Lies Uncovered | “48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

I can't imagine anything worse. Somebody has taken one of your children and is threatening to kill him.
When I opened the email, it scared the hell out of me. I found the ransom demand from the people who had taken
Robert. We have Robert. If you hope to see him alive again, you must follow our instructions without deviation. Do not
speak about this to anyone, including family. >> Tom had called me. He said, "Uh, Pam, we
we we have a problem. Robert was kidnapped." Why? Why? Why? Why would someone take
Robert? >> My name is Robert Wilds and I'm from Toledo, Ohio. >> Rob had a fierce, fierce, fierce love
for life. My brother completely lit up when he was on the water or flying. He was most certainly an adventurer.
[music] >> He was very genuine. He was inspiring. Do not contact any authorities or
private parties. >> I first realized something was wrong when my mom called me. >> I just remember this wave just hitting
me of dread. >> Let's just say I've never heard my mom talk like that before. Do not go
anywhere. Do not open your door. Something happened to your brother. obtain an item of luggage and place in
it $750,000 in small, unmarked, untraceable bills. >> It was scary. Are we safe? Is he safe? Who knows?
These people could be coming after us, too. >> And ship it to your Lakeland facility.
>> Robert was working in Lakeland, Florida for our family business, National Flight
Services. Our company is a multi-million dollar enterprise. >> My father really did have high hopes for
him. [snorts] He would eventually run the company. >> I'm certain Robert knew whoever was
behind this plot. >> This must be completed by the evening of the 8th. No excuses, no exceptions. My
name is Tom Wiles. >> My name is Pamela Wilds. >> My name is Tierney Wilds. My name is
Audrey Wiles. >> And my son Robert has been missing since >> April 1st, 2008. Remember, we are
watching everything. And if you think you can outsmart us, it will cost your son his life.
I'm Peter Vans. Tonight on 48 hours, Ransom. When Tom Wilds first learned that his
son Robert had been kidnapped, he had only one objective. Get Robert back alive, no matter what the cost. We've
got to find a way to find him and rescue him. >> Immediately, Tom called in the FBI and
showed them the $750,000 ransom note mysteriously signed by a person or persons going by the name
Group X. >> What do you decide to do? >> We got the money. >> I understand the FBI said don't pay it.
Is that true? >> Yes. >> And what does your family decide to do? We want to pay it.
>> Audra Wilds is Tom's daughter. >> It's almost like you go from not believing it to like what do we need to
do to get him back right now? >> Audra and her mother Pamela helped wire the money from a bank in Toledo, Ohio,
to Tom, who had flown to Florida. Robert, 26 years old, was the sales manager in the Lakeland office of
National Flight Services, a private aircraft repair company. Rob wanted to dive right in there and be just like his
dad. So, he's always had an interest in the aviation [music] business. >> Audrey says Robert enjoyed working in
Florida because aside from being an avid pilot, he loved the water. [crying] >> You going to throw them all back in?
>> Yeah. >> Ever since he was young, Robert [music] had an intense interest in boating and
fishing. He loved being near the [music] water and the closer he was to his boat,
the happier he was. >> David Palmisano is one of Robert's closest friends. >> Remember one day when we hooked the tuna
and no sooner did we land that tuna on the deck, Robert cuts it open and he grabs a piece of fresh tuna meat out and
eats it and he said, "Oh, there's nothing like fresh sushi." And and that was Rob and he had a big smile on his
face. He's laughing about it. Robert, who spent years in militarymies and was a star athlete, was in great
physical condition. >> He had shoulders like King Kong. He was strong, physically very strong.
>> And not an easy mark for a kidnapper, which only deepened the mystery. But at
that point, all Tom cared about was getting back his only son. >> I wanted to be ready, and I didn't want
to delay. Robert had vanished on April 1st, 2008, and the kidnappers had set a deadline of
April 8th. The clock was ticking as Tom picked up the $750,000 that had been wired to a bank in
Florida. >> And where do you go with this money? Through the hotel. >> From that point on, an FBI agent was
glued to Tom's side. The family's personal life was being examined closely. Tom and Pamela had
separated years earlier, but only recently had completed a rather unique financial arrangement. Pam had
disassociated herself from the business. She said she would like to have is for me to give her a significant amount of
money that she knew would not be invested in the business. >> And was that $750,000?
>> And that was $750,000. The $750,000 demanded by the kidnapper or kidnappers, this group X. Did that
strike you as odd? >> Yes. >> FBI agent James Bushnell. >> This is kind of intriguing. So, what
does that suggest to you? >> That the author of the ransom note was very close to this business.
>> Did you ever for even a moment wonder if Tom was involved? >> Oh, no. I knew Tom wouldn't be. No.
The FBI wasn't so sure. [music] Agents zeroed in on Tom. After all, he was the one who had to part with $750,000.
And it just so happened that his company had kidnapping insurance. >> We had people travel in South America
quite often and want to make sure that we could come up with a ransom to get them back.
But the FBI could not ignore the possibility that family members, including Robert, were involved in a
conspiracy. Agents [music] went at Tom hard. >> Did they tell you you were a suspect?
>> They treated me like one. I was grilled a number of times. I was very angry. You
know, how could you possibly be looking at me? >> Pamela, too, came under scrutiny at what
she says was the worst moment of her life. agonizing. It's hard to believe. I just needed to find my son.
>> Agents combed through Robert's life as well. He was dating but did not have a
steady girlfriend. And so the spotlight shifted to the family business. Do you believe your brother felt some pressure
to stay in the family business? In any way, was he in a place where he didn't really want to be?
>> I think the pressure didn't come from my dad. I think it it came from more of
himself. because he loved loved loved loved his father. My father, come on. Let's pull it up.
>> Great man. And no child wants to disappoint their parents. And even though my dad would never, ever, ever be
disappointed if he decided [music] not to stay. I saw him the Sunday before he disappeared.
>> So just a few days. >> Just a few days. Tierney is the youngest of the Wild's three children.
>> Where do you think he was in his life at that moment? >> If I remember correctly, he seemed a
little stressed, >> but he was still in good spirits. >> In fact, Robert had told his friend
David that he'd recently become frustrated at work. >> He voluntarily opened up to me what was
happening at work, something he had never done before. And he'd mentioned he was having some personnel conflicts.
The FBI began looking at every current employee and some former ones. >> Tell me about Steve Lindsay.
>> He was a Georgia boy. Had a gift of gab. Was a good old boy. He was a good mechanic. Had a drinking problem.
But if you met Steve Lindsay, you'd like him. >> But when Steve's drinking got out of
hand, Tom fired him. >> Can't have that. This business is intolerant of alcohol and drug use.
>> Just a month before the disappearance, Steve had begged Tom to give him his job
back to no avail. >> He was pretty desperate. He was. There was no doubt about it. He needed a job.
>> Agents were being pulled in every direction. But there was one immediate concern. The ransom deadline. The time
had come to make the payoff. >> Just a week after Robert Wilds vanished, it was do or die time.
>> Obtain an item of luggage of the appropriate size and place in it $750,000. The kidnappers ordered Tom to put the
money in a box. >> Place the box unopened in your son's office. >> FBI agents rejected Tom's idea of using
actual money. Instead, they filled the box with coffee, making sure it weighed the same as $750,000
in cash. Special agent Dan Kelly. >> We did in fact have a camera which was watching the package. We were able to
monitor that 24 hours a day. >> Operations manager Toby Holt, whose office was next to Roberts, was
handpicked by Tom to help the FBI changed the camera's video tape. >> We needed a person of trust within
National Flight Services. >> This is the actual FBI videotape. out of sight but heavily armed. An
entire SWAT team clear >> similar to this one was close by. >> Did it strike you as odd that whoever
was behind this wanted the money brought back to what essentially would have been
the scene of the crime? >> Yes. It it was very odd that somebody would want money placed inside of a
locked building. >> Almost dumb in a way, isn't it? >> Not very smart. Everything was in place. Minutes, then
hours ticked by, but nothing happened. Days passed without a word from the kidnappers. What was this doing to the
family? >> It affected all of us very differently. I couldn't be the mother that I wanted
to be >> because I was really my priority was Robert at the time. >> To be honest, I felt a little neglected.
>> Robert's sister, Tierney Wilds. >> The repercussions left me in a pretty dark place my senior year of high
school. >> The Wilds had always been a loving family. >> There's mom and tea. Cut her.
Now that reality was shattered. >> It's kind of like removing a single piece from the puzzle. It's Robert being
gone. He was the glue. He wanted to keep us together. And he would hate this. My
mom, my dad kind of split off and went to Florida to go search for Rob. And then my sister and I were kind of left
behind. >> Tom and Pamela were determined to try everything. help us get our son back.
>> Even going on national television and offering a $250,000 reward for any tips that led to Robert's
whereabouts. >> We had several calls from psychics who pointed us in all kinds of different
directions. >> This guy called me in the middle of the night. The psychic called me in the
middle of night and he said, "I know where Robert is." The caller described a swampy area and said Robert was buried
[music] there in a shallow grave. >> We tried a helicopter the next morning went out and we're talking to this guy
on cell phone in a helicopter [music] and he says, "Look for a backhoe." An abandoned backhoe. Son of a gun. There's
an abandoned backhoe. [music] Wow. This guy, this is for real. >> Not quite. The information was later
found to be bogus. Deep inside, I felt [music] Robert was dead. But I think as a mom,
you just can't give up on your [music] kids. >> Was there a chance that Robert could
still be alive? Well, there was a tip that came in from Robert's barber, Janie Beard. When I first heard he was
missing, I said, "Oh my god, he actually did that. I can't believe he had the guts to go ahead and kidnap himself."
>> Janie told FBI agents that she could not recall the exact date of the conversation.
>> He was frustrated with his life, and I said, "Well, there's other jobs you can
do. What do you want to do?" And then he told me about the fishing and the captain of the boat. Janie said that
Robert had learned that his father carried a kidnapping insurance policy and that Robert seemed intrigued.
>> Said, "I could do that. I've got some plans laid out for it." The last thing he told me when he left, he turned
around, sound face, and says, "Please don't tell anybody. I told you all this." >> Family members [music] say there is just
no way Robert would ever be that selfish. >> It's just impossible. That's not the
type of person he was. He's not someone who would just abandon his family, abandon his friends,
and just pick up and leave. >> The FBI agreed and followed other potentially more important leads, like
the one that came [music] from Joel Vier, the owner of another airplane engine repair business. VA and Robert,
seen here in the blue shirt, were together the day before he disappeared. What was it like doing business with
Robert Wilds? >> Very nice. Very good. He wanted to bring fresh ideas to the company.
