Social Media Clues | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] my name's Adam duxter I am a local news reporter and in the summer of 2021 I was
working as a multimedia journalist for WIC news3 news3 now in Madison Wisconsin Madison is not New York City it's not la
where there's news happening all the time a missing person especially a husband and wife that would be news the
dean County Sheriff's Office shared this photo of Bart and Christa helders spending today interviewing neighbors
are too many unanswered questions you know cars go off the road um things happen you know there's a storm or
there's a crash or XYZ you just don't know my boss was calling her or emailing her or texting her I was doing the same
I was texting Bart and there was just never any response I met Christa through work at zimri body shop and then I met
her husband through her obviously and then um you know they just did anything for anybody like even people they didn't
know so I'm on the Christa side we are related through my dad's side of the family and we mostly saw each other in
Wisconsin at our family Cottage cabin during Summers and family reunions they both gave 100% to raising their
boys Mitchell was a little more outgoing very easygoing uh Chandler was a little
more sensitive a little quieter her whole goal for her being a mom was and I'm quoting her she said I want my
children to be the best men they can be the biggest concern for me was just figuring out where they are police say
the couple had planned to go to their cabin in l County our investigation began on July 7th when Chandler reported
his parents missing we knew exactly what Chandler had told us we knew that his two parents were gone uh they had left
for the 4th of July weekend supposedly to go to their cabin in northern Wisconsin I've never been assigned to a
case where a couple is gone we ask even more questions to try to get a story and
get a timeline of when did the halderson go missing and everything was just happening so fast in those first couple
of days when we first got the email saying that Bart and Christal were missing it didn't compute like what do
you mean they're missing like they went up to the cabin and then it didn't come back and huh did you think possibly they
had been in a car accident and just hadn't been found I thought about that or I did
think about the boat did something happen out on the lake and all these stories are swirling around and not
making any sense and it's you know taking weirder and weirder turns and we needed to search this area
um because of how remote it is and wooded it is and the access to water to see if we could find any evidence no way
I would have ever ever guessed what was about to be revealed never nobody saw this coming
[Music] [Music] Bart and Christa halderson had everything a couple could want a beautiful home in Windsor Wisconsin and
two sons they adored 24-year-old Mitchell who worked in Tech and 23-year-old Chandler a college student
living at home Chandler had big Ambitions he talked of getting his it degree of his promising internship at an
insurance company and was especially excited about a new job he landed at SpaceX founded by one of the richest
people in the world Elon Musk everything seemed to be going well for the halderson so on Friday morning July 2nd
when Christa just didn't show up at the office Dan croner remembers becoming concerned how unusual was it for were
number one for Kristen not to show up for work not to call and just not show up how unusual extremely unusual Dan and
Kristen not only worked together they were close friends so when she hadn't said anything to me I was like well
that's kind of weird it wasn't something that she would ever do Dan says he texted and called her several times but
got no response later that afternoon he and his girlfriend drove over to the halderson
home a neighbor's security camera shows them arriving you know knocked on the door
didn't hear anything peered through the window the only thing that seemed weird was there was a coffee table on its side
you looked through the door it was kind of off to the right over by they had a fireplace over there then Dan says he
walked over to the garage window I looked in both cars were there I was like why are both cars here and I was
starting to go around the back of the house and then Chandler came out the side door and he came out in a towel
saying I just got out of the shower you know hey what's going on I was like oh we're just looking for Bart and Christa
and he said oh yeah they went had to go up North this morning for uh an emergency up at the cabin Dan says he
was relieved to know that Bart and Christo were at the family cabin over the holiday weekend he kept in touch
with Chandler to see if he had heard from his mom and dad but he said yeah they don't have very good service up
there so you kind of have to wait till the clouds clear before they get a message on Sunday July 4th Dan says
Chandler called him and said he was bored and needed something to do so Dan invited him over to watch the fireworks
and asked Chandler about his parents he mentioned that he talked to them and they're going to be back Monday all
right when he said that he had talked to them did he say he talked to both his parents or just his mom what did he say
do you remember I don't think he was specific I mean I was asking about his mom because I knew she had a doctor's
appointment coming up that she was really wanted to be at I think it had been rescheduled before but Christa
didn't show up for work on Monday and again on Tuesday by Wednesday July 7th when there was still no word Dan knew
something was wrong and now she's missed her appointment so now it's all out concern you know something's happened to
her now right right Dan pushed Chandler to file a missing person's report that morning Chandler halderson walked into
one of our pre sinks to report his parents missing detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk with the D County
Sheriff's Office would lead the team to track down the missing couple we had a lot of detectives assisting us with the
with the case load their first stop the holders Home on Oak Spring Circle Drive so when you
first got there who was home it was just Chan there we're inside the house with him and detectives are getting
information outside and so we're either getting you know phone calls or text messages of you know hey maybe ask about
this we're walking around the house with him he's pointing out things at the house things that were missing that his
parents took when they traveled to the cabin while deputies began interviewing neighbors and Friends Barbie Townsen
Chris's first cousin who lives in Southern California knew only what she had seen on the news that the halon's
23-year-old son Chandler had gone to the police telling them his parents were missing what does that mean what does
missing mean and that they had gone up to our cabin family Cottage and didn't return bed Chrissa had not mentioned to
co-workers or their older son Mitchell that they had been planning to go to the cabin that weekend but according to
Chandler another couple who he didn't know picked up his parents and drove them there
the cabin was a remote rustic Lakeside Retreat and a treasured family heirloom Barbie and Christ's grandparents built
it in the 1940s you know you start to think of crazy things cuz our cabin's up in the
woods and so that's we were worried that are they being held hostage somewhere are they tied up
somewhere the day after Chandler reported them missing his brother Mitchell and his fiance drove three
hours up north to see if he could find any sign of his parents why would they not call why wouldn't there be a text or
something you know your mind just starts to go down really murky Trails because you're trying to figure out what's going
on hi there there are you guys um the H you okay you are affiliated with them yes the police met Mitchell and his
fiance at the cabin maybe we could just take a walk around and see you would know the property probably better than
we would prepared for the worst Sheriff's Office anybody inside now it's your presence make yourselves
[Music] [Music] known when the holders disappeared it stunned everyone who knew them Barbie
towns and said neither her cousin Christa nor her husband Bart would just leave on a whim he was more structured
she was the more nurturing you know indulging mom it was a wonderful combination she worked as a customer
service representative for an auto body shop and loved art projects He was a managing director for an international
accounting firm and enjoyed woodworking they were 100% about the family he was very involved in The Scouting and all
the things they did the halers work together on father Day in June 2021 less than a month before Bart
disappeared Mitchell is smiling and Chandler who had a mild concussion from a fall is wearing a neck
brace investigators anxious to find out what had happened to Bart and Christa halderson asked deputies from the
langlay county sheriff's office to help Mitchell who brought along his fiance searched the family's cabin a 3-hour
drive north of the family home when they got inside it was dark there were no signs of Christa and
Bart they also checked a shed the canoe was there it was obvious no one had been
to the cabin in a very long time they're believed to be with another couple someone else at least okay when Mitchell
was with the police searching the family's cabin Chandler was on his own hunt throughout the
neighborhood here he is seen on video doorbell cameras going door Todo asking homeowners if they had seen or heard
from his parents it's kind of difficult to track him [Music] [Applause] down Adam Ducker now with a CBS station
WCCO in Minneapolis worked in Madison Wisconsin at the time he IM immediately started calling his
sources SO waiting to hear back from the Sheriff's Office and um my boss at the time he um was like well you can't just
sit around you know you got to got to go start shooting something and so packed my gear in my car and drove out there to
their street in Windor he knocked on the alderson's front door the missing couple
son Chandler answered and so I'm like if you'd be willing I'd love to do a quick interview and he was like
yeah I'll do that but I don't want you to film me I don't want to be shown but you can record my voice so my last uh
message I got from them they were going to White Lake for the 4th of July other than that their plan or from to my
knowledge they were going to langlade County to a cabin their cabin at the time I got this sense like
he was in shock this is someone who's roughly my age and so I'm thinking like yeah if my parents just went missing he
probably hasn't slept he's probably really nervous Alex gravat knew Chandler well I was roommates with Chandler for a
little while I called him Chaz the two friends shared an apartment from 2019 to 2020 we grew up together and we played
soccer together did Cub Scouts together um and just hung out together he was a great swimmer so I know that the swim
team really got along with him Alex says his friend Chandler who went by the name
Chaz could be a playful guy he was a a goon a hooligan in a lot of Senses what do you mean by that yeah I mean he would
so he would play pranks and he would make lots of jokes or poke fun at people Alex described Chaz as popular with
women college student Katherine malander known as cat was his longtime girlfriend
he was a relatively attractive guy I mean he he looked good he had great hair he kept up on appearances according to
Alex when they were roommates Chaz often bragged to friends about hooking up with
different women behind cat's back when she found out about it she grilled him she was like are you seeing other people
