Two Wigs a Gun and a Murder (Parts 1 & 2) | "48 Hours Full Episodes | Forensic Files

Now, a special two-part [music] edition of 48 hours. >> People are involved here.
Parents who work, parents to stay home. It's a type of neighborhood when the kids go to the bus stop in the morning,
you know, the parents are there and Fred was there every morning. >> Fred was just a wonderful man. He
enjoyed life like we all do here. >> I think his ultimate goal was to be a great dad, to have a a solid family.
>> He was very, very involved with his children. >> The morning of [music] the 30th started
out like any other morning. He was a fairly precise individual. He taught at the University of Richmond. It was his
[music] regular pattern to get up, make some coffee, uh, come outside, retrieve the newspaper.
At 6:30, Fred Jablin went outside in his slippers to go get his newspaper, and he
was gunned down in his driveway. My name is Kobe Kelly. I'm a homicide detective with the Henriiko County
Police. >> I lost my best friend. I lost my brother. >> Who goes through life expecting to know
someone who gets murdered? You don't ever expect to have a friend murdered. I was in Texas. I was about ready to go
out to a Halloween party with my sister and I got a call from a good friend of mine. She was just very, very upset and
she said, "Fred, Fred's been killed." And I was just stunned. My name's Piper Roundtree. Fred Javelin and I were
married for 19 [music] years. She was devastated because of his death. He's the father of her children.
>> I met Piper and thought she was odd until I met her sister and realized that Piper was the least of the two.
>> They were very close. Tina was an interesting character in her own right. [music]
>> Am I going to call them both nutty? Okay, they're both nutty. From day one, I was always disappointed
[music] that she married Fred. >> He was a very nasty, mean, egotistical person.
>> I think that neither one of them acted in the manner which we would expect family members would normally act when
they've learned that a former loved one has been murdered. >> My sister loves me. We're very, very
close. She will go out to save people [music] and do things for people that no other person would ever do.
>> It's definitely not your run-of-the-mill case. You have a suspect flying in from
out of state carrying the weapon with them. You have someone using a different identification. You have wigs and makeup
and that sort of thing. >> I never would have dreamed that any of that family would have done anything
like that. I would have bet money. Absolutely not. It's not what did I think about Fred
Javelins. Did I kill Fred Javelin? >> Yes. >> Um, >> two wigs, a gun, and a murder.
[music] In the fall of 2004, this sleepy suburb of Richmond, Virginia was all dressed up
for Halloween, ready for its annual visit from pint-sized ghosts and goblins. >> But for this close-knit neighborhood,
the spookiest day of the year arrived early. >> On the morning of the 30th, I got up,
planning on going to the gym to work out. I was putting on my running shoes when all of a sudden, my husband and I
heard three loud sounds. Bang, bang, bang. We kind of looked at one another like, "What could that possibly be?" I
said, "Well, maybe people are hunting, duck hunting down around Tuck Creek." Megan McCra shrugged it off and went to
the gym for her morning workout. But just down the road, >> the windows were open and um all of a
sudden I heard three gunshots go off. Bang, bang, bang. >> Neighbor Bob McCartel saw something he
couldn't ignore. >> I saw someone running down the street in front of my house. It was so dark out.
Couldn't tell if it was a man, woman. I couldn't tell. >> Marartel called 911 and within minutes,
the police were searching the neighborhood. >> There were three police officers here
with cars. First, they started driving with their search lights and then they were out on foot with their flashlights.
They came back to my house about 15 minutes later. >> Police told McCartel they hadn't been
able to find any sign of a shooter or a victim. So, I said, "All right, well, when the sun comes up, I'll take a walk
out and I'll see if I can find anything, and if I do, I'll give you a call back."
About 45 minutes later, my wife and I took a walk. And >> we just walked down towards Fred's
house, and Dorene actually looked up and saw something up on the driveway. >> Oh, it was it was kind of strange
because it was Halloween time and they had their house done up where they had like little things kind of sticking out.
So there was just like a pile almost a lump. >> Lying in his driveway was Fred Jablin, a
wellrespected 52year-old college professor, a devoted father to three young children.
>> I yelled to Dorene. I said, "Call the police back." I said, "It's Fred and he's dead."
>> My pager went off at about 7:30 a.m. There was a man down at Hearthlow Lane, uh, which is about three blocks from
from my home. Around that time, an unsuspecting Megan McCraary returned home from working out
at the gym. >> I came in through the door, was all set to cook everybody breakfast. Tim came
into the kitchen and said, "Megan, you need to come outside immediately." He held on to me. He said, "Megan Fred
Javelin is dead." I said, "What? Things like that? It's just that doesn't happen. You know, that's not this
neighborhood." He said, "Fred Javelin is lying in his driveway. He is dead." All I could think of right then were
those three children that were still in the house. >> I was concerned about the children. I
made inquiry. I said, "Well, has anyone checked on the children?" >> Officer Harry Boyd's children were close
friends with the Javelin children. >> And no one here at that point knew about any children. So I told them immediately
there were three children somewhere. >> Police entered the home and found Fred Javelin's children, his 12-year-old son
and [music] his two daughters, ages 10 and 15. All three children uh were asleep in their rooms. [music] Um we got
them out as quickly as possible through another door so they wouldn't come out into the this area of the home of course
and see Fred in the driveway. >> Officer Boyd took Fred's children to his home nearby.
>> Did you have an opportunity to sit him down and and explain at some point what
happened? >> Yes, we did. >> That's tough to do. >> Oh, it was the best of circumstanc. It
was just a just a nightmare to have to do that. They were of course very upset. Um, we explained to them that their
father had been shot and that we were trying to find out who may have done that and that they were going to be
staying with me and my family until until we could make arrangements to get their uncle and the rest of their family
here. >> Their uncle, Fred's older brother, Michael, lived about 2 hours away in
Northern Virginia. >> My first reaction was was disbelief. I called my brother's home, left a
message, called the cell phone, then no response. And then one of the Haro County officers told me this situation
and I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe what happened. >> Fred's ex-wife, Piper Roundtree, says
she too was stunned when she learned of his murder. >> I'd got a phone call from a friend of
mine who had heard about it and nobody knew what had happened. >> Piper was living in Houston, Texas,
where she'd moved after their divorce. >> It was very sad. He's the children's father. The children
need two parents. They need a mother. They need a father. >> Back in Richmond, homicide detective
Kobe Kelly was put in charge of the investigation. >> We saw the person had come out here
wearing a robe, wearing uh slippers. >> Detective Kelly's theory was that Fred Jablin was on his way to pick [music] up
his morning newspaper. I suspect that someone or something drew his attention back this direction as he was walking
down to get the paper and that whatever confrontation took place probably happened right here in this area.
>> So, are you speculating that perhaps Fred Javelin actually talked to this person?
>> I I think in my mind I think so. We'll never be able to prove that. There was
no one out here to hear anything like that, but I I believe so. >> It made sense to Detective Kelly that
Fred Javelin may have known his killer. So, he talked to him, walked away, and was shot in the back.
And that would explain, yeah, the bullets entering through the back of the arm and out the forearm
and the other one entering his back and and lodging inside his body. >> After analyzing the crime scene, Kelly
went to work on suspects. >> We were trying to find out a little bit about the victim, um, talking to
neighbors, talking to friends and family, and just try to find out if he had any enemies or anyone that [music]
would think to do something like this. >> Now, Fred Jablin is a professor at the
university here. as you look for suspects or thinking about possible suspects, what what thoughts went
through your mind? >> Well, I think initially maybe a student that hadn't done well in one of his
classes that comes to mind. >> Police went to the University of Richmond to check out that angle.
