- FEMALE NARRATOR: The sudden disappearance of a young rancher
leaves a small Colorado town grasping for answers.
- He was not a, "Hey, let's go do this
in the middle of the night" kinda person.
It was just very out of character.
- CHRIS: He had been gone way too long.
You know, a mother wants to know where her child is.
- NARRATOR: Investigators must determine whether his departure
was a spontaneous adventure...
or the result of a deadly scheme,
rooted in a twisted family tree.
- They were continually arguing about things on the ranch.
- He had come into her room and had threatened her.
- We knew that we would need to involve
a cadaver search.
- If she did it, she did not do it alone.
- She made some implications that he had a pretty dark side.
- It was all about property, all about the ranch.
- ♪
♪♪
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On Wednesday, May 20, 2015,
in the remote town of Gunnison, Colorado,
Randy Martinez and Nate Lopez realize they haven't heard
from their friend, 29-year-old rancher Jake Millison,
in nearly 5 days.
- JESSICA: On May 15, he had gone out with some friends,
and they had made plans for the next day.
And Jacob never called, never reached out to them.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Jake's mother, Deborah Rudibaugh,
and his sister, Stephanie Jackson,
meet Jake's friends in the corral on the sprawling ranch
where Jake and his family live.
- They approached Deborah and Stephanie asking if they had
seen Jake or knew where Jake was,
and that's when Deborah told them that he had gone
to Reno, Nevada.
- JESSICA: Deb Rudibaugh told them that he had left
to participate in MMA training or a tournament.
She did not know exactly when he would be returning.
- Jacob's very involved in MMA--uh, mixed martial arts.
He was involved with a gym here in Gunnison and a group of
individuals that enjoyed that activity
and pursued it diligently.
- JESSICA: The friends are not understanding why Jacob would
just pick up and leave without at least telling them.
- KRISTY: He shared a lot with his friends.
If he had been planning, especially a big trip,
he would have let people know.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: With Deborah's information limited,
Nate and Randy decide to check in at Jake's martial arts gym
to see when their friend might be back.
- His sparring partners explained that
there was no tournament or training that they knew of
in Reno, Nevada.
They further found out a little bit more information--
that he was injured that week and was on crutches because
he had hurt his ankle, and so he wouldn't have traveled
to participate in that.
- His friends, they heard from him every day,
so when they stopped hearing from him,
it definitely bothered them.
- For Jake to miss a gathering with friends,
if he said he was going to be there, he would be there.
Um, and if something had come up,
he would be sure to contact people and say like,
"Hey," you know, "I can't make it."
I think everyone early on was pretty nervous
that something had happened.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Jacob Millison was born on January 11, 1986,
in Colorado, just a year or so after his older sister,
Stephanie.
Jacob's parents, Deborah and Ray Millison,
had left Ohio for adventure out west
in Gunnison County, Colorado.
- KRISTY: Gunnison is an extremely remote
mountain community.
Uh, we're about three and a half hours from a major airport.
A lot of our community makes a living
through ranching or farming.
- NARRATOR: For Deborah, the home in Gunnison
was a lifelong dream come true.
- My sister, from the first time that we made a trip
to Colorado with my parents when we were young,
she fell in love with Colorado and ranches
and seeing horses run free.
She was drawn to the Old West ideas.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Once the family moved to Gunnison,
Deborah started work at the nearby 7-11 Ranch,
a 700-acre operation owned by Marion "Rudy" Rudibaugh,
a widower nearly 20 years Deborah's senior.
- Rudy was one of the most interesting men
that I've ever been around.
Um, you know, you meet him, he's not very tall,
but he was tough as nails.
- They did a dude ranch operation and then, you know,
outfitting, which is taking hunters
into the back country to hunt.
- JACK: At that time, it was very profitable.
Rudy had a fairly large lodge built
on the, uh, property in addition to several cabins.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: As Rudy approached his 70s,
Deborah stepped in to help her boss manage the ranch.
In 1993, she divorced Ray and made a surprise announcement
to her family.
