Robert Towery | I’m Related To A Killer | Forensic Files

Robert T was convicted in Maricopa County of murdering philanthropist Mark Jones during an armed robbery the
prosecution is seeking the death penalty Robert to putting the zip tie around Mark Jones's
neck and listening to the noises that Mark Jones made and he tightened it until was
dead Robert to was a killer we didn't need to kill this man but he did anyway that was a drug addicted wild
crazed human that I don't recognize the day before this murder took place he and his girlfriend had
robbed a restaurant so he was on a bender Robert was convicted of murder and sentenced to death when the judge
said I sentenced you to death I had this urge to just jump over the railing and hug
him my name is Christine toy mlan there's my brother my sober non-addicted brother and then there's the monster
they killed the man [Music] [Music] in 2012 47-year-old killer Robert toy was on death row in
Arizona when a date was set for his execution he made one final plea for clemency good morning there are two
things that we'll be considering today and they would be number one Mr T's request for a commutation of his
sentence after which we will then take a vote on whether or not a reprieve uh of
Mr T's schedule of execution should be recommended to the governor Mr to go ahead
[Music] first and foremost I'd like to apologize to Mark's family I have the deepest regrets for
what I did and then and I'm truly sorry for their loss for what I did to them I truly wish with my heart that I
had not taken Mark's life and it's a terrible thing that I did and I should never have it should
never have happened to said that he knew he didn't need to kill this man but he did anyway
he put a zip tie around the man's neck and just pulled it tight until the man was
dead Robert Tower's sister attended in support of her brother and to testify about the abuse she and Robert had
suffered at the hands of their mother um I'm Robert's sister it wasn't mile Che abuse that we
went through and post-traumatic stress syndrome has affected all of our lives a member of the clemency board
stated their opinion he thought quite rationally that a gun makes noise and zip ties don't
that to me is a rational thought product I'm not convinced that he was under the
the dire influence of all these evil things that had occurred to the man in a in a in a very
wretched environment up to through [Music] childhood I would like to apologize to
my family for being such a train wreck for so many years I'm sorry that my actions 20 years
ago is bringing back all the pain of our pass Robert toy was born on July 20th 1964 Christine was 2 and 1/2 years old I
remember feeling this sense of excitement about having a little brother coming to the
family this picture is from August of 1965 and he was born in July so he was about a year old
I'm looking like I'm not very happy in this his mother was very abusive physically
abusive emotionally abusive Robert had no Father Figure in his life his birth father left shortly
after he was born Robert and Christine's mother was left alone to raise her young
children in 1966 the family left Florida and moved to Arizona this picture might have been
right after he moved to Arizona because there's no dad in the picture so I think
this was after my mom left it's crazy to me cuz I look at these pictures and when they said smile
we smiled I think we just obeyed everything because if I look at her face now and I think back on seeing that
woman there was just so much violence happening to all of us at that time we were beaten regularly we were
screamed at all the time one of the things I remember is her continually telling Bobby you're going to end up in
prison for the rest of your life you're no good you're [Music] awful I was in fear for my life I was
always afraid that she was going to kill me you know I've got scars on my body that some of them I know are her
doing when their mother was on a rampage they would hide there Robbie as they called him would
bear the brunt of that and and you know usually be be beaten savagely it's unbelievable how much
distress and disturbance and violence those children would have experienced in the family environment that Christine is
describing it sounds horrific absolutely horrific even away from his mother Robert wasn't
safe by the time he was six he had been raped by a neighbor he had been accidentally
shot and I don't know the exact circumstances of how he was shot but he had experience all of this abuse the
only people Robert and Christine felt they could count on on were each other he and I were very
close growing up throughout it all like he and I always just had each other's back like
there was just this connection there when we were little and we'd get banished to our rooms his was right
across from mine and we would use these little hot wheel cars we would put notes on that little
car and like scooted across the hallway to each other and then communicate back and forth like that I remember going and
sitting in your room a lot sometimes when you weren't even there it was like the only place I felt safe I guess for
mom I always felt as so you'd protect me even when you told on me and I got in trouble I know you never told on me to
get me hurt they do have a sense of loving one another as siblings but also they had
something in common which was there was a monster in the home who was the mother figure who was
supposed to be loving and taking care of them and she was the antagonist so they
banded together to support each other that's a sensible survival method as Robert and Christine grew up
their mother had a number of Partners In 1976 she started a new relationship with
a man who would play a pivotal role in Robert's life he would come and work on my mom's
car and Robbie was probably 12 years old and so they would be out there working on the cars together or so we
