The Blue River Murder | Full Episode | Forensic Files

Stephanie and I did a dance together [music] and it was a dance about love and loss
and it [music] was an empty chair on the stage. age. The empty chair symbolizes the loss of a loved one.
I [music] thought, how ironic is this that we do this dance and now Stephanie's the one that's in [music] my
empty chair. My name is Jennifer Vauakis and Stephanie is my best friend. I think about Stephanie [music]
every day. Every time I dance, she's with me. It was the Monday before Thanksgiving in
Silverthornne, very small town, Colorado. [music] It was dark night. It was a blizzard
that night and very cold. Temperature was 1° with wind chill of minus20 or lower.
Stephanie Roller Bruner, mother of three, while her young children are asleep, she
supposedly goes out for a walk on this cold, snowy, blizzard night and she disappears into thin air.
My job was to find Stephanie. If I couldn't find Stephanie, I felt like I would fail.
>> My name is Teresa Berger. I'm a detective for the Silverthorn Police Department. I was hoping for the best,
but I was thinking of the worst. Summit County, Colorado. It can get very cold and it can be very dangerous.
First 24 hours is the most imperative when finding a missing person. I didn't find her.
The [music] scenario that you hope happens is that Stephanie would be found safe and unheard somewhere.
I'm Mark Roberts and I'm the district attorney up here in Summit County. And we were called in early on in the case
because up here every missing person we look at is possibly a homicide. >> Each day that we looked into Stephanie's
life, we learned many things. We learned that Stephanie had secrets. She was very scared. She was scared for
her life. I don't know what it is about beautiful, kind women who fall into these kind of
traps. That's the biggest question now is why. >> [music] >> This is a story of a mother of three,
a lovely person who loved to dance, who disappeared. appeared in a blizzard in the cold.
No leads, no shoe print in the snow, and it's a puzzle. Where is she? When Stephanie Roller went missing in
November of 2010, Teresa Barger was still a unformed police officer. But before it was over, her determination to
find out what happened to Stephanie would earn her the title detective. >> I take most of my cases personally. But
because she was alone and we couldn't find her, that became my project. That became a passion to find her.
Officer Barger helped launch a massive search and rescue effort to find the missing mother of three. Stephanie's
husband, Dale Bruner, said he last saw his wife around 10:30 [music] p.m. on Monday night. 24 hours later,
there was [music] still no sign of her. >> We've called everybody that we can call
that we know of. I've got the kids at the house at this point. Mommy didn't come home, and I don't know what to tell
the kids. You can't tell them anything. You don't know anything yet. I'm scared.
>> The thought of losing Stephanie was too much to take in, says Dale. He'd been in
love with her from the moment he set eyes on her at a ski resort in Oregon. >> She was wearing sunglasses and I didn't
know what she really looked like at all until she took her sunglasses off and I was just stunned. I was like, "Wow, this
she's beautiful." >> They moved together to Silverthornne, Colorado, a town near the popular ski
resort of Breenidge. Athletic and adventurous, Stephanie fit right in, says friend Jennifer Vakus.
When Stephanie moved to the county, the first thing she wanted to do was dance. [music] And so I was the lucky recipient
of that call because I owned a dance studio. [music] We were friends from the very start. From the first word, I knew
that she was something very special. >> Stephanie went to work for the county reviewing home building plans. And Dale
built a business as a photographer. They eventually married in Fiji and had three children, a girl,
a boy, and a second little girl. >> She really wanted children, and she was very happy.
>> We weren't rich, but we did. We were doing okay. We were able to take the vacations to Mexico and Disney World,
you know, every year and Hawaii, you know, three or four times in the last few years.
>> It sounds like an idyllic life. Yeah. >> But a few months before she disappeared,
Dale's best friend, Brad Olivanti, says he watched that idyllic life morph into something unrecognizable.
>> I called it the perfect storm. It just seemed like things started going on a different direction quickly.
