Peter Van Sant's Jaw-Dropping Investigations | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

Colton Harris Moore is daring. >> The longer this goes on, the more dangerous he becomes. He's stealing
aircraft. >> Colton Harris Moore is an outlaw. He's Western Washington's new Jesse
James. >> He is the rock star of the San Juan Islands right now. The barefoot bandit
continues his crime spree. >> He leaves a calling card. He leaves footprints. He is often barefoot, they
believe, during the crimes. >> His drug of choice is adrenaline. [Applause] He enjoys the chase.
[Music] We transferred into a smaller boat because it's so shallow in this area.
When Colton Harris Moore took an airplane from Indiana and flew it out of America
and took this chase international, it it became the top story in the world. Colton Harris Moore is just 19 years
old, but his international multi-million dollar crime spree reads like a movie plot.
>> Colton Harris Moore is a punk with a capital P. A >> tough kid to catch as well.
[Applause] They threw everything they could at him. They threw SWAT teams, FBI tactical
teams chasing him and they couldn't catch him. This is very risky stuff going on and
Colton's going to wind up dead or killing a bunch of other people. We have been on this story for months and we
have been chasing Colton Harris Moore from the Pacific Northwest and we're going to start seeing these everywhere
all the way to the Bahamas. He uh came true here. Colton is living his life as a big adventure.
>> Anybody that has the balls to get into an airplane, they don't know how to fly,
and then take off into the sunset, crash, land that plane. >> There's the plane right up there. Do you
see it? You see the skid path, >> and then say, "Wow, that was crazy. You know what? I think I'll do it again."
That is balls. [Music] [Music] Alton Harris Moore. enjoys running through the woods. He enjoys being able
to be a step ahead of the police. He enjoys the chase. >> Before Colton Harris Moore became famous
as an international fugitive, before he attracted more than 100,000 fans on Facebook, before he stole a single
airplane, he was one very unpopular teenager back in his hometown of Kamino Island, Washington.
Colton Harris Moore is nothing but a thief, a criminal. He's not Robin Hood. He's not Jesse James. He's not James
Bond. Colton's crime spree on this tranquil island began when he was just 10 years old. He soon advanced to
breaking into homes, using stolen credit cards, and stealing boats. By the age of 19, he has a $10,000 price
tag on his head and a bounty hunter on his trail. >> We're going to wait and we're going to
watch. He doesn't get to go wherever he wants. He doesn't get to take whatever he wants.
>> In the summer of 2010, residents of Kamino Island reached a breaking point. They gathered to discuss rumors that
were frightening everyone. >> They said he shot at a policeman. He stole a policeman's gun.
>> We want him stopped. Most of us want him dead. Period. >> How did it come to this? Why would
anyone want to kill this troubled teenager? >> I mean, he is a criminal, but at the
same time, there really is a little part of me that just really feels bad for him
because I've known him, you know, almost my whole life. >> Ashley Martin grew up with Colton on
Kamino Island. >> He was a very sweet, very sweet little kid. There he is. Look at that little baby
face. >> Yeah. >> Classmate Jessica Wesson remembers a little boy who always loved animals
and airplanes. These are drawings Colton made as he was growing up. >> Did he tell you what he wanted to do for
a living when he grew up? >> He mentioned that he wanted to be a pilot. When we heard he was stealing
planes, I was like, well, that kind of makes sense. >> Did you ever go over to his house?
>> No, I never went over to his house. Maybe he didn't want Jessica to see this. This is the trailer where Colton
grew up with his mother, Pam Kohler. Why do you think Colton went from being this
sweet kid that you knew when you first met him into a criminal? >> Probably his upbringing, I hear his mom
wasn't so nice. >> The issue here is with Colton, not so much what he did, but who created this
kid. >> 48 hours investigator Paul Celino. He uncovered court records that showed a
dozen calls to child protective services by the time Colton was just 14. >> There was physical abuse. There was
mental abuse. There was physical neglect. >> I was having nightmares when I began to
research his childhood. I would literally wake up in a sweat thinking about some things Colt went through.
>> Bob Fel is a writer from Washington State who wrote a book about Colton's life. his biological father was in and
out of that trailer home that Pam was in. This is Colton's father, Gordon Moore,
who has been mostly absent from his life. But when Colton was 12, Gordon was convicted of assault for choking the
boy. Colton told a child services case worker that his mother, Pam, was outraged at him for calling 911.
Colton had nowhere to turn. As one case worker wrote, "Colleton wants mom to stop drinking and get a job and have
food in the house. Mom refuses." >> Pam chose beer over everything. It ruined his life.
>> Jackie Stags has known Pam since Colton was born. How did Colton get his name?
>> If you ask Pam, she'll tell you she named him after the beer. You're telling me that Pam named her son after Colt 45,
the malt liquor? >> Mhm. That's what she told me. >> We wanted to try and meet Colton's
mother, Pam, ourselves. >> Investigator Paul Celino and producer Sarah Prior join me on a walk up this
dirt driveway to find some answers. That's her house up there. Sarah, if she calls out, why don't you say you're the
one who left to know? >> Sure. Yeah, absolutely. As the sign shows, Pam does not like visitors.
>> Hello, Pam. >> Who are you? >> Hi, I'm Sarah. I left you a note the other day.
>> Yeah. >> From CBS. What's that? >> I'm getting my shotgun right now. >> We just want to talk to you, Pam. Can
you just talk to us for a moment? >> My shotgun now. Get out of here. >> Later, Pam changed her mind and spoke to
us off camera. She told us she'd always been a good mother and showed us this collage. Colton made when he was 15,
filled with all the things Colton might say he was missing in life, money, food,
and of course, airplanes. When Colton Harris Moore would break into a vacation home, he would use the
shower, he would uh uh wash his clothes, and he would sleep on the bed or sleep on the couch. He was not the traditional
kid breaking in to steal booze and damage a house. But along the way, Colton did more than
just grab a snack and a shower. He stole laptops, iPods, cell phones, and jewelry.
Would you say you brought Colton into the world of crime? >> I would say that I brought him into the
crime of burglaries. >> Meet Colton's former partner in crime and the self-described brains of the
operation. Harley-Davidson Iron Wing. A big name for a pint-sized criminal. >> What' you guys do together?
>> Hit houses, stole cars. >> Did he ever tell you he wanted to be a a pilot one day?
>> No. He just wanted to steal planes and just fly them. I have countless people
that blame me for what he is today. By 2006, Coloulton was 15, more than 6 feet tall, and wanted by the law.
Acting on a tip, deputies went to his mother's house to arrest him. All they found was this note that Colton left for
his mother, which reads, "Cops want to play, huh?" Well, it's not no little game. It's war, and tell them that. When
Colton says it's war, what do you think he means? >> Come and catch me if you can. It's a war
of a mind. He wants to show them that they aren't as smart as they think they are.
>> It was now February 2007. After several narrow escapes from the law, Colton broke into this house while
the owner was out of town. A neighbor saw a light on and called the police. After a tense 2-hour standoff, Colton
was finally arrested, and he didn't seem to like the attention. >> Colton was sentenced to 3 years in the
juvenile system. But just one year later, in April 2008, he climbed out the window of this halfway house. The chase
was back on. [Music] Salad greens were picked this morning. Oyster, [Music] >> have a great day.
>> Oh, yeah. >> The Salmon Islands are a wonderful place to live. We're a very tight-knit
community. And the jewel of the San Juan Island chain, says Colleen Armstrong, editor of
the local newspaper, is beautiful Orcus Island. We are covered in evergreens and cedars
and madrona trees and fur and wildlife and pristine water. But residents say everything changed in
2008 when Colton Harris Moore fled to this island after escaping from a juvenile facility near Seattle.
>> Colton Harris Moore is a one-man crime wave. >> Once the sun went down, Colton allegedly
crept through the small village of East Sound, making off with whatever he could
carry. What all has he taken from this town? >> Money. Lots of money. Tools from the
hardware store. Food from markets. Cash from ATMs. You name it, he's taken it. >> This kind of is what the town is about
or used to be about. >> But peace is not what this store owner is feeling. >> I feel like I've been put in a situation
where I have to defend my personal property. Colton allegedly burglarized the Orcus
homegrown market three times, transforming Kyle Ader. Is >> that beautiful? >> From a serene organic grosser.
>> There's a Dan Wesson revolver >> into Dirty Harry. >> I keep a gun with me because that'll
blow a pretty big hole. I need to be ready. Double action. >> Kyle feels shaken by what he found after
a burglary in February 2010. I came in and there was large footprints, 39 of them, giant footprints all the way
around the deli. And then they kind of turned and so he done everything he'd done in the store and then he was going
out the side door with footprints and it said, "See you." >> Facing bankruptcy if Colton struck
again, Kyle started sleeping in his store each night with his two large dogs. >> All right. while we're all locked down.
>> And then this is your bed for the night. >> That's where I'm going to sleep. Come
on, girls. Come on. Come here. This is my whole life, my whole livelihood, and my family's livelihood. So, I have to be
prepared to defend my own. >> Your best guess is Colton's still here. >> Yeah. Right now, I think he's in Deer
Harbor. He was in a four-story home over there. Had the heat turned on. Uh popcorn all over the place. I guess he
likes popcorn. Colton spent months on Orcus Island allegedly committing more than 20
breakins and burglaries. Police released these surveillance camera photos from a
local market. Legend grew that he was now hiding out somewhere in the forest. Here we are in the great primal forest
of Orcus Island. And Colton could be out there somewhere, right? >> Yeah. This is his stomping grounds. What
you're looking at is Colton's land. He could be out there camping, foraging. He could be watching us right now for all
we know. >> And he'd be have a big smile on his face. >> Yes, he would be loving every minute of
it. >> Colton did seem to be enjoying himself. He used stolen cameras to snap these
self-portraits. This one became the iconic shot of the barefoot bandit featured on wanted
posters everywhere. >> Is the sheriff's department, are they embarrassed by this? The fact that they
haven't been able to find this kid, >> I think it's incredibly frustrating. Very, very frustrating.
>> With the sheriff stymied, we decided to track Colton ourselves. Local realtor
Suzanne Vidal. Can we follow you in? >> Sure. >> Suzanne invited us inside a vacation
house. >> Oh, looks good so far. >> That she thought had sat empty for the past eight months.
Strange feeling somebody's been on the bed, huh? >> It's clear a stranger has been here.
>> I've been slept on. >> It almost looks like somebody's been on the bed, doesn't it?
