World's Most Evil Killers - Season 5, Episode 20 - Cesar Barone - Full Episode | Forensic Files

NARRATOR: In February 1993, detectives in Hillsboro, Oregon were unaware that a serial killer had
been active across the city. The murders of four women were being treated as separate cases
until a prisoner in a local jail house began bragging to his fellow inmates. He would take combs and little miniature bars of soap
and he would place them on the floor to show the respective location of Martha Ryan's Volkswagen
with his Chevrolet. And he would imitate the sound of Martha Bryant's effort to draw breath.
NARRATOR: The loose lipped convict was 32-year-old Cesar Barone, who'd been sexually assaulting
and murdering women across Hillsboro for the previous two years. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Margaret was found naked
and spread eagled on her bed. He didn't just want to kill her, he wanted to degrade her, and demean her, and humiliate her.
NARRATOR: As detectives began to learn the awful truth behind Cesar Barone's crimes, they
discovered he'd begun attacking women in Florida when he was just 15 years old. ERIC APALATEGUI: He is that type of person
who has on the outside almost multiple personalities. I think on the inside he was just all evil.
NARRATOR: Cesar Barone had revealed himself as one of the world's most evil killers.
[MUSIC PLAYING] In January 1995, 35-year-old Cesar Barone was sentenced to death for taking the life of four
women in and around Hillsboro, Oregon ranging in age from 23 to 61. Barone's M.O. would often change from rapist to robber,
and strangler to shooter, making him highly elusive to detectives who couldn't link the crimes.
Journalist Eric Apalategui met with Barone while he was on death row in 1997. ERIC APALATEGUI: We were standing up to go,
and he stuck his hand through that hole to shake my hand. It totally caught me by surprise.
And I remember thinking, do I shake it because I know that he has strangled people with those hands, right?
NARRATOR: It took the skills of dedicated lawyers and detectives to build a compelling case against Barone
in the lead up to his 1994 trials. This case was really the most memorable case that I ever
dealt with, and it was because of its complexity, the number of victims, the lives it impacted,
the trauma that it created for so many people. MICHAEL O'CONNELL: Part of what made him so dangerous
was the fact that he broke all the rules that a profiler would use in analyzing a certain violent crime.
He killed people he knew, he killed strangers. And that's one of the reasons he got away
with his despicable behavior for so long. NARRATOR: This killer's story begins in December 1960.
Cesar Barone was born Adolph James Rode in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Known as Jimmy to friends and family,
his young life got off to a far from perfect start. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: At the age of four,
his mother leaves and sets up a new life somewhere else. And I think this is at the root of a lot of Rode's issues.
I think there is an unresolved conflict that happens at that point, and it continues for him for many years
because I think as a four-year-old, you can't really make sense of why your mother's left.
You probably have a tendency to blame yourself for it, was it something that I did?
NARRATOR: In March 1967, Rode's father got married for a second time. It was a happier, more affluent household to grow up in.
MICHAEL O'CONNELL: He led a pretty normal childhood. His grandparents had a nice home with land
outside of Fort Lauderdale. They had a pony that they bought mostly for Cesar and his brother and sister.
He started approaching his teens, he really started going downhill in terms of his behavior.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: As an adolescent, Rode really was a hell raiser. He broke rules left, right, and center.
He didn't think the rules applied to him. He was mean to other children. He didn't really have decent relationships with his peers.
And he caused such havoc that his stepmother actually ended up leaving the family home.
So that is the level of disruption that this young man was causing. This is very serious behavior indeed.
NARRATOR: Rode's conduct spiraled out of control. And he had a bad reputation with the local authorities.
ERIC APALATEGUI: He was known to police around there as this kid who was just a bad kid,
who would just steal anything. He was an opportunist who graduated into assaulting people.
