Reasons To Kill | “48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] a key witness takes a stand in the trial of Patrick frzy investigators believe
Patrick frzy killed Kelsey Barth in her town home on Thanksgiving last year day two of the murder trial for the
man who allegedly killed his fance day seven of the trial investigators revealed the moments they found
surveillance video of Kelsey Barth and her one-year-old daughter at Woodland Park Supermarket is the last anyone seen
of the 29-year-old mother if convicted frzy could face life in prison we can certainly sense that we are in the final
days of this trial and it is cly purple Creek is a small town Teller county is a
small County we're up in like a minute they have never seen anything to this magnitude in Creek Ashley
Franco KKTV 11 News you've covered every second of this trial what has the feeling been inside that courtroom it's
been cold it's been very heavy and chilling during the first week we learned about some of the evidence in
the case Crystal Lee Patrick fr's exgirlfriend is said to be the prosecution's star
witness okay it's uh 11:15 again on the 21st December 2018 um we're inside Kelsey's apartment
with Crystal you are seeing what the jury saw remarkable evidence the heart of the prosecution's case when you you
came in what did you see um when I first walked in I saw um blood all over the floor I saw blood
up the wall who is Crystal Lee Crystal Lee is a rodeo queen from Idaho she's very well
known and she's Patrick fr's ex-girlfriend they'd known each other for over a decade she's the bread and butter to
this case that's Crystal Lee wearing a police jacket and hat can you point to the area
where you saw and clean blood up on the wall she admits to cleaning up the crime
scene and tells a prosecution the whole entire story of what happened the spray was friend here all
way she's the only person in the world that they have to possibly convict Patrick czy
we did a deal with the devil there's just no if hands or butts about it in this case but it's a deal that we made
in order to move this case forward and to solve this crime sometimes in order to solve a case
or move a case forward we have to give a deal to the devil uh that's exactly what
we did here did you say that you cleaned off some of the appliances I did I wiped
the there was blood on the front of the dishwasher there was blood on the front of the stove Crystal Le was obviously
the the star witness for the prosecution and she testified to things that the prosecution needed her to say in order
to establish this case I am a grber I'm a professor of law at University of Colorado law school I think there were
doubts about Crystal Le's testimony coming into it Crystal Lee has trafficked in
lies Crystal Lee is saying he has been planning on killing Kelsey and he had called me multiple times about it
there's poison coffee there's a baseball bat scented candles a blindfold phones that are
pinging all over Colorado and and in Idaho I got to tell you it's one of the most emotional trials I've ever been
through and I've been through a lot of Trials uh the roller coaster everybody was put on there wasn't anybody on this
team that at some point uh didn't have tears running down their face we just got word that a verdict has
been reached in the case against Patrick frzy tell them try to take it we're the
F we're the only ones out here there's always a little bit of nervousness and question in the back of your mind just
hours ago we were hearing closing statements and now now we have a verdict [Music]
[Music] Patrick frzy sits in this grim Creek Colorado jail put here by his former girlfriend Crystal
Lee there's blood on the wall here there's blood on the wall here and there was blood right here in disturbing
evidence that you will see throughout the program tonight she tells her story about a crime scene cleanup I moved to
the couch I wiped the couch off um there was blood behind the couch down the wall
a plan to transport a body we brought got the tote here we unloaded the tote and her help in making sure there would
be no trace of it left behind the things that were thrown into the fire by me were the um the belongings from Kelsey's
house the curtains the pillows the stuffed animals The Tale begins when these haunting images were captured a mother
in the grocery store shopping with her baby Thanksgiving Day 2 8 the last time Kelsey Barth was seen in public she not
the kind that runs off this is completely out of character it was Cheryl Barth who reported her
29-year-old daughter missing after trying to reach her for days Kelsey we just want you
home call us if you can and we won't quit looking at that time in early December
Woodland Park police had not publicly named a suspect we are treating Kelsey's disappearance as a missing person's case
at this time you can't eat and you can't sleep and the stress won't end until we
find her usually it was us four all together all the time Ashley Cogburn Amanda Smith
and Nicole Haywood had an unbreakable bond with Kelsey they grew up together in Moses Lake Washington from the
pictures she's gorgeous obviously and very put together and so you might think that she's you know this prissy girl but
she was not she she was raised on a hay farm and very much a tomboy country girl
yeah she's out there driving tractors and and bucking Bales in flying planes she was a flight instructor is she a
good pilot oh yeah she was really good she wasn't afraid to challenge the the typical
boundaries so it wasn't a surprise when a Colorado cowboy named Patrick frzy caught Kelsey's eye on a dating website
in 2016 he was like a country boy and that's what she was used to that's what she
liked they started a long-distance relationship Patrick frzy lived on a 35 acre ranch in rural Floris Colorado
these are four dogs to be our dogs to train this fall and winter in this video Patrick can be heard training cattle
dogs pepper that'll do down he also shoed horses and groomed donkeys the black and white one is uh
flash Clint kleene has known Patrick for seven years Patrick is uh the faer for the donkeys people call them hor shoers
and all that but our donkeys don't have shoes so he trims their feet he trims their feet it's he he gives them as we
call it donkey manicures client says Patrick was quiet and dedicated to his work he's kind of a laidback you know
kind of stays to himself uh he had his Ranch to take care of eventually Kelsey moved to Colorado
from Washington State to be closer to Patrick and they were expecting a child her mother Cheryl says they were engaged
do she have a dress yet no I don't think she cared about The Big Wedding kind of
thing it was between them and God even after their daughter Kaylee was born in October 2006 17 the couple still didn't
live together but shared parenting duties he never came to see her but um she would like on her days off she would
go back and be with him friends say Kelsey was struggling to balance the baby her job and a long commute her
relationship with Patrick seems strained she seemed to be kind of stressed out from the whole thing that she couldn't
make him happy was Patrick emotionally abusive um it appeared that way from uh what I saw and it seemed like it was
just knocking her spirit down did Kelsey ever say he was physically abusive no Ashley says Kelsey once mentioned there
may have been another woman in Patrick's life I think Kelsey had mentioned one time about an ex-girlfriend who still
kind of wanted to be with Patrick Kelsey wasn't worried about it I don't know if
it cuz she knew she lived far away Kelsey didn't seem all that worried about it after Kelsey was reported missing
police talked to Patrick he told them that the day before Thanksgiving Kelsey said she wanted to end their
relationship KKTV reporter Ashley Franco he said that Kelsey wanted to go their separate ways and things weren't working
out between them they wanted to split custody 50/50 and they were just not meshing
anymore Patrick told police he and Kelsey met to exchange the baby on Thanksgiving Day He also returned
Kelsey's belongings a purse um keys to the car keys to the town home and then a gun that Kelsey owned it was a gun
Patrick says he had once taken from Kelsey for her own protection police say Patrick told them Kelsey struggled with
depression hinting that she made suicidal when you hear that Patrick said Kelsey was unstable that she was maybe
suicidal no no not at all it doesn't match up with Kelsey police searched Kelsey's home but turned up no signs of
Foul Play then Cheryl and her son went to the house to check it out there was a mat a like a rug of some
sort in the bathroom and it's gone and she had also noticed that the refrigerator looked like it had been
wiped down recently you could see [Music] streaks later her son is in the bathroom
and notices Blood on the base of the toilet and the alarms go off in their minds alarms go
off Kelsey's mother Cheryl alerted investigators who returned to the house this time they used chemicals to detect
the presence of blood they found Trace Amounts of blood everywhere in the bathroom do we know whose blood DNA
results showed it was Kelsey's investigators believed Kelsey had been murdered but they needed more
evidence a closer look at Kelsey and her fiance's cell phone activity Thanksgiving weekend would lead them to
her suspected killer [Music] [Music] Patrick fry was taken into custody this morning in Floris and Colorado just
after 7:00 this morning Mountain Standard Time nearly a month after Kelsey Barth
vanished Woodland Park police chief miles D young made this Grim announcement today we arrested Patrick
frzy on charge of the first-degree murder of Kelsey Barth as a reminder Patrick frzy is Presumed Innocent
until proven guilty Patrick what do you have to say despite the murder charge Kelsey's body had not been found as you
can tell from the arrest sadly we do not believe Kelsey is still alive Kelsey's daughter Kaye is in
protective custody and will be re reunited with Kelsey's family Patrick frzy entered a plea of not guilty but
from the beginning investigators had questions about Patrick's story starting with his initial claim that the day
before Thanksgiving Kelsey told him she wanted to break up and quote go there separate ways so this is Woodland Park
this is Woodland Park yet there she was shopping the next day for the family dinner you see her
grab a cart and and put Kaye in the cart and then go off and that's last time publicly anyone had seen Kelsey Barth
what does she buy Here at Safeway she buys ingredients for a sweet potato CLE investigators wondered if Kelsey had
broken up with Patrick why would she send him this text I bought some sweet potatoes in case you wanted sweet potato
casserole Kelsey didn't tell her mother she and Patrick were breaking up when she spoke with her Thanksgiving morning
did she sound normal did she sound definitely she she sounded happy and normal mom daughter talk yeah yeah
another big question investigators had was when Patrick said he last Saw Kelsey Patrick told officers that he
hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving November 22nd when he exchanged their daughter kayy
Barth in images from a neighbor security camera on that Thanksgiving Day Patrick
and Kelsey are seen at her door with a baby carrier after Kelsey returned from the store you can see her holding a
