Murders in Nature | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] so right here in this general area is where the caretaker was living at when he went for a walk up this
little Offroad when he found her [Music] initially now it wasn't even if was real
at first I thought it might be some kind of a prank you know actually I did reach down and touch
her hand that feels like flesh and bone to me when we found Anna rina's body we were able to see that her feet were
probably down in about this location and her head was pointed back towards the forest here
one of the first things we noticed when we made it our way to this Landing is there's pieces of trash and there was
garbage one of the biggest pieces of evidence that we found in this case was a KFC
[Music] bag along the edge of that clear bag there was a receipt that had the date of
the 14th so April 14th which is only a few days [Music] prior who was Anna Rina Anna was 27
years old and she came from a good strong family in Russia she wanted somebody to love her
wanted to have kids and so that's why she went on to the dating websites she happened to find will
Hargrove he's always trying to make people laugh making sure that everybody else is happy trying to push them to
become the better person that they can be he was complimentary to her uh he sent her flowers from the United States
to Russia he paid attention to her with everything that he had explained to me everything he had told me Anna was the
love of his life the sense that you got from Anna repkina was that she was in love this wasn't coming to the United
States as some male order bride how does Michelle Chavez fit into this case well Michelle Chavez is the
other woman she is that third part of the triangle he made me feel special he has a Charisma about him it's
like everything he's saying he truly believes and you believe it he makes you believe it especially if you're in love
and you want to believe it yeah and you were in love I was and it was always I choose you it
was how much pressure was he getting from Michelle to end it with Anna I know for a fact that Michelle didn't want
Anna even over here in the states he was basically given the ultimatum of one or
the other and 2 days later on it was found dead n [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music]
this is outside of corval quite a ways out in the AL sea area and up a remote Logging
[Music] [Applause] Road Ryan Joselyn and Amy matus both Deputy District attorneys in Benton
County Oregon received an urgent call that a body had been found on April 17th 2017 he and I were both on scene to take
a look for ourselves it's so important in a prosecutor's role that you understand the scene not just from
photos but having been there not too many people are going to be up in that area but frankly the fact
that the body was discovered as quickly as it was uh was pretty extraordinary lead detective Lieutenant
Chris duffett says a local caretaker happened to be out walking his dog that day when he came across the body the
caller was walking on this road on a day and a time and a place that he really should have never been so we were very
very lucky to find her body if it would have been any more time we might have never found her the victim was
identified as 27-year-old Moscow native Anna repkina she had been shot she was smart intelligent she had
an office job working for Ikea she loved cats she loved to travel Anna had a lot going for her a lot of
people liked her so how did a Russian woman who had a seemingly happy life meet her end on a remote Logging Road
nearly 5,500 miles from home she had broken up with her boyfriend of seven years and was really looking for
that connection a year earlier newly single Anna started looking for love online and joined a Russian social
networking site she found what she was looking for halfway across the world when she met 26-year-old Oregonian
William Hargrove then they started really chatting they chatted a lot over Facebook then uh they started video
conferencing and that was happening on an almost daily basis Anna and will found that they had
a lot in common they really bonded over music she very much loved music she'd like to go
to rock concerts they would have discussions about bands she had a good sense of humor she would constantly send
funny memes and she connected with her friends and her family that way will and Anna exchanged thousands of
messages imagining their future together if Anna came to Oregon he definitely had the Gift of Gab
The Gift of Gab he could talk a good game he could he could talk a very good game Will's friend and former roommate
Jamie clz he and I had things in common cars he works on cars I work on cars I'm
more Harry Potter he's more The Avengers kind of genre but we could nerd out on things like that he actually took me to
see my first Avengers movie he was a likable guy a jokester he just liked to laugh and have fun I
enjoyed being around him will worked as a mechanic at a local auto dealership in
his free time he'd meet up with friends like Joseph Thompson at the peacock Bar and Grill we would play
pool over there on Sunday nights and just basically ended up hanging out doing karaoke I don't know how many
times me and him would be sitting there playing pool and he'd just have women walk up from the bar just sit there talk
to him he was very charismatic he had the personality the presence was he a player no not necessarily will was such
a good friend that Joseph called him his brother we were both in the military a lot of the training and stuff we had
went through was similar and it helped pull us together what branch of the service were you in Army and will I
believe he was Marines he said that he used to be stationed in Russia will seemed to have an affinity for all
things Russian and his online relationship with Anna took off Anna decided to fly to the states to
spend the holidays with Will in Oregon and see if their virtual love would feel the same in reality December of 2016 she
traveled here and spent a couple weeks with um William harrove but the road to romance had an unexpected
detour there was a problem when she first came out in December to see Mr Hargrove she mistakenly mixed up
Portland Maine for Portland Oregon and she was stranded in Portland Main amidst the chaos of flight changes
Anna messaged will building the anticipation to finally be together Anna eventually made it to the
right Portland and into the arms of will Hargrove during her visit she posted highlights of their Whirlwind romance
including photos of their trips to the coast Will's cars and even a Christmas wish scrolled out to her family back
home she came here for Love at the conclusion of this trip she actually became engaged to William harro and they
had plans to get married in the future Anna returned home to Russia after 10 days with a souvenir an engagement ring
from Will and plans to pack up her life in Russia and move to Oregon with the promise of marriage she was excited
about the wedding she was talking about um all the different style dresses and what she really wanted but there was
going to be an obstacle in Anna's path to love I'm Michelle Chavez and I was Will hard grob's girlfriend
[Music] [Music] in 2015 33-year-old Michelle Chavez was living with her husband and two children
in Albany Oregon unfortunately all was not right in the marriage our relationship at that point in time
really wasn't one it was like roommates that just happened to be married slept in the same bed but that was about it
didn't really talk Michelle met will car Grove while she was working as a cab driver it was a
kind of slow time in the summer and I was waiting at the bar waiting for people to call to go pick people up what
was your first impression of him God he's short God he's short yes God he's short yeah um he is
short but that first impression gave way to something much more for shavez who was so unhappy at home he made you feel
like you were in the sun when he talked to you he had a way of being able to look at me and I I felt like I was
actually seen I felt beautiful I felt like I was wanted and so Michelle and will became much more than friends it
wasn't a planned thing it wasn't like it went off in my head I was like I'm I'm going to have a relationship with him it
just progressed that way this is one of him and our mutual friend Jamie he was willing to give her what she needed
affection attention the following year 2016 the relationship grew to a new and somewhat unusual level
with Will renting a spare bedroom in Michelle's house the same one she shared with her husband and kids though it's
not clear what Michelle's husband knew about her relationship with will he only had to pay $300 a month and his own food
unless he liked whatever it was we were making at the time honestly pretty sweet
deal Michelle even gave will her wedding ring a promise that she'd leave her husband soon but it wasn't enough for
will if Will had this relationship with Michelle and was in love with Michelle why was he going on internet dating
sites I think that it had to do with jealousy Michelle was going to leave her husband on her terms and it wasn't going
fast enough if he could make her jealous then maybe it would speed things up which may explain why when Anna
visited will over Christmas they stayed at Michelle's house under Michelle's nose it seems Anna knew nothing of
Will's other relationship they were in his room most of the time on New Year's Eve they were getting ready to go out
will was like oh maybe I should introduce you guys and then she shook my hand and she said her name was Anna I
said it was nice to meet her but Michelle wouldn't be quite that welcoming when Anna returned a few
months later on March 1st 2017 with the intention of becom becoming Will's wife I was like well
she's not staying here she's not staying in my house so will and Anna rented an apartment in Corvalis a small colleg
town not far from Michelle's home with Will working and without a job herself Anna spent time on her own even
joining the local gym life wasn't as easy for Michelle what did you want simple just to be
happy and you thought you'd found that with him I thought I had but you have to actually know
somebody to find those things I think turns out actually knowing will was going to be a bit of a challenge for
everyone even with his new fiance in America he split his nights between his two love interests he really continued
to float between those two uh places back at Michelle's place and then back at the apartment with Hana with no clue
as to why will kept disappearing Anna often had to resort to contacting his friends to find her own fiance she's
seeing him gone in the text messages she's reaching out to his friends do you know where he is what's going on she's
becoming suspicious where is he going what is going on with this time as it happened Anna's instincts were right on
the money this man was a fraud and relied heavily on Deception to convince other
people he was the type of person he wanted to be perceived as and he wanted to be something greater than he was he
told a number of people he was in the armed forces he was never in the armed forces then there's the matter of a
certain engagement ring Anna's ring or was it her and I had friended each other on
Facebook and then I saw her wearing my wedding ring what yeah the ring that had been Michelle's wedding ring had been
repurposed when will proposed to Anna will told Anna that this ring belonged to his grandmother and had
sentimental value to him Anna had no idea she was wearing Michelle's ring and on March 22nd she was shocked to get a
Facebook message from Michelle about sharing will at this point all Anna knows is
that Michelle Chavez is the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend because that's what Will harrove has told her and so Anna says no
way you get out of our life lives something about me being a [ __ ] I believe and I was like I'm just getting