>> Look at this depression here in the bed. >> Gives me the chills. The toilet seat was
up, though, like a man had used it. >> As we walk through the house. >> Oh, this door's open.
>> More evidence. >> Oh gosh, it's open, too. >> You are certain that door was locked?
Yes, it's >> So, somebody's been here, >> you know. Actually, if you look at the
table, there's food on the table. >> Look at here. There's crumbs. Look at this big one.
>> Popcorn. >> What's that? >> Popcorn. >> You know, he eats popcorn everywhere he
goes. >> No, don't you tell me that. >> I'm very serious. The places that he's found, generally, there's a lot of
popcorn around. >> Um, I think I'm just going to ask the sheriff's department to come over here
and take a look around. Suzanne calls the sheriff and a deputy quickly responds.
The house was dusted for fingerprints. Was Colton here? >> Is this a place of interest for you
guys? >> The sheriff's department won't tell us, but these kinds of discoveries drive the
locals over the edge. >> He gets an adrenaline rush from ripping people off. >> Marian Wthbone operates Verns.
>> How's the view? >> A local restaurant. Good. Colton Harris Moore is a punkass kid who has caused
more damage to more of the small people, the little people. He's a piece of crap.
>> He got in through here. >> Marian says Colton scaled the side of her building with Spider-Manike moves.
>> He knocked the wood in and was able to climb in through that little hole there.
This security camera video shows the burglar running through Marian's restaurant. Someone who looks very much
like Colton and is clearly barefoot. >> The safe was right here around the corner.
>> He stole $15,000 from Marian's safe, her entire summer's profit. >> And after I pulled myself up off the
floor because I dropped to my knees, all I kept saying was, "Oh my god. Oh my god."
And Marian says it wasn't the first time that Colton had broken in. >> He had been in this office
a week before and used one of the credit cards that I had stashed on my computer
right there to order a how to fly small aircraft DVD. >> How to fly a small aircraft.
>> Computer displays replaced the >> Is this really the way Colton taught himself how to fly?
102.5 KZ. Good morning. It's 8:41. Bob Rivers here. The >> Bob Rivers is a Seattle radio
personality. >> Back in the fall of 2008, Colton Harris Moore stole Rivers Cessna single engine
plane from a hanger on Orcus Island. The day my plane was stolen, it was a brutal, gusty, windy day.
>> In the first flight where Colton took off himself, he flew over the Cascade Mountain Range with wind gusts coming
from every direction, taking that plane and shaking it like like a soda can. >> As he flew over the mountains, Colton
found himself trapped in a white out at 13,000 ft. >> That must have been a a terrifying
flight. It was. There was vomit in the cockpit and our sources say Colton felt sure he was going to die. But
miraculously, he made it. Flying 250 mi from Orcus Island to a field outside Yakama, Washington, where he crashed.
Incredibly, Colton simply walked away. But how did this high school dropout learn to fly? When Colton wants to learn
something, Colton will will do that. He will accomplish that unlike anyone I've ever experienced before.
>> Colton apparently taught himself using that flight DVD he'd ordered online with
a stolen credit card. Learning to fly is a lot of fun as well as being challenging. Watching video is not a
substitute for good instruction. >> The DVD is distributed by a company called Sporties. And as you can see
here, the sophisticated graphics mimic the computerized controls in many modern planes. I had the hardest time when I
began researching this story getting pilots to believe that this could possibly be this 17-year-old kid.
>> And 48 hours has been told. Colton studied the Cessna's manual before that first flight. Even people who were
obsessed with flying, loved airplanes, knew everything about airplanes, they would have killed themselves. Colt was
able to pull it off. After he fled the down plane, our sources say Colton hopped a freight train to Reno, Nevada.
He lied about his age and got a job at a casino where he worked for 6 months. And then on September 11th, 2009, Colton
resurfaced in a big way. He was now back home in Washington State where authorities say he stole a second plane.
This time making a dramatic nighttime landing on Orcus Island. Colton's daring exploits inspired
several fan clubs on Facebook and tens of thousands signed up. >> I think he loves the media attention. He
absolutely does monitor the internet. our website, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, you name it, he's reading it.
>> Overnight, the legend of Colton Harris Moore went viral. He became his own cottage industry. People began selling
Fly Colton Fly t-shirts, urging him to go for it. Some even wrote songs. >> Like a hero, he can
give us hope. like a villain, he will steal your stuff. >> It was now a year and a half since
Colton had escaped from that halfway house. He crossed the border into Canada, allegedly stole two guns, and
then crossed back into the US without anyone stopping him. As he sought planes to steal, he traveled from one tiny
airport to another where security was low and the planes were easy pickings. >> When I arrived here, um uh the plane was
gone. This door was open. >> Authorities say the barefoot bandit had struck again here in Idaho, bagging his
third plane in less than a year. >> You could say Colton Harris Moore's life is is very similar to a video game. This
is a game to him. >> But it was not a game for Homeland Security, which had now joined the
investigation. And when that third plane was located in a field in Granite Falls,
Washington, police closed in, but backed off when they heard a gunshot. From that
point, things became very serious for Colton Harris Moore. To him, it may have just been a higher level of the video
game. for the law enforcement. They treated him as armed and potentially dangerous.
>> Colton, now suspected of committing at least 65 crimes, decided to lay low. He
surfaced yet again in February 2010, allegedly stealing his fourth plane. This one, a $650,000
Cirrus. Authorities say Colton was aloft just 10 minutes flying from Anacortis, Washington back to the now familiar
airport on Orcus Island. And once again, the authorities were hot on his trail. And after getting a tip that Colton was
hiding somewhere on Turtleback Mountain, they pounced. >> I was sleeping in this bed here. I hear
a doorbell ring. Homeowner High Stikney saw the response firsthand. >> What time was it? About 1:30 or4 to 2 in
the morning. So I I roll out of the bed and here's a helicopter hovering maybe 100 yards off the window. You're kidding
with the lights going shining down. >> He rushed to answer the front door >> and I see FBI across the chest of this
guy's uniform. And then I'd see over his shoulder in the background two or three
police cars and FBI cars. 10 or 12 people milling around in uniform out there. And I said, "Well, that's it."
So, >> I mean, this has to be absolutely startling. Hovering out here. >> Yeah. >> The next morning, police found these
footprints in the mud. The infamous barefoot bandit had done the impossible. Surrounded on all sides,
he escaped. But the Colton video game was veering into the danger zone. >> 911. Where is your emergency?
>> Please hear somebody immediately. Somebody's in our home. Oh my god. They said they were going to shoot us.
[Music] By the spring of 2010, Colton Harris Moore's audacious aerial joy rides,
including four airplane thefts, had put him on the radar of law enforcement in two countries.
He had been on the run for 2 years up here in the in the Northwest. Uh we have the Border Patrol looking for him. We
have the Canadian officials looking for him. We have Homeland Security, the FBI.
I mean, uh, he's getting more attention in United States than Bin Laden does. >> While we were on Orcus Island with
investigator Paul Celino, Colton slipped away once again. A boat was stolen from a nearby island
and authorities believe this man captured by a security camera is Colton Harris Moore. Why is he getting so
active? He's got to keep moving cuz if he sits still, they're going to catch him.
>> Colton began moving south. Pausing just long enough to leave this note with $100 in cash at a veterinary
clinic in Raymond, Washington. He asked the money be used for quote the care of animals. Why'd he do that?
>> It's admirable that he loves animals, but I mean it doesn't help him. That donation gave the sheriff's
deputies back on Colton's home turf an idea of where he was heading. They warned several police jurisdictions
in the area and began tracking car thefts in Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming. And then Colton surfaced in tiny
Yankton, South Dakota. >> Hello. >> Please hear somebody immediately. Somebody's in our home. There's somebody
in your house. >> They said they're going to shoot us. >> Did you say they're going to shoot you?
>> Then we went in the garage. We went into the house. They were carrying the children and they said they were going
to shoot us. >> That frantic voice >> Oh my god. >> is the wife of Yankton resident Kelly
Knife. The couple and their four young children were returning home from a family vacation at 3:00 a.m.
>> And my wife stepped back here and screamed. And I went bolting past her, opened this door, and right there was a
young man naked, turning around, running away from me, and then started to chase him down the
stairs. Get out of my house. Get out of my house. And about right here that I could see a laser light pointing
at me. And he said, "Stop. I've got a gun. I'll shoot. I'll shoot." >> Kelly called police.
But by the time they got there, Colton was gone. >> He's a potential killer at that point.
If that was a gun aimed at a chest, obviously >> it was a very close call, but Colton
continued his summer run. Allegedly stealing cars and breaking into one small airport,
>> but he did get in here >> after another. >> It was probably after, you know, an
airplane >> across the Midwest. >> He didn't get in them cuz they were locked. Where would he have gone if he'd gotten
an airplane, do you think? >> Well, I think he makes the big jump. He gets two, 300 miles away real quick.
>> But this time, Colton had much bigger plans and leapfrogged over the rest of the United States.
Our pursuit of Colton Harris Moore has taken a dramatic turn because Colton has taken a dramatic turn. He allegedly
stole an airplane in Bloomington, Indiana, and flew it 1,200 miles to this place. This is an island
called Abico. It's in the Bahamas, and the plane crash landed. And that's where we're heading right now is to check this
out. With the help of some locals, we hire a couple of boats and set out across the
shallow Bahamian waters. We're heading to the airplane. If you look way in the distance, you see some
silver shining. That's the tail of the airplane. We got about a mile walk to do through this muck.
[Music] We've been hiking through this muck for about an hour. Everybody's exhausted.
The sun's going down. We only have about 40 minutes before it gets dark. So, we've made a decision. We're going to go
back into town and try to get a helicopter to return to the scene in a more civilized way.
This is the vastness of this area. There's the plane right up there. See it? That's the Cessna.
Look where he set this thing down. In the middle of nowhere. We finally made it to Colton's plane.
The landing skid path through here is about 50 yards long. And if you look right here, he lost a landing gear as he
was making this crash landing. He managed to keep it level somehow. As you can see, the nose is in the grass.
The doors on the aircraft are locked. This is a crime scene, but looking inside, I don't see any blood. No
evidence whatsoever that Colton was injured in this crash landing. He got out of that plane and headed into the
island. >> Hot on the trail of the barefoot bandit, we take off for Marsh Harbor, Avacico's
biggest town. Do they have a tip today? Is that what's going on >> at the police station?