point CIA later Patrick is seen at that same location alone we don't know whether he's is coming or going he
doesn't have Kaye um and he's not with Kelsey and then that's it University of Colorado law professor ya Gruber has
followed the case the critical question is what happened in between around 13045 and 3:30 when they get that
picture of him police say this is likely when Patrick killed her investigators have recovered um a
number of items that make us suspicious that the crime did occur at Kelsey's residence Patrick told authorities he
drove their daughter Kaye to his Ranch for Thanksgiving dinner he said Kelsey wasn't with them but investigators
discovered that her cell phone was they pulled Tel phone records and found that on Thanksgiving Day November
22nd all of a sudden Kelsey's phone and Patrick's phone started traveling together but Patrick and Kelsey were not
together investigators say Patrick took Kelsey's cell phone after he killed her as part of a scheme to cover his tracks
They believe he faked 19 calls between the two phones over Thanksgiving weekend and was sending texts between them
including this one from Kelsey's phone I'm going running I'll call you guys when I get home his response okay be
safe the theory that the prosecution's going to put forward is that that was Patrick with her phone and he's texting
pretending to be Kelsey two days after Thanksgiving authorities believe Patrick concocted this conversation are you
awake sorry I didn't hear my phone going to jump in the shower I'll call you guys
when I get out okay then investigators believe to keep up his ruse that Kelsey wanted the breakup Patrick sent this
message if this is truly what you want I'll respect your wishes and give you space on Sunday 3 days after
Thanksgiving there was a bizarre development that would send this case in a very different Direction phone records
show while Patrick cell stayed near his Ranch Kelsey's phone was on the Move heading west out of
Colorado so was a text from Kelsey's phone to her supervisor at Doss Aviation saying I won't be at work so people had
thought maybe they heard from Kelsey the next text from Kelsey's phone said do you even love me that text pinged off a
cell phone tower 800 miles away reports are correct that Kelsey's phone gave a location near Gooding Idaho on November
25th when that came out I think everyone was was just shocked and where's Kelsey and where's
Kelsey no one knows where Kelsey is so how did her phone end up in Idaho this woman may have the answer
[Music] it was startling news when investigators revealed that 3 days after Kelsey Barth
was last seen her cell phone had pinged in Gooding Idaho 800 miles from her home
tonight we have new information about a 32-year-old twinfalls woman that may have helped Patrick frzy cover up The
Disappearance and alleged murder of his fiance Kelsey Barett at the time of Kelsey's disappearance
phone records show that Patrick was in touch with this woman Crystal Kenny Lee Crystal was a nurse and Avid horsewoman
who grew up here this is Crystal's world kmvt news director and weekend Cowboy Kade Atwood we work hard to be able to
do this on the weekends Crystal and her family are a big part of the rodeo Community a very
PR minent Family Talk horses and that's you're speaking her love language you know
Michelle Stein is Crystal's best friend horses are her life she loves [Music] horses take a look at this and in Idaho
where Rodeo rules Crystal was royalty in 2008 she was crowned queen of the Magic
Valley Rodeo she was so Lov by Laura stman has known Crystal since she was a teenager Crystal was so kind with
everybody that it was just so difficult to turn her down in any way Crystal had a reputation of getting what she wanted
no I wouldn't say it was a reputation of getting what she wanted Crystal worked so hard at everything she did to try to
do everything completely correct authorities believed that it was Crystal who traveled to Idaho with
Kelsey's phone but when the FBI made their initial call to Crystal she said she had no idea who Kelsey Barth was she
also denied knowing Patrick frzy then she changed her story they asked her when was the last time you talked to him
and she said I don't know I'd have to look at my phone and then says oh in the last month and investigators are
thinking okay but we already know that your phone has called his phone multiple times in the last few weeks she says I
don't have a personal relationship with Patrick frzy I've gone to Colorado and looked at a few of his horses and that's
the extent of our relationship she lies she lies turns out Crystal Lee and Patrick
frzy had a long history they met After High School then 8 months before Kelsey disappeared Chrystal and Patrick's
relationship heated up Crystal was recently divorced with two children she had been out here multiple times to see
him and it was type a type of Affair what did Crystal say about Patrick was she in love with him I think she was to
a point during the investigation the FBI got a tip that Michelle had explosive information about the case she says
Crystal called and confided in her about a disturbing conversation she and Patrick had a month before Kelsey
disappeared she was very very upset very distraught she had told me that he had asked her to take care of his baby mama
and you took that to me or she took that so I was like well I was in shock at first because people who says that
nobody says that so I was like wait what and she said yeah he asked me if I would kill the mother of his baby I mean
what are you thinking at that point I I was just in shock and disbelief what was
Crystal's tone when she was telling you this she was balling she was crying she was extremely
upset and scared Michelle says she asked Crystal why Patrick wanted to kill Kelsey he had told her it was because
she wanted to take him back to court to get custody of the baby and he was in fear that she was going to harm the baby
investigators found no proof Kelsey had harmed her daughter but did find evidence that Patrick had planned to
challenge Kelsey for custody and believe that may have been his motive for murder
Michelle says she pushed Crystal to call the police I kept telling her I think you need to call and tell somebody see
you got to understand I'm trusting her to do the right thing but I think Michelle people watching will say call
the police say you need to talk to my friend someone's asking her to kill someone you're right okay of course the
viewers are going to think that but do you have regret of course I regret it I regret it every day oh my God I would do
anything to have stopped that somehow Kelsey had been gone about a month before Michelle talked to the FBI
and when the FBI went back at Crystal a second time she too was ready to talk I think at that point she kind of knows I
have to come clean but first Crystal wanted a deal in exchange for her testimony against
Patrick she agreed to plead guilty to evidence tampering she admitted to getting rid of the gun to tossing
Kelsey's keys in a canyon and destroying her phone it's a tampering with evidence
charge which is a minor charge compared to murder or um you know accessory to murder or attempted murder she only
faces at Max 3 years in prison this is a pretty good deal that she gets what Crystal revealed to investigators
would become the center of the prosecution's case against Patrick frzy when I first walked in I saw blood all
over the floor I saw blood up the [Music] wall when Crystal Lee finally started talking she didn't stop for 4 and a half
hours her story was stunning she claimed Patrick tried to get her to kill Kelsey
three different times the first idea was to get a caramel macchiato from Starbucks Kelsey's favorite drink and
put poison in it 2 months before Kelsey went missing crystal says she drove 12 hours from Idaho to this Starbucks near
Kelsey's home in Colorado hi welcome to Starbucks what can I get started for you
to Crystal a nurse told investigators she suggested the perfect potion a lethal dose of ambient and Valium this
is the drink that is the drink Crystal Lee had ordered to put poison in to give to Kelsey
Barett so Crystal brings this Starbucks Caramel Macchiato right here waits in the alleyway walks up to 's door knocks
on the door Andel Kelsey opens it Kelsey opens it tells Kelsey this elaborate story she says I'm new to the
neighborhood someone had told me that you had helped get my dogs out of trouble and Kelsey says no I didn't do
that does Kelsey take the coffee allegedly Kelsey takes the coffee inside and closes the door and from there we
don't we don't know what Kelsey does with the coffee but crystal says she couldn't do it she didn't poison the
coffee and when Patrick found out he was angry he was Furious he was not happy that she didn't go through with
it he would play head games with her a lot Crystal's best friend Michelle Stein he just had a way of manipulating her
into doing things after crystal said she couldn't go through with the poison plan
she told investigators Patrick came up with a different idea he says um I have a metal
pipe that I'll leave outside my property that you can come pick up and I want you
to go wait for Kelsey at her town home and when she comes hit her on the back of the
[Music] head the way Crystal tells it she drove to Kelsey's house with that metal pipe
but didn't attack her and drove back to Idaho a week later she says Patrick called with a new murder plan once again
Crystal drove from Idaho to Kelsey's Colorado townhouse Crystal claimed she waited for Kelsey outside her home this
time with an aluminum baseball bat but just like her earlier attempts she says she chickened
[Music] out it's just hard to believe these stories they seem outlandish and wild phone record show Patrick called
Crystal in Idaho around 4:30 on Thanksgiving Day crystal said he told her you need to get out here now you got
a mess to clean up crystal says that she can't come out that same day um but will
come out a few days later um she's in Idaho loads up the car with cleaning supplies bleach um hairnets you know
gloves trash bags she basically brought the equivalent of a hazmat suit and every
sort of cleaning product that one might see in one of those uh TV shows about how to clean up a crime scene 2 days
later on Saturday morning Crystal says she drove 800 miles to Patrick's Ranch to pick up a set of Kelsey's keys he
left for her outside then she says she drove to Kelsey's Home Crystal tells authorities
she opens a door and the scene is horrific there's blood everywhere according to Crystal Kelsey's body was
not inside and then spends you know 3 to 4 hours cleaning and scrubbing the the murder scene she takes some of the
things that she couldn't clean and puts them into trash bags and loads them in the back of the car she was driving
Crystal claims Patrick was back at his Ranch during the cleanup there was a point in time when Patrick frzy had told
Crystal when you go to clean up her town home there is possibly a tooth somewhere
crystal said she found that tooth and put it in a trash bag Crystal told investigators after the
cleanup she met with Patrick she described to them how he said he lured Kelsey to her death Crystal claims
Patrick invited his fiance to play a guessing game with candles she says that he takes a sweater
from Kelsey's room and blind fold her with the sweater and has candles sitting out in front of Kelsey and is telling
Kelsey to guess the scent of each candle during her interview with investigators crystal said Patrick told
