detectives uncover a heinous crime,
hidden beneath a pile of ashes.
- They noticed what appeared to be a leg sticking out.
- CAFFIE: This is just something you hear on TV,
but you don't actually think it's going to happen to you.
- NARRATOR: As investigators sift through evidence,
they will expose a dark underbelly
in this small southern town.
- KEVIN: The report indicates there was a high level of
methamphetamines in the victim's body.
- NARRATOR: And at the heart of this twisted tale
is a pair of forbidden lovers,
living life on the edge and willing to risk it all.
- KEVIN: They refused to stop and, eventually,
run off the road.
- The vehicle, it crashed into a tree on the side of the road.
- KEVIN: The occupants of the vehicle had to be airlifted for
life-threatening injuries.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: July 5, 2015.
Leeds, Alabama. 6:30 p.m.
In this small southern town just outside of Birmingham,
there is a mass wilderness
locals refer to as "the playground."
- JEFF: There are off-road trails and large clearing areas
where people will build bonfires.
They'll ride motorcycles and ATVs up and down the hills
and through the muddy areas and that kind of thing.
Folks also go out there to, uh, shoot, uh,
uh, firearms, uh, frequently.
- NARRATOR: But the day after the 4th of July,
a couple makes a horrific discovery.
- KEVIN: Folks at the playground had been out
riding four-wheelers.
Mrs. Woodward had stopped at the--the site while her husband
was continuing to ride, and she flags him down.
It appeared that maybe a huge bonfire had taken place.
And as they were there, they realized there was something
in the--the pit.
- JEFF: The witnesses noticed what appeared to be a leg
sticking out from underneath the bonfire.
- NARRATOR: Officers are soon on the scene,
including homicide detective Kevin Palmer.
After clearing them of any suspicions,
the witnesses are released from the scene.
And detectives turn their attention to the body.
- The victim is laying what appears to be face down
on this burn pile with their arms outstretched.
- The main part of the torso was
almost completely burned away.
Um, you could see bones.
You could see where his torso was--was almost completely gone.
There was still what appeared to be skin, uh, on his--uh,
some of his extremities.
But it was charred to the point
where you could not tell who this was.
It brings to mind all kinds of possibilities.
Uh, is this, uh, you know, gang related?
Is it drug related?
- NARRATOR: When the coroner arrives to remove the body,
investigators make a startling discovery.
- KEVIN: We then have to remove the victim from the pile
and roll the victim over onto their back.
Once this was done, we realize that the victim's, um,
chest cavity was completely open.
And upon inspection,
what I notice is what appears to be two small bullets.
Those two, uh, projectiles were collected as possible evidence
of a crime of murder.
- NARRATOR: Investigators know that the first step to solving
this crime is identifying the victim.
- KEVIN: Once the coroner takes the victim,
our job then is sort of a wait and see what happens
from the coroner's office.
Uh, our attempt is to--to hopefully get some sort of
identification, uh, from the coroner.
- NARRATOR: While they await the coroner's findings,
investigators pick through the ashes of the bonfire.
- There are shell casings everywhere.
There are bullets and bullet fragments, uh, all around.
This early on in an investigation,
it's very difficult
when you don't know the context of the crime,
which of these things is going to be evidence
down the road and which is not.
- NARRATOR: On July 7, 2015,
2 days after the body was discovered,
Detective Palmer and his team receive word
that the autopsy is complete and the body has been identified
through a fingerprint database.
- At least one of the hands of the victim
was laid outside the fire in such a way
that we were able to get fingerprints off the hand.
- The identification came back after analysis of
the fingerprint to be, uh, Anthony Shane Gibson.
- I wanted to hit the ground running to find out
what happened to Anthony.
- NARRATOR: Anthony Shane Gibson was born on November 1, 1994,
in Panama City, Florida.
Though Anthony's mother left while he was young,
his father, Christopher,
made sure his son was well cared for.
- We always had a lot of family around.
Everybody loved him, treated him good.
Took care of him. I had a lot of help.
- SHAWN: Anthony was a very happy kid growing up.
You know, he always had someone he could come to.
Um, we're all a very closely knit family.
- CAFFIE: He wasn't a quiet kid,
and he loved to get outdoors and play.