thought it turns out he was teaching him how to steal cars and how to rob people our neighbors had this Volkswagen
that they parked in front of their house and one morning I looked out there and I'm like their tires are gone where are
their tires for their car Robbie goes he taught me how to do that so that was like his
mentorship this is the most loving figure of a parental nature that Robert had so that's what he did he's found a
way to function in a world because he had no other alternative out of the blue Christine
and Robert's mom decided to leave Arizona and went to live with her sister and brother-in-law in
Louisiana my brother moved with my mother to Louisiana he was probably 15 or 16 I didn't go with because I was like
oh heck no I've had enough of this I'm going to stay here and live my life and I had already had a
job I felt bad when he left because I knew that that he was going to be alone with her and that was kind of scary to
think about in Louisiana teenage Robert continued his life of crime and he also found a new
Vice that's when he was first introduced to the hard drugs my aunt and uncle tell
me the story about how you know he'd show up and they would kick him off the property because he was just Wildey and
crazy Robert increasingly got involved in crime he worked both sides of being a mechanic fixing cars and knowing how to
steal them and how to steal the parts he was a monster he was fueled by methamphetamines and anger and a a
wretched hor [Music] upbringing Robert to had been living in Louisiana for 2 years he was now 177 a
drug addict and committing crimes to feed his habit my aunt called me one day and said okay your brother's off he's
off to jail we had him arrested because he's been stealing from us he's been stealing
from the neighbors and he's not doing [Music] okay when he was arrested they searched
the house that they lived in they found money stashed in the walls when the cops put him in the car
they were standing behind the patrol car and he turned around and looked at them
through the back window and they described this look on his face that scared them and they called it like it
bone chilling they were literally afraid that if he ever got out that he would hurt
them Robert to was sent to a juvenile detention center when my brother got arrested and was put
in juvenile detention I we may have written some letters because I have some memory of knowing that he was very
afraid talking about Louisiana you know it's humid it's hot the cells were filthy the food was
moldy Robert's previous crimes committed in his home state of Arizona eventually
caught up with him and around 2 years later he was suddenly transferred to an adult prison back in Arizona he had
committed crimes while he was here before he left to Louisiana and they brought him back the crimes were
committed before he was [Music] 18 with her brother now closer to home Christine went to visit
him I visited him probably once or twice a month for sure we developed our closest Bond he
was sober and that's I think when our adult relation ship probably was most developed during that time that I was
visiting him in prison it was just so good to have him in my life again and he was my best friend and
somebody that I cared deeply [Music] about after 5 years in perville state prison Robert toy now 24 was released
and placed on parole when he was released from perville I had this Camaro and I put champagne and ice bucket in
the back trunk I picked him up we got in the car and I said I have some champagne in the back we're going
to celebrate when we took these pictures he's fresh out of prison he looks very calm and soft but when he's doing like
the full body pose you know he's he's posturing the look on his face is so different and dark when he's with my mom
than the contrast than when he's with me Robert got work as a mechanic he was living the good life he
was working he had a woman in his life he was so excited just having a normal life he was
doing well a year later Christine began to notice a change in her brother's behavior that worried
her there were times when he'd show up and he was perfectly fine and there were times when he would show up and I would
be like I'm smelling it again he and I were so close that I could feel his mood and feel him kind of like is this the
Good Robbie is this the evil Robbie I've seen the scared Robbie I've seen the evil Robbie I've seen the good
Robbie Robert was back on drugs he was doing so much methamphetamine that he could how he didn't die is
beyond me how he didn't overdose is beyond me this is what I need to do as a survival mechanism this is who I am this
is how I live it just goes into this massive vicious cycle of drug abuse crime that's the path he's taken as an
adult he was going down a darker Road and I knew that and there was just a disconnect I don't think we talked very
much at all during that time I knew that he had started his own business he was an auto mechanic so he
was doing like this mobile service so I knew that he was working I think that was kind of why I just didn't really
worry about it too much so he was busy having his life and doing his thing and I was busy doing
mine Robert Tower needed to fund his drug addiction and went to rob a local restaurant he had gone to a restaurant
to steal money from the till when he went in he had a gun he Shot the Jukebox to scare everybody to
stop them and then there was only like five or six people I guess in there he tied them all up with zip ties and they
robbed it his girlfriend was waiting in the car for him they sped away from the scene of the
[Music] crime in the evening of September 4th 1991 27-year-old Robert to and his
friend Randy Barker waved down a cab and told the driver to take them to Paradise
Valley and to the house of a well-known local philanthropist Mark Jones Paradise Valley is a very richy
area the houses tend to be large you know they're far enough away from each other that uh you wouldn't necessarily
