divorce him. I don't think Green wanted anybody else to have Tonya.
If he couldn't have her, no one else was going to have her. narrator:<i> Gregory</i> <i> Green calmly dialed 911</i>
<i> to report what he'd done,</i> <i> and waited for the police</i> <i> to arrive and arrest him.</i>
[distant police siren] - It's really interesting, when looking at the emotional state
of people who kill somebody close to them, like a wife or a child. The first emotion they feel afterwards is relief--
not remorse, not shame, not guilt, not terror, relief. So they can, in that moment, behave quite rationally.
But overlay that with the fact that they have felt completely justified in killing their wife
for trying to leave them. Trisha Gerard: Gregory Green pled no contest to the crime
of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 25 years in the Michigan Department
of Corrections. Geoffrey Wansell: While Green was serving his sentence for the murder of Tonya, the woman
who was to become his second wife was going about an ordinary life. In fact, she'd got married, and she had two children.
Faith Harris: I met Kara and Chadney's dad in the 10th grade, and immediately I just fell for-- for him.
And then, once I graduated from high school, that's when we really started dating.
And then I got pregnant with my son when I was 19. He was-- I shouldn't say like my little buddy.
But he was like me. He was a night owl. Even when I carried him, he was up at night.
That's just how I was. So he was just a quiet child, and we did a lot together. He was very smart and artistic, too.
He started drawing when he was really little. narrator:<i> Another</i> <i> child followed quickly.</i>
<i> When her son Chadney was</i> <i> almost two years old,</i> <i> Faith gave birth</i> <i> to a daughter, Kara.</i>
Faith Harris: Kara was always the type of child where, whatever her brother did,
she wanted to be able to do it too. When he was learning to tie his shoes, she was, like, I can do it too.
She always wanted to boss him, so I always had to tell her, like, Kara, you know, stop bossing, stop
bossing your brother around. He just wanted to play his games and things like that.
But as they got older, their relationship got better. [unsettling music] ♪ ♪ narrator:<i> Meanwhile,</i> <i> Gregory Green</i>
<i> had been serving time</i> <i> in prison for the murder</i> <i> of his first wife.</i>
<i> Most of his adult life had</i> <i> been spent behind bars.</i> <i> But in 2005, a push</i> <i> to give him a second chance</i>
<i> gained momentum.</i> Geoffrey Wansell: Green, as was typical of him, maintained an absolutely calm presence in prison,
but he was refused parole four times because he showed no empathy and no remorse whatsoever for killing
Tonya and his unborn child. Jane Monckton-Smith: After that first murder, Gregory Green was a walking threat to any woman
that he was going to get into a relationship with, especially if that woman challenges
him or attempts to leave him. Geoffrey Wansell: Green had been in prison for a considerable period of time
when Pastor Fred Harris, who was a well-known figure in Detroit, began a campaign
to get him released. Harris told the parole board that Green would be supported by the local community
and welcomed back into the church. What he didn't do, and that's so significant later,
he didn't warn his daughter, Faith, exactly what Green had done and why he'd been in prison.
narrator:<i> In 2008, after</i> <i> 16 years behind bars,</i> <i> Gregory Green was granted</i> <i> parole at the age of 41.</i>
<i> He had a chance to start over.</i> <i> But his insatiable lust for</i> <i> murder could not be controlled.</i>
<i> And eventually, he</i> <i> would kill again.</i> [suspenseful music] ♪ ♪ narrator:<i> In 2008,</i> <i> Gregory Green</i>
<i> had just been</i> <i> released from prison</i> <i> after spending 16</i> <i> years behind bars</i>
<i> for the murder of his first</i> <i> wife and their unborn child.</i> <i> When Faith, who was single</i> <i> again, ran into him at church,</i>
<i> old feelings resurfaced.</i> Faith Harris: At first, he didn't even know who I was until I told him.
Then he was like, oh, OK. He didn't even have a clue that I had this crush on him.
And a few times, like, after church, I would talk to him and then eventually we exchanged numbers.
One day, we went out to dinner, just talked. The kids seemed like they liked him,
and we just eventually started dating. Geoffrey Wansell: Tragically, Faith wasn't aware of Green's crime when he was released.