And I think he found out that he liked that, honestly. NARRATOR: By 1976, 15-year-old Jimmy Rode
had developed an unhealthy sexual appetite for much older women. And he focused his newfound perversity
on his neighbor, Alice Stock. Alice was a 70-year-old ex teacher. She was a very patient, very calm,
very understanding person. She'd worked with children with special needs, and she was somebody that Rode knew.
And he breaks into her house. He threatens her with a knife, and he asks her to remove some of her clothing.
And she says, I know who you are, you're Jimmy Rode, you live right down the street.
Now get the hell out of my house. And he did. Of course she instantly called the police.
NARRATOR: Jimmy Rode, spends 10 weeks in a youth detention center as punishment for the attempted attack.
The prolific criminal remained in and out of prison over the next three years. All the while, his assault on Alice Stock
remained fresh in his memory. BOB HERMANN: In 1979, he was released. 15 days later, someone entered her home
by cutting the screen to her window, entering through the window, strangled Alice Stock,
left her displayed on the bed. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Clearly he is the prime suspect
because this lady and what she experienced and what she reported to the police were what led to him first going to prison.
So he harbored a grudge, he harbored resentment. And the fact that he sat on this resentment
for a good couple of years, shows me the kind of person he is. He is a grievance collector.
And if somebody wrongs him, he's going to get his own back, whether that's next week or next year.
NARRATOR: All the evidence in the case was circumstantial, and it wasn't enough to charge Rode with Alice's murder.
It's alleged that in January 1980, 18-year-old Rode raped his stepmother. And just months later in April, he
was arrested and charged with attacking his own grandmother. BOB HERMANN: She was beaten severely so Jimmy Rode was
charged with attempted murder. It went to trial and he was acquitted. And those involved in the case said
that the grandmother had trouble testifying, she didn't want to testify. And the defense basically was she's mistaken,
Jimmy had been there but it was somebody-- and it was somebody else. He was acquitted.
NARRATOR: It seemed that murder just wouldn't stick. Nevertheless, Jimmy Rode was back in prison by August 1980
sentenced to five years for the comparatively minor offense of burglary. And after assaulting a 59-year-old female prison
officer, three more years were added to his sentence in which time he began to completely
change his identity. He moves to a new prison and he basically starts to rewrite the story of his life
in the information he gives to the officers in that prison. He claims that he has a degree from an Italian University.
He claims that he's a widower. That he's going to go back to Italy after his sentence.
So he's embellishing, he's exaggerating, he's making himself more interesting. And when people do this, when they engage
in this kind of narcissistic behavior, it's essentially because they are fundamentally
ashamed of who they really are. They don't want to be themselves so they invent somebody else to be.
Somebody who can lord it over other people because they're special and they're interesting.
NARRATOR: Rode was still the prime suspect for the murder of Alice Stock. And when he was released in 1987,
he was determined to put distance between himself and the allegations. He'd met a woman via newspaper lonelyhearts service,
and headed 2 and 1/2 1,000 miles across the US to Seattle to be with her. And he adopted a new name, Cesar Barone.
The couple married and settled in Hillsboro, Oregon, but Barone didn't hang around for long.
In January 1989, the 28-year-old career criminal enlisted in the Army. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He signs up but because he's somebody who's
not very good at following rules, he doesn't have a particularly smooth time in the army.
And he is eventually dismissed from the army when he goes and harasses an elderly woman in her home,
and also when the army discover that he's in possession of a firearm, and that he's a convicted felon.
So all of this unravels, and his dream of what the army could potentially have been for him
comes to an end. NARRATOR: By early 1991, Cesar Barone was back living in Hillsboro with his wife and baby son.
On April the 19th, not too far from the Barone family home, a crime stunned the community.
BOB HERMANN: Margaret Schmidt was a woman in her early 60s. She lived in downtown area of Hillsboro in a small house.
Margaret had broken her leg. And because of the leg injury and some of her health issues,
she used a Walker to get around. ERIC APALATEGUI: Somebody broke into her house.