Made good grades in school.
- NARRATOR: Anthony matured into a popular teenager
with a passion for music.
- CHRISTOPHER: Once he got into guitar,
that was kind of more of his focus.
He liked playing music.
He loved playing in the band in church.
- NARRATOR: After high school,
Anthony joined the family siding company
and took classes online
in hopes of one day starting his own business.
- Anthony had a very strong work ethic.
He'd wake up every morning, go to work.
He'd be out the door 5:30, 6 o'clock in the morning.
And sometimes he wouldn't get in 'til 4,
5 o'clock in the evening.
And then straight in his room doing schoolwork.
- NARRATOR: While working and studying hard,
Anthony found time to play hard as well.
- BOBBIE: Anthony definitely was, I guess,
you would call him a ladies' man.
All the ladies liked him.
He was a gorgeous fella.
He had a few girlfriends, you know,
just like any teenager would.
- He talked a lot about how he'd like to get--you know,
get married, have a baby.
- NARRATOR: With friends and family always around him,
it didn't take long for people to notice
that Anthony was missing on July 2,
when a flurry of phone calls go unanswered.
- SHAWN: At first, it was just like, "Okay, well,
Anthony's just doing his thing, and he didn't tell nobody."
But he never ignores me, so, you know, I'll give him a call,
you know, may--surely, he'll answer the phone.
I tried to contact him several times with no answer.
And that's when I'm starting to say, "Okay, something--
maybe something is wrong."
- He never didn't come home and not call and tell someone
why or what happened.
You know, always kept us in the loop.
- NARRATOR: Now on July 7, 2015,
4 days after being reported missing,
a fingerprint pulled from a charred body confirms that
Anthony Gibson is in fact deceased.
The family, however, has yet to be notified as investigators
work through the rest of the autopsy report.
- The autopsy in this case was relatively limited due to
the large amount of burning and removal through the fire of, uh,
internal organs and those kinds of things.
- NARRATOR: What the coroner can tell detectives is that
the bullets recovered from the victim's chest
are not the cause of death.
- We realized that those were just bullets that were there
from people shooting bottles and whatnot.
- NARRATOR: Considering the fact that the bullet fragments
don't appear to be the cause of Anthony's death,
the coroner proposes another theory.
- The coroner's report that was provided
gives us information that the victim had a broken femur
and had severe hemorrhaging around that wound.
This indicates to us that this injury could have caused
the victim's death without medical attention.
- NARRATOR: And yet another scenario is suggested when
the toxicology report comes in.
- The report indicates there was a high level of
methamphetamine and amphetamines in the victim's body.
- JEFF: It was described to us by the coroner as a fatal dose.
We are faced with the possibility of a wound
to the leg that could have been fatal
if it was not given medical attention
and the possibility of an overdose as well.
So, we're early on in the investigation,
and we at this point are unsure if there is even a crime here.
It could've been an accident.
- NARRATOR: If it was in fact an accident,
then how did this man end up underneath a raging bonfire?
Was it possible Anthony died alone?
Or did someone fail to report his tragic death for a reason?
- At this point, we are just waiting on the next bit of
evidence to come in to see where to go next.
- NARRATOR: Coming up: police question
Anthony's friends and family.
- This isn't something that he would his own, by his choice.
- NARRATOR: And phone records shed light
on Anthony's disappearance.
- KEVIN: A picture is sent and the promise of having
possible sex or sexual relations with him.
- NARRATOR: While those closest to him fear the worst.
- CAFFIE: I said, "Well, something is not right here."
I just kind of lost it.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On July 7, 2015, an autopsy reveals that
the charred remains found in a remote area of Leeds, Alabama,
are that of 20-year-old Anthony Gibson.
Detectives hope speaking to the family will help fill in
the blanks of what happened to Anthony.
- JEFF: It could have been a fall.
It could have been an overdose.
We are at the point of
we just found the needle in the haystack,
so we need to figure out how it got there.
- NARRATOR: Detective Kevin Palmer makes contact
with Caffie Lee, Anthony Gibson's grandmother,
with whom Anthony and his father were currently living.
- KEVIN: I arranged a, uh, meeting with Miss Caffie Lee,
asked her if there's anybody who may want to harm her grandson.