>> Stephanie was laid off and Dale's photography business dried up in the tight economy. But that wasn't the worst
of it. >> What state was your marriage in? >> A juggling act. >> In what sense? >> Well, Stephanie wanted out. She said,
"I've fallen out of love with you. I've met someone else. I want to move on." >> That someone else was a physical
therapist named Ron Hold House. They met when Stephanie was teaching [music] him
to dance for a local benefit, Dancing with the Mountain Stars. >> Hey, Mark. How are you?
>> Good. How are you doing? District Attorney Mark Hurlbert. >> Even though there did not appear to be
anything physical, emotionally they appeared to be very connected with each other.
>> Their secret blog [music] called Souls Seeking tells the story of two lovers longing but unable because of [music]
circumstance to be together. >> It was definitely a love affair. It was a affair of the heart.
>> About 6 months after meeting Ron, Stephanie asked Dale for a divorce. Were you willing to get divorced? Yes,
absolutely. I wanted Stephanie to always be happy. >> Even if it was with someone else,
>> that's not my choice. I mean, that's her if if that's what makes her happy, then,
you know, if being with me wasn't going to be make her happy, then that's not why would I want that.
>> But to the police, the combination of jilted husband and missing wife raised a
red flag. >> I heard the door and there was two police officers. One of them flat out
was yelling at me. He said, "Did you kill your wife?" And I was just stunned. I'm like, "What are you talking about?"
>> But Dale wasn't the only one on their radar. Turns out Mr. Holt House had a Mrs. Hold House. And despite what he
said in those romantic love letters, Ron had no intention of leaving his wife. He
broke it to Stephanie the day before she disappeared. He was trying to break it off with Stephanie.
>> Yes. He said that he would he needed to step back and work on his relationship
with his wife. >> But Stephanie was so upset, Ron told officer Barger that he agreed to meet
her in the parking lot where they often came to talk. >> Stephanie and Ron met here about 5 hours
before Stephanie went missing. >> They parted, but later that night, Officer Barger says Stephanie was still
fixated on getting Ron back. She wrote him an emotional email detailing her love for him.
>> And at that point, the trail went cold. [music] >> Dale told officer Barger that around
10:30, Stephanie told him she needed to clear her head. He heard the door shut and then she walked off into that dark,
snowy night. It's hard to admit that the worst could happen to you. You don't think it's going to ever
happen to you. From the minute Stephanie Roller disappeared, Jennifer Vakus and her
husband Mike scoured the county looking for their missing friend. >> I searched in the river. I searched
under bridges, covert outlets, even dumpsters and that sort of thing. >> We had to look for her. Who knows where
she was? It was better than not doing anything at all. >> They went from hotel to hotel.
>> We took every lead that we could and we explored it. They called Stephanie's cell phone countless times hoping she
would answer. She never did. >> I was in shock. >> According to Dale, Stephanie had left
that night in a lightweight jacket. She had no purse, no money, no car keys, only a phone she wasn't answering, and a
computer she wasn't using. >> What? She took her computer, but she didn't take her purse for a walk in
freezing temperatures. That wasn't adding up. >> Though technically still a missing
person's case, the Silverthorn PD started treating it as a murder investigation.
>> Right there. >> And this was one of the people officers wanted to talk to. Ron Holt House, the
boyfriend. I just want to ask straight up again, not accusing you. Do you know where Stephanie is right now? I
absolutely have no >> He was nervous, but he was very forthcoming on the information that we
had asked. >> And I was actually trying to tell her that it was over. And then he said,
asked me again one more time like, "But we can make it work." I said, "No, I we cannot make this work."
>> He appeared to me genuine at that point, but we didn't give up because you never
know. He could be a really good liar. Oh, yeah. He could have been. >> The search for Stephanie slowed down on
Thanksgiving Day, but not for Officer Barger. She kept grinding away. >> There was nothing leading me to her, and
that's not normal. Usually, there is a trace somewhere. >> By that evening, she was at her wit's
end. >> It became a horrible evening. All I kept thinking is we need a locator. >> The next day, Friday,
>> I want you to stay in the same tracks you came in on. >> Barger sadly got her wish.