- When Jake and Stephanie's mom and dad split,
Deborah moved to marry Rudy.
- Stephanie and Jake moved up here to Rudy's ranch.
They were both young.
I would say Jake was probably six.
It surprised the whole family in the fact that, you know,
Rudy was so much older than Deb, but Debbie seemed happy.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Deborah, Jake, and Stephanie all joined in
to help Rudy manage the ranch.
Deborah even homeschooled the kids
to give them more time to pitch in.
- Growing up on a ranch,
Jake definitely had a strong work ethic.
He was very responsible for his chores and his jobs.
There was a couple times I helped him on the ranch
with haying and stuff, and it's absolutely hard work.
But Jake never complained about it.
- DANA: Stephanie helped pack hunters in and out.
She did that with Rudy.
She is very good with animals and especially horses.
Um, she's right at home in the saddle.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: When Stephanie was just 18 years old,
she met 19-year-old David Jackson,
who worked on a traveling carnival that had made
a stop in Gunnison.
When the carnival left just three days later,
David stayed behind.
- JAMES: My impression of Dave, when we first met him,
was that he was an odd guy to make such a drastic change
in life by, you know, staying in a town with a girl
you just met three days ago was a little odd.
- NARRATOR: After a few months of dating,
the young couple married in 2003.
To help start her new life, Stephanie's stepdad, Rudy,
allowed her to access her inheritance.
- Rudy and Deb gave Stephanie $80,000
so they could buy a home.
- JESSICA: They didn't stay in Gunnison.
They did take part of their inheritance and use that money
to buy a residence in Denver.
- NARRATOR: With his sister gone,
Jake was expected to take on more responsibility
at the ranch.
In 2009, Rudy's health fell into a quick decline,
and on November 16 of that year,
the 85-year-old rancher passed away,
leaving the 7-11 property to Deborah.
- When Rudy passed away, I know it was hard for--
it was hard for everyone. It was hard for Jake.
It was hard for Deb.
- DANA: My sister went into a pretty deep depression.
She withdrew from everybody.
That was her life: the ranch.
And no matter what, she didn't wanna let go of it.
- NARRATOR: Managing the massive ranch
with just two people wasn't easy.
- JAMES: The hunting/guiding stopped.
It seemed like things were always kind of going downhill
from that point on.
It was a lot of trying to keep their head above water.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: By 2012, there were other big changes happening
at the 7-11 Ranch when Stephanie announced that she, David,
and their young son would be returning to town
after being away for 8 years.
- JACK: She wanted to move back to Gunnison,
because she didn't want her--to raise her child, uh, in Denver.
- JESSICA: Stephanie and David moved into an apartment in town.
David began working mechanic shops.
Stephanie Jackson began giving rides
and helping Deb Rudibaugh run the guest ranch.
- NARRATOR: With another set of hands to help out at the ranch,
it seemed like Deborah and Jake finally had a chance to return
7-11 to its former glory.
- Jake had talked that he would probably end up
staying on the ranch and he'd probably end up working it.
Uh, he wasn't always fond of that idea,
but it's what he knew and it's what he did well.
I think he always felt just strong ties to the ranch.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Which is why Jake's friends are worried when Jake
vanishes from the 7-11 Ranch in May of 2015.
- He was not a--certainly not a spontaneous kinda person.
It was just very out of character for Jake.
- All of these things raised more suspicion in their mind
that something sinister had happened to Jake.
- NARRATOR: On May 20, 5 days since Jake's friends have heard
from him, Randy Martinez and Nate Lopez meet with
a Gunnison County detective to file a missing person's report
for their friend.
- JESSICA: This case started with his friends filing reports
before the family had even acknowledged that he might have
been missing, and that is odd for an investigation.
- It was a huge red flag for a lot of people.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Coming up:
A mother reveals details of her son's dark side.
- She had found a marijuana grow on the ranch.
- She feared that he had fallen into a group
of bad people.