- CAFFIE: We sit there,
and we talked about things with Anthony.
I'm sitting here, and I--it's like I'm really wondering,
I mean, "Where is this going?"
- NARRATOR: Detective Palmer takes care not to reveal
Anthony's fate too soon,
fearing the reaction may stall efforts
to find out happened to him.
- KEVIN: I interviewed Miss, uh, Lee and asked her if she had any
idea where Anthony may have gone to the night he left her house.
- NARRATOR: Caffie says that on July 2, 2015,
Anthony seemed busy as usual with no signs indicating
anything was wrong.
And at 8 p.m., he asked to borrow her car,
a 1998 white Ford Escort.
- CAFFIE: He had came into the kitchen,
and he mentioned going to the store to get, yeah,
something to snack on.
He told me that he would be back in just a little while.
And he hugged me, and...he left.
And that was the last we seen or heard from him.
- NARRATOR: When Caffie woke up the next morning,
she found the driveway empty and Anthony's bed still made.
- Waking up the next morning and him not being there ready to go
to work was not a normal situation.
- I checked my phone to see if I had had a text message
from him or if I had had a phone call or anything from him,
and I hadn't.
I said, "Well, something is not right here."
- NARRATOR: Caffie says they tried to file
a missing person's report on July 3,
but the Harpersville Police Department
said that Anthony hadn't been missing for long enough.
- We have to do something.
If the police aren't gonna do anything for x amount of hours,
then we, we've got to figure something out.
- NARRATOR: To investigators' surprise,
it seems Anthony's family has already started
an investigation of their own.
- CAFFIE: We just all got out and went around,
asking questions to people that he knew, making phone calls and,
you know, to different people.
- CHRISTOPHER: We really don't know where
he could have been at the time.
But we feared the worse
just because he wasn't answering anyone.
- CAFFIE: Anthony's phone was in my name.
So, we were able to, you know,
go on and look at the phone records.
- NARRATOR: While still unaware of her grandson's death,
Caffie tells police that Anthony had been in contact with
two phone numbers the night of his disappearance.
The first call was at 6:30 p.m. to Anthony's ex-girlfriend,
Candie Zito.
- To the best of my knowledge, I don't believe that they had
spoke to each other for, you know, a few years.
I believe the original relationship
with Anthony and Candie was short-lived.
- NARRATOR: The second call was at 8 p.m.
to Anthony's current girlfriend, Jessica Erwin.
- He really liked her. He enjoyed being around her.
She made him happy.
- BOBBIE: Jessica was a great kid, a great girl, um,
very nice, kind, considerate, beautiful.
- NARRATOR: Caffie explains they first called Candie's number.
But Candie claimed she had no idea where Anthony was.
- She stated that she had not spoken to him in years and that,
um, there's no way that that number had contacted him because
she had not spoken to him.
- SHAWN: Candie hated to hear what was going on.
She hopes that we find him and, you know,
that if there's anything that she could do,
she--to let her know, but that she didn't know anything.
- NARRATOR: The family then called Jessica.
- She said Anthony was in fact supposed to meet her
the night of his disappearance, but Anthony never arrived.
- She did send me a message, telling me though that she's
willing to do whatever I need her to do in order to help out.
- NARRATOR: After hearing the details
of Anthony's family's investigation, Detective Palmer
breaks the tragic news to Caffie.
- KEVIN: After speaking with Miss Lee for quite some time
and gathering up some more information from her,
I was able to at that point let her know that we had, in fact,
identified her grandson, Anthony Gibson,
as the victim that was located in Leeds.
Miss Lee was very upset,
dropped to her knees in severe emotional pain.
- CAFFIE: I just kind of lost it.
I just kind of lost it.
This is just something you hear on TV,
but you don't actually think it's going to happen to you.
- NARRATOR: With the family notified,
detectives put out a BOLO
for the missing 1998 white Ford Escort
that Anthony was last known to be driving.
Next, Detective Palmer turns his attention to the person
Anthony was supposed to meet before he disappeared:
his girlfriend, Jessica Erwin.
- Jessica may have very well been involved
in Anthony's disappearance.
I interviewed her at her place of work.
