1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:05,467 [James] The cottage used to be right here where we're standing. 2 00:00:05,467 --> 00:00:07,867 The bedroom was on this corner here. 3 00:00:07,867 --> 00:00:09,433 [trickling] 4 00:00:09,500 --> 00:00:10,867 [match hissing] 5 00:00:10,867 --> 00:00:11,967 [distant siren wailing] 6 00:00:11,967 --> 00:00:16,066 Once I looked in that window, it changed everything. 7 00:00:16,066 --> 00:00:18,767 [news broadcast] Her burned body was found in her bedroom. 8 00:00:18,767 --> 00:00:22,600 Someone said she was murdered -- murdered? 9 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:25,934 I jumped up and I said, 10 00:00:26,967 --> 00:00:30,100 "What are you saying?" I was shocked. 11 00:00:30,967 --> 00:00:33,967 [James] What was she investigating? What was she reporting on? 12 00:00:33,967 --> 00:00:39,266 The post was the last thing that she ever wrote. 13 00:00:39,266 --> 00:00:43,266 Just hours after this heated argument, she turns up dead. 14 00:00:43,266 --> 00:00:46,333 The look in his eyes was terrifying. 15 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:48,667 We know he has a past of violence. 16 00:00:48,667 --> 00:00:52,333 And all of a sudden you hear this loud pop, pop, pop. 17 00:00:53,467 --> 00:00:54,900 [fire crackling] 18 00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:06,033 [suspenseful theme music playing] 19 00:01:13,967 --> 00:01:15,900 [theme music continues] 20 00:01:19,667 --> 00:01:21,867 [music fades] 21 00:01:21,867 --> 00:01:24,967 At People Magazine, all of our energy and time is 22 00:01:24,967 --> 00:01:27,433 dedicated to investigating our stories, 23 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,567 talking to victims and law enforcement, 24 00:01:30,567 --> 00:01:33,300 trying to understand a report on a crime. 25 00:01:34,266 --> 00:01:37,233 But as journalists, the last thing we would ever 26 00:01:37,300 --> 00:01:41,333 expect is to become the victim at the center of the story. 27 00:01:49,567 --> 00:01:54,333 My name is Sarah Greenhalgh, and my daughter is 28 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:56,667 Sarah Libbey Greenhalgh. 29 00:01:56,667 --> 00:01:59,967 Sarah was a photographer and a journalist. 30 00:01:59,967 --> 00:02:05,333 She was very talented. She had so much potential. 31 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,700 This is a big scrapbook that has our family pictures in it. 32 00:02:12,467 --> 00:02:15,634 Oh, here's a nice picture of her when she was a little girl. 33 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,667 [Patrick] Sarah Greenhalgh was raised in Potomac, Maryland, 34 00:02:21,667 --> 00:02:25,100 a rural community north of Washington, DC. 35 00:02:25,100 --> 00:02:28,533 It's an area that's deeply rooted in the equestrian world. 36 00:02:30,166 --> 00:02:33,600 [Sarah, Sr.] We moved to Potomac because of the horses. 37 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,533 You could ride everywhere. 38 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:38,433 And people had horses in their backyard. 39 00:02:38,500 --> 00:02:40,834 Most people had three or four acres. 40 00:02:41,867 --> 00:02:46,066 Sarah loved horses from the time she was a little girl, 41 00:02:46,066 --> 00:02:49,634 but her second biggest passion was photography. 42 00:02:51,467 --> 00:02:54,667 [Sarah, Sr.] My mother gave her a little Brownie camera. 43 00:02:54,667 --> 00:02:57,767 She just fell in love with this little Brownie camera 44 00:02:57,767 --> 00:02:59,967 and taking pictures all the time. 45 00:02:59,967 --> 00:03:02,133 And she won many awards. 46 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,166 [Patrick] For high school, Sarah attends an elite boarding school in 47 00:03:08,166 --> 00:03:10,467 Maryland, and goes on to study journalism at 48 00:03:10,467 --> 00:03:11,734 Columbia University. 49 00:03:12,700 --> 00:03:15,066 After finishing her studies, she returns to 50 00:03:15,066 --> 00:03:16,767 the Washington, D.C. area, 51 00:03:16,767 --> 00:03:19,100 and begins working as a journalist and photographer 52 00:03:19,100 --> 00:03:20,900 for several local newspapers. 53 00:03:23,367 --> 00:03:26,667 [Melissa] I worked at the Winchester Star when Sarah Greenhalgh 54 00:03:26,667 --> 00:03:27,900 also worked there. 