- He's probably gotten in above his head.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On May 20, 2015, Randy Martinez and Nate Lopez
have just filed a missing person's report for their friend
and local rancher, 29-year-old Jake Millison.
- JACK: They reported to the sheriff's office
that Jake had not been seen for about a week,
and they were concerned about where he was at.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Detectives agree to go speak with Jake's mother,
Deborah Rudibaugh, owner of the nearby 7-11 Ranch.
- She didn't remember the last time that she'd seen Jake.
She didn't remember what day it was.
- She informed law enforcement that Jacob had gone
to Reno to participate in a training of some sort for MMA.
She had a good reason why his friends
couldn't get a hold of him.
- She said he dropped his phone in an irrigation ditch
and--on the way out of the house,
and so that's why he wasn't able to answer his phone.
- JACK: Deborah showed them his phone.
She had that in a plastic bag with rice to draw out
the--the moisture in the phone.
They are reassured by Deborah that Jake is, uh, fine.
It's not unusual for Jake to take trips
and--and be gone for a while.
So, at, at that point, that kind of puts law enforcement at ease
that nothing unusual has happened to Jake.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: But with no trace of Jake over the next few weeks,
concern spreads, and two other groups of Jake's friends
file their own missing person's reports.
- CHRIS: It was a very unusual situation.
The family was like, "No, no, no, he's fine, he'll come back
some day, he frequently leaves and comes back."
That simply wasn't true, and the friends knew it.
It was really his friends that were very concerned,
and they're the ones that really pushed for more investigation.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: By August of 2015, now 3 months since Jake's
disappearance, even Deborah Rudibaugh is beginning
to express concern over her 29-year-old son's whereabouts.
- CHRIS: She had filed a missing person's report
because he had been gone way too long.
You know, a mother wants to know where her child is.
It's interesting, though, because he disappeared in May,
and she didn't file it until August.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: During the meeting, Deborah says that since joining
the MMA gym in Gunnison, Jake had changed.
- Deb Rudibaugh begins to describe Jacob
as lazy on the ranch and not helping her as much.
She makes it clear that the ranch is not doing as well.
- CHRIS: He would stay out all night.
She said that she had found a marijuana grow on the ranch.
Deb thought perhaps he was selling drugs.
- NARRATOR: Deborah says that on May 24, 2015,
she and Jake had fought about his behavior.
- JACK: She reported that they'd had an argument
over the direction Jake was taking with his life.
- She felt like he was close to 30 years old,
and he needed to get out and get a real job,
because the ranch wasn't a moneymaker at that point.
- NARRATOR: Deborah says that Jake had stormed out,
telling her he was going to a MMA match in Reno.
But Deborah hadn't told deputies that Jake had come back
on May 31 with a friend.
- She classified it as one of Jake's friends,
but not a local friend.
She said the friend's name might've been, uh, Mike or Matt.
But that's all she knew.
She said that Jake gathered up a lot of camping equipment.
- Deb Rudibaugh made it clear that the supplies that
Jacob took with him were for an extended period of time.
That she was not expecting him back any time soon
nor did she have any idea where he was at.
- NARRATOR: But now that he's been gone for three months,
Deborah says she fears the worst.
- She feared that he had fallen into a group of bad people.
- KRISTY: When they were asking her,
"So, what do you think's happened to Jacob?"
And she said, "Well, I don't know.
He's probably gotten in above his head somewhere."
- NARRATOR: Despite Deborah's suspicions,
investigators have no solid leads
to uncovering Jake's whereabouts.
- They did put out an all attempts to see if there--
any law enforcement agency had come into contact with Jake,
uh, either in--uh, in Nevada, or nationwide.
No indication of any use of any, ah, credit cards, uh,
Social Security numbers or anything, ah, like that.
- They just could not find a hit on Jacob
throughout the country.
- NARRATOR: Two more months go by
and there is still no sign of Jake.
Then, on October 15, "The Gunnison County Times"
runs an article about Jake's case,
written by journalist Chris Rourke.