She was sexually assaulted and strangled. And it was one of those cases as a reporter that--
I remember she was one of those types of people that everybody would say, well, why would
you kill Margaret Schmidt? NARRATOR: The case landed on the desk of homicide detective, Michael O'Connell.
She would sit out on her porch and talk to the kids from the grade school right next to her house.
And that's probably how he spotted her, driving by and probably saw her out on her porch.
NARRATOR: Margaret's carer had arrived to check in on the 61-year-old but instead stumbled
upon a horrific crime scene. Margaret was found naked and spread eagled on her bed.
MICHAEL O'CONNELL: She'd been strangled, and also it appeared she'd been smothered with a pillow.
The pillow was still laying on her face when we got there. There was either a sexual assault or an attempt
at a sexual assault. The suspect had knocked over a bottle of talcum powder in the bathroom
and left some of the best shoe prints that I've ever seen at any crime scene. You could actually read the word Reebok.
BOB HERMANN: Maybe you see that a lot on TV but in a lot of murder scenes that I've seen,
you don't typically see foot prints in a residence. And that led to a significant lead.
And really quite frankly, was the only lead after the initial investigation that the police
had that they thought they may somehow be able to follow up on. NARRATOR: There seemed to be an obvious way to solve the case,
find the distinctive shoes, catch the killer. MICHAEL O'CONNELL: I became somewhat obsessed with them,
and for the next couple of years, I was always looking for them to see if I could see someone wearing them.
I only saw two people wearing them. One was a kindergarten teacher who I knew. I knew she wasn't a suspect, and the other one was a fellow
at the Spokane airport. NARRATOR: But in fact the owner of the shoes lived just two miles away
from Margaret Schmidt's house. Cesar Barone's lust for older women had driven him to murder.
In the following months, the 30-year-old separated from his wife and moved out of the family home
before beginning an ominous new career, working in an elderly care home. GEOFFERY WANSELL: What could be more frightening than having
someone who's already killed a 61-year-old to get a job as a care home assistant?
Well, criminal records checks were not what they are today. He was plausible enough.
And on the surface, he presents as unfrightening. He's quite amenable. And I can only imagine that he must have been literally
like the fox in the hen house. NARRATOR: On the 9th of October 1992, Oregon awoke to the news of another murder.
41-year-old midwife, Martha Bryant had been targeted by a gunman in the early hours of the morning
while driving along Cornell Road in Hillsboro. BOB HERMANN: I learned about it early when I
got up on, "The Morning News." It was front and center. They actually had footage of the Volkswagen
that Martha had been driving because it remained alongside where she had been forced off the road.
That's told the story that this is an enormous happening that someone would be shot, and you
could see the bullet holes, the many bullet holes in the vehicle. I believe she was probably working her way to turn up
to Highway 26, we call it Sunset Highway, and then on into Portland where she lived.
But at some point on Cornell Road, somebody started shooting at her car where one of those bullets
passed through the door and struck her inside. And that caused her to stop the car
and suddenly not really in full control. NARRATOR: One of the high caliber bullets
had ripped right through the car and pierced Martha's left lung. MICHAEL O'CONNELL: Several people heard the gunfire
and called 911 because you shouldn't have gunfire along Cornell Road at 3:00 AM.
In that neighborhood, you shouldn't have gunfire any time. One of the callers actually looked out her bathroom window
and saw Martha Bryant's Volkswagen, and she heard yelling. And she thought it was two males but you have to remember,
Martha Bryant had suffered a sucking chest wound. NARRATOR: The assailant abducted the gravely
injured Martha from her abandoned vehicle and drove her to a quieter location. MICHAEL O'CONNELL: When she couldn't do what he wanted,
he dragged her out of the car, put a 22 caliber revolver to her temple and executed her.
Left her in the middle of the road with her pants down at her ankles. Martha Bryant was found a short time later about 3/4
of a mile away laying in the middle of a side street, and she'd been sexually assaulted.