>> VA and Robert had hatched a deal to partner with Tom's company. Steve Lindsay, who VA considered a brilliant
mechanic, would play a key role. >> We had already organized everything and Tom shut it down.
>> Tom WS. Tom WS told Robert, "No way he wants part of it. As long as Steve is involved, he doesn't want any part of
it." >> Remember, years before Tom had fired Lindsay because of his alcoholism. >> That was his last uh hope, his last
chance to make something of himself. >> It was left to Va to give Lindsay, who was dead broke and desperate for money,
the devastating news. It's like the world just caved in on him and he just got this face of anger. I mean, the rage
in his face and his eyes. He said, "You know, Tom is going to know who I am. You
know, he'll pay for this one." >> It wasn't long before the FBI questioned VA about Robert's [music] disappearance.
They asked me if I knew anybody that was capable or willing to harm Robert Wilds.
>> And what did you say? >> I said, "Steve Lindsay. Go and talk to him." And they start calling him. He
does not answer. And the FBI on the radio comes out. He's on the run. I just say, "Wow."
Not only had Robert Wilds disappeared, but Steve Lindsay [music] had vanished, too.
>> The manpower supplied was significant because the case was obviously significant.
>> More than a week after Robert Wilds vanished, the ransom package remained untouched. Steve Lindseay was nowhere to
be found and the FBI was in full tilt investigation mode. >> We had dozens of individuals that were
out here at National Flight conducting a search. >> FBI special agents Dan Kelly and Jim
Bushnell recall the scene at National Flight. [music] >> So, it's not inaccurate to say every
inch of this building was checked out. >> Absolutely. >> Every employee was interviewed.
>> Absolutely. Everything outside was searched. Correct. >> Absolutely. >> And what'd you find?
>> Nothing. From a forensic evidentiary standpoint, Robert Wilds had vanished. >> Desperate for any real leads, agents
first get detailed call records of Robert's cell phone. By [music] tracking the cell towers his calls hit, they
figure they'll know the route the phone itself and presumably Robert was traveling. We were able to issue a
subpoena on the Florida Turnpike Authority and obtain video of the various toll booths on the Pulk Parkway.
>> The hope if Robert's phone was used while on that nearby road, perhaps Robert could be seen on the video. Agent
Bushnell explains what happened next. >> Tom Miles was taken to the Lakeland Police Department where they were able
to view the videotape and they said, "Do you recognize any of those cars?" And I
said, "That's Toby Holt's car, or one just like it." >> Toby Holt, the 42-year-old operations
manager [music] at National Flight and the FBI's pointman, chosen by Tom Wilds himself.
>> Toby Holt is passing through the toll plaza. His arms are in a fashion like this, which suggested what to you? That
he is talking on the phone. But curiously, when investigators got hold of Toby's cell phone records, they
showed his phone was not in use as he went through the tolls. That was enough to peique the FBI's interest.
>> I requested that Holt come into our offices for further interview on April the 10th.
>> He willingly came in without a lawyer for what turned into hours of questioning. They wanted to know where
was he the night Robert disappeared. He indicated [music] that he left National Flight at
approximately 6:30 p.m. that evening. He went to Hooters and then he subsequently
had dinner at Outback Steakhouse on South Florida Avenue. But the FBI found no proof whatsoever. For [music] more
than 4 hours that night, Toby's exact whereabouts were unsubstantiated. The FBI asked to search his car. [music]
He agreed. They asked if he had a gun inside. He said no. But when they looked >> under the hood of that vehicle, they
discovered a Sig Sauer 40 caliber firearm. >> A handgun. >> A handgun. That's correct.
>> Are you thinking to yourself, [music] "This could be a murder weapon?" >> That's definitely one of the thoughts
that crosses your mind in that circumstance. [music] Yes. >> Toby said at first he was scared to
admit he had a gun. He then claimed it was simply for [music] protection in bad neighborhoods. But the gun was legal and
there was certainly no evidence a gun was even involved in the case. But now Toby Holt was a prime suspect in the
disappearance and likely murder of Robert Wilds. Is the FBI telling you about what they're learning in the
investigation? >> No. The FBI made it very clear from the beginning that they gather information.
They do not disperse it. So most of what was going on I did not know. But the FBI
was getting to [music] know a lot about Toby. >> We discovered that he had several female
liaison uh outside of his marriage. [music] >> How many are we talking about? >> At least a dozen.
>> A dozen. >> At least. >> When his wife Beverly found out Toby was cheating with other women, she divorced
him. But she remains supportive to this day. >> Toby is a heartwarming, compassionate,
funny person and a loyal friend. But the murder is just not in Toby's character at all to do it. [music]
>> In fact, Toby continued to work at National Flight for Tom Wilds, who had no idea his operations manager was now
suspected of killing his son. But Tom eventually did fire Toby in August [music]
2008. >> He wasn't performing very well as the manager of that facility prior to
Robert's kidnapping. The FBI [music] continued to investigate other suspects, including Steve Lindseay, the alcoholic
mechanic once fired by Tom Wilds. He finally surfaced, claiming [music] he was wasted on alcohol and drugs during
the time of Robert's disappearance, [music] but he remained a suspect. Months passed and there was still no
DNA, no blood, no forensics at all to [music] prove what had happened to Robert, whether he was really dead or
maybe still alive. >> Essentially, after some months, this case had gone cold. It had gone stale.
That's correct. >> So, in March 2009, nearly a year after Robert vanished, the FBI called in
reinforcements. We just systematically went through each and everything. >> Special Agent Tommy Ray of the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement dove right in as part of the new Wilds task force with Lakeland Police and Pulk County
Sheriff's Detectives. >> We were there to kind of put the pieces together and see if we [music] couldn't
make a circumstantial case because there was no smoking gun on this particular disappearance. The task force zeroed in
on the cell tower [music] call records of Robert Wilds and Toby Holt and made an amazing [music] discovery.
>> These two phones are together traveling, you know, the same location. >> We're talking about Toby Holt's phone
and Robert Wild's phones seemingly synchronized. >> That's correct. Robert Wild's phone was
being utilized. Toby Holt's phone was off. >> [music] >> Tommy Ray is convinced that in this
photograph, Toby Holt was using Robert While's cell phone. >> For us, that was a Eureka [music]
moment. >> The task force concluded Toby Holt was Group X. He had used Robert's cell phone
to make that ransom demand and he had killed it. >> When you put them together, the pieces
of the puzzle, it's a very strong circumstantial case. And on December 18th, 2009, agents
descended on Orlando International Airport. Their focus, a flight from Bogota, Colombia. Their target,
passenger Toby [music] Holt. >> He walks out of the jetway. They tell him that we'll get your luggage. Don't
worry about it. >> I advise him that he's under arrest for first-degree murder and he's read his
rights. I thought I was just going to be searched because I was coming back from
Columbia, you know. Uh, absolutely. I had nothing to do with Robert Wild's disappearance.
For more than two years, Stobert Hol, known as Toby, has been locked inside this Florida jail.
Indicted for extortion, kidnapping, and the murder of 26-year-old Robert Wilds. >> No, I did not participate in any
kidnapping of Robert Wilds. Toby Holt has agreed to speak with 48 hours, but it will be under unusual circumstances.
Holt will be in this jail. I will be in a separate building, and we will communicate with each other through
remote television, cameras, and monitors. >> Toby, did you murder Robert WS? >> Absolutely not. I did not murder Robert
WS. >> You did not harm him in any way. >> Absolutely not. I had nothing absolutely
against Robert Wilds or his family. And there's Robert, our 11year-old. >> Robert's mother, Pamela Wilds, believes
Toby Holt is her son's killer. >> When I listen to Toby talk, I just don't I just don't take anything he says
seriously. I think [music] he's a sociopath. >> But Toby's former customer, Joel Vier,
is not at all convinced. Do you believe that Toby Holt abducted and murdered Robert Wilds?
>> I still don't believe that. >> He doesn't fit the the motives. There's nothing there.
And as this circumstantial case opens in January 2012, >> all right, >> a case with no forensic evidence, not
even a body, prosecutor Cass Castillo reminds jurors just who last saw Robert alive. As the evidence will demonstrate,
the defendant in this case, Stoolbert Holt, was the last person to be with Robert Walls.
Castillo says the two men did not get along and repeatedly clashed over business deals. Their email exchanges
sometimes got nasty, like this one about price quotes. "Thanks for throwing me under the bus," Robert wrote. Toby.
The prosecution calls that motive, but investigators admit they still don't know what happened.
>> I can't tell you what actually occurred at National Flight Services on April 1st, 2008, and it would be nothing but
speculation. [music] >> The prosecution says on the night of Robert's disappearance, Toby called a
local Home Depot. Toby admits he did call. >> So I gave them a call and see if they
carried mini blinds. >> Mini blinds he says needed for the office, but Toby swears he never set
foot in the store that night. Yet Castillo says Toby figuring out what to do with Robert Walls's corpse,
>> went into that store and paid cash for a box of plastic sheeting and two rolls of
duct tape like these. the kind of materials that would be used for what? To conceal a body. [music]
>> Who knows who it was that bought that? >> Toby's lawyer, assistant public defender
Howard Dean Garrett, says there's nothing that ties Toby to that purchase. >> There's no surveillance video. This is
just supposition. This is just innuendo. [music] Once again, it's an attempt to try to
cover up the fact that they have no evidence. >> And it's just a coincidence. >> It's just a coincidence. Is it a
coincidence? >> Just a coincidence that that happened. Is that right? >> You want to call it that? Yes.
>> For prosecutors, too many coincidences is not a coincidence. Remember, Toby's
whereabouts for over 4 hours the night Robert disappeared [music] were unsubstantiated.
But they say one fact is crystal clear. Toby Holt repeatedly used Robert's cell phone, even sending the ransom demand to
Tom Wilds. >> The phone was with him. He was using that phone. Every piece of evidence in
this case screams that that's what occurred. >> Got in my car, [music] drove all the way
to >> Holtz says he bluntly told investigators, "No way, no how." He was like insinuating that I had Robert or
his phone. I basically told him, I listen, I watch CSI. I watch 48 hours. I know you can track cell phones. Why
would I take Robert's cell phone with me on the trip? It just didn't make any sense.
>> But the state says it has [music] more than just cell phone records. It has these pictures. But even the FBI
questions what they truly reveal >> with that toll booth photograph. The fact is you can't tell what's in his
hand. That's correct. >> So it's not definitive. >> It's not definitive. There wasn't
anything really definitive in this case. >> I never had Robert's cell phone uh ever.