- I shared with the community the friends' concern
about Jake's disappearance, but I also gave Deb's side
of the story, and she claimed he was involved in drugs
and had just run off in the middle of the night.
- Deb made some implications that that would--
could have what led to his disappearances
and that he had a pretty dark side.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Shortly after the article's release, Jake's
friends contact the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office.
- CHRIS: Jake's friends were pretty upset.
They insisted that what Deb Rudibaugh was telling
was not the truth.
- The fact that, uh, Deb was portraying him as someone
that's doing cocaine and drinking all the time,
that's just--that's ludicrous.
Anyone that saw him at the bars knew that he just drank a Coke.
- NARRATOR: Jake's friends also tell investigators that when
Jake first went missing, they created a Facebook group
dedicated to finding him.
Over the last few months, some disturbing stories about Jake's
brother-in-law, David Jackson, have trickled in online.
- JESSICA: A couple weeks after Jacob's disappearance,
David Jackson posted a picture
of Jacob's Harley on Facebook...
and that was a huge red flag.
That Harley was his pride and joy.
He did not let anyone else ride it, touch it,
do anything with it.
- In this particular case,
I think this is something that changed the direction
of the investigation.
- DAN: We have facts like the motorcycle,
really make you think the family
knows more than they're telling law enforcement.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Coming up:
Detectives uncover a decade-long rivalry turned violent.
- JACK: Jake walked away from the, uh, altercation
but did file a restraining order.
- NARRATOR: And a search warrant flushes
an unlikely suspect out of the brush.
- It was at that point that she confessed.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Gunnison County sheriff's investigators
have just learned of a potential new suspect in the disappearance
of Jake Millison: his brother-in-law David Jackson,
who'd been spotted around town
on Jake's cherished motorcycle.
- Given the information that had been provided
to law enforcement, that Jake had simply taken a trip,
it made no sense that David would be using Jake's vehicles.
- Nobody got to, uh, get near the sportster,
and that was kinda like his baby and his prize possession.
He wouldn't even let me touch that bike,
so I can't imagine the person that he doesn't get along with
would be allowed to ride it and take pictures with it.
- NARRATOR: Friends say that Jake and David's relationship
only got worse when Stephanie and David
moved back to Gunnison in 2012.
- DANA: Deb was gonna leave that ranch to her grandson.
So, she wanted to hang on to it at all cost and that's what
drew Stephanie to move back onto the ranch, I believe.
- JAMES: There was always a lot of tension between Dave
maybe not doing his share of the work or, uh,
Dave not feeling that Jake was doing his share of the work.
- DANA: I know they were continually arguing
about things on the ranch.
Dave was trying to just take control and do
whatever he wanted, and Jake was supposed to, you know,
be in charge of it.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: According to friends,
the feud finally came to a head in the winter of 2012.
- JESSICA: Jacob Millison was plowing the snow on the ranch
and had somehow blocked in David's vehicle
and an argument between the two of them started.
Jacob describes the incident at that point as it got heated,
that David Jackson brandished a firearm to him
in a threatening manner.
- ♪
- JACK: Jake walked away from the altercation,
but did file a restraining order on David.
Jake had told his friends, "If anything ever happens to me,
look at my brother-in-law."
- CHRIS: Jake definitely thought he was in danger.
It tells you that he was concerned.
- For Jacob to make the statement,
"If anything happens to me, it was David,"
that's a very powerful statement.
But at that point, we had no evidence
to point directly at David.
- NARRATOR: In April of 2016, nearly a year after
Jake's disappearance, David's friend, Jeremy MacDonald,
moved to the ranch to help out.
- I met Dave when we were like nine years old,
and we just ended up being good friends.
Dave sent me a message around end of 2015, he started telling
me, "Hey, you should move on out here,
help us take over the ranch, and get it going again."
So, I drove to Gunnison, Colorado, on the hope
that we were going to be able to make something great.
- NARRATOR: That same year, Deborah Rudibaugh
receives a grim diagnosis.