hear anything you wouldn't necessarily notice anything Robert had done business with
Mark Jones before he had borrowed money from him and he had done mechanical work
for him so he knew that he he knew that he had cash he knew that he he knew that
he had a a well apportioned home their story was that uh the car broke down and they wanted to use the
phone Robert had said you remember me and Mark Jones let them in they both knew the victim they had
been to his home on a number of occasions on this particular day uh they they went there uh to Rob
him Robert pulled a gun on him and made him lay down in the bed so he could be more comfortable and then
had brought large long zip ties uh one of which he put around uh uh Mark Jones's
neck while my brother was ran in the house and stealing things Randy was holding a gun on Mark to keep him from
getting away from keeping him from escaping and then at some point in time my brother came into the room and ended
up using zip ties to choke Mark to death and pulling it tight and listening to the noises that Mark Jones
made at a point where he thought that Mark Jones was dead he had stop making noises and then
realized he was not dead and he did it again and he tightened it until Jones was
[Music] dead 24 hours after the drug fueled robbery and murder the body of Mark Jones was found by police after a
neighbor had called to ask them to do a welfare check on Mark as Mark Jones's house became an active
crime scene Towery was visited by police who were questioning him about the armed
robbery he recently committed one of the waitresses that he had not tied up he whispered in her ear you're going to get
out soon you'll be fine just give me five so he had not tied her up he just wanted the
money they got into a fight long enough that they didn't drive away the waitress
and all the people got free and they came outside and got the license plate the license plate had led the
police to Robert Tower's door as the police searched his home they made a shocking
Discovery they found equipment stereo equipment and other stuff that belong to Mark and that's how they found out that
he had been there and stolen all that stuff from him Robert to was immediately arrested and charged with four counts of
robbery and four counts of kidnapping and the murder of Mark Jones when my brother first got caught
he was still using he was still the typical meth liar he denied it denied it he was pleading not guilty to everybody
including me when I found out that he killed a man I was mad and how selfish of you to like go
down this road and get this screwed up and take somebody's life an innocent man's life what a wretched human you
are I felt like you know what whatever he gets he deserves seriously and also I remember being worried about people
finding out that it was my brother because I was [Music] ashamed 27-year-old Robert to had been
arrested and charged for the murder of of Mark Jones and for armed robbery and kidnapping at a local restaurant was
found guilty of robbing and kidnapping the only communication that we had during that time was just through
phone calls and letters on May 1st 1992 to was sentenced to life imprisonment 3 months later on August
3rd Robert toy went on trial for the murder of Mark Jones he plad not guilty Christine was called to the
witness stand by her brother's defense lawyer how do you defend somebody who did something like that but the defense
attorney had said you need to take the stand because they were really going to push on this abuse the child abuse the
drug abuse all that when I took the stand I was so callous in the beginning because I was angry with him I guess I
said whatever he did there's no excuse for it doesn't matter how you're brought up it doesn't matter if you're on drugs
or what you're on drugs you still make these choices the Jud said I'm looking at two
women who seem to have come from the same place and they fine they're not murderers they're not thieves they're
not drug addicts they're fine Robert toy was found guilty of the murder of Mark Jones and on November
20th was sentenced to [Music] death when the judge said I sentenc you to death I had this urge to just jump
over the railing and hug him and I didn't for two reasons I didn't want to get in
trouble my second thought was what if he grabs you and like I'm going to kill her
if you don't let me out of here the moment was more full of Fear And Regret than anything else cuz I wanted
to hug him and hold him he just got sentenced to death and I couldn't do that my name is Dale be I represented
Robert towry when he was on death row in Arizona in order to be eligible for the
death penalty in Arizona there has to be murder plus something more that would be what's called aggravating
circumstances so for instance if a murder is committed uh in the course of a robbery uh that murder would be
eligible for the death [Music] penalty there's two people there there's the murderer who nobody has any feelings for
and then there's the human who's my brother who I've loved my whole life and I love him still
I wasn't going to think about it every day I was going to make it like Define my life and what I was
doing so I didn't visit him very much because when you when you go to visit it brings everything to the
foreground in the beginning because I was so mad and honestly really kind of callous about
it he was an imposition to me he had not owned it yet he had not apologized he didn't show remorse and
throughout that time I had no respect for him Randy Barker Robert to's friend was
also charged with murder but it did not go to trial Randy Barker entered into a plea agreement the second degree murder
in exchange for his testimony against Robert toy he was sentenced then to 10 years in
prison after 5 years behind bars Christine started to see a positive ch change in her brother everything changed