Her father didn't tell her. And I'm absolutely sure, in my own mind, that Green didn't tell her either.
As far as she was concerned, with the help of her father, Green was being rehabilitated.
Faith Harris: I probably should have asked more questions. I did know that he had went to prison.
We were told there was some type of altercation, but it was self-defense. Jane Monckton-Smith: Any allegations made against him,
he's going to deny, he's going to minimize. He's going to make it look like he was the victim.
This is something that is so common. They call it DARVO, Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim
and Offender. Now, that is straight from the coercive control playbook. Faith Harris: He moved in with me for a little bit,
but I was just feeling like something wasn't right. I don't know if it was just too soon.
I ended up breaking it off with him for a while. I didn't talk to him for a little bit,
and then we started talking back. And then that's how I got pregnant with Koi. Like we weren't even in a relationship
or anything like that. A couple months after I had Koi, that's when we ended up getting married.
♪ ♪ narrator:<i> In 2011,</i> <i> Green and his new wife</i> <i> moved into their first</i> <i> house together.</i>
Michael Petri: The city of Dearborn Heights is pretty much a bedroom community, borders the city of Detroit on the east side of the city.
A nice place to live, pretty safe. It's good community, very eclectic, very diverse.
Geoffrey Wansell: It didn't take long for Faith to realize that Green perhaps wasn't quite as angelic
as she might have thought. And quite quickly, she became unsettled. [unsettling music]
- I didn't really know what was going on with him on the inside. He just would shut down.
That's when I started to see the attitude and things like that. Jane Monckton-Smith: Coercive control
is a pattern of behavior designed to trap someone in a relationship. And that will be the motivation of the controlling person.
So they will do all sorts of things within that relationship, what we call tactics,
to make sure that person stays where they are, stays compliant, never leaves. Faith Harris: Everything was just Koi, Koi, Koi.
He would tell me things like, if I leave the house, I got to take her with me. He didn't really want to give me a break.
There was only one time during that first year where I was able to go out with one of my friends,
and then he was calling me. I'm like, it only had been literally probably like an hour, hour and a half, and
I was getting ready to be back on my way home. Jane Monckton-Smith: Green was incredibly
controlling of Faith. He tried to isolate her from forms of support and influence.
He would have used psychological tactics where he would demean her and question her,
so that she was constantly trying to meet his expectations and his rules. He will be presenting that as very normal.
That's the way of things. You've got your role, I've got mine. You get on with yours.
And as long as you do it properly, I'll leave you alone. narrator:<i> Like many</i> <i> women in that situation,</i>
<i> Faith stayed with Green</i> <i> for the sake of her daughter.</i> Faith Harris: Koi was funny.
She thought she knew it all. She loved wearing dresses. Love wearing dresses. That was her thing.
narrator:<i> Almost two</i> <i> years after Koi was born,</i> <i> Green and Faith had</i> <i> a second daughter, Kaleigh.</i>
- Somehow, Green didn't take to the second daughter as much as he'd taken to the first.
Faith Harris: When she came, he didn't want anything to do with her. I don't know if it was because you didn't want another child.
I can even take that if that's what it was, you know. I mean, I don't have to like it, but make it make sense.
It got to the point where it was really tense in the house. ♪ ♪ Michael Petri: The home was a well-kept home, nice area.
By all accounts, you know, just a good family living in a quiet suburb, raising their kids.
So it kind of goes to the heart of what we deal with in policing every day. You never know what's going on behind closed doors.
narrator:<i> Despite Green's</i> <i> apparent indifference</i> <i> to his second daughter,</i> <i> Kaleigh was adored by Faith.</i>
- Kaleigh-- [laughs] Kaleigh was-- she was a little rambunctious. She was glued to my hip.
She was observant. She sat back and watched. When her dad was mean to her, I used to say, look, let's pray.
And then she would tell me, mommy, let's pray. There was a couple of times he flinched at her
and she would stand up to him. No baby should have to do that, you know. ♪ ♪ One night, I was sitting on the couch,
and he's yelling and hollering, just saying demeaning things to me, calling me names.
But he's holding Koi. So I'm like, can you please just put her down? So finally, I got him to put her down.
And he starts yelling. He starts kicking the couch. Kaleigh's on this end. I'm like, please stop kicking the couch.