>> Hey guys, >> we get a lead. Do you guys have a tip on Colton? They have a They have a tip.
Airport. >> It turns out to be a false lead. We then head to the town where there's been a series of breakins
at the dive shop at a local gas company. >> Police was here. The security company
had called her and uh they were at the building surrounded looked like a Hollywood scene.
>> And at night he also hit Curly Tales restaurant next to the local marina. And did the police
tell you who they think did this? >> And it's apparently it's they said they said it's the bandit, the barefoot
bandit. >> Colton is everywhere, >> but nowhere. >> A lot of people, you know, they feel
unsafe right now. >> But the Royal Bahamian police vow they will find him. >> They should be able to take him down,
have found him in custody in the quickest possible time. >> At week's end, there is still no sign of
Colton. But then Folton finds himself in his biggest jam yet. While we were looking for Colton on
Abico, he'd already allegedly stolen a yacht. and escaped to the nearby Bahamian
island of Alra. We headed there ourselves and found James Copley who says Colton was hanging
around his bar. >> The strange part of it is wondering, you know, what he does because he is
barefoot >> but you know, tourist >> he was barefoot here. >> Kley says Colton broke into his club. He
came right through here. He put >> and allegedly stole some snacks and water >> and made himself at home.
>> And where did he sleep? >> I guess he see the same uh pool table right here. >> Yeah. You think he slept on the pool
table? >> Yeah, I believe this. >> The next night, Colton was spotted in the water near Klay's Club in a boat
he'd apparently stolen. He was talking to some local teens who were standing on the shore.
>> And they asked him, "Are are you the guy who's going around with the airplanes?"
and he said yes. >> Knowing there was a $10,000 reward, the teens quickly jumped into a boat and
gave chase. Colton fled to nearby Harbor Island. >> I saw a boat pull up at the end of this
dock right here. I saw a young man took off of the dock. >> Security guard Kenny Stron works at the
Raora Bay Resort just across the water from Kley's Club. I see him like he's running fast and
he's breathing real hard and excited. >> Security footage captured the moment >> and he was just running with some object
in his hand and as I kept looking at it seems to be a gun. >> But what are you thinking when you see
this guy? >> When I see him I get excited and he ran towards me and he said they're trying to
kill me. So I'm looking who who's trying to kill you? >> Colton fled onto the island. Word
quickly spread boat to boat at the marina. American Jordan Sacket was aboard his family's yacht.
>> That everybody was on high alert that he was on the island and that he was around.
>> Then suddenly, as police were searching for the barefoot bandit, Jordan saw a
boat roar away. It was Colton. The cops showed up with uzies and shotguns, but they had no boat. They asked Jordan if
they could use his and he in turn asked his parents for permission. >> How did that go? Mom, Dad, can I take
the boat and these armed officers to pursue an armed suspect? Is that okay with you guys?
>> They were a little shocked at first, but it was almost as if like got to go get
him. >> Police jumped in. Colton had a 5minute head start and was heading for open
ocean until >> you can see the lighter areas are where the sandbar is. the lighter.
>> He ran a ground right at this spot. Police quickly closed in and his boat's right up here in front of us.
>> At this point, we're basically about 50 ft behind him. >> At that point, police shot out the
engines on Colton's boat. [Music] >> It was crazy. Guns are going off everywhere. We're all
ducking down to make sure that we're not getting fired upon. And the first shot fired was a shotgun. That's where the
shotgun went in. >> It was at the uh the back left engine and basically shut it down immediately.
Once the firing stopped, he popped back up. He said, "Don't shoot. I can't hear anything."
>> And in July 2010, after a 2-year odyssey, when he was suspected of committing nearly 100 crimes and
stealing 11 boats, 14 cars, three guns, and five airplanes, Colton Harris Moore was finally arrested.
In this video, exclusive to 48 Hours, the police question Colton, now outfitted in a bulletproof vest.
>> I just want you to say, >> they offer him food and water. >> You good? >> And check out the world's most famous
bare feet. >> They also ask where he got his gun. >> Where you got that truck? >> I can't remember. a Walther PPK, the
same type used by James Bond. He says he doesn't remember and they all share a laugh.
The next day, he is taken from Alra to Nassau. It's clear his legend has traveled with him.
>> And there on the tarmac, Colton does not disappoint, appearing barefoot before
the international media. An American teenager dubbed the barefoot bandit has been captured in the Bahamas.
>> Police in the Bahamas captured Colton Harris Moore before dawn this morning. Colton wants no part of the media
circus. Come on, let's make this one fast. >> Back on Camino Island, Colton's mother,
Pam, takes the news of her son's arrest in stride. He's safe and I'm happy and I
love him and I miss him. >> By the time Colton is taken to court a few days later,
>> okay you guys, here he comes. >> He is barefoot no more. >> Colton is deported. Back to where his
exploits began, the Pacific Northwest. And finally, nearly a year after he was brought home, Colton Harris Moore faces
his day of reckoning. He has taken the first step to accept responsibility for his actions. He has
plead guilty to seven felony charges. >> Those charges include stealing those airplanes, breaking into a bank, and
possessing an illegal firearm. In the end, a plea deal is negotiated involving federal and local authorities. Colton
Harris Moore is sentenced to 7 years in prison. Coloulton's attorney, John Henry
Brown. >> Well, he was expecting the worst and so the fact that he got the low end of the
sentencing range, um, he's he knows that makes a big difference. I think he feels
very relieved and he's very grateful. >> And you might think Colton is especially
grateful because he sold the rights to his life story to a movie company for a reported $13 million.
But Colton will never see a penny of that money. >> The plea agreement makes very clear that
he will not profit directly or indirectly, nor will we help anyone else to profit from those crimes. Should
there be monies paid because of these crimes, it will go to the people who were hurt by these crimes.
>> And the feds say he owes his victims 1.4 million. The court has appointed a deputy to
distribute the funds. >> Colton is not interested in money. He's interested in restitution.
>> Colton has now been behind bars for nearly 3 years. One bright spot is that a manager from Boeing, Jonathan
Stanridge, has become a mentor to Colton, encouraging him to pursue his dreams of one day working in aviation.
>> He wants to come out, go to school, go to work, uh help repay those folks that
he owes money to. There is one question that remains in this dramatic saga of a young man.
>> Has he ever told you why he did this? >> We've had lots of talks, you know, and
all that will come out at some point. >> Colton's journey does read like a movie
plot sprinkled with rich details like the backpack he carried during his two years on the lamb. Inside were keepsakes
from a lost childhood, sketches of airplanes, two photos from the fifth grade, and a Boy Scouts of America
certificate. This is an incredibly sad story. I mean, he's been failed at every step of the way.
Where does this kid go to reclaim his childhood? We created this criminal and he survived the Only Way New Hound.
[Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] [Music] The Whitaker family was a very welcoming, godly family. Christ was a
very important part of what they did. >> All right. >> The Whitaker home was the place to hang
out. >> Did you find one? >> It was the cool house to be at. Very safe, very nurturing, godly, loving
home. >> Every time we went over there, you felt loved. They were a family who had fun
and they traveled and they laughed and you know they joked around with each other
>> and everyone loved Trisha and Kent. They were the second parents to so many people.
>> The Whitaker family just seemed like the model typical wellto-do Sugarland family. My name is Marshall Slot and I'm
a detective with the Sugarland Police Department. >> My name is Britney Barnhill and I was
Kevin Whitaker's best friend. He was just a great guy the life of the party. Bart was the older brother. Kevin and
his friends looked up to Bart. People thought that Bart Whitaker was cool. >> On December 10th, 2003, I was working
out with my best friend Kevin Whitaker. He left to go have dinner with his family.
>> We went out to dinner to a restaurant we all enjoyed. We're all in one car, so we
drive back, pull into the driveway. Kevin walks up to the front door and Trish is right behind him. Kevin opens
the door. There's a huge loud noise. Bang. >> Kevin was shot center mass right in his
sternum. >> Trisha says, "Oh no." And I hear another noise. Bang. >> Trisha had made it into the house behind
Kevin and was shot and then fell in the doorway. >> I look inside and there is a figure with
a ski mask on. I probably did not look at him for more than a second or two. Bang. I feel something hit my shoulder.
>> The first three shots were in rapid succession. Bart then chased the guy into the house. As he approached that
figure, he was shot. >> I think, "Oh my god, he shot all four of us." >> Kitten Bart recovered from their wounds.
>> Trisha was transported via air ambulance. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. Kevin died at the scene.
>> It didn't seem real. These types of things happen, but not to me, not to my family, not to my friends.
on the scene. One of the officers had mentioned to me, "I think I've been to this house before, and I think it was
about threats on the family from somebody. >> I think Kevin knew something." And
whatever he knew, I knew he was concerned about it. >> The Whitaker family wasn't the
all-American family that everybody believed them to be. It became clear that it was a conspiracy. It was not a
random act of violence. These people were assassinated. The Sugarland Conspiracy
[Music] Sugarlane is very middle class, upper class, white collar. It's a nice place.
Everything's new. >> You hang out with your neighbors. You hang out with your neighbors kids.
>> For John Flores and his best friend, Kevin Whitaker, life was sweet in Sugarland, Texas.
>> Almost anything's at your fingertips. You can do whatever you want. A lot of fun.
But that all changed on the night of December 10th, 2003 when Kevin and his family were gunned down in their home.
>> That night, we just got home from church and got the call of a quadruple shooting. That just doesn't happen out
here in Sugarland. >> Marshall Slaugh was the lead detective assigned to the case.
>> It looks as if it's a burglary gone wrong. The family's coming home from dinner. It's plausible that they could
have surprised a burglar. But as slot combed through the Whitaker home, he realized things weren't adding up.
>> In the master bedroom, the dressers and armwire all had drawers open on them,
but they were all open equal distance. It was very neat and orderly. >> Normally, a burglar would throw
everything out of the drawers to see if there's any valuables in there. >> Yes, sir.
>> Detective Slaugh began to suspect the burglary had been staged. >> None of the items of value inside the
house had been moved around. the electronics, laptops, jewelry, none of those items that are typically taken in
burglaries. >> And then there was the murder weapon. It was the Whitaker's own gun.
>> The gun safe had been pried open and it was in a very isolated portion of the household. This is looking more and
more like this person knew this gun was here and obtained it for a specific reason.
>> Detective Slot turned his attention to the Whitaker family's history, hoping it
might provide some answers. He started with Kent Whitaker's relationship to his wife Trisha.