>> Around noon, the frozen body of a woman was found just a few minutes walk from
Stephanie Roller's home under melting snow in the Blue River. >> The majority of her body was was
submerged. Agent Greg Sedar with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist the local police.
>> She was lying face up in the water and she was naked with the exception of a long sleeve teal t-shirt was still
attached to her right arm. >> That was it. >> Yes, ma'am. >> There was no sign of sexual assault, but
the clothes she was reportedly wearing were never found. [music] It was very hard to look at her
cuz I could tell from the pictures it was her. It was the same person that I've been looking for.
And it was very hard. It's unescribable. I just was so shocked. I couldn't react.
I couldn't react. My first thought was what happened to her? And my second was my kids. Like, oh
my god, my kids have lost their mom. This was a very brutal, brutal murder. She was hit over the head, which caused
her skull to break. She was strangled so hard that a bone in her neck broke. while still alive, thrown into the Blue
River and left to drown and die of hypothermia. >> How horrible that it had to be for her
to be in that that river and to sit there and not be able to do anything. She suffered.
I had to focus now and bring that person to justice because she needed that. And
her children, her children needed that. Tonight is about celebration to take away memories of Stephanie Roller
Bruner. >> One week after Stephanie Roller's battered body was pulled from the icy
waters of the Blue River, >> when I met Stephanie, I just knew I had to be her friend.
>> Friends, my heart is with you. >> Family and people who had never even met her gathered in the theater where she
once danced to celebrate her life. Stephanie, thank you for teaching us strength and courage.
>> It was very important that we called it a celebration because that's who Stephanie was. She always wanted her
life to be happy. >> It was a beautiful service. >> People are just griefstricken.
>> But Agent Sedar wasn't just there to pay his respects. He was there to work. And
that meant keeping a close eye on another of his suspects, Dale Bruner. As I watched Dale, he would look around the
room comfortable and calm. Then when somebody would walk up to him, he would break down crying, no tears,
and then when that person filed away, he'd snap back into just a normal demeanor again. It was one of the oddest
behaviors I've ever seen. >> But Dale's best friend, Brad, a longtime funeral director, says there's no
accounting for behavior in times of grief. Nevertheless, he suggested it might be time for Dale to lawyer up.
>> I kind of had a little chat with him. I said, "Pal, um, I don't know if you watch TV," and he does, "But do you know
that, you know, the husband usually is the person that they're going to come after in a situation like this when a
wife goes missing and is now deceased." Investigators were definitely eyeing Dale, but he wasn't the only one. There
were still two others high on their list. >> One was Ron Hold House and the other was
Cynthia Holt House. >> Cynthia Holt House. >> Hi, Cynthia. >> The boyfriend's wife.
>> How are you? >> She at one point had said that she wished that Stephanie was dead. And she
said this while Stephanie was missing. >> Have you ever taken a polygraph exam before?
Ron Hold House and his wife Cynthia both took lie detector tests. How'd they do?
>> They both failed. >> They failed. What did that tell you? >> We needed to do digging.
So, this is a bridge where Stephanie used to like to walk. >> That's what Dale told us that this was
one of her favorite places. >> Sadly, [music] it now overlooks the stretch of river where Stephanie
Roller's body was found. A cruel irony that made Agent Sedar all the more determined to find her killer.
What's your strategy to solve this case? >> Narrow down who would have motive, opportunity, and ability to kill Miss
Bruner. >> In his mind, that came down to three people. The jilted husband, the married
boyfriend, and the boyfriend's jealous wife. >> The jealous wife? I'm the jealous
boyfriend. >> At this point, I think everybody's a suspect. Investigators believed each one
had the motive and the ability to kill Stephanie. They just had to figure out which one had the opportunity. Starting
with Ron Hold House. >> Did Ron have an alibi? >> Yes. His wife. >> So Ron's alibi was Cynthia and Cynthia's
alibi was >> Ron. Yes. Husband and wife said they were home together all night. And in
interview after interview, their stories matched. Something that made agent Sedar
believe them. >> It's almost impossible to lie consistently, not only about yourself,
but about someone else and have those lies continue to sink up. >> You don't think they could have been
covering for each other. >> I found that at that time to be highly unlikely. >> Cynthia didn't even learn about the
affair until after Stephanie went missing, says Sedar. He believes she was too angry to lie for her husband.