55 00:03:27,900 --> 00:03:33,467 My first impression was just, wow, this person knows a lot, 56 00:03:33,467 --> 00:03:37,233 and she was a force to be reckoned with. 57 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,000 [Robert] She was the consummate investigative journalist. 58 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,000 She would be up in your grill -- "Who are you? 59 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:45,834 "Where do you come from? 60 00:03:45,834 --> 00:03:48,333 What do you got to show for yourself?" 61 00:03:49,300 --> 00:03:52,767 I met Sarah in the early 2000s. 62 00:03:52,767 --> 00:03:55,533 I liked her immediately. 63 00:03:56,700 --> 00:04:00,166 She was very outspoken, sometimes would cause a little 64 00:04:00,166 --> 00:04:02,533 rift in the newsroom. 65 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:04,734 [Robert] Sarah was intense. 66 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,333 She wanted nothing better than to be respected as 67 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,133 a good journalist. 68 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,834 She wanted to be highly regarded for her work, 69 00:04:13,900 --> 00:04:17,200 and she succeeded. That was Sarah. 70 00:04:22,967 --> 00:04:25,667 [Patrick] By 2012, the 48-year-old reporter is 71 00:04:25,667 --> 00:04:27,867 living by herself in a one-bedroom cottage in 72 00:04:27,867 --> 00:04:30,000 the peaceful hamlet of Upperville in 73 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,467 Northern Virginia. 74 00:04:31,467 --> 00:04:35,767 Sarah was known to fight for stories to be on the front page 75 00:04:35,767 --> 00:04:37,300 of her newspapers, 76 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,000 but in July 2012, 77 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:45,634 she was on the cover for reasons nobody 78 00:04:45,700 --> 00:04:47,400 would have expected. 79 00:04:48,266 --> 00:04:50,867 [Sarah, Sr.] You feel that these things happen to other people, and you 80 00:04:50,867 --> 00:04:53,066 read about them in the paper. 81 00:04:53,066 --> 00:04:55,533 Well, they don't happen to you. 82 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,066 But it did. 83 00:05:01,867 --> 00:05:04,500 [James] It was a Monday morning, it was about eight o'clock. 84 00:05:05,767 --> 00:05:08,734 Upperville, it's relatively quiet. 85 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,367 There's not a lot of fire and rescue activity 86 00:05:11,367 --> 00:05:13,000 or police activity. 87 00:05:14,166 --> 00:05:19,433 So, I was listening to the radio and I heard a fire, 88 00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:21,767 you get that feeling that something's just not right. 89 00:05:21,767 --> 00:05:25,066 -[suspenseful music playing] -[sirens wailing] 90 00:05:25,066 --> 00:05:28,333 [James] So I paid a lot of attention to what was being said. 91 00:05:30,767 --> 00:05:34,467 And then I heard that the fire units requested law enforcement 92 00:05:34,467 --> 00:05:35,934 because they had found a body. 93 00:05:37,667 --> 00:05:40,300 [emotional string music playing] 94 00:05:47,166 --> 00:05:50,500 After 12 years, you can still see debris from the fire. 95 00:05:52,367 --> 00:05:53,533 Music CDs, 96 00:05:54,867 --> 00:05:58,734 and it's like an eyeglass case. 97 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,166 The cottage is right here where we're standing, 98 00:06:01,166 --> 00:06:03,333 is where it used to be. 99 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,700 The bedroom was on this corner here. 100 00:06:10,467 --> 00:06:13,867 I was able to stand outside the window and look in, 101 00:06:13,867 --> 00:06:16,567 and that's when I noticed the body of a female laying 102 00:06:16,567 --> 00:06:17,800 on her back. 103 00:06:19,567 --> 00:06:21,967 She was covered with debris. 104 00:06:21,967 --> 00:06:25,266 I noticed a handgun laying near the body. 105 00:06:25,266 --> 00:06:28,834 You could see bullet holes in the walls and the door, 106 00:06:30,367 --> 00:06:33,166 and spent shell casings on the floor. 107 00:06:33,166 --> 00:06:35,767 Once I saw what I saw, it changed everything 108 00:06:35,767 --> 00:06:36,967 at that point. 109 00:06:36,967 --> 00:06:39,734 This was no accidental death due to a fire. 110 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:41,200 It was a murder. 