GEOFFERY WANSELL: It is premeditated. It is excessive cruelty once again, and a complete disregard for human life,
of how anyone else might feel. It is psychopathic behavior of the most clear cut.
NARRATOR: The seemingly random killing of a local midwife left the city in shock.
MICHAEL O'CONNELL: It captured the attention of the community in a very powerful way.
You just don't have that kind of crime out here in Hillsboro. You really don't have that kind of crime very often anywhere.
ERIC APALATEGUI: We knew very quickly that Martha Bryant was a nurse midwife, that she had just helped deliver a baby
at Tuality Community Hospital. That fact alone that she had just helped bring a new life
into the world, and then her life was so suddenly and violently taken, the way those two things came together,
I think just grabbed everybody. It was just one of those things where you just see the best and the worst of life,
and just minutes apart. NARRATOR: Cornell Road residents had seen Martha's killer abduct
her but because it was so dark, detectives were left with little to go on. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Police started to put together
a picture of what happened from the evidence that the witnesses gave them. So they'd seen a white muscle car, a souped up vehicle.
They'd seen a man, he was around about 6 foot tall with dark brown hair going away from the scene.
So they have little pieces of the puzzle to put together. NARRATOR: What the police didn't know
was that Martha's killer was Cesar Barone. In a complete change of his regular M.O.,
the 30-year-old had struck for a second time. And just two months later, he would claim a third victim.
On the 30th of December 1992, Detective Scott Ryon was alerted to the discovery of a body along US Highway 26
near Vernonia, Oregon. SCOTT RYON: We got up there and the body had been there for some time.
We weren't sure if this was somebody that was struck by a vehicle or dumped body
or what immediately. But after a period of time, I located a gunshot to the underside of her chin.
And at that point, it was beyond suspect that this was a homicide. NARRATOR: It would take some expert detective
work just to identify the victim let alone solve the crime. SCOTT RYON: When we first went through the victim's pockets,
we had very little information as far as who she was. After doing some legwork on her phone number and address,
we were able to track down a house in Southeast Portland, I believe it was, and found out she was a roommate
and had taken a room in a house there. And we were able to locate information in that room
as to her actual identity. NARRATOR: 23-year-old Chantee Woodman had last been seen the previous night looking
for a ride home outside a nightclub in Portland. Chantee was probably what one would refer to as a traveler.
She had followed the music scene throughout California in the Northwest. And I believe this was probably one of her visit--
first visits into the Portland area. NARRATOR: Once again, detectives had few leads to follow.
They had no idea that Chantee Woodman had become the third victim of Cesar Barone.
But this time, he had an accomplice. Leonard Darcell known by his nickname Germ,
worked with Barone in a nursing home, and was seven years younger than the 31-year-old killer.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: I think he was somebody who was seen as a bit of an outcast. So I think Barone thought that here's somebody that I can
manipulate, here's somebody who's going to be really impressed by me. ERIC APALATEGUI: He was the type of guy who would look up
to someone like Cesar Barone, who would admire someone like Cesar Barone. And I think Cesar Barone liked to have someone like that
around. I think he got a kick out of that. I don't think that Leonard Darcell necessarily
signed up to be a wing man in a murder, but he was no boy scout. NARRATOR: Barone and Darcell had picked up
Chantee Woodman outside a nightclub in Portland. And just hours later, Barone executed her in front
of his younger colleague. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: She begs for her life. She's absolutely terrified at this point in time.
But Barone, this is not a barrier for him. This is now a performance because Leonard Darcell is
there watching this unfold, and he wants this to be as performative, as dramatic as possible.
GEOFFERY WANSELL: And then finally in an act of such barbarism, it almost takes your breath away,
Barone puts the gun not to a temple but underneath the chin and blows her head off, effectively
killing her in an instant. NARRATOR: Cesar Barone was out of control. He'd now killed three women in completely
unrelated circumstances. The police had a serial killer in their midst but they had no idea.