>> We were trying to get to his office and and see if there's anything there that
would give us a direction to go to >> like bad grades or Fs and stuff like that looking for.
>> Absolutely. >> But Kobe Kelly knew what all homicide detectives know when looking for
suspects. start close to home. >> I learned pretty early on that people said, "I have no idea who would want to
do this to Fred, but have you talked to his ex-wife?" >> Detective Kobe Kelly reached Piper
Roundtree in Houston. >> And he said, "All the immediate family was under suspicion, uh, Michael Jablin
and me." At the time of the murder, Piper and her ex-husband had been apart for almost four years, and she had
started a whole new life in Houston. Not only that, [music] but police would soon
learn that Piper had an alibi for the day of the murder. >> It was the Saturday before Halloween.
>> A family friend and attorney, Marty McVey, remembers Piper stopping by his Houston office on the very day her
ex-husband was murdered more than a thousand miles away. I was in my office, had my doors open
for let the breeze come through and about 4:30 in the afternoon, Piper Roundry just walked in my office and sat
down. Just a a casual conversation, nothing out of the ordinary. >> 2818. >> While detectives continued to check out
Piper's story, another name surfaced. >> I know she didn't kill Freder. And unlike Piper Roundtree, this woman had
nothing nice to say about Fred Javelin. >> He was a very nasty, mean, um, egotistical person.
>> Piper's sister, Tina. In our conversations with some of the neighbors and and people in the area, we
knew uh that Piper did have a sister named Tina Roundree. >> On the afternoon of Fred Javelin's
murder, Detective Kobe Kelly got a major lead from airport officials in Virginia.
We found that Southwest Airlines had a passenger on their manifest with the last name Roundtree and uh in fact the
the name on the ticket was Tina Roundtree. >> So you determined that there was a Tina
Roundtree with a flight booked a purchase ticket to Houston? >> Yes. >> Airline records showed that 2 days
before the murder, Piper's sister, Tina Roundtree, had flown from her home in Houston, Texas to Virginia, where Fred
Jablin was killed. And now on the afternoon of the murder, records show Tina is booked on a return
flight [music] back home to Houston. A flight that is already in the air. >> So, did you make any contact with
Houston PD at this point? >> We we did and uh they got their people together and it's [music] getting closer
to the point where the plane is going to land down there. So, we were trying to explain to them a little bit about our
situation and also get them to get to the airport where this plane was going to land to try to identify the person
traveling under the ticket, Tina Roundree. So, what happened in Houston? >> Well, uh, the detectives arrived down
there and, uh, they had a couple of detectives, a lieutenant that was down there and several officers. And as they
were approaching the gate, my understanding is that the plane was unloading. >> At that time, around 4:30 on the
afternoon of the murder, Detective Kobe Kelly didn't know what he and we at 48 Hours would soon discover. The Roundtree
Sisters have a remarkably fierce devotion to one another. And learning more about the extent of that devotion
would become one of the stranger twists in this already twisted tale. >> They're definitely two P's out of the
same pod. Tina and Pipe are both the same type of person. >> Piper and I are [music] I mean we're
soul sisters. We're we're we're incomplete without each other. She's someone that I [music] need very
very much and I get a lot from. >> We call each other two or three times a day. We're we're very very tight.
>> How would you describe her? >> Amazonian. That's usually the first word. >> Amazonian.
>> Yes. There's no one out there like Tina. She is able to do anything that she sets
her mind to doing. >> Tina Roundree is 8 years older than her sister Piper. An age difference that
mattered when they were younger. Mother used to always make me sleep with her and I didn't like her crawling in my bed
and having to sleep with her and she wouldn't be snuggled. You she was a child. She was wanting attention. But
the family environment was very very close because my father was a physician in the Air Force and we traveled every
two years and so just as we made ties we would have to break them and so there was a lot of dependency on each other.
>> Today Tina and Piper are best friends. >> Over the last 20 years we've become
[music] very very close. In fact, um, we sleep together frequently, [music] even
as as adults, when when we go to each other's houses. >> She's just incredible. You you walk
around the village where the area where she lives in Houston, and most people have a story about Tina, one thing or
another. >> By the time Piper was in high school, the Roundtree family was living in a
small town in Texas near the Mexican border. But Piper had bigger plans. I always admired her because she was
brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. >> Piper headed off to the prestigious University of Texas at Austin with
dreams of becoming a lawyer. >> She could do anything and she achieved everything from theater to spelling bees
to boyfriends to f having lots of friends. Um and I always that was and I didn't have all that. I mean it's things
you know you admire in other people especially that you don't have or that you want. While away at college, Piper
caught the eye of another admirer, her communications professor, Fred Jablin. >> I suppose it was the classical case of a
student falling for their professor. >> Fred Javelin was 29 and very driven. Piper was a free spirit and eight years
younger. >> He is very witty and very different. He is very, very bright. >> This is as far as I can go.
>> One of the brightest men I think I've ever met. I've always looked up to him.
He He was exceptional. He was one of the best teachers. He also had a very quirky
side to him as I've been described as having myself. [music] I think those two qualities between us meshed a lot.
>> They married 2 years later in the fall of 1983. >> It was a really nice, warm relationship.
We worked really well together. >> That's probably our strength. Professor John Daly knew Fred and Piper
as newlyweds and was one of Fred's best friends. >> We used to have lots of fun. We went out
drink after work at 10:30, 11:00 at night. If I remember correctly, Fred is the one who started this one night.
We're just sitting there and working away on our typewriters. In those days, computers didn't exist. And he just
started barking just for fun. >> I I really didn't know that he was barking at school as well.
>> Oh, you did it at home. >> Yeah. Yeah. He he was um he used to get the dogs barking in the neighborhood. It
was one of those things that that he particularly was proud about. >> Fred was also proud of his wife Piper
and her plans to become a lawyer. >> Piper wanted to go to law school. So Fred said, "Fine, let's, you know, let's
try to get us into law school." >> After graduating from law school, Piper landed a big job in Austin as an
assistant district attorney. I was a prosecutor for oh a little over a year and then from there I went worked for
the school districts in Texas. >> She can do anything. Um it's amazing the knowledge that she has.
>> Her sister Tina settled in Houston and became a nurse practitioner. A few years later Fred and Piper started
a family. Fred's brother Michael says the marriage was solid. >> They had two lovely children were born
in Texas. Jocelyn and Paxton and they enjoyed themselves. >> But for Piper, a working mom, life was
hectic. >> I'd be in the courtroom and I'd be looking at my watch thinking, "I've got
to go pick up my child at daycare." Uh there were times when the kids were sick and I'd take the kids into the court
with me and the judge would be bouncing them on his lap in the middle of a hearing.
>> I was the main support person in [music] the first 15 years of her marriage or so
when she lived in Texas. I would go visit them all the time. I'd babysit for them all the time. I was the primary
other person. >> Then in the summer of 1994 life for the Javelin family changed.
Fred accepted an offer to teach at the University of Richmond and uprooted the Javelin family to Virginia.
>> Piper did not want to leave Texas. That was her home base. That was her family
was there. >> Right after we moved up here within two weeks, I had a ruptured autotopic
pregnancy and almost died. and so had a completely revised outlook on really what was important. And after that, the
doctor told me that I would never have children again. Uh was just not going to be possible. And within about 6 months,
I became pregnant with my third child, Callie, and she was gift from God. Piper decided to change the focus of her
life and become a full-time mom to Cali Paxton and Jocelyn. >> She cooked for them. She played with
them. She, you know, they made cookies. They went rock hunting together. She took them fishing and she did all the
things that typically a father would do. >> Piper was like she was like a little
pied piper. All the little kids would just come up and circle around her. >> Annie Williams was Piper's friend. Piper
is wonderful about taking them outside and doing things and has more patience probably than I did. And she frequently
would come pick up my son with rollerblades or his bike and take him out to the park for a day just being
outside all day. >> But Piper missed the rest of her family back in Texas and her marriage started
to suffer. >> You started to drift apart. >> Yeah. And we had pretty much two separate lives once we
came to Richmond. Tina Roundtree never forgave Fred for moving her sister so far away.