I could have been adjusting my glasses. I could have been scratching. I could have been taking drink cuz uh I that's
something I do when I'm driving is always have a a soda whatever >> like a can of Dr. Pepper which he always
seemed to have nearby. >> Holt says he was taking a sip of diet Dr. Pepper at that time.
>> Investigator Tommy Ray. >> Well, unless he was pouring it into his right ear, that's that's impossible.
[music] If you're like Toby Holt or millions of other Americans, when the car slows
down, then you can take a drink and look up. >> Now, when you left Robert on April 1st,
2008, where was he physically? >> He was in his office. >> Did you see or talk to him again?
>> No, I do not. >> Do you know what happened to him? >> No, I do not. >> Did you kill him?
>> No, I did not. >> Do you have any idea where he might be at this time? >> No, I do not.
For Holt's attorney, the state's case is just plain weak. [sighs] >> I have never tried a case or been
involved in a case that was so completely circumstantial. It's remarkable that the quality of the
evidence is so elusive. >> Are you telling me basically they have no case? >> That's my position. Yes. Yes. Except for
sort of innuendo and coincidence and you know where there's smoke there must be a
fire but sometimes there's just smoke and her defense points squarely at Steve Lindsay
the alcoholic engine mechanic furious at Tom Wilds for firing him. Steve Lindseay
said he would like to break a chair across Tom Wild's back and breach load the splinters. That's how Steve Lindsay
felt about Tom Wilds. I think the motive is much greater for Steve Lindsay. >> So does Joel Bayier, who heard Lindsay
threaten to get Tom Wilds. >> He's trying to hurt Tom as much as he can. What's the best way to hurt him? Through
his son. >> But Steve Lindseay [music] isn't there to clear up the mystery. In the midst of the Wilds Task Force
investigation [music] in 2009, he died of lung cancer. And as for friction at the office as a motive for
Robert's murder, Toby's lawyer calls that ridiculous. If you apply that same level of problems in the workplace,
well, of course, I'd like to suggest that half of the United States would be dead and the other half would have
killed them because that's taking place in every workplace in the United States.
>> Speak about this to anyone. >> After more than 75 witnesses, over 200 pieces of evidence, and two weeks of
trial, the case is about to be decided. The honest truth is there's no conclusive proof of anything.
>> Where is Robert Wilds? How did he die if indeed he's dead? Where is his body?
What was the mechanism? Uh where where did it take place? How did he get from national flight to wherever he is? These
are so many unanswered questions. And I think this is what reasonable doubt is all about. More than reasonable doubt.
It's just a mystery. Let's say goodbye to the camera. >> Say goodbye. Bye. >> I want to know where my brother is. This
is the air show. >> All the Wilds family has left are memories, videos, and voicemails.
>> Hey, Mom. It's Robert. I just wanted to call and thank you for >> to remind them of their beloved brother
and son. >> Anyway, I hope you have a good weekend and happy Easter and I'll talk to you
later. >> I'd give anything for to hear him again. Just touch him again. Nearly four years after Robert Wilds
went missing, the man accused of taking Robert from his family is about to hear his fate.
>> Person of the jury. Has the jury reached the verdict? >> Yes, your honor. We have.
>> Would you please hand that to our baiff? [music] >> The jury spent only 4 hours
deliberating. >> Mr. Holt, if you please rise and hear your verdict. >> It was almost an adrenaline rush. I was
shaking. [music] >> We the jury find as follows is to count one of the charge. The defendant is
guilty of manslaughter. >> Toby Holt was in fact the man to blame for Robert Wley's death.
>> If he was convicted on first-degree murder, he could have faced life. >> It was clearly a compromise when you
have one side saying he didn't do it at all and the other side saying he did it and it was kidnapping and premeditated
and etc. And then you get a verdict of manslaughter. That's a compromised verdict. Were you
disappointed that it's manslaughter and not first-degree murder? >> Not at all. >> Tommy, I appreciate all you guys.
>> So, like a high five moment for all the members of the task force. Felt justice
was served >> with the exception of finding Robert Walls. >> We gone now. Surprisingly, Toby is found not guilty
of kidnapping, but Robert's family knows he's going to prison. >> I'm very happy. Very happy he's he's
going away. So, >> I was uh basically in disbelief. There's no evidence to support the conviction.
And really, the I think the FBI failed to uh follow up on some unanswered questions with other people. I'm upset
because I'm an innocent man convicted of manslaughter. >> We're here this morning in regard to
State versus Stalberg Halt scheduled for sentencing. >> 6 weeks later at Toby's sentencing
hearing, Tom Wilds addresses the court. >> Keep this man off the street and maybe
some way, somehow, somewhere he'll decide to tell us where what he did what he did with Robert.
You know, we have a we we have a son. We don't know where he is. We want to bring
him home. I I wonder where my son is. I'm sorry. I'm not doing very well. >> Then it was Toby's turn to speak.
>> Thank you, honor. Um, as everyone else's does, my heart goes out to the Wilds family. Um,
I still maintain my innocence. Uh, I have from the beginning. U they're probably hoping that I'm going to tell
them uh where to find Robert and and I just do not have that information. >> He knows he knows what happened to my
brother. Why doesn't he just come out and say it? Why don't you just tell us? You know, just just tell us. What's it
going to hurt anybody? You're already done. >> The Wilds family isn't buying Toby's
story. And neither is Judge Donald Jacobson. [music] >> A young man, Robert Wilds, is dead as a
result of the actions of Mr. Holt. what appears to be, in my mind, a failed attempt at an extortion.
>> Toby is sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison for manslaughter and extortion. His ex-wife, Beverly.
>> Toby didn't do this. I know he didn't do this. To be taken away just because he
had affairs and he can't account for an alibi, I think is just ridiculous. Toby would never ever take a life.
Despite Toby's conviction, [music] Robert's mother still has unanswered questions.
>> I can't imagine just one person being a part of this. I believe there was a plot. Right now, it's a mystery. A
mystery to be solved. >> With Robert's body not yet found, no remains yet buried, no memorial service
yet held. >> Right across from me is my father, Tom WS. One yearning never dies.
>> Do I hope every day that he's still alive? Absolutely. I give everything I have,
everything I could borrow or steal or anything else to get him back. >> You have no idea
how awesome it would be if he just walked through the door. We would all lose it.
Oh my gosh. Give anything for that to happen. Do you ever dream [music] of your brother?
>> Yes. [gasps] All the time. One of my favorite ones [music] is of him taking me out in the boat
and he's smiling. He's so happy in my dreams. That's what gets me through cuz I know
that wherever he is, he's happy. Auburn, Alabama is home to Auburn University, which is a major football
school. [music] In a college town, it happens that students sometimes may go often,
you know, they may be missing for a little while, but they come back. Lori was a student at Auburn University,
and she had recently graduated. >> June 10th, 2006, which is the fateful day in [music] Lor's life.
>> We were going to have drinks at my house. we were going to have um rum runners, I believe, and watch a movie
and just kind of hang out, do girl time. She called me around 6:30 and said, [music] "I'm going to stop by the store,
pick up the drink mixes, and then I'll be headed to your house." And then the phone rang about 30 minutes later. It
rang once or twice. I answered, no one was there. >> How many times had she simply not showed
up and not called you? >> Never. >> My daughter was a very good person. a kind person, a loving girl, very
studious student. She loved sports, loved her dog. She had a little Yorkie named Peanut. That was her baby.
>> When did you realize that something was wrong? >> I was at work. A lady called, I believe
it was her boss, and she told me that I just want to tell you your daughter Lori
has not showed up for work, and right away bells and whistles went off. I called her, and she didn't answer her
phone. I called her house several times, left voicemails on her home answering machine.
>> You go over to her mobile home. >> The door was unlocked, which was not like her. The air condition was running.
Her dog, Peanut, was in the crate. We walked through the house. She wasn't there.
>> What are you thinking? >> Something's terribly wrong. There is no way she would have left Peanut.
>> This is it. It's about 4:40 a.m. 4 days after Lori is missing. The car was right
here, dead in the center, engulfed in flames. Was Lori in this car? Lori was not in
the vehicle. >> There was no trace of her whatsoever. I mean, none. >> Just vanished.
>> Just [music] vanished. >> And nobody knows what happened to Lorie Slazinski. I know somebody [music] that knows.
>> Rick Andis. >> Your daughter had no idea about his past. >> No. >> I met Rick Andis when he was 12 years
old. He's sitting back there in that seat behind you and I said, "Where are your
parents?" He looked right back at me and he says, "I killed them both. Heat. Heat.
[music] >> [music] [music] >> I can still see her smile. Her smile is just etched
in my memory. To this day, Lindsey Braun is haunted by the final call from Lorie Sllinski on
June 10th, 2006 when they were supposed to get together for drinks and a movie. >> That last call, did it indicate it was
her phone? >> She calls and it hangs up. >> Yes. >> And no one's there. >> Just no one was there. It was just dead
end. >> Did you call her right back? [music] >> I did. No answer. Lori and Lindsay became fast friends
when they met junior year at Auburn University in 2002. I remember the day I met her. We [music] just kind of
immediately clicked. I could just tell that she was a warm person, very friendly, just outgoing, loving, all
those good things. >> Lorie's family, her older brother Paul and their parents [music] Arlene and
Casey were actually from New York State. They headed south to rural Alabama farm
country when Lorie was 13 years old. >> She loved animals. We always had animals
in our house. >> Lorie's mother, Arlene, >> very studious student. She was a good
girl. >> When she enrolled in nearby Auburn University, her parents bought Lorie a
mobile home to live off-campus in a manicured trailer park with students. So from valadictorian of her high school
class, was it tough for you to see your baby girl leave the house and [music] head off to university?
>> Oh yeah, it was very tough. I called her every day. She's like, "Mom, this has
got to stop." I was like, "But you're my baby and I worry about you. Don't worry
about me. I'm fine." >> Lorie majored in psychology and minored in criminal justice. She graduated with
honors. >> There she is with mom and dad. She looks so happy there. She was she [music] was
over the moon happy. >> After graduation, Lori and Lindsay started working together at a local
mental health facility. Did you sense that she had any enemy in this world? >> No.
>> The day that Lorie disappeared, June [music] 10th, 2006. Was anyone with Lori
that day? >> Rick was at her house. >> Rick was Daryl Richard Andis. When I had spoken to her, he was in the background.
>> Lori got to know Rick back when she was still a student. She hung out at the local bowling alley where he worked.