her while baby Kaye was in another room he took a baseball bat in quote he went to
swinging after killing Kelsey with that baseball bat on Thanksgiving Day crystal
says Patrick told her he put her body in a black tote this surveillance image shows Patrick at
an ATM earlier that day with a black tote in his truck Crystal went with investigators to
Patrick's Ranch she told them that she and Patrick went there together and she watched him burn that tote he poured
gasoline in the bucket and pitched it into the fire I believe yesterday you said that you also collected wood in put
into the burn pit yes I did police later examined the spot where they believe Kelsey's body was
burned Crystal also went with investigators to Kelsey's home she's wearing that police jacket and hat the
floorboards had been removed for testing and can you point if you remember where
the tooth was around the tooth what was there if anything one there was blood on the chairs there's
blood on this chair there's blood on the table there's blood on the Hobby Lobby bag that was sitting there she pointed
out where she claims she intentionally left blood for them to find right there on December 21st
2018 Patrick was arrested at his Ranch and charged with Kelsey's murder this is a case where without a
body uh this is a case without a lot of physical evidence so what we mainly have
connecting Patrick frzy to an incredibly brutal and violent crime is Crystal Lee's
testimony Chrystal who had cut that deal with prosecutors seemed shaken when she
appeared in court after she turned herself into authorities the crystal I knew could do
no wrong but the crystal that has done the things that came out of her mouth is somebody I don't know and that leaves
Laura stutzman with one question [Music] [Music] why almost a year after Kelsey barth's
disappearance there was a long on line to get a seat in the courtroom at Patrick fr's murder trial uh I think a
lot of people that knew Patrick they don't think that the candle story adds up fr's friend Clint Klein was there
almost every day I don't know of any guys that would have thought of going out and buying candles and having their
girlfriend be blindfolded and then smell the candles you think that had to be a woman's idea I think so
frzy was driven from the jail in a black SUV he entered the courthouse through this white tent out of sight from the
media security was tight no cameras in the courtroom district attorney Dan may I got to tell you it's one of the most
emotional trials I've ever been through and I've been through a lot of trials in
my career prosecutor Beth Reed painted a picture of Patrick freezy very Charming
very manipulative and controlling all traits consistent with being a sociopath Ashley Franco summed up the
defense case no body no murder weapon and no clear motive they had said you know Patrick wasn't involved there's no
evidence to show he was involved and Crystal Lee had already lied to law enforcement so she's the one to blame
for this on day four the prosec ution star witness Crystal Lee took the stand her credibility was on the line I don't
think we would have known what happened to Kelsey without Crystal Le I started picking up things that were blood
spoted for two days prosecutor Jennifer vean asked Lee to describe Fry's plan to
kill Kelsey Barth they bolster their case with surveillance videos and photos this one shows the black tote in the
back of Fry's truck that Lee says he would use to dispose of her body when you came in what did you see
blood all over the floor I saw blood up the wall saw Blood on the this wall most
disturbing prosecutors played that video of Lee inside Kelsey's home showing investigators how she cleaned up the
crime scene did you say correct me if I'm wrong did you say that you cleaned off some of the appliances I did I wiped
the there was blood on the front of the dishwasher there was blood on the front of the
stove um there was um that cinnamon roll pan had blood on the um tin foil they had pulled up the floorboards
where they found Kel's blood they showed video of a hay barn where Lee says frzy hid Kelsey's body in
that tote overnight a cadaver dog alerted to the area this is a surveillance image of
frzy at a gas station Lee says he was buying gas to start a fire we brought the tote here okay we unloaded the
tote okay Kelsey's body was moved to Fry's Ranch were you present when he started the fire yes I was okay this is
the video that shows how Lee says she helped frzy burn Kel's body in that black tote what about the accelerant gas
okay and burned evidence including kayle's toys and Kelsey's bloodstained Bible do
you remember what the books were by just one of them was her um I would imagine it was a
Bible experts say a human female tooth fragment was recovered from fr's Ranch near the burn site but there wasn't
enough DNA to determine a profile [Music] at the end of her testimony she told the
jury Kelsey's chilling last words please stop but he didn't he keeps beating her
and beating her and beating her the jury needed to hear that they needed to hear
how brutal this was how uncaring he was how senseless this was why would Lee help frzy she claimed she feared for
herself and her children she was in love with Patrick frzy and had been for a long
time as the tri went on and and we saw that dark side of Patrick frzy that crystal saw that Kelsey saw I think you
can understand some of that fear I I I don't know that we'll ever understand entirely why she did what she did it's
it's fairly inexplicable perhaps the most shocking testimony came from a surprise
prosecution witness your last witness I think jws dropped when he started testifying tell me about him we didn't
know about him prosecutor Beth Reed says the surprise witness was an inmate at the same jail where Patrick frzy was
being held he actually had started calling our office while we were in the middle of trial the former inmate had
watched a 48 Hours episode on Kelsey barth's murder turns out he says frzy gave him a
hit list some of the names handwritten on paper towels he was instructed to flush describe to me what was in the 16
notes passed between Patrick and the former inmate well they were requests that a certain number of
Witnesses needed to disappear but it was very specific as to Crystal Lee graphic
descriptions of what needed to happen to Crystal Le he described putting a bullet in her
head also on fr's Hit List Crystal Lee's best friend Michelle Stein and Kelsey mother Cheryl
Barth what does that say about Patrick frzy it says that Patrick will do whatever he wants to get whatever he
wants the defense called No Witnesses frzy chose not to testify the case went to the
jury after 3 and 1/2 hours of deliberations a verdict a verdict is in in this 11 breaking news alert the jury
says they unanimously found Patrick frzy guilty of first deegree murder frzy was
found guilty of first-degree murder sentenced to life in prison plus 156 years do you think if Patrick hadn't
involved Crystal he would have gotten away with Kelsey's murder yes I do I think it's very possible he would have
gotten away with that involving Crystal was that was a stupid plan the whole plan was stupid but he wanted Crystal
Lee to pend it on as for Crystal Lee She's facing a maximum of up to 3 years in prison I think a lot of our viewers are
probably thinking Crystal Lee given what she's admitted to got a really good deal she did and um
uh it's it's not right and I'm not going to try to justify it any way uh it's unfortunately a part of my profession
that sometimes in order to solve a case or we have to give a deal to the devil uh that's exactly what we did
here if you could sentence Crystal Lee what would it be uh heck of a lot more time than 3 years she could have saved
Kelsey so many times over so many months and it's totally inexcusable is this Justice for Kelsey
and kayy can there ever be justice justice in this case Kelsey be sitting here talking to
you not us excuse me um so we can C certainly seek a certain amount of justice but not the justice that this
case deserves [Music] [Music] he [Music] the week before Frank was murdered we were at a go-kart
[Music] race Frank would be running all these cars and it got so competitive and they
loved it he couldn't quit a real competitor yeah he really he just he the quit wasn't in
him Frank Spencer was he was like a big teddy bear if he knew you he'd cut a leg off
get up and ask if you need anything else he was one of a kind great person outstanding
friend I've talked to at least five of Frank's friends who've all told me they were Frank's best friend I think that
speaks volumes about who Frank Spencer was was Peter this is the Frank Spencer residence uh the scene of the murder
really unchange since 2012 can you take me inside sure let's go Frank Spencer's body was right here
on these tiles oh my is that remnants of his blood here it is we didn't have to ask each other we
knew we knew it was Maria we didn't know who else might have been involved but we
knew it was her Maria Spencer to me is a classic fem fatal an attractive woman a
seductress who when a man becomes involved with her this is going to end poorly how would I describe her as a
terrorist you keeping with me cuz I'm not with you I mean it's I'm done it was a campaign of Terror Frank is afraid of
Maria and he's also afraid of Roco Franklin Roco Franklin's Maria Spencer's father everybody knew who Rocco was I'm
a street guy Rocco everybody calls me Rocko what was the reputation of Roco the mythology of Roco in the community
he was a hitman he would do things for people he was had some type of association with the mob I'm not a
violent guy now I don't mind begging somebody's legs if they deserve it this was not simply a murder
case Frank told me where it was going to happen was going to be at his house she said you're going to get shot in the
head and she told him that I think she was an emotionally troubled woman who did not want to be
divorced if you could picture somebody screaming help help help and everybody's just standing around watching that's
what the situation was like was he a dead man walking absolutely in his opinion yes you don't win unless I let you in do
you understand you don't win how could this all happen if you made this into a movie tomorrow nobody'
believe it actually happened [Music] [Music] I was working on the go-karts uh we're
right in the middle of a big series we were trying to win it was July 3rd 2012 in the once
easygoing town of Bloomsburg Pennsylvania a Tuesday Joe yodok Frank Spencer's lifelong friend hadn't heard
from him since Saturday and I had been texting him cuz we had issues we had to work on with the go-karts Joe and Frank
raced go-karts together for years with their kids and so that morning Joe went looking to find his missing buddy I'll
never forget it I was pulling down the driveway and and I thought man I hope I don't find him dead when Joe found Frank
lying on the floor it took him a moment to process what he was seeing and he' had this look of Peace calmness that he
hadn't had in a long time uh I stepped over his legs and I noticed what looked like dried blood in
his ear then I realized what happened and then he wasn't alive this loss somebody you knew from
the time you were in kindergarten can you put that in words oh nope it was a tragedy but not a
mystery for Frank's loved ones most suspected Maria Spencer Frank's former wife who had officially become his