started at being one were you threatening her no just being mouthy I just meant that if you
think I'm being [ __ ] now like just watch just 3 Days Later Anna and will headed to the Oregon coast for their
wedding ceremony Anna brought a wedding dress with her from Russia she had her ring
that William uhep post to her with on the way will decided to stop at the local Walmart to buy their wedding
bands leaving bride to be Anna in the car while he's in Walmart shopping for his wedding ring he is on the phone with
Michelle Chavez and he is discussing their relationship and whether or not he's going to come see her that
night and you had no clue when he said he was in Walmart he was like headed to a wedding no no none at all but as it
would turn out Anna and will were not headed to a wedding they go to the beach and the officient doesn't show up so he
has a phone call in which he relays to both the witnesses and to Anna that the officient couldn't make it he was Ill
something came up and William Haro was actually calling a couple video game stores to presumably
pretend he was talking to a wedding official to show him how mad he was about day he never arranged for an officient
he never got a marriage license he didn't have anything set up sadly there'd be only one portrait of
the Bride that day picking up some fast food the McDonald's drive through video is the only video or photo taken on Anna
rina's wedding day and you can actually see Anna repkina in her wedding dress uh
in William haro's vehicle seemingly oblivious to Will's feelings for Michelle Anna set her heart on a
rescheduled wedding date but Michelle had other plans so did you give him an ultimatum at one point I
did told him it was he had to pick one I didn't want anything bad to happen to her I just didn't want her
here so you pressured him to choose I did [Music] in April 2017 the relationship between
Michelle and will hit a Crossroads with Michelle insisting will finally choose between her and
[Music] Anna will told Michelle she was his choice so April 19th was the deadline right for
both of you correct you were going to be done with your marriage and he was supposed to she was supposed to be gone
or whatever he was going to leave her how much pressure did Michelle Put on Will to get rid of Anna a lot there
was a lot of pressure there's a lot of back and forth in there between all the text messages
is where one minute it's like clean out your stuff and get out the next minute is I love you I want to be together but
we can't do that if she's here there are texts between the two of you with you pressuring him to choose
and at one point you told him to fix it yeah what do you mean by that in the general sense fix it in the
sense that you would take care of it not take care of it like take somebody out and you would end the relationship that
you would be done will told Michelle he' tried to send an a packing many times but she wouldn't go so Michelle
perceived Anna as this girl who kind of never got the hint that she was being told to leave and she kept coming back
although Anna never knew any of this was really [Music] happening on Saturday night April 15th
Just 4 days shy of the deadline they'd set Michelle was supposed to have dinner at Will's apartment it wasn't until
about 8:00 p.m. that night that William harrove tells Michelle Chavez that she actually can't come over that Anna
showed back up the Anna's back again he'll take care of it what followed was yet another heated
text conversation not a surprise according to Detective Chris Dale who says Michelle
and will exchanged more than 13,000 texts during their relationship constant checking in every morning to make sure
that he's woken up on time uh to get to work didn't seem as if there was a an hour and a day that went by where they
were not uh communicating but on that day there was one critical text so will harrove sent a
message to Miss Chavez I will have this permanantly fixed by 1800 tomorrow so he'll have the situation of Anar repkina
handled by 6 p.m. uh the following day which was Easter Sunday that Assurance was not enough for
Michelle she continued texting and calling will who turned off his phone as the hours passed with no reply
Michelle's hope that will was truly fixing the problem with Anna vanished I guess you made your
choice okay I'll let you be [Music] why I just want to know why I want you be but I just want
why the next morning Michelle headed to her mother's house for Easter Jamie was there as well she said that she'd spent
the night ugly crying and even though I knew what the probable answer was going to be I still
asked her like why and she looks at me and she goes why do you think and I said because of
will meanwhile back at his apartment will was dealing with a very different but urgent problem his car insurance
policy they've been sending him notices that if he doesn't have it paid by midnight on the 16th they're going to
cancel his insurance he tells them that he knows this insurance lapses that evening and he needs to get it uh
extended uh for free uh because if it doesn't he's going to lose his uh vehicle loan and they're going to
repossess it immediately okay can you guys hold off until the 21st so I can get you paid um unfortunately once it is
pending cancellation for non-payment we don't have the ability to move the dates
at all um and this one yeah so it'll be effect canceled effective tonight at midnight just after 4:30 p.m. Michelle's
phone rang it was Will and what did he say that he had been out at the coast he was on his way back in and he almost had
a deer he ran off the road he had a flat tire and he needed help how did he sound
shaken sad and so Michelle left her family's Easter celebration to go and meet will in the town of
Alie he waited for her at a local convenience store you can see him walk to the uh cooler where he gets uh a
Pepsi he goes and gets his candy bar and then he ultimately gets a pack of cigarettes about an hour later Michelle
arrived she parks on the side of that store uh we see her get out of her Prius I asked him what what happened where
have you been he told me that he after we had talked that they got into an argument and he said horrible mean
things to her and that she had turned around and taken her suitcases and had walked out thinking Anna had finally
left the apartment for good Michelle says she and will got into his car we drove for a little bit and we'd pulled
off and we were talking for a few and then honestly we end up having sex in the front seat so you had makeup sex
essentially essentially makeup sacks in the front seat Michelle and will then went their separate ways with Michelle
returning to her family's Easter celebration she came back she was in a good mood she was smiling she was you
know she was happy she looked to 180 from what she looked like in the morning will headed home but he made a few stops
along the way first at an ATM where he withdrew money from Anna's bank account made a
$200 withdrawal from this machine and then engaged in some conversation with some employees um at that gas station
where he actually ended up hugging one of them and crying about the fact that his girlfriend Anna rekina uh had left
him his girlfriend whose account he just took $200 from yes will then headed to a second ATM he
goes to the Chase Bank and withdraws an additional $600 of Anna reina's money so
now William hargo has $800 uh that he stole from Anna reina's bank account at about 9 9:30 p.m. on
that same night he drives to another bank and he ends up depositing $160 of that cash
uh into his bank account will had just one more chore to take care of that evening thank you for
calling Progressive yall should have a card on file for me and I need to make a payment please several hours earlier he
has no money all good then everything's done yeah everything is taken care of you are insured as we're
speaking excellent thank you very much ma'am my pleasure have a good night will all of a sudden he has money
and he's taking it out of Honor repkina bank account who's found dead the next day on April 17th 2017 the day after
Easter Sunday Anna repkina was found with a shotgun blast to the back of her head her body left like one more piece
of garbage Anna was discarded in this Landing with the other trash fast food bags uh cigarette
cartons candy wrappers uh that were that we here and at that point we don't know
what's evidence and what's not because that could either be huge evidence in this case or it could be just
trash while investigators hope to find a connection to Anna's killer will was sending on a text showing concern about
her whereabouts after the fight he said they'd had the day before will also launched a bizarre Deep dive online
researching time travel he is uh trying to ask for help in how to uh travel back
in time back to April 16th in order to correct a horrible mistake his words correct a horrible mistake yes
even went so far as to message strangers on WhatsApp for advice to help someone he called his best
friend will was apparently so desperate for this information he offered a reward
his [Music] soul in addition to his strange internet search will went on a shopping spree
spending more of that cash he stole from Anna buying candy video games and toys he bought aund and something something
doll set of Legos from a Walmart will reached out to a friend named Kevin Thomas saying that he's spending money
shouldn't trying to distract himself on Wednesday April 19th investigators struck a lead with the trash found next
to Anna's body a KFC receipt from 3 days earlier with a crucial Tim stamp was there a name on the receipt so on the
receipt there was no name KFC told us that there was uh actually a car that pulled up on that Friday uh and there
was two purchases made from that car there was one made with a debit card that came back to Kevin Thomas and
another uh purchase that was made with cash with only one name to work with investigators headed to Kevin's Corvalis
home was trying to put some pieces together their case um the garbage we found was I think something you bought
last week from KFC okay do you know about that yeah me and my brother go to KFC go to KFC on Fridays what's your
brother's name Kevin uh will harrove Kevin and will became Pals at the peacock Bar and Grill Kevin like
Joseph Thompson called will his brother police continued talking to Kevin at the
Sheriff's Office where he offered a revelation a few weeks earlier will had asked to borrow something that belonged
to Kevin his shotgun did he say why you wanted to borrow it just so he was gonna
go up and go shooting in the woods and just kind of blow off some steam what's more Kevin told police that will had yet
to return the gun with this new information investigators headed straight to Michelle's house where will
was staying to question him he answered the door we're here following up on a case we're working and uh uh your name
came across and I want to talk to you okay will then lied to investigators telling them that he and Michelle drove
up to Alie together on Easter Sunday drove into Elsie stopped at the little market there picked up a pack of
cigarettes and drove back did you dump some trash there when you were there yeah I did on the side of the building
on the side of the general storm but that trash that will claimed to have left at the store was the very
same that was found next to Anna's body investigators asked will to come to the Sheriff's Office while will was getting
ready to leave he texted Michelle to ensure their stories matched at the Sheriff's Office investigators
got to the question of Anna what do you know about her oh it's nothing how' you how' you
guys meet met downtown Coral just walking around yeah Will played down their relationship even
calling Anna psychotic we went on two dates and then decid I I told her it wasn't going to be anything more than
that and I was happy to keep hanging out with her but that was all it was going to be how long ago was that uh last time