and he just kept denying it but cat remained suspicious and began tracking her boyfriend on social media Alex says
Chaz became more secretive and moved back home with his parents and now those parents were missing
detectiv Shunk and Sims began followup interviews at that point you know what do we really have we don't know what we
have then they got a tip they desperately needed from the owner of a farm outside
town we received information from someone that yes Chandler had been out to my property over Fourth of July
weekend the owner was a friend of Chandler's girlfriend cat the owner said she was with the couple at her Farm on
July 4th she told deputies she was surprised to see Chandler again the very next day and this time he was alone and
I saw him coming from the Woodline his car was parked backed up to the field so of course right from that
interview um well we want to go search that property as deputies began searching detectives wanted to know why
Chandler had never mentioned he had gone back to the farm by himself police picked up Chandler and took him
to the station what's going on detective Brian chunk asked him to once again describe
the last time he had seen his parents it's Thursday morning how we go what time is it 6
Chandler said his dad Bart was at home working and that later he had dinner with both
parents that's where they told me while we were eating it they they were going to go with their friends and I was like
oh cool um and they said they were going cabin yeah we're going up north while detectives questioned Chandler deputies
were out searching the farm and made a discovery that quickly changed the tone of the interview listen to me this is
the only chance you're going to have to tell us the truth okay okay what we listen listen I'm I can't tell you what
we know but we know you're not telling us the truth you need to tell the truth there's listen listen you need to tell
the truth about what happened and just tell us why it happened I'm not bsing you
okay so can we do that okay they okay um Chandler's request for a lawyer ended that interview detective Sims remembers
the moment she learned what deputies told her they had found near that field you know Brian and I were in the command
post together and I said um what did you say you know I just couldn't believe what I was
hearing they had discovered human remains on Thursday July 8 2021 in the village of Windsor Wisconsin
the community struggle to make sense of the disturbing news the remains of an adult male have
been found on a farm 20 mil from B and Christa alderson's home at this point it's very early in
our investigation Dane County Sheriff Calvin Barrett warn resident not to jump to conclusions I don't want
to make any uh uncorroborated speculations at this time the gruesome Discovery was made the
day after Bard and Christa had been reported missing by their son and it was something detectives Brian chunk and
Sabrina Sims had never encountered the grass had been matted down and they followed it to a trail
which led to um the discovery of a male torso that was um concealed with sticks and twigs that was really the moment
right it was huge I think of other death investigations or homicide cases we've worked and I don't remember a time that
I've worked a dismemberment case and what other evidence was found out there we found um some cutting
instruments some um that were hidden in a an old oil drum um some scissors um pruning shears uh a broken bow saw and
it was all in the same wooded area where the halderson son Chandler had been seen
earlier in the week detective Sims had a pretty good idea who the victim was knowing in my gut that that um was most
likely Bart halderson and his son was seen in that area police turned their full attention
to Chandler halderson he was now a person of interest and the prime suspect while tests were being
done to confirm the victim's identity detectives arrested Chandler and charged him with lying to them the arrest was
based on him providing false information in regards to a missing person Christa holders son's cousin Barbie Townsen what
did you think they arrested him for giving false information about a missing person that was the first day
that I started to suspect Foul Play from their own son I checked my phone and I saw that and it was that he had been
arrested and it was pretty wild Alex Kat his childhood friend learned about it on social media my eyes
got wide I I kind of just sat there for a second reading it my first thought was
if he's being arrested for giving misinformation to the police I didn't think that there was really much of a
chance that he wasn't involved somehow but there's someone who had a hard time imagining Chandler was
involved his girlfriend cat she spoke to police just before his arrest you don't
think he had anything to do with his mom and dad being unheard from no I just no
that' be crazy but I just don't see him killing Mr Mrs halderson like he had SpaceX like
why would he jeopardize something he like would dream of you know like there's parents for Christmas they got him and
his brother matching tool sets like come on okay he cooks dinner for them they have ruper floats together they play
Mario Kart whenever his parents want to but on Saturday July 10th 2021 the victim found in the wood WS was
identified as Bart halderson it just changed everything like that moment changed everything
preliminary autopsy results would reveal Bart had been shot at least two times in
the back and there was still the troubling question where was Christa Christa holders remains a missing person and we
continue to ask for citizen involvement CHR co-worker Dan cronier ran through all the different
possibilities did you at that moment Wonder like maybe Chris was involved in this too it had definitely crossed my
mind start to wonder well why is Chandler lying is he covering for himself or is he covering for perhaps
his mother is she involved but the more investigators looked it seemed the only person
Chandler halderson was covering for was himself self you know he just lied to everybody and in his lies police
started to believe they found a motive for murder for months he had been telling everyone including his childhood
friend Alex Kat that he was enrolled at Madison College during the 2021 spring semester did you have any idea he had
flunked out he didn't tell you no it was surprising detectives believe his parents had no idea he wasn't in
school they say when his parents questioned him about his transcripts the computer savvy Chandler halderson
crafted a chain of emails that seemed to come from the college Chandler creates people that work for Madison College and
communicates via email with them you know Bart's on some of those as well talking to who he believes as employees
of the school and do any of those people actually exist no in June 2021 Bart halderson called
Madison College pretending to be Chandler and got an answer he wasn't expecting said I don't see that you were
admitted in any program you said they were you know it's the it degrees in there right no those are just classes
you might have just took the classes but not be in the program Bart learned that
not only had his son been lying about that it degree but there was no internship with an insurance company
either and remember that big job with SpaceX turns out that was just another elaborate
lie the delusional reality that he concocted that is shocking to me according to detectives Bart was
planning to meet at the college with his son on Thursday July 1st around 2: p.m. Bart was working from
home sent his son this text I'm ready whenever you are that text is believed to be the last message Bart
sent 7 Days Later Bart's remains were found investigators got a search warrant for the halderson
home no weapon was found there but a shell casing was discovered in the basement in several areas inside the
house tested positive for blood Chandler midle initial M last name halderson age 23 of Windsor is now being
charged with first-degree homicide hiding a corpse and mutilating a corpse on July 15th 2021 Chandler
halderson was formally charged with his father's murder Chandler is currently being held
in the D County Jail I mean I I don't know what else to say like how how could you do that to your
father but where was his mother Christa Chandler halderson had lawyered up and wasn't talking but someone very close to
him was she had communicated with him that whole weekend that loyal girlfriend Katherine malander had a potentially
damning piece of evidence about her boyfriend on the social media app Snapchat she actually consented to a
download of her phone so that was a breakthrough how do you feel about allowing people to track you on social
media apps join the conversation now on social [Music] media Chandler halderson was charged
with his father's murder but his mother's whereabouts were still unknown lead detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian
chunk knew if Christa was alive they needed to find her fast at that point we were hoping for
the best it was one of those things where we just needed to to push on detectives turned to alderson's
girlfriend for help she had given them permission to download information from her phone Chandler had lied to her
before and had cheated on her before and so she um you know would track his location cat had convinced halderson to
let her track his movements using SnapChat the popular social media app which allows users to send messages and
share their location in real time um and that was an agreement that yes you will
have your locations on so I can see where you're going detectives were most intrigued by messages posted early on
the morning of July 1st the day Chandler halderson and his father were supposed to meet with Madison college officials
alerson whose online name was chazel Dazzle messaged cat at 7:30 a.m. I hardly slept I'm sorry be why I don't
know stuff hasn't really been going well for me lately so I'm trying to plan for
the next thing to exploitive me over be it's going to be okay yeah I just had a great future planned and it's falling
apart [Music] according to detectives the tone of those messages worried cat so two days
later when cat checked Snapchat and noticed her boyfriend's Avatar that's hubby on her screen indicated that he
was nearly 25 miles from home cat saved the image to her phone it was a Snapchat
screenshot um of Chandler almost 900 in the morning um out by the Wisconsin River
detectiv Sims and Shunk took us to that location on the River where they had hoped to find Christa so where are we
exactly what would you call this area it's the Wisconsin State lower Riverway and it's a familiar place to
the former High School swimmer Chandler halderson close to his favorite swimming
hole this is him at the same place in a photo taken a year earlier holding a large
knife law enforcement throughout Daye County searched the wooded area and how long was he
here 45 minutes I believe just keep in mind in July but it's definitely far thicker than what you're seeing here
now still no sign of Christa halers said but search teams refused to give up let's go hit one more area and that was
where they ended up discovering the remains and what exactly did they find there they ended up finding two legs cut
into different sections DNA tests confirmed it was Christa halderson the concerned son who had reported his mom
and dad missing was now charged with both of their murders Christa's cousins were
horrified you couldn't write this it just wasn't um anything that you could possibly come up with in your head how
do you make sense of it we don't and that's the hard part we don't have a why in January of 2022 at the D County