♪ ♪ That was my point there. I was just like, I-- I have to leave. narrator:<i> Faith attempted</i> <i> to get a personal protection</i>
<i> order against her husband.</i> Faith Harris: I tried to go to the Dearborn Heights Police
Department to file a PPO. I filled out the paperwork. They came back less than five minutes
and told me it's not enough information. - People don't go and get protective orders for nothing.
They don't apply for them for nothing. But for some reason, probably a lack of evidence,
I would have thought, that protective order was not granted. Michael Petri: Domestic violence
is one of those crimes that are unpoliceable. And that's one of the things that the police hate.
We want to protect the public. We want to do what's out there. But the law, everybody thinks it's black and white.
It's really not. Faith Harris: I decided to go back to work, and I said I'm just going to make a plan
and leave on the last day of school. And that's what I did. narrator:<i> After Faith</i> <i> left her husband,</i>
<i> they lived apart</i> <i> for a couple of years.</i> Faith Harris: I did file for divorce.
And we were at one of our, I guess, divorce proceedings. And then I felt like we needed to talk.
I didn't think like we were going to talk to get back together. But that's what ended up happening.
So I said, well, this time we really need to talk about things in detail. And I felt like that's what we were really doing.
I felt like he was making an effort. - This is a controlling and manipulative person.
So they will use any tactic they think of that is going to work for them to get what they want.
Faith would probably have believed him, that he was genuine, that he was going to change.
They never do. narrator:<i> In 2014, Green</i> <i> and Faith reunited.</i> <i> And eventually, she moved</i> <i> back into the family home</i>
<i> with her four children.</i> <i> It would prove to be</i> <i> a fatal mistake.</i>
Faith Harris: It was OK for a few months. He wanted the girls and everybody to have a good Christmas so we got this huge Christmas tree
that went up to the ceiling, bring out the toys, and everything in the house. We were talking about renewing our vows.
But things were just slowly dwindling. I was just like, oh, this is not going to work.
Jane Monckton-Smith: Green would never have been able to sustain this character that he was playing.
Once he got what he wanted-- gone, forget it. This is not who he is. Who he is, is a manipulative, abusive controller.
Faith Harris: As time went on, he was getting worse. So this time I'm dead set. I'm like, I can't change my mind.
I can't continue to put my children through this. narrator:<i> In August</i> <i> 2016, Faith filed</i>
<i> for divorce for a second time.</i> - Statistically, the period of separation
or the threat of separation in a relationship where there's intimate partner violence is the most
dangerous time for a victim. And the reason for that is because, it's not about violence.
It's about power and control. So when the abuser in the relationship feels that they're losing that power and control,
their behavior ramps up and can become much, much more violent. Faith Harris: Next thing I know he's mad.
He was just really upset, cursing, just real belligerent. And then eventually, he left and went to work.
And I thought I was going to be all right because the most Greg ever did was just yell,
holler, maybe be in my face. I just continued to go on about my day as usual. Trisha Gerard: It was at that point
Gregory Green felt he ultimately lost control of the situation. And she was going to take his home.
She was going to take his children. And he was not going to permit that to happen.
narrator:<i> It would</i> <i> be less than a month</i> <i> after he was served his divorce</i> <i> papers that Gregory Green</i>
<i> finally snapped.</i> <i> What followed was a night</i> <i> of absolute horror</i>
<i> that would change</i> <i> Faith's life forever.</i> [suspenseful music] narrator:<i> By September</i> <i> 2016, Faith Green</i>
<i> had served her</i> <i> husband with divorce</i> <i> papers for the second time.</i>
<i> Gregory Green knew</i> <i> his marriage was over.</i> - On the 20th of September, 2016,
Green unleashed a nightmare on his unsuspecting family. [suspenseful music] Trisha Gerard: It started off as a normal day.
It spiraled into Faith Green and Gregory Green having an argument over text messages
about the state of their marriage, and the fact that she had filed for divorce. By the time Faith Green returned to the house that day,
Gregory Green had become consumed by anger. ♪ ♪ Faith Harris: I go to sleep, and
I remember him coming into the girls' room because I was sleeping in their room.