111 00:06:43,500 --> 00:06:46,433 To have something like this happen in this area is 112 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:49,166 extremely rare and highly unusual. 113 00:06:49,166 --> 00:06:51,000 I don't think there's ever been a murder 114 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,467 in the Upperville area. 115 00:06:53,467 --> 00:06:55,867 One of the first things that goes through your mind is, 116 00:06:55,867 --> 00:06:58,000 who is this victim? 117 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,166 There was a car in the driveway. 118 00:07:00,166 --> 00:07:03,767 We ran the Virginia tags and got a name, 119 00:07:03,767 --> 00:07:05,300 Sarah Greenhalgh. 120 00:07:07,867 --> 00:07:10,533 [Anita] I was in one of these cubbies in the newsroom. 121 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,967 And one of our newest reporters walked into the newsroom. 122 00:07:14,967 --> 00:07:17,634 He said, "I responded to a fire. 123 00:07:18,500 --> 00:07:21,367 Does anybody here know Sarah Greenhalgh?" 124 00:07:21,367 --> 00:07:24,333 And I just, I jumped up out of this cubby, 125 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:25,634 and I looked at him, and I said, 126 00:07:26,567 --> 00:07:29,800 "What are you saying?" I was shocked. 127 00:07:33,066 --> 00:07:36,367 My friend Jean came blasting into the house, and through 128 00:07:36,367 --> 00:07:40,667 the door and just said, "Get off the phone. 129 00:07:40,667 --> 00:07:42,467 Sarah is dead." 130 00:07:42,467 --> 00:07:46,233 That's what I remember that she said. 131 00:07:48,066 --> 00:07:51,533 And it was just such a shock, and I couldn't even fathom it. 132 00:07:53,767 --> 00:07:57,533 I just thought that there was a storm, and that the house had 133 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:00,367 caught on fire, and she had died in the house. 134 00:08:00,367 --> 00:08:03,867 When someone said she was murdered -- murdered?! 135 00:08:03,867 --> 00:08:08,600 It's just almost impossible to get my head around that word. 136 00:08:09,567 --> 00:08:14,467 I just can't fathom that Sarah would be murdered. 137 00:08:14,467 --> 00:08:19,533 I mean, how and why? Who would do that? 138 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:33,000 [Robert] The wires lit up. 139 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,333 Everybody was hearing about what had happened. 140 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,233 [news broadcast] Greenhalgh's body was discovered Monday morning at 141 00:08:40,300 --> 00:08:42,266 her cottage just outside Middleburg in 142 00:08:42,266 --> 00:08:44,033 a suspicious fire. 143 00:08:44,100 --> 00:08:46,166 -It was a huge shock. -[distant siren wailing] 144 00:08:46,166 --> 00:08:49,233 Who might have committed such a heinous crime? 145 00:08:49,300 --> 00:08:51,233 I just had no clue. 146 00:08:52,867 --> 00:08:54,667 [Melissa] Sarah was a friend. She was a colleague. 147 00:08:54,667 --> 00:09:00,066 So when we found out that it was a homicide, we were kind of 148 00:09:00,066 --> 00:09:02,166 frantically just figuring out what we can do, how 149 00:09:02,166 --> 00:09:03,400 we can help. 150 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,734 That's when our deputy editor decided it would be right for 151 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,100 me to take on the case. 152 00:09:09,100 --> 00:09:12,100 We're trying to take in this information, but we're also 153 00:09:12,100 --> 00:09:14,433 trying to think like reporters, 154 00:09:14,500 --> 00:09:16,333 who could have done this? 155 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,533 [scheming music playing] 156 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:23,367 The autopsy revealed Sarah Greenhalgh was shot in the neck 157 00:09:23,367 --> 00:09:24,467 and shot in the leg. 158 00:09:27,066 --> 00:09:30,333 The gun that I observed in the room with the body was 159 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:31,533 determined to be a 9mm. 160 00:09:31,533 --> 00:09:35,567 There were multiple shell casings on the floor around 161 00:09:35,567 --> 00:09:40,967 the body, maybe about a dozen, and multiple bullet holes in 162 00:09:40,967 --> 00:09:42,433 the wall and the door. 163 00:09:42,500 --> 00:09:45,533 So to me, it looked like she struggled with someone for 164 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:46,400 control of that firearm. 