when he admitted to me that he did it and I could see that he felt bad and had remorse for doing it that's when things
shifted dramatically for me as far as my how I felt about him Christine continued
to visit her brother over the next 20 years I didn't visit as much as I probably should have or could have but I
wrote a lot of letters we had a lot of phone calls every time I went to see him I
dreaded the experience because it made everything real again it brought everything to the
foreground while I was in the visit itself I was perfectly fine we were we'd have good
conversations and he'd play with the kids and we had good times but then I would get
home and I'd be all messed up again because it was now real it was now in my face again that this was actually my
life this is my brother's life and it was an inconvenience and I'm guilty I'm feeling guilty because I don't want to
spend my time visiting him but yet there he is all alone 20 years after his conviction
Robert to's execution date was set for March 8th 2012 I met Robert uh probably 6 months
before he was scheduled to be executed I was very impressed with him as a person I saw uh a lot of uh remorse uh
and Humanity in Robert he was approaching his scheduled execution date and we tried to put
together a case uh asking for Robert's life to be spared on February 2nd 2012 48-year-old Robert how was moved to
death watch 35 days before uh a scheduled execution date uh the prisoner is removed from his cell on death
row and put in a special cell a person is watched at 24 hours a day 7 days a week it's a very
restrictive environment if Robert needed toilet paper he would have to ask for it
they're just watch they want to make sure that the person does not commit suicide you know which
is which is ironic U that they want to make sure that the person is executed rather than um taking his own
life a month later on March 2nd Robert to and his team of lawyers including Dale Bach tried to get his
death sentence commuted to life in prison Robert wanted a clemency hearing because Robert wanted to
live Robert wanted to publicly uh Express uh the remorse uh for uh what he did and to
apologize to the family of Mr Jones first and foremost I'd like to apologize to Mark's family
I have the deepest regrets for what I [Music] did I was at the Clemy hearing the
clency hearings are held in a big Auditorium where they had death rad it's the last chance uh that uh uh a
condemned person can uh can possibly you know ask that their sentence be commuted
that uh that the execution be stayed Robert wanted to live because he was able to build a life while he was on
death row uh he was no longer using meth um he had sobered up uh and Robert grew uh as a person he rebuilt his
relationship with his family he was mentoring his sister's son who did not have a father figure in his life so
Robert had a lot to live for and he was willing to spend the rest of his life uh
in prison he's a human being he wasn't sitting at a table Shackled or whatever he was literally in a cage like an
animal I was like why why why is he in a cage it's ridiculous to's defense team spoke about
the trauma Robert experienced at the hands of his mother Robert's about 6 years old in
this Photograph this is the year that Robert almost lost his leg to his mother's discipline Robert's about 8
years old in this picture this is around the time that Robert's mother bound and
gagged him and stuck him in the floorboard of the Family's car it was then the prosecutor's turn in
the hearing your story is very similar to a lot of individuals we see in your situation
they've come from horrendous backgrounds they're drug addicts and commit a crime that they terribly regret
years later they've done well in prison but the issue is the crime why should we
look at you any different than any of the other folks in the same situation all I know is that I've done
my best to Chang my life 20 years I've spent getting it together and trying to be a good dad and good
uncle that's all I can do and try to speak about the life destroying aspects of drugs I'm nothing
special Robbie was pretty emotional during the clemency hearing he was speaking from his heart he had his
statement prepared he choked up during it I truly wish with my heart that I had not taken Mark's
life and it's a terrible thing that I did and I should never have it should never have
happened the prosecution responded this individual that committed this crime but
now he's cloaked as a victim I tell you that right is right and Justice is justice
[Music] and I ask that you not buy into this notion that he's a victim and I ask you
to not commute his sentence a decision on the fate of Robert toy was made Mr chairman I come down on the side of not
favoring a commutation to Mr to this crime was one of the worst of the worst and when he perpetrated this
crime Mr toy was one of the worst of the worst but it was just too late you know
[Music] 4 days after the clemency hearing and the evening before Robert to's execution Christine and Dale went to
visit him he hadn't had any human touch for 20 years and I hadn't hugged him in 20 years and he was about to be
killed I said so when does that happen she goes well it doesn't Arizona doesn't allow for that
that was the first time I broke down into tears because I had been planning on seeing him hugging him and and
touching him for the first time in 20 years before they did that I saw Robert the night before he
was scheduled to be executed he was strong his Spirit was strong um he was preparing
himself uh to die we went into VIs it and he had reconciled himself he knew this was coming he felt like he deserved
what was coming and he's like I'm I'm good he called me Chris then he's like Chris I'm
good and the guard says time's up and I'm like no not not yet they're like no you got to go and that's when everything
kind of it it flipped in that moment I looked at him and as we were saying goodbye we put our hands up against the