And Jessica tells me that they were supposed to meet,
um, at a local Walmart.
- NARRATOR: Jessica says that she got off work around 11 p.m.
and arrived at the Walmart soon afterward.
But Anthony never showed.
- My recollection of Jessica's demeanor
is one that she's obviously concerned and upset
that Anthony has not returned
any of her messages or phone calls.
We were able to clear Jessica as a possible suspect in this case,
with her work records, uh, verifying that she was at work
the night of Anthony's disappearance.
- NARRATOR: With Jessica crossed off the list,
detectives turn their focus to the other woman Anthony had been
in contact with on July 2--Candie Zito.
But before they are able to get in touch with Candie,
an anonymous tipster comes forward.
- KEVIN: He had information that he believed
a person by the name of Lane Lowery
in the Chelsea area of Alabama
may have been involved with Anthony's disappearance.
There was some rift between the two parties
and that Lane may have caused harm to Anthony.
- At this point, we believe that it's likely that
there was a murder of some sort.
- NARRATOR: Coming up: detectives discover a dark side
to this sleepy rural community.
- NARRATOR: But can investigators track down
a potential suspect before she disappears for good?
- KEVIN: She tells me, "Oh, you know what that sound is?
That's the sound of me throwing this phone out the window."
And that was the last time I spoke to her.
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On July 9, 2015,
detectives investigating the murder of Anthony Gibson
receive a break in the case
when an anonymous tipster contacts local authorities.
- He had some information that he thought would be valuable
to the investigation.
- KEVIN: So, we're thinking at the time
that possibly this is a drug-related issue.
Um, possibly a drug deal gone bad.
- JEFF: In addition to that,
we had a large amount of methamphetamine that was
in Anthony's system at the time of his death.
- NARRATOR: The informant tells Detective Palmer
that to complicate matters,
Lane Lowery is in a relationship
with Anthony's ex, Candie Zito.
- NARRATOR: The informant says he had heard rumors that during
a fight between Lane and Candie, Anthony had intervened,
something he fears may have caused Lane to retaliate.
- KEVIN: Lane Lowery was an outstanding criminal in
the area, being that a warrant was issued for his arrest
for various crimes throughout the jurisdiction.
Using that information, I was able to contact
a local U.S. Marshal Office to help locate him.
- NARRATOR: Investigators next contact Candie Zito.
But her reaction is not what Detective Palmer expects.
- KEVIN: I can tell that she's either driving
or in a car as a passenger.
And she tells me, "Oh, you know what that sound is?
That's the sound of me throwing this phone out the window."
And that was the last time I spoke to her.
It became apparent that I was probably dealing with someone
who had some involvement in Anthony Gibson's murder.
And immediately, I wanted to attempt to contact her
face-to-face.
- NARRATOR: As detectives rush to Candie's home,
they pull up her social media accounts to get a better sense
of the woman who just became one of their prime suspects.
- Looking at profiles of Candie Zito,
she was living a very extravagant lifestyle.
Tons of pictures showing that she was traveling abroad,
attending social events, just living the life.
- NARRATOR: Investigators soon arrive
at Candie's last known address.
- In hopes of arriving there unannounced,
we thought that we might locate Candie at the residence.
But in fact she was not actually at the home,
and her brother, Zane, was on site.
- NARRATOR: Zane Zito, Candie's younger brother,
tells police that the house is actually owned by their parents,
who are working abroad in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain.
Zane says he's just checking on the house
and hasn't been home the last few days.
- KEVIN: In speaking with Zane Zito,
we learned that Candie has a different lifestyle
than she portrays on her social media page.
- NARRATOR: Candie Zito was born on October 2, 1984,
into a wealthy Alabama family.
While Candie's parents and siblings were high achievers
in school and sports, Candie was different.
- SANDY: Candie was a very free spirit.
I don't think that she quite had her life figured out
as far as what she wanted to do.
And because of that, I feel like maybe her parents kind of,
you know, looked down on her.
- I felt like, um, it brought her into a deep depression
because she could not be that star child.
She basically turned towards a different path.
- NARRATOR: In her 20s, Candie married a man named Beau,
but the relationship was short-lived.
- FRIEND: Candie and Beau were like fire and gasoline,
is how Candie described it to me.