>> One of the main reasons that they moved to Richmond was so that Fred could get
Piper away from her family because she's a very strong family person. >> Eventually, Piper told Fred she was
leaving him. >> She wanted to escape and she wanted to [music] get away from him.
>> And that's when the real trouble began. Fred Javelin decided to fight for sole
custody of the couple's three children. >> She was devastated. She was she was shocked and I we were I we all were
because I mean how you don't take a take children away from a mother who [music]
is a she was a primary caregiver. >> While the idea of losing her children [music] was devastating to Piper. It was
inexcusable to her sister Tina. >> I mean how many hours I spent with her cry I mean she was crying. It was it was
horrible. And she had a very close relationship with them, didn't she? >> It was to see this precious
three-year-old screaming to be with her mother. >> Piper's sister, Tina, doesn't try to
hide her hostility towards Fred Javelin, even after his brutal murder. >> From day one, I was always disappointed
that she [music] married Fred. He he was ugly. I thought he was a very controlling man. He built himself up by
putting her down. But did Tina Roundtree hate Fred Jablin enough to kill him? On the afternoon of the murder,
Detective [music] Kelly was hoping for answers. Police officers were at Houston's Hobby Airport, primed and
ready to greet the plane carrying a passenger named Tina Roundtree. But what happened [music] next surprised
everyone. The afternoon of Fred Jablin's murder, police were working their first big
[music] lead. A tip that a Tina Roundtree was in route to Houston after spending the past two days in Virginia.
>> It was Saturday, October 30th, 2004. Detective Brett McDaniel had raced to the airport, hoping to meet the plane
before it landed. >> I knew I was looking for a 40-something white female. We had some driver license
photos of both Tina, the sister, as well as Piper Round Tree. >> Although the ticket was booked in Tina's
name, Houston police were also on the lookout for another round tree, the dead man's ex-wife, Piper, who may have had
more of a motive than her sister. >> We were looking for females. We were looking for females and and I was
putting my money on blondes. >> Piper had brown hair. Tina had blonde. >> I stationed a uniform officer at the end
of the terminal with a set of pictures and asked him as well to stop anyone he thought might be either of the
individuals. >> The plane landed and the passengers filed off. >> We stopped probably at least a dozen
women. >> After the last of the stragglers, the officers realized their target had
slipped through their fingers. She just got past it. So there was too many people, too few of us, not enough people
to stop every possible female that could have been this person. >> Everyone had come off the plane and they
had not located Piper, Tina, whoever would have been traveling under that name. >> In fact, that mysterious passenger had
managed to pick up her luggage at baggage claim without being noticed and then vanished.
>> She was gone. The next day, with the investigation now focused in the city where both sisters
lived, Detective Kelly hopped a plane to Houston from Virginia. >> Got up around 4:30 the next morning.
>> You didn't get much sleep that night. >> No, not at all. >> 48 hours wanted Detective Kelly to show
us what happened next. So, we flew him back to Houston to retrace his steps. >> We were interested in talking to Piper.
Now certainly we were not ignoring anything that would lead us in a different direction, but at that point
it was a pretty good place to begin. >> Detective Kelly met up with the Houston team working the case.
>> Thank you. >> And together they headed over to Piper Roundtree's house. >> Knocked on the door, rung the doorbell,
look in the garage. We can see the Jeep Liberty sitting in there. We were probably outside our house for a good 10
to 15 minutes uh milling about, peeking in windows and and knocking on the door trying to get someone to come to the
door. Never did. With no answer, they decided to pay a visit to her sister, Tina.
>> We drove the whole half hour plus down to Tina's house. >> But just in case, one of the officers
stayed behind at Pipers. Did Piper ever come out of the house? >> She did. We We got a call from uh
Sergeant Ferguson, who was sitting outside her house. He saw her vehicle leaving the driveway, a vehicle like
this one, and uh he followed her. Sergeant Ferguson [music] stayed on Piper's tail and relayed the route she
was taking to the rest of the team so they could turn around and join the pursuit.
>> And what turned out was she began to head south on the interstate. We were heading north on the interstate. At some
point, we turned around and got in behind her. >> And the chase was on. >> We were certainly following her [music]
vehicle, hoping to be able to talk to her one-on-one when she stopped. >> Now, she had to look in the rearview
mirror and saw this police parade behind her. Right. >> Absolutely. At one [music] point she made kind of a
last minute diversion from a a oneoff ramp or back onto the interstate and of course we're doing the same little
serpentine move and uh yeah, I think she definitely knew >> the pursuit ended on a residential
street in central Houston. >> She pulled into a parking spot. I got out of the car, approached hers and
introduced myself. Um introduced the other people around me. She said, "Come on inside." And we walked into the open
door. Piper had driven to the law office of trial attorney and friend Marty McVey. As it turned out, McVey wasn't
alone. >> There was a also a female there, Tina Roundree, Piper's sister. >> Tina Roundtree, also a friend of
McVeyy's, had arrived a few minutes before Piper. >> Tina Roundtree walks in my office.
That's the first time I heard that Fred had been killed. She came in and said, "Did you know, have you heard Fred was
killed yesterday morning?" I said, "No, I haven't." >> But McVey was in for another surprise.
Piper comes walking in my office door with four detectives, two from the Houston Police Department and [music]
two from the Enriiko County, wanting to talk to her. I took Piper in my office, talked to her for a minute. She wanted
to talk to them. They sat right here in this reception area and had a conversation. I wanted to ask her, "Who
do you think would have done something like this?" And that was a good entree into getting her to talk to us.
>> But Piper says she had only one thing on her mind. Who was taking care of her
three children? >> It was just incredible, the total lack of interest that anybody had.
>> Until that meeting, almost 36 hours after Fred's murder, Piper hadn't been told her children were safe with Fred's
brother, Michael. And certainly anyone could understand that a mother concerned about her kids and the police were not
um putting her in touch with the kids. Anybody could understand that that would be an explanation for some of her
behavior. At any point did you sense that uh Piper was being accused of this murder.
>> To the opposite. They told her she was not a suspect. The majority of Piper's
conversation with them was concerning her children. >> The meeting was cut short because McVey
had to leave to pick up his son. Later, Detective [music] Kelly decided to try another tactic. He and a few
other officers drove to Tina's house, hoping to speak with her alone. >> We had a conversation with her. Um it
was she was fairly on target with uh where the kids kids need to be with their mother. Um those sort of questions
and she said, "You bring the kids here or something to that effect and then we'll talk again." We ended up getting
pretty much ejected from her house. Meanwhile, Piper was doing her own detective work. She needed to firm up
her alibi, putting her in Houston, not Virginia, the night before Fred's murder.
>> She asked the bartender if she remembered seeing her. >> Piper returned to this bar, the volcano,
where she claimed she'd been on Friday night to see if anyone remembered seeing her there.
>> Bartender called me and said, "Do you remember her?" And I said, "Yeah, I remember seeing her."
She wanted our phone number so that she could give them to the police to substantiate that she was here.