>> We met on a blind date. Walked in her house and I didn't know what I was expecting, but she came down and I
thought, I've never had a blind date like this before. And uh we hit it off very well right from the start.
>> How long after you first met Trisha did you realize to yourself, I'm in love with this woman?
>> Couple of months, maybe. >> Really? >> Yeah. >> And did she feel the same way about you?
>> Yes, she did. All right. >> And then came their two boys, Bart and Kevin. >> I'm so proud of both of them.
>> The Whiters were doing well. Kent was a successful accountant. Trisha, an elementary school teacher.
>> Trisha had a great rapport with children. Parents adored her. Staff adored her. She was just fun. Barbie
Harrington and Peggy Mlan, Trisha's close friends and co-workers, knew her true love was being a mom.
>> They were everything. That's all she talked about. She loved those boys. >> Bart, the eldest, did well in school and
had a quirky sense of humor. >> Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Okay. And make it work.
>> He was fun. He was witty. He was respectful. >> A good son. >> A good son. a son who shared a passion
for biking with his dad. >> He and I would spend hours and hours on training rides and on organized rides.
>> What would you talk about on those trips? >> Everything. >> Kevin, I'm very proud of you.
>> Kevin was the sensitive one. >> Kevin was a man at a young age. He would not back down from injustice, but he
would be so quick to forgive. >> This was as healthy and vibrant and loving a family as you'd find, wasn't
it? >> Thought so. I was very happy with my family. I loved them. >> Then came December 10th, 2003. How did
that day begin? Bart was supposed to be graduating from college. He called and said he was through with his finals and
he wanted to go out to eat and celebrate. >> Trisha was so proud. She was telling
Bart she was going to jump up and down and scream, "Thank you, Jesus." >> We all celebrated. We laughed. We told
some jokes. We we teased each other and took some pictures and gave Bart his graduation gift, which was an expensive
watch. >> What kind of watch was it? >> It was a Rolex. It was what he'd always wanted. It was just a happy night.
>> After dinner, the Whiters headed home. >> Then unimaginable horror. Four shots fired.
I start praying and I say, "Father, you know, if it's my time to die, I'm ready.
It's okay, but protect my family." And uh it just was awful. >> I saw Kent lying down. I went up to him
and he was shot and he says, "I'm bleeding very badly." >> Neighbor Cliff Stanley, the first person
on the scene, then went to check on Trisha. >> She was still alive, was kind of moaning. I said, "What happened?" And
Trisha said, "He shot us." >> Did she say who he was? >> No. >> Bart was lying in the living room
wounded. As for Kevin, >> I could see Kevin clearly and Kevin was finished. >> Kent, Trisha, and Bart were rushed to
the hospital, but Trisha didn't survive. >> It was horrible. I lost a friend that taught me how to be
a better teacher and a better mother. She was just a really good person and I miss her so much.
[Music] And I remember I walked over to my friend's mom and I just said, "Was it
Kevin?" And I felt her I felt her nod on my on my head. just kind of shook my head and said,
"Okay." >> Detectives spent the day searching. >> By the next day, >> searching for anything turned to anger.
>> Kent in no unclear terms told me he wanted us to catch whoever did this. He was upset. He was hurt.
>> And Bart seemed to share that anger. >> He didn't say much, but he pulled my friend Matt and I to him and he said,
"We're going to find who did it." >> Detective Slaugh continued his routine questioning of the survivors. Bart told
Slot he was about to graduate from Sam Houston State University. But the next day, stunning news.
>> The information had come into the Sugarland Police Department from Sam Houston State University that Bart was
not enrolled as a student. >> Wait a second. He was not a student. >> He was a freshman on academic probation.
>> A freshman? >> Yes, sir. >> Wasn't even a senior. >> Correct. >> So, what do you do with this
information? >> Bells and whistles start going off that why is this kid lying to us? What's he
got to hide? >> What were you thinking? You lied to us about being in school. You weren't even
near graduating. How could you have done that? >> Did you ask Bart why he had lied to you?
Why he had said he was a student at Sam Houston State? >> Yes, sir. He just didn't want to
disappoint his family. He had needed a break. Stressors of school had gotten on him.
>> Then just 5 days after the shooting, another bombshell. >> It was about 11, 11:30 at night. The
sergeant on duty paged me. Said, "Hey, there's somebody here wants to talk to you." Slaugh met the stranger in the
darkened parking lot behind the police station. >> He explained to me that he felt he had
information that was crucial to the investigation. >> The man said that Bart Whitaker wanted
him to help kill his family. [Music] Six days after Trisha and Kevin Whitaker were gunned down at their home, more
than 1,000 friends and family gathered to celebrate their lives. >> So many people.
It was incredible. >> It was a time to share fond memories. Almost every conversation with Trisha
included something about Kent, Bart, and Kevin. >> Kevin was a faithful, loyal friend.
He never compromised anything. >> I loved Kevin so much. I cried with him. I went to senior prom
with him. >> Amid this sadness, >> Bart, I cannot tell you how much Kevin looked
up to you. you were his hero. >> There was also anger. >> This murderer is still out there.
The police need our help. For your own families, for everybody's sake, let's catch him.
>> But what no one here knew. Among the mourners was a man police were closely watching.
>> Your suspicions are focusing on which person? >> Bart. Definitely. That stranger Marshall
Slaugh had met in the police parking lot turned out to be an old friend of Bart's
named Adam Hip. And he told the detective an extraordinary story that Bart had approached him several years
earlier with a detailed plan to kill his family. >> This is a diagram that Adam Hip uh drew
for me during our three-hour long conversation. It called for Adam Hip being the
shooter, shooting the family members as they came in the residence. According to Adam Hip, the plan even
included a twist to fool police. Bart wanted Hip to shoot him in the shoulder so he'd look like a victim, not a
suspect. >> It was unbelievable. So what Adam Hip was telling you was essentially the
blueprint for what happened in 2003, the real shooting, >> the exact blueprint. >> But Bart appeared to have nothing to
hide. He agreed to help detectives by reenacting what happened the night of the shootings.
>> That's when I heard the bang and I don't remember it. I probably would have run
up this morning. >> But Bart's behavior only heightens Slot's suspicions. Everything is very vague. It could have
been this, but it could have been this. >> So, that's about the distance you were
from him when you got shot. >> Yeah, I guess. >> Okay. >> It might have been closer. I don't
really remember. >> The fact that he wasn't able to give me a lot of detail about it just was
unusual to me. >> Police had indicated to you that he was a suspect in this case.
>> Yes. >> Were you wondering at all maybe he had something to do with this? I considered
it but but didn't consider it uh seriously. He promised me that there was nothing to
it, that he did not have anything to do with it, that he loved Trisha and Kevin and me. It was inconceivable.
But after Adam Hip's story, Detective Slaugh felt otherwise. He decided to check out two of Bart Whitaker's closest
friends, Chris Brasher and Steven Champagne. Let's see if he approached any of his
current friends to do this. >> Chris Brashier and Steven Champagne worked with Bart at this country club
just months before the murders. Slaugh asked them to provide what police call scent samples using blood hounds. He
compared those samples to evidence collected at the crime scene. Slaugh hunch paid off
when he got a match. The dogs indicated that Chris Brashier's scent was found on the drawers that had
been moved that night. >> More importantly, Brashier's scent was found on the gun used in the homicides.
>> Bingo. We've got our next prime suspect. >> When Detective [ __ ] grilled Brashier, he
denied any involvement in the shootings. >> We told him we had a definitive link
between him and the murder weapon on the night of the shooting. What have you seen on Brashier's face?
>> Horror. >> Panic. We We struck a nerve with this kid. >> Slaugh was now closing in on Bart
Whitaker. Then one night, 7 months after the shootings, Bart told his dad he was
heading out to a club. >> Bart told me he would see me the next day. And what happened?
>> Well, that was the last I saw him. He disappeared. >> Just fell off the face of the earth.
>> Mhm. >> I was angry. We'd kind of let him get away. That's what I felt like. >> Bart's disappearance was a setback, but
Detective Slot pressed on, focusing on the suspects still in Sugarland, especially Steven Champagne.
>> We stayed on him and stayed on him and stayed on him. Eventually, Champagne cracked.
>> He informed me that he participated in the crime, that Chris Brasher had killed the
family. >> Champagne confessed that he was the getaway driver, Chris Brashier was the
shooter, and that Bart Whitaker was the mastermind behind the plan. >> This was the floodgates opening.
champagne lead slot to a treasure trove of physical evidence. >> He led me to the to the place on the
bridge over Lake Conroe uh where he and Chris Basher had thrown items of evidence,
>> a chisel >> that Chris Basher had used to break into the gun safe, >> ammunition,
>> which happened to be the ammunition that was in the gun, >> two cell phones, >> Bart Whitaker had provided those to them
to use during the course of carrying out the plot. And in September 2005, Sugarland police arrested both Steven
Champagne and Chris Brashier for the murders of Trisha and Kevin Whitaker. But they still didn't know where to find
Bart Whitaker. When Bart Whitaker fled Sugarland, Texas, 7 months after the shootings, he
left behind a community and a father in disbelief. >> As a general rule, people don't run.
They're innocent. >> No, they don't. Oh, it was horrible. It was awful. I just sat down and I just
cried. Like many a desperado before him, Bart headed south into Mexico. He ended up in this tiny village called
Seralvo, about 40 miles from the Texas border. [Music] Bart started his new life here in Salvo
with about $7,000 in cash, money he had stolen from his father's house. He could
speak a little Spanish and soon he had a small apartment in town and a job at a local furniture store. He also had
something else, a new identity. Who is this man? >> Well, I know him as Rudy. >> Gabriella Gutierrez remembers her
American friend named Rudy Rios. How would you describe him? >> Well, he was a friendly person.
He liked to drink. He liked the beer. He liked to go with girls. He was very charming. He had a way with the ladies.
>> I saw him and I said, >> "Wow, he's gorgeous." >> Cindy Lucelenus first saw Bart in church
of all places. >> I don't know. >> I found them very interesting. The guys that I've known,
>> I don't know. He just had something nobody had. >> After Bart and Cindy Lou began dating,
her father, Omro, gave Bart a job at the family's furniture store. What kind of a
worker was he? >> Very good, very obedient. I really liked him and held him in high
esteem. Cindilu's brother, Ubaldo, befriended Bart and was impressed with his stories
of adventure, like the one explaining his bullet wound. He said he got the scar in the
Afghanistan war. He said there was a surprise attack on his group by the Afghanis.