I saw her was middle of March middle of March cut it off because she decided to put on
Facebook that we were engaged she posted that yeah after two days oh yeah and it brought hell down
upon me from who sure Lieutenant duffett turned up the heat on will and got right to the point
so will your trash was found where somebody was killed I'm sry to what okay that's what we're talking about
here you guys are what me this your trash like my partner said was found there your your stuff was found at a
scene where somebody died yeah okay talking to you there's a lot of inconsistencies with your story
about what what happened that's when will stopped talking and asked for a lawyer no offense guys you've been
really kind and I like you and I don't mind that but the moment that you say somebody was killed out there no I it
just no okay so uh William harro I need you to stand up and put your hands behind your back you're under the arrest
for the murder of Anna Rina will harrove was placed under arrest but did police have the right person in
custody if anyone on the face of it looks like they have a motive to kill Anna it's the other woman it's Michelle
how can you be so sure that she had nothing to do with Anna's murder just hours after will Hargrove
was arrested for Anor reina's murder what else you going to go over at this point Michelle Chavez was brought in for
questioning about what she was doing Easter Sunday can you tell me what this is about though she starts out on the
wrong foot telling police what will had texted her to say that they' driven to ALC together and he picked you up at
your mom's house at that time he did okay ask take his immediately Michelle reverses herself admitting what she just
stated was false that's a little bit of a lie he called me he was going to pick me
up and then he did why did you lie to them honestly I wasn't thinking and I don't have a good
answer I want you to know right now the Will's under arrest for murder okay okay investigators say Michelle didn't
seem at all surprised when they told her will had just been arrested for killing
Anna how are you not extremely upset right now to know that the person who you were romantically involved with I am
very upset right now I'm very upset right now I don't understand how that can be a person that
I have spent the last year and a half with that was numb it didn't make [Music] sense over a year later in July 2018
will was formally inded for Anna's murder the defense would go on to spin an entirely different theory of the
crime one that had Michelle pulling the trigger after arriving from her family's
Easter celebration according to them the defendant had taken Michelle Chavez up to the location to have a conversation
with Anna and the shelle had taken the gun out from him and shot on him a few pieces of evidence had given
investigators cause for concern for one thing Michelle mysteriously ended up in possession of Anna's phone Michelle
blames will I didn't realize it was hers he had given it to me I guess the night
before he got arrested Michelle's own cell phone records showed that a month before
Anna's body was found Michelle had visited that exact spot on the Logging Road Michelle claims that's only because
will brought her there but could she have been scouting the location the defense says that will loved Anna that
he was starting a life with her that you're the one with all the reasons to kill her what do you say to that I had
no reason to B her dead no reason to kill [Music] her I do get how it looks but her being dead is nothing I
ever wanted wanted to go home did you ever tell Will to kill Anna no days after Will's arrest his friend
Kevin's shotgun was recovered from the back of Will's vehicle evidence supports there had only been one killer will
harro's fingerprint was on the shotgun Michelle Chavez's DNA was never on that shotgun Michelle Chavez's fingerprints
were never on that shotgun piecing together various security cameras investigators tracked Will's
drive with Anna to Alie we see the defendant's car that's distinct for various reasons traveling along a
certain path and gave us location as well as time frames but it was GPS tracking that gave police an even bigger
piece of the puzzle with Will's phone pinging from the murder site from 4:35 to 4:48 that afternoon the reason we
have that it's because he called Michelle Chavez Michelle Chavez who was still at her
mother's house at that Easter celebration we don't have any forensic data or information that was left at
that crime scene to suggest that Michelle was at the crime scene on that day and remember that video of will
shopping at the alc convenience store as he waited for Michelle to arrive towards
the top of his bald head you can see what appears to be smaller black dots raising the question could it have been
blood spatter we can't tell you if that was blood we can't tell you what that was but we can tell you it was there
before he met Michelle Chavez subsequent photo comparison afterwards showed that
those spots weren't moles they weren't anything that was there permanently there was one more
heart-wrenching piece of evidence found in the trash alongside Anna's body from another fast food drive-thru a receipt
from McDonald's uh in Newport Oregon dated on March 25th of 2017 March 25th the day that should have been Anna's
wedding [Music] day Will's trial got underway in October 2019 the original witness list was 131
people eventually I believe close to 70 people testified the trial took a month will Hargrove was found guilty of
Anna's murder as well as identity theft and two counts of second deegree theft for
stealing that money from Anna's bank account I want to talk about Anna rekina for a minute and I placed her photo on
the witness stand to remind everyone of a life that was lost contrary to specul will sentencing was
held in January 2020 she came here with hopes and dreams to find somebody that was loving
her and start a family she doesn't have that anymore the defendant very nearly got away with this
crime it was his own trash that betrayed him uh you were receiving a sense of life
imprisonment will received a life sentence with a possibility of parole after 25 years
Michelle says living under the scrutiny of people in town wondering what she knew or didn't know became all too much
how bad did it get for you bad enough bad bad she had an incident uh in which she
couldn't take the stress uh anymore um and uh almost didn't get the police there in
time Michelle says that in June 2018 she tried to take her own life I tried to die I'm still here it didn't
work as for the young Moscow native who flew to the US with the promise of love I think you have to remember Anna
as the sweet loving caring person who put herself out there to be loved because Anna was
loved she was loved alive and she was loved after [Music] 48 Hours don't miss an episode
the [Music] [Music] serial killers can be very difficult to predict they're constantly thinking
about hunting for human beings and police reported another grandm Finding to hurt and to kill her car was later
found abandoned on I45 the highways are a particularly good effective in ground once you commit your murder
you're good to hit the road again the 12-year-old disappeared April 3rd while jogging near her
home she's a beautiful child how soon did you really know that something awful had happened when we
first went out to search and we didn't find her when there was absolutely no sign of her we knew then that something
terrible had happened Kelly Cox locked her keys in her car after taking a college field
trip to the Denton Police Department she was last seen making a call from a pay phone not knowing where your daughter
was how do you describe that there's really not a way to describe it I had nightmares for years that she was being
hurt or harmed every day the pain does not go away Tiffany Johnston went missing from
a Bethany Car Wash Tiffany was abducted in broad daylight she just vanished Tiffany was my baby daughter my shadow
anywhere I was at Tiffany was with [Music] me been a week since Jessica Kane disappeared her car was found abandoned
on I45 she would not go somewhere without calling and that's why we know something's wrong we got to find her
childhood friends came together to hold a vigil praying she would be found until
she's found and someone proves that she's not allowed she is allowed to us and we're still
searching could it happen again was it going to happen again William Reese was on the top of
the list very early on Reese is the primary suspect in the kidnapping of Laura Smither I think most investigators felt
like he was responsible for multiple girls but you couldn't couldn't get him on it no the case went on for number of
years and no one ever forgot the pain from [Music] 97 he had to cooperate or those girls
were gone forever today's March 1st 2016 if you're comfortable with it I would like to go
through these four different incidents mrocc are you okay with that yes these offenders they love to brag about
themselves yeah I took this throw blacket oure and I land it on top of her so it becomes something that's fun for
them a little bit of a cat and mouse game the stuff you're saying I don't remember that they are pathological
liars and then you immediately buried her after that yes sir they lie about things they don't even have to lie about
you can't necessarily trust what he says you have to verify this is the area that
he brought you to but I mean you were looking and you weren't finding her right some folks thinking that maybe the
information was not accurate I have no reason to lie you guys and that he was playing us certainly we were hoping it
was going to be a little bit faster uh than it was but you can see that truly confirms a needle in a Hy stack
[Music] [Music] there was a very scary killer who was going up and down I45 that is correct
killing young women that is correct Interstate 45 runs through the swamps and the derel oil fields between
galvaston and Houston the highway marks a trail of unsolved murders that stretches back for
decades and Friends with Texas Deputy Chief of Police Josh Rogers says 1997 was a particularly deadly year we
were living in such a false sense of security it was quite a shock to the system when we got educated and you got
educated the hard way the worst way absolutely the worst way on April 3rd 1997 gay smi's 12-year-old daughter
Laura an aspiring ballerina went out for a run and never returned as days passed
thousands of volunteers on foot and on Horseback comb the swamps and fields around their home in Friendswood keep
your eyes open this is what we're looking for the US Marines even flew in to help we just wanted to say thank you
to everybody we all going to find her what does this say your T-shirt this says pray fora I was also there in 1997
with the family gay Bob and Laura's younger brother David are you surprised by the outpouring of concern Sympathy
uplifted by it it's just the only thing that's getting us from one day to the next the beginning of the ballerina
exactly yeah I was taking in her backyard at the other house there's no doubt she's coming home I went into
denial immediately I I would not accept any other scenario other than that somebody
had taken her give us the strength to endure if I prayed hard enough she'd be released to come home to us that's how I
coped then came the devastating news 17 days later when Laura's decomposing body
was found in a retention Pond 12 miles from her home by a father and son walking their dogs we thought it was you
know like a dead animal in the water or something like that something Jason he says no said animal don't have
socks I screamed into the phone that's not Laura that's not Laura that's I couldn't accept it I can still hear my
screams in my nightmares and then of course we had to tell David for something say are no
words how old was David at the time nine he not only lost his sister in a way he
lost his parents we were physically there but we were emotionally absent part of us was gone