>> All right. You said you did remember seeing her here, >> right? >> Distinctive features and petite and
pixie haircut. You know, she's cute. >> Gorge. >> Yeah. >> It was the alibi Piper was looking for
and she passed it on to Detective Kelly. She left a message for me saying that there were two people, a guy named Kevin
O'Keefe and a lady named Cheryl Crrider who was a bartender at this volcano that
could put her in the volcano on that Friday night, which would uh would be pretty good because she obviously
couldn't be in Richmond the same time she was there. So now Piper had witnesses who saw her
in Houston the night before the murder to go along with her lawyer friend who saw her on the afternoon of the murder
at the same time the airplane from Virginia was landing. If what you say is true, it it would be difficult for her
to get to your office at 4:30 in the afternoon. >> That's correct. And if she was on that
flight, it would have been impossible for her to get to my office at 4:30 because I understand the flight didn't
come in until 4:40. It was 10 minutes late and it's at least a 30 or 45 minute drive from Hobby Airport to my office.
>> But Tina Roundree says she couldn't have been on the plane either because she
[music] was seeing patients all day. >> Wesley, can you come here just a second,
please? at her women's health clinic. Detective Kobe Kelly didn't know what to think, but he was sure of one thing
about the Roundtree sisters. >> I think that uh neither one of them acted in a manner which we would expect
family members would normally act when they've learned that a former loved one has been murdered. Both of them acted
oddly as far as I'm concerned. And it wasn't long before the investigation would zero in on just one
of them. >> Did you kill Fred Javelin? >> Um it's not what did I think about Fred
Javelin. It's did I kill Fred Javelin? >> Yes. >> Um that's impossible too. >> The answer is no.
>> The answer is no. As Detective Kelly learned more about the Javelin's [music] nasty divorce, It
was very, very, very bitter. >> He started to see the scars it left with Piper and her sister Tina.
>> It was very, very painful for me because I love her so much. She's we're we're a
part of each other. >> Fred never understood what the problem was in the marriage or why we need to go
through divorce. Even though we'd been through counseling three times before and it, you know, just it wasn't
working. They've been married for nearly 19 years and it hadn't been working for
quite some time. A year and a half before the [music] divorce, Pipa got a warrant charging Fred with domestic
violence and filed for a protective order against him. >> And you've witnessed some of this abuse
either physically or emotionally. >> Well, physically, no. >> Tina Roundtree only knows and believes
what her sister told her. >> She had told me the next day that he had hit her. The only other instance I it
was as far as physical abuse goes, mental abuse definitely it was sick. >> According to Tina, Fred's abuse was also
directed at [music] their three children. >> I saw him frequently lose his temper
with the kids because you know you get into a mode when you're a professor and they all say yes sir and they do what
you and he brought that attitude home with him. In almost all cases, we never use just one sequencing of questions
>> and expected that Piper or the children especially do exactly what he said when
he says it. >> In February of 2001, Piper finally [music] moved out of the house and later
filed for divorce. >> She finally had the courage to escape and become her own person again.
>> In July of 2002, the divorce went through. >> When they first got divorced, there was
like a joint custody arrangement. Piper lived down the road from my brother's home and they tried to arrange joint
custody. >> According to Tina, that's when Fred really tightened the screws. >> Once he had to face the fact that he was
going to, you know, have lose face in the community, he was going to be a divorced man. He all of a sudden
switched gears. >> Fred decided to fight for full custody of their three children. And according
to Tina, Fred Jablin was a trained expert. >> Questions are something you don't think
about until you really >> at winning arguments. He was like a PhD professor in persuasive communications.
So she that was a tough one to go against from the beginning. >> At the custody trial, Fred pulled out
all the stops. He wants to win and everything. >> Yes, that that was Fred. He can't take
losing. He can't lose face. >> Fred painted [music] Piper as an unstable mother.
>> Fred would say, you know, she got into this drug [music] stuff. She apparently
had an affair at one point. She apparently became unpredictable with the kids. >> And he told the [music] judge that Piper
had racked up more than $50,000 in debt without his knowing. >> He had to make her look like the bad
guy. >> Fred also accused Piper of being unfaithful. >> She did not have an affair. It was when
they were separated. They were physically separated and she was out of the house when she started seeing him.
Michael Jablin wouldn't go into details with us, but he believes his brother's accusations, and he wasn't alone.
>> Some of Piper's behaviors were questionable and some of her things she was doing for the sake of the children.
>> Piper seemed to have just gone off the deep edge uh over a period of time. >> I think the judge in the case reviewed
the facts and realized that Fred would make a better parent. >> In July of 2002, Fred Jablin won full
custody of their three children. >> Piper could have visitation. And I think it took a lot of decisions on the
judge's part to come up with that because normally mothers get custody. In this case, it was very unique. The judge
saw that Piper had some problems and Freddy provide more stability in the in the home life.
>> Did it upset you that he got custody of the children? >> Well, yeah, naturally it did. I was I
was very very upset. >> Did your children understand what was happening? >> As much as they were able to.
Uh the littlest is was you know it's just very difficult. Remarkably, Piper Roundtree not only lost her children,
but she was ordered to pay Fred Javelin almost $900 a month in child support in part to pay back some of the thousands
of dollars in debt she owed her ex-husband. >> Now, you were paying child support to
your husband. >> Yes. >> Which is the reverse of the way it's normally done. >> Yes.
>> Right. >> Yes, I was. >> Was that difficult for you? >> Yes, it very was. Piper had failed the
bar exam in Virginia. So after the divorce, she struggled to find a job. >> It was amazing. It was absolutely
amazing. She couldn't get a job. She's a licensed attorney in the state of Texas.
She was a prosecutor. She'd get a job at Walmart, but that's not going to pay her
$900 child support payment, nor put food on the table, nor provide for the children, which is her responsibility.
So Piper moved back to Texas to find work. >> She didn't have a choice. >> She had to leave Virginia.
>> Of course, they claimed she was abandoning her children. No, she had to survive because Fred gave her nothing.
Fred took everything. It was very difficult to begin with just starting out as sort of a new attorney because I
um I couldn't really step back into the field that I was in after 10 years of being out of the of the field. Uh and so
I started back into working just doing any type of case that walked in. I had three kids to support.
>> Her three children stayed behind in Richmond, Virginia with their father. >> My brother was wearing two hats. a mom
hat and a dad hat. He would attend soccer games, cub scout meetings, tennis tournaments, dance classes. He'd go to
school. He'd be there all the time. He would be a school parent many times and a classroom parent.
>> He was very, very involved with his children. You know, you go up to the school and he had signed up, you know,
for all the parties to bring napkins, drinks. >> How often was she allowed to see her
children? >> Well, she had to ask for permission every single time. So, actually, Piper
saw them six days out of an entire month. And that was it. >> She had a bitter divorce with her
ex-husband. Uh her ex-husband actually got custody of the children. Piper Roundtree ended up paying child support.
>> Marty McVey shared a law office with Piper in Texas. That's correct. >> Was she bitter about that? Did that
bother her? >> Yeah, she was bitter. >> And she talked to you about it. >> Oh, yeah.