>> Even though you love him as much as you do, I can tell you love him a lot. >> Yeah, I love him a lot, but no, I
wouldn't love him. >> No, because >> even if you knew he was still going to go to prison, if you did,
>> you know what? If he made it, I'd go away. >> But what about those lie detector tests?
The ones they both failed. Agent Sedar thinks Cynthia's distressed emotional state caused her to fail. As for Ron,
this person. >> I think he was telling us the truth. I think that deep down inside I think he
really felt like he was on some level responsible for her disappearance. >> He had that guilt that
>> absolutely. >> So ultimately you focused on another suspect. Who was that? Dale Bruner.
>> From day one Dale's behavior didn't add up, says Barger. >> He was casual. He was calm about things.
He did not seem like a person who was looking for his wife. Jennifer was just as perplexed by Dale's demeanor. She got
to the house about 6 hours after Stephanie was reported missing. [music] >> First thing he did was set me down at
the kitchen table and start complaining about Stephanie, how she didn't keep the
house and how he did everything for her. And in my mind, I'm thinking Stephanie's
missing. What are we talking about here? And I asked him, "What have you done so far?"
He had done nothing to help find her. Well, okay. Who have you called? Nobody. Nobody. He called nobody.
What would you do if your spouse went missing? Would you sit there and call nobody?
>> What's more, he never even left the house to search for her. >> It's human instinct. If you love
someone, you go search for them. >> But where? Just go out and start walking. Yeah, canvasing.
>> But I was told I was told the police will do that. >> It must have taken a remarkable amount
of self-control as a husband who loves his wife, if she's missing, to stay home and not search for her.
>> Where am I going to look? >> The next day, officer Barger called Dale into the station for questioning. At
this point, his wife had been missing almost 2 days. Yet, he still seemed unconcerned.
>> I walked in, there he was, asleep. Dale was asleep in the chair. I was speechless. I really didn't know what
else to think. I mean, he was sleeping right there, sleeping in the chair, and we're still looking for her.
>> During most of the interview, Barger says he was eerily calm and relaxed. >> And I'm like, what if she just comes
home? I don't want to worry her parents. What if this is just silly, >> right? And I've only gent,
you know, some stupid information. Officer Barger says she will never forget the look in those eyes.
>> You know how you can tell somebody isn't genuine? Their eyes, they look different. You know, there looks like
there's nothing behind them. There's no care, there's no love, there's nothing behind them.
>> Dale says he keeps his emotions in check for a reason. >> I know. I could just fall on the floor
and just start crying. I mean, and then I don't know if I'll be able to get up. So instead,
>> instead I do this and I hold on. And so that's that's counted as insincere cuz I don't know if I'll stop
>> stop crying. >> Yeah. >> Investigators might have been able to overlook some of Dale Bruner's weird
behavior, but they couldn't overlook his timeline. Dale told the police that Stephanie left for her walk on that
bitterly cold night between 10 and 10:30. He didn't report her missing until 8:45 the next morning. He said to
give her space. >> I didn't know where she went. I half worried, half is she with the
boyfriend? Is she not? If she needs her space, whatever she's doing, I don't know. And the last thing I wanted to do
was badger her. When did you start to worry? >> The morning. I mean, I worried that
night late, but I'm like, you know, she she's a big girl. >> Why do you think he waited 11 hours to
call police? >> Waited 11 hours because he was he was getting rid of evidence. >> When you realized that Dale Bruner was
your prime suspect, were you concerned for the kids? >> Absolutely. Without her there to protect
him, we were very worried about the kids. The day after their mother's memorial, children's services swept in
and removed the children from their home. They were sent to live with Stephanie's family. At this point, Brad
confronted his friend. >> I asked my best friend and looked at him in the eye and said, "Did you have
anything to do with this?" And he looked me straight in the eye and said, "No." But authorities were learning that Dale
was a master at hiding the truth. They began to uncover deep [music] secrets in Dale Bruner's past, which gave them
enough ammunition to arrest [music] him. 8 months after Stephanie Roller's death,
Dale Bruner was indicted [music] for the murder of his wife. >> We got him. We are going to get justice
[music] for Stephanie. >> [music] [music] >> District Attorney Mark Hurlebert was
sure he had the right guy, but he knew he [music] had his work cut out for him. >> Biggest challenge is that we have no
direct evidence. I mean, this was a circumstantial evidence case. >> Dale, released on bond, remained adamant
that he was innocent. So adamant, he rejected a deal of 24 years in exchange for a guilty plea.