part of us was ripped out after weeks in the water Laura's exact cause of death could not be
determined investigators also couldn't be sure if she had been sexually assaulted in spite of the unknowns a
suspect emerged pretty quickly a man named William ree it was the third day that Laura was missing that he was on
the police radar that quickly yes the third day and why because because he was a a sex offender ree had been released 6
months before Laura's murder after spending 10 years in prison for two rapes in his native Oklahoma he was now
working in Friendswood Texas he was building a residential subdivision and was a bulldozer operator and on the day
Laura went missing because of rain police learned Reese was led off work at 9:00 a.m. which would have taken him
right in the direct path of Laur SMI investigators searched Reese's truck and found fibers from replacement floor mats
that were consistent with Trace fibers found on Laura's socks these weren't Factory floor mats these weren't common
fibers while police continued to investigate Laura's case Reese remained free and was traveling back and forth
between Houston where he worked and Oklahoma where his mother lived then in July of 1997 in Denton Texas a
university town along the stretch of Interstate connecting them 20-year-old Kelly Cox disappeared to describe it
it's like Martian picked her up she just vanished Kelly's mother Jan bam says Kelly had gotten locked out of her car
after a class trip to the Denton police station she had gone to a nearby gas station parking lot to use a pay phone
very busy area with police officers everywhere Jan knew something was wrong when Kelly failed to pick up her then
toddler Alexis from daycare that afternoon and she would never have left her daughter she was only
19 when Alexis was born she took such responsibility and she embraced being a mom m oh my gosh she embraced
it and I know she absolutely adored this one over here in addition to raising Alexis now 27 years old Kelly was taking
a full load of courses at UNT the University of North Texas in Denton she was maintaining straight A in college
all eyes on her f a week after having yeah week after she had Alexis she took her final exams and pulled all a on I
mean she was very very driven Alexa says she remembers little about her mother except the anguish of her being gone I
remember looking for her you do looking underneath the bed mhm I remember looking at all around the house look in
closets she would look under the bed and say Mommy Mommy the days of searching turned into weeks and then
months we can get this SP out there was on local TV pleading for help finding her daughter I don't want it on a back
burner I want her face out there but unlike Laura Smither Kelly was a young woman not a child and as the case
dragged on Jan says she didn't feel that finding Kelly remained a priority for police Jan still remembers a
conversation she had with one member of the department 3 months after Kelly went
missing and he said you should just consider yourself lucky we're even working on this case most police
departments would have just turned her picture in to the missing person's Clearing House and been done with it
that was heartbreaking Jen was certain that someone had abducted Kelly but was at a loss police had no body and no
strong leads and the case soon grew cold I don't think did I ever completely not
think when the phone would ring that maybe it was something about Kelly just 11 days after Kelly went missing up
in Oklahoma and not far from William Reese's Hometown another young woman was about to
[Music] vanish She'll always be my baby She'll always be a granddaughter and she'll be a
wife Kathy Do's daughter Tiffany Johnson 19 years old and newly married was just
starting to build her [Music] life on July 26th 1997 she vanished from this Bethany
Oklahoma car wash leaving her car behind behind her car mats were hanging on the
car wash rack her money her paycheck everything within her car the next day Tiffany's partially
clothed body was found in tall grass here just off the interstate 15 Mi west of that car wash she had been strangled
and sexually assaulted she had rope Burns around her wrist she had black and blue places on
her face no one at the car wash reported seeing anything out of the ordinary so whoever took her had to be pretty
calculating and thinking about the surroundings oh yeah and Tiffany would fight a few days after Tiffany's murder
Kathy says she got a phone call from a man she knew from her town of anad Darko William Ree
he called to tell me he was sorry that he had heard Tiffany had gotten killed and how did he sound when he called you
sincere all he said was I'm sorry to hear about your daughter how did you first meet William
Reese I met him at the restaurant Kathy was a waitress in town and knew Reese's mother and when ree was
released from prison in 1996 and came home Kathy had given him a ride to get a new driver's
license did you know what he had spent time in prison for no they acted like it was no big deals and would you have even
guessed that he had been convicted of violent crimes toward women oh heavens no it never occurred to Kathy that reys
could have anything to do with Tiffany's murder I couldn't see someone that I knew that would kill Tiffany because
they knew how much she meant to me as for investigators they found the Killer's DNA on Tiffany's body but they
weren't able to develop a profile at some point Kathy did you give up thinking they're just never going to
find the person who killed my daughter I never gave up because I made a promise to Tiffany when I buried her
that I would not give up until we found who did it why was it so important to find who killed her cuz I didn't want
him killing someone else's child if you have my daughter I pray that you would return her we want her
back home just 3 weeks after Tiffany's murder back in Lamar Texas it happened again we're not going to let her go
Jessica Cain was about to graduate high school the 17-year-old was last seen leaving a Clear Lake Area restaurant on
August 17th 1997 when when she didn't come home by curfew Jessica's father CH Kane went out looking for
her I had been to all the places where I thought she might be and I was on my way
home it's actually just about 3 or 4 miles from the house on the side of the road he spotted her truck on the
shoulder of I45 but Jessica was gone and there was no sign of struggle once again sir parties comb the
area for yet another missing girl more than a 100 volunteers searched on foot along the marshes and through
the brush tracking dogs were called in to help we were the most broken people at that point gay and Bob Smither still
reeling from the loss of their daughter Laura just four months earlier felt compelled to join the
sech we didn't hesitate we went immediately the search for Jessica cane widened today across the Salt Grass and
scrub that surrounds the marshes in this the search went on for weeks but there was no sign of Jessica and no clue who
had taken her wondered could it be the same person who took Laura from us yeah we just didn't know as gay wondered
about William Reese and his involvement a story emerged about another case where
the victim survived everything happened so fast back in May of 1997 3 months before
Jessica Kane disappeared a 19-year-old mother Sandra seot stopped at a convenience store off of I45 in Webster
Texas she noticed a man staring at her from the parking lot his truck was out there parked but I wasn't really paying
attention when Sandra left and went to a waffle house across the street she saw the man again he followed me to the
waffle house and I parked and he asked me if I needed help and I go get help for wet and he goes well your tires
flat but just moments later The Stranger was forcing her into his white pickup truck at knife point he was just telling
me to keep my mouth shut I mean I was terrified she says he's sexually assaulted her in the truck and then they
started speeding down the interstate and the only thing I was thinking like he's going to kill
me I rather jump and kill myself and him doing that to me and that's just what Sandra
did as the truck sped down I45 she opened the door jumped out and hit the pavement and then I got up started
[Music] running Gravely injured Sandra managed to get help and reported the incident 5 months later in October of
1997 during a meeting with Friendswood Police Webster investigators noticed that Sandra's description of her
abductor pickup sounded similar to the truck that friends with police had searched in Laura smi's case belonging
to William reee okay if yall would get shoulder to shoulder uh with the guy on the on the
red circle on October 16th 1997 Reese was pulled in for a lineup number four step in the red
circle want to take quarter turn to the left when he walked out and I knew that was him no no doubt it was
okay a loud voice get in the truck get the truck William Reese was immediately arrested and charged with kidnapping he
pleaded not guilty he was finally behind bars but not for any of the murdered girls did
you attack Laura SM [Music] face of glass I want you to repeat after me in a loud clear voice do not scream
do not scream get in the truck get in the truck William ree was defiant he denied
kidnapping Sandra SAA and slashing her tire but after his arrest investigators were determined to time Dolores smi's
murder too think you're being unfairly treated Mr Reese yeah I did I didn't nothing friends with deputy chief Josh
Rogers says they thought they found another link when they search Reese's apartment he had a horse blanket that
was multicolored most of those colors were also found on one of Laura smi's socks so the evidence was was uh strong
and they already had those other fibers on Laura's socks that match Reese's floor mats still the da at the time did
not feel that was enough evidence to charge reys with Laura's murder and was that frustrating very
very I got very very angry I felt that the system had failed us and failed Laura but Friendswood detectives weren't
giving up they pulled records to trace Reese's movements during the previous summer and discovered that Reese might
be connected to the other unsolved cases there was a fuel charge from Denton on July 15th the same place and date of
Kelly Cox's disappearance it was the first time Kelly's mother Jan bham had heard the
name William Rees he was now also on the radar of Denton police that you know caused them to want
to check Kelly's fingerprints against anything in his truck or car did they find anything fingerprints anything
connected to Kelly no they did not Friendswood detectives also found records showing Reese had used a pay
phone in the town where Tiffany Johnson's body was found less than an hour after she disappeared and the owner
of the car wash after seeing his picture says Rees was a frequent customer with that Rees joined a list of possible
suspects anyone along that route during that time period uh he was looked at investigators were also now eyeing him
in Jessica kain's disappearance and used bulldozers to look for evidence at the horse ranch where he had worked but they
came up empty-handed and in April of 1998 as suspicion swirled around William Reese
in several jurisdictions he went on trial for the kidnapping of Sandra sea you went to the trial why
fur I had to be there fur I got very angry with what I learned at that trial because of course it puts
everything and you hated what he had done to Laura gay Smither says she was especially upset when she heard the
testimony of Reese's two rape victims from the 1980s remember he had been released from
prison for those attacks just 6 months before Laura was murdered they came down and testified
and I was mortified to hear what he had done to those two young women the jury didn't take
long they went out and minutes later was a guilty verdict William ree was convicted and sentenced to 60 years for
kidnapping Sandra SE I think a lot of people felt like that was probably going to be the best that