Courthouse Chandler halderson went on trial for the murder of his parents all right for the jury he was also facing
charges for lying to the police and for mutilating and hiding their bodies our job is to over the course of the next
couple of weeks present evidence to show you the path of what we believed happened assistant district
attorney William Brown that Chandler harderson killed his parents dismembered their
bodies and hid them around southern Wisconsin prosecutors laid out a motive they say chandler murdered his parents
when his lies were about to be exposed and that for months he had been trying to hide the truth from them among the
evidence those fake email accounts he created no one uses a Gmail account is their official Madison College email no
and his fictitious internship with an insurance company I found no record of that person working for American
Family investigators believe the murder weapon was a semi-automatic rifle that had been hidden in a barn at that farm
where Bart's remains were discovered good afternoon sir could you please state your name and then spell it out
Andrew Smith how do you spoke Alpha November Delta Romeo Echo whiskey the rifle came from this man Andrew Smith
who testified that he was in the military when he met halderson online how did you meet Cham halderson playing
video games while I was station in Germany sir halderson had wanted a gun smith testified he had no idea what
halderson wanted to do with the weapon and in June 2021 he gave him that semi-automatic rifle as a gift I'm going
to give it to someone who might actually appreciate this weapon and take care of
it and nearly 480 rounds of ammunition how did Chandler react when you give him the gun oh he was happy what do you mean
but how do you know he was happy or how do you how do you know that cuz he had a
big smile on his face when I had given it to him as a gift but the most anticipated witness in
this trial good morning would be alderson's girlfriend did you verbally answer yes to the oath yes who gave
police that Snapchat screenshot what is that screenshot of Chandler by the Wisconsin
River what do you make of the prosecution's case against Chandler halderson see more evidence at 48
[Music] hours.com could you please State and spell your name for us uh Catherine
melander for 3 hours cat Mander sat on the stand telling the jury about the young man she thought she knew Chandler
halderson did you go on a lot of dates together uh yeah we would um grab dinners um have movie dates just sit at
home and watch movies go on walks quite often cat told the jury that she was working on July 1st when authorities
believe the murders happened and didn't see her boyfriend in person that day but
you weren't with him I was not with him did you know that Barton Crystal halderson had
died no according to investigators Alderson asked cat to bring a few cleaning supplies to his home the
following day he told her he had stepped on some broken glass from the fireplace
she brought him a Swiffer mop and a bottle of hydro nitrogen peroxide cat did you have absolutely anything to do
with cleaning anything up or their disappearance investigators say there's no evidence that CAD had any involvement
in the murders they believe Chandler halderson acted alone prosecutors showed the jury police
video from inside the halderson home these walkthrough videos will document the home as is at first plants it seemed
NE and clean but test results revealed what appeared to be blood is that all blood that it's reacting to this could
be blood that it's reacting to yes and that it appears that there's been some wiping or clean up for Barbie Townson
the most disturbing part was when the jury was shown a view of the halderson home from a neighbor's security camera I
was talking to one of my cousins we said one of the images that is going to be ser in our
minds is when they showed that video of the window flickering window from July 2nd and it was the flickering glow from
the fireplace for like hours that is haunting knowing what was happening a forensic expert testified
that more than 200 bone fragments were discovered in the fireplace there's a white area in the
middle of that burnt based on my training experience that appeared to be bone alderson's defense attorney
Katherine dorl did not address the bone and blood evidence found in the home but
insisted that did not mean her client was the killer Chandler halderson did not murder his
parents he is not guilty of those crimes she reminded the jury there were too many unanswered questions what happened
to the halderson what happened in that alderson's home you just aren't going to know what
happened Chandler halderson himself didn't testify and his defense didn't call any Witnesses you have to go back
and look at everything instead attorney Crystal Vera closed the case and urged jury to find reasonable doubt she admits
halderson told a lot of lies but she argues there isn't enough direct evidence to tie him to the murders I
guarantee you that the 12 of you that are going to go back and deliberate are all going to have 12 different theories
on what happened and that's a problem I'm asking you to find him not guilty of first degree intentional
homicide prosecutors had the final word this is a first-degree intentional homicide you cannot shoot someone in the
in the back you cannot chop them up you cannot scatter their remains and come to
any other conclusion and there is only one person who did those things here and that is Chandler halderson we're asking
you to find him guilty thank you it didn't take long for the jury to [Music] decide breaking news in just about a
little over two hours a jury has reached a verdict in the Chandler halderson case we the jury find the defendant
Chandler M halderson guilty of first-degree intentional homicide as to B halderson guilty of providing false
information about guilty of mutilating a corpse of first-degree intentional homicide of mutilating ail of hiding a
corpse guilty on all eight charges I think it was just overwhelming from all the work that we put in on it
in March 2022 at his sentencing hearing good afternoon alerson who had been silent during his trial surprised
Everyone by indicating he finally had something to say Mr halderson wishes to make a
statement your honor I want to take this opportunity to State my intent to appeal
my convictions if there are any lawyers listening and willing to take on my appeal take a moment to please reach out
to me it's not that I do not have feelings it's that I was warned to not show them
due to the scrutiny of this case thank you what was your reaction when he had the chance to speak and all he did was
ask for a lawyer to take an appeal what was your I was actually disgusted I just
couldn't believe it like you can't even say I'm sorry we are Jed thank you halderson was sentenced to life in
prison without the possib ability of thr when do you miss them oh I think about him just about every day really
yeah we're building a pond in our backyard you know they would love to see that and love to be a part of
it Mitchell halderson B and Chris's oldest son is now living with an unimaginable loss Barbie shared a text
and this photo that Christa sent to the family just 3 months before she died happy Easter yes the boys and their
women Mitchell is still at Epic Systems and will turn 25 this year yikes Chandler is currently interning with
American Family Insurance as an IT administrator but his other degree sustainability management has given him
an edge you see in her text how proud she was of her boys and how 100% completely believing chantler
she can't help but wonder what would have happened if halderson had just been honest with everyone if he had just gone
and thrown himself at the mercy of his parents what do you think Chris and Bart would have done they would have helped
him they definitely would have confronted him on it but after the confrontation and the truth telling
would have come the grace how do we go forward how do we help you how do we get your life back on track they would have
helped [Music] him it was deemed unsolvable prior to my involvement very small amount of GNA
just a speck of a speck decades later can it help this expert catch the Killer and I scream today's your day Rock 48
hours Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount [Music] plus Joey's missing he's somewhere it's got to be
somewhere Hey where's Joey have you heard from Joey this isn't like him to not call me
[Music] back there's something really wrong let's go back to November 12th 2016 a bunch of people were going out to
New York City Joey would go in tomb and had an a good amount he would meet all of our friends
there he had hundreds of friends hundreds of friends Joey always had this positive
outlook on life when you were with him you felt like you could fly he was an athlete Lov Sports bright
future smart kid that night we went to the Gilded Lily the Gilded Lily is in the meat packing
District it's a lounge it has Club type music it's kind of high-end everyone dresses
up were you drinking we were drinking how would you describe Joey he looked fine he didn't look like he was even
buzzed 3:30 or so the night was ending so everyone exits I remember Joey on my left and
these girls were looking at him a certain way and he was looking back at me and just smiling like you know that
he was interested I get approached on my right side by two guys and they try to start
some conversation with me Joey's on my left and they kind of form a group on that side he jumped in a cab and went
off with these two guys why do you think he did do you know I just don't know but
I guarantee they're saying that they have a penthouse apartment there's a girls this guy's dad's a
jeweler and that jeweler was the Jeweler to the Stars talking about Oprah Winfrey
you're talking about Jennifer Lopez he sold an engagement rank to Melania and Donald
Trump Saturday night came and went I can't get in touch with him has your son ever gone a whole day without
texting or calling you no I started getting phone calls from a bunch of our friends have you heard from Joey spoke
to Joey Joey's with you right they thought he was at my house what [Music] happened so I went on Instagram I went
on Facebook I called everyone on my phone we go and we just start looking for them Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
everyone was still trying to get a clear-cut answer as to what was going on sources say 26-year-old Joseph communale
came to this building early Sunday morning with friends why why were you there why why did you meet them why did
you go out that night if you were invited to go to Su place you would want to go there it's like its own private
Enclave that only money can penetrate commun Al's father reported him missing when he never came home
what's now going through your mind the worst the worst yeah what do you think happened in
apartment fory there something went terribly terribly wrong [Laughter] [Music] [Music]
48 Hours what happened in apartment 4C reported by Aaron morti [Music] [Music] I met Joey freshman year of college
we've been best friends ever since Joey was one of my best friends my best friend best friend everybody called him
their best friend but I was his best friend Joey C aly's Father Pat knew his 26-year-old
son well and at first he wasn't worried when he couldn't reach him the morning after Joey went out with some friends on
Saturday night November 12th 2016 I know it sounds crazy but in New York things don't really start until 8
it's not unheard of for kids to come home at 6:00 in the morning and I figured he's
sleeping he was sick earlier in the day looking back Joey's friends like Steven naso will tell you that Joey never even