glass and he just started crying and I started crying and I can't to this day I can
still see the agony in his face and it wasn't the fear of what was going to happen the next day it was the pain you
know of like the reality the end of the story that is well it was really happening I didn't want to
leave I didn't get to hug him I didn't get to talk to him without the glass between us
the day of the execution had arrived Christine was at the prison to support her brother the day of the
execution was very very strange we're standing there they file in the curtains open up and I was the
biggest shock of my life he's laying on the table and I immediately can see in his face
that the person I saw the night before is not the same person I'm looking at now something went wrong when I tell the
story about when he was a little baby like a very young child and my mom had him on the floorboard and he was duct
taped and he his hands were tied and he was like looking at me crying Help Me Help me that face was there again he was
looking tortured he had clearly been crying I'm standing there like I'm 12 years old
again and my mom is in charge and I can't move and here's my brother who needs my help and again I'm not saving
him didn't save him the car didn't save him when he was drug addicted and I'm not able to save him again here he is
strapped and I can't stop it I can't save him it was never Christine's job to raise her younger brother it's the
primary caregivers that's their job it's your mom and dad or whoever is is there
to take care of you it's the adults job to look after the children not the children's job to look after the other
children Robert noted I feel like a true monster for putting my kids through this
when I think about what I put Mar Jones's family through 20 years ago I'm right where I should be I literally
destroy two families with what I did I wish I could take it all back I'm sorry so he closes his
eyes and then he gas for air I continued to watch um as uh the color left Robert's face a few minutes
later there was an announcement that the execution uh has been completed and the curtains closed
I looked at my watch and I'm like it's 11:16 he's dead on March 8th 2012 Robert chry was executed by lisal
injection she stayed afterwards and later in the day they allowed her to to go see his
body and as she described it to me she went in and he was there and she just started to cry and she said
Robbie you're finally [Music] free the family members are so often the Forgotten
victims we tend to forget that they have also lost someone they're also related to the
perpetrator they have to carry that burden for the rest of their lives I want to make it really clear I'm
not looking for sympathy on this we need to help people that are on drugs we need
to help people that have mental illnesses we need families to love each other more to be more present to be more
aware to be a little braver so when you see something move forward move into it and don't give up don't give up on that
[Music] person in my heart when I think about my brother as a murderer I feel like I'm culpable in so
many ways because I didn't save him which was my goal as a child it was always my goal to save
him I wished I could have had him in my life when I needed him and me not doing more to stop
it which is so weird because what power did I have none she can see that what he did was
Dreadful but she also loved him it's so complex for her and I'm just in awe about the way
that she describes that those threads of trauma because that that is what she's living with every
single every single day when she thinks about her own life Christine often thinks back to the
day Robert was sentenced to death and to the moment she shared with the sister of her brother's victim Mark
Jones [Music] I got a sympathy card and I wrote on there I am so sorry for the loss of your
brother today I will lose mine [Music] too so I handed her the card the most incredible thing
happened there was a pathway magically there and she and I met in the center of the courtroom and we hugged each other
and we both cried and it was such a good feeling on the worst day of my life because I had somehow made it better
somehow made it I needed her to know I was as sad for her as as as I was the monster that he was if I look at
and think about that drug addicted violent [Music] monster I have no pain about his death
but that's not who they killed the person that ended up being executed was not the same
person I love him he's my brother [Music] [Music]

Christine McClaine, the sister of death row inmate, Robert Towery, discusses the impact his conviction has had on her life.

Relatives of murderers tell their stories, discussing how the crimes affected their families and whether there were any signs on murderous intentions beforehand.

Brief Summary

Robert Toy's life of crime leads to the murder of Mark Jones and his eventual execution, revealing family trauma and complex emotions.

Key points

Robert Toy's Conviction. Robert Toy was convicted of murdering philanthropist Mark Jones during an armed robbery.
The Impact of Childhood Abuse. Christine shares the traumatic childhood experiences that shaped her and Robert's lives.
Robert's Life of Crime. Robert's descent into crime and drug addiction led to his eventual arrest.
The Trial and Sentencing. Robert Toy was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
Christine's Emotional Plea. Christine expresses her conflicting feelings towards her brother after his sentencing.
The Day of Execution. Christine witnesses her brother's execution and reflects on their complex relationship.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I was mad and how selfish of you to like go down this road.

Christine's feelings upon learning about Robert's crime.

21:20WatchDec 13, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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