The differing M.O's and varying ages of the victims appeared too random to be linked by detectives.
MICHAEL O'CONNELL: We didn't think that the Woodman murder, the Bryant murder, or the Schmidt
murder were connected. They were all very different. You have an elderly woman killed in her home,
you have a 23-year-old left along the side of the highway in a rural part of the County, and then
you have the nurse midwife shot in her car, and then kidnapped and ultimately executed.
We didn't think they were connected. NARRATOR: The killer of all three women was Cesar Barone.
Despite his violent and sometimes public attacks, the 32-year-old care home worker had
managed to fly under the radar. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: This is a really mixed kind of victimology.
But we've got to remember all of these victims are women. It's all being driven by a misogynistic ideology
and a value set. So I think the police would have struggled in the early days because of that disparity of the victims
but the nature of the murders was quite similar. So there were pieces of the puzzle that
would eventually come together. NARRATOR: In January 1993, Barone attended a small party hosted by 51-year-old waitress, Betty
Williams who lived in the same apartment block as Barone's girlfriend in Cornelius.
The following morning, Betty was found dead. BOB HERMANN: She was discovered by one of her sons
who came over to her house, found the front door unlocked, which again was unusual.
Came in looking for his mom, and found her in the bathtub with a couple of inches of water in it.
And she was laying half in and half out of the bathtub. Her clothing was down to her ankles,
and she was clearly dead. NARRATOR: There was nothing at the crime scene that would immediately suggest foul play.
BOB HERMANN: They thought that she had been sitting on the toilet and had a heart attack,
and then in her movement had fallen into the bathtub. NARRATOR: Two items found in Betty's apartment
meant detectives would keep an open mind about her death. MICHAEL O'CONNELL: There was a broken jar of change found,
there was a gun there. We thought it was her gun. And when we asked her sons, they said, yeah, it might be.
But then her autopsy determined it was a heart attack. And then as things progressed, it turned out that she
did die of a heart attack. But she died of a heart attack because he was threatening her with a knife and that gun, that 22 magnum.
So in effect this is an oversimplification but it's basically what happened was he scared her to death.
NARRATOR: It was impossible for the police to link the cases but Betty Williams had in fact become the fourth victim
of Cesar Barone. The following month in February 1993, Barone's ex mother-in-law was found dead in her home.
It was a death that would inadvertently lead to the killer's downfall. At the time, the death was considered natural causes.
I believe they thought it likely was a heart attack. It would come to light that Cesar Barone was using
her ATM card after the death. NARRATOR: The family filed a complaint that Barone was
responsible for the theft of $3,000, and a police investigation began. While looking into Barone's past,
detectives discovered a colorful criminal history, including attacks on 70-year-old Alice
Stock and his own grandmother. SCOTT RYON: There were some issues coming up that just didn't make sense.
Cesar Barone appeared to come out of nowhere. And in further checking, we found there had been a name change.
Cesar Barone was actually a fictitious name, an assumed name later on. That Barone's real name was Jimmy Rode.
NARRATOR: As the investigation into the stolen money continued, Barone remained a free man.
He'd killed four women without any repercussions. And the rate of his assaults began to escalate.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: There are a couple of sexual attacks that he carries out on to older women.
He goes to their houses, he asks them if he can use their phone because he's having some car problems.
In one of these incidences, he goes in and demands that the woman gives him oral sex and she refuses
and he fleece. In another one of these incidences, the victim sets off her personal alarm which really
spooks him so he flees again. And I think at this point in time he's feeling really frustrated because he has a right
to demand these things that he's asking for, and he's not getting them. NARRATOR: One of the victims, a neighbor of Barone
identified the 32-year-old and reported him to the police. Investigators didn't know it but they were about to capture
a serial killer. Barone was promptly put behind bars. It was only then that the truth about his career of murder
came to the fore. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: In prison, Barone is still very much the narcissist
that he was on the outside. He wants attention, he wants recognition, he wants validation.