Most of those in his group were killed. He shot at one with his rifle, but there
was another one who got him in the shoulder. >> The entire Selena's family took Bart in
as one of their own, and Bart told them they were the family he never had. [Music]
>> He used to tell me that he was an only child. that he never loved his mother because
his mother never loved him either. And that his mother was a prostitute. He used to say that
his family never gave him the love he wanted. They only gave him money. They ignored him.
For 14 months, Bart Whitaker lived a carefree new life as Rudy Rios >> is Marshall.
>> But it was all about to come to an end. >> To me, he seems like a cool guy, but if
he did that, then he could pay for it. You know what I mean? >> I agree. >> Back in Sugarland, Detective Slaugh got
a phone call >> from the real Rudy Rios. >> He called me an anonymously and said, "I
know where Bart Whitaker is. I helped him get there. Rudy Rios and Bard had worked together
at a Houston restaurant. >> Bard explained to him that there was pressure on him from law enforcement.
Rudy said, "Well, if you ever need any help, let me know. I've got family in Mexico that can help you out."
>> According to Rudy Rios, Bart paid him $3,000 to escort him to Sarvo. But when
word spread of a reward for Bart's capture, the real Rudy looked to get paid again. If there's a reward, you
know, I don't I turn his head in. >> How much? >> $10,000. >> 10,000 bucks. >> So Rudy had dollar signs in his eyes
when he came forward. >> Yes, sir. >> Marshall Slot was there waiting when Mexican authorities dumped Bart back
across the border. >> He glanced at me and then just down to the floor. I don't know if it was a you
got me look, but it was very satisfying to walk in that jail. The first time I saw him when they took
him back from Mexico, I walk in and we're separated by the bulletproof glass. Said, "Well, you look like you're
okay." And he says, "Yes, I am." And he says, "Dad, I'm just so sorry. I'm so sorry for all of it. It's all my fault."
>> And what is the it in that sentence that he was referring? >> The murders. He's responsible for the
murders. Also waiting for Bart were Fort Ben County prosecutors Jeff Strange and Fred
Felchman with an indictment for the murders of his mother and brother. >> It is just the ultimate act of betrayal.
It doesn't get any worse than this. >> Why did he have to kill them? >> One, because that was the way he was
going to inherit $1.5 million. I think also to some extent deep down Bart thinks he's smarter than everybody else
and he just wanted to see if he could get away with the perfect crime. >> Call number 42969
state of Texas versus Thomas >> in Fred Felchman. Bart had an adversary who is one of the toughest nononsense
prosecutors in Texas. >> How would you describe Bart Whitaker? There is a term they use in psych
psycholingo psycho bababel of sociopath. In other words, a person who knows he's
doing something wrong but really doesn't care. The old time Texas thing was that
he's just a mean son of a [ __ ] Okay. >> The defendant will please rise while the
state will present the indictment. >> Because this was a multiple murder, prosecutors will seek the death penalty
for Bart Whitaker. >> Four shots fired, four hits. It's a good, strong case. >> In fact, it's an overwhelming case. So
much so that Bart's defense attorney decides on a unique strategy. He will all but concede that Bart is guilty and
use the trial to try and convince jurors that Bart's life should be spared. And he has a man of unshakable religious
faith in his corner. Even knowing that he'd been guilty and responsible for this, I just can't understand why it's
so necessary to put him to death. >> Did you have any inkling whatsoever, Mr. Whitaker, that your son had been lying
to you? >> Uh, no, I didn't. >> Incredibly, Kent Whitaker has forgiven Bart. >> The first night in the hospital, I
forgave everyone who was involved in this. >> How do you feel today? It is a gift of
God that allows me to do this. I think he gave me that gift so that when I found out that it was my son that it
would be a legitimate forgiveness. The question now is, will a jury be as forgiving?
[Music] Sugarland, Texas has never seen a trial like this. >> This crime affected all of Sugarland.
>> A case of multiple murder. >> Do you deserve to die? >> Where the accused is being passionately
defended by one of the people he tried to kill. If the state pursues the death penalty and receives it, then they will
kill the last surviving member of my family. >> Kent Whitaker believes his son's eternal
soul is at stake. >> I believe as a Christian that God can and does forgive and change people's
hearts. If they are sorry, if they repent, if they ask his forgiveness for real, he will forgive them.
>> Excuse me, please. But Jeff Strange and Fred Felchman say their duty is to uphold Texas law, not God's law.
>> Clint Whitaker's religious faith is genuine. Forgiveness is a big tenant of what he believes and I respect that and
I totally understand that. That's not my job though. >> Does Bart Whitaker deserve the death
penalty? >> Yes. He meets a criteria we have in the state of Texas. He is a continuing
threat. He intentionally caused these people's death and there is nothing mitigating about him. He wasn't abused.
He wasn't surrounded by crime. I find it hard to believe anybody wouldn't think he deserved it.
>> All rise. >> 3 years after Trisha and Kevin's murders, Bart Whitaker's trial gets
underway. Prosecutors present crime scene analysis, forensic evidence, and eyewitness accounts.
But it's the testimony of Steven Champagne, one of Bart's alleged accompllices, >> that everyone in the courtroom is
waiting to hear. >> What are you charged with? >> Capital murder. >> Champagne says two months before the
shootings, Bart offered both him and Chris Brashier a cut of a million dollar insurance policy to help kill the
Whitaker family. The conversation was about when the family came back from eating dinner that
Chris would be in the house and shoot them. >> On the night of the attack, Champagne
was waiting in the getaway car when Chris Basher quickly got inside. >> I asked him what happened. He told me
that he had shot all of them. >> Defense attorney Randy McDonald can do little except attack champagne for
agreeing to kill for money. And it really didn't bother you that three other human beings would be killed so
you could have a better lifestyle. The way that I looked at it was they weren't human.
>> As prosecutors build their case, more shocking details emerge. Investigators learn the 2003 attack wasn't the first
time Bart had tried to kill his family. He had made at least three other attempts using other friends as
recruits. >> Was it just a general conversation? I want to kill my family. I want you to
help me. >> Yes, sir. >> In December 2000, Bart approached his college roommates Will Anthony and
Justin Peters. >> I was supposed to as they entered the home uh shoot the family. Sir, Will, who
was supposed to actually go into the house, was he going to be given anything to hide his identity?
>> Yes, he was given uh black pants and black shirt and a ski mask. >> By who? >> Bart.
>> Peters and Anthony actually made it to the Whitaker home. As planned, Will Anthony went to open a back window.
>> Uh, as soon as I touched it, sir, to try to open it, an alarm went off. The two
men fled, but Bart Whitaker wasn't scared off. Two months later, he approached another friend with another
plan. Remember Adam Hip, Bart's old friend turned police informant? >> Under oath, Hip publicly admits that he
too once agreed to help kill the Whitaker family. >> Why' you say yes? >> You know, I don't I don't know.
I'm not proud of it, but for the simple fact, I was kind of interested to see how far he would take it.
>> We're going, "Huh? These were kind of people you would think this is what you
want your son to be, goes to college, gets a banking job, stuff like this." >> All American boys.
>> All American boys. >> Like Bart, all three young men came from wellto-do families.
>> Clean cut kind of all American kids. Justin Peters had been a National Merit Scholar. I just could not see how this
happened. >> Besides money, prosecutor Fred Felchman believes Bart Whitaker is a gifted liar
and manipulator. >> He would actually seek out people, okay? He would seek out the ones that are a
little maybe a little weaker that he got to know a little bit better that had some investment in him.
Bart's second plan to murder his family with the aid of Adam Hip never went beyond talk. But by April 2001, Bart had
hatched yet a third plot. >> So Bart Whitaker was a determined young man. >> Absolutely.
>> This time the plan unraveled after Jennifer Jaffet, a college acquaintance of Barts, found out about it.
>> I asked Bart if he was seriously going to let this happen. >> And how did he react to that? He came up
to me and he gave me a hug and whispered in my ear that everything was going to be okay.
>> You call the police? >> I did call the police. >> Police in turn notified Kent and Trisha.
>> It was just the far outest thing that you can conceive of. And we immediately
said, "There's no way." >> Bart told his parents it was all a misunderstanding. In retrospect, you
say, "What a idiot. How could you possibly have not seen this?" But the truth is,
uh, we didn't know they were lies. Even after his wife and youngest son were murdered two years later, Kent
still refused to believe that Bart was capable of such evil. >> Aren't you putting two and two together
here and saying maybe Bart's responsible for this? Perhaps I should have, but I didn't.
>> Do you believe this crime could have been prevented if people had paid attention to these warning signs?
>> Look at the actions of Bart Whitaker. You're already caught. All right. But you still proceed to it and you still go
through it. Now, you tell me where along this line with Bart Whitaker do you think it's
going to stop? >> You were excused. Bart Whitaker's trial lasted 7 days, but the jury deliberates
just two hours. >> 64.9. We have a verdict in 400. >> Returning with a verdict everyone was
expecting. >> We the jury do hereby find the defendant Thomas Bartlett Whitaker guilty of the
offense of capital murder as charged in the indictment. >> But the real drama of this case, the
punishment phase. Now, for the first time, Bart Whitaker will speak openly about his obsession with killing his
family. I feel horrible about myself, what I've done. This is daunting. My son's life is
hanging in the balance. The punishment phase of Bart Whitaker's trial is underway.
>> Just follow me. >> And his father, Kent, hopes he can persuade the jury to forgive Bart as he
has. >> Ladies and gentlemen, the jury may not have the same faith. They may not have
the same beliefs about what should happen to somebody. But is it your desire that they assess a life sentence
in this case? It has been from the start and it still is. >> Would uh Trisha feel the same way?
>> I promise you, yes. She would have been appalled that this this um that um the
state chose to pursue the death penalty in this case. >> But it will take more than the wishes of
Cantor Trisha to spare their son's life. >> Call your next witness. >> Bart Whitaker. He needs to be sworn.
>> Please stand before the clerk to be sworn. To everyone's surprise, Bart decides to put his fate in his own hands
and speak directly to the jury. >> I am 100% guilty for this. I put the plan in motion. If I had not done so, it
would not have happened. >> And do you realize that you robbed your mother of a full life?
>> Yes. >> You robbed Kevin of a full life? >> Yes. >> You actually even robbed your father of
a full life. Do you feel any remorse for this? >> Yes. >> Yes, sir. I do. >> Who's who do you feel remorse for? I
>> feel remorse for everyone involved, starting with my dad, my mom, and my brother and my wife.