And he was like, "Come in the living room." He seemed serious, so I got up. I go into the living room, and I see my son in there.
And I'm thinking in my head, like, he woke my son up so I can tell he was asleep.
Greg takes out these big zip ties. ♪ ♪ I never seen zip ties that big in my life, ever.
I didn't even know they made them that big. So he's like, "I want you to tie your mother up with this."
So Chad is like, "Greg, wait." Then he pulls a gun out. [tense music] So I was like, Chadney, just--
just do what he says. So he made my son zip-tie me. And then that's when he proceeded to zip-tie my son.
I was froze. I couldn't do anything. ♪ ♪ Kara came to the living room looking like he's tripping.
Like, what is wrong with him? Like, he lost his mind. She has no clue what just happened.
But he ends up zip-tying her. And then he says he wants us to go to the basement.
We just look at each other. The thoughts were so loud, like, "Go to the basement?"
We just look at each other, and then we go down to the basement. And then he made us lay down on the floor,
duct tape our mouths, duct tape around our arms, behind our back, ankles. And then he like, extra duct-taped me a lot.
I was thinking that he was just going to take the girls and leave. That's what I was thinking.
I never thought he was going to do anything more than that. I thought he was really just trying to,
like, really just scare me. Jane Monckton-Smith: Gregory Green had a mindset where, above everything else,
he was entitled to things. He was superior. He was better. And if you didn't give him what he was entitled to,
he would respond really, really badly, almost like a petulant toddler. But a petulant toddler is nowhere near
as dangerous as a fully grown, violent man with access to weapons. Faith Harris: He sits down on a counter in the basement.
And he says that I'm going to suffer for what I did to him and his girls, and he doesn't want his girls raised by anybody in my family.
I just felt so bad because I couldn't help us. What was I going to do? narrator:<i> Green spent</i> <i> the next hour going</i>
<i> in and out of the basement.</i> <i> When he returned</i> <i> for the final time, he turned</i>
<i> his gun on 17-year-old Kara.</i> [gunshot] Faith Harris: He shot her in the back twice.
[gunshot] And she just looked at me. I'm yelling to him like, "no," you know. "No, my baby."
I was begging him not to shoot her because once he shot her in the back, you know,
she was bleeding from her mouth, and I knew she wasn't going to make it. [ominous music]
Trisha Gerard: He next turned the gun on Chadney. He shot Chadney twice in the back and once in the head.
[gunshots] - And I remember him saying, "ouch." And he rolled over, and he never moved again.
Then he aimed a gun at me. And I remember just trying to brace myself because I didn't know where he was going to shoot me,
and I just remember hearing gunshots. [gunshot] I remember that burning feeling.
And then he grabbed my face. So I remember that. And then him, you know, cutting me from this side.
[suspenseful music] I didn't feel it, but I could just feel the warmth of the blood.
And I could see, like, blood squirting. ♪ ♪ Geoffrey Wansell: He spared Faith's life
because he wanted her to suffer and live through it and live with it. It is an unimaginable burden for anyone to bear.
Can you imagine any mother watching the death of her children in front of her by a man she's married and thought she could trust?
♪ ♪ - It's fascinating from a law enforcement psychological standpoint to try to understand
what Mr. Green actually was thinking that caused him to go to those lengths. What was it that you thought, by sitting your wife down,
killing her children in front of her, you were going to accomplish? That was the question that reigned in my mind
for a long time after it. narrator:<i> In an eerie</i> <i> echo of the night</i>
<i> 25 years earlier when he'd</i> <i> murdered his first wife,</i> <i> Green then called the police</i> <i> and confessed to his crime.</i>
Faith Harris: I heard him walk up the stairs and said, "Hi, my name is Gregory Green," and
that's all that I could hear. Then I heard the door close. [TENSE MUSIC] ♪ ♪ Michael Petri: I was called, woken up
by the sergeant that was working on the road patrol and was apprised of the situation at that time.
You almost want to think that this isn't real. Am I dreaming? The officers responded to the scene from the 911 call.
Mr. Green was sitting on the porch. He was taken into custody without incident by the first responding officers.
And that's when the officers then had the horrific task of going into the home and finding the crime scene.
Faith Harris: I remember just laying there. Then there was a knock at the door and it was the police.