>> What'd you say? >> She didn't understand why she was being treated like she was by the court and
the judicial system in in Virginia. And that was where most of her animosity was directed to. It was not directed at
her ex-husband, but it was the way she was being treated in her divorce case. >> She was not very happy when she was
having to pay alimony when she was struggling and not having much money. >> Jerry Walters became close to Piper
shortly after she moved to Texas. And he too says Piper never voiced any hostility towards Fred. She was not
enamored with Fred by no means any longer, but she did not walk around the house muttering under her breath, "I
hate Fred. I hate Fred." She didn't like the situation she was in, and she didn't
like not having her kids. But she never alluded to doing away with Fred. No. >> If Piper was bitter towards her
ex-husband, she hid it well. her sister Tina on the other hand >> and to see what the courts did then and
not and kind of understanding it seen some blatant some blatant misjustices >> and and did you ever see the children
once Fred got custody of them? >> I wasn't allowed to go over there. I mean how can you stop someone from
seeing their aunt who comes all the way and they did they went to court and said nope can't
do it. >> So you were not allowed to see them? >> No. Piper says she'd come to terms with her
situation long before Fred was murdered and so had no reason to kill him. >> The money that I was making in Texas,
uh, I was I was fine. You know, it was comfortable. It was uh I was able to make enough to pay the child support to
have a very nice uh lifestyle um and see my kids and be with my kids. I didn't have any once except seeing my
kids a little more maybe. >> And although she's not naming names, Piper says she's pretty sure she knows
who did have a motive to kill Fred Japan. >> Is it someone that might hate your husband? Have a grudge against your
husband? >> Yes. >> So much so that they'd be willing to murder him? >> Yeah, I think so.
>> But the truth was about to catch up with Piper Roundtree. >> [music] >> This special two-part edition of 48
hours will continue. [music] >> [music] >> Sh. [panting] It was about 6:35 in the morning.
>> A quiet street in Richmond, Virginia. >> As I was getting dressed, my husband and
I heard three loud bangs. >> Not a street where you'd expect a murder. When I arrived on the scene, I could see
at the top of the driveway my friend and neighbor Fred Javelin. >> He put both hands on my shoulders and he
said, "Megan, Fred Javelin [music] is lying in his driveway. He's dead." >> And Fred Javelin wasn't your average
murder victim. >> You've got a university professor killed [music] in a neighborhood that that's
really not the norm. >> Fred Jablin was a totally involved [music] father, a super super single parent.
So, who killed Fred Javelin? >> People said, "I have no idea who would want to do this to Fred, but have you
talked to his ex-wife?" >> I was married to Fred Jablin. We have three children.
>> Had a pretty nasty divorce. Certainly, she was a suspect, >> but a suspect with a seemingly rockolid
alibi. >> Bartender called me and said, "Do you remember her?" her and I said, "Yeah, I
remember seeing her petite and pixie haircut." >> I know she didn't kill Frederick Aban.
She was devastated because of his death. >> They're definitely two peas out of the
same pod. Tina and Piper. >> Police also suspected Tina. >> It's not what did I think about Fred
Javelin. It's did I kill Fred Jablin? >> Yes. Um, >> and now police are about to unravel the
clues that will lead to an arrest. >> We've got cell phone records, latex gloves, makeup, two wigs.
A lot of twists and turns in this one. It's definitely not your normal standard murder.
>> Two wigs, a gun, and a murder. I was looking for this guy, Jerry Walters, whose name this card was in.
We hadn't spoken to him at this point, and so one of our goals was to try to locate him. A couple of days after Fred
Javelin's murder, detective Kobe Kelly learned more about the roundtrip airline ticket booked under the name Tina
Roundtree. The person who paid for the ticket was a guy named Jerry Walters. >> We knew that a bank card and his name
was used and was instrumental uh in making this homicide happen, but we really didn't know what his role was in
it, if any. >> And so we're trying to figure out who's Jerry Walters. It didn't take them long
to learn that Jerry Walters knew [music] Piper. >> Piper Round Tree and I at one time were
girlfriend boyfriend. >> Piper started dating Jerry Walters in 2003 shortly after moving to Houston.
>> We exchanged phone numbers and started talking on telephone. Went out to supper
a time or two and and it just went from there. She was very sweet, great off-the-wall sense of humor, which I
appreciated. Cute, obviously, pretty much normal person. >> Even though Walters was living 4 hours
from Houston in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, they made it work. >> I was in Houston quite often on
business. So, it was it was not difficult. I mean, I was there probably two days, minimum a week. Their
long-distance relationship lasted for about a year. >> Then that evolved into a continuing
close relationship, close friendship. >> So close [music] that Walters was one of
the first people Piper called the night of Fred Javelin's murder. I came home from an LSU football game
about 10:30ish, 11ish and my cell phone rang and it was Piper and she said she was asking me to come to Houston and she
said it's important Fred's dead. And I said, "What happened?" She says, "Well, I'm not certain Fred's dead." And
she was not screaming, but she was uh not far from hysteria, I would think. and she was crying.
>> Walters wasn't able to go to Houston, but he did his [music] best to comfort Piper by phone.
>> She was very concerned with the kids, but in my whole relationship with Piper,
she was very concerned, but more so obviously this was to the extreme. >> 4 days after the murder, Detective Kelly
tracked down Jerry Walters to find out why his bank card seemed to [music] be connected to a murder. I think he asked
me how well did I know Fred and I didn't know Fred at all. I I never had any conversation with him in my life.
>> Walters told Detective Kelly he had no idea who could have used his bank card
during the weekend of the murder because he says it had been stolen before then.
>> I don't think anyone on the face of the earth was more shocked than myself to
find out my card was in Richmond, Virginia. I did not have a clue. Walter says he first found out something was
wrong with his card when he tried to withdraw cash from the account. >> They said, "Well, Mr. Walters, the
account's overdrawn." And I said, "Why?" And they said, "Well, you've got pending
ATM charges in Richmond, Virginia." And I said, "Really?" I said, "Uh-huh." I said, "Okay, get back to you."
That's when I started getting a little concerned that Jerry Walter's card was floating around the murder scene in
Richmond, Virginia. Jerry Walters called Piper immediately because if anyone was
going to know about his card, it was her. You see, the card wasn't really his. Although he had access to the bank
account, Walters had opened it at Piper's request under his name so that she could hide assets from her
ex-husband. I asked her, uh, "What's the deal on the card? How come my card was in Richmond
and not with you?" And that's when she said, "Well, the last time I saw the card was when I went to the tennis club
and apparently someone stole it there." And I said, "Well, why didn't you tell me?" And she says, "Well, I just had
missed it." She said, "If you don't go to use it, you don't know it's gone." That kind of made sense. What didn't
make sense to both Walters and Detective Kelly were some of the other charges found on the card.
>> We also were able to determine that wigs were purchased during this time with
that card from wigs.com. >> I personally don't wear wigs. >> Before the murder, someone had purchased
two wigs, one blonde, one arburn. >> We knew that they were sent to a location in Kingwood, Texas. We had an
address. There was a box there rented in the name of Piper Roundtree which also had Jerry Walter's name on that box and
that's where the wigs have been delivered to. >> He asked me did I think she did it and I
said I just can't fathom that that she did this. It would it's not something that I ever recognized in her. No.
>> But it was all starting to add up for Detective Kelly. He was convinced that Piper Roundtree had flown to Richmond,
Virginia, using her sister's name to kill her husband. >> As things came to light, it was apparent
she did have a plan and and attempted to uh disguise who she was and and thought
she could get away with it. >> Do you think there's any connection between the murder and this very
difficult divorce that she and her husband Fred Javelin went through? >> No, I think she was crushed when she
didn't get custody of her children. We knew that uh several weeks before this murder, she had come up and and taken
the children camping. I think that uh they probably had a really good time and I think that that caused her to just
think, "This is what I'm missing. I'm missing the [music] great time uh watching my children grow up. Um
experiencing them as they uh become, you know, teenagers, adults, and so forth."
I think it's probably around that time she started hatching a plan in her mind of uh how she could change custody and
uh the way to do that. She had been through the court system that had not worked in her favor and and I think she
was looking for alternate plans which ultimately left to her decision to kill Fred.
With Fred Javelin dead, Piper Roundtree wanted to win back her three kids who were staying with Fred's brother,
Michael, and his family. She asked for a custody hearing in Virginia family court. She had uh asked whether I would
go up there and testify um at her custody hearing and I said and I wasn't sure if I was going to be up there at
that time, but I told her I said I will be happy to. And what she was working on
is trying to establish that I had eliminated her as a suspect and I certainly had not at that point.