So he starts showing off. He starts bragging to his fellow prisoners about the crimes
that he's committed, about the murders of elderly women, about the assaults on women.
And they are horrified at what they've heard. And they basically want to share that information.
NARRATOR: Barone bragged about the killing of 41-year-old midwife, Martha Bryant.
MICHAEL O'CONNELL: When he would describe what he did to these other inmates, he would take combs and little
miniature bars of soap that they were issued in the jail, and he would place them on the floor
to show the respective location of Martha Ryan's Volkswagen with his Chevrolet. And he would imitate the sound of Martha
Bryant's effort to draw breath. NARRATOR: Barone had sold his two-door Chevrolet soon
after Martha's murder but detectives managed to track it down. MICHAEL O'CONNELL: I remember Susan [INAUDIBLE]
one of the criminalists from the State Police Crime Lab coming out to our evidence facility.
And she looks at the car, she points to a spot in the back seat. She says someone has scrubbed that spot harder
than the rest of the car. And we're going, OK, if you say so. She slices open the seat, the cushion
is soaked with dried blood which was Martha Bryant's. That blood evidence was from when he had placed
her in the back of his car. NARRATOR: Another murder that Barone talked about while in jail was that of a 23-year-old Chantee
Woodman. We had information from the inmates in the jail that Barone had described
Woodman's attack and murder. And he stated that during that incident, he had a subject by the name of Germ accompanying him.
We had no further information to go on, and we started calling in on different police resources.
And located an a.k.a. of Germ as being Leonard Darcell who surprisingly was a Cornelius resident, and lived not far
from where Cesar Barone had lived. NARRATOR: Detectives paid a visit to Leonard Darcell
to hear his side of the story. SCOTT RYON: We told Leonard that we had some information that we
needed to share with him, and that information regarded Cesar Barone. At the point of hearing Cesar Barone's name,
there was a huge transformation, Leonard Darcell's face turned white as a sheet.
He tried about three times to speak, he couldn't. As he had finally started to speak, he looked at us
and said, what I'm about to tell you is probably going to change the rest of my life.
NARRATOR: Darcell began to confess about what had happened on the 30th of December 1992.
He told detectives that he and Barone had picked up Chantee and took her to an apartment in Cornelius.
He said he had consensual sex with the 23-year-old but when she rejected Barone's advances,
he forced her to get into his car and pointed a gun at her. Darcell went along for the ride.
SCOTT RYON: Ultimately, she ended up out on Highway 26. And he told us it was Barone that had got her out of the car
and taunted her and tormented her while she was standing there on the shoulder of the road.
He said she was crying, she was sobbing. And he stroked her hair and told her everything
was going to be OK. Everything was going to be fine, don't worry. And at that point, he moved the gun
from where he had been popping it into the bottom of her chin. Then turned it and came underneath, and said
everything's going to be OK, and the gun fired. And she collapsed NARRATOR: Darcell could not believe what he had witnessed.
SCOTT RYON: He said that was at the point that Cesar Barone grabbed her by the legs
and spun her around, and threw her off into the shoulder. And they then got into the car and left the scene.
And it was at that point that Cesar Barone wanted to hi five him. He was pounding the wheel, he was euphoric.
He was just totally excited about how good that felt. Leonard stated it nearly made him sick at that point.
And he knew that he didn't want anything more to do with this individual. NARRATOR: In March 1994, for his role in Chantee
Woodman's murder, Leonard Darcell was sentenced to 20 years in prison. During his jailhouse confessions,
Barone had spoken to fellow inmates about how in January 1993 he'd scared Betty Williams so much she suffered a heart attack.