ex-wife just 3 weeks before the murder Maria didn't want the divorce and the proceedings had been drawn out and
contentious very contentious you could tell there was just Venom didn't matter who was there she'd fly in screaming
slamming car doors ironically Maria's passion was one of the things that had attracted Frank
to her in the first place he liked the crazy Frank's friend Paul Siciliano you know in the beginning when they were
together it was fun for him you know cuz he did have that kind of wild side to him Frank and Maria eloped in
1997 soon they had a a son Cyrus and then a daughter Frankie well the kids were the were his biggest priority
everything he did was about the kids when Frank's father retired he took over the family business a junkyard located
behind Frank's childhood home Frank's friend and Joe's wife Katie yodok he knew everybody I mean everybody in the
town knew Frank Spencer Frank's friends say Maria didn't seem to warm to family life the way Frank had Frank was
disappointed that she wasn't taking that much of an interest in the kids the marriage eventually began to
crumble and Frank filed for divorce in 2006 police were called several times for domestic disputes despite this Frank
wanted to keep the kids in one home his friend Ron Ro Frank said that kids shouldn't be punished by having to go to
their mother's house or their father's house this is your house so this week I live here then the that week I'll leave
and that the the kids should try to have as stable as life as they possibly can but friends say Maria was anything but
stable in 2008 she was arrested after a scuffle with Frank's mother at her daughter's school she was charged with
disorderly conduct harassment and child endangerment for allegedly not buckling her daughter into the
car Tom lipold prosecuted the case when he was an assistant DA but didn't feel he could prove child endangerment and so
I agreed to dismiss that charge in exchange for the plate of the two other offenses Maria pleaded guilty and had to
pay a $600 fine but the Judgment only seemed to fuel Maria's rage she repeatedly threatened to kill Frank
sometimes in front of other people Frank had been reporting those threats to local police for years the issue is is
that Frank and Maria relationship was volatile Hemlock Township police officer Scott Tross says Frank and Maria would
fight but often reconcile he says he wrote up Maria's threats but says Frank didn't want it pursued he just wanted
things documented for his sake in case something happened to him by 2009 the Spencer's divorce battle was
3 years along and still far from over but emotionally Frank was moving on did the two of you hit it off right away we
did Frank and I both admit that we were both smitten at the same time when meeting each other Julie Dent met Frank
through mutual friends and things soon turned serious Maria did not take this news well especially when she heard
Julie had spent time with the children hey Julie it's Maria Spencer you can go out with Frank but do not make no
mistake about it watch my children the situation escalated further that summer Maria's father Roco Franklin who had a
reputation as a tough guy was released from prison after serving 5 years on fraud charges this was not good news to
Frank he started changing his habits when when her father was out of jail because he was very concerned about
something happening to him did he feel like he was being hunted yes a few months after Rocco's release
there was a Breakin at Frank's junkyard nothing of value was taken but a pile of
business records was stolen documents that could potentially help Maria prove Frank's income in the divorce the day
after the apparent Breakin uh I received a phone call from Maria Spencer saying that she had found a trash bag on the
front porch of her mother's house with all these business records in it remember Tom lipold the man who once
prosecuted Maria he was now serving as Maria's divorce attorney even though he was still an assistant DA it may sound
bizarre but it is allowed in Pennsylvania for parttime prosecutors in terms of appearances do you understand why it for
some it's troubling that you took on Maria Spencer because she'd had all these run-ins with the law doesn't that
compromise you it did not compromise me I had no contact and no involvement with
any criminal matter involving Frank Spencer or Maria Spencer after I undertook to represent her in the
divorce none many in town suspected Maria and Roco had been involved in the burglary Sergeant TRW interviewed Maria
and gathered evidence which he took to the DA Tom Li hold's boss um I consulted with the district attorney at that time
and then I reviewed the entire case with him and he determined that there was not
enough to pursue criminal charges against Maria Spencer Maria gave the documents to her lawyer and they were
ultimately returned to Frank but the burglary was left unsolved to this day I don't understand it it's like we're in
you know some weird Universe Frank's friends were beginning to wonder if Maria would ever be stopped especially
when they saw what happened next I guess when the house burned down I was like this isn't a game
[Music] anymore hey Julie it's Maria Spencer do me a favor don't watch my children do
not get between me and Frank by doing my children do you understand me by the winter of 2010 the war of the Spencers
continued and so did the threats from Maria I've never been threatened I really chocked it up to just a a bully
that she was just running her mouth as she so often did Maria continued to harass Frank too
often making veiled threats about her father hey Frank it's Maria old man got funny ways I thought I'd let you know
because I care about you not because I wanted to frighten you despite the threats Julie and Frank
tried to live a normal life that January they planned a romantic trip to the Caribbean and was Maria aware that you
were about to take a vacation unfortunately yes Maria started texting Julie about Frank he says he loves me
and didn't want to disappoint you on your only vacation this year and do you want to know if he loves you or me then
the night before they were supposed to leave she asked Frank to dinner to talk about custody and dinner turned into a
room for the night at a hotel she led him away that night Frank's mother's home where he lived off and on went up
in Flames Frank's friends rushed to the scene including his divorce attorney Joel whis nobody could find Frank we
were all very upset thinking Frank was in the fire fortunately the house was empty that night except for the kid's
dog who died in the fire Frank's friend Dirk Reed says as they were standing by the smoldering ruins Maria drove up
smiling drives up the driveway smirk on her face turned around left that was that Frank arrived soon after Maria left
and told the state police fire marshal that he was certain Maria and her father had set the fire but the fire marshal
said there was no way to find evidence of arson because the structure was destroyed the fire was designated
undetermined Frank was extremely angry that they could not figure out why or how the fire started Frank was done with
just wanting things documented he wanted an arrest Frank and I approached everybody we could think of in the law
enforcement Community I still to this day do not know if there was ever an investigation Sergeant tra from the
hemlock Township Police started a case File and spoke to Maria but says because of the Fire Marshal's conclusion there
was little else he could do I did have a strong suspicion that it was arson um but I'm not an expert so when he
determined that that's what I have to go with after the fire Maria seemed to taunt Frank in a text karma is a
wonderful thing you destroyed my life I feel a lot better since your whole life went up in the fire makes it
fair and I can hear her saying it it was just a text I can hear Maria followed up with another menacing
text about Julie I will make her lose her job her home and you did Frank read that to you he did he was very um
distraught by it as time went on Maria's threats grew more bold and more public at a kids
soccer game Maria screamed in Julie's face that her house was next a few months later Julie was home alone asleep
it was when I heard the breaking of glass as I came around to the top of the stairs as I was about to round the
corner I was greeted by a fireball literally a fireball coming up the stairs what do you do nothing else I
could do but to open a window and go out onto the porch roof Julie jumped from her second story porch roof and survived
shaken but uninjured I lost everything and do you believe that the sole intent of this was to burn a house
down or was it to kill you I do believe it also had the component of of ridding me from the life yes of Frank Spencer
Julie lived in a different County and she and Frank were hoping for a better outcome this time but another state
police fire marshal at the scene that night said he couldn't find evidence of what started the fire at this point even
I wasn't accepting it let alone Frank Julie's home insurance sent a fire inspector out the next morning and Joel
whis says he showed him what they'd found here by this window there was a car jack right here laying on the ground
it was a scissor jack that would lift the car what would a jack be doing here it's heavy it's steel it was used to
break that window in and the investigator noticed a through the weeds by the house there was a milk jug a
gallon container and there was an unused road flare lying next to it an igniter an igniter which said to the
investigator these are the makings of a firebomb a firebomb the state police fire marshal
came back out to the scene and they used their apparatus to determine accelerance
and there was gasoline all over to steps this time the fire was ruled an arson Frank and Julie told the fire marshal
they were certain Maria was involved and shared her prior threats but once again
no one was charged in the fall of 2010 Frank and Julie tried separating briefly and in desperation told their story to a
local paper a year and a half later there was something else in the newspaper an
announcement that Frank and Maria were finally divorced had the two of you talked about spending the rest of your
lives together perhaps we did yes but that would never happen the day after that divorce notice was
published Frank Spencer was dead let's open this a little bit further oh my [Music]
this is his home right here yes it is right here on the left uh this is the murder scene Pennsylvania State Police
Corporal Shawn Williams was assigned to lead the murder investigation the day Frank Spencer's body was
found on that July Morning as you approached the front door here what did you see Peter there was a lot of blood
right here in front of this doorway uh the blood had striations in it like as though it been pushed with a push broom
attempt at cleanup Frank's house has been frozen in time in the years since his murder in
2012 you can see some of our Chemical Testing uh Frank Spencer's blood uh spattered against uh this frame and door
can you get us inside sure [Music] Frank Spencer's body was right here on these tiles uh Frank's head was uh
behind this doorway and his arms were outreached above his head he was laying on his back investigators found their