165 00:09:50,767 --> 00:09:52,734 [camera shutter powers up, clicks] 166 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:54,867 There was a pour pattern found, liquid. 167 00:09:54,867 --> 00:09:56,567 [trickling] 168 00:09:56,567 --> 00:09:59,266 There was evidence collected that determined there was 169 00:09:59,266 --> 00:10:00,266 an accelerator used. 170 00:10:00,266 --> 00:10:02,300 -[match hissing] -[fire roaring] 171 00:10:03,100 --> 00:10:05,500 Someone had purposefully set this fire. 172 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,300 This was arson. 173 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,634 [James] Part of the investigation would have obviously been to collect 174 00:10:13,700 --> 00:10:16,600 any biological material that could be found in the DNA. 175 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:22,634 The residence was damaged significantly, so that made 176 00:10:22,700 --> 00:10:23,800 the job a lot harder. 177 00:10:24,767 --> 00:10:27,433 The living room was destroyed. 178 00:10:27,500 --> 00:10:29,567 The walls, the ceiling, the floor was black. 179 00:10:29,567 --> 00:10:32,367 The carpets, the furniture had all been burned 180 00:10:32,367 --> 00:10:33,734 beyond recognition. 181 00:10:34,900 --> 00:10:37,400 A lot of probative evidence was lost. 182 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:45,100 As the morning went on, my initial steps at that point 183 00:10:45,100 --> 00:10:48,266 wanted to know, did anybody see anything suspicious? 184 00:10:48,266 --> 00:10:50,166 Was there anything out of the ordinary? 185 00:10:50,166 --> 00:10:53,233 That morning, the son of the landowner, 186 00:10:53,300 --> 00:10:55,100 Colin McLeod, arrived. 187 00:10:57,166 --> 00:11:01,033 [K.C.] Colin lived in the main house on the property 188 00:11:01,100 --> 00:11:02,367 with his mother. 189 00:11:02,367 --> 00:11:05,266 And he was coming and going all the time. 190 00:11:05,266 --> 00:11:07,734 He would mow the lawn. He would do the trimming. 191 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:09,500 He was in charge of upkeep. 192 00:11:10,300 --> 00:11:14,467 [Colin] When I showed up that morning, I could see all the police 193 00:11:14,467 --> 00:11:16,667 vehicles parked around the house. 194 00:11:16,667 --> 00:11:18,867 And it was only then that we learned that there had 195 00:11:18,867 --> 00:11:20,834 been a fire. 196 00:11:21,667 --> 00:11:25,500 I noticed that Sarah's car was parked in a grove of bamboo. 197 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,133 I thought that was very unusual. 198 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,700 Why? We had no idea. 199 00:11:34,667 --> 00:11:38,000 [James] When we looked at her car, some of the bamboo leaves had 200 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:39,667 been closed inside of the trunk. 201 00:11:39,667 --> 00:11:42,133 When the trunk came down, the low-hanging leaves were 202 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,000 caught in the trunk. 203 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:45,734 When the police opened the trunk, 204 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,533 we found her personal belongings, purse, cell phone, 205 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,867 laptop, any personal belongings that would identify the victim 206 00:11:52,867 --> 00:11:55,367 were in that trunk. 207 00:11:55,367 --> 00:11:59,200 It was hastily thrown in that trunk, and the lid shut. 208 00:12:00,767 --> 00:12:04,867 It's my belief that Sarah's killer was probably going to 209 00:12:04,867 --> 00:12:08,834 take the car and destroy it, hide it. 210 00:12:08,900 --> 00:12:11,367 Were they gonna put her body in that car and take the car 211 00:12:11,367 --> 00:12:13,100 somewhere else, set it on fire? 212 00:12:14,567 --> 00:12:17,467 Maybe the sun was coming up, starting to get daylight. 213 00:12:17,467 --> 00:12:19,133 People were starting to move around. 214 00:12:20,467 --> 00:12:21,934 Probably ran out of time. 215 00:12:25,166 --> 00:12:28,867 The gun was processed for fingerprints, touch DNA, 216 00:12:28,867 --> 00:12:31,533 things of that nature, as well as the shell casings that 217 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:32,834 were recovered. 