The gun that had been found at her apartment was the same one that had fired the shot
that killed Chantee Woodman, a direct link between both deaths. Searches of Barone's home uncovered
even more evidence against him. SCOTT RYON: There was another gun found in the search warrant
at Cesar Barone's house. It was a Browning Hi-Power. When that gun was matched with forensics,
that tied back into the Martha Bryant case. The shell casings found on Cornell Road
were consistent with the striker marks that this Browning Hi-Power made. NARRATOR: And the search of one of Barone's former residences
led Detective Michael O'Connell to discover something he'd been searching for for almost two years.
MICHAEL O'CONNELL: During the service of that search warrant, what do we find in Cesar's property?
A pair of size 8 and 1/2 or 9 Reebok IRS tennis shoes. Ultimately, the shoes were matched to the shoe prints
in Margaret Schmidt's bathroom including the little nicks, the little artifacts.
You could look at the bottom of the shoe and see it, and you could look at the picture of the shoe print
and see it. NARRATOR: As well as evidence linking Barone to four deaths, detectives had uncovered a series of other crimes
he'd committed including rape, sexual abuse, and theft. In February 1994, he faced trial for crimes
against the surviving victims and was sentenced to 44 years in prison. The career criminal was behind bars
but detectives weren't going to rest on their laurels. Cesar Barone was about to get his comeuppance for the lives
he'd cruelly taken. In November, the 34-year-old was back in court, this time charged with the high profile murder of an innocent midwife.
ERIC APALATEGUI: The Martha Bryant murder was such a big deal because people really
cared about that case, and they really wanted to see Cesar Barone put away. And it was a capital murder case so he was facing
a potential death penalty. NARRATOR: Barone was prosecuted by Chief deputy DA, Bob Hermann.
BOB HERMANN: I told the jury that this was clearly an execution both by the nature of the gunshot
wound to the temple, and he clearly displayed the body by dumping her in the middle of the road in the manner
that he did. It was obvious that his conduct was deliberate, which under our law in Oregon is significant when it comes
to a death penalty imposition. The homicide need not be just intentional, it has to be deliberate as well.
And that was about as deliberative as you could possibly imagine. NARRATOR: Barone denied all the charges
against him pleading not guilty and refusing to testify. But the evidence against him was undeniable.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: In terms of Martha Bryant's murder trial, there really wasn't any doubts that Barone had killed her.
He'd bragged about it. He'd actually shared details of the crime with others. There was a blood stain in the back of the muscle car
that matched up to her DNA. And also the 9 millimeter pistol that he'd used in this case
was found in his own residence. So all paths led to Barone, there was very little doubt
he was responsible for this. ERIC APALATEGUI: I think the evidence that maybe is more
emotional is the stuff that kind of gets me now is just the descriptions of how he basically
hunted her down and killed her. Those were the things that anybody could understand,
we've all seen movies and everything but here it was real life and close to home and all of that.
So that's the kind of stuff that probably sticks with me more. NARRATOR: In December 1994, Cesar Barone
was found guilty of the murder of Martha Bryant and sentenced to death. He received two more death sentences
for the murders of Margaret Schmidt and Chantee Woodman. Barone was also convicted of causing
Betty Williams death known in Oregon as felony murder. For this he received an 89 year sentence.
The state of Florida were also keen to speak to the man they knew as Jimmy Rode.
MICHAEL O'CONNELL: They eventually indicted him for the murder of Alice Stock. After his appeals were all denied on the Martha Bryant
case, they ended up dismissing their case under the belief that, OK, the very least he's going
to spend the rest of his life in prison in Oregon and possibly even be executed.
They decided to drop their case. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: There is no such thing as coincidence when
it comes to serial killers. And I think it's safe to say that is anybody else responsible for Alice's murder?
I'd say probably not. NARRATOR: In 1997, journalist Eric Apalategui was given the opportunity to sit down with Cesar Barone
to try and find out his side of the story. I had never interviewed someone on death row.