intended to go out that Saturday night I think he took a nap for like 3 hours but
then Joey's College buddy pream Daka barbu a part-time promoter texted and offered Joey VIP treatment at the Gilded
Lily a club then located in the Chic meat packing District in downtown Manhattan I was working so I'd be able
to take care of everyone that came in did you ever worry about him I worried about Joey because I loved him
but I knew that you know he always surrounded himself with good people Alisa laeto dated Joey konell on and off
but mostly on for 5 Years first at Hoffer University and later when Joey became a sales associate at his father's
security company and Alisa became a teacher he is like the rest of us he wants to have fun doesn't want any
problems but that particular Saturday she and Joey like a lot of longtime couples were taking a break we had a
little bit of like a disagreement and I was like you know what I just need a little bit of space like I'll talk to
him in the morning so Joey headed into Manhattan from Stanford Connecticut we hop on the
Mayor Parkway shoot down in New York City Joey was with Steven nasso and they met up with a group of friends it was
always a good time to meet people and that's why Joey and them came out to guilda that
night as the club was closing you could see Joey and his friends exiting on surveillance video
it was early Sunday morning and the crowd emptied onto the street that's when Joey began talking to three women
standing outside the club then out of the blue two men joined them the men did not know the women and they didn't know
Joey and his friends either there's 6 or 7 million people in New York City and they cross paths with us at that point
Steven borrowed Joey's phone and stepped away from the group when Steven turned back Joey and the group were gone and
this new group that he had met somebody said hey you want to go to a friend's apartment in Sutton Place and continue
having some fun Veteran New York crime reporter Murray Weiss covered the Joey Kelli story when it first broke and is
now working for 48 hours so Joey went along leaving his phone behind with his friend thinking I'll get it tomorrow no
big deal they just jumped in a couple of cabs and off they went [Applause] Steven got word that Joey had gone to a
party uptown at someone's apartment so he headed home with Joey's phone hours later on Sunday afternoon back in
Steven's apartment Joe's phone began ringing it was his father he said Hey where's Joey I said he stayed in the
city and he was like all right well something happened um find him for me so then I went to Joey's place and he
wasn't there did you talk to every day yeah every day talk about the Yankees and the Rangers
and Steven got in touch with pream who Tracked Down the phone number of a guy named Larry who had been at the party
Larry told us that he doesn't know where Joey went that's when the vast network of
Joey's friends got to work homing through social media searching for any scrap of information friend Mike Mullen
says they plugged Larry's phone number into Google and got a last name and actually his Facebook popped up Lawrence
Delon is this the kid yeah that's the kid we were with last night Max was the one who really put
everything in motion Max branchinelli was perhaps Joey's closest friend he manages a restaurant but when he heard
Jo Joey was missing he turned himself into an online detective had you ever tried to track down or retrace
somebody's steps before using social media no you're in a panic and you're trying to find your your friend so show
me where you started so I went on Instagram here and why Instagram why would you start there Instagram you can
click on the location of the place and it will show people that posted a picture there from that place here's
what Max did he began using Instagram's locator function for the Gilded Lily looking for users who had posted the
previous night and that morning he kept his eye out for Joey as I was scrolling I landed on this picture and why did
this catch your eye this caught my eye because I happened to know him in the middle by total coincidence Max spotted
a friend Alvin but that's not the only reason he stopped at the photo I know the type of girls Joey chases their dark
features and I just had a buch i screenshotted the picture and I sent it to the group of the guys that were out
at the club with him the night before and what' they say they're like yeah it's that girl right there on the right
and I was like wow that woman had also gone to the Sutton Place party that night Max called his friend Alvin who
had her phone number so I then hit her up you remember being with Joey last night like we can't find him he's
missing and and she told me like yeah we were with him last night she told him that when the party
ended early that Sunday morning Larry dilon and Joey walked her and her friends to an Uber she told me they
waved and he looked like he was going back inside with Larry but when Max called Larry dilon he said Joey did not
go back inside the building and he's like he left with the girls he left in the Uber with the
girls those were two very different stories at this point I'm not sure who's lying to
[Music] me how does a 26-year-old man simply disappear Joey Kelli was part of a close-knit loving family with a younger
sister Alexa and parents Pat and Lisa he loved going to the city he did it all the time he loved it you know
he'd go to Ranger games he'd go to the Yankee games he'd go to the Giant games Pat konali lives in a Tony part of
Connecticut but he's a bronx kid at heart he moved here met his future wife Lisa and founded a successful security
firm that he later sold for more than $400 million but that meant nothing now that
his only son was missing how important is family to you pass yeah family's important
that's that's everything tell me about his relationship with his dad I have never
seen a person admire their father so much I've never seen a father admire their son so much they were
inseparable by Sunday evening with Joey now missing about 10 hours Pat phon Larry dilon who had been at the Sutton
Place apartment with Joey Larry says they walked the girls out to the car and that's the last they saw of them but
then dilom provided one small additional detail about Joey that to Pat seemed off
these said the last I heard he said he was going to get cigarettes did that make sense didn't make any sense cuz if
you talk to his his friends I'll tell you that he never bought a pack of cigarettes in his life Joey smokes
cigarettes from time to time but he never bought them that's that's why it doesn't make any sense Pat thought so
too he decided to file a missing person's report so I said all right let me go to
the Stanford PD by then Pat had Larry dillion's phone number the on duty Sergeant called dilon who denied knowing
where Joey was but he did provide the names and numbers of two friends at the party James rackover and Max Gemma dilon
also provided the address 418 East 59th Street in Manhattan a building that calls itself the Grand
Sutton the Grand Sutton is a luxury condo in one of the wealthiest sections of New York City and an apartment 4C was
home to 25-year-old James rackover you're not expecting an issue in Sutton Place Sutton Place is a is a beautiful
place to live no one would disagree over the years the neighborhood's been home to a parade of
celebrities including Marilyn Monroe Michael Jackson and Rockstar Fredy Mercury what could go wrong on the Upper
East Side and do you know anything about Larry dilon or James rackover or Max Gemma at that point you know nothing
about them but as the days passed the police would find out a lot more about the three young men all in their 20s who
partied that morning with Joey the three young men in the story are young men of
privilege Larry dilon worked in real estate and came from a well-off New Jersey family that owned thoroughbred
horses Ma Max Gemma was a computer software salesman whose father was once the mayor of Oceanport New Jersey and
had been in business with Jared Kushner president Trump's son-in-law but no one appeared to live a
more Charmed life than James rackover who was living in Sutton plays his father Jeffrey who had a much larger
apartment in the same building on the 32nd Floor specialized in getting oneof a-kind pieces of jewelry for the world's
rich and beautiful I grew up in the same town with Jeffrey rack over we grew up a
block apart and while we weren't close our families knew each other he not only cultivated becoming a jeweler to the
Stars he wanted to be among them he was friends with Jerry Jones me the owner of
the Dallas Cowboys he came to know Oprah his apartment has photographs of himself
with all these personalities James enjoyed the good life he was an aspiring model working in the insurance
business loved boxing and even had a boxer named gloves of course I think Joy had an opportunity to go to a fancy part
of New York City into a fancy apartment and he went along and there were those three young
ladies along for the ride Jenna ssy Katie Conroy and Samantha Guardiola but all that mattered to Pat
was finding his son he had already filed a missing person's Report with the Stanford police but also wanted to alert
the New York City cops so at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning some 25 hours since anyone reported seeing Joey Pat was at
the 17th police precinct where he told NYPD detective Yan Castro everything he knew detective Castro I still remember
saying let's go to the building and we jumped in the police car when they arrived at the Grand Sutton detective
Castro asked to view the building surveillance video and then he starts reviewing video they asked me a couple
times to come in to identify if that was my [Music] son so we did at some point you see your
son so sorry Pat was overcome when he spotted son Joey and Larry dilon walking the
three women out to the curb but them what do you see we see him come back into the
building so you see Larry dilon and your son walking back in the building and what did that say to you they're
lying there's a problem here remember Larry dilion had said Joey did not go back inside the
building it was all too much for Pat detective Castro asked him to wait at the 17th police precinct so as I went
outside to make phone calls the porter started to bring garbage out and I ran back inside and I said to
the police don't let the garbage go make sure you search all the Pags just kind of had that sense that if these guys
were lying there could be something in the garbage and sadly he was right inside those bags police discovered
Joey's bloody pants his shirt and his driver's license also tossed in the trash a
special chain Joey always wore [Music] given to him by his father I said to myself I don't think he
walked out of the building [Music] [Music] alive 14 hours after Joey konali and Larry dilon were seen on video walking
those women to their Uber Sur surveillance cameras caught James rackover taking his father's
mercedesbenz for a drive with the help of npd's network of cameras detectives were able to track some of his movements
they quickly put in rack over's mercedesbenz license play and Bing Bing Bing it started showing up going down
the FDR Drive the car went South around southern Manhattan it then made a turn into the
tunnel that led out to New Jersey but detectives could not pinpoint precisely where the car eventually
stopped they needed a break and they soon got it from Larry dilon he agreed to meet with them and they sensed that
there was something that he wanted to say and so the detective said to him you know what do you want to tell us we have