next clue in the blood around Frank's Body right here where this section of the floor was
removed the forensic Service Unit did their collection of evidence uh they found that there were Footwear
Impressions uh on this tile in blood Footprints yes right here yes we sent it to the FBI uh for analysis and
it came back that it was a Dr scholes model Escape brand uh size 11 uh sneaker the same size and brand of shoe
that Maria's father Rocco was known to wear what other evidence did you find here in the house I can show you if you
come on in this is the main living room of Frank Spencer's home we come back into the kitchen
here the forensic Services Unit they found a glove a yellow cleaning glove uh right about this position right
here [Music] you expect to see a rubber glove in the kitchen but not laying in in the middle
of the floor and the mate for the rubber glove was actually right inside the sink
here when the gloves were tested Maria's DNA was found inside friends say she hadn't lived in that house in over a
[Music] year it wasn't a a door slam close the file and make an arrest but it definitely helped us along the way
Detective Williams had now apparently linked Maria and her father Rocco to the murder scene but that could only take
Williams so far I mean we work in our business with fact so just because everybody in town was saying I think
Maria did this I think her father did this we couldn't just assume that but soon investigators uncovered more
evidence of two suspects Frank had been shot by two different guns and and forensic analysis determined that the
first bullet struck Frank when he was outside the front door and it came from a rifle uh a bullet passed through his
bicep and went into his chest cavity and was at a fatal shot do you believe yes since a rifle is typically a
longdistance weapon police expanded their search into the woods Peter right up here on this Ridge across from the
house you'll see a y in a tree and there's a big base this one right up here yes so that is the location uh
where we found a spent casing a live casing both 30 out six rounds and there was a soft gun case uh for a long rifle
uh located as well now this killing took place in July height of summer so I take
it this whole Hillside would be covered with leaves bush is would Frank have seen an attacker up there I wouldn't
think so so this was a classic Ambush yes after that first shot Williams says Frank was dragged inside and shot again
this time with a handgun at close range then why a second bullet it could be a motivation of hatred uh it could be a
message sent to Frank Spencer that shot meant something to someone that put it there Detective Williams had another
mystery to solve where was Frank's pickup truck we have a victim inside the house but there was no vehicle there for
the victim investigators checked security cameras along the roads near Frank's house and they found images of Frank's
truck driving away from his house just minutes after they calculated he had been murdered but who was inside theck
truck I sent it to the United States Secret Service and it was still just too far away it wasn't like they could zoom
in look through the window and see who was there Frank's truck was eventually found in Sunberry Pennsylvania 27 mil
from Frank's house and just 5 miles from where Maria was living at the time Frank's missing truck had led
police toward Maria's home but there was something else missing from Franks that
day that would lead them toward rockos and then all of us saw there was a dog up here right over
here there a w [Music] miranian see you good what do you think does it look all right yeah so Frank and
Barbara Pinto run a wedding venue in Dolphin Pennsylvania 72 miles from where Frank
Spencer was killed on the day of the murder they were setting up for a wedding when an
Uninvited Guest wandered in beautiful dog just come saching in I said well whose dog is this and nobody knew whose
dog it was it was Frank's dog Mutley adopted after his kid's dog was killed in the
fire so did Mutley look exhausted like he had taken some 70 M journey to get here no you could tell he was somebody's
dog he was very well taken care very well taken care of Detective Williams realized that someone had driven Mutley
to dolphin and that person must have been at Frank's house at the time of the murder and how many killers would take a
dog with them unless they knew that dog I wouldn't think too many Williams learned that Rocco lived in Harrisburg
Pennsylvania and the wedding venue is right along the road from Frank's house to rocos Rocco's cell phone is on that
direct route that same day Williams theorizes that Maria had asked Roco to take Mutley for the kids sake and that
Mutley had run off accidentally when Roco stopped along the way it was now two mon months after
Frank's murder and Williams wanted to talk to his two main suspects Maria refused but to William's surprise Roco
agreed which still blows my mind why he decided to talk to us however I think Rocco likes that cat and mouse part of
an investigation Rocco did give Williams an alii what did he say said I never left Harrisburg I couldn't believe it
because I know from his cell phone that he had traveled twice Rocco told police a Preposterous story saying that while
he had never liked Frank he was actually at Frank's house the day before the murder without Maria helping tidy up I
said well what kind of cleaning were you doing and he said well uh I was you know
folding laundry and uh cleaning up with the push broom that's the same push broom that
was used to clean Frank's blood off the porch even more far-fetched Rocco said Frank had let him test drive his truck
that day and that when he offered to buy it Frank suggested they wrestle for it basically what he's saying is I touched
Frank Spencer I touched the truck and I touched that push broom it sounds like he's trying to create a scenario if you
find my DNA in any of these places this is why absolutely run touch around the same time Rocco was
talking to Williams Frank's friend Dirk saw Maria in the stands at a high school
football game so I just sat down beside her and I said I just want to let you know don't
worry about me around your kids I said I'm never going to say anything to disrespect you or Frank around your kids
and she looked at me and goes that's why you're still alive Reed and I just looked at her and said
tell your dad I said hi and she went off like many of Frank's friends Dirk suspected Rocco had helped Maria murder
Frank and we were basically almost nose to nose and I'm going why you took him away from not just your kids from
everybody what did she say to that though I mean did she say I didn't kill him oh no no what she said was the last
thing he saw before he died was me it was a wretched moment for dirk but a huge piece of evidence for the case
she's putting herself at a homicide scene if she saw someone take their last breath she's saying she was there by
that Autumn Williams was working with prosecutor Tony foray the senior Deputy attorney general for the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania I think it was horrible that what Frank went through foray was handling the prosecution because the
County DA was now Tom lipold Maria's former divorce attorney and he had recused himself from the
case foray was a gast when he learned Frank had been reporting death threats for years both before and after the
fires in 2010 in the state of Pennsylvania is making a death threat to someone is that
a crime yes that would be a terroristic threat even when Frank did did ask police to investigate some of the
threats he reported Maria was never brought in for an interview or charged with making terroristic threats you get
away with terroristic threats and then if you get away with a burglary and you get away with a fire and you get away
with a blatant attempt to murder a girlfriend in a fire the only thing left is murder local police officer Scott TRW
people in this town who believe that you and other members of the hemlock Township uh police department were just
not doing your job you were not properly investigating these threats and complaints you say what that's not true
every incident that was thoroughly investigated if they were serious in nature um the colum County district
attorney was consulted and he would determine at that time if somebody would get arrested or not arrested the County
district attorney during most of the time leading up to Frank's murder was Gary Norton he says he never knew about
Maria's threatening voicemails and texts as district attorney I only know what the police tell me and Norton says it
was usually up to police to make arrests not the da but when I was Da 95 to 99% of the arrests that were made were made
without consultation with the da the police had that power and exercised that power Julie dence fire was not in TRW or
Norton's district and Norton says he didn't ignore Frank's mother's Fire or the theft of Frank's business records he
says he was following the law is there an arson and can we prove arson no is there a burglary no because Frank
Spencer had no proof that it was Maria who entered the premises before a prosecutor can ethically bring a charge
there has to be evidence or proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt but prose Tony for felt he could prove the earlier crimes
and Frank's murder it took time to gather evidence and in 2013 foray convened a grand jury this time both
suspects agreed to talk and there was no interrupting Maria so as soon as she took a breath I would ask a question did
you ever threaten to kill Frank Spencer her answer would be absolutely not check one count of perjury did you ever
threaten Julie Dent absolutely not check and so foray charged Maria with 12 counts of perjury more than a dozen
other charges and most importantly Frank Spencer's murder in July 2014 Williams went to
arrest her and that's when I told her she was under arrest for the murder of Frank Spencer she immediately began to
say oh my God oh my God oh my God the warrant for Rocco's arrest was issued the same day but Rocco was
nowhere to be found it had been 2 years since Frank Spencer's murder and Maria Spencer was
finally under arrest it was like you lifted a you know a weight like there's 1,000 lb on your back but her father
Rocco had skipped town the year before flee right after he finished his grand jury testimony within like 36
hours Rocco Franklin had boarded a plane to Columbia South America and are you hot on his Trail not at that point
that's because rockco had an 11-month Head Start but once Williams had an arrest warrant and a Little Help from
the state department he found him he was only four blocks away from the United States Embassy in Buenos series
Argentina I couldn't believe that it was sort of that easy sort of was the operative term within weeks Rocco was
arrested by Argentinian police but he fought extradition and so in the fall of 2015 Maria Spencer went on trial for
Frank's murder alone prosecutor Tony for the totality of what went on is I think
both the strength of the case and also the the horror of the case foray had Maria's DNA at the crime scene the truck
found close to her home and her history of death threats Maria's defense was to blame her own father clearly the defense
strategy was this was all Roco Roco Roco He's the bad guy it was all him cameras
were not allowed inside the trial one by one Frank's friends took the stand how many of you uh were called upon to