>> Everyone I've ever met in my life, I feel sorry for having come in contact with me.
>> Bart is finally asked the question on everyone's mind. Can you answer the question why?
>> No, sir. I've come up with a lot of the reasons for how I how I got to where I was going, but they
do not explain it. I always felt that whatever love they sent me was conditional on
on a standard that I just never felt I could reach. >> Bart Whitaker claims that he felt
unloved, felt he couldn't live up to his parents expectations. I heard all that crap, too. There's no evidence
whatsoever this family ever did anything to him. They loved him unconditionally.
>> I think he came to the decision that, you know, I hate myself. I hate this life I'm in. If there's just some way I
can get out of it. Maybe if my family was gone, I could be free of this and live a real life. For Bart's life to be
spared, he must convince the jury he is no longer a threat to anyone in or out of prison.
>> Do you have any designs on any conduct that would in any way, shape, or form hurt another individual?
>> No. The only people I've ever hated, and I know it was not for the right reasons,
but the only people I ever hated were my parents or my brother. Fact, the irony of it all is that your
dad is actually the one that's come to your rescue and put you back on trial. >> He's become my best friend the last
year. >> Past witness. >> Mr. Gman, I assume you're going to be a while. >> It's a good chance.
>> Fred Felchman has waited nearly 2 years for this moment. >> Your mother loved you. It's her whole
life was you and Kevin. But then you tell me you never felt loved by your parents.
>> Yes, sir. >> Do you find anything scary about this? >> I find something tragic about it and
>> tragic that I've got a defendant who's that out of touch with reality. >> Felchman wants to convince the jury that
Bart Whitaker's disconnect with reality makes him dangerous. If somebody interacts with Bart Whitaker, he can be
on a totally innocent basis and you decide to perceive it different. You could kill that person.
>> No, I could not. >> You killed your mother and brother on totally false circumstances.
>> I was a different person then. >> Felchman reminds the jury of the lives Bart took. Did
>> you see your brother when you ran? >> Yes, I did. >> He was gurgling in his own blood.
You know, I watched this whole trial. You've never cried until now? I >> I did earlier.
>> Why are you crying now? It's a >> horrible memory. >> Bart tries one last time to convince
Felchman and the jury that he has changed. >> Do you believe a person can't be sorry
for the things they did? >> No, I think they can be, Mr. Whitaker. But I don't think you are. I think
you're sorry you got caught and now you're trying to figure out how to get out of the death zone.
[Music] It's now up to the jury to decide. >> I was holding out for a life sentence. I
thought that he wanted his parents dead. He had done what he set out to do, so I
didn't feel he was a threat. >> We gathered five members of the jury to tell us about their deliberation.
>> His goal this time was his family, but who knows what his next goal would have
been, and that scared me. The picture of him and his mom and his brother sitting
there eating and he's sitting there smiling knowing that they're going to be killed in a few minutes. What did that
tell you about Bart? That told me that the probability of him doing it again was great.
>> I just knew that u he would do this again. >> It took jurors only 10 hours to reach a
verdict. >> The court does at this time upon those verdicts determine that you be sentenced
to death. Bart Whitaker is to die. What did that do to you inside? >> The feeling was a great deal of
disappointment. >> My heart breaks for Kent Whitaker, but I wondered what kind of relationship he
had with his son. >> I fell for the man. I really did. But but we had to follow the law.
>> Someday Bart Whitaker is going to die. >> It's not our fault. >> No, he Whitaker's fault. Without Bart
Whitaker, none of this would have happened. Clark has taken it upon himself to teach
Kevin how to ride the bicycle. >> Despite all that he now knows Kent Whitaker says he will never abandon his
son. >> Trish and Kevin, I miss them, but they're in heaven. And I'm going to heaven and I have
no doubts about that. I want Bart up there, too. >> Someday in the future, you're going to
get a phone call from somebody to tell you that Bart Whitaker has been put to death.
>> Yeah. What will that de be like for you, do you think? Um, >> been through that before. There will be
a certain sadness, but it won't be for Bard Whitaker. It will be for the father. It will also be a sense of
satisfaction, too, though. Justice had been done on this case. [Music] [Music] [Music]
I'll never forget that day. Something sinister happened. Something unimaginable.
>> My cell phone rings and it's Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. Sheriff says to me, "Glenn, I'm calling about
Jeff Gman." And he says, "Jeff's dead." >> Just like that. >> Just like that. Jeff Garman was found dead with stab
wounds outside his home around 10:30 yesterday morning. >> Metro police are asking for the public's
help. They're saying this is the suspect. >> I couldn't even believe what I had so
many questions. Who would do this? I mean, how did this happen? >> Just how big a list of people might have
wanted Jeff dead? That's a line of people that runs from here to Los Angeles. This guy's written about terrible people
who've done awful things for over 40 years. >> The worst kinds of people. >> They called him Tony the Ant, but Tony
Spalaka was a big figure in the mafia. >> He had a special interest in covering organized crime.
>> You know, he was gutsy and fearless. Jeff Garman was guided by an innate sense of right and wrong.
If he knew someone was engaging in criminal activity, unethical activity, inappropriate behavior,
he wanted to do that story. He wanted to bring it to light. >> We couldn't believe he would even take a
call from us, but he did. Give me a sense of what state you were in when you called Jeff Gar.
>> We were desperate in fear every day. >> It was just survival. One step in front
of the other, one day at a time. >> The only person that listened to us and the only person that tried to do
something that concretely put their name on the line to try to do something that
listened to us >> was was Jeff Gar. >> Was Jeff. He did something and he fought for us
and he is 100% our hero. And if I was to talk to him today, I think the first thing I would say is I'm sorry.
[Music] As Jeff's editor, his colleague, did you ever sense any danger in covering this
story? There was absolutely no suggestion, no hint that this would end the way it
did. None [Music] [Music] On September 2nd, 2022, it was a boiling hot late summer day in
Las Vegas and people were getting ready for the Labor Day weekend. It was late morning when in broad
daylight something terrible happened. As investigative journalists for the Las Vegas Review Journal,
Brianna Ericson and Ronda PR had seen a lot of bad people do a lot of bad things,
but nothing came close to the Machia plot to murder their friend and colleague Jeff Gar.
>> Jeff Garman was at his house on vacation. He'd gone out to get something to eat.
He came back, shut his garage door. You could see in the surveillance video from across the street that someone, an
asalant, came into his yard, went to the left side of his house, went inside the gate,
shut the gate, and then we see Jeff moments later opening his garage door and he was
instantly ambushed when he turned the corner to where that person was lying in weight.
In the video, you can kind of see a struggle, but Jeff ultimately falls to the ground
and he never gets up. >> What happened to him in that attack? >> Jeff was stabbed.
He was stabbed seven times. Four times in the neck, three in the torso. Seven stab wounds. Did that suggest what
kind of a killing this was? >> To me, this was a very personal attack to stab someone in such a short time,
viciously, seven times with no warning. >> A concerned neighbor found Jeff Garman's
body hidden behind some bushes 24 hours later. >> 911 emergency 1 965. Do you need police,
fire, medical? I have a neighbor across the street from me and he's laying in the sideyard.
>> Um I believe he's dead. He's got blood over him. >> It was just a terrible thing to know
that he was lying there and we wondered whether he could have been saved, but medical experts told us later that he
likely died within a minute or two. It was a small mercy for a man who had spent his life fighting for the
underdog. At the base, he just wanted to help people and protect people, you know, and expose wrongdoing.
[Music] >> From the start, Jeff Garman was shooting for big game. And when he came from
Wisconsin in the 70s, Vegas was the Serengeti. Mark Fiero, a TV reporter at the time,
became a lifelong friend and trusted source. >> Jeff Garin at the outset was a a
reporter who caught the most important beat in Las Vegas of his day. That was organized crime.
>> Then a reporter for the Las Vegas Sun, Jeff took on one of the biggest, meanest
mobsters on the strip. A prime target of the feds is Tony Spelatro, the outfit's
representative in Vegas. Spelatro >> Tony Spelatro, a power player for the Chicago mob, played by Joe Peshy in
Scorsese's film Casino. >> You said I'm bringing heat on you. >> Here's Jeff Garman talking about
Spelatro in the podcast Mobbed Up. >> He had a reputation for being a brutal killer, yet he was never convicted of a
single murder. a podcast Jeff made about a year before he died. >> He had the coldest eyes I've ever seen.
In my stories, I got used to calling Spelatro by his street name, Tony the Ant. He hated that and it sometimes left
me at the receiving end of Spelro's nasty stairs and his menacing fits of anger. The irony of all of this is is
that Jeff was not a tall man, was not a strong man, but he toughed it out and he
went toe-to-toe with these guys year in and year out. And some of these guys were dangerous guys.
>> Try as they did, they couldn't scare him, says Briana. >> After his tires had been slashed and
some spooky things were happening to him, he told a mob affiliate in a bar to call off his dogs. Then he got punched
in the face. He later described that as a badge of honor. >> A couple of hours later, with four
stitches under my lip, I had a war story to tell. As the mob slowly lost its grip on
Vegas, Jeff built a career exposing dirty business, government corruption, and crime. Rhonda, the former assistant
managing editor for investigations at the R.J, worked with him for three years. He kept digging and digging and
digging and he was like the dog, the little dog that would take a bite of your pants and wouldn't let go. You
know, he was just so laser focused on continuing to go deeper and deeper and deeper into a story.
>> That tenacity helped him expose the truth in stories that could have remained in the shadows. He was one of
the few journalists along with his colleague David Ferrara to report on the Susan Winters case, a woman whose
parents doubted the suicide ruling in their daughter's death. And Jeff started putting pieces together, working with
the attorney for the family that the way that she killed herself was so unsemly that it just didn't add up. And once he
started and he started pulling on that thread and then he started pulling on a rope and then it turned into a chain.
>> That chain turned into a series of stories that targeted the husband. Turns out Susan died from ingesting a lethal
combination of painkillers and antifreeze. The husband, who was charged with murder, ultimately pleaded guilty
to voluntary manslaughter and was sent to prison. As hard charging and public as Jeff was
in his work life, the lifelong bachelor was notoriously private about his personal life.
>> He was always back to business. Back to business. This man was born to be a reporter.
>> A man who lived for his job and as it turns out, a man who may have died for it.