a missing boy here his family you know wants to know what happened to him on Tuesday dilon began talking the party
at the apartment in the wee early hours of Sunday morning had been Lively he said one of the women videotaped some of
it on her phone there was cocaine and plenty of drinking dilone and rackover even competed to see who could give the
best lap dance but by 6:45 a.m. the women left in that Uber and that's when cameras captured dilon and Joey walking
back into the building and up to apartment 4C where dilon says a fatal argument erupted Larry dilon tells the
police he has an exchange of words with Joey communality that Joey says something like James got the cocaine you
know I got the cigarettes what have you brought to the table and kind of pounded
his hand on a table and Larry dilon admitted to the police that he just flew into a raid
and slamed Joe and knocked him down and hit him a few times dilon says that when he began
punching Joey his friend Max Gemma was asleep on the couch then dilon says rack over a boxing fan who took pride in his
chisel physique jumped right in and according to Larry James starts also beating the crap out of Joey who's now
defenseless and gurgling because he can't hardly breathe commun alley lawyer Bob Abrams has heard dillion's
confession he claims that after he had beaten a defenseless joei and almost killed him Max woke up they got so very
nervous because Raco was now beating the crap out of Joey that they would do anything rakova said and this is really
difficult for me to talk about because what they did and how they did it is just so horrific d dilon says he
told Gemma to leave the room and that's when dilon says rackover began stabbing Joey the stabbing ended Joey's
life dilon says Jemma left the apartment and had no involvement in the murder he says rackover then dragged
Joey's lifeless body into the bathroom he tries to dismember him with a serrated knife
dismembering somebody is not an easy thing to do and rackover was not able to do
it while they plotted their next move they began a frenzied cleanup of the apartment mopping up Joey's blood with
bleach and paper towels all the while Fielding calls from Joey's friends and his father you're talking to Larry dilon
and your son's still in the apartment and they act like there's nothing wrong yeah incredibly evidence shows that
rackover and dilon took time out to eat placing a delivery order then as shown on building surveillance cameras they
explored the basement looking police a for a way to get Joey's body out of the Grand Sutton without being
seen then they had another idea what they do next is totally insane as dark Darkness settled on the
city dilon claimed he moved Joey's body now wrapped in a comforter to the ledge of rack over's fourth floor window while
rackover moved the mercedesbenz into position on East 59 Street when rack over gave him the class
sign dó pushed the body uh out of the window four floors and nobody saw it we're we're talking about a upscale
apartment Midtown Manhattan and nobody saw it the Grand Sutton faces the Queensboro Bridge in Manhattan and it
was dark it fell into an area where there may have been some bushes and concrete and then when nobody was
looking after Deon came back down they stuffed the body into the trunk of the car and then they drove off
lar had told them that they had driven the body down to Oceanport New Jersey and that they had deposited him in a
wooded area behind a florish shop it was an area that dilon was very familiar with he grew up in Oceanport a
jerseyshore town some 60 M from Manhattan he admits to helping take the body and to participate in digging I
don't want to call it a grave because it's not a grave a hole and then dumping Joey's body in a hole but right before
they were going to cover up the hole rackover took gasoline and started to pour it over Joey's body and in fact
did light Joey's body on fire after dillion's confession police raced out to Oceanport and discovered
Joey's burned body in a field behind the the florish shop exactly where dilon had
said it would be 2 hours later Sergeant Yan Castro arrived at Pat common Al's home in
Stanford you heard a car door closed I popped up and I saw detective uh Castro I already
knew yeah that was it what happened that night did you do it James rackover and Larry dilon were
arrested and charged with second degree murder what happened early Sunday morning did you do it did you kill did
you stab him Max Jemma who remembered dilon insis had nothing to do with Joey's death was arrested later but he
was not charged with murder he was charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence Gemma
was granted bail all three men pleaded not guilty even Larry dilon he challenged his
confession saying police had ignored him when he informed them he had a lawyer but the biggest shock was yet to come
when it was revealed that James rackover who seemed to live such a charm life was
not who he claimed to be James rackover wasn't really James rackover was it [Music]
no and it just seemed like there was always more to learn about James more terrible things to the outside world
James rackover was a wealthy young Heir and would be model living in the lap of luxury on suton place but the man that
Larry dilon claims is the ring leader in Joseph common Ali's vicious murder is not at all what he appears to
be James rackover was not his real name detectives discovered James rackover was not the the son of
celebrity jeweler Jeffrey rackover police say James rackover is also this man James Bowden from Brower County he's
an excon from Florida a world away from the understated wealth of Sutton Place and James Bowden has a WRA sheet dating
back to his teens he spent nearly a year and a half in prison for second degree burglary 3 months after his release in
September 2013 after moving to New York he reportedly met Jeffrey rackover at a gym they were
both working out and they kind of hit it off surprisingly the multi-millionaire Bachelor then in his mid-50s soon
invited the 22-year-old James to live with him in his lavish Grand Sutton apartment on the 32nd Floor and if
anyone asked why the two were suddenly living together Jeffrey explained it this way
Jeffrey rackover told his closest friends and relatives that one day there was a knock on his door and a young man
was standing at the door and said you don't know me but I'm your son Jeffrey even took the extraordinary step of
allowing James to change his last name to rackover James claimed he was Jeffrey's biological son these are the
documents for name change they put this in a legal document James rackover said Jeffrey rackover is his biological
father he lied in this document didn't he James lied in that document and Jeffrey rakov confirmed the information
commun Al family attorney Bob Abrams says it was all an act they're not related they are not related Abrams
alleges there was a sexual relationship between the two but jeffy's lawyer categorically denies it what's more
james' defense attorneys Rob cendo and Maurice cirar say they've only seen a fatherson
relationship Jeffrey rackover provided structure in the life of this young man Jeffrey paid for James's education and
helped him find a job he even paid James's nearly $4,000 a month rent when in early
2016 James moved into a partment 4C at the Grand Sutton after James was arrested for Joey Kelli's murder
Jeffrey paid at least initially for James's defense attorney what does James rack over face if he's convicted of all
charges he faces spending the rest of his life in jail charged with second deegree murder and other crimes James is
set to St on trial first before Larry dilon and Max Jemma cirar has a unique strategy he says James is guilty of
covering up a murder but not of committing one you were asking this jury to separate the murder from other pretty
terrible acts trying to cut up the body getting rid of the body burying the body
burning the body it is tough but but they are separate things they say it was Larry dilon who killed Joey in October
2018 2 years after Joey's murder James Rover's trial began opening statements to today in the murder trial of James
rackover but Jeffrey James's biggest supporter and surrogate father did not appear in the
courtroom it was a much different scene for Joey whose family and friends pack the courtroom every
day what's been the worst part every day Pat was the first witness and his emotional testimony quieted the
courtroom I know it affected the jury it affects the jury in any murdered case prosecutors painted James rackover as a
monstrously callous killer playing this phone call recorded in jail where James brags to a friend I don't know if you've
been following but I start trial September so I'm looking at being home around October is my bre's going to be
up there bro like my we when I hit the street they're gonna be like yo this kid just be this Rocky and he's home oh my
God prosecutors called to the stand women who had attended that party then atii and Katie Conroy but parts of their
testimony helped the defense Katie in particular said Dilly was the one brandishing a knife he was using it to
do Coke off of the women uh painted a picture of him being pretty quick to use this knife for any variety of tasks
James's defense lawyers also point out that he had nothing to gain but everything to lose by killing Joey James
knew that if Jeffrey ever found out that a dead body had been discovered in his apartment that was the end of their
relationship and that had to be factored into account as well when you consider why James felt so compelled to get that
body out of the apartment after more than a week of testimony prosecutors had a strong case proving
the cover up but there was nothing that directly pointed to James rackover as Joey's killer they seem to need
something or someone more and sure enough they announced that they had a star witness who was going to take the
stand prosecutors hope to Seal James Rover's conviction by unleashing an 11th Hour
witness Lewis rugiero a close friend of James rackover the new witness turned out to be the troubled son of a very
very popular New York television morning anchor woman named Rosanna Scot popular
and well connected Good Day New York I'm rosan Scot Rosanna Scot is as hometown as New York gats and her 24-year-old son
told the court that he met James because of his mother's friendship with Jeweler
Jeffrey rackover the day after Joey kali's murder rugiero said he was working out
at the gym when James called him desperate to talk Lewis testified that James looked strung out he had bags
under his eyes and he said that James told him I've done something awful there was a kid in the apartment lren de Leon
got into a fight with him kind of knocked him out and then James says I got my own licks in there and I didn't
want a dead body in my apartment so I slid his throat we then put him in a comforter threw him out the window drove
him 60 Mi and buried him in a grave and then he adds don't worry about it because I bleach clean the entire
apartment and nobody will know about it rugiero testified he thought James was just making a sick joke but the reaction
in the courtroom was very different gasps came out of half of the room that was filled with Joey's family and
friends you could see the jurors actually recoil when he used the word I slid his throat it was a stunning moment
because rugiero was the first witness who directly implicated James rackover in Joey Kelli's murder the testimony by
Mr rugiero was very damaging but defense attorney Maurice cirar maintains that ruo's testimony was riddled with factual
errors rugiero testified that my client slid his throat Joseph comunali did not have his throat slit cirar stuck to his