testify at trial all of us all of us they told the jury about the fires Maria's admission that she was at the
crime scene and the years of harassment Julie Dent testified about an especially
disturbing threat so what would she say to Frank one specific that I remember playing his
day is that she would cut off both of his hands and dip them into hot tart cauterize them so that she would
never he would never be able to hold his children again the trial lasted 9 days as the
jury began its deliberation Frank's friends were worried you just things never seem to go our way you know
I was scared 8 hours later the jury had reached a verdict I look down I never look at the jury because I don't want to
react I'm waiting which seems like an eternity and then it's guilty guilty guilty guilty Maria was found guilty on
all counts for murdering Frank Spencer and for the two arson the burglary 12 counts of perjury conspiracy and
terroristic threats thank you Merry Christmas she was sentenced to life without parole plus 50 years that was it
that was it yep that's it for all of us oh my God thank you thank God it took another year and a half but
in 2017 Williams was finally able to bring Roco back to stand TR I never done anything have you killed Mr Spencer of
course not don't talk R Maria had argued Rocco killed Frank alone but Rocco wasn't following that script come on I
got no beef with Frank Spencer if I had a beef out have broke his face a long time ago but Rocco who spoke to us from
the county jail doesn't appear to be holding a grudge against Maria for trying to blame it all on him Maria
never hurt nobody but did to that girl is outrageous Roco says he's innocent of murder and the rest of it but they got
no proof what proof they had show me one piece of evidence one eyewitness one fingerprint one
anything prosecutor foray says he has plenty of evidence from the shoe print in Frank's blood Footprints yes to
Rocko's ridiculous Story how are you feeling Rocco I'm doing fine how you doing putting himself at Frank's before
the murder and of course the arrival of Mutley at that wedding like I'm that dumb that I'm going steal a a guy I'm
supposed to whack take his dog and leave it 10 miles from my house come on that don't even sound
right in the Autumn of 2018 after a 4-day trial Roco Franklin was convicted of Frank's murder and for the burglary
and the arson at Frank's mother's house he was sentenced to life plus 45 years I mean this has been a long drawn
out Affair and it never needed to be what we're going through now Dirk's wife Dena Reed after the first fire she
should have been in prison um Frank should still be here Sergeant TR says he did what he
could Frank's dead I I understand that but I wouldn't do anything and our department wouldn't do anything
differently than we did Tony foray has called what Frank experienced an epic failure of law enforcement did anyone
stop and look at the totality of everything that was going on and do something significant in terms of
arresting either Maria or her father Rocco the answer is no well there's not a crime in the Pennsylvania crimes code
that's called the totality of the circumstances make you look really guilty former da Gary Norton you have to
analyze these things Case by case and ask yourself can the arrest be made and can I in good faith uh secure a
conviction Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and the answer uh was yes where we prosecuted her and no when we did not
prosecute her I reacted as best I could in the situation and my conscience is clear I don't have any regrets as to
what I did out in front of the courthouse house where Gary Norton now serves as a judge
and Maria's former divorce lawyer Tom lipold serves as the County DA is a fundraising brick Frank Spencer
purchased years ago he dedicated it to his children and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about
him and I and I still can't figure out why why it happened [Music] [Music] he [Music]
here we [Music] are so we're at Al of Branch the church that I grew up in for 3 years this is the house that I lived
[Music] in this is probably not a door I want to open I just I don't I don't know if I could
handle being in there knowing what [Music] happened my name is Jesse my hair is pink I do decided to change my hair I
also changed my name to Jesse Jessica I no longer wanted that name cuz she was a very sad lonely angry
little girl and I just didn't want that [Music] anymore when I was a young child I lived
with my mom and my dad and then there was me the oldest my middle sister Janelle and then there was my little
sister Jolene my dad died when I was 5 years old after my dad had died my Mom married
Bob p and Bob had become a minister because my stepdad was the minister of the church we lived in the parsonage Bob's
kids were older than me and my sisters my first impression of Jeff was he was very tall skinny crazy big hair
uh and Jackie she was a little more quiet reserved my sister janal and I had a best friend Stephanie
[Music] Fagan she was like one of the family we played in the backyard we ran through
the corn fields it was typical country girl stuff the P family through my eyes seemed
normal for the most part [Music] in April 1989 I was 9 years old my whole world was
shattered Jeff was planning to go to the prom that weekend Jackie was at a church camp I
had planned to go to a friend's house so I ended up going to the sleepover by myself for the whole weekend
my Sunday routine was we would usually arrive at church between 9: and 9:15 I would go over to the P because
Don usually had breakfast made eggs bacon whatever we wanted so I ran over there when the door was locked I was
confused the doors were never locked and I went running back to the church and I said I don't know they must
all sleeping at this point in time I think the whole congregation was there they
had a master key they went and scoped it out themselves and they came back and said everybody needs to run to the Altar
and pray I was super confused we drove up and and I saw lots of people in the parking
lot and there were cop cars everywhere there was yellow crime tape a police officer came up to the van
and asked my friends mom to get out and I could see them talking and I could see
the tears just start streaming down her face who shot and killed the family so she came around and told me that my
whole family was gone the brutal murder of the P high powered shotgun wasn't home
[Music] [Music] the brutal M of the P family shot to death in their home Sunday morning
thrust a small town into the national [Music] Spotlight I had just found out that my
whole family was gone I had just lost everything I pretty much became an orphan in a
day Lake V indana was never the same for me and it was never the same for anybody
to be honest with you that lived there it was hard on the whole Community this happy picture of the P
family is how most people who knew the Pell probably want to remember them because that family was loved dearly and
nobody could understand it Jesse and I we were 3 years apart in age it wasn't too hard for me to try to
put myself into her shoes and to know what it must be like to lose everyone the funeral was on May 3rd 1989
in the church where Bob P preached every Sunday next to the house where they were
[Music] murdered it was standing room only there was media everywhere news anchors running around with cameras
pointed at us as we walked in also at the funeral where Jesse's stepsister Jackie and Stepbrother Jeff both had not
been home the weekend of the murders I remember seeing Jackie visibly emotionally upset and
shaken Jeff he was just flat and distant it's like he was there but he wasn't there the only thing I remember about my
family's funeral was the caskets I don't remember who all was there I couldn't tell you what I was was
doing I just remember the four caskets we were toward the front of the church in a
Pew and all at once the chords to a piano began to play the song Amazing [Music]
Grace and I just remember being so devastated to realize the reason that the caskets
were closed is because of the horrific way that they had died no one should have seen what we saw
that morning we walked in through the garage door and upstairs Robert P was in the
hallway his glasses next to him and he had two gunshots on his body and then we went downstairs and
saw Don jonell and Jolene and that was what really put a face to this crime to see the young girls in that
position the way they were with their mothers trying to protect them was just something that was ET in my
mind forever they were all shot in the head it was devastating it stuck with me my whole life I mean 30 years later I
can still see if I close my eyes the three people in the basement as a detective I saw the worst of the worst
that morning but we had a job to do so immediately started talking about suspects it did not look like a
burglary it did not look like a home invasion the police spoke to all of the surviving
members of the P family including Jeff P so do you know who killed your mother and father or your father and no I I
really don't I I don't know who would want to I didn't know who had done it or who they thought had done it it was like
a hush hush thing with me in my own mind I had to come up with something so I thought my stepdad had
killed my mom and my two sisters and then killed him self he was not very nice to me spanked
me a lot so I thought you know at nine that he could have been capable of that but police had dismissed that
possibility almost immediately after seeing the extent of injuries of Bob p and no murder weapon
or no weapon laying around him I rode the suicide part out in my mind a month after the funeral relatives sent Jesse
away to Camp with her friend Stephanie in an effort to restore some normaly to her life uh ended up to not be normal
Jessica was a very changed person after that when I say the million mile stair like she had it a lot it was almost as
if she was there but she wasn't there when I look at those pictures it's just so weird and strange to me because
we both have Smiles on our faces but those little girls [Music] weren't right um those little girls were
hurting after Camp Jesse says her relatives thought it was best for her to start over they didn't want her to
communicate with the people that she had shared this tragedy with after the murders we really didn't have a close
relationship my step brother and my steps sister and I they went with family members on their dad's side and I went
with a family member on my mom's side I ended up in Michigan because I went and stayed with my grandfather they
just wanted me to forget and move on it's like they wanted me to be in this bubble to protect me but it wasn't
really protecting me it was isolating me and hurting me I had sent letters and I
was told not to send any any any more letters I just would sit at night and think to myself I can't imagine what
she's is going through I uh ended up running away and then they placed me in a foster home I
didn't really have a place to call my own I felt like a Drifter I didn't know where I was going
to stay I felt like I didn't belong anywhere as time passed and Jesse tried to regain her footing the investigation
dragged on without any arrests at the age of 13 I did try and take control of my life and I actually pushed down all