218 00:12:32,834 --> 00:12:36,800 However, none of that revealed any new information or leads. 219 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:41,166 She obviously was shot. 220 00:12:41,166 --> 00:12:42,533 So... 221 00:12:42,967 --> 00:12:47,567 it's just a terrible, horrible thought to have about 222 00:12:47,567 --> 00:12:48,800 your daughter. 223 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:50,533 Why? 224 00:12:50,533 --> 00:12:54,533 She loved her job, and she loved her work. 225 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:55,867 And when we talked on the phone, 226 00:12:55,867 --> 00:12:58,100 she was completely happy. 227 00:12:58,100 --> 00:13:01,567 No way on earth would I have imagined that 228 00:13:01,567 --> 00:13:03,900 someone would do that. 229 00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:07,033 But someone wanted Sarah dead, 230 00:13:07,100 --> 00:13:09,066 and the question remains -- who? 231 00:13:09,066 --> 00:13:11,467 Police launched their investigation by 232 00:13:11,467 --> 00:13:15,467 retracing the last 24 hours of Sarah's life. 233 00:13:15,467 --> 00:13:18,767 One of the biggest breaks in this case came from 234 00:13:18,767 --> 00:13:19,900 Sarah herself. 235 00:13:19,900 --> 00:13:26,667 It came in the form of a Facebook post she wrote hours 236 00:13:26,667 --> 00:13:28,133 before her death. 237 00:13:29,467 --> 00:13:33,667 She last posted around 11:00, 11:30, and then her body was 238 00:13:33,667 --> 00:13:36,433 discovered around eight o'clock that Monday morning. 239 00:13:37,967 --> 00:13:40,834 Sunday night to Monday morning was the big question. 240 00:13:40,900 --> 00:13:44,667 That narrows down the timeframe to determine 241 00:13:44,667 --> 00:13:46,634 when this murder would have occurred. 242 00:13:48,867 --> 00:13:51,634 [Melissa] That Facebook post was fairly cryptic. 243 00:13:51,700 --> 00:13:54,967 I'm going to be sleeping with the windows wide open. 244 00:13:54,967 --> 00:13:56,767 I have a lot of work to do on Monday, 245 00:13:56,767 --> 00:13:59,600 if only that [bleep] crazy boy would leave me alone. 246 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,767 The post was, to our knowledge, the last thing that Sarah 247 00:14:04,767 --> 00:14:06,867 ever wrote. 248 00:14:06,867 --> 00:14:09,000 [James] That social media post was very telling. 249 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:10,300 It was very concerning. 250 00:14:12,367 --> 00:14:14,767 So, obviously, we wanted to know 251 00:14:14,767 --> 00:14:17,300 who bat[bleep] crazy boy is. 252 00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:23,767 [Patrick] Police asked Sarah's friends and family if they know 253 00:14:23,767 --> 00:14:26,066 anything about this so-called "crazy boy." 254 00:14:26,066 --> 00:14:28,967 But it turns out that Sarah kept most of the details about 255 00:14:28,967 --> 00:14:31,467 her dating life to herself. 256 00:14:31,467 --> 00:14:34,867 [Melissa] Sarah used to talk about some of her dating life. 257 00:14:34,867 --> 00:14:38,266 She did talk about the world of online dating. 258 00:14:38,266 --> 00:14:41,867 And she would refer to who she was dating not by name, 259 00:14:41,867 --> 00:14:43,533 but more of like a moniker. 260 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:47,567 She dated a pilot at one point, and she dated somebody she just 261 00:14:47,567 --> 00:14:49,834 said was a man from a business journal. 262 00:14:49,900 --> 00:14:52,467 We only knew that she was dating somebody named 263 00:14:52,467 --> 00:14:54,500 Bat[bleep] Crazy Boy. 264 00:14:55,467 --> 00:14:58,433 And we immediately just start trying to figure out 265 00:14:58,500 --> 00:14:59,300 who it was. 266 00:15:00,700 --> 00:15:02,767 We start looking through her desk. 267 00:15:02,767 --> 00:15:06,033 We start looking for anything that we might be able to find. 268 00:15:10,100 --> 00:15:12,266 And we're just trying to find any information. 269 00:15:12,266 --> 00:15:15,834 What we did come across was a piece of paper in 270 00:15:15,900 --> 00:15:17,300 her pencil holder. 