She said one night they had an argument.
I received a phone call from Candie.
She was crying, upset.
She said she just got kicked out of her house.
She had nowhere to go.
- NARRATOR: With no one else to turn to,
Candie moved into a house in Leeds that was well-known
for partying and drugs.
- She lost a lot of weight which, I mean,
you can't always describe, you know, a junkie on that.
But you could definitely tell the change.
She definitely used drugs.
- NARRATOR: Candie also developed a taste for
younger men, including then 16-year-old Anthony Gibson,
who would sometimes come by the house for parties.
- FRIEND: Candie told me Anthony was very sweet,
very kindhearted, made sure she had food, clothing.
Whatever she needed, Anthony was right there.
- NARRATOR: Despite their ten-year age gap,
Candie and Anthony briefly dated.
But the relationship ran its course
when Candie and her parents moved to Bahrain.
- Her parents worked in Bahrain in some sort of
a communications type capacity.
- Candie described her life out there in overseas
basically party central.
It was basically nighttime all the time, party time.
Uh, no worries, everything was great.
- You know, she was very put together.
She was made up. Her hair was done.
That was the image that was projected.
- NARRATOR: Candie's brother Zane tells investigators
that his sister's elaborate online life
was actually built on a lie--
her parents had kicked her out of Bahrain months earlier.
- They ended up sending her home by herself because she was
causing trouble there for them.
- KEVIN: In speaking with Candie's brother, Zane,
we learned that Candie was not allowed
inside the residence at all because of her past behavior
and missteps in her adult life.
Candie apparently had been sleeping in a tent
in the backyard of her parents' residence.
However, Zane had no idea where she was,
but he advised that as soon as he made contact with his sister,
he would tell her to give us a call.
- NARRATOR: As Detective Palmer concludes his interview with
Zane and returns to his vehicle,
he notices a section of the driveway
that has recently been cleaned.
- KEVIN: I noticed it's just the one area
of the driveway that's clean. Just that one spot.
So, my deduction is if Anthony was shot at the house,
that in an attempt to clean up the blood
that was left on the driveway,
they used a water hose that was located at the house
to wash the blood away.
- NARRATOR: Now more than ever, detectives suspect that Candie
is involved in Anthony's death...
making it even more crucial that they track her down.
- KEVIN: At this point, all of our efforts turned towards
looking into Candie Zito and her involvement
with the disappearance and murder of Anthony Gibson.
- CAFFIE: All anybody really wanted to do at the time
is just get their hands on her.
- NARRATOR: Coming up: will law enforcement push Candie
into a desperate last stand?
- The vehicle, it crashed into a tree on the side of the road at
a pretty high speed and was fairly well destroyed.
- All I heard were sirens. And she said, "I'm [bleep]."
- ♪
- NARRATOR: On July 10, 2015,
detectives in Leeds, Alabama,
put out a national BOLO alert for Candie Zito,
the prime suspect in the killing of Anthony Gibson.
Investigators are still on the hunt for the vehicle Anthony
was last known to be driving.
- We thought that Anthony Gibson's Ford Escort had been
stolen, possibly by Candie Zito.
- NARRATOR: The next day, hundreds of miles away
in Daviess County, Indiana, dispatchers receive a 911 call
from Candie Zito's grandmother.
- Candie's grandmother contacts local police and advises them
that Candie is on site.
She was looking for money or just a place to stay.
Knowing that Candie is being looked for
by local law enforcement, she decides not to allow Candie
entry into her residence.
- NARRATOR: But before law enforcement arrives,
Candie leaves her grandmother's home in a white Ford Escort.
- KEVIN: While en route to the call,
officers recognized a vehicle matching the description
at a local convenience store.
There are two subjects inside the white Ford Escort.
- Police try to make a traffic stop and, uh, at that point,
the vehicle flees, leading, uh, police
there on a high-speed chase.
- NARRATOR: News of the high-speed chase quickly
reaches friends and family back in Alabama.
- FRIEND: When I turned on the TV and I saw Candie's face
all over the news,
my first instinct was to pick up my phone
and to get in touch with Candie.
When Candie called me, my heart stopped.
All I heard were sirens.