[grim music] Michael Petri: Faith's children were shot to death in front of her.
She had suffered a cutting wound from, like, the top of her forehead area all the way down to her cheek, and
she was also shot in the foot. [gunshot] I don't understand the mentality, but it seemed like torture to me.
Obviously, our primary concern, in that situation, being there was no further danger to the community,
we still have a victim that's alive, making sure that Faith was taken care of and sought medical aid that was needed.
- On this side here, they had to stitch on the inside first, and then stitch the outside.
And if you would have cut me an inch further, I would have actually bled to death.
And they said that my foot should have been shattered, like in a lot of pieces, but luckily the bullet curved
and went out the bottom. narrator:<i> Faith had survived</i> <i> her husband's attack,</i>
<i> but her nightmare wasn't over.</i> <i> Even more horrifying</i> <i> news was still to come.</i>
[suspenseful music] narrator:<i> On September</i> <i> the 21st, 2016,</i> <i> Gregory Green had</i> <i> forced his wife</i>
<i> to watch as he shot and killed</i> <i> her two teenage children.</i> <i> But as Faith was</i> <i> about to find out,</i>
<i> they weren't the only murders</i> <i> he'd committed that night.</i> - What became apparent was what Green
was doing when he left his wife and two elder children tied up in the basement. [somber music]
Trisha Gerard: He had already prepared the car in the garage of the home, meaning he had fastened a piece of PVC pipe
on the tailpipe of the vehicle, ran a hose into the window of the car. He went into the house, lifted the two girls,
one by one, out of their beds. They were asleep. One of the children briefly woke up,
but her daddy was holding her, so she fell back asleep. He carried the two girls out to the car,
placed them in the car, tucked them in, shut the door, and turned the car on. [car starting]
- This was just incomprehensible to me. [unsettling music] Trisha Gerard: During this whole process,
Gregory Green would leave Koi and Kaleigh in the car, and then he would go into the basement
to check on Kara and Chadney and Faith to make sure they were still down there. He didn't tell them at that time
what was happening upstairs. After a period of time, Gregory Green went back out to the garage.
He checked on the two youngest girls. They appeared to be lifeless. He turned the car off, and then he
carried them one by one back into the house and tucked them in bed together. narrator:<i> Soon after</i> <i> being rushed to hospital,</i>
<i> Faith learned the true</i> <i> extent of what her husband</i> <i> had done to Koi and Kaleigh.</i>
Faith Harris: One of the doctors told me that they had passed. But I remember the police saying that the little one
is fighting. I didn't know what was going on, but Kaleigh was the last to go. So they wheeled me to one room, and I saw Koi.
She was gone. She was just so cold. And then they wheeled me to another room, and Kaleigh, she was, you know, still warm.
♪ ♪ Michael Petri: There was a lot of the officers on scene that were just not believing this.
You know, you can't believe that this happened. But you put your feelings aside,
and you have a job to do and a crime scene to process and investigation to conduct,
and you move forward. ♪ ♪ narrator:<i> Now</i> <i> in custody, Gregory Green</i>
<i> was questioned by police.</i> Trisha Gerard: During the course of his several-hour statement, he
spoke about the details of the crime and his reasons for doing this. He repeatedly referenced the fact that Faith Green
had filed for divorce. He repeatedly referenced the fact that she was going to take his house.
And he was going to have to pay child support. And he would have nothing, and he would starve,
and he wouldn't have his girls. He repeatedly indicated during the course of his statement
that he had no choice. He had to do this. ♪ ♪ The lack of emotion, the lack of conscience,
the matter-of-factness in which Gregory Green detailed to the detectives what he had done to these children.
Michael Petri: What I found most troublesome about Mr. Green was there was a statement that
alluded to the fact that he felt his children were better off in heaven with God
than being raised by her. That was his logic behind taking the lives of his children.
Trisha Gerard: In this incident, Gregory Green had every opportunity to also murder Faith Green, and he
intentionally did not do that. The detectives asked him, "Why didn't you kill her?"
And his words were "Death would have been too good for her. I wanted her to live with what she made me do."
It's the ultimate act of power and control. Gregory Green knew, at the time he did these things,
he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison, and he was resigned to that fact.