we were going to be able to do um is just to keep William Reese off the streets again but Laura's case remained
officially unsolved and the Smithers wanted to see Reese charged up in Oklahoma Kathy doy continued to pressure
investigators to Sol Tiffany's murder at first I'd call every week it was always the same thing they didn't
have any anything it would take more than a decade before Kathy says her calls were
finally answered all I knew was that I've got a victim who car was at the car wash in
2012 retired police chief Lynn Williams had recently started working on cold cases at the Oklahoma State Bureau of
Investigations or the OSBI and was assigned to Tiffany's case the car was abandoned the keys were in
ignition the doors were unlocked no witnesses there was that DNA evidence from Tiffany's body so really DNA was
going to be your only hope that was my frame of mind but the DNA had already been tested twice without success we are
worried usually that there's nothing left to test Wendy Duke is the supervising criminologist at the OSBI
Cold Case unit she found two samples from Tiffany's body that had not been totally consumed in earlier testing and
was able to develop a partial male profile from them it's exciting even if it is a partial
profile because it was a partial profile Duke could only compare it to a profile
from a known person and the team slowly eliminated suspects from the file until they got to William Reese and what was
the result and he could not be eliminated from that partial profile on the swab from Tiffany the da in Oklahoma
thought it was enough to charge Reese for Tiffany Johnson's murder and after all those years of waiting Kathy finally
had some newsn said oh my God why Tiffy that was my main thing why Tiffany Oklahoma law
enforcement also shared the news with Texas investigators including the Texas Rangers who wondered if William Reese
might be willing to talk to them about their cases they went to visit Reese in prison
and to their surprise he agreed to talk further if they could take the death penalty off the table the Smithers
agreed and so did Jan bind him as long as reys helped police find Kelly that's a huge decision to make
before you even know oh I know and basically I said I wanted answers and I wanted to know what whether my daughter
was alive or dead what would you do with the difficult decision that the BAM and
Smither families faced chat now on Facebook and X please what are you doing what are you
doing what are you doing hi when they would find a body anywhere and then they would confirm who it was
and it wasn't Kelly and I'd go oh it's not Kelly and then I'd go but it was Somebody's Daughter
almost 19 years after Kelly Cox's disappearance her mother Jam was finally close to knowing what had
[Music] happened in February 2016 William Reese was moved from prison to the Friendswood jail after agreeing
to give investigators information about their three Texas cases he hoped his cooperation might help him in Oklahoma
too he told us that he wasn't going to play games if if we weren't going to play games investigators took reys out
to this remote Field South of Friendswood where he said Kelly Cox's remains were located reys hadn't yet
told them if he was responsible for her death he doesn't give any confession no but it's clear that he's got some
involvement correct police spent long days in nights with Reese in the jail and out in the field looking for Kelly's
remains and during that time ree started telling investigators about his encounter with Kelly Cox and Denton he
claimed they got into a fight in the gas station parking lot after he bumped into
her and she spilled her soda on him I start cuss her I think I pushed her that's when she hit me with the coke I
slapped her then it was on she was fighting back yes what happens next and then I grab her around
the throat and I choke her Reese had just confessed to murdering Kelly Cox but investigators weren't sure if his
story was true they hadn't found any sign of Kelly in that field but as they kept looking this was not the only major
Revelation to emerge I remember going to work like construction job site it's a rainy morning soon reys was telling
investigators what he said that happened to Laura Smither on that rainy morning in
Friendswood I hear something Slam against my mirror and uh it scared me so I stop I got out and that's when I look in
the ditch and I seen L Smithers laying in the ditch and uh she wasn't breathing Reese claimed that Laura had died
instantly after he had hit her with his truck by accident but he later changed that story claiming Laura had survived
but when he tried to stop her from crying he accidentally broke her neck psychopaths are incredibly callous
individuals they are without guilt and they are without remorse Mar Ellen ool is a retired FBI profiler we asked her
to review the case records and Reese's videotape statements to try to understand his
psychology I've not assessed him not met him and I'm just going from my own experience but looking at his cases
looking at his behavior I would say in my opinion that he manifest traits of psychopathy youall wanted the truth so
I'm telling you the truth and once police got him talking I had a raptor and a married Raptor Bree didn't seem to
want to stop about SE the P I jumped curb it was right there old tul says that ree was probably enjoying the
attention and the break from his routine I'm doing this own free what's the worst
thing that you can do for someone that has a tendency to love exciting challenging stimulating things you put
them in an environment like prison where they get bored so when you offer them the opportunity to come out and assist
law enforcement they're going to jump at that after a week of fruitlessly search
search in for Kelly Cox Reese offered to help them find another victim Jessica Kane whom he said he had buried in a
different field closer to Friendswood and while Reese didn't have an agreement with the da in that case I that being
against drinking he started telling that story too claiming he had had an argument with Jessica outside the
restaurant where she was last seen and that she followed him down I45 for 30 miles
I don't know why I just pulled over she pulled up behind me started yelling I went off on her again then you end up
choking her out then yes sir on the on I45 on I45 okay but even as Reese admitted murdering Jessica he would not
admit to raping her or Kelly or Laura do you believe that most likely every one of his victims was raped I do I believe
that they were because I believe that that was really the intent of the crime if that's his motivation sexual
motivation why doesn't he admit that is that typical in some cases I would say that's that's typical because in their
eyes that makes them look pretty pathetic that you have to attack someone strangle someone beat someone up in
order to be sexually gratified go ahead with the next as war no City okay finally even though he could again be
facing the death penalty investigators were able to get Reese to talk about the last case they thought he was linked to
from 1997 Tiffany Johnston who re said he had encountered at that car wash in Oklahoma
I was staying C up my my trck that's when that girl yelled hey I sprayed her real sorry I thought she said something
I said started cussing at her and u me and her got into it he knew police had his DNA and admitted having
sexual contact with Tiffany after forcing her into his horse trailer was was fighting you un snap her overalls I
don't know why once again reys made a point to blame his victim for the violence that followed she hit me in the
back of the head with her horseshoe pissed me off and started squeezing her around the
throat and I gra that lead rope WRA around hold it TI four victims and four confessions but with no sign of Kelly
Cox or Jessica Kaine not everyone believed Reese was telling the truth there was some folks thinking that maybe
the information was not accurate and that he was playing us go inside the case and see more of
the evidence at 48 hours.com as we dug and we continued to not locate anything there certainly wasn't as many
investigators helping at the end of it as they were at the beginning of it in March of
2016 after 25 days of digging and with William Reese's guidance there was finally some news they found Jessica
kan's Remains What was that day like very emotional we were sad but but also we were joyful as well to have located
uh the remains Jessica's parents asked for privacy as they processed the news and buried their daughter four
investigators finding Jessica corroborated William Reese's stories and re-energized the search for Kelly Cox
and after another two weeks of painstaking work they found her I had nightmares for the first time where she
had to wake me up screaming never had nightmares like that before her nightmares were being down in a hole it
was just after Kelly and Jessica were found Oklahoma County Prosecutors Jimmy Harmon
and Ryan Stevenson have William Reese transported back to their state to face a capital murder trial for Tiffany
Johnston we typically only seek the death penalty on the worst of the worst murderers and Mr ree certainly fit that
bill Reese pleaded did not guilty even though prosecutors had the DNA evidence and his chilling words from his tape
confession that's when I grabbed her around the throat and choked her when the trial began in May of 2021 Reese's
defense fought to keep that video out but the judge decided that the jury would watch it and hear all his
statements where he admitted killing Lura Smither Kelly Cox and Jessica Kaine all relevance say Stevenson for showing
that Reese had a pattern all of that being in such a short time period we wanted to be able to show the jury that
this guy wasn't stopping he was stopped Sandra SAA and two women who say re sexually assaulted them in 1997 all
testified at the trial prosecutors say this testimony was crucial to correct the self-serving stories that Reese told
on those tapes you never get the full story out of William Reese he always tells it in the way that makes him look
best prosecutors think the true story is that reys would set traps for his victims he would sometimes create the
situation in the case of Sandra Sea by slashing her Tire presented himself as the Good Samaritan and he would then
attack them after nine days in that Oklahoma courtroom the case went to the jury it took them less than 2 hours to
decide finding William Reese guilty of murdering Tiffany Johnston Rees was sentenced to death I'll never forgive
him for killing Tiffany he should die but instead of being sent right away to death row reys first made one final trip
back down the interstate to Texas where he agreed to plead guilty to murdering Laura Smither Kelly Cox and Jessica
Kaine it took almost 25 years but you finally got Justice for Laura didn't you yeah and for Jessica and Kelly and that
was very important to Bob and I in exchange for his guilty pleas Reese received three life sentences in the
Texas cases gay Smither made a statement at one of those hearings I spoke about Laura and how we had an empty seat at
our table for the rest of our lives and then I told told him that I I forgave him for what he did you forgive him for
ruining your lives you lost Laura who had her whole life ahead of her forgiveness does not mean I condone what
he did nor does it mean I will ever forget what he did forgiveness was for me to not live in a in a cage of
Rage that's what forgiveness is with Laura's case now resolved gay and Bob could devote more time with their son
David now 34 and his children gay also travels the country training law enforcement on handling missing person's
cases I'm here to tell you what happened with the prayer that you will be inspired by Laura's Story to never give
up the bams wanted a way to share their memories of Kelly and created this statue in her Honor on the UNT Campus