>> I'm going, "Dude, you might want to think about that." And he was adamant. He goes, "I am not going to admit to a
crime that I did not do." Instead, he chose to take his chances in court. In July of 2012, a year and eight
months after the slaying of Stephanie Roller, Dale Bruner went on trial for her murder.
>> Here is our victim right in the center of the river. We are hoping to prove that Dale Bruner,
>> the white material you're seeing right here is snow. >> Hit Stephanie over the head with some
blunt forced object, strangled her, carried her body in the snow to the Blue River, and threw her body in the river.
>> There is not a shred of evidence to directly link my client to these crimes. Dale's defense attorney, Rob
Burnernhard, zeros in on the lack of direct evidence, hoping to show reasonable doubt.
>> What we know is that they didn't find anything. Nothing, not one footprint, not one track,
not one fingerprint. I've never seen him do a violent thing in my life. This guy is just a mellow,
grounded, nice, good guy. He's [snorts] a good guy. Everyone that knows him loves him.
>> Dale had us all pretty well fooled. You know, he was [music] very kind and nice
and, you know, almost too nice. So, I would say beware of that too nice. Jennifer says it wasn't until the last
month of her life that Stephanie finally opened [music] up about the other side of Dale Bruner, the
dark side. >> She finally got the courage to tell me what was going on in her life.
>> Stephanie told her Dale had been violent with her in the past. Even during her
first pregnancy, >> he had gotten angry somehow and threw her on their bed and put his knee on her
stomach on her belly and um threatened her. >> Dale promised he would get help and she
decided to stay, but she never forgot. >> She warned me that if she were to get hurt, he did it.
Turns out Stephanie wasn't the only woman to have experienced Dale Bruner's fury. Terresa Barger got a call on the
tip line from an old girlfriend of Dales. >> What was the specific thing that she
said that you went, "Uh-oh." He killed Stephanie. He had to have killed Stephanie because
this is what he did to me. Jodie Eberhart was in her 20s and living with Dale Bruner in the early 90s when
she says the mask came off. He'd come home late and she accused him of being out with another girl.
>> He pushed me down onto the carpet and put his hands around my neck and said, "Um, if you ever say or do that again,
I'll kill you." And he was actually physically holding me down on on the floor >> with his hand around your neck.
>> With both hands around my neck. Yeah, it it all happened so fast. I never saw
it coming. >> In a huge win for the prosecution, the judge allowed Jodie Eberheart and
another woman with a similar story to testify at trial. >> Do you think it could have been you in
that river? >> Had I stayed with him, it could have been. Mhm. >> This one's to Ellie for me, but you have
to wait. >> Wait. For Stephanie, with three little kids, leaving was a daunting prospect.
>> But six weeks before she was killed, Stephanie came home to find Dale angrily
striking their son for refusing to listen. That was it. >> She said, quote unquote, "He can do
anything he wants to me, but when he starts hurting my kids, that's where I draw a line in the sand."