>> I didn't know much about him at all except he was her friend. >> Arlene says just before Christmas in
2005, Lorie asked if Rick could join them. >> She asked me, she said, "Mom, he has no
family. Can I invite him?" She kind of, you know, felt bad that he was going to spend Christmas alone.
He was friendly. Um, it's very polite. >> Lindsay says Lorie often spent time with
Rick, so she wasn't surprised that he had been at Lor's home the day she disappeared.
>> They were friends, so I I wasn't concerned. >> But now you're at home, waiting for Lori
to come over, >> and you went to bed that night thinking, >> you know, hope she's okay.
>> But the next morning, Lindsay started to worry. I called her house several times.
Left voicemails on her home answering machine. Hey Lori, checking on you. Are you okay? Where are you?
>> You went to work on that Monday, [music] right? >> Yeah. Uh, she wasn't there. In my mind,
something's wrong. I had Rick's number, so I did text him [music] and ask, "Have
you seen Lori? Where is she? I'm worried about her." Um, his conversation back was, "No, I haven't. And I'm worried
now, too." When Lorie didn't show up at work a second day, that's when Lindsay headed to Lor's home.
>> No one answered >> and found her dog, Peanut, in his crate. >> I'm an animal lover, so the very first
thing I did was let the dog out. >> That's when she noticed something else strange. Lorie was missing three days,
but the crate was spotless, and Peanut seemed happy and appeared to be wellfed, as though someone had taken care of him.
And there was more. One thing I remember about Peanut is he wouldn't walk on tile. So, she had these rugs in her uh
kitchen and he would hop on the rugs and the rugs were gone. I noticed that immediately. Her outside trash can was
missing. She had one that she had like yard tools [music] in and the answering machine had actually been unplugged. So,
those messages were not there. >> By this time, [music] Lorie's mother heard that she hadn't been showing up at
work. I have got to go to Auburn and see what's going on, where she is, cuz I called her and she didn't answer her
phone. >> She headed off on an agonizing drive, calling her husband and alerting the
police, finally arriving at her daughter's home. And when the police got there, what was their attitude?
>> Well, you know, they like she's got to be missing 48 hours. And they didn't really think a big make a big deal out
of it. They wanted to just think she ran away. Lor's parents could only wait for Lori
to walk through the door or call. And finally, the phone rang late that afternoon, but Arlene says it wasn't
Lori. It was her friend Rick Ennis. >> He said that Lori had gone to make a big drug deal.
>> What? >> Yes. And I was like, there ain't no way that my daughter would not do anything
like that. >> Did you tell the police what he told you? I didn't. Rick told them and the
police came to the trailer, bang it on the door, and they raided the mobile home and they found nothing.
>> Then just before dawn, that's when Lorie Slesinsk's missing car suddenly exploded
into a fireball on a desolate dead end outside a construction site. >> The feelings were just unbelievable of
fear and knowing something really bad has happened. >> Who would set her car on fire? Exactly.
>> And why? >> The investigation shifted from a missing person to a possible homicide.
Investigators dug into Rick's tip about Lorie dealing drugs, but found no evidence, none, that he was telling the
truth. Now, investigators started digging deeper into Rick Andis. They wanted to know if he was hiding
something from them. >> Did you have any sense as to why Rick Andis didn't have a family?
>> No, I had no idea why at all. >> Eventually, you learned. >> I did. It's beyond shocking.
This is my daughter Lor's trailer. >> And do you go into that trailer from time to time just [music] to connect
with her? Um, >> I do just go in there and think about the happier [clears throat] times.
This room besides the memories is also a solemn place because you believe some horrors went on in this room. Correct.
>> Yes. >> In the early days of the investigation back in 2006, Arlene says she became
suspicious of Rick Anis [music] when he told her that the night Lorie disappeared, she had gone out to make a
drug deal. >> And why would he be doing that, do you think? I think to take the heat off of
him. I was thinking this guy is lying through his teeth. >> Police suspected the same, but without
direct evidence linking Rick Andis to Lor's disappearance, police [music] could not make an arrest and the case
quickly went cold. >> Did Rick Andis stick around town? >> He was there for a couple of days, but
within a week after his third interview, he left town. He never came back to Auburn again.
>> In 2016, 10 years after Lori disappeared, Mark Whitaker, a special agent with the Alabama State Bureau of
Investigation, [music] started a cold case unit. He chose the disappearance of Lorie Slazinski as his
first case. Any estimate of how many murder cases you've been involved with in [music] your career?
>> Probably about a hundred. >> Where does this one rank in terms of fascination for you as an investigator?
That's number one. It was a very difficult case because there was no body. We don't know exactly what
happened and uh we don't know where she is. >> But it didn't take long for Rick Andis
to become Whitaker's prime suspect. >> We couldn't eliminate him. His inconsistencies [music]
in his statements made no sense whatsoever. We knew Lori was not a drug dealer. I mean, she vanished off the
face of the earth when he's the last one to ever see her. >> And when police spoke to Rick hours
after Lorie was reported missing, they noticed these scratches on his hands and arms.
>> Right here, that is a thumbrint where somebody's digging into. She's fighting
for her life and doing everything she can to get away from him. >> In Rick's car, there were handcuffs,
this knife, and cleaning supplies. And they soon learned something startling about Rick's past.
>> Turned into one of the most bizarre cases I've ever been associated with. >> Former Alabama State Trooper John Clark.
>> I was patrolling this county when I got a call. >> It was March 5th, 1993. The call from
dispatch said a car had gone off this very highway and struck a fence. And as my uh headlights take in the curve, I
see it looks like a young boy with a backpack. >> It's a 12-year-old Rick Annis, and he
admits he had been driving the car. Clark searches his backpack. >> The first thing I pull out is a kitchen
knife about that [music] long. There's some 12 gauge and some 22 caliber loose ammunition in the bottom of the bag.
He's sitting back there in that seat behind you. And I said, "Where are your parents?" He looks right back at me and
he says, "I killed them both." >> I killed them both. >> I killed them both. No tears, no
emotion, nothing. >> Clark then radioed for local police to get over to Andis's home.
>> State troopers working a wreck involving a 12year-old. >> At the time, a show called MPD, the
television series, was following the officers. The boys telling them that they killed his daddy and mama.
>> Cameras entered the home of Rick's mother and stepfather. >> On the floor of a bedroom are two dead
bodies. >> There is pieces of a baseball bat. And in the bedroom that has quite a bit of
blood on it. >> Rick's own mother, Dolly Flowers, was shot in the face and then beaten to
death with this baseball bat. Rick told investigators he covered her face with a
velvet blanket and placed a rose on her chest. >> Blood splatters on the walls. Blood
splatters on the door. >> Rick's stepfather, Eddie Joe Flowers, was known as Elvis for his sideburns and
colorful personality. Rick shot him in the face using this shotgun. Rick told cops he was mad that his
parents planned to move. He said he didn't want to leave his school. For two days, investigators believe he lived
with their bodies while continuing to go to school. Investigators say they found
what they describe as Andis's to-do list that included killing his three stepsisters.
>> So, he wanted to kill all three of you. >> Oh, yeah. I feel very blessed to be here
and not to be one of his victims. Donna Fur, Angela Flowers, and Tina Ston are all Eddie's daughters. Tina was 20 when
her dad was murdered. >> It's changed everything. My dad was my world and never getting to see him again.
>> The sisters say Dolly was a sweet, outgoing woman who met their father in church. Rick was the polar opposite.
Every time I would go and visit my dad and Dolly, they he would go into his bedroom and close himself off.
>> He'd come out and eat and then he'd go back in his room. >> What is the longest conversation you
ever had with him? >> 5 seconds maybe. >> He didn't talk to nobody. >> What did your father think of Rick?
>> He just said he's just a little different than than y'all were when y'all were coming up. He just thought
that they were in a new relationship and you know that it would he would outgrow
it and things would get better over time. But just 10 months after they married, the happy couple were dead.
>> He was 12 years old and had murdered two people, brutally murdered him. >> At age 12, Rick Andis couldn't be tried
as an adult. He spent 9 years in juvenile detention in Alabama and was released after he turned 21.
It was now up to Agent Whitaker and his team to determine whether Rick Enis had murdered again.
Should juveniles convicted of murder get a second chance? Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter.
Agent Mark Whitaker knew what Rickis did to his parents. and his instincts told him Enis had done
something horrible to Lori, too. But now he had to prove it. >> The burn site that's found on [music]
the 14th. The car was right here facing out back toward the bowling alley. There's
nothing else around here at the time. There's not apartments. It's just a paved road. The blaze destroyed whatever
evidence there was in the car, but an investigator reported finding a tiny item on the ground nearby.
>> And he found a handrolled cigarette butt about right here and he collected that.
It was not tested. Kind of got lost in the shuffle. The case agent retired. >> Whitaker's team now submitted it for
testing. And there was this gas can that had been found nearby. >> It was right in this area right here. It
looked like one that had been missing from the bowling alley where Rick had worked.
>> And it's right here, 1,000 yards from the bowling alley, 30 yards from a car.
>> Whitaker's partner, JW Barnes, showed us something that for police tied everything together. These railroad
tracks. >> These are the same tracks that go right by the bowling alley. They run right
across the street from where L's car was found burning. I've always thought that's what Andis
used for transportation was walking down the railroad tracks because it's a straight shot. You're not going to be
seen unless you want to be seen. And those railroad tracks run by Lorie's house.
>> And in that house were signs of a violent struggle, says Whitaker. >> These areas you see right here that have
been cut out. That's where the scuff marks were. They were black just like the bottom of her shoes. And and there
was even some up high here. So, it's obviously there was a struggling here with somebody kicking their legs
probably up in the air. >> Remember, Lor's dog, Peanut, seemed happy and taken care of.
>> My theory is that Rick Inis stayed in the house after he had murdered Lori, I
believe. So, it's the only way to explain it. We don't have a cause of death, but I've always thought that he
strangled her. The scratches that he had all over his arm were just indicative of
defense wounds when you're fighting somebody. >> Whitaker says the phone in the corner of
the bedroom was missing its cord. >> And it was a long cord and it ran all the way through the room.
>> And what do you think that cord was used for? >> I think it was used to bound her
>> to tie her up. >> Yes, sir. >> Could it have been used to strangle her? >> Sure. That phone core was missing.
>> That's not the only thing that was missing. There were those three rugs in the kitchen. They were kind of
strategically put out so that Peanut, Lor's dog, could hop through the Lenovo and be back on carpet.