And she said, "I'm [bleep]. I don't know what to do."
And we lost the call.
- NARRATOR: Minutes later, Indiana law enforcement
catches up to Candie.
- KEVIN: They refused to stop for 15 miles during this pursuit
and eventually, run off the road.
- The vehicle, it crashed into a, uh,
tree on the side of the road, um,
at a pretty high speed and was fairly well destroyed.
They find in the passenger's seat a, uh,
white female that matches the description of Candie Zito and
a, uh, white male was in the driver's seat.
- KEVIN: The occupants of the vehicle had to be extracted by
using the jaws of life.
And both subjects inside the car were airlifted
for life-threatening injuries.
- NARRATOR: At the hospital, investigators determine that
the driver isn't Lane Lowery, the possible person of interest.
- KEVIN: At this point, we were able to determine
that Lane Lowery was not involved.
We identified this person as Corey Zito,
who happens to be Candie's cousin.
Corey was wanted in other jurisdictions for various crimes
that he'd committed in those states.
- Corey Zito was in dire straits.
Um, he remained in the hospital in a coma.
- NARRATOR: Like her 26-year-old cousin,
Candie remains at the hospital and under arrest.
While Candie and Corey recover, detectives seize and search
Anthony Gibson's totaled car.
- Officers were able to determine that there was
a large amount of blood inside the trunk of this vehicle.
- We were able to match that, uh, through DNA to, uh,
Anthony Gibson.
- NARRATOR: Detectives subpoena Candie and Corey's phone records
and confirm that hours before his disappearance,
Candie had reached out to Anthony.
- They had reconnected and she had asked him
to bring her some food.
- NARRATOR: According to the texts,
Anthony had been willing to bring Candie some food
as long as he also got something out of the deal.
- KEVIN: A picture is sent from Candie to Anthony
and the promise of having possible sex
or sexual relations with him.
- JEFF: The cell phone records indicated that he traveled from
his home in Harpersville to Candie Zito's,
um, parents' address.
- NARRATOR: Records show that hours
after Anthony's phone arrived at Candie's house,
Candie's phone was on the move.
- KEVIN: Cell phone records reveal that Candie Zito was
in fact very close to the location
of Anthony Gibson's body.
- NARRATOR: It's clear to detectives that Candie
is very much involved in Anthony's death.
But they still don't know how Corey fits into the equation.
- KEVIN: During the investigation,
we were able to obtain a search warrant
to go through Candie's cell phone.
We found pictures on Candie Zito's SD card that indicated
her and her cousin, Corey, holding what appeared to be
an AK47 style rifle that was all black.
- NARRATOR: There are other, even more incriminating photos
as well.
- We discover that there are several pictures that possibly
implicate that she and her cousin Corey may be involved in
a romantic relationship with each other.
- NARRATOR: In addition to the scandalous photos,
investigators ask the medical examiner if Anthony's wounds
could be the result of an AK-47
like the one Candie is seen holding.
- The medical examiner had informed us that the wound to
the leg was consistent with a high-power rifle.
- NARRATOR: On July 16, 2015, doctors clear Candie to
be released to the Daviess County Jail.
On August 12, Detective Palmer
arrives in Indiana to put Candie in the hot seat.
- She is talking. She says she wants to be helpful.
- NARRATOR: When Detective Palmer presses Candie on
her past romantic relationship with Anthony Gibson,
she is taken aback.
- NARRATOR: Candie says that while they hadn't seen
each other in four years, they had kept in touch.
She claims it wasn't that strange to ask Anthony
to bring her food on July 2.
Candie says Anthony had shown up around 10 p.m.,
and while she ate her food in the backyard, he did drugs.
- Immediately I can tell that there's more behind her eyes
than she wants us to believe. She starts to break down.
- JEFF: She says Corey is there on the scene,
and comes out and confronts Anthony.
At that point, uh, she flees into the tent that is in
the backyard and alleges to hear a gunshot.
She proclaims to not know what happened to Anthony or his body,
uh, only that, uh, she heard the car crank and leave,
and then return sometime later that evening.
- NARRATOR: When Detective Palmer presses Candie on
her taboo relationship with her cousin Corey,
her response is cryptic.