>> [music] >> Stephanie immediately filed a restraining order forbidding Dale to
come near her or the children. A recording of the hearing was played in court. >> So, I'm here asking for help.
>> The room fell silent as Stephanie spoke from the grave about Dale's history of
abuse. >> I can't go back to him. He has threatened my life years ago, but you know, with a hand on my throat, didn't
squeeze it, screaming in my face, I will kill you if you leave. >> It was incredibly powerful to hear that
cuz you don't hear that in murder cases. >> As soon as he finds out from social services that I've entered the system,
I'm going to run with my kids. I mean, I don't know what he's going to do. >> You were painted as a violent husband.
Are you violent? Absolutely not. >> Did you ever threaten Stephanie? >> Never. Ever.
>> She testified at the restraining order hearing. You threatened to kill her. >> I can only I can only think that was
about custody of the children. That's a guess. >> But they're all lies. >> Absolutely.
>> Here's the thing. I guess it might be more believable to think that Stephanie
was lying if she didn't end up dead. But you hear all of these stories about how
she says you threatened to kill her, that you were a violent man, and then she ends up dead.
>> It's horrible, isn't it? >> In the weeks leading up to her death, Stephanie's behavior became more
erratic. First, for reasons only Stephanie knows, she rescended the restraining order.
>> I think she rescended the restraining order because she was afraid of him, afraid what he could do to her.
>> So, she let him come home. Then two days before she was killed, >> she actually moved out to the right side
of this duplex right here, right there, >> she packed up the kids and tried [music]
to get away again. But within hours, Stephanie and the kids were back home with Dale. It seems to me that in her
most desperate hour when she realized she couldn't afford what she was trying to do, it must have been so hard for her
to actually go back. >> Why Stephanie didn't knock on her door instead [music] of going back to Dale is
a question that haunts Jennifer to this day. >> You would not believe the guilt, the
remorse, whatifs all the time. What if? And I understand it's not my fault. It's
a situation where she was a victim and victims don't always see clearly or think clearly.
The day after moving home, Stephanie made a decision that may have cost her her life. Remember that email she was
writing to her boyfriend Ron the night she disappeared? Well, that email became the smoking gun of the prosecution's
case. This last email that Stephanie wrote is very frank with Ron. I love you so much. You're the love of my life. But
then there's no closing. >> Yes. >> What happened? >> It was never sent. Even though we were
never able to find her a computer, we were able to go to the internet company and find out that this email was never
sent. Herbert thinks Dale saw that email, [music] flew into a rage, hit her over the head,
possibly with the computer they never found, and then strangled her. >> Did you see the email she was writing
that night and then strike her? >> Absolutely not. >> Did you strangle her? >> Absolutely not.
>> Did you kill Stephanie Dale? >> Absolutely not. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I absolutely
had nothing to do with her death. >> You're 100% sure that it was Dale? >> Yeah.
>> No doubts. >> No. [music] >> No doubts. >> After a two week trial, both sides rest.
It is now up to a jury to decide who to believe. Stephanie Roller, >> I will kill you if you leave.
>> Or Dale Bruner. Did you love your wife? >> Yes, abs. I still love my wife. Jennifer Vakus had walked the entire
journey alongside her dearest friend, Stephanie Roller. She danced with her. She searched for her.
>> Hello, Miss Bosakis. Would you stop there and raise your right hand, please? Do you
>> She confronted Dale Bruner in court for her. There I was, as close as you and I
are to Dale, telling people that he murdered his wife. knowing full well that this could ruin
him. She said that if anything happens to me, he did it. And I had no problem saying that cuz it's the truth.
But waiting in that courthouse for the jury to come back was something she couldn't do.