where Kelly had once been a student hoping to remind people to be aware of their surroundings you've got to live
but you can do that in a smart way and be safe Jan says like every family touched by William ree she's having to
learn how to live with grief I cry every day I used to say to people if you don't
want to see me cry then you can walk away cuz I am going to cry what are you doing how do you want people well to
remember your mother just the way she was she was a ball of fun she was a beautiful young woman who
had a lot going for her she was driven and she was doing it for [Music] [Music] me two gruesome murders unsolved same
area same Amo ambushed stabbed multiple times can a man known as the zombie hunter help police find a killer and
then he's defending the world against zombies it was like he was hiding in playing sight 48 Hours next on CBS and
streaming on Paramount [Music] plus being in the military in law enforcement I've seen a lot of people
die I've seen a lot of really bad things but you never think anything's going to happen to
you not that you're above it it always happens to somebody [Music] else nothing could have prepared me for
what actually happened the deputy showed up at my door all he said was you need to call your dad my
dad started crying and he told me that there had been a fire at my mom's house the only people living in the
house was my mom Vicky her boyfriend John and my little sister Becky we're still waiting for positive
identification on three bodies found at a burned out home in pinion Pines we knew right away that everyone was
dead maybe my mom fell asleep with a cigarette or a gas leak but what happened was much much
worse I learned that Becky was found in a wheelbarrow apparently she had been placed in this and set on
fire my baby sister was gone this was the front of the house and the wheelbarrow was found here we know that
it was brought to this spot because there were tracks rolled out that way why bring her body towards the front
of the house we think it was toose her and they wanted to leave some kind of symbol make it as personal as possible
that's hate she was obviously the Target and when I heard the wheelbarrow situation that's when I knew it was him
waiting for my precious boyfriend say hi Robert hi guys because he had threatened
to kill her a lot of the evidence pointed toward Robert Pape and Christian Smith Robert Pape was Becky's
exboyfriend Christian Smith was Robert Pap's best friend 7 years 7 years went by before
anything happened yesterday police arrested 25-year-old Christen Smith and Becky
friedley's ex-boyfriend Robert PA we know Robert and anyone who knows him knows how ridiculous the accusations
are my son Christian saves lives he saved lives in Afghanistan he doesn't take lives there's no way it's
all very obvious that there's no [Music] way Robert Pape and Kristen Smith are accused of three counts of murder
and if you just look at all the evidence it just doesn't fit it doesn't work this
is not the case that should be brought against these two men there is not a doubt in my mind that
they have the right people I I know that they do [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music]
48 Hours murder in pinion Pines it was a vicious triple homicide but there were almost no clues Left
Behind that's because a fire consumed the crime scene destroying vital evidence with the investigation hampered
from the start it would take nearly 12 long years to bring this case to trial and to its emotional conclusion try
Roberts brings us the murder in pinion [Music] Pines this Foundation is All That
Remains of the freedley home in pinion Pines California on the evening of September
17th 2006 Tanya friedley's childhood home was burned to the ground there's not a day that goes by that I don't
think about what happened I miss them every day inside the home investigators have
found the bodies of Tanya's 53-year-old mother Vicky freedley and her 55-year-old boyfriend John Hayward
it was later determined they had both been shot the homicide unit is treating this as a
homicide outside in a burning wheelbarrow were the charred remains of Tanya's 18-year-old sister Becky her
body too badly burned to determine the cause of death the worst part is is that's my baby sister I was supposed to
be the one to protect her and be there for her that's my job Tanya then a deputy sheriff in another
town relayed the devastating news to her sister Drew an Air Force medic stationed
in Japan at the time I think it's just mortifying when you find out that somebody could be that horrible and
Sinister like something you'd seen in a a horror flick as opposed to real life for Drew and Tanya it's hard to
reconcile that horrific murder scene to their storybook upbringing on the property their father Ron freedley had
built their home himself in the mountains high above the desert heat of the Coachella
Valley it was just a nice place it was country it was definitely out of the city and I liked it it was a
great place for the kids to grow up Ron doed on his daughters and so did his wife Vicki my mom was just a very
kind-hearted wonderful woman she loved being a mom um she loved gardening she loved sewing and quilting and cooking
you know that was really important for her to teach us how to cook even from a very very young age the youngest of the
sisters was high-spirited Becky freedley Becky was always just an amazing person
I mean even when she was small always had a smile on her face she was always there for you she's smart Becky used to
actually help Tanya and Drew with their homework and and you know she's four years younger than them she got along
with everybody she really did she was just a fun happy person but the Happy Times of a family
didn't last Ron and Vicki divorce after 13 years of marriage she was a good person but we we sort of grew
apart as the years passed Tanya and Drew also left home Becky remained behind with her mother who eventually found
love again with contractor John Hayward my dad called Micky his cupcake because she was just so
sweet kitty Hayward is John's daughter they were drawn together because they both loved the outdoors and they loved
living up there together and I would be like Dad why are you guys living up here
just come down to the city there's what is up here and he would always say like it's free up here no one will ever
bother us and this is the safest place that you can be then came that night in September at
first no one could imagine who would want to hurt John Becky and Vicki I really had no
idea the finger was being pointed at everyone I think there were all kinds of rumors rumors started circulating that
perhaps they had been murdered by someone with a grudge against Ron friedley Ron had retired the year before
from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department did you believe that this may have been some some sort of Retribution
for your work in law enforcement no I I really didn't I never really was involved in anything where
somebody would have said I want to get back at this guy I didn't have that kind of career so you had no enemies that's
not really no investigators looked into that theory and quickly ruled it out but
then rumors began swirling about Ron freedley himself I mean it's just natural to think that um possibly the
the husband or family could have been involved and and I understood that going into it um were you interviewed yes I
was I was crying probably most through most of it investigators asked Ron to take a polygraph test that was probably
the first time that I really felt like I was kind of a suspect so I got up there
I took the polygraph and uh the lady came out and she said this is one of the best tests I've ever given in my career
she says it it was incredible he did fine phone records put Ron 11 hours away at his property in Northern California
when the crime took place and police ruled him out as a suspect but there was one person a
friend of Becky's who says she knew immediately who was responsible this was intentional and he did it and I've known
since day one he did it [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the first days after the murders Ron
friedley was besieged with questions none of us really knew why it occurred or had a reason for it the last
thing I thought was that it was something to do with Becky but once the initial shock had
subsided Ron began looking at the crime through his investigator's eyes and came
to believe that it was Becky who had been targeted it seemed too personal because of a fear Becky had she was
really really afraid of fire when she was younger her mom was fixing tacos and she had a pan full of hot grease and
Becky had pulled it down off the stove and it burned on her chest she had third degree burns on her chest so someone
that's with someone intimately would know that she had these scars and was scared of fire Becky's friend jeie
McDaniel was suspicious about someone right away so immediately when you heard of the murders your mind went to Robert
P immediately nothing else in my mind there's nobody else that could have done this Robert P was Becky friedley's
ex-boyfriend Robert got Becky a cage the teenagers started dating in high school
and were together for over a year looks like you guys are getting married at first Becky and Robert seemed happy I
think it was her first love I just think she was madly in love with him a but Jeanie says Robert soon grew
possessive of Becky when her and I went on vacation about 10 months before she died he called about 20 30 times in a
night just harassing her wanting to talk to her while we were hanging out with friends 20 to 30 times in one night mhm
within I mean minutes Within each other in January 2006 Becky and Robert broke up and started seeing other people but
according to Genie Robert's obsessive behavior only grew worse and took an even darker turn shortly before the
murders in September she came to my house three weeks before she died and said he had
even threatened to kill me those are her exact words he even threatened to kill me why she said because he wasn't taking
the breakup well and he wanted her and didn't want anybody else to have her that's what she said to me so were you
concerned for her I was but she gave me the impression that it wasn't a big deal
and so I kind of just took her word for it and let it go but after the murders jeie says she
went straight to the Riverside County Sheriff's apartment with her suspicions as it turns out Robert Pape was already
on their radar everyone was whispering about Robert they moved pretty quickly in in the direction of of Robert there
was a a lot of little tiny bits of information from different sources one of those sources was Becky's close
friend Javier Garcia Jr who had given investigators an interesting bit of information on the night of the murders
he says Becky had told him she was going hiking on her property with Robert and his friend Christian
Smith Tanya freedley believes her sister probably just wanted to smooth things over with Robert my sister was a fixer
she loved with all of her heart and she gave herself to everything she did Garcia Jr's lead placed Robert Pape and
Christian Smith at the scene of the crime the night of the murders with rumors pointing towards the
two men the freedle were sure that the case would soon be solved I kind of felt a sense of relief um that they would be
arrested but as surely as the momentum had started it seemed to stop the Riverside County Sheriff's Department
never publicly shared any details of the investigation or named any suspects it was frustrating but they
just kept saying they they didn't have it they didn't have enough to to make an arrest private investigator Lewis
balanos saw his friend Ron grow increasingly despondent about 2 or 3 years into this I'm getting updates from
Ron and I'm finding out that nothing's happening it this case has stalled has gone cold Lewis and Ron had met years
earlier at the Sheriff's Office where Ron had been one of Lewis's first training officers now it was time for