The entire newsroom rallied together. His colleagues had no idea who did this or why,
but they were determined to do what Jeff Garin would have done. Find out. [Music]
[Music] The RJ staff was in mourning, their sorrow in full display on Jeff Garman's desk.
It's a reminder that this team is not going to be the same without him, but we can carry on
the way he would want us to. >> And that meant doing what he would have done. The staff started tugging on threads and
searching for clues, working nonstop on one of the most important stories of their careers. Who killed Jeff Garman?
Immediately I started thinking in my head, all right, who had threatened Jeff in any way in the last 5 months? Who
could have possibly done this? >> Executive editor Glenn Cook asked Rhonda to come up with a short list of people
to consider. >> One of the names I gave him was Robert Telus. >> And who is Robert Telus? He was a clerk
county elected official in charge of the public administrator's office, which handles estates of people who were
deceased. >> One of the estate coordinators in Telus's office, Alicia Goodwin, had
reached out to Jeff Garman in March of 2022. She had filed a formal complaint with the Clark County Office of
Diversity on behalf of herself and some colleagues, claiming Robert Telus harassed, bullied, and discriminated
against them. >> He was a horrible the horrible human being. Monster is the right word.
>> But Alicia says the county did nothing. >> It was always he's an elected official.
There's nothing we can do. Jeff agreed to hear what Alicia and her colleagues Narin Pagdangan, Rita Reed,
and Jessica Coleman had to say. >> And when he finally talked to us and he let us tell what had happened to us, and
he said, "No, I'm going to look into this." I I think that's the only thing that gave us enough energy to keep
going. According to the women, the trouble began almost immediately after Robert Telus took
office in January 2019. Rita, a supervisor, was his second in command and a 12-year veteran of the
office. >> He came in very abruptly into the office and he slammed his palms down on my desk
with a with a real loud bang >> like a >> Oh, yes. Absolutely. and he leaned forward and he said, "We're ripping off
the bandage. You no longer supervise anyone. No one reports to you. They all report to me." And he turned around and
he walked out and I just sat there stunned. >> The women say they were ordered not to
speak to each other in the office. >> It It felt dangerous to even have a hello, good morning conversation with
co-workers in passing. If caught, the consequences could be severe, says Alicia. She remembers getting called
into Telus's office after he saw her and two other women talking. >> We walked into his office and he said,
"Sit down and shut up. You're not going to talk. I'm going to talk." And he just
got this look on his face. He sit back and he pointed at Narrain and said, "You." What was it like to be in that
room and receiving that? >> It was scary because I did not want to upset him because I knew how he could
be. >> Despite years of service, all the women say they feared for their jobs. And
Jessica, who safeguarded the property of the deceased in a caged room, says she feared for her physical safety. She says
Telus would sometimes come in and threaten her. There was an instance where he got in my
face and you know he's yelling and I'm sort of backed up against um the cage door.
>> He was trying to physically intimidate you. >> Yes. Yes. He would bring his chairs up
really close and and demand that you really pay attention and look him in the eye while he told you horrible things.
>> One of those horrible things says Jessica almost did her in alone in the cage together. She says Telus started by
saying that he noticed she never talked to anyone in the office. A bizarre comment considering his no talking rule.
>> And he goes, "If you keep going down this road, you're going to be like our cases and you're just going to die alone
and nobody's going to find you." And I sat there and cried. Um and then after that, it's hard to admit. Then I started
um thinking the best thing I could do would be to sacrifice myself for the girls. And I had actually picked out a
place um that I was going to hang myself in the vault in view of the door because
he would always come by and and make sure I was working and I thought this will be good. If they have to find me
this way, then the county will have to do something. Mercifully, Jessica realized that was
not the solution to the problem. But they came up with another plan. The women believed Telus was having an
inappropriate relationship with a subordinate in the office named Roberta. >> Roberta, they claimed used that
relationship to assume power and privilege beyond her job title. Is there any doubt in your mind that the two of
them were having a romantic affair? >> No. Absolutely not. >> None whatsoever? >> No.
>> But they needed proof. >> So they decided to follow them. >> We had seen a pattern. Short dress day.
If they went the same direction, we knew that we needed to go. >> It was always to the same place, says
Alicia. a parking garage in a nearby mall. The alleged lovers would park next to
each other. >> We started to take pictures and we started to video. >> That's Roberta's car on the left. Robert
Telles's on the right. >> So, how did you position yourselves where you could get some video?
>> Very carefully. >> Very. Yeah. >> In a car. >> Sometimes in a car. Sometimes we would
get out of our car. There were there were kind of some cutouts and pillars where you could get angles here and
there and we just tried to move around and to get the best that we could. >> According to the women, the alleged
lovers would ultimately end up in the back seat of Roberta's car. >> Robera has said that they would sit in
the back seat because she wanted to be able to make eye contact with him as they were having
>> important office discussions. >> Yeah, >> that is what she said. and and >> Okay. And your reaction to that?
>> Well, that last video we got, we had a little better recorder. You can see the
the shadows and you can see those heads going together. We felt it was so inappropriate,
>> but this was the shot they believed was the most telling. Roberta leaving the
car and smoothing down her dress. >> It was so unbelievable. And it just took a moment to to digest that it would I
mean at that moment it was like so real. >> After seeing the videos, Jeff asked Roberta about them. She responded, "I
have not had an inappropriate relationship with him." The R.J. published the story. Let me
read the lead in this first article. The Clark County Public Administrator's Office has been mired in turmoil and
internal dissension over the past two years with allegations of emotional stress, bullying, and favoritism leading
to secret video taping of the boss and a co-orker outside the office. That story
went all over the state of Nevada and before long over the country. As this settled in, are you thinking mission
accomplished or are you thinking what's going to happen to us next? >> Both. >> Yeah. The terror didn't stop. The terror
almost just got worse. It just changed face. [Music] Jeff Garman's story with its allegations
of turmoil, bullying, and hostility had a swift and searing effect at the public
administrator's office. The county finally sent in an outside consultant, and Robert Telus lost his bid for
reelection in the primary, ironically, to his archeneemy, Rita Reed. But Jeff wasn't through with Robert Telus yet. He
wrote three more scathing pieces chronicling the fall of the once upandcoming young Democrat. And another
story was in the works. But Jeff Garman did not survive to write it. >> Jeff Garman was found stabbed to death
outside his home in the northwest. When news of Jeff's murder broke, the women Jeff had fought for were overcome with
grief, but also dread, afraid of what they may have unleashed. Alicia's dad, a former Las Vegas police detective who
introduced her to Jeff, said what they were all thinking. My dad called me first thing in the morning
and said that Jeff had been killed. And I didn't even get to react before my dad's
next word were, "I know who my first suspect is." Soon as those words came out of his mouth, I knew immediately,
too. >> That it was Robert. >> That it was Robert. >> The staff at the Las Vegas Review
Journal was wondering the same thing. Could Robert Telus have been involved? The journalistic hounds are are
released, right? >> Yes. We weren't going to do anything until every little rock was overturned
and every little fact was found out about what what this guy was and who he was.
>> Art Kaine, now the investigation's editor, was a reporter at the time. >> And we started finding out a lot of
interesting things about him. For example, he was arrested while he was public administrator for choking his
wife. >> Can you please send somebody here? My husband is going crazy trying to >> There's body cam video that we have
obtained of that. >> Who did I hit? >> Cameras. >> Our cameras are on. >> But you guys want to take me down cuz
I'm a public official. >> Talis slurring his words. Was arrested for domestic battery and resisting
arrest. >> There is sufficient evidence to book me right now. >> There is sufficient evidence to book you
right now. Yes. >> And I'm I'm not trying to be like I'm public official. So, you know, do what I
want you to do. I'm saying I'm not a idiot. >> Mhm. >> He received a suspended 90-day sentence
on the resisting charge and was ordered to attend a corrective thinking class. >> The battery charge was dismissed.
>> No one ever heard about it because no one covers DUIs and domestics. And that
flew under the radar. Looking back, there were other warning signs, says Brianna, such as these. A
series of tweets Telus posted in response to Jeff's reporting. >> Read that one for me.
>> Looking forward to lying smearpiece number four by JGarman RJ #tick pony. I think he's mad that I haven't crawled
into a hole and died. Laughing emoji. >> What did you think of that one? somebody who's pretty pissed off.
>> But the journalists knew angry tweets didn't prove anything. They needed facts. And facts were hard to come by.
All they had were these two still surveillance photographs the police had released of the suspect in Jeff's
neighborhood. The outfit, bizarre as it seems, may have been a strategic choice,
says Art. >> The outfit is very typical of what um construction workers and people who do
landscaping wear because they want to cover up all their skin from the sun. >> When the police released a surveillance
video, Review Journal photographer Kevin Cannon immediately noticed something the
big hat and orange reflective shirt couldn't hide. the man's walk, his gate. >> How would you describe that gate?
>> It's a It's a bit of a a limp in a favor on one side, it seems. >> Kevin went digging in his files and
found this, a walking shot he had taken of Robert Telus when Jeff interviewed him at his office. The staff compared
both videos side by side. >> I'm not sure how to describe it, but it was definitely the identical gate in my
mind. Kevin then went through hundreds of still photos he had taken that day and found this.
>> It's a very chilling photo and it's the one and only photo where Jeff and Telus
are in the same photo. >> Executive editor Glenn Cook says his staff moved forward on the operating
theory that Robert Telus could have been the killer, but they still didn't have hard evidence.
Then the police released this, a photo of the suspect's car, a maroon Yukon Denali.
>> Show me what you did. >> But you just type in the address. You pull up the Google Street View.
>> Assistant city editor David Ferrara immediately typed Telus's home address into Google Earth.
And if you zoom in on the house, that maroon vehicle is there parked in the driveway.
>> The maroon SUV was registered to tell us his wife. >> And at that moment, we send reporters
and photographers straight to the house. And the message I give our metro editor
is, "Do not engage. Do not approach. Do not be seen. This man is very likely a suspect in the murder of your colleague
and we can't predict how he's going to react to anyone being near him. >> But the photographer crouching behind
his dashboard managed to get what he came for. >> And is this the picture that is taken?
>> That's the photo. >> This is the money photo. >> It's the money shot. Robert Telus on a
scorching hot 110 degree day is in jeans in his driveway washing the maroon GMC Yukon Denali.
>> This must have been a moment where I don't know if there's any cheering going
on in your newsroom, but what a development. What does this mean? >> Well, it means that possibly Jeff was
killed by the last story he wrote about. I mean, this was his last investigation
and and the suspect appears to be the guy he wrote about and basically took him out of office.