- CHRIS: Deb had stage four breast cancer.
The chances of her living a long life were not good.
- NARRATOR: As the 7-11 Ranch prepares for a future without
its matriarch, investigators work to ensure that
Jake's whereabouts are uncovered in Deb's lifetime.
- JESSICA: Investigations like this take a great deal of time.
The last time that Jacob Millison was seen alive
was on the 7-11 Ranch.
And when we got to the point that we were ready to search
the property, and we knew that that's what needed to be done,
there was a search warrant that was created,
and we knew that the chances of finding Jacob alive
were just not great at that point.
- NARRATOR: On July 17, 2017, over 2 years since Jake
was last seen alive, a team of local and state law enforcement
arrives at the 7-11 Ranch.
- I'd say there's probably seven different officers there.
As we're walking up, I see investigators questioning Deb.
- The sheriff's office and CBI met with Deborah to
advise her that we had a search warrant for the property.
She first denies any knowledge that Jake is--is on the ranch.
- JESSICA: At that point, they explained to her that
the cadaver dog teams would be brought in
and that a full search would be done.
And it was at that point that she confessed to killing Jacob.
- DANA: That was devastating.
I just didn't know what to say, what to think.
That's my nephew and that's my sister.
It took me out at the knees.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Deborah tells law enforcement that in the months
before Jake's death, she and her son had fought about
who would inherit the ranch.
- Deb had described that Jacob felt that the ranch
was supposed to be left to him when Deb passed away.
- Jake felt he had more of a claim to the ranch,
especially since Rudy had given already a bunch of money
to Dave and Stephanie to buy a house,
and continued to work on the ranch, even when Steph was gone.
- NARRATOR: Deborah says that by mid-May of 2015,
their dispute took a turn in a terrifying new direction.
- JESSICA: They had gotten into some argument,
and Jacob was upset with her.
He had come into her room and had threatened her
and then had turned and left and went to bed.
She had decided that night that it was either her or him.
- So, she took her Ladysmith .357 magnum,
walked up the stairs when he was asleep,
shot him in the head and killed him.
- ♪
- [gunshot blasts]
- NARRATOR: Deborah says that after killing Jake,
she started planning how she was going to dispose
of her son's body.
- JACK: She said she went upstairs and that she rolled him
onto plastic, wrapped him in plastic,
cinched him up in a fetal position with a rope,
used a winch to drag his body to the head of the stairs,
slid him down the stairs, and then drug him out of the lodge,
by use of, uh, the ATV and a winch,
and buried the body in the manure pile.
She just points over from the corral fence and says,
"That's where he's at."
- They found Jacob's body
about six feet deep in the corral.
He was wrapped in plastic and a tarp.
- NARRATOR: CBI agents and the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office
continue their search of the property
without arresting Deborah.
- JACK: Because of the speedy trial rule in Colorado,
once a person's arrested, the time starts ticking
in terms of discovery issues to defense, et cetera.
We had more to gain by not arresting her and continuing
to investigate than we did by arresting her and then having
the, uh, speedy trial clock start running.
- It was unclear to us the extent of other people's
involvement in both the murder of Jacob
but also the cover-up of evidence.
We were highly suspicious of any and all information
coming from Deb Rudibaugh.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Although Deborah claims that she threw
the murder weapon into a nearby lake, detectives
find a gun under her bed that matches her earlier description.
- She talked about how she alone had removed Jacob's body
from his bedroom where she had shot him.
Things aren't adding up.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Coming up:
With Deborah's story falling short,
detectives suspect there's more to be uncovered.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: July 17, 2017.
Deborah Rudibaugh's confession of her son's murder has left
investigators with lingering questions over
whether or not she acted alone.
- JACK: He was in an upstairs loft of the lodge,
and she was a very petite woman, weighing less than 90 pounds.
So, it was clear to us there was no way that Deborah could roll
a 185--90-pound body off the mattress and drag it out.
If she did it, she did not do it alone.