Lewis to help his old teammate I begged Ron for years two or three years let me do this for you Lewis had also worked in
the Riverside County DA's office although they parted on bad terms he was certain he could get things moving again
I knew that we can get this back on the front page where it needed to be um and get those phones burning again I really
wasn't ready because I really felt in my heart that I I thought the sheriff's department was going to solve it I
really did but as the six-year anniversary of the crime approach with no arrest in
sight Ron finally gave Lewis the green light the media Savvy Pi got to work and one of his first orders of business was
putting up this provocative billboard we wanted to do it before and after a beautiful picture of Becky and then a
simulated picture of Becky in the wheelbarrow on fire it really really pulled it heart string and sickened
people we believe the following to be true Lewis also held a press conference at the murder site with Drew and Tanya
freedley we are in this because we believe this case can be solved we know somebody out there knows something over
the next year tips started coming in one of them from Becky's cousin Daniela Zeno
who remembered something that might help investigators I had spoken to Becky um the night before the murder and she told
me that her ex-boyfriend Robert had come into her work at Denny's and um was harassing her he had
harassed her to the point of being removed from the restaurant danela says after the altercation they had discussed
going on that hike and I think talk about whatever their relationship was how it was finishing and where it was
and on the 7th anniversary of the crime Lewis held yet another press conference at the murder site with y by a sign the
suspects then ignited the accelerant and in turn engulfed Becky in Flames Ron believes all the media pressure paid off
that's where a few months later the DA's office subpoena Robert Pape and Christian Smith to appear before a grand
jury it was just stirring the pot it was something on the news every day about it
and I think they just said all right let's go do something and they did as the grand jury Drew to a close there was
news you're watching KQ the desert's News Leader two arrests after nearly 8 years in the pinion Pines
murderers Pape and Smith were arrested for triple homicide I was very happy it was probably the happiest day of my life
but as investigators were sure the killers were finally in custody two families say they are just as certain
the men are wrongfully accused innocent till proven guilty is a myth it's guilty
till proven innocent and the truth's going to come out it will come out for over 7 years the families of
Becky freedley her mother Vicki and John Hayward have been waiting for this moment my heart was in my stomach seeing
them in the jumpsuits and seeing them in the flesh and seeing them handcuffed Robert Pape and Christian
Smith both 25 found themselves in a Riverside County Courthouse charged with triple homicide both pled not guilty I
think they thought they were going to get away with it but these two men hardly fit the image of typical
defendants neither have criminal records Christian Smith is married and a decorated war hero Robert Pape is also
married in an active member of his church I had a really hard time just keeping it together you know Robert
sister Christie struggled seeing him accused of the brutal murder and burning of three people somebody like
him someone like him being put in that position it's really hard to watch Christie and Robert's mother
Kathleen say he is innocent and not the man he has been portrayed as in the media they tried to make him out to be a
monster a jealous monster and he just isn't that what kind of man is he Robert is an amazing person he's got a good
heart he's got a gentle heart hardworking patient honest he's always there when you need him he sort of takes
care of all of us takes really good care of his wife Robert started dating his wife Sarah after his breakup with Becky
he and his wife both have this tremendous heart for animals he cares about people he cares about animals he's
just got the utmost integrity and Christie and Kathleen aren't Robert's only supporters we've had no less than
10 or 11 people at every single hearing and there's been 30 33 or 34 people at one of the hearings just
coming to support and the courtroom can't even fit that many of us people called us immediately after he was
arrested and they were like no this isn't right uh this is not the Robert I know also looking on in disbelief has
been Christian Smith's Father John Conrad Smith I know my son didn't do that I know he's not capable of that
Smith says his son is an honorable man and was living his dream serving his country in the military as part of the
Army's Elite 75th Ranger regiment it was in Afghanistan that Smith says his son became a hero he saved another man's
life who was actually shot through the along and I have a picture of him pulling him out and two of his battle
buddies and Christian has one hand on a rifle and pulling his his comrade out and firing back at Afghanistan Christian
has won commendations for Valor and has been awarded two purple hearts this one is when he was wounded and he was shot
through the arm he got this one this one was when he took the grenade shrapnel he
deserved better than this I mean he's put his life on the line for 5 years now he's a good guy Christian
Smith may be a war hero now but investigators believe back when he was 17 he committed murder with his
18-year-old best friend Robert Pape Christian Smith and Robert Pape had been really really good friends in high
school and they both kind of beat to the same drum Robert Pape and Christian Smith both had an extreme fascination
with fire Becky had complained about Robert and Christian to close friend Brandon cougler Harrison there's one
time that they were playing with fire him and him and Christian and that they were they said something on fire I think
it was a match it's not 100% sure though I remember her just getting mad at him over that and not talking to him for a
couple days did your son have a fascination with fire no no there was no Fascination they were
not troublemakers they were good kids but prosecutors plan on using Robert's words against him just a few months
before the fire here in pinion in Pines Robert had an instant message conversation with his then girlfriend
Sarah in that exchange Robert seemed to offer a solution to Sarah's problems with an ex-boyfriend well if you know
where he lives we can professionally burn his house down considering how Becky Vicky and John were killed it's a
very concerning statement this is eight month eight months prior to the homicide the Riverside County Sheriff's
department and DA's office wouldn't comment on the investigation but 48 Hours obtain a copy of the grand jury
transcripts during the proceedings both men pled the fifth but when questioned by police years earlier they denied they
ever went near Becky's house and said they never had any intention of hiking with her Robert and Christian told
police during the interview that they were heading to church that night apparently they made a phone call on the
way there and the church was in fact closed when those plans fell through the boys said they headed back to
Christian's dad's home to hang out and play video games where was your son the night of the
murders you know what I wasn't in town well what did he tell you when you eventually saw him said we were here the
boys said they eventually wound up at this Middle School where they shot paintball guns nobody saw Christian or
Robert at the school playing paintball nobody their only Alibi is each other but it was the boys cell phone activity
that night that raised the most red flags to investigators they put themselves on on the other side of town
and the cell phon say differently at 7:13 p.m. Robert's cell phone pinged near the start of Highway 74 the road
leading up to the freedley home minutes later both Christian and Robert's cell phones went silent from
about 7:30 to 10: p.m. the time frame investigators believe their murders took place they came out of their way to find
Becky hard to say if John and Vicki were collateral damaged tracks and Footprints at the scene plac
Becky's attack near the desert behind the house Becky was then placed in a wheelbarrow and rolled back towards the
house and set on fire what kind of evidence was recovered from the scene that links this crime to
these two young men well we know that at the point where the wheelbarrow rolled from where they put Becky in the
wheelbarrow that they found a business card and on that business card they eventually found DNA that was consistent
with DNA belonging to Christian Smith inside the home it was determined Vicki had been shot with a 40 caliber handgun
and John Hayward with a shotgun before the house was set on fire when investigators searched the boy
homes a year later they found shotguns similar to the one used in the crime no handguns were ever recovered but in
Robert's house there were accessories to the type of gun that may have killed Vicki in that search War they recovered
ammunition to 40 cal and recovered a holster to a Glock 40 That's powerful piece of evidence you believe that
police have the right men oh I'm confident they have the right too guys absolutely but defense lawyers charge
investigators ignored other possible suspects and that the evidence will never hold up at trial you have the
wrong person here [Music] for Tanya freedley hearing the specific details of the murders has been
difficult to think about how they must have been pleading for their lives how scared all of them were is horrifying
and believing that one of their alleged Killers was someone Becky once loved has
been especially painful for Ron friedley she loved him a lot and and that's probably one of the saddest Parts about
the whole story is you know she loved him to death and he threw it all away threw it all
away for nothing but nothing is what defense lawyers say the state's case is based on and I kept looking for the
proverbial other shoe I want old I just didn't see it Richard bloomenfeld represents Robert P and says the case
against his client is built entirely unquestionable and hearsay evidence he points to Becky's cousin Daniela Zeno
who said Becky had told her about a fight at Denny's the day before the murders Robert had gone to Becky's
restaurant and there had been a scene an argument and they'd been asked to take it outside and so on and so forth that
never happened never happened never happened nobody could substantiate that that anything like that ever happened
bloomenfeld says a grand jurry should have never heard daniela's testimony or the evidence about the IM exchange
between Robert and Sarah in which he seemingly suggested burning down her ex-boyfriend's house leld argues it was
said in a joking fashion there were probably over a 100 pages of these conversations and they took one exerpt
out of context it was CLE clearly not seriously said bloomenfeld also denies that Robert threatened Becky's life and
says there would be no reason for him to be jealous or want to harm Becky because
he had already moved on he wasn't seeing Becky anymore seriously she was trying to uh revive their relationship but he
moved on he was with Sarah whether Robert had a motive or not Christian Smith's alleged role never made any
sense to his attorney John Patrick Dolan the motive if you can believe believe this is he's Robert's friend and he went
along with him that's it there's no connection with Kristen and Becky there's nothing that
suggests he has any animosity toward her it's a pretty weak argument Dolan thinks
all the evidence is weak starting with the boy's lack of sell phone activity around the time frame of the murders he
says it doesn't prove anything it is unusual for for a teenager not to use their phone for 2