defense that rackover is guilty of the cover up but not the murder on cross-examination the defense attacked
rugiero he had a lot of issues attorney Robert cendo in the fall of 2016 he was in the throws of as bad a drug problem
as you could have rugiero admitted on the stand that he had been spending $1,200 a day on marijuana oxycotton
xanax and cocaine he never called police to tell them about James's confession there were a number of reasons to think
that Mr rugiero might not be the person you want to hang the Hat of a murder conviction on the prosecution rested
soon after ruo's damaging testimony the defense then presented only one piece of evidence the ring
reportedly worn by Larry dilon when the fight broke out and why is that ring so important the ring had a sizable dent in
it and if you conclude that he hit Joseph so hard that he dented it that certainly uh is a fact that we would
want the jury to consider and it certainly speaks to who might have committed murder and who might not
have in his closing argument cir cars had one last surprise he showed jurs four minutes of video where James could
be seen in a building elevator and then in Jeffrey Rover's bedroom where Jeffrey
is sleeping cir cars argued that in those 4 minutes when and James was not in apartment 4C dilon alone killed Joey
4 minutes is plenty of time but prosecutors have a different theory that James was looking for cocaine in jeffy's
bedroom didn't find any and the fight broke out when he returned to apartment 4C
empty-handed after 10 days of witness testimony and evidence the jury got the case
just got to get Justice that's really it now it's a waiting game on Friday November 2nd
2018 after nearly 5 hours of deliberations the jury announced it had reached a verdict the former James
Bowden of Florida now James rackover from New York was convicted on all counts for the murder of Joey
Kali the verdict was greeted with relief and tears I want to thank the Manhattan
District's attorney's office I couldn't be more proud of the NYPD and all Joey's
friends and everybody else who supported us over the last two years I can't wait
to get these other two sons of to go down just like this ass part of my language this picture is me
and Joey in Manhattan those who knew Joey best like girlfriend Alyssa Lao this is actually one of my favorite
pictures it just shows how much I love him are left with their memories I definitely thought I was going to marry
him one day honestly um he was just a beautiful person inside and out and my life without him has been
crazy Joey's mother Lisa can barely speak about her only son so this was our last family photo
together what do you think when you take a look at Joey just miss him every day as a way of remembering Joey some of
his friends got tattoos with a number nine which is the number Joey always wore when he played Sports I do have one
but of course Pat common alley just had to get the most elaborate tattoo can you
see so your son's always going to be with you yeah I said I don't want you better make sure it looks just like him
and it does honestly I never saw a kid cry never one time it's ironic I'm making up for
it he was a special kid he really was [Music] [Music] [Music] every time I seen her she would be
texting or Facebooking and she was constantly on her phone I'm Nicole L and I'm I've been nominated for the ALS Ice
Bucket Challenge you want to get SI oh she's a happy go-lucky kid yes she smiled and she sang All the
[Music] Time Tonight the search intensifies for a missing teen from blackburg take a
good look this is Nicole Lovel she's 13 and was last seen in the Lantern Ridge area of blackburg between midnight and 7
Wednesday morning her father posted this message to Facebook book Nicole honey if
you see this if you're out there you can come to me I'm not mad at you I'm worried about you police were looking
into whether an app popular with teens was used to lure the girl that night I was going to knock on
the wall and tell her to come in and sleep with me like she usually does and I didn't do it it's with a
heavy heart that I have to announce that we've located the remains of 13y old Nicole Madison
level 100 Secom in Route 89 West Snowbird curve so where was Nicole level's body
Nicole was from what we understand in the trunk of the car and they move her right over here got close to the edge
and just a very preliminary determination of the cause of death is stabbing I went to high school with
David Eisenhower everything he did he worked hard at and he wanted to be the best
at investigators have said the 18-year-old College athlete and Engineering student knew the little girl
and quote used the relationship to his advantage to abductor at 12:39 a.m. just past midnight Nicole sends her last
electronic message to Dr tombstone David Eisenhower's Kick account username I don't want to go to
jail I didn't Doing It Wrong the second Virginia Tech student Natalie Keepers has also been charged
Natalie Keepers was an extremely smart person she was very academically driven she had connections to
NASA they stopped Walmart they buy cleaning supplies gloves wipes bleach the defendant purchase a garden
shovel I'm so sorry I wish I could have stopped I trust the courts will do what they feel is just this is really scary I
don't think anyone ever expected any of our classmates to become a alleged murderer it's no longer a situation
where you worry about your child meeting a stranger in the park you really need to worry about the stranger your child's
meeting on the phone that you gave them for Christmas this is the new crime of our time
[Music] [Music] 48 Hours killer app reported by Peter Van Sant continues in 90 seconds
[Music] [Music] [Music] every morning I come out here sit with her for an hour it's just been a nightmare I still
hope that she would come around the corner when she gets off the bus or she'll come out of her
room the nightmare for Nole level's mother Tammy weeks began on the morning of January 27th
2016 I pushed the door open and the nightstand was up against the door sometime in the middle of the night
the 13-year-old had climbed out of her bedroom window taking along her phone and her favorite blue cartoon blanket
did you call her cell phone oh yeah a bunch of times and what would happen it go straight to voicemail I text messag
her everybody was calling her texting her Tammy called police and began scouring the area before long a
neighborhood mother gave her some chilling news Nicole had been playing with her daughters and said that Nicole
was said she was going out on the date like millions of teens Nicole spent a lot of her social Time online so Tammy
feared she might have left to see someone she'd met on the internet you must be a bit panicked at this point
yeah the FBI has now joined Regional and state law enforcement in the search this
afternoon they canvased her neighbor Nicole's disappearance also sent shock waves through her hometown blackburg
Virginia more than 1,00 Searchers are on a mission to find the 13-year-old volunteers even brought this
infrared drone I know she wouldn't go nowhere for that many hours without her medicine Nicole was born with a damaged
liver and needed a transplant before her first birthday now a teenager she still
needed her anti-rejection medication every day to survive her illness in surgical treatment had left Nicole with
scars on her stomach and neck tamy says Nicole had emotional scars as well so she was being bullied
yeah she didn't she hated going to school she would always make me write her a note for Jim because they would
pick on her about her scar Nicole's social media posts reveal a sadly typical teenage story so lonely she had
Suicidal Thoughts longing for love and convinced nobody cared for her Tammy says Nicole not only had trouble fitting
in she also had a difficult relationship with her father David Lovel he did prison time on a drug charge and he's
had other problems with the law she wanted his attention she wanted his love I have regrets that I wasn't
there I feel you know what did I do on why wasn't I there for her more often he'd left Tammy before Nicole was born
the two were never married when you would go to work was there anyone supervising her yeah my parents your
parent did they live at the house yes so she never went unsupervised no no but Nicole was leading an unsupervised life
online through the social media apps on her smartphone it's like a loaded gun good morning BL County it's your
district attorney Pamela Casey Alabama da Pamela Casey is on a national Crusade warning people about the dangers of
social media if you pick up your child's phone and you don't know the password that's a problem if you don't know she
began speaking out long before Nicole level disappeared in Virginia and her online safety videos have been seen by
millions across the country I could actually go live on Periscope and post updates to you guys if I can do that
live sitting in my office then your child can do that live in their bedroom years ago you had to worry about your
kid getting snatched parents don't realize that essentially your kid can get snatched um their life taken by
somebody they meet in their own bedroom by late on the day Nicole level vanished her parents Hope was fading
with the winter light we love you Nicole we miss you we want you home I didn't sleep at all that night I
waited but it would be 3 days before Nicole's parents had to face the horrifying news that her body had been
found your whole world just comes toing down cuz she was my everything Coe had a passion of for
pandas music dancing Nicole touched many people throughout her short life shock and sadness were everywhere
but investigators had gotten a big break and it came from Nicole level herself she'd Left Behind virtual evidence of a
real life murder want to know what's really on your kids phone our tips for safety are on our
website at 48 hours.com Nicole's dad David level says even before her body was found
investigators had found a solid lead something she had handwritten on her bedroom wall
she wrote all her usernames and passwords to all her accounts FBI computer forensics experts
traced Nicole's account information and quickly established that she'd regularly
used kick a popular chat app attractive to teens in part because they can communicate anonymously without their
parents knowing when you had her phone did you ever click on the kick app just to see
what was inside no no I just made her delete it uninstall it do you believe she reinstalled it yeah so the FBI puts
in what they call an emergency disclosure request to kick they want to see Nicole's personal account and they
make a startling Discovery it turns out that in the last two days of her life she'd been messaging with a person who
had a chilling username Dr Tombstone using an IP address provided by Kick investigators Trac the Dr
Tombstone screen name to this young man David Eisenhower 18 a freshman engineering student at Virginia Tech I
will personally not stop until I reach my Peak Performance track and field champion from Mar David Eisenhower
seemed the last person in the world capable of killing a 13-year-old girl he'd been a high school track star
former classmate Dorothy Callahan says his brains and Charisma were as strong as his strides he was a very celebrated
student he always had Straight A's and he was sort of cocky and he was like yeah I'm David Eisenhower I was just on
the local news I'm a big deal 3 days after Nicole went missing Eisenhower was picked up by police at his dorm and
taken in for questioning his roommate Jeremy buo walked in on the startling aftermath I went to my room and I saw
the door open I got turned around by the Virginia State Police and the FBI and what did they say they said don't worry