But he wanted Faith Green to suffer forever. And allowing her to live was his way of guaranteeing,
in his mind, that he could control her and make her suffer forever. Jane Monckton-Smith: That's the personification of evil
and shows us exactly what his motivations were. His motivation was to punish Faith for having
the audacity to leave him. [somber music] narrator:<i> In the days</i> <i> following the murders,</i>
<i> the story hit the press.</i> <i> It was only then</i> <i> that Faith learned</i>
<i> the awful truth about</i> <i> her husband's first wife.</i> Faith Harris: I was on my dad's phone,
and that was like the first thing that popped up. She was about six or seven months pregnant,
and he stabbed her to death. [suspenseful music] And I was just thinking like, oh my God.
And I'm just crying, like, because I never knew. I'm just bawling my eyes out. I'm just sick to my stomach.
narrator:<i> Faith</i> <i> found it hard to come</i> <i> to terms with the parole</i> <i> board's previous decision</i>
<i> to release Green.</i> Faith Harris: He actually shouldn't have ever been let out.
He was never rehabilitated. He just told them what they wanted to hear. Because he has a demeanor where people like him,
they gravitate toward him, and he used that to his advantage. narrator:<i> Faith's</i> <i> whole life had</i>
<i> been destroyed in one</i> <i> night by the husband</i> <i> who claimed to love her.</i>
<i> But there was still</i> <i> one piece of news</i> <i> she was yet to hear</i> <i> that would once</i>
<i> again rock her to the core.</i> Geoffrey Wansell: One of the terrible ironies of this case
is that Faith was in hospital, recovering from the torture from Green when she heard it was her own father who'd
helped him get out of jail. Imagine the shock that must have been to the young woman.
Faith Harris: I found out, just like everyone else did, that my father had wrote letters for my ex-husband
to help him get out of prison. For a long time, I didn't want anything to do with my father.
I probably pushed my family away at some point, too, and vice versa, because they weren't understanding
what I was going through. I mean, I didn't understand what I was going through. How do you really put your head around losing four children?
I was on a lot of medication. I was spiraling out of control, you know. [somber music]
♪ ♪ narrator:<i> Gregory</i> <i> Green was charged</i> <i> with a litany of felonies</i> <i> for the Dearborn Heights</i>
<i> massacre, including four</i> <i> counts of first-degree murder.</i> [tense music]
Michael Petri: It was a very strong case because it almost came down to a point where once we did our protocol and
procedures with Mr. Green confessing to committing the homicides, having the victims, having a live witness
that witnessed everything, there's really not much to argue. Trisha Gerard: What the investigation
showed was that, approximately a week prior to the murders, he had gone to a local hardware store here in Michigan.
He had purchased the PVC pipe that he used on the car, the plastic tubing he used on the car,
the zip ties, and duct tape. ♪ ♪ During his interrogation, Gregory Green admitted that he knew he was going to do something,
he just didn't know when he was going to do it. Michael Petri: I think it would be a difficult argument
for any defense attorney to make, regardless of whether he had bought it days earlier.
The mere fact that his children died from carbon monoxide poisoning shows premeditation.
[car starting] Trisha Gerard: Ultimately, a plea offer was extended by the prosecutor's office
to Gregory Green, whereby he would plead guilty to four counts of second-degree murder,
one count of torture, one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, and one count of felony firearm.
The plea offered, in this case, took into account the objectives of Faith Green, primarily
that Gregory Green spend the rest of his natural life in prison. This plea offer also took into account
the trauma that a trial would cause to Faith Green in having to relive and testify about witnessing
the murders of her children. narrator:<i> On March</i> <i> the 1st, 2017,</i> <i> approximately six months after</i> <i> he'd murdered his two daughters</i>
<i> and his two stepchildren,</i> <i> Gregory Green was back in court</i> <i> for his sentencing hearing.</i>
[somber music] Geoffrey Wansell: To her immense credit, Faith turned up at Green's sentencing,
and indeed called him out in front of the jury and the judge. She said, "You're a con man.
You're a monster. And you're the devil in disguise." - She was very brave and very strong.