Detective Kelly was all for Piper attending the hearing scheduled 9 days after Fred Javelin's murder, but not for
reasons Piper thought. She's thinking about trying to go to Richmond and have this custody here. In the back of your
mind, you're saying, "Well, if she's in Richmond, it would be easier for you guys to make an arrest, right?"
>> Definitely. It was not a a deal breaker that she was not in Richmond, but uh it
saves extradition, that sort of thing. 9 days after the murder in a Richmond, Virginia courtroom, a judge made her
decision. Knowing that Piper was under suspicion for murder, the judge granted custody of Piper's three children.
Callie, aged 10, Paxton, [music] a 12, and Jocelyn, a 15, to Michael Jablin. >> My client has a constitutional right to
have her children, and she's been denied that right. Piper left the custody hearing shaken.
And little did she know that just minutes later she would be arrested for murder.
>> They could have taken this from a scene from a gangster movie that the police
just jumped out with it seemed like machine guns and dragged me off to tell me that they had uh they were arresting
me for the murder of my my ex-husband. After her arrest for murder four months ago, former prosecutor Piper Roundtree
is having a tough time adjusting to life behind bars. It's my mom, my sisters. >> But she's anxious for her day in court
[music] and ready to stand trial for the murder of her ex-husband, Fred Javelin.
>> I don't think I I would be intelligent if I weren't worried or concerned, but I have an incredible
amount of faith. >> All rise. >> And I I trust God. God's put me here for a reason.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, good afternoon. >> In opening arguments, prosecutor Wade
Kaiser launches right in with what [music] he says is Piper's chilling motive. It all came down to money.
>> You'll hear evidence, ladies and gentlemen, that Piper Roundtree had been ordered [clears throat] to pay child
support to the victim, Fred Javelin, who had custody of the children. >> Kaiser says Piper Roundtree was tired of
struggling to pay child support to her ex-husband. So she killed him. >> She was over $9,700 in a rariges in
making that child support. >> She blamed Fred and held him accountable for everything that had happened to her.
>> But listen to all the evidence over the next several days. >> When Piper's defense attorney, Murray
Janice, has his turn. He tells jurors the state's explanation of a motive just doesn't add up. But you'll hear evidence
that she'd made a support payment in October of 2004. Hardly something's somebody's going to
do to send money if they in fact had planned to kill that person. And more importantly, Janice says there isn't
anyone who can put Piper at the crime scene >> and see if one single person says, "We
saw that defendant Piper Roundtree take a gun out and shoot Fred Javelin or we saw her running away."
>> Although Janice does admit there is a lot of evidence showing someone committed this murder,
>> you're going to find that somebody was in Virginia. Somebody flew on a Southwest Airlines. He insists the wrong
Roundtree sister is on trial. >> There's one name you're going to hear over and over and over again. And that's
the name of Tina Roundtree. >> And Janice says all the evidence will point to her.
>> I think you'll hear evidence that Tina had certainly at one time a gun herself,
a 38 caliber. You won't hear any evidence that Piper Roundtree owned a gun. Piper is obviously aware of her
attorney's defense strategy, but when she spoke with us before trial, she wouldn't flat out accuse her sister of
murder. >> Did your sister Tina, did she do this? >> I couldn't say. I don't know.
>> Is she capable of something like this? >> I'm not going to answer that. >> All right.
The matter now before the court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and I think
[cough] the truth. I'll be God. How you do? Have a seat, please. >> With the trial underway, prosecutors
called Jerry Walters to the stand to help show that Piper hatched an elaborate plan to get away with murder.
Using the bank account Walters had open for her. >> Was Piper were around his name on the
card? >> No, it was not. Piper purchased that blonde wig and prosecutors say [music]
Piper wore it the weekend of the murder so it would look like her sister Tina committed the crime.
>> Did you at any time order any wigs? >> No, sir. >> Okay. >> Judge, our next witness is Kathy Molly.
>> Prosecutors say Piper also used Walter's card to buy that airline ticket booked
in her sister's name to fly to and from the murder. >> How is this ticket paid for?
by credit card right here. >> Kathy Molly, the agent, remembers selling a ticket to a woman using the
name Roundtree. And for [music] the first time in court, >> M. Molly, would you um look around the
courtroom and see if you can identify the person to whom you sold that ticket on October 28th.
>> That lady right there looks familiar. A witness is able to identify Piper. In
fact, Molly says the brunette checked in as a blonde. >> But the hair is not like that at all.
It's much shorter and the color's a lot darker. >> That's not all. Molly's biggest
surprise. She says Piper was carrying a gun. >> What do you recall unusual about
checking her bags? If anything, >> nothing. She just told me right away that she needed to check a firearm. She
just commented that it was her father's gun and she was taking it to him. >> But that gun wasn't the state smoking
gun. They say Piper not only got on that plane to Richmond, they can prove she spent the weekend there within miles of
the crime scene. It was Piper's own cell phone that would do her in. We started looking through the cell
phone records and recognized the number to uh Papa John's Pizza >> and Reicho County Detective Chuck Hannah
was given the job of tracking the cell phone calls [music] to see if anyone could place Piper in Richmond.
>> So we called Papa John's Pizza and asked if a individual with the last name Roundtree had ordered a pizza. Uh they
stated that uh a person with the name around tree did and that person had it delivered to room 171 in the homestead
suites. That led detective Hannah to the manager of this hotel who remembers the
guest in room 171. >> She said she had a reservation and her name was uh Tina Roundry. And it's that
witness, Tamiko James, who was able to place Piper Roundtree in Richmond at a hotel located just miles from the crime
scene. >> Would you point to and identify that individual? >> Believe it's a defendant here.
>> And then a second eyewitness takes the stand. Raymond Seard says he saw Piper
on Saturday morning, just a few hours after Fred Javelin's murder. >> Uh, medium bale, medium height, and
blonde hair. Where is she? >> That lady right there. >> Seward remembers Piper returning a car
to his rental agency near the airport. The same airport where that flight carrying a passenger named Tina
Roundtree would later take off. >> She was just in a hurry to get to the airport.
>> And if eyewitness testimony wasn't enough to put Piper in Richmond, prosecutors say they have Piper caught
on tape. They say the woman seen walking into a Richmond, Virginia gas station is the
defendant, Piper Roundtree, in disguise. The tape will will show a white female enter the door.
>> It's a mountain of evidence that they hope will knock down any suggestion that
it was Tina Roundtree in Richmond the weekend of the murder. >> You You have to concede it doesn't look
good, right? >> No, it doesn't look good. I I certainly concede that. You know, my mouth fell
open when I saw these things. Like, oh my god. >> Now, prosecutors take their case one
step further. They set out to show how Piper made sure that when she shot Fred Jablin, she wouldn't miss.
>> She gave him a >> Mac. Mlanahan knows both sisters. He dated Tina and he worked with Piper.
When you went with uh Piper to work uh early in the week of October 25th to Galveastston, did you ride together
there? >> We did. >> And back? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> On one of their rides home together, Mac
told Piper he was going to stop at a shooting range. >> Tell the members of the jury what Piper
said when you brought that up. >> Uh she said she wanted to go with me. Had you taken Piper to the gun range
prior to that day? No. >> Piper shot a few rounds, then [music] decided she wanted to rent another type
of gun. So, she went to the front desk and made an exchange. >> She returned with a a 38 caliber
revolver. >> It was the [music] same type of weapon used to gun down Fred Javelin days
later. >> Did she fire the 38? >> She did. Saturday morning around 6:30 and >> and when Mac ran into Piper a few days
after the murder, he found out just how nervous Piper was about their [music] trip to the gun range.