271 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,667 On the paper, it said, "John from Gainesville," 272 00:15:21,667 --> 00:15:23,467 and it had a phone number on it. 273 00:15:23,467 --> 00:15:26,166 But then later on, it looked like Sarah had gone back 274 00:15:26,166 --> 00:15:28,166 and written in a different colored pen, 275 00:15:28,166 --> 00:15:30,433 "crazy" in front of John. 276 00:15:30,500 --> 00:15:32,467 And then at the bottom of the paper, she had written, 277 00:15:32,467 --> 00:15:34,100 "Bat[bleep] crazy boy." 278 00:15:35,266 --> 00:15:37,867 Then, of course, we immediately called the detectives to tell 279 00:15:37,867 --> 00:15:39,300 them what we had learned. 280 00:15:41,266 --> 00:15:44,834 Police are able to connect the phone number with a name, 281 00:15:44,900 --> 00:15:46,533 John Kearns. 282 00:15:47,300 --> 00:15:48,300 Who is this guy? 283 00:15:48,300 --> 00:15:52,467 Where is he? What was their relationship like? 284 00:15:52,467 --> 00:15:55,367 [Patrick] Police raced to John Kearns' last known address, 285 00:15:55,367 --> 00:15:58,000 about 30 miles from Sarah's house in the town of 286 00:15:58,000 --> 00:15:59,600 Gainesville, Virginia. 287 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:05,000 [K.C.] He's not home, but what they do find out is that there was 288 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,400 an incident there the night before. 289 00:16:08,767 --> 00:16:12,166 [James] Neighbors told us about a rather loud argument Saturday 290 00:16:12,166 --> 00:16:14,734 night, hours before her death. 291 00:16:15,567 --> 00:16:19,066 That was witnessed by several people in the complex. 292 00:16:19,066 --> 00:16:23,266 Doing my own investigation, I also interviewed a lot of 293 00:16:23,266 --> 00:16:24,300 John Kearns' neighbors. 294 00:16:24,300 --> 00:16:27,567 And they did talk about the fight that they'd had. 295 00:16:27,567 --> 00:16:29,867 They'd overheard John tell Sarah, 296 00:16:29,867 --> 00:16:31,767 "You're not supposed to be here." 297 00:16:31,767 --> 00:16:35,100 It was very clear that Sarah had showed up. 298 00:16:35,100 --> 00:16:37,166 John Kearns was mad about her being there. 299 00:16:37,166 --> 00:16:39,767 They got into a fight. 300 00:16:39,767 --> 00:16:42,934 Another neighbor had overheard Sarah call him an [bleep]. 301 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:44,900 And then they both left the scene. 302 00:16:47,066 --> 00:16:50,467 [Patrick] Just hours after this heated argument, Sarah posts a message 303 00:16:50,467 --> 00:16:51,433 about Crazy Boy. 304 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,867 And then she turns up dead the next morning. 305 00:16:55,867 --> 00:16:59,834 So police want to know, is Crazy Boy crazy enough to 306 00:16:59,900 --> 00:17:01,634 kill Sarah Greenhalgh? 307 00:17:01,700 --> 00:17:03,367 [match hissing] 308 00:17:03,367 --> 00:17:04,834 [fire crackling] 309 00:17:10,967 --> 00:17:13,867 They found out pretty quickly that first day. 310 00:17:13,867 --> 00:17:16,500 Sarah had been dating John Kearns. 311 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:25,533 We found out this guy works at an auto body shop in Leesburg, 312 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:29,433 Virginia, which was about roughly 45 minutes away, 313 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:32,734 and he agreed to come with us to the Loudoun County 314 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:34,400 Sheriff's Office and be interviewed. 315 00:17:36,567 --> 00:17:41,200 We told this individual that his girlfriend had passed away. 316 00:17:42,667 --> 00:17:47,166 His reaction was kind of cold, just kind of matter of fact, 317 00:17:47,166 --> 00:17:49,734 like, you know, thanks for letting me know. 318 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,500 But then again, people react different ways to trauma. 319 00:17:55,266 --> 00:17:58,166 We talked about their relationship, trying to 320 00:17:58,166 --> 00:18:00,567 find out why she would make a post like that. 321 00:18:00,567 --> 00:18:02,133 Why is she saying these things? 322 00:18:03,767 --> 00:18:06,767 Talking with this individual, we became aware of another 323 00:18:06,767 --> 00:18:09,734 girlfriend in this individual's life. 324 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,734 [K.C.] John says that they got into an argument the day before, 325 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:20,634 because Sarah came to his house unannounced, and he didn't want 326 00:18:20,700 --> 00:18:24,634 her there, because he was seeing another woman. 