And she was there speaking for her children. Faith Harris: I wanted to be face-to-face with him,
if it were my choice. You know, that's why I kept looking at him, even though it was the back of his head
because, to let him know how I felt so he could see my eyes, feel my pain. Trisha Gerard: I don't recall Mr. Green
ever looking at Faith Green and making eye contact with her. I recall him sitting and just looking straight forward
as she delivered her remarks with no emotion on his face. Michael Petri: Mr. Green was ready to go back to prison.
Yeah, he was like, "I did it. I turned myself in. Can we just go now?" He felt he was mission accomplished.
It was like I killed my kids. I did what I did. Put me in jail. Just unfathomable.
Jane Monckton-Smith: There was no remorse, no shame, no guilt, and he kept talking about how God would look after him.
So he still got that massive ego there that I'm special. And I will be forgiven.
And God is going to look after me. I mean, the extent of that man's ego is absolutely staggering.
Michael Petri: For Faith, I don't know how she sat through those court hearings looking at that person that just took her children.
Trisha Gerard: I was awed by her ability to stand up and face her abuser, face the man who had done this to her, and never once waiver.
From the moment I met her, I knew she was a very strong woman. She was committed to finding justice for her children
from day one. Faith Harris: I just had to let him know, I wasn't scared of you. And, you know, you did these things
to hurt me because I wouldn't stay in your box, because you wanted to control me.
And I wouldn't give in to him. And I'm still not giving in to him, even though my children aren't here.
But I still continue to fight for them. [suspenseful music] ♪ ♪ narrator: Gregory Green was sentenced
to serve 45 to 100 years in prison, plus an additional two-year term for the firearms charge.
Geoffrey Wansell: I think it was a judge who said, "A father is there to protect his children,
and a husband is there to protect his wife. Green did neither." - He was 50 years old at the time.
So when we did the math, I, as a prosecutor, understood he would not be eligible for parole
until he was 97 years old and that that would be the first time parole could even be considered.
So in effect, it was my belief that he would die in prison. Geoffrey Wansell: The wounds that Faith suffered,
she may have recovered from the physical injuries, but the emotional injuries and the sheer effect on her
will never go away. They cannot possibly. It is an unimaginable nightmare. Faith Harris: I can't ever let him win.
So I'm going to keep honoring my children. I talk about them all the time. I have so many stories and pictures.
I did so much with them. I enjoyed my children. I enjoyed being a mom. My children would be proud of how
far I've come because they wouldn't want me to be sulking. They would want me to be happy.
narrator: Gregory Green murdered his family not once, but twice. He stabbed his first wife to death, killing not only her,
but their unborn child, too. Then, 25 years later, after his release from prison,
he shot and killed his two stepchildren in front of their mother and gassed his own two daughters who were just four and five years old.
His name is now synonymous with unimaginable family betrayal and tragedy, leaving no doubt that Gregory Green
is one of the world's most evil killers. [theme music] ♪ ♪

In 1991, Gregory Green stabbed his first wife to death, killing not only her but also their unborn child. After being released from prison, he married again, keeping the details of his crime hidden.

An in-depth look at the lives and crimes of some of the world's most evil killers, including Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez, Cary Stayner, Leonard Lake, Dorothea Puente and more.

For More FilmRise Check Out Our Other Channels: FilmRise Television: https://www.youtube.com/⁨@FilmRiseTelevision⁩ FilmRise Movies: https://www.youtube.com/@FilmRiseMovies Highway to Heaven - Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@HighwaytoHeavenFullEpisodes

Brief Summary

Gregory Green murdered his stepchildren and biological daughters in 2016, showcasing the horrors of domestic violence and manipulation.

Key points

A Father's Nightmare. In September 2016, Gregory Green unleashed horror on his family, killing his children.
The First Murder. Gregory Green had a history of violence, having killed his first wife in 1991.
Parole and Reunification. After 16 years in prison, Green was paroled and reunited with Faith Harris, unaware of his past.
The Fatal Mistake. Faith moved back in with Green, believing he had changed, which proved to be a fatal error.
The Dangerous Time. The period of separation in abusive relationships is statistically the most dangerous for victims.
A Night of Horror. Gregory Green's violent outburst leads to a night that changes Faith's life forever.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

No, my baby.

0:30WatchMay 22, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.