>> I told her I was sorry to hear what had happened. And she hugged me and said, "I
love you." And and she said, "Please don't say anything about the gun range. It'll just complicate things."
>> With one of their last witnesses, prosecutors deal a final blow to Piper. It turns out the alibi Piper thought she
had for the night before the murder had fallen through. >> After you had a chance to think about
it, have checked all of your records. >> Kevin O'Keefe, who thought he'd seen Piper at the Volcano Bar on Friday
night, now tells jurors [music] he was mistaken. >> Were you in the volcano at all on that
Friday, October 29th? >> No. >> You sure about that? >> Positive. >> Thank you. After being battered by dozens of
witnesses against her, Piper Roundtree, a former prosecutor, knows she's in real
trouble. [music] And now she has to make one of the most important decisions of her life. Should she take the stand?
All rise. >> After listening to the 49 witnesses testifying against her, >> the court,
>> that lady right there looks familiar. >> Yes, sir. She's right there. >> With the state's case finished,
>> that lady right there, >> Piper Roundtree is looking like a goner. >> If you could look those jurors in the
eyes, how would you do it? What would you say? I would tell them I didn't do it because of all the things that I
stand for. I believe in truth. I believe in God. >> Piper realizes she has only one option.
>> All right. Next witness. >> Take the stand. >> Call Piper Roundry. Come on around, Mr.
Randry, if you would. >> But you know it's it's risky to do that to take the stand and testify. You know
that, right? >> Yeah. Do you tell me where I from? Let the evidence. >> So on the fourth day of trial, the truth
and nothing but the truth. Tell you about it. I did >> only four [music] months after Fred
Jablin was shot dead in his driveway. >> You are Piper and Roundtree. Is that correct?
>> I am. >> Fred Javelin's ex-wife, Piper Roundtree, tries to answer to a jury. Her defense
lawyer, Murray Janice, cuts straight to the chase. is round tree. Did you shoot and kill Fred Javelin on Saturday
morning, October 30th, 2004? >> I did not. >> When did you first learn that Fred
Javelin had been shot and killed >> that that evening? >> What was your emotional condition at
that time? >> Well, I don't remember a whole lot of the rest of the evening. >> Did you
Did you ever learn that evening where your children were? >> No. >> In a soft, shaky voice, Piper Roundtree
testifies it was impossible for her to shoot Fred Jablin in Virginia because at the time of the murder, she was in
Texas. But it isn't just Piper's whereabouts she and her defense team will use as an alibi. Their strategy is
based on showing the jury what kind of person Piper Roundtree really is. >> And do you love your children? Yes, very
much. >> And where are they as far as priorities in your life? >> Second only to God.
>> Piper tells jurors the last thing she'd [music] do is hurt her kids. >> Yes, it was not an easy divorce, but I
had no right to take away the children's father. The children need both parents.
How were you getting along with Fred Javelin compared to during the divorce itself?
>> Um, it was an answer to my prayers. We were doing very good. >> And when it comes to her alibi about
being at the volcano bar, she insists she was there that Friday before the murder, even though Kevin O'Keefe had
told prosecutors he wasn't even there that Friday night. Do you know when it was that you saw the defendant in the
volcano? >> Uh, Saturday, >> October 30th, >> right? >> But Piper stands by her story and says
she even remembers floating and drinking with a stranger. >> What was the gentleman's name uh that
you met up with, if you know? >> Uh, he said Steve initially and then he said, "Call him Jerry."
>> Have you ever seen him again since then? >> No. All right, disguise. Mr. Roundree, I believe you testified.
>> The prosecutors go on the attack. Piper's motive for murder is simple. A vengeful woman who had lost her
children. >> You had lost custody of your three children completely? >> Not completely.
>> Doesn't the order state that you lost physical and legal custody of your children?
>> Yes. >> To your husband? >> Yes. >> Wasn't that devastating to you? >> Yes. Wouldn't you do anything for your
children? >> I wouldn't kill for them. No. >> Piper, however, is unable to explain
away the physical evidence at the heart of the case. Starting with her Jeep parked at the Houston airport the very
weekend Fred Jablin was murdered. Can you explain why the records from the Houston Hobby Airport show that your
vehicle was in their parking lot on Thursday and Friday and Saturday? >> No, I have no explanation.
>> Then prosecutors questioned Piper about her visit to the gun range where she practiced shooting just days before the
murder with the same type of weapon used to kill Fred Javelin. You shot two different pistols that day,
didn't you? One was a 22 caliber revolver and the other was a 38 caliber revolver.
>> Uh, that's what they say. >> Well, you had it in your possession for a period of time.
>> I don't know what it was. It was a gun. >> And what about that blonde wig? Prosecutors say Piper needed it
desperately for the weekend of the murder to disguise herself as Tina. You wanted the blonde wig so bad that when
you got the box with the paprika wig in it with the note saying that they didn't
have it in stock and that you would have to pay an additional charge. You said send it anyway. I want it. Correct.
>> Uh Tina had wanted >> No, I'm not asking you what Tina said. I'm asking you. You told them I did.
I'll pay the extra money. Isn't that right? And you had the blonde wig? >> Yes, sir.
>> Where is it at? Uh, last time I saw Tina had it. >> If Tina had the wig and Tina was on the
plane, then >> you want this jury to think that Tina committed the murder, don't you?
>> I have no idea what happened. >> You have not? >> I don't. >> The evidence pinpoints Piper in Richmond
near the scene of Fred Javelin's murder. Hotel records and receipts show Piper used the bank card she said was stolen.
>> I didn't know what had happened to the card. There's one more staggering piece
of evidence. Those damning cell phone records. Calls made from Piper's cell phone from Richmond to Texas just after
the murder. >> What happened to the cell phone? >> I don't know. >> While the crime's being committed, you
don't know where it is. That's what you're telling these people. >> I'm telling them that I didn't have the
phone from probably that I remember. Last time I remember it was Tuesday. Before that,
>> you lost the telephone on Tuesday. Where did you find it on Saturday? >> Uh, it was at Tina's house.
>> Because you want to you want this jury to think that Tina committed the murder.
You're willing to put it on her, aren't you? >> No, sir. >> Thank you, ma'am. You can have a seat
next to me, counsel. >> Piper steps down. She has done all she can. Now, it's up to this man, Marty
[music] McVey, the lone witness, who can physically put her a thousand miles away
from the murder. And where is your office at the present time? >> In Houston, Texas.
>> Now, sir, tell us if you will, jumping up to Saturday, October 30th, 2004. Did
you ever see Piper Roundtree on that date? >> I did. >> And where was that, sir?
>> In my office. >> And could you tell the ladies and gentlemen, the jury what time you saw
her? >> Approximately 4:30 that afternoon, give or take 5 minutes. >> Are you sure of that time, sir?
>> Yes, sir. McVey is Piper's [music] very best witness because it's impossible for
Piper to have been in two places at once. McVey says she was in his Houston office at the exact same time police say
she was on an airplane returning from murdering Fred Javelin. >> How many people have you talked to about
the time Piper Roundtree was in your office on Saturday, October 30th? >> Since then?
>> Yes, sir. >> Oh gosh. Well, I've talked to the prosecutors here. I talked to the
detectives again in Houston in the Houston Police Department. I've talked to Paige Akens from the Times Dispatch.
>> Local newspaper reporter Paige Aken ends up becoming part of the very story she
was covering. >> Hold on, Miss Aken, if you would. >> She takes the stand to testify about
what Marty McVey told her. >> And how are you employed, Miss Aken? >> I'm a reporter at the Richmond Times
Dispatch. Have you been assigned any have you in fact been covering the uh case involving Miss Piper Roundtree?