>> The rugs turned up, he says. A few years later, >> Andis had a former roommate who reached
out to law enforcement and told them, "Hey, there's this guy left behind three rugs." Peter, I want to show you
something else. Lori had a table set up about right here. And on this table days
before Lori went missing, a love letter was left here for her from Rick. >> People who knew Lori said Andis wanted
to be more than just a friend. Police say Andis told a buddy that Lorie rejected him
>> and he was devastated by that. >> So, do you believe this rejection may have been a motive for murder?
>> I think that's what sent him over the edge. I I absolutely do. Despite the mounting evidence, Agent
Whitaker still needed something more that tied and directly to the crime scene. >> As far as I'm concerned, he is
investigating this case like Lori is his own daughter. I mean, he has a picture of Lori in his house.
>> I've had it in my closet. It make me think about her every day when I was getting ready for work. When I would put
my ties on, I would just remember what I was supposed to be doing every single day.
And then >> it's like 1:00 in the morning and JW calls me. >> JW Barnes found exactly what they needed
in the case files collecting dust for 10 years. >> He goes, "I just found a report that was
in an envelope that hadn't been opened." >> Whitaker could hardly believe it. When
Lorie disappeared in 2006, police collected evidence from her trailer. But by the time the results came in, no one
followed up. The report contained critical evidence. Rick's DNA was identified in semen found on Lor's bed
sheet and in blood on the interior of the front door. [music] And it turned out his blood was also found on one of
the rugs investigators say [music] were in Lor's kitchen. You got his blood on a
rug here. You've got his seaman back there. You got his blood on a door. Most people's blood is not inside somebody
else's home as unless something really bad had happened. >> 12 years after Lorie disappeared, there
was now enough evidence to charge Rick Andis with [music] her murder. But by this time, Rick Andis was happily
engaged to school librarian Elena Atkinson and living 500 miles away in Virginia.
He was designing and building portable living structures called yurts for Sharon Mley's company. Mley liked Andis
from the moment they met. >> He was just so open and friendly and had a great sense of humor.
>> But on August 6th, 2018, Rick's birthday, Mley saw a task force of lawmen arrive.
>> Walking out of the woods. They were hiding behind trees. They had the place surrounded.
It was a highlight of my career to make the phone call to Arlene and Casey Slinski that morning to tell them that
we just took Rick in [music] custody for Lor's murder. >> Was this kind of a bittersweet moment
for you? >> Most definitely. Yes. I guess psychologically I never accepted the fact that she really was gone and I
cried big time. Yeah. Later that month, Andis appeared before an Alabama judge with Lorie's parents
facing him. >> I guess he kind of seemed surprised that we were there. >> What did you want him to know?
>> We finally got you. You're not going to get away with this. >> News of Andis's arrest quickly spread.
>> I read it and I'm like thinking to myself, it's Rick. Terry Booth says he was friends with Rick [music] and
suddenly remembered a conversation he had with him years earlier at a bar when he asked him why he left Alabama.
>> What did he say? >> He just mainly said I had to get rid of a and I'm thinking this guy's just
messing around with me. >> But that changed when he learned of Rick's arrest. >> And it was real. He wasn't joking. I
couldn't sleep the whole night. He called Whitaker's task force >> and it was just unbelievable what Andis
had told him. >> But the most explosive news of all came later and incredibly while Whitaker was
with Andis at another court hearing. >> An investigator from Auburn PD comes up to me and tells me, "You're not going to
believe this. That hand ruled cigarette butt next to the car has his DNA on it. I wanted to do a somersault courtroom,
but I couldn't." Everyone now was prepared to [music] go to trial, but the courts quickly ground
to a halt because of the pandemic and Arlene Slazinski suffered more losses. First her son to cancer and then her
husband Casey to co >> got to call him. I think he better come. When I got there he was gone. [gasps]
>> You lose your daughter. You lose your son and then you lose your husband. How
do you go on with all this? >> I guess my faith, my friends, family, >> and I just did not want to die not
knowing what happened to my daughter or seeing justice being done. >> But Rick [music] Enis was determined to
prove police had it all wrong. And he wasn't the only one fighting to prove his innocence. They have the wrong
person. There's There's no way. >> His fiance, Elena Atkinson. >> Do you believe Rick had anything to do
with Lor's disappearance with her death? >> No, I do not. You, not only do I believe
Rick is innocent, I believe that he would have given his life for Lori if he had been there. That's the kind of
person he is. And she believes that despite the fact that she knows Rick murdered his mother and stepfather when
he was 12. People would wonder, "Why is it hard for you to believe that he could
kill again?" >> She says Rick told her something about what happened with his mother, something
that convinced her he had nothing to do with what happened to Lorie. Rick Enis is one of the most
compassionate, [music] generous, kind people that I've ever known. >> Elena Atkinson has been in love with
Rick Enis for four years. >> I love his intelligence. I always joke with him and tell him I fell in love
with his brain first. [snorts] >> But just two months into their romance, Elena, an amateur genealogologist, was
researching Rick's ancestry when she stumbled upon news that he had killed his mother and stepfather.
>> My first thought was, what in the world happened in his home life that pushed
him to that point? Rick would tell her something she didn't see in any article. >> Rick, it's Peter Vans with 48 hours.
>> Reached by phone, Rick told us what he insists happened. >> I was molested by my mother.
>> Rick says his mother sexually abused him and he snapped. >> I exploded and the result was that I I
took my mother's life and then I took my stuff out. But remember, back then he told authorities he killed his parents
because he didn't want to move. >> I was deeply ashamed about my mother molesting me and I had a really hard
time talking about it. >> Still, we could find no evidence to corroborate Rick's abuse allegation.
>> You know, I Rick, I have to tell you, obviously I I have no idea what happened. Uh, a skeptic would say you've
conveniently accused the mother that you murdered of molesting you and she can't
defend herself. You understand how that's difficult for some to believe? >> Well, I mean, it it's something that I
worked through with a a psychiatrist. What I did when I was 12 is the greatest regret of my life.
>> Rick insists he's no longer that angry 12year-old. Now 41, Rick Andis would stand trial for yet another murder.
>> I never murdered Lorie Swinski. She was a very close, dear [clears throat] friend of mine. I never would have hurt
her. >> Prosecutor Jessica Ventiieri is sure that is a lie. But at trial, she wouldn't be allowed to tell the jury
anything about Rick's past. This is by far the most complicated case of my career.
>> He becomes a sales. >> Ventiary's first hurdle was convincing the jury that Lorie was in fact dead.
She called Lorie's mother, Arlene, to the stand. >> Did she make contact with you after her
brother died? >> No. >> Have you ever received a birthday card? >> No. >> A Mother's Day card?
Have you ever heard from your daughter [snorts] in any way since that Thursday before she
disappeared? [music] >> No, ma'am. >> Lindsay Braun was next, seemingly setting up a motive, telling the jury
that Lorie rejected Rick. >> She told me about a letter that he had written her.
>> Was it a love letter? >> Yes. She told me that she wasn't interested him in him that way.
and Terry Booth would take the stand to recount that troubling remark he said Rick made.
>> Yeah, just triangle that she was a white piece of trailer park trash. >> The district attorney built her case
with testimony about the scuff marks on the wall and the blood in Lor's trailer,
Rick's seaman on her bed, and the cigarette butt with Rick's DNA found near Lorie's scorched car.
But they've got problems with this evidence. >> But defense attorney William Watley
claimed that handrolled cigarette was planted, arguing police could have taken it from Rick's home.
>> That cigarette butt didn't come from Bernie. >> The defense suggested Lorie was
responsible for her own disappearance. They portrayed her as a drug dealer. >> You knew that Lori had grown marijuana?
>> Yes. Lindsay insisted, however, that it was only for Lor's personal use >> for herself for so she shouldn't have to
purchase any. >> But to drive home their points, Watley called Rick Andis himself to the stand.
>> Spent a lot of time with her. >> Rick insisted he had no reason to hurt Lori.
>> Did you write a letter to Lori? >> Um, yes sir, I did. I I asked her if she wanted to date. It would have been
a month or two before she went missing. I'm not certain. >> But even though she turned him down,
[music] Rick says they were still intimate. >> Now, did you ever have sex with Lori?
>> Um, yes, sir. >> So, what about what he [music] said to Terry Booth? Andis says it never
happened. >> Did you ever go out drinking with Terry Booth? >> Yes, sir. >> Did you tell Terry Booth that you
strangled someone? Yes, sir. Rick, >> I want to show you some photographs here. >> And those rugs given to police by his
former roommate. >> Rick claims they were not from Lor's trailer. >> Where did you get these rugs?
>> Target. >> Did you get any of those from Laura? >> Yes, sir. >> Rick says Lori was fine when he left her
that Saturday. He says he headed off to sell some weed and he claims she was off
to do the same. >> The last time you saw Lori, did you have any kind of an argument with her?
>> No, sir. >> Did you break into Lor's trailer that Saturday? >> I did not. >> Did you kidnap Lori?
>> No, sir. >> Did you kill Lori? >> I I did not. >> Did you burn Lor's car? >> No, sir. So, what about the knife,
handcuffs, and cleaning items in his car? Rick says it had nothing to do with Lori. He was moving things from his
apartment. And those scratches on him back in 2006, police say he had no [music] explanation. But at the trial,
he had an answer. >> I I got them from playing with my dog. >> Ventiary barely [music] made it to the
podium to start her cross-examination. >> Is there anything black and blame on the
ball. >> Ventiary questioned Rick about that blood on Lor's door. >> Blood in Lor's trailer has your DNA in
it. How did that get there? >> I have no idea. >> And the question Vintier really wanted
an answer for, she never got. >> Where did you drop Lor's body? >> I didn't tell Lor's body anywhere.
>> Who did? >> I have no idea. Both sides had their final chance to persuade the jury. Defense attorney
Watley told the jurors there wasn't any evidence that a crime had even been committed.
>> There's no evidence that Laura's kidnapped. There's no evidence that she was forcefully taken against her will.
>> Ventiary attacked Rick's defense. >> They just sit there and say, "Do their client
about anything. It is. >> Ventiary insisted that the volume of evidence against Rick Annis was
overwhelming, even if police still couldn't find Lor's remains. And she reminded the jury that Lori
would never just take off. She would never ever ever lay peanut on. Never. >> After 7 days of testimony, it was now up
to the jury to decide. >> I'm terrified. I only get one shot at this, but you just never know what a
juryy's going to do. >> Do you believe Rick Enis is a changed man? See more of the investigation into
Lor's disappearance at 48 hours.com. >> All right, then. Ladies and gentlemen, During this case, you hand to the B,
please, ma'am. >> When the jury came back into the courtroom, did you look at their faces?