- NARRATOR: While teams continue to search the massive ranch
for clues, detectives separate and interview Deb's daughter,
Stephanie Jackson, and her husband, David.
- JESSICA: By the time they interviewed David,
Deb had already confessed, he described being shocked,
he couldn't believe that, um, Jacob was on the ranch.
- He denied any knowledge of knowing
anything about Jake's murder.
- David Jackson had described that he was not in town
the evening that Jacob went missing,
that he was in Denver.
- NARRATOR: When detectives ask about Jake's restraining order
filed in 2012, David insists
the incident was a misunderstanding.
- He refuted the allegation that he had pulled
a gun on Jake, saying only that he was wearing a gun
and that Jake had saw the gun.
- JESSICA: It is his statement that he never meant
to intimidate or threaten Jacob with the gun
during that incident.
- NARRATOR: In a nearby room, detectives break the news
of Deborah's confession to Stephanie.
- She began to cry and got very upset,
and was very, very emotional.
- NARRATOR: Stephanie says that although the siblings disagreed
about the ranch, she would never want Jake hurt.
But detectives are taken aback
when Stephanie asks an unusual question.
- At one point, she responded with confusion or,
I guess, bewilderment, at how Mom got Jacob out of the house.
- JACK: And at that point in time,
no one had told her where Jake had been killed.
- JESSICA: So, that really stuck out in their mind that
she knew a lot more than she was telling at that point and that
we would definitely have to do some further investigation.
- NARRATOR: Detectives start by issuing subpoenas for David
and Stephanie's cell phone and social media records.
- Law enforcement did learn fairly early on
that David had an alibi.
So, we were able to confirm that, yeah,
he was in Denver at the time of the disappearance.
- NARRATOR: Stephanie's phone records aren't so clear cut.
- So, out at the ranch, there is no cell service.
It's one of the few places I think left that you cannot do
a cell phone ping to figure out where people are.
- NARRATOR: Detectives turn to Stephanie's social media
accounts and something in May of 2015 catches their attention.
- On the 19th, Stephanie posted,
"Have you ever been woken up with such awesome news
that you wanted to run outside screaming?"
- It was just within hours after Jake went missing,
which we later found out was when he died.
It's very suspicious.
In my opinion, it indicates that all of a sudden...
life got better for her because Jake was gone.
- JESSICA: They do ultimately find a will.
It leaves the ranch solely to Stephanie Jackson and it was
dated late April, just within two weeks of Jacob's murder.
- That will was posted by Stephanie at the end of April
to some of her social friends, where she was, uh,
claiming that she was now the sole heir to the ranch.
- NARRATOR: In search of hard evidence linking Stephanie
to the murder, detectives turn to Jake's autopsy.
- JACK: The autopsy was consistent with Deb's story that
he was shot while he was asleep laying in his bed.
And the bullet did not exit, it remained in the skull.
- After the autopsy, we were able to retrieve
the bullet, um, from Jacob's skull, and was able to do
a ballistic test with the Smith and Wesson
that was found at the Rudibaugh home.
We determined it was the murder weapon.
- NARRATOR: In July 2017, detectives ask Stephanie
and David to take a polygraph.
Both of them agree.
- NARRATOR: Like his wife, David also denies involvement.
- NARRATOR: But the couple's united front has no bearing
on the results of the polygraph test.
- Both David and Stephanie
were found to be deceptive.
- NARRATOR: Detectives confront them with the results.
- He stayed adamant the entire time though,
he had no idea that Jacob was going to be killed
or exactly what took place.
- NARRATOR: But he admits that he did know Jake was dead.
In June 2017, he and his farmhand, Jeremy MacDonald,
had been working in the corral when they made
a gruesome discovery.
- JEREMY: We were just cleaning out some of the corrals and
Dave was out on a skid loader moving some manure,
and Steph was back there with him.
Well, I heard the skid loader shut down and walked back there
and there was Dave and Steph standing over the pile of manure
and I could see basically the upper torso and ribcage
wrapped in plastic.