the feelings that I was feeling I was happy and outgoing and had friends and didn't think about the past but 5 years
after the murder of her family someone from her past life Came Calling my step brother Jeff he did call
me when I was 15 and asked me to come down to Florida to visit him when I went to visit him he
did have a really good job with the computer business he had a wife Kim and you know had his own house so he was he
was doing pretty good and the first thing that he asked me was who do you think did
it so I looked at him and said I think your dad did it and then it was dropped unbeknownst to Jesse police had
been focusing on someone else from the very beginning looking back on that time visiting Jeff it could have gone way
worse than it [Music] did after the P were gone and after they were buried here I am at the cemetery
there was no more laughing there was no more running there was no more playing just going to grabb my stuff out of the
trunk there was just no more of anything and they're right over here when I was 16 I got my driver's license
and the first place I went was to the cemetery I would just sit and talk to them it was a huge way
to cope with the loss and then i' started kind of tending their graves just making sure that they
were clean and scrubbed and that there wasn't any moss and stuff on them my mind just wonders
why I mean they were so young for years Stephanie Fagan grieved the loss of the murdered P family but
also the loss of Jesse she was gone I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't just let me you know keep in contact
with [Music] her when I was a teenager I did start doing research about the murders and
that's when it became kind of an obsession for me to find her every time I came out I was always
thinking I'll run into her someday if I just come out here enough she'll be here
[Music] I did not realize anybody was out there looking for me I pretty much thought
everybody forgot about me and had moved on with their lives because it wasn't their family that they
lost in 1998 when she was 18 Jesse tried to move on as well the first chance that
I got to purchase my own home I did I used some of the inheritance to purchase it I had not had a home since I was
nine it was an amazing feeling I felt like I belonged there that I had a place Jesse finally had a home and a
family would soon follow when I first met Tyson it was love at first sight for him me it was not I was with someone
else so when we reconnected a couple years later we just started hanging out and ever since then we've been together
I have two children when my children were younger they did know that I had a family and that they were gone I did not
go into detail I did not really give them any explanation on what had happened they just knew they were
gone but in 2002 13 years after the murders keeping her past barried would become more difficult there was a knock
on my door and there were two detectives standing there they told her the case was being reopened they said well we're
here to talk about you know your family's murder case and we just want to know who you think did it when I told
him it was my stepfather they looked at each other and then you know looked at me and said well there's no way it could
have been him and then that's when they asked me well who do you think could have done it and in that moment Jeff
came to my mind my older stepbrother Jeff liked to do things that just scared me he was so quick to getting angry and
he would use his fist he would fight and they said yep that's exactly who we think did
it I got a pit in my stomach and then they started telling me a little bit about the
case Reverend Robert P his wife and their two youngest children were found shot to death in their home Sunday
morning I know there was a lot of angst in that family between him and his dad I know of a situation where Bob
punched him one time I think the the neighbors saw a lot of that same thing as well just weeks before the murders
Center had handled a case in which Jeff P had burglarized a home Bob P grounded Jeff for the burglary case he could not
go to the prom without his dad taking him he couldn't go to dinner before the prom
he couldn't go to the after prom the embarrassment of his dad driving him not having to do any of the other activities
was crushing to Jeff P conducting an interview with Robert Jeffrey P I interviewed Jeff with his grandparents
May the 1st [Music] 1989 did you have anything to do with it no I didn't me and my father didn't get
along sometimes and sometimes I'd be really upset with him but but we always work things out but investigators didn't
believe him when you're talking about the death of your family uh you think you know every once in a while he'd tear
up or he'd cry um he never did any of that the main evidence against Jeff was the timeline the P were last seen alive
shortly before police believe Jeff left for prom who else could have done it who
else would have done it who else had the motive I believe he killed his family and and then was able to go to the
prom yet back in 1989 the case against Jeff was thin we didn't have any forensic evidence we didn't find a
murder weapon no eyewitnesses we had circumstantial evidence and the timeline very tough case to proof very tough case
to [Music] prosecute the prosecutor's office chose not to file charges on Jeff P at the
time the prosecutor did not think we had enough to my mind I thought we had enough
but 13 years after the slaughter of the P family a new prosecutor thought there was enough evidence Jeff P was arrested
and charged with four counts of murder when I heard Jeff was arrested I was just waiting until the trial to see
you know what was going to happen I was scared that he was going to get out come after me
when he's angry he's not a nice [Music] [Music] person when I came back to Indiana for
the trial it was like coming back a stranger 17 15 years after the murder of her family Jesse returned to the place
she once called home I felt like it had never been my home I couldn't remember a
lot about it I couldn't remember a lot about the past on Monday a jury got its first good look at a man most people in
St Joe County haven't seen for a long time Jeff Hy and when I went to trial people were asking who I was and that's
when it hit me that wow I really was lost a jury of seven men and five women will hear the case against Jeff P I was
scared to see him I was scared to have all these memories come back up I did hope to have a reunion with
Jessica at the trial my anxiety was very high because I thought okay here's my chance I'm going to be able to see her
because we're all going to be in the same courtroom and that never happened that's because Stephanie was a witness
and only in court the one day she testified I was not allowed to see her I was not allowed to contact
[Music] her Tuesday lawyers laid out their cases to the jury in opening statements this
was a totally circumstantial evidence case there was a very very small window when the family could have been murdered
uh it was very clearly the only person who could have done this was Jeff the prosecution's theory was that Jeff
killed his father in an argument over prom and then had to get rid of the surviving Witnesses the prosecutor took
the jury through the timeline on Saturday April 29th the P house was definitely buzzing many of the individuals going to
the prom wanted to come by and show bob their prom dress their prom tux his home
was always open he wanted to be someone the community could depend on someone who could be trusted by his parishioners
so up until roughly 5:00 there was a lot of traffic in and out of the home but the prosecution says by 5:30 no
other visitors could get into the house the house was locked up as tight as a drum it became very clear that the
murders had to happen between say 5 and 520 the biggest thing was Jeff said he wasn't there Jeff told investigators he
left before 5:00 but Witnesses testified they saw Jeff's car parked outside the P home
after that the witnesses who saw when the car was at the house and when the car left the home he was clearly at the
house Jeff's prom date also testified she said when Jeff showed up at a nearby friend's house at 5:30 he wasn't wearing
his tucks the idea that he had to take the prom offit down to his girlfriends and there was no pictures taken with his
parents said a lot about what he had done in the house he had to get out of there Jeff's prom date also recalled
something Jeff told her at an amusement park the day after prom shortly before news broke of the murders Jeff had
seemed troubled when she asked him what was the matter Jeff had told her he thought something bad had happened at
home it seemed to come out of nowhere for this whole situation unless he knew something had happened back in Lakeville
Indiana even though Jesse had not been home the weekend of the murders she was also called to testify the day comes to
where I have to testify and I was very nervous cuz I knew I was going to see Jeff and at this point I did want to say
something to him that he took my whole family from me he destroyed my life in one Split
Second as I sat on the stand and looked at him he didn't even look at me I did not get what I wanted it's like he just
pretended like I wasn't there I was always concerned that she would break down on the stand just because of the
emotion involved in this she did not she stayed very very solid the whole way Jesse testified she saw something
important before leaving for that sleepover I let them know that when I said goodbye to my mom that the gun rack
was on the wall and there was a bow and a shotgun on it the bow was in the rack when officers came that Sunday morning
cuz we had photographs of it but the firearm was not there police never found that gun believed to be the murder
weapon but they were convinced they didn't need it they testified Jeff made a seemingly damning statement in an
untaped interview if I tell you what happened would I get the death penalty who would say something about that
unless they' done something wrong there was no motive there was no opportunity there was no murder weapon there was no
case from the very beginning the police basically assumed that Jeff had committed the this crime without any
evidence what they didn't investigate in the case was any possibility that someone else and for other reasons had
committed these murders after calling more than 50 Witnesses prosecutors say all the facts point to Jeff Pell it's
Preposterous to think that in the short amount of time that Jeff's presence was unaccounted for somewhere around 20 to
30 minutes he could have killed his family disposed of the murder weapon driven over to his dates house there no
possible way that he could have done all of those things in the amount of time he
[Music] had as the trial Drew to a close Jeff's fate and Jesse's sense of security were
hanging in the balance there's no doubt in my mind that Jeff is innocent he did not commit these
murders he's not a killer do I think the evidence points to Jeff yes I do [Music]
[Music] the prosecutor started his closing argument letting the jury know it was
his burden to prove the case the prosecution had no murder weapon did you have anything to do with
it no I didn't no confession and no forensic evidence the case the jury had to consider rested mainly on the
timeline and Jeff P's motive his anger over prom waiting for a verdict was very nerve-wracking but now the burden of