it's not about you it's about your roommate bazo told 48 Hours That Eisenhower's Behavior the night Nicole
level vanished was really odd they put on boots but it wasn't raining that hard for boots but you know I just let it go
and then he came back at 2:00 in the morning and did you ever see a knife in the room yes he usually Le it on his
desk was it on his desk when the cop showed up no they couldn't find it Eisenhower soon admitted to police he
talked to Nicole outside her house that night he was arrested and charged with abduction Eisenhower's statements LED
them to another young woman Natalie Keepers she was brought in for questioning too siging a job in this
economy has gotten to be extremely important what did 19-year-old Natalie Keepers know about what happened to
Nicole Keepers another Virginia Tech freshman and another unlikely Person of Interest Mark Jenkins used to be her
boyfriend she wanted to study engineering and be like her father who worked for uh NASA investigators
strongly suspected Natalie was involved she too was was arrested 18-year-old Eisenhower a Virginia Tech freshman
engineering major and his friend Natalie Keepers with two people in custody police made a Grizzly Discovery Nicole's
nude body was located 90 Mi away in North Carolina says Sur County Sheriff Graham
Atkinson what kind of wounds were on her body she was stabbed and her throat was
cut and then the thoughts turned to who were the animals that could have done something like this to
her sometimes it's usually the people we least expect da Pamela Casey says David
Eisenhower may represent a new kind of Predator they could be your nextd door neighbor they can stay behind their
phone and hide behind their phone and just like your child is doing Casey says criminals often use apps like kick why
because it's where kids hang out online in fact kick a Canadian company claims that millions of American and teens use
their app every month with David Eisenhower Behind Bars it wasn't kick but an online gaming site
that led investigators to this man's door Bryce Dustin I know I almost felt like he was like a little brother it was
on this gaming site that Bryce first chatted with Eisenhower and though they never met in
person they began a six-year-long internet friendship David you know kept coming back to me
for advice on everything what kind of problems would he ask you advice about um girls was a big one Dustin told us he
remembers Eisenhower talking about a problem he had with one girl in particular a girl Dustin now believes
was Nicole he told me that he found out she was underage and that she wanted to be
with him and that she was going to expose him if he wasn't with her he says Eisenhower was worried about being outed
in a relationship with an underage girl so he offered some big brother kind of advice if she wants to be your
girlfriend you know let her but don't be the greatest boyfriend you know just like just don't text her just ignore her
she'll go away this family was about to have one of their daughters go away as well in
the car of an online predator in Spokane Washington this guy wants to kidnap my daughter tonight he's planning to kidnap
my daughter [Music] tonight her last moments is what flashes in my mind that's my
nightmare David Lovel wishes he had done better in protecting Nicole if it can happen to my family it can happen to
anybody I mean flat out anybody it can happen to any family including one here in Spokane Washington
about 2500 mil from Virginia the parents here got a tip that their 15-year-old daughter was being targeted by a 30-y
old man and what's worse the two were planning to run away that very night she was going to leave her
iPad hop in the car with a man she doesn't really even [Music] know it was June 7th 2013 when detective
Elise Robertson of the Spokane Police Department's Special Victims Unit got the kind of call cops all over the
country have come to expect a father was saying that his daughter was having a internet relationship with a 30-year old
man and he had just found out and then that's when everything broke loose until that moment Brandy sarachin
and her husband Brandon seemed to have the quintessential American Family she teaching at a local church he studying
for a PhD in Psychology they'd been hands on parents raising their two sons Joshua and Josiah
and two daughters Ariel and Elizabeth they shared a love of God Country Sports and each other my parents
were pretty strict sometimes too strict said Elizabeth 18 at the time of our interview I felt like my parents were
holding me back from what the average kid gets to experience and how much did your parents monitor your life I would
say that they thought that they were monitoring me they didn't understand that they actually weren't monitoring me
they probably had no clue about kick in those dating sites but her parents did become suspicious when Elizabeth then 15
suddenly started acting strangely she would be going to bed earlier than normal Elizabeth seemed distracted less
interested in family AC activities in church even in friends her parents took her smartphone away and asked to see her
social media accounts she refused and at that point you're like okay yeah something's really wrong
here they were stunned to learn just how wrong it all started with a phone call from Elizabeth's best friend's mother a
call that turned their world upside down Elizabeth is dating a 30-year-old and he
plans on coming down and getting her at 3:00 in the morning that very day yeah and we're like
What Elizabeth was angry and evasive but her parents finally got her passwords and soon discovered the truth she had
been communicating with a stranger a 30-year-old Seattle area man named Jason Jason Richard says when I see you baby I
grabbing you pulling you close to me and holding you tightly what does Elizabeth
say no kiss and Jason says baby I'm going to kiss you deeply this guy's evil she's foed she's
lured in initially Elizabeth told Jason she was 18 but later admitted her age 15
the cachin were stunned to learn that the pair had already met in person and been intimate they were even discussing
leaving the country the two had used apps including Facebook and kick this is playing out in some ways like your own
personal family horror film yeah yeah the horror continued as the cachin realized that within hours Jason would
be driving the 280 m from Seattle to Spokan to pick up their daughter they locked Elizabeth in her room with no
phone or internet access and called police this guy wants to kidnap my daughter tonight he's planning to kidnap
my daughter tonight were your hands kind of tied what do you do at that moment you have a 15-year-old girl who's your
only witness who's denying everything detective Robertson says that without hard evidence of an actual crime police
had to stay on the sidelines so there's nothing they can do for you there's absolutely nothing they can do for me
when you hear that you feel totally helpless and it's like okay well what are you going to do now what they did
was hatch their own plan to turn the tables on the man who was about to lure their daughter away this is my daughter
and nobody's going to mess with her and nobody's going to get her and I'm going to do what it takes Jason had already
message from the car I needed to communicate with him to get him to our house gritting her teeth Brandy went
online impersonating her own daughter for 7 hours I sat there and listen to him oh baby I can't
wait to see you I can't wait to get you in my arms lay in the same bed together wake up in the
morning and for 7 hours I communicated back oh baby I love you too I can't wait you the pit of your stomach that
must have it made me sick Jason is getting ever closer to your house ever closer to your
daughter my wife was up there and she was on the iPad she's communicating with him yes posing as your daughter exactly
yes while Brandy kept the conversation with Jason going in the alley behind behind the
cirin's house Brandon and his friends had set up a sting operation like something out of an action movie I am
over here with my car and my friend Phil we're getting updates from my wife on the phone my friend Damon is on this
side of the street so the idea is like a pincer right you're going to you're going to trap it's like a bear trap
that's going to close Brandon's friend Phil brought his 12 gate shotgun he'd been trained in Special Forces and had
no idea how Jason would react are you ready to use this if I have to [Music] yes he pulls right in this drive right
here it was 3 3 a.m. in Spokane Washington but could just as easily B High Noon he comes all the way in here
and about as Brandon cachin and his team laid in wait headlights appeared at one
end of the alley a 30-year-old man's sexual road trip to take a 15-year-old girl from her family was about to come
to a shocking end he pulls in at this time we go ahead and we call Damon down here and Damon is just looks it and I'm
pulling in here Jason pulls in right there Brandon's friend Phil quickly approached the vehicle shotgun raised I
said driver put your hands on the steering wheel do not move or I will shoot you couple of times he moved his
hands and I said what part of do not move do you not understand if Jason makes some sort of move are you prepared
to pull that trigger if he exited the car abruptly I would have shot him they called the police who arrived
minutes later and arrested Jason in his SUV they found cell phones and a pair of
hunting knives he was caught but it wasn't over 90 minutes later Jason comes face
to face with Spokane detective Elise Robertson so Jason tell me a little bit about I work for a Royal Cup copy
detective Robertson learned Jason was actually Jason Richards a 30-year-old divorc fored coffee distributor from the
Seattle area like David Eisenhower and Natalie Keepers in the level case Jason Richards seemed nice and successful on
the surface who is this guy Jason is the guy next door he tried to turn his crime
into a love story pretty much fell for her very quickly we said I love you uh pretty quickly probably about a week and
a half into really talking with each other at first Richards insisted he had no idea Elizabeth was only 15 until a
policeman told him at the time of his arrest he told told me that she wasn't 18 okay I
responded come again and like she's now she's 18 he was lying the whole time he was lying the
whole time over and over over lie lie lie lie lie to see if her instincts were right would you give me a permission to
look at your account Ive Robertson asked to see Richard's Facebook page there were literally hundreds of exchanges
between him and Elizabeth and I start looking at it and I realized oh he knew he knew before he ever came over here
she was 15 want to tell me the truth now well I looked right at him and I said so
are you going to tell me the truth now I fell in love with her and I didn't know
what to do and she told you that she was 15 and still in school eventually right
this is our first meeting spot Elizabeth told her parents she was going J doging
but instead came to this parking lot when you actually saw him face to face what did you think holy crap like I
think it became a reality to me that it's not just somebody that I'm talking to over the Internet Elizabeth says
Jason took her to a hotel got down on one knee and proposed marriage and then they got in
bed in the following weeks he came to town again on those visits did you have sex with
him each time uh yeah we did for you Jason is what he's a sexual predator I completely just up my life my
life was [Music] destroyed this hits you right now like a like a punch across the face right it's
just absolutely unbelievable Richards pleaded guilty to child rape and communication with a minor for immoral