>> I have. >> Paige Aken swears that McVey had told her that Piper had stopped by his office
the day after the murder, not the afternoon of the murder. >> Did you ask him when prior to Sunday,
October 31st, he had last seen Piper Roundry? >> Yes. He said it had been quite a while.
Uh about a year, I believe. Marty McVey is put back on the stand and sticks to his story and dates.
>> Had you seen Piper Round Tree before Sunday, October 31st? >> Yes. >> And when was that?
>> On October 30th. >> All right. We'll be at recess till tomorrow. >> All right.
When it's all over, Piper Roundtree seems dazed and exhausted. >> Do you think you conveyed to the jury?
>> I don't know. I hope so. That's all I can say is I hope so. >> Are you afraid?
>> Yeah. >> Yes. Yes, I'm afraid. I was amazed about the evidence that police collected,
the documentation they did, the witnesses. Throughout Piper Roundtree's murder trial, the brother of the victim,
Michael Jablin, has watched closely, focused on the woman who was once part of his family. Any doubt in your mind
that Piper Roundtree [music] is guilty. >> There's no doubt, and I was very sad about the whole thing, hearing it, how
somebody with such a high level of education could have plotted such an event. >> Piper's mother, Betty Roundtree, sat in
the courtroom every day. She can't believe her youngest daughter is a killer. >> Do I think she's guilty? No, I do not.
She's had so much love in her life and she's such a gentle, kind person. I honestly cannot believe that she did
this. >> The jury deliberates for less than an hour. >> Ladies and gentlemen, have you been able
to reach a verdict in these matters? >> Yes. Would you hand it to the sheriff, please?
>> We the jury find the defendant guilty of firstdegree murder. Frederick Jablin is
charged in the indictment. >> Joanne Lawson, is this your verdict? >> Yes. >> Beverly Owens, is this your verdict?
>> Yes. >> Holly Pace, is this your verdict? >> Yes. >> No one seems surprised, not even Piper.
>> All rise. Within an hour, the jury hears more testimony and then will recommend her
sentence. Anywhere from 20 years to life. >> They were extremely extremely close.
>> Betty Roundtree pleads for leniency so the children who'd already lost their father won't lose their mother, too.
>> Her whole life was just with those children, taking them different places, reading to them.
truth and I can let >> have a seat please. Miss Jablin >> Michael Jablin is not vindictive, just
sad and searching for answers. >> How do I explain to young children that their mother killed their father?
They've lost both parents basically. Now, how do I explain that to these children? How does anybody explain
something like that? >> In less than an hour, the jury decides to recommend the harshest penalty. We
the jury having found the defendant guilty of firstdegree murder Frederick Javelin fixer punishment at life
imprisonment. The 5-day trial included nearly 60 witnesses and 80 pieces of evidence. He
[music] has now been sentenced to life in prison. >> Is over. How do you feel right now?
>> I think we feel good. get the result that we anticipated having in the long run. But, um, it's nice to see the jury
validate our investigation and bring a little bit of justice as close as we're going to get here. Anyway,
>> within minutes of the verdict, we talked with Piper in a holding cell. Piper, a jury has spoken. U guilty life
in prison. Yeah. >> What's your reaction to that sentence? I think I'm still in shock. It
>> hasn't hit you yet, has it? No, not >> somewhat. I don't know. >> In spite of all the evidence and the
jury's swift verdict, Piper Roundtree still insists she's innocent. >> For the record, you still are saying
that you did not kill your ex-husband. >> I didn't. I didn't. I mean, obviously,
it looked like I didn't. >> You didn't do it? No, I didn't. >> Will you get an opportunity at all while
you're serving your time to see your children? Do you do you know anything about that?
>> I hope so. >> I'd be happy to talk to them. >> Anything you want to say to him?
>> I just love them and miss them and would want to talk to them. What kind of mother would do this?
>> I think that's a very good question. I don't know what kind of mother would uh
would would u leave them without a father and without a mother. I don't know. It's very hard to understand that.
It's very sad when you have to think about that. >> I really think she is so sick that she
thought she could do this and then just walk into the sunset with her three kids. I think that's how she thought
this was going to play out. >> [music] >> Megan McCraary, Fred's neighbor and friend, has no sympathy for Piper
Roundtree. >> And what was [music] she thinking? Did she not understand the impact this was
going to have on her children's lives? I mean, she [music] extinguished four lives that day. She murdered her
ex-husband and basically destroys the childhood of her three children. I just I don't understand what she was
thinking. The verdict may be in, but what was the jury thinking as they watched the
halting testimony of Piper Roundtree? >> Wouldn't you do anything for your children?
>> I wouldn't kill for them. No. >> I think that was one of the most serious moments of the trial for me because it
was the nail in the coffin. >> It was the nail in the coffin when she took the stand.
>> Yeah, for me that was going from 90% to 100% guilty. Bruce Lead, Joel Howell, and Timothy
James spoke to us about the impression Piper made. >> The four or five words that we got out
of her weren't a whole lot and they were not convincing >> when she took the stand. I mean, you
know, it almost seemed like a, you know, she could kind of, you know, turn her tears on and off.
>> And do you love your children? >> Yes, very much. >> And of all the evidence against her,
what was it that sealed Piper's fate? the cell phone records, you could very [music] easily track exactly where she
was and what she did. >> Cell phone tracked her all the way. >> Yes, [music] it did.
>> The whole time. >> And what if Tina Roundtree, the sister Piper pretended to be? [music] The
sister many people say was Piper's best friend. It's impossible to know whether or not Tina knew that Piper was going on
a trip to murder her ex-husband, but based on how close they were, um it's hard to imagine that Tina was not
knowledgeable in some sense that something very serious was going to take place.
>> She would stick up for her sister and I think she would do anything short of murder for her sister.
>> Your name came up a lot during the trial. It was almost as if the defense was to blame Tina Roundtree for the
murder. What's your reaction to that? >> They're just trying to set a possibility of doubt in the juror's
mind. >> But you didn't mind >> him being abused. >> I don't care >> in that fashion.
>> Doesn't matter. I you know I don't care. It doesn't make I mean it's I think it's
a stupid defense. >> But the jury is certain the right round tree was convicted. However, months
after the trial, Tina Roundtree herself would be convicted of tampering [music] with evidence after the murder of Fred
Javelin. She would be sentenced to [music] nine months probation. But this jury would sentence Piper to a term.
>> We the jury fix her punishment at life in prison. >> Far more severe. Why life in prison?
>> We didn't ever want her to come back into her children's lives. Because it would have been reliving [music] the
murder. >> [music] [music] [music]

A beloved professor is gunned down, but the clues are stranger than the crime. "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Harold Dow reports in this two-part episode from August 2007. 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

Piper Roundtree was convicted of murdering her ex-husband Fred Jablin amid a bitter custody battle and complex family dynamics.

Key points

Detective's Heartbreaking Task. Detective Kobe Kelly reflects on losing his best friend and the challenges of informing children about their father's murder.
A Twisted Investigation. Detective Kelly uncovers a web of family ties and suspicions surrounding Fred Jablin's murder.
Sisterly Devotion. The Roundtree sisters share a fierce bond, complicating the investigation into Fred's murder.
The Mysterious Passenger. Tina Roundtree arrives in Houston, surprising detectives.
Piper's Alibi. Piper seeks to confirm her whereabouts before Fred's murder.
Custody Decision. Fred wins full custody of the children, leaving Piper devastated.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's just that doesn't happen. You know, that's not this neighborhood.

6:38WatchJul 23, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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