deciding Jeff P's fate is theirs I didn't know what was going to come out of this I hoped he was going to be put
in prison but there was always that chance that that might not happen one of P's lawyers says his client is under a
lot of stress now that the jury has the case Jeff was facing life in prison so everything was at stake the jury
deliberated on this case they went out I believe it was a Wednesday afternoon about 2 or
3:00 came back with a verdict I believe it was after 8:00 on Friday night the jury came back with
guilty on all four counts against Jeff Pell guilty for the murders of dawn Bob Janelle and Jolene p
I felt a sense of justice when I heard the verdict was guilty my family's killer was put away Jeff does have a
wife and a child so I did feel for his son because he was losing a dad and I know how that feels but I remember to
this day the image of Jeff being handcuffed is burned in my mind jurors were quoted as saying well if he didn't
do it who did that is not proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt Jeff was sentenced to 160 years in prison for the four murders
in this matter the case however was far from over so after the conviction we of course filed an appeal and we were
successful the convictions were set aside on a number of procedural grounds I actually had someone call me
and tell me that and I remember being at saala actually and I was sitting in my car and I just started crying because I
was afraid it was all going to start again and I didn't want to have to look over my
shoulder but Jeff remained in custody and in February 2009 the Indiana Supreme Court upheld Jeff P's conviction the
sentence stood with the case seemingly behind her Jesse decided her children were old
enough to hear how she lost her family when I was first told about my mom's past we were actually in Indiana she
took me to her sister's and Mom and stepdad's Graves she told me that they had been killed when she was nine it
made me sad cuz I was like well that's your family that's my family I had never actually witnessed her cry like
[Music] that so I would Google p p murders Jessica [Music] Pell you know any two words that I could
put together to figure out where she was well I had found one clipping of one article that said Jesse
tanjo so I went on the search bar typed in her name boom this eye came up it was just this part of her eye I
knew it was her I knew part of me was scared because I thought maybe she didn't want me in her life but I said to
myself you know what I've come this far there's no stopping now I don't know if you remember me or not my name is
Stephanie we were close when we were younger I'm just going to write her a letter I'm going to tell her how I feel
I'm going to tell her who I am and if she wants me to be in her life fine if she doesn't I will leave it to you to
write me back I will probably be biting my nails until you do so one day I log into Facebook and there's a message from
a Stephanie Fagan well I don't recognize the name but I I click on it and I read
it I have huge tears in my eyes right now just knowing that you were actually going to get my letter this time I just
told her I've been looking for you my whole life and I told her I took care of your parents Graves and I've thought
about you and I've talked to you in my sleep I've talked to you when I wake up I've gone through my life and never lost
sight of finding you I never in a million years thought I'd ever see you again and I'm balling as I'm reading it
I'm just crying hysterically and the feeling I got was someone reached out to me and has been
looking for me this whole time and wants to get to know me again and wants to be
around me and remembers everything and at first she didn't remember me but then I started kind of telling her stories
about camp and it clicked immediately I have missed you for many years much love
Stephanie and the rest is kind of history there we go Stephanie and I call each other's
sisters from the moment that we reconnected we bonded in such a way that I've never had a bond like that Jesse's
cousin Jamie Collins also came back into her life reuniting with Jesse she was this Fierce vibrant kind of bold
freespirit um person with this hot pink hair she had told me a lot of her deepest darkest secrets about her past
and her thoughts and her fears and her dreams and we talked about so many things that in a lot of ways I felt like
I knew her better than maybe I've ever known anyone so Jamie said to me you know you should write a book about your
life and I told her I said well everybody tells me that but I definitely could never do that and I probably
couldn't talk to a stranger about everything and she said well what about me could you tell me and I told her yeah
I could probably do that though she came across as outgoing and positive the trauma of Jesse's childhood was never
far below the surface we were actually writing the book at the time that Jessica kind of had a downward
spiral and it was a very scary time for both of us she lost a close family friend to cystic
fibrosis and for her it had triggered these elements from her past once the triggers hit her that was that was it I
hadn't lost anybody since my family and I never realized that it would hit me like that so I have a whole week where I
don't remember a whole lot I trashed my living room I was angry it was like I wasn't even there I could feel
myself being sucked into the darkness and I just couldn't bring myself out that week I knew something was going on
I got a call and she was crying all I could hear was you know I I I need you I was like okay you need to calm down
there was no calming her down I was like maybe you just need to take an anxiety pill you know maybe you just need to
calm down she's like I took all of them I said oh this is not good and the phone went
silent and I couldn't hear her anymore and I thought that's it this whole time I waited for her and I
looked for her and now this is it this is it she's [Music] [Applause] gone that week when she was spiraling
the last thing I remember was an ambulance at our house and I was watching them take my mom out on a
[Music] stretcher I ended up waking up in a hospital and I didn't know how I got
there I didn't know what had happened but the doctor asked me if I tried to kill myself and I was floored I guess I
had taken a bottle of pills and tried to kill myself I later found in a notebook
uh goodbye note at that point in time that was Rock Bottom for her she called me I was one of the only people that
knew she said I'm done I got to get help I was scared for my life that I wasn't going to make it and I did not come this
far not to make it so I ended up admitting myself in the hospital and started getting some
[Music] help I've learned that I do have d ID which is dissociative identity disorder
and I am part Jessica and part Jesse so when I pushed Jessica down inside me way
down and didn't want to feel sad lonely I think I lost a lot of the memories that I had in doing that and now that
I'm trying to get them back you know it's difficult too because I'm just now letting Jessica come
back a survivor's path is is very messy there is no clean line there is no straight path you have your ups and
downs but when you get help it's a little bit easier I do not consider myself fully
healed but I'm definitely on the way to recovery when I think of Jessica I don't
think of just a lonely scared little girl anymore I realize she is me and together we can overcome
anything anything including a recent develop in her step brother's case it's still winding its way through the courts
Jeff P's new legal team has filed a motion for postconviction Relief 30 years later there's still a legal
process going on it really is a form of slow torture but I fully believe that he's not getting
out Jesse is trying not to dwell on it and instead focusing on helping others I am Jessica the book she wrote
with her cousin Jamie was published on April 29th 2019 the 30-year anniversary of the
murders we've had a few book signing events and it's been amazing just to see kind of the outpouring of support from
the community I just appreciate everybody that's been supportive and um has hung in there with me it's been
really an overwhelmingly positive experience for both of us when I read the book it made me
realize how strong I am and it made me realize that I have a purpose and it is to help people and this book is one way
that I'm going to do that there's a lot I admire about Jesse I admire Jesse for her strong will
I admire her for her strength I admire her for everything that she went [Music] through there you go and I feel like she
came out just this beautiful flower in a field Full Of Weeds that's how I feel about
her what am I doing with this lemon I saw her in this downward spiral and then just the past year or so I've
seen her crawl back up she survived it seeing my mom go through this has taught me to Value family and to never give up
and to always keep fighting no matter what's going on in my life you better eat yourself Val having my family today
is a blessing I look at them and I just realize how lucky I am to be alive 30 years later Jesse has regained the sense
of family she lost so suddenly but she still thinks of what life would be like had things turned out differently now
that I'm starting to feel again I do think about my sisters and what they would have been like and if I would have
had any nieces and nephews from them and my mom you know how would she be with my
kids would they have called her grandma would they have called her nana I think today my mom is looking
down and she's proud of me I know they're not here but I know they're with me and I still think of
[Music] them I remember singing with my sisters right up there on that stage we would sing Amazing Grace 30 years ago
I did not know Amazing Grace would apply to me I know now that I survived for a reason I once was lost now I'm
found I really was lost for a long time and now I'm not anymore [Music] [Music]

“48 Hours" reports on cases involving stunning reasons why people may have killed. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "Justice for Kelsey Berreth," "Maria Spencer's Vow to Kill" and "Live to Tell: Murder on Prom Night."

00:00 Justice for Kelsey Berreth 41:53 Maria Spencer's Vow to Kill 1:23:45 Live to Tell: Murder on Prom Night 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

Patrick Frazee is convicted of murdering Kelsey Barrett, with key testimony from ex-girlfriend Crystal Lee detailing the crime and its aftermath.

Key points

Kelsey's Disappearance. Kelsey Barth was last seen shopping on Thanksgiving Day, raising questions about her fate.
Shocking Claims. Crystal reveals Patrick's disturbing request regarding Kelsey, raising alarm bells.
Crystal's Poison Plan. Crystal Lee reveals her attempts to poison Kelsey with a Starbucks drink.
Surprise Witness. A former inmate reveals Patrick's hit list targeting Crystal and others.
The House Fire. Frank's house burns down, raising suspicions about Maria's involvement.
Maria's Threats Escalate. Maria's threats towards Frank and Julie intensify, leading to a dangerous confrontation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Kelsey, we just want you home.

Cheryl Barth pleading for her daughter's return.

6:21WatchJan 4, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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