>> That was the worst time. That was so awful. I was crawling out of my skin. >> So, she got in her car and drove,
stopping by the side of the road next to an osprey nest and waited. >> Ladies and gentlemen, the court has been
informed that the jury has in fact reached its verdicts. >> It didn't take long. In just under 4
hours of deliberation, the verdict was in. We the jury find the defendant Dale Bruner guilty of murder in the second
degree. >> Guilty on all six counts. >> You may take him into custody. >> From murder to assault to tampering with
evidence. >> I remand you to the custody of the Summit County Jail immediately. >> Jennifer got the news on her cell phone
>> and I'm watching these birds thinking, how appropriate is this? because Stephanie was such a nature lover
that I'm in this [music] beautiful place watching these osprey getting the call that yes, the jury found Dale guilty of
all counts. You'd think I would have been ecstatic and super happy, but it was probably one
of the worst moments just to know that Stephanie's gone and that yes, Dale's guilty and that's great, but that
doesn't bring Stephanie back. For Teresa Barger, it was a bittersweet victory for a woman she never knew, but
whose voice she vowed would not be silenced. >> All I could think of is I hope that we
have justice for you and that she can rest in peace. >> Two months later, Stephanie's family and
friends gathered in this courtroom for the last time for the sentencing. quarters back on the record in people of
the state of Colorado versus Dale Bruner. >> One by one, they stood before Judge
Thompson and before Dale Bruner in his prison stripes. >> I'm not going to cry. >> To describe the impact of Stephanie's
murder on their lives >> because I get to do that every night when I'm lying in bed feeling guilty
about what I did or didn't do to help Stephanie. Even the man who'd stood by Dale Bruner
through it all was beginning to question his friend's claim of innocence. >> The bottom line is
someone did this to her. I hope it's not him. If it is, I would like to know the truth.
Was this a horrible accident where you guys got into a fight and you didn't mean to kill her, Dale, but you hurt
her? >> No. You can ask it a thousand ways and it's the the same answer. >> Someday he may face that question again.
>> There we go. Hi. Yeah. >> From three other victims in this story. >> [crying]
>> his children. >> There we are. >> If at some point they come to you and say, "Dad,
what happened? Did you kill our mom?" >> Well, I'll tell them the truth. I've never lied to my kids.
>> And you can look in your children's eyes and say, >> "Absolutely. >> I've never hurt your mom,
>> Mr. Bruner." Clearly, Judge Thompson believed otherwise. >> You took Miss Roller's life. You took
your children's mother. And you did it without remorse and in a brutal fashion. >> The judge sentenced Dale [clears throat]
Bruner to 112 years in prison. >> And Mr. Bruner, I can only hope that you will come to
realize the magnitude of your actions. Courts of jury. >> Thank you, honor. Last fall, a room in a local safe house
was [music] dedicated to Stephanie Roller. A reminder of the beautiful woman they
lost, but also of all the women still to be saved. These bad things can't be kept [music]
in the dark closet anymore. This happens. And you know what? It happens in your neighborhood. It could be your
neighbor and you don't even know it. It was my best friend and I didn't even know it. Right under my nose, she was
murdered. So, if you're a woman and you have these worst fears, man, run fast and stay gone.
>> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music]

A mother of three is found dead. She had secrets — did she name her own killer? "48 Hours" correspondent Tracy Smith reports in this episode from August 2014. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

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

Stephanie Roller Bruner's disappearance leads to a murder investigation revealing domestic abuse, ultimately resulting in her husband's conviction.

Key points

The Dance of Love and Loss. Jennifer recalls a poignant dance with her best friend Stephanie, now symbolized by an empty chair.
The Disappearance. On a blizzardy night, mother of three Stephanie Roller goes missing after leaving for a walk.
The Investigation Begins. Detective Teresa Berger takes on the case, knowing the first 24 hours are crucial.
The Brutal Murder. Stephanie's body is discovered in the Blue River, revealing a brutal murder.
The Search for Justice. Agent Sedar vows to find Stephanie's killer, focusing on her husband and boyfriend as suspects.
Dale Bruner Indicted. Eight months after Stephanie Roller's death, Dale Bruner was indicted for her murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's hard to admit that the worst could happen to you.

Jennifer expresses the disbelief of a tragedy occurring in her life.

9:33WatchMar 24, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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