So that day when I went down to Salem, Oregon State Penitentiary, I was admittedly anxious.
I didn't know what it would be like. And then they brought me into a little interview room,
and there was a chair and a little desk in front of me. And then there was this big thick plate glass with a hole
right here that we were going to talk through. The guard brought Cesar Barone in to the other side of this,
sat him down, and they gave us space to talk. And he was very amiable like happy to see me,
how are you doing kind of thing. NARRATOR: But Barone's mood would soon change when
Eric brought up the murders. ERIC APALATEGUI: Whenever I asked a question that didn't
fit with his explanation of things, what about the DNA evidence? What about this, what about that?
If he couldn't come up with a good answer, then his answer was that it was planted
so that he could be convicted of all of these crimes. They could clear the books of these crimes,
they could get all the glory. That was his-- that was his argument. NARRATOR: Cesar Barone died of cancer on Christmas Eve 2009.
He was 49 years old. On discovering the killer was terminally ill, Detective Michael O'Connell visited him
in prison for one last attempt at finding out the truth behind his crimes. MICHAEL O'CONNELL: I said, I'm not
going to read you your rights. Basically I was trying to assure him that I couldn't use anything he going to tell me against him.
Still didn't matter, he just, no, no. I said, is it possible to tell us that maybe one
of your victims didn't suffer? I said, something that maybe could put a mother or a husband
at ease? Give them some peace of mind? Wouldn't touch it, wouldn't even come close.
SCOTT RYON: As far as Cesar Barone having any remorse for his crimes, absolutely not.
It was my impression that he loved revisiting those mentally and recommitting the crime again.
Truly a sick evil individual. NARRATOR: In total, Cesar Barone was responsible for the deaths of at least four women
and the assault of many others. He has taken the reasons why to the grave. When we look back on the victims of Barone's crimes,
these were women just going about their daily life, and this predator comes along and decides that he
has a right to kill them. He has the right to violate and abuse them. And I think what we need to take from this case is their memory
because very often the victims in cases of serial murder symbolize everything that the perpetrators are not.
They are independent, they are loved, they are hopeful, they're people who have bright futures ahead of them.
So I think we need to honor the victims and just forget about Barone because he was a nobody,
and he always will be a nobody. NARRATOR: Barone was a twisted individual who seemed
to enjoy causing pain to women. He was driven by an unhealthy sexual appetite that would stop at nothing.
By attacking women in their homes, their cars, or even on the street, he always preyed
upon their vulnerabilities, which makes Cesar Barone one of the world's most evil killers.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

Cesar Barone was an American serial killer who took the life of four women in and around Hillsboro, Oregon in the 1990s.

An in-depth look at the lives and crimes of some of the world's most evil killers, including Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, Cary Stayner, Leonard Lake, Dorothea Puente and more.

Brief Summary

Cesar Barone, a serial killer, murdered four women in Oregon, evading capture until his bragging led to his arrest.

Key points

Cesar Barone's Crimes Unveiled. Detectives uncover a serial killer in Hillsboro, Oregon, as a convict brags about his deeds.
The Shocking Murder of Martha Bryant. A midwife is brutally murdered in Hillsboro, leaving the community in shock.
Chantee Woodman's Tragic End. 23-year-old Chantee Woodman becomes the third victim of Cesar Barone, executed in front of an accomplice.
The Death of Betty Williams. Betty Williams was found dead in her bathtub, initially thought to have died of natural causes. However, it was later revealed that she died from fear caused by Barone's threats.
Cesar Barone's Capture. After a series of murders, Barone was identified and arrested, leading to the uncovering of his violent history.
Barone's Trial and Sentencing. Cesar Barone was found guilty of multiple murders and received death sentences for his crimes, marking a significant moment in the pursuit of justice.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He is that type of person who has almost multiple personalities.

Eric Apalategui describing Cesar Barone.

1:19WatchAug 27, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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