327 00:18:24,700 --> 00:18:28,133 And he didn't want to risk ruining that relationship. 328 00:18:29,567 --> 00:18:33,834 Then I noticed what I would call maybe cuts and scrapes 329 00:18:33,900 --> 00:18:35,734 and things on his knuckles. 330 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:40,033 They ask him about it, and he says he's a martial arts 331 00:18:40,100 --> 00:18:43,467 instructor, and that the cuts on his knuckles are from 332 00:18:43,467 --> 00:18:45,867 his martial arts training. 333 00:18:45,867 --> 00:18:49,767 John is a six-degree black belt, so his explanation about 334 00:18:49,767 --> 00:18:52,667 the injuries on his hands is plausible. 335 00:18:52,667 --> 00:18:55,166 [James] It's an observation. It's one worth making. 336 00:18:55,166 --> 00:18:57,367 It doesn't account for anybody's guilt or innocence. 337 00:18:57,367 --> 00:18:59,033 Just another piece of the puzzle. 338 00:19:01,100 --> 00:19:03,433 Police have nothing to hold John with, 339 00:19:03,500 --> 00:19:05,033 so they let him walk. 340 00:19:05,100 --> 00:19:07,867 But since he's the last person Sarah was seen with, 341 00:19:07,867 --> 00:19:10,100 investigators do take a closer look at him. 342 00:19:11,900 --> 00:19:14,467 [James] We serve a search warrant to look for things 343 00:19:14,467 --> 00:19:16,700 that would be relevant to the investigation. 344 00:19:17,967 --> 00:19:24,266 Any phones or computers, maybe even photos or GPS data. 345 00:19:24,266 --> 00:19:27,800 But we weren't able to identify any evidence. 346 00:19:33,166 --> 00:19:36,567 With no hard evidence pointing to John, investigators turn 347 00:19:36,567 --> 00:19:38,500 their attention to other suspects. 348 00:19:39,767 --> 00:19:42,266 [James] As we canvassed the neighborhood and talked to 349 00:19:42,266 --> 00:19:45,767 folks, they told us that we might want to look into 350 00:19:45,767 --> 00:19:49,333 the son of the landowner of the cottage being rented by 351 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:50,433 Sarah Greenhalgh, 352 00:19:51,166 --> 00:19:52,367 Colin McLeod. 353 00:19:52,367 --> 00:19:56,767 As we were investigating this case, we also talked to some 354 00:19:56,767 --> 00:19:59,100 townspeople who pointed to being 355 00:19:59,100 --> 00:20:00,900 a little suspicious of him. 356 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,000 Colin was closer in age to Sarah. 357 00:20:06,467 --> 00:20:09,266 So I think at some point detectives had wondered, 358 00:20:09,266 --> 00:20:12,266 you know, if he was close to her, if he'd had a crush on 359 00:20:12,266 --> 00:20:15,700 her, if they'd hung out in any capacity. 360 00:20:19,300 --> 00:20:23,233 I went over to Fauquier County and sat through an interview 361 00:20:23,300 --> 00:20:25,266 with one of the deputies. 362 00:20:25,266 --> 00:20:28,634 I think the police looked at me with some keener interest, 363 00:20:28,700 --> 00:20:31,567 because I did live on the property at the time this 364 00:20:31,567 --> 00:20:34,233 all occurred. It felt a little upsetting. 365 00:20:37,467 --> 00:20:40,266 Police questioned Colin about his whereabouts on the evening 366 00:20:40,266 --> 00:20:42,367 that Sarah was murdered. 367 00:20:42,367 --> 00:20:47,734 But I was not on the property that particular night. 368 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,800 I was over in Millwood, Virginia, at my friend's house. 369 00:20:52,867 --> 00:20:55,367 My friends and I arrived at 7:30, or 8 o'clock 370 00:20:55,367 --> 00:20:58,967 in the morning, and coming in the driveway to then see 371 00:20:58,967 --> 00:21:02,467 the police vehicles parked around her house. 372 00:21:02,467 --> 00:21:05,867 [Patrick] But investigators are skeptical of Colin's story, and decide 373 00:21:05,867 --> 00:21:07,900 they need to do a polygraph test. 374 00:21:09,867 --> 00:21:14,266 I learned Colin did ultimately pass his polygraph test. 375 00:21:14,266 --> 00:21:18,133 And once detectives were able to verify his alibi, 376 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,867 he was knocked off the list as a person of interest. 377 00:21:21,867 --> 00:21:25,734 Colin was ruled out as to any involvement in her death. 378 00:21:28,500 --> 00:21:31,333 [Sarah, Sr.] A murder is just a terrible thing. 