Steph turned to instant panic
and started just kind of screaming, yelling
um, "Just cover it up, Dave, cover it up!"
And "I'm--I'm going to call Mom,"
and she took off running into the house.
And uh, Steph comes back out maybe ten minutes later.
"Just leave it alone, just leave it alone.
"Mom said it's uh, illegal wild game that Jake shot,
like a bear."
- David would not commit to who he thought killed Jacob,
however he was highly suspicious that Stephanie
may have killed Jacob.
- JEREMY: It very quickly, to me,
became apparent that Steph knew a lot more than she was
letting me or Dave or anybody else know.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Coming up:
Is Deborah taking the fall for her daughter?
- It was Stephanie who was in charge.
Stephanie is the one who gave the orders.
- She was really the controlling force.
- I didn't know what to think.
It was definitely, uh, uncomfortable.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: After failing a polygraph,
David Jackson has admitted to investigators that he believes
his wife, Stephanie Jackson, may have murdered her brother,
Jake Millison.
In another room, detectives confront Stephanie.
- JESSICA: Stephanie admitted to knowing that Jacob's body
was in the manure pile.
But she didn't know that she was help covering up until later on.
- NARRATOR: With Stephanie stonewalling,
detectives turn to the final resident of the ranch
they haven't spoken to: farmhand, Jeremy MacDonald.
- During our interview, MacDonald was the one that gave
us the dynamic of the family
and basically told us
that it was Stephanie who was in charge.
Stephanie is the one who gave the orders.
- Steph would sit inside and...
tell everybody what to do.
She wanted everybody else to do everything for her,
so she was pretty controlling.
- NARRATOR: Jeremy also confirms David's story
about discovering Jake's body in the manure pile.
- Law enforcement asked him why he didn't
come forward sooner with his belief that that was Jacob.
- Steph said, "You know you can't ever leave now, right?"
And I still--I mean, I...
didn't know what to think.
It was definitely, uh, um, unnerving,
uncomfortable.
- He was afraid of, uh, Stephanie and so was David.
David was afraid of Stephanie.
- NARRATOR: In March 2018, with Jeremy's testimony,
detectives arrest Stephanie, David, and Deborah,
charging them with first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse,
and destruction of evidence.
- I think that they probably had this grand plan
that, um, with Deb being diagnosed with cancer,
that she would be the one that did it,
and she would just die in prison, and you know,
Stephanie and Dave would have the ranch.
- Jake's murder happened because of greed
and because of who was going to own the ranch.
It was all about property, all about the ranch.
- NARRATOR: Rather than face a trial,
all three defendants agree to plea deals.
David enters an Alford plea and receives ten years in prison
for tampering with a human body.
- JESSICA: We just could not prove that he had much
involvement in the actual killing of Jacob, um,
but he was very involved with the cover-up.
- DAN: Deb Rudibaugh plead guilty to murdering Jacob.
She also, of course, restated that Stephanie didn't have
anything to do with the murder.
- JESSICA: Deb's sentencing was very cold.
She never really talked about Jacob and who he was
or that she was remorseful.
She was sentenced to 40 years.
- It's unbearable and unthinkable to--
to think about someone killing your own child, um,
in such a cold and callous way.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Stephanie Jackson pleads guilty
to tampering with a body.
As a part of her plea agreement, all other charges are dropped,
including first-degree murder.
- JESSICA: She was sentenced to 24 years.
Stephanie's sentence was a surprise,
because it was at the maximum level.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: As the dust settles in Gunnison,
the murder of Jake Millison is not a case the town
and especially Jake's close-knit circle of friends,
will ever forget.
- The fact that it was family members doing it to
family members is just even more heart wrenching and disgusting.
Jake is always gonna be remembered as gentle,
soft-spoken, um, and caring.
- KRISTY: Jake's friends were the reason
that the investigation happened.
If it hadn't been for them, who knows?
Who knows how long it would have taken before somebody
realized that he was gone?
Jacob's friends, they couldn't save his life,
but they found him some justice.
- ♪