>> Yes, I did. It was very hard to read their faces. I still wasn't sure what the verdict was
going to be. >> The police stand. >> Nearly 16 years after Lorie Sllinski vanished, the jury reached a verdict
during their second day of deliberations. >> We, the jury, find defendant Daryl Richard Inennis guilty of the offense of
capital murder. >> Guilty of the murder of Lorie Sllinski. Give me a sense of what that meant to
you. >> Sheer relief, joy that he was finally convicted and would never get to do this
to anyone else again. >> I'm thrilled that we were able to bring justice for Lorie after such a long
time. >> Immediately following the jury's verdict, DA Venti went to Arlene with a
proposal. Rick was now facing a possible death sentence, but that would trigger years of appeals and legal wrangling. To
spare Arlene all that, Ventiary suggested offering Rick life without parole. Arlene agreed.
>> It says the court that you be imprisoned in the penitentiary of the state of Alabama for a term of life without the
possibility of parole. >> Elena Atkinson was stunned. just complete shock, disbelief.
I was devastated. >> She was so certain Rick would be exonerated, she'd made plans to
celebrate. A celebration Rick told us that he would be part of. >> I thought that we were going to go and
have a nice dinner and that I was going to get to start my life over. Arlene headed home to savor the
bittersweet victory. >> After this verdict, did you have a conversation with Lori?
>> I did. I just said, "Lori, justice has finally come. We've waited for this for a long
time and I hope you're all celebrating in heaven with the entire family and I wish you were all here to see this
day. >> This tragic murder, the ripple effects across your family is just incredible.
>> It has left a very large void in my life. I was getting ready to retire. I mean, I could have been enjoying my
grandchildren possibly. Um, just spending time with my daughter who I loved. This is Lori at her trailer and Peanut
who she absolutely adored and vice versa. We brought Peanut home with us and he stayed with us till he was, I guess,
about [music] 16 years old and he died. Every time we mentioned Lor's name, he it would I don't care where he was in
the house, it was like he just heard her name and he'd run in there like, "Where
is she?" It just [music] totally amazed me. That he he never forgot her. Never. Did you ever think that 6 years ago we
would be here today? With her husband and both her children gone, this tragic story has brought new friendships into
Arlene's life. >> Mark Whitaker is my hero. Him and his wife are like family to me now. This was
on her graduation day. Casey, her and me. >> That's a great photo. >> And this was her a month before she
disappeared at her cousin Jennifer's wedding with her cousin Thomas. >> Wow. Not a care in the world.
>> Nope. She's one of the bravest women that I've I've ever met. >> You showing all these to me just makes
everything more real for me. >> Beautiful girl. Thanks for sharing those with me.
>> You're welcome. >> I could tell she seems to be happier now. >> I can't thank you enough for it. It was
just wonderful. I love you, too. You're >> one tough lady. Well, A wife and mother was said to have gone
for a bike ride and never returned. >> The initial thought is kidnapped. >> She had used a spy pen to make secret
recordings. >> It's like James Bond. >> Would they help solve the case? >> Nothing is what it seems.
>> 48 hours Saturday on CBS. My name is Reggie Reed. Salonia Reed is my mother and Reginal
Reed Senior is my [music] father. My mother, she was the love of my life, my first love. and I was her everything.
It was very rare I wasn't [music] by her side. >> Take me back and tell me what you
remember about that day. >> That day we went to the mall. That's one of the things to do in Hammond. Just go
to the mall. Even though if you're not buying anything, window shop, if you will. went to the mall, came home,
and my mom went out and she never came home. >> My beeper went off and it was Reginal.
And he asked me, "Had I seen Salonia?" And I said, "No, not since yesterday." >> I was a patrol officer for the Ham
Police Department. I was dispatched to a missing [music] person's call on Apple Street in Hammond, Louisiana. The
complainant, Reginal Reed, explained to me that his wife had left home the night
before and had not returned and he was concerned and wanted to file a missing person's report. I had received a
description of the car from Reginald that I started to drive up Range Road and I noticed the car.
Walked up to the car and noticed Salonia's body inside the car. It was very, very, very obvious that she was
deceased. >> Salonia was 26 years old at the time. When I watched the crime scene video and
saw Salon's body in that car, immediately I was sad. I was mad. It was pretty apparent to me right away that
whoever did this homicide hated this woman. >> So I called Regina back. I says, "Regina, have you heard anything?" He
told me, he said, "Yes." He said they found her in her car. And he said that she was dead.
And that was >> I was interviewed after she was murdered as a six-year-old. >> Okay. Can you tell me your name? What's
your name? >> When I watch that video over and over again. >> Okay. The day before Sunday, what would
you do? What I see is a a six-year-old boy [music] that that life has been ch changed.
He doesn't understand the magnitude of it yet. >> And you're asking me, you trying to find
out who killed my mother. Do you remember seeing her living? >> You did. >> Anytime a young woman Salon's age is
killed the way she's killed, I think most people right away would assume the husband did it, right? And that's the
easy way. That's the stereotypical way. But it's also not out of the realm of possibility that this was some killing
for another reason. >> From that day on, my life changed forever. It just begs a question why.
[music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> After my mother was murdered, things moved fast.
couldn't really understand like why would somebody kill her? Like what did she do?
>> It's been decades since Reggie Reed Jr. last saw his mother Salonia. >> I feel like I missed out on a huge part
of life that I'll never get back. >> Reggie was only 6 years old on August 22nd, [music] 1987.
One of the last things he remembers is his mother buying him a chocolate chip cookie here at the Hammond Square Mall
in Louisiana. He told police his mother kissed him when she left the house later that
night. But the rest, he says, is a blur. When you [music] think about that, what
does that feel like? >> When I think about how my mother's life was shortened and how my experience was
shortened, I feel empty. Somebody says to you, "Who is Salonia?" What do you say?
>> Someone asked me, "Who is Salonia?" I would say, "You looking at her. Because based on
the description, the memories and what things people have shared. When I look in the mirror, I see my
mother. >> Reggie's memories are at the heart of the memoir he's written about his
mother's murder. The day my mother never Came home. >> Within these pages, you will find the
memories of a six-year-old boy whose mother was murdered. [music] a 15-year-old young man searching for his
place in the world without the guidance and encouragement of his mother. The night my mother went out and never came
home, life for me and my father basically flipped upside down. Charles Muse, now retired, was the
police officer who found Salonia's body after taking the initial missing person's [music] report from her
husband, Reginald Reed. Salonia's body was in between the bucket seats of the car with her torso over
into the back seat of the car. She had 16 pinpoint like stab wounds in her upper torso, shoulder, and neck. Her
blouse had been torn off. Her pants had been removed from her. >> She had been sexually assaulted as well.
>> Louisiana State Police Lieutenant Barry Ward would eventually be assigned to the
case years later. He was only 16 years old when Salonia was murdered. >> In 1987, I was a sophomore in Marshall
County High School in Western Kentucky. When he eventually did pick up the case file, he took note of the lack of blood
in the car. >> It would suggest that she was murdered in another location and then transported
to where her body was later discovered at the John's Curb Market. >> That market was about 1 and 1/2 miles
from the Reed House on Apple Street. At the scene, officer Muse noticed something else about Salonia's naked
body. I did see a substance uh that had been placed on the body. It was a white liquid type substance on
her torso and stomach area. >> Police believe the white lotion may have spelled out a word, but if there was a
message, it had become illeible in the Louisiana heat. >> The windows were rolled up. It was
August at the time. It was very hot out. Detectives bagged any potential evidence, including the butt of a
cigarette. A Winston cigarette. >> Police canvased the area, but Ward says they didn't find any eyewitnesses or a
murder weapon. >> The following day, on Monday the 24th, a neighbor went to his mailbox and
discovered a crucifix and a screwdriver. Given the [music] nature of Salonia's injuries, police at first believed the
screwdriver might be the murder weapon, [music] even though it had no visible blood on it.
It was early in the investigation, and detectives looked at all the angles, including Salonia's job at Citizens
National Bank. >> She was a teller in the commercial section. She was described as being
polite, kind, had a nice smile. Here she is taking part in a community fashion show just one week before her
murder. >> Salonia and Reginald, who was a Marine and later a car salesman, met during
their high school years. Salonia was known for being devoted to little Reggie, as everyone called him. But the
night she disappeared, she left the six-year-old at home with his father. According to what Reginald told police,
>> he and his son, uh, Reginald Jr. were going to stay and play video games while
she went out to a local bar with her girlfriend. >> Officer Muse interviewed that friend who
denied she and Selonia had plans that night. Regginald told police he suspected Salonia had a boyfriend and admitted he
and his wife had personal differences, [music] but Ward says the police found no evidence of an affair. Based on the
research that I had conducted, her co-workers, the people that knew her [music] said that she just went to work
and came home, that she was always seen with her little boy. >> The day after her body was found,
investigators searched the family home on Apple Street. >> The chief of police said that when he
went in, it smelled like bleach in the house. >> [music] >> Detectives looked for evidence that
Salonia may have been killed there, but all they found was [music] a freshly vacuumed carpet and the gold clasp of a
necklace. Reginald gave investigators permission to interview little Reggie, the only
other person in the home the night of the murder. In this police video, a detective questions Reggie as his father
fidgets with a bean bag intended for his son. >> Tell me what you remember about that
knife. >> Reggie Jr. became his father's alibi. The boy said he and his father played
video games and then slept together in the same sofa bed on that August night. >> Did anybody come over?
>> Did anybody leave? >> Everybody stay home that night. >> When little Reggie agrees that everybody
stayed home, his father looks at him. Everybody, everybody stay home that night.
>> Don't be afraid. Just, you know, when she don't be, don't don't be afraid. >> Just we just talking.
>> She She ask you just a few more questions. >> You What's the matter, baby? >> He said he want to talk no more.
>> Oh, you don't want to talk no more? >> Just the emotional Yeah. >> part of it. Okay, that's all right.
Look, didn't I tell you before that I'm I'm your friend? [crying] >> Oh, he's here, baby.
>> Okay, darling. I won't talk no more. You don't have to. >> I just can't imagine what it's like as a
six-year-old to have to sit there and looking at that, it's still hard to believe that that's me.
Watching that video just brings back so so many questions and and pain because I see me crying.