and 1/2 hours well you could say that you could also say that he was having a shower having dinner and he had a
paintball gun and he went out and tested it out near middle school and he didn't
make any calls for 2 and 1 half hours it's really not that uncommon at all but before the boy's phones went silent
there was that cell tower ping that put Robert and presumably Christian at the start of Highway 74 up to pinion Pines
didn't the Ping show that Christian and Robert were somewhere near Becky's home well that's one of those really
interesting anomalies cuz a doesn't show at all that Christen was anywhere near that home Dolan says that 3 minutes
before Robert's phone pinged near Highway 74 Christian's phone pinged off a cell tower miles away and I can tell
you that uh prosecution is going to have a hard time getting over Mr Smith's phone being on the other side of the
Coachella Valley when they say uh Mr pape's phone was pinged sometime near the time that there would had been an
Ascent up the mountain but the state's FBI experts say cell phones at higher elevations
sometimes bounce off other Towers pinging phones or not investigators say there is hard evidence putting Christian
at the scene that DNA on the business card and that puts him there and we know that he has denied ever being there
Dolan questions whether the DNA is Christians as the prosecution says it unequivocally is and argues that even if
it is a match Becky could have previously picked up the card from his client She carries it up to her house
she drops it on the ground that doesn't prove he was there it simply proves he touched a card and they have to have
something more than he touched a card to prove he was there committing homicide and if Dolan dismisses the DNA evidence
he says the gun evidence is almost laughable what the argument was by the district attorney was he had access to
the kinds of guns that were used do does that make anybody guilty because they have access to the kind of gun that was
used with no ballistics with no measurement with no slugs with no nothing and Christian's father says that
the entire argument is moot anyway as far as his son is concerned because the guns were with him in another state the
weaken of the murders they were with me they got put in the trunk of my car the defense believes that other people
should have been looked at more closely like Javier Garcia Jr that friend of beckus who had first turned
investigators towards Robert and Christian saying they were all going hiking so Javier says Becky says
something how do we find out whether or not that's just him making up something because it points things elsewhere some
friends say Garcia Jr wanted to be more than friends with Becky and Dolan and Blumenfeld point out that while their
client phones didn't ping up in the mountains where Becky lived Garcia Jr's did if you follow the route that he
alleged that he took it puts him right by Becky's residence why was he driving in the area near the
time that this took place and I was told that Javier Garcia would not testify at
the Grand Jury unless he was granted immunity why does he need immunity if he doesn't have anything to do with this
Dolan also points out that Garcia Jr's father is an investigator in the DA's office raising questions about a
possible conflict of interest interesting question about that there was an investigation by the way and to
be fair we have to say the Attorney General came down and looked at it said doesn't look like there's any conflict
of interest here and and I accept that for now but I don't accept it forever he was extremely forthcoming with the
police and was instrumental in their investigation former Federal prosecutor Eduardo Roy represents Javier Garcia Jr
he says Javier's only role is that of key witness and not as a suspect he was asked to testify before a grand jury yes
he was did he he did not why we were there and then it was decided that they didn't need them did you ever ask for
immunity for Javier I asked to for them to be clear before I made him available that he was
not a Target or a suspect of the investigation why because I'm a very good lawyer
that's why Roy says the reason why Garcia Jr was driving in the area before the murders was because he wanted to
join the group going hiking but Becky told him not come so he turned around and went home and what the police did
was track where he was police determined Javier Garcia Jr was back on the desert
floor at the time of the murders and ruled him out as a suspect and danela zermeno independently backs up Javier
story that Becky planned to go hiking with Robert and a friend the night of the murders they had a definite plan to
go hiking the three of them the freedle believe the evidence circumstantial or not paints a damning picture when you
put it all together it's them I can only hope and pray that a jury of their peers
will hear the evidence and come back with a guilty verdict I call it the drive of Tears
almost every Saturday for the last 6 months John Conrad Smith makes the hour-long drive to visit his son at the
Riverside County jail I just think about Christian and I cry all the way up and all the way back Smith says Christian
has missed a deployment with his unit and is all but certain to miss out on a huge life event his wife Jackie is about
to give birth to their first child he's not going to be there for that birth he's not going to be able to see that at
Birth and it's horrible I mean he's taking it he's taking it hard and to see him in that orange jumpsuit it breaks my
heart it breaks his heart Robert pape's mother Kathleen has also been having a hard time seeing her son Behind Bars the
thought goes through your head like will I ever be able to touch him but there is another parent out
there who wakes up each morning thinking these men are exactly where they belong one of the first things I do in
the mornings I get a cup of coffee and I go outside I think about Becky and I think about those two boys in jail after
years of waiting the freedley and haywards feel they are one step closer to justice as they wait for a trial date
to be set it's a nice feeling knowing that they're going to have to answer for what they did if the jury finds them not
guilty so be it if they found guilty then they're going to pay for the crime that they committed but the case was
about to take an unexpected turn 8 years after the murders the prosecutor assigned to this case walked inside this
courthouse and asked that all charges against Robert Pape and Christian Smith be dropped a bombshell out of an India
courtroom today charges dropped really emotional yeah I mean I'm just happy I I'm numb yeah I'm happy
he's coming home as a matter of fact I'm going to go get them right now the DA's
office offered little explanation for their decision in prepared statement they said legal issues had Arisen during
the grand Joy proceedings against Robert Pape making it appropriate to ultimately
dismiss the charges against both men the system worked I have faith in my son and
that's that's all I can tell you the dismissal was so unexpected that neither man was in the courtroom that day
Christian's dad broke the news to him from outside the jail you've been released you you've been released your
mom and I and everybody everybody's here the baby's on her way we're just waiting
for you to get the paperwork done and for you to walk out that door we're all waiting outside for you
son and just a few hours later Christian Smith with Robert Pape closely behind want out
together Christian held is the two week old daughter Zoe for the first time just
want to be with my beautiful baby girl and my amazing wife and loyal family and my brother's over over in the
military and I've been loyal to me throughout this whole thing I just hope I can just move on
with my life and put this behind me Robert's family was waiting for him W for me to come out at a location
nearby what was it like hugging your son when he walked out oh my gosh that first
time holding him you know I just I didn't want to let him go but I had to scoot over and let let her hug him let
his life hug him but it may not be completely over for papen Smith the da can technically
refile charges against the men if new evidence emerges Tanya freedley has always been convinced that they had the
right men and I have thought about if they get away with murder to know in my heart
that Christian and Robert took my family from me and could get away with it I hope that they have to think about this
every day for the rest of their [Music] life in June 2016 Robert Pape and Christian Smith were rearrested for the
murders the state says the charges were based based on a new informant who claimed Smith had made an incriminating
statement better cell phone tracking and more evidence that links Christian Smith
to that business card founded the crime scene and they say in 2018 in January oh
we had a fingerprint match that we couldn't make since 2006 sounds a little fishy Christian Smith's lawyer John
Patrick Dolan says investigators had tunnel vision I think they began with the concl I usion that my client and Mr
Pape are guilty and tried to collect evidence to support that rather than evaluating the evidence and see where it
takes them the trial began in April 2018 almost 12 years after the crime Dolan and P's new attorney Jeff Moore launched
a vigorous defense raising questions about the credibility of the State's new informant who has had his own legal
troubles and the accuracy of the cell phone tracking and forensic evidence this is about as paper thin case as I've
ever seen after more than a month of trial the case went to the jury they would deliberate 10 agonizing days
before giving word that they had finally reached a verdict Robert Pape and Christian Smith
were found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Vicky freedley and John
Hayward Pape was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of Becky friedley I waited 11 years 9 months for
this day and I'm I'm very happy there is no closure Becky's gone Vicky John they'll never come back but what the
victim's family see as the right verdict is viewed as a terrible Injustice by two
other families Robert Pap's mother was devastated a jury has finally decided who was responsible for the murder of
three people in pinion Pines but the destruction left by that terrible night remains my sister was a beautiful person
inside and out and I want that remembered I want to remember her for her not for how she died
[Music] [Music]

"48 Hours" reports on cases involving nature and crime scenes outdoors in this YouTube mini-marathon. Binge-watch the full episodes, which include "The Murder of Anna Repkina," "The Daughters Who Disappeared," and "Murder in Pinyon Pines."

00:00 The Murder of Anna Repkina 41:41 The Daughters Who Disappeared 1:24:16 Murder in Pinyon Pines

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

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Brief Summary

Anna Repkina's murder reveals a love triangle involving William Hargrove and Michelle Chavez, leading to Hargrove's arrest and trial.

Key points

The Discovery of Anna's Body. A caretaker finds Anna's body on a remote logging road, leading to a complex investigation.
Michelle's Ultimatum. Michelle pressures Will to choose between her and Anna, escalating tensions.
The ATM Withdrawals. Will Hargrove withdraws $800 from Anna's account after her death.
Trial and Sentencing. Will Hargrove is found guilty of Anna's murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The Disappearance of Kelly Cox. 20-year-old Kelly Cox vanished after a class trip, leaving her mother frantic.
The Search for Jessica Cain. Jessica Cain went missing just weeks after Tiffany, raising fears of a serial abductor.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He made you feel like you were in the sun.

Michelle Chavez describes Will's charm.

11:26WatchAug 10, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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