purposes his lawyer argued Richards has autism which can be a mitigating factor for several crimes in Washington state
he got a light sentence 3 years these apps are apps that children are using take a moment da Pamela Casey
says far too many internet predators are turning to apps like kick and their alleged crimes are making headlines
across the us a lot of stuff's happening without parents knowing I don't think people would let a you know a
50-year-old felon into their house to hang out with their daughter but that's exactly what they're doing online
sometimes and they don't know Jason Richards served his sentence and was released in 2017 with
restrictions including a restraining order to keep him away from Elizabeth the cachin say they wish the judge had
given him as much as life in prison just hard knowing he only got 3 years for everything the pain that he caused
me it's way more deserving than 3 years and he a danger it's not right in Virginia
Nicole lovel's mother says there is no punishment severe enough for David Eisenhower and Natalie Keepers I want
both of them to suffer and she says they aren't the only ones who should have to answer for her
daughter's murder she blames kick too they need to shut kick down it's just disgusting kick is reported to be a
billion dooll company please welcome to the stage Ted Livingston from kick we caught up with the CEO at a Tech
Conference in Brooklyn that's him right there Mr Livingston Peter Van sat how are you I'm good how are you CBS News so
I want to ask a quick question sure what personal responsibility do you have to make sure that children are safe who use
the kick app yeah I I think I have a huge responsibility I'm sure you're familiar with Nicole level a 13-year-old
girl in Virginia what would you say to Nicole's parents like when we heard about that case like that hit the office
and hit me super hard like many social media companies kick posts an online guide for parents and in a statement
told 48 Hours the company cooperates with law enforcement designed it Ted Livingston claims his app is as safe as
the competition I think it's no different than Facebook or Snapchat and or Instagram you know you have people
going as a parent I disagree I can check my child's Facebook account and Twitter
account I friend them but with kick I can yeah I think that's no different than Instagram you have a private mode
you can have private messaging all that exists there that's true but Kick's design is attracting millions of teens
in part because many believe it's parent proof the best app to keep their social
lives secret kids are going to use a messenger if we were to shut down kick tomorrow there will be 10 right find
day and she's like hey do you want to message me on some app called Kick and I was like sure kick isn't on trial but
two once promising college students would soon be in the murder of Nicole Lille [Music]
it was Nicole level's digital footprint that led police to Virginia Tech freshman David Eisenhower when they
brought him in for questioning he said he'd recently encountered the young girl on an anonymous chat app and they moved
over to kick and she's like hey do you want to message me on some app called Kick and I was like sure
Eisenhower said he met Nicole in person just once the night she died that he went to meet her quickly saw how young
she was and left her alive I see someone who probably she was 11 years old climbing out the window and I was like
uhuh uhuh not for me and I'm sitting here just like thinking to myself you got to get out of here you got to get
out of here you got to get out of here but Nicole's Kick account told another story alog together that they had been
on Kick for months they had met in person at least once before and most likely been intimate with reason to
worry Eisenhower volunteered he just purchased a new snow shovel and offered up his
friend would it help to mention I had someone else with me when I bought the shovel for snow purposes her name is uh
Natalie Keepers and so police rounded up that second Virginia Tech student Natalie Keepers they recorded her
telling a stunning tale beginning the day before the murder on Monday there was a general
idea that okay he has to get her into the car somehow keeper said Eisenhower feared
Nicole was about to expose their relationship and asked for help brainstorming ways to kill her on
Tuesday that's when the official plan started coming together they bought the shovel went out to dinner and then
Eisenhower dropped keepers at her dorm he had a pre-arranged date with Nicole then Keepers told the officers
Eisenhower picked Nicole up drove her into the woods and stabbed her to death the next day he and Keepers went back to
Walmart for cleaning supplies and disposed of the body together where she's at a ro at's grandparents house
armed with this news officers raced to find Nicole's body Eisenhower and Keepers were arrested for Nicole's
family a long wait was just beginning is there any doubt who is responsible for the death of your
daughter it took 2 years but in February of 2018 Eisenhower went on trial for her
murder prosecutors described Nicole's Final hours as she waited for her secret date she gives her mom a kiss and she
tells her she's going to bed Cole pushes her dresser in front of the door she climbs out of the window into
the snowy night and into Eisenhower's waiting car Nicole's mother described the horror
of finding her daughter gone when was the next time that you saw Nicole in her coffin security footage showed
Eisenhower and Keepers buying the shovel photos revealed blood stains and the Bloody shovel found in Eisenhower's car
that is a receipt and a Walmart employee read a list of items they purchased before discarding Nicole's body top job
basic bleach cleaner Great Value disinfecting wives and two pairs of cleaning gloves Eisenhower's lawyer said Natalie
Keepers killed Nicole and he said a bloody handprint on the shovel proves it the palm print that made that Bloody
palm print on the shovel was not David Eisenhower it was ruled out as being David Eisenhower it was Natalie
Keepers but on the fourth day of testimony came a bombshell announcement guilty or not guilty no
contest facing a mountain of incriminating evidence Eisenhower suddenly changed his plea from not
guilty to no contest prosecutors read one of his last kick messages with Nico into the court record from the defendant
but I can't stress enough that you don't tell anyone about me because they will find a way to hurt you from Nicole level
who will hurt me who's they why are you scaring me please St the judge accepted his
revised plea and ruled Eisenhower guilty find guilty of Abu as charged in the indictment
But Nicole's family still had one more ordeal to sit through in September 2018 Natalie Keepers went on trial as an
accessory to murder she had already pleaded guilty to helping Eisenhower conceal Nicole's
body prosecutors told new jurors the same story that David isenhower killed Nicole leville but he had help from
Natalie keepers over several weeks they planned out the murder they considered shooting her poisoning her making it
look like it was a suicide prosecutors played audio recordings of Keepers describing Eisenhower's messages to her
on Kick he would say offer Kill The um kill her keeper said she knew knew it was
wrong had no emotion he became a sociopath and he thought of me as a sociopathic training
I guess Keeper's attorney called a neuropsychologist who examined Keepers and diagnosed her with seven mental
disorders including borderline personality disorder and a disorder like schizophrenia these people may look odd
their sense of reality is off their ability to relate to others is off their interpersonal skills are off the doctor
said Keeper's mental state could have made her interview with the officers unreliable such a person would
be highly easily influenced and gullible and would be easily LED and Keeper's lawyers say she was playing along with
Eisenhower to keep his friendship and had no idea he would really kill Nicole you will hear her actually
describe that she thought it was a fantasy something that wasn't real I thought he was joking I didn't
think David could actually kill her but the prosecutors disputed that notion and
read Keeper's kick messages to Eisenhower after the murder telling him he deserved a good night's sleep she's
proud she's proud of what she and David Eisenhower did it's almost like congratulating someone for getting
through five finals in a week you deserve it get some sleep the jury took just over 1 hour to reach a verdict we
the jury unanimously found the defendant Natalie Marie Keepers guilty of being an
accessory before the fact Natalie Keepers was sentenced to 40 years in prison and David Eisenhower was
sentenced to 50 years in prison neither is eligible for parole they they both apologized to Nicole's family I wish I
could have stopped I never intended for this to happen nothing can ever undo what has
been done and for that I am deeply sincerely and forever sorry even with guilty verdicts the question of why may
never be answered the shell shock community of blackburg still doesn't understand how
two intelligent college kids with their lives in front of them would take the life of a 13-year-old
girl I wish he would have done it to me instead of [Music] her I would trade places with her in a
heartbeat [Music] cuz he deserves live and nothing's the same Nicole level's death is a dark reminder of how
social media I'm Nico have profoundly changed Society for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge I hope everybody learns from
this hold their kids Tight cuz it can happen to you today our children have a host of new
ways to live and new ways to die as well [Music] the I was the first female district
judge to be on a criminal bench in Travis County the decisions I make every day someone's not going to leave happy
Travis County 911 please hurry this guy just went up to the car sh my mom and I protected my head with my arm in my hand
I can remember thinking I'm going to die in front of my own son she'd sent a lot
of people to prison we didn't know who did this and it just shows you that you never know who it's going to be next CBS
News original reporting [Music]

"48 Hours" reports on cases that involve social media and shows how technology was used to hunt down clues. Binge-watch the full episodes, including "The Snapchat Clue," "What Happened in Apartment 4C?" and "Killer App."

00:00 The Snapchat Clue 41:47 What Happened in Apartment 4C? 1:24:25 Killer App

True crime. Real justice. "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

Chandler Halderson was convicted of murdering his parents, Bart and Christa, after a shocking investigation revealed his lies and motives.

Key points

The Disappearance of Bart and Christa Halderson. A couple goes missing, leaving their family and friends in shock and confusion.
Discovery of Human Remains. Authorities find remains linked to the missing couple, shifting the investigation's focus.
Chandler Halderson Charged. Chandler Halderson is charged with first-degree homicide and hiding a corpse.
Guilty Verdict. Chandler Halderson is found guilty on all charges, including first-degree intentional homicide.
The Search for Joey. Joey's friends and family mobilize to find him after he goes missing.
The Discovery. Police find Joey's bloody belongings in the trash, escalating the investigation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I never would have guessed what was about to be revealed.

Adam's disbelief about the situation

3:19WatchApr 20, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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