In the aftermath of Salonia's murder, her family came forward with more information. Some of it directed at one
of Regginal's friends, Jimmy Ray Barnes. Turns out Barnes smoked Winston cigarettes, the same brand found in
Salonia's car. And Salonia's sister, Gwen Smith, said that Salonia did not like Jimmy Ray. [music]
>> Apparently, she knew Jimmy Ray's voice because she started screaming, "Come inside. I don't trust him." So, she was
scared of him. In the days after Salonia's murder, there was one name police [music] kept
hearing. Jimmy Ray Barnes, a friend of Regginal Senior. >> Jimmy Ray Barnes was an acquaintance of
Regginal Reed. He hung out with him. He worked with him. >> Lieutenant Ward learned about a
disturbing incident at a local [music] beach where Salonia was swimming with little Reggie just days before the
murder. >> They were on inner tubes. Jimmy flipped [snorts] Salonia over. She didn't feel that it was a playful thing.
She felt that it was uh deliberate and intentional. Uh she was not a good swimmer [music] and uh she said she
struggled to make it to the bank. >> The next night, her sister Gwen said Salonia became frightened when a
relative who was visiting Salonia spotted Jimmy Ray Barnes near her home. >> And she said Salon went into hysterics
like, "No, no, don't go out there. Don't go out there." And within a few moments,
Jimmy Ray Barnes walked around the corner of the house. Jimmy told her that he was checking on Stonia
and she ran him off. Ward would learn that Jimmy Ray along with Reginald came under even more
scrutiny 2 days after the murder. A witness came forward to say she had seen two men around John's Curb Market on the
night Selonia was murdered. >> She became suspicious and later wrote down on a piece of scrap paper the
license plate. As it turns out, that was the vehicle that Reginal Reed was known
to um operate in. That was his car. >> Some two weeks later, police assembled this photo array and showed it to the
witness. >> The witness identified the driver as Reginal Reed and the passenger as Jimmy
Ray Barnes. >> Jimmy Ray was given a polygraph test and police at the time said he passed. But
it wasn't long before Jimmy Ray left Hammond. Reginald denied having anything to do
with Salonia's murder, but neighbors told police the marriage was trouble. Family members say Salonia had accused
her husband of physical abuse, and there was talk of divorce. The police continued investigating, but
prosecutors never brought the case to a grand jury. >> There's a lot of circumstantial evidence
in 1987 that pointed to Reginal [music] Reed and Jimmy Ray Barnes. Um, as far as
a a smoking gun, it it it was not there [music] at that time. >> I started feeling like nothing was going
to be done about her murder and we would not get justice. >> Time passed and Reginal [music]
continued to live in Hammond. He even ran for mayor in 1998. >> Ariel Reggie Reed, number eight. You can
count on me. Thank you. He lost that race, but he and little Reggie stayed in the family home, [music] which today has
fallen into disrepair. >> So, this is it. >> What's it like for you to just come back
here? I know you don't like to, but what does it feel like? >> I feel numb. Yeah, I feel numb. This is
where it all started. You know, this is the halls I used to run. This is the TV room. This was the TV room. When you
were playing Nintendo with your father the night that your mother was murdered, was that here?
>> That was in Israel. >> Reggie went on to attend college and later got an MBA. He moved out of
Hammond and began working for a pharmaceutical company. There were no new developments on his mother's murder
until 2011 when Lieutenant Barry Ward of the Louisiana State Police [music] got involved. After I started interacting
with Selonia's family, her sisters, I realized how important it was. >> Before Barry Ward came into the picture,
I just felt like nobody cared about Salonia's case. >> This was just the last opportunity I
felt before more witnesses passed away that we would have a chance to find justice for this terrible crime that
happened to Sloania. As far as Ward could determine, the crucifix and screwdriver found within
days of the murder led nowhere. But the detective was drawn to several life insurance policies Regginal had taken
out on Salonia that paid out more than $700,000. Some of those policies were taken out
the same month that Salonia was murdered. Ward wanted to reinter Reggie Jr. in 2012. Reggie [music] was 31 years old
and living in Texas. Ward sent a Texas Ranger to begin the questioning. >> He told me why he was here and it was to
discuss my mother's murder. >> And the ranger then told Reggie something he said he'd never heard
before. >> He was not aware that his father was a suspect in the murder of his mother.
>> I was like, where is this coming from? Like it's been over three decades. You
talking about my dad like killed my mom. I'm like seriously I remember asking is
there any new evidence that was surfaced and it was nothing new. >> It's true that the insurance [music]
policies had been discovered by the original detectives, but Lieutenant Ward had organized them in a way that he felt
was damning. The Texas Ranger asked Reggie about those policies. He showed me a graph, a timeline that showed these
insurance policies that [music] were taken out close to her death. >> Did you all of a sudden [music] say, "I
need to get to the bottom of this." Or what? >> It was eye opening cuz I'm like, "Well,
that doesn't look good. I got to learn what like what's all this?" >> Reggie struggled to make sense of it
all. I did talk to my dad about it over the phone and his response was he he took our policies on everyone.
>> Reggie said he finds it hard to square what the investigation revealed with the
loving father who raised him. >> I look back I'm like, man, he really he really did do some great stuff for me.
He was a great provider. Ward [music] took a deep dive into the case file and focused on that Winston
cigarette butt found in Salonia's car. He sent it out for DNA testing, something that was not widely available
in 1987. There was a match [music] in the National Crime DNA database, Cotus, but
not to Jimmy Ray. >> It came back to a man by the name of Billy Ray Barnes. Billy Ray was Jimmy
Ray's identical twin brother. And the DNA supervisor had another surprise. He let me know that identical twins share
identical DNA. >> Lieutenant Ward decided he had to interview Jimmy Ray. And it turned out
that Jimmy Ray had been holding on to some key information all these years. Jimmy Ray Barnes did tell me that
Reginal Reed offered him $50,000 [music] to quote unquote knock off his wife. In July 2012, Lieutenant Barry Ward went
on the hunt for Jimmy Ray Barnes, who had become a prime suspect in the Salonia Reed murder case after his DNA
was linked to the crime scene. Ward found Barnes in the Atlanta area, where he said Barnes told him he'd fled
Hammond because he was afraid of Reginal Reed. Barnes said back then he'd been shot at three times and hit once in the
neck. Barnes suspected the shooter was Reginal, but had no proof. >> Jimmy said he was known to carry a gun,
but you fast forward 25 now 30 years, Reginald Reed was now an old man. >> We on
>> Barnes was ready to talk about Reed without a lawyer. >> I ain't got nothing to
>> Barnes told Ward that a few days before Selonia was killed, Reed asked him if he
would quote, "Knock off his wife. Reginald asked you if you would quote by your term knock off his wife and that
that mean you took that to mean to kill her to murder her. >> What was your response to that?
>> Hell no. >> Did he discuss any money with you? >> Yeah, he had he discussed money.
>> Ward pressed Barnes to tell him how much money. >> More than 5,000? >> Yeah. >> More than 10,000?
>> Yeah. >> More than 50,000. >> 50,000. >> He offered you $50,000. Is is that is
that a guess or is that the amount he offered? That >> was the amount he offered.
>> But Barnes told Ward that he would not repeat the story in court. >> I don't trust the law no more.
>> Ward [music] confronted Barnes about that polygraph test from the original case file. Barnes allegedly had passed
that polygraph, but Ward [music] suspected Jimmy Ray secretly had asked his identical twin, Billy Ray, to take
that test. I talked to Billy and he said he took that polygraph test and if Billy looked like you and was
questioned over a murder that you took part in and he doesn't know anything about it, he's probably going to pass
that polygraph test. Would that be fair to say? >> I don't know. I'm not going to answer
that cuz I know I'm the one who took the polygraph test. >> Ward believed he had a solid case to
finally bring charges. He had Jimmy Ray's DNA connected to the crime scene and his videotape statement about Reggie
offering him $50,000 to kill Salonia, but Ward said prosecutors always wanted more.
>> I would get phone calls through the years from prosecutors who had asked me to rein family members, find out
additional information, test more evidence. [music] It was busy work. Then in 2018, a newly hired prosecutor,
Taylor Anthony, got assigned the case. Why reopen a 35year-old case? What was the trigger?
>> Well, why reopen it? It's an interesting question. This was a case to me right
away when I looked at it that there was a story to be told. >> Anthony was impressed by all the
investigative work done by Lieutenant Ward. So, he reached out. But Ward told Anthony he was too busy and that he felt
he'd been let down by other prosecutors. >> My initial response was to just get this
guy off the phone. >> He said, "Look, I've already poured hundreds of man hours into that case and
y'all didn't do anything." And he said, "You're wasting your time, kid. Have a nice life," basically.
>> But Anthony was undeterred and promised War that this time things would be different. I
>> think he saw what I saw. I think that made all the difference in the world. Like Ward, Anthony was sure Jimmy Ray
Barnes knew a lot more. So he and Ward took a road trip to Atlanta. >> We're able to locate Jimmy. He was
staying in a camper at his employer's place. We pulled up early in the morning when the sun was coming up and he was
coming out of this camper putting a belt in his pants and he said, "Uh, hey, who
y'all looking for?" I said, "You, Jimmy." And he goes, "Oh, you again." But this time, the new prosecutor had
with him an agreement approved by a judge giving Barnes complete immunity if he testified to everything he knew about
Salonia's murder. So to the lay person, you offered him a deal. >> So I offered him what I would say would
be the golden ticket. >> But Barnes rejected the offer. >> He did not trust me. He did not believe
me. He did not want to talk to us. Ward and Anthony were about to drive back to Louisiana when Barnes said
something that took them by surprise. >> As Barry and I were getting back in the
car, Jim Ray Barnes came over to us and he said, "I want you boys to know that I'm the key to it all." And he said, "If
you think you can indict me for murder, then do it." >> Anthony was quick to take him up on that
challenge. A couple of weeks later, grand jury in Tansville Parish returned seconddegree murder indictments for both
Reginald Reed and Jimmy Ray Barnes. Immediately, we went to Regginald's home. I knocked on the door, identified
who I was, and that I had an arrest warrant for him for the murder of his wife. He really had no emotion.
The date was June 21st, 2019, more than 30 years after Salonia's murder. >> When Reginal was arrested,
it was like it's like a burden just my chest like a burden was lifted off. I got a call that my father was indicted
for seconddegree murder and conspiracy along with a codefendant for my mother's murder.