>> Without corroboration from police documents, the Review Journal couldn't go with the story. But Glenn Cook was
betting it wouldn't be long. His reporters had seen unmarked police cars outside Robert Telis's home.
We have every reason to believe at this point that it's only a matter of time before a search warrant is going to be
executed at that house. A search that will uncover crucial evidence. As the investigators geared up to serve
Robert Telus with a search warrant, the Review Journal needed to be sure it would be the first to break the news. It
was important because Jeff was always first and we wouldn't want to let him down and not be the first.
>> We polish that story and then we sit on it until police move in. >> In the early morning of September 7th,
2022, just 5 days after Jeff Garman's murder, Telus was brought in for questioning as
police searched his home and cars. While he was in custody, detectives collected
a DNA sample from Talis. They also took the jeans he was wearing into evidence and gave him a white paper suit to
change into before he was taken back to his house and swarmed by reporters eagerly awaiting his arrival.
>> Did you do this? Did you Did you do this? Tell us anything. Inside Telles's home, investigators say
they found gym shoes and a duffel bag similar to what was seen in the surveillance video. And when they looked
in the garage, detectives say they discovered even more. A straw sun hat or what was left of it.
>> The sun hat. >> The sun hat >> cut up into pieces. >> Yes. But police say the most crucial piece of
evidence would come from the DNA sample that was taken from Telus earlier that day.
>> We received positive DNA results that showed Robert Telus's DNA at the crime scene.
>> Telus's DNA was under Jeff's fingernails. There's no doubt in my mind that Jeff knew exactly what was
happening in that split second and he made sure he got the evidence. With a DNA match apparently secured, the
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department descended on Robert Telles's home once again and began clearing the area for an
arrest. >> And this is where he was arrested. >> Yes. Review Journal photographer Kevin
Cannon was one of dozens of media who had been waiting outside Telus's home that day.
>> What happens when the cops arrive? >> Suddenly the police said, "Okay, everybody out." They kicked the entire
news. Everyone who was here out where do you go? So, I made a beline to the front
door of a neighbor who I befriended earlier when I arrived. And they, without saying a word, opened the door
and welcomed me in and walked me to their backyard where I could have a view of Telus' house.
>> And you could still see the house from your your vantage. Yeah. >> Back in the R.J. newsroom, some of the
staff anxiously kept up with what was happening at the scene through the offic's police radio and heard that
Telus refused to come out of his home. Our target is still calm on the uh phone. However, he has made a couple 405
comments. >> 405 comments, a code Las Vegas police use to indicate comments associated with
self harm. >> It was kind of scary at that point. We were thinking, is is this all going to
end on his terms now? Based on the 405 comments, we're going to go ahead and make the official
request for Slo. >> Well, my colleagues heard through the scanner that they were going to move in
because he had cut himself and they wanted to save him before he harmed himself more
>> and they wanted to get to him. >> Right. >> The SWAT team made its move and that's
when Kevin got ready. And so you were positioned, you were ready to go then, >> right? I was ready to go the whole time.
I mean, I had my finger on the button the whole time. >> Where do you look? What do you see
behind you? >> Well, I see them rolling him out on a stretcher down around that corner down
that path out the driveway and put in an amulet right here. >> Kevin was the only photographer that day
to capture Telus's dramatic arrest. His image of Telus on the stretcher made the
front page of the Review Journal the following morning. The next day I uh opened the paper and there was the photo
on the front page with the banner headline stunning arrest and and I it was stunning
>> and satisfying for you after all that. >> Very satisfying. It >> becomes huge news obviously all over the
country. >> A reporter allegedly killed by a politician for a story he wrote. >> That's pretty unheard of.
After Telus was treated at the hospital for his self-inflicted injuries, he was booked into the Clark County Detention
Center. 6 weeks later, Telus was indicted by a grand jury for murder with use of a deadly weapon.
>> How do you plead guilty or not guilty? >> Not guilty, your honor. Soon after, evidence from the grand jury
was released by the Clark County District Court, including that grainy surveillance attack video.
>> I think probably what we found some of the most disturbing is the last three videos.
>> Minutes later, it shows the asalent returning to the scene of the crime and parking that maroon Yukon Denali in
front of Jeff's driveway. And now you'll see him walk over and make sure that Jeff is dead.
>> And you're theorizing he is checking to see >> if he's dead because obviously Jeff saw
this this person. >> He wants to make sure that there's not a witness that's still alive.
>> Seemingly satisfied, the suspect walked back to his car and left. Since his arrest, Talis has been in jail
awaiting trial. Did you murder Jeff Gar? [Music] >> Hey, Robert. >> Good morning. We met Robert Telus for a
video interview at the Clark County Detention Center and began with the question on everyone's mind.
>> Did you murder Jeff Gmer? >> No sir, I did not. >> If you did not commit this murder, who
did? >> I will reserve that for trial. >> You have said that you were framed. >> Do you stand by that in this
conversation? >> I do. I absolutely do. Telus says he can explain the evidence against him. The torn up sun hat, the
Yukon Denali, and his DNA under Jeff's fingernails. >> I say that that evidence or so-called
evidence was planted along with the other items that were allegedly found in my home as well. And we will go ahead
and prove that at trial. >> How could someone who is trying to frame you plant your DNA under his
fingernails? How would that have have happened? They first they would have had to have gotten your DNA and then when
would they have planted it under his fingernails? It seems far-fetched. >> Well, you know, crazier things have
happened. And I'll tell you that I didn't kill Mr. Germit. >> Come on, man. That's overwhelming. DNA
ends up under his fingernails. Your DNA. This is an overwhelming case against you, Robert, that you committed this
murder. >> And Jen, sir, you know, you have the facts wrong, and I will demonstrated at trial.
>> He also says he will show he didn't do those things Garman wrote about in his
articles. >> Robert, you're saying that what these women have said to me, what they told
Jeff Garman and he printed, those are all lies. If you looked at what Mr. German
printed, none of it was none of it had any facts within it, right? It was all alleged opinion about, you know, what
how they felt that that I I acted. >> But it's hard to argue with this, the footage the women shot of their boss and
his alleged lover in the parking garage. >> Let me ask you straight. Were you and
Roberta having an affair? >> No, she was a confidant. Um, but I I'll leave it at
that. >> But Jeff was not willing to leave it at that. He was planning on writing another
piece. According to police documents, Telus and Roberta got word the day before the murder that there was a
planned release of emails and messages between her and Telus to the review journal.
There was a freedom of information request that Jeff had put out and you were told that new messages and emails
were going to come out describing the relationship between you and Roberta, communications between the two of you
and it suggested that you made a decision to murder him to try to silence that to prevent that from being
published. What do you say about that? >> I say that's a mischaracterization of of
things. I'll tell you that what was going to be released and I saw what was going to be released
um had no inklings of of any type of you know confidential relationship any type
of supposed affair. It was all business related. So that would not have been a motivation because
there was nothing that was going to be produced that that would look bad. Prosecutors have mentioned this as a
contributing motive to the murder. In Robert Telus's mind, Jeff Gman ruined his marriage, ruined his political
career, embarrassed him, and was continuing to report on him rather than leave him alone.
>> If the intention of the alleged killing was to stop Jeff's reporting, it didn't
work. After his murder, the R.J. A journalist hunted through Jeff's notes, >> picking up where Jeff left off,
>> and completed the stories Jeff had been working on at the time of his death, including another on Robert Telles's
toxic past, a story that investigates claims of sexual harassment, all of which he has denied.
>> The main thing here is you cannot kill a reporter and kill the story. You just can't do that.
>> In life, Jeff Garman was known to protect his sources at all costs. In death, Jeff was still protecting
them. After the murder, the police took all his devices, which harbored the names of countless sources.
The review journal went to court and in a hard-fought case that went all the way
to the Nevada Supreme Court, the paper won protection for his sources. That'll be the Gearman rule. You will not be
able to go into a reporter's files. You will not be able to go through their phone. You will not be able to look at
their sources even after death. These four Jeff Garman sources are not about to let the world forget the
reporter who fought to protect them. They have attended almost every hearing trying to come to terms with their
feelings of guilt. >> Because no matter what logic is in your head, it's not your fault that Jeff made
his choices and that he was a professional. Your heart tells you if we wouldn't have made that call, he
wouldn't have died in that violent way that day. And if I was to talk to him today, I
think the first thing I would say is I'm sorry, but not for him, for me, because
he wouldn't accept my apology, but I need to give it. Jeff Garman was a reporter's reporter,
one of the good guys, a man who spent a lifetime speaking truth to power. Truths
that are now baked into the history of this place. A neon strip of gritty stories laid bare beneath the desert
sky. >> He told anyone who asked that he was never going to retire, that he was going
to report until his last breath. And that's exactly what he did. and he gave his life to this job. He literally gave
his life to this job. I think that's his legacy. [Music] >> New CBS next. A soldier suspected of
killing his young wife. >> He's been trained on how to kill. >> Goes on the run. He just disappeared off
the face of the map >> with his 17-year-old girlfriend. >> If he was willing to kill his own wife,
there's no telling what kind of danger Hannah Thompson would have been in. >> 48 Hours is all new. CBS Next and
streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music]

"48 Hours" compiles some of Peter Van Sant's most shocking true-crime Investigations. Watch the YouTube mini marathon, which includes "Chasing the Barefoot Bandit," "The Sugar Land Conspiracy" and "The Assassination of Jeff German."

00:00 Chasing the Barefoot Bandit 41:00 The Sugar Land Conspiracy 1:23:13 The Assassination of Jeff German

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

Colton Harris Moore, the Barefoot Bandit, steals planes and evades capture, impacting his community before his eventual arrest.

Key points

Local Fear and Frustration. Residents of Kamino Island reach a breaking point, fearing for their safety due to Colton's actions.
The Legend Grows. Colton's daring exploits inspire fan clubs and media attention, turning him into a folk hero.
A Frantic 911 Call. A family returns home to find an intruder, leading to a terrifying 911 call.
The Capture of Colton Harris Moore. After a two-year odyssey, Colton is finally arrested in the Bahamas.
Trisha's True Love. Trisha's greatest joy was being a mom, adored by her children and friends.
A Shocking Betrayal. Bart Whitaker's alleged plan to kill his family is revealed, shocking everyone.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Pam chose beer over everything. It ruined his life.

6:45WatchSep 6, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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