- NARRATOR: While Candie's story of self-defense
may be plausible,
it's her explanation of how she and Corey ended up
with Anthony's grandmother's car that is far more suspicious.
- KEVIN: Based on my conversation with Candie,
it was very doubtful that she was telling the truth.
- NARRATOR: Coming up: a former cellmate reveals
Candie's not so sweet side.
- NARRATOR: Will Corey Zito have his own story to tell?
- ♪
- NARRATOR: Investigators believe Alabama cousins
30-year-old Candie and 26-year-old Corey Zito
are responsible for the murder of Anthony Gibson.
But they need more evidence.
And in August of 2015, with Candie in jail
and Corey in a coma, they get their wish.
- KEVIN: Information was received that an inmate
at Daviess County Jail had spoken to Candie Zito
several times about the crime of murder against Anthony Gibson.
- NARRATOR: Investigators set up an interview
with the former cellmate of Candie Zito.
- While Candie was in custody in Daviess County, uh,
she was befriended by one of her cellmates.
Ultimately, one night, uh,
they were watching an episode of a television program about, uh,
a lady who had shot her former lover.
It struck up a conversation between the two of them.
- NARRATOR: The woman says that when she pressed Candie
for more details,
Candie admitted that she had lured Anthony
to her house on July 2.
- NARRATOR: According to the woman,
Candie said that Anthony usually had drugs on him,
and when he arrived, Corey and Candie were waiting.
- She relays information to us during the interview that
Candie and Corey ambush Anthony once he arrives on scene.
- ♪
- [gunshots]
- [bullets clanks]
- NARRATOR: The woman says Candie was vague about
the details, but she admitted to helping dispose of
Anthony's body and covering up the crime.
- NARRATOR: The woman claims that Candie's only worry is what
Corey will say if and when he wakes up from his coma.
- NARRATOR: Even though they were never able to recover
a gun tied to the crime, detectives believe
they finally know what happened to Anthony
on July 2, 2015.
- After they had shot him here in Chelsea,
they stuffed him in the trunk of my mother's car
and just drove around with him everywhere,
bleeding out all over the place.
- JEFF: We believe that Anthony ultimately died in the trunk of
his grandmother's car.
Uh, bled to death from a wound
that happened because of the robbery.
Uh, that if they had just provided him medical treatment,
he likely would have survived.
- NARRATOR: On September 16, 2015,
detectives receive word that after months in a coma,
Corey Zito has regained consciousness.
When detectives question Corey,
it's obvious that the crash has taken its toll.
- KEVIN: It becomes evident that he has suffered
some sort of brain injury.
He's not able to communicate very well.
And really has no recollection of anything have,
may have occurred from July until September.
- NARRATOR: On March 13, 2016,
Corey is found competent to stand trial.
Still, prosecutors grapple with making murder charges
against the Zito cousins stick.
- Due to the fact that evidence
showed a high amount of methamphetamine
in Anthony's system,
and also that there was an injury to his leg,
it was unclear exactly what the cause of death
to Anthony Gibson was.
- JEFF: There was a very large risk of an outright acquittal
from the charges that we had on them.
And we had at this point already been approached
by Candie and Corey's attorneys that both of them
wanted as good of a deal as they could get.
We talked to the family and the plea agreement that we came up
was a 20-year sentence to, uh, the charge of murder.
So, by doing that, we guaranteed
that they would be off the streets
for up to 15 years, uh,
before their first parole hearing.
- NARRATOR: Corey and Candie accept the deal.
And on September 7, 2018, they are both sentenced.
- I mean, people get 20 years out here
just for stealing a car.
But you kill somebody, you rob him, you desecrate their body,
you steal the car, you do all that, you know, 20 years.
I don't feel like that's even close.
- NARRATOR: For Candie, her partying days
have been put on hold.
And now, she has nearly two decades to think about what
her love of a good time has cost her...and Anthony.
- I wish I thought there was some reason behind it
other than her selfishness, and she wanted some drugs.
- You know, that 20 years,
that's not gonna bring Anthony back to us.
I mean, nothing-- nothing that they do
is gonna bring Anthony back to us.
But he was 20 years old.
He had a long life ahead of him
and a family that loved him dearly.
And we'll never get to see him again.
- ♪