>> Reggie [music] Jr. put up his father's $250,000 bail bond. >> My dad being my rock for so many years,
I felt the need to try to help him. Now that you are both adults, did you ever ask him those questions that you have
that you're questioning even now as we sit here? >> Yeah, I asked him. I asked him and he he
he maintains his innocence. >> Sitting in another Hammond jail cell was Jimmy Ray Barnes. He now had a lawyer
and asked to speak with Detective Barry Ward and Taylor Anthony. So Barry and I went and met with him again, and in
exchange for him telling us everything he knew, he was offered a deal to plead to accessory after the fact to murder
and was given a 5-year prison sentence. >> The homicide trial of Reginal Reed was
scheduled for November 2022, and Jimmy Ray had agreed to testify. Reggie Jr. hoped to hear never before revealed
details of what had happened to his mother. >> I want to know what happened. In November 2022, the murder trial of
Regginal Reed began in Ameat, Louisiana. Reed was represented by the mother and daughter defense team of Vanessa
Williams and Latoya William Simon. What makes you think that he did not murder Salonia?
>> Their entire case is circumstantial. >> William Simon says the state's case was
weak. There was no murder weapon. No fingerprints or DNA tying Reed to Salonia's homicide.
>> I was confused as to how they were really going to prove their case. There's no direct evidence.
>> But prosecutor Taylor Anthony believed his prosecution would deliver justice to
Salonia. The reason I became a prosecutor is to fight for people like this. I see a
woman whose body has been desecrated, violated, mutilated, and nobody spoke up for her and fought for her. And there's
a quote that I love, and it goes, "The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is the duty of the living to do so for
them. And that's my job." Anthony told jurors about the $700,000 from the insurance policies on Salonia's
life. So, what was your theory once you put all these pieces together? >> My theory was that Salon and Regginald
were in a marriage that was about to come to an end. There was a history of abuse and that Salonia was tired of it
and she was ready to leave Reginald. I think he was angry and he saw an opportunity for some money. I think
that's why he killed this woman. the case that they're presenting, which is [music] this man takes out all these
life insurance policies on a young, healthy 26-y old woman. What is his rationale for having done that?
>> But they're missing the biggest part of it. It wasn't just on her, was on himself. It was on the child. It was
family policies. So, it's not like he just went and took out policies on Salonia only. Prosecutor Anthony was
frank with jurors, telling them that the state would not produce a murder weapon
or the exact location where Salonia was stabbed. He focused on what the prosecution did have, including that
white lotion found on Salonia's body. >> Later, police were able to find a bottle
of lotion in the Reed household that matched that type of lotion that was on her body. The prosecutor also showed
jurors a photograph of some scratches on Reed's neck taken on the day Salonia's body was found.
>> They wanted to take photographs of his neck, and he was very hesitant. [music]
>> Anthony said Reed told police two different stories about how he got those scratches, but after forensic testing,
it was determined that none of Reed's DNA was found under Salonia's fingernails.
>> They believe that the killer is Mr. Reginal Reed. Anything that goes to contradict that, they're going to
completely block out. >> William Simon pointed to Jimmy Ray's long criminal record of arrests.
>> It couldn't be introduced at trial. And the reason why his criminal rap sheet
couldn't be introduced at trial is because these aren't convictions. >> But William Simon says Jimmy Ray's
arrests were for violent crimes. >> False imprisonment and aggravated assault, aggravated battery with a
dangerous weapon, murder. These are things that the jury had a right to know, but because of the law, they
didn't [music] find out. Jimmy Ray Barnes ultimately took the stand as part of his plea agreement.
>> Jimmy, will you please tell me >> there were no cameras in the courtroom. So, this recording is taken from
Barnes's police interview conducted by Ward before the trial. He told the same story when he testified.
On the night of the murder, Barnes said he promised to meet Reed in the parking area outside John's Curb Market where
Salonia's body had been found. >> Oh, when I got there, he was getting out of the blue car. The blue car was parked
there. >> Barn said Reginald asked for his help in moving Salonia's body. >> I said, "No, I wasn't I wasn't getting
involved in that and he wanted me to move the body and I didn't want to move and I didn't move the body." Barnes says
that Salonia was fully clothed when he saw her and sitting in the passenger seat.
>> I did see the body in there and uh I panic. >> My understanding after the fact is that
Jimmy Ray Barnes talked to Reggie and said, "Where's the money? You told me $50,000." He says he never got a penny
of it. Prosecutor Anthony contends that after the men drove away, Reed returned and
staged the crime scene, stripping off Selonia's clothes, covering her with that white lotion, and leaving other
evidence to make it appear as a sex crime. >> And what does your dad say to that?
>> He say it's completely BS. You say it's it's no way. We were at home playing Nintendo.
William Simon had her own theory of what happened that night. >> All of the information that we've
received about Jimmy Ray Barnes is that he was borderline obsessed with Salonia.
I believe that maybe he encountered her, tried to make a passer, that was rejected, and that's where you see that
anger, that rage, that hatred. Sitting through the trial, Reggie admitted that the relentless focus on
his mother's murder was upsetting, especially as he watched that crime scene video, which he had never seen
before. >> And it really struck a card by just seeing my mother there um lifeless
and just alone and dead. Regginal Reed never took the stand and after less than a week of
testimony, the case went to the jury. Reggie Jr. braced for the verdict. As a prosecutor, when the jury
deliberates, it's painstaking. You're just waiting and waiting and waiting. >> Some of Regginal Reed's brothers and
sisters were waiting as well. Kennedy Reed, Belinda Reed Cox, and Claude Reed. >> Claude, you don't believe your brother
murdered Salonia? >> No, I don't. I don't believe Reggie did that. >> My brother is not a murderer. He's not.
>> But on this day, November 18th, 2022, Reginald Reed was found guilty of seconddegree murder after the jury
deliberated for just over 3 hours. >> When he was found guilty, I feel like he died without dying.
And I saw myself at that same six-year-old crying out for my dad as I did in that
video. [crying] >> And I just wanted to end. >> Reggie tried to recapture the moment his
father was found guilty in his book. >> My father grabbed me up into a big hug. I wanted to stay there forever. He
pulled back for a moment, looked me in the eyes, and kissed me on the forehead. We embraced once more and then they took
him away from me. >> I wanted to tell him, "I'm sorry for the loss of your mother. I'm sorry for your
father going to prison." I can't even imagine the grieving process that he's got to gone through.
>> Reggie says sitting through the trial was excruciating, but when it was over,
he still wanted answers. >> That's where I passed from. Lieutenant Ward has told you that one of his
theories is that your mother may have been killed in this room. >> In this room.
>> I just go back thinking of the manner and the way which she was killed. If she was killed here,
how is that possible that they couldn't find anything? >> I mean, it's >> Where was I?
>> Did you leave the house after I fell asleep? questions Reggie cannot answer because
he simply cannot remember. On January 30th, 2023, everyone piled back into the same courtroom where
Reginal Reed was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He did not offer any kind of explanation
or statement and said nothing. You know, I want justice, but I didn't [music] think justice was going to come
at the price of my dad going to prison for life. >> So, my question is, [music] do you
believe that your father murdered your mother? >> I don't know. Another question. Do I think my dad had
some involvement? Maybe. I don't know though. I don't know. So that's where I'm just It's like a
tugof-war game. Just knowing the type of father he is. I can't just turn a page and just look at [music] my father as a
complete monster. >> Salonia's sister, Gwen Smith, always believe Reginal was Salonia's killer.
Although she and Reggie Jr. are estranged. [music] She still worries about him. >> I just kind of feel bad for him, you
know, because his mom was taken away from him when he was a little boy. >> What do you want people to know about
this case? If you could sum it [music] up for me. >> I know one thing. My brother did not
commit this murder. For Barry Ward, who worked on the Salonia Reed case for a decade, the
conviction was just, and he appreciates that Jimmy Ray Barnes agreed to testify.
>> Jimmy Ray Barnes was the key. >> Barnes served his sentence for being an accessory [music] after the fact to
murder. He was freed from prison and shortly after on January 27th, 2024, he was killed in a car accident.
He was in Hammond to attend the funeral of his identical twin. >> There are several cases throughout my
career that stick out to me and this is probably the the main one. >> Charles Muse, the Hammond police officer
who found Salonia's body, is pleased he got to see the outcome of the case. I mean, her death, you know, didn't just
go in vain. I find some peace in that. You say that you wish you would have gotten to know her better, but then you
realize too, you [music] must, that she's living through you, that she's here because you're here.
>> Absolutely. And I think about that she's in a place where she's consistently watching over me.
>> As for Reggie's father, he calls Reggie from a Louisiana state prison once or
twice a week. >> This call is not private. It will be recorded and may be monitored.
>> Hey Re. >> Hey. >> How you doing, man? >> Good. How are you? A 48 hours producer
was present during a recent call. >> Do you think you got a fair trial? >> No, of course not. Of course not. Was no
evidence. >> What you got to tell us about your son? >> Oh, remarkable. I thank the Lord for him
every day that he was able to understand some something that was going on, but that I would never leave him
>> these days. Reggie has his own family. His son, Lean, is nearly the age he was
when Selonia was killed. And they often play games just as Reggie did with his father.
And in January 2024, Reggie and his wife Paula were blessed with a baby girl. When our daughter was born, we both
agreed there's no other name that we should name her except Salonia. You know, give that name
an opportunity to live life and be recognized [music] in a positive way. >> Wow. It's beautiful.
Something happened at the house. >> We are very worried about your dad. >> A daughter's forbidden love.
>> There's blood everywhere. >> Turns deadly. >> We found several murder plans. >> Who's the mastermind of all of this?
>> Where were you? >> 48 hours is all new CBS next Saturday, 10:9 central and streaming on Paramount
Plus.

“48 Hours" reports on cases involving lies and the quest for truth. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "Ransom," "A Man With A Past" and "The Day My Mother Never Came Home."

00:00 Ransom 41:05 A Man With A Past 01:22:22 The Day My Mother Never Came Home

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Brief Summary

The episode details the kidnapping and murder of Robert Wilds, focusing on family struggles and the investigation that led to Toby Holt's arrest.

Key points

The Investigation Turns Suspicious. The FBI begins to suspect family involvement in Robert's disappearance.
The Family's Desperation. The Wilds family goes on national television to seek help in finding Robert.
Toby Holt's Arrest. Toby Holt is arrested at the airport, accused of first-degree murder in the disappearance of Robert Wilds.
The Verdict. After a lengthy trial, Toby Holt is found guilty of manslaughter, a compromise verdict amid conflicting evidence.
Lori's Mysterious Disappearance. Lindsay's growing concern leads her to check on Lori after she fails to show up for work.
Rick's Past Uncovered. Investigators discover Rick's dark history of violence, including the murder of his parents.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I just needed to find my son.

8:19WatchDec 13, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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