379 00:21:32,467 --> 00:21:36,433 I think about how horrible that must have been for her. 380 00:21:36,500 --> 00:21:40,834 I don't know whether she had stepped into something that 381 00:21:40,900 --> 00:21:42,266 she couldn't get out of. 382 00:21:42,266 --> 00:21:45,433 Maybe whoever the killer was was someone she knew. 383 00:21:48,767 --> 00:21:52,533 [Patrick] Investigators are back at square one, and decide to cast 384 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,200 a net as wide as possible. 385 00:21:55,667 --> 00:21:59,667 There were different parts of this investigation going off in 386 00:21:59,667 --> 00:22:03,567 different directions that needed to be looked into. 387 00:22:03,567 --> 00:22:06,467 And finding out that she was an investigative reporter for 388 00:22:06,467 --> 00:22:09,867 Winchester Star, could that have contribute to her death? 389 00:22:09,867 --> 00:22:13,667 What was she investigating? What was she reporting on? 390 00:22:13,667 --> 00:22:17,033 Was she working on a story that could have angered somebody to 391 00:22:17,100 --> 00:22:19,500 the point that they wanted her dead? 392 00:22:22,967 --> 00:22:26,367 We became aware that there was a significant investigation 393 00:22:26,367 --> 00:22:27,800 that she was a part of. 394 00:22:29,767 --> 00:22:32,834 [K.C.] In the weeks and months before Sarah was murdered, 395 00:22:32,900 --> 00:22:35,967 she had been writing stories about animal abuse, 396 00:22:35,967 --> 00:22:40,500 specifically writing about a man named Russell Ebersole. 397 00:22:42,166 --> 00:22:46,367 Aberdeen Acres is a pet care facility that 398 00:22:46,367 --> 00:22:48,533 Russell Ebersole opened. 399 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,367 A former employee of Aberdeen Acres made some allegations 400 00:22:52,367 --> 00:22:57,300 about Russell Ebersole abusing animals at this facility. 401 00:22:58,667 --> 00:23:03,066 Sarah was an animal person, and so I think this case was 402 00:23:03,066 --> 00:23:06,433 one that particularly got to her. 403 00:23:06,500 --> 00:23:10,266 She really wanted to make sure that she really dug 404 00:23:10,266 --> 00:23:11,767 her heels in. 405 00:23:12,700 --> 00:23:16,767 This type of story, in a small town like Winchester, is a big 406 00:23:16,767 --> 00:23:21,166 deal, and Russell Ebersole would also frequently call Sarah 407 00:23:21,166 --> 00:23:23,867 after her stories ran in the paper, and would berate 408 00:23:23,867 --> 00:23:25,700 her about what she had written. 409 00:23:27,100 --> 00:23:30,634 She had frequently talked about not wanting Russell Ebersole to 410 00:23:30,700 --> 00:23:32,667 know her personal address. 411 00:23:32,667 --> 00:23:36,867 Sarah had kind of almost jokingly at one point said, 412 00:23:36,867 --> 00:23:39,634 "Oh, if I ever turn up dead, make sure Russell Ebersole is on 413 00:23:39,700 --> 00:23:41,000 the list of suspects." 414 00:23:50,133 --> 00:23:53,900 Detectives decide to investigate Russell Ebersole 415 00:23:53,967 --> 00:23:55,867 and his dealings with Sarah. 416 00:23:55,867 --> 00:23:58,667 [James] We found that the relationship between Sarah 417 00:23:58,667 --> 00:24:02,066 and this individual was so contentious, that there was some sort of 418 00:24:02,066 --> 00:24:04,800 court activity of whether or not Sarah could testify in 419 00:24:04,867 --> 00:24:06,634 this animal abuse case. 420 00:24:06,700 --> 00:24:10,266 So that was a pretty significant finding. 421 00:24:10,266 --> 00:24:13,634 [Melissa] Russell Ebersole was suing in civil court for defamation. 422 00:24:13,700 --> 00:24:17,433 Sarah could still be called to the stand to talk about what 423 00:24:17,500 --> 00:24:20,166 she had covered as a reporter involving allegations of 424 00:24:20,166 --> 00:24:21,400 animal cruelty, 425 00:24:22,467 --> 00:24:23,700 and potentially 426 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,066 cause him to lose this case. 427 00:24:26,066 --> 00:24:29,734 [James] You could surmise that perhaps it could go so far as 428 00:24:29,734 --> 00:24:31,133 they would want Sarah dead. 429 00:24:32,767 --> 00:24:35,467 Police take a hard look at Russell Ebersole, 430 00:24:35,467 --> 00:24:38,266 but ultimately they conclude that he had nothing to do with 431 00:24:38,266 --> 00:24:39,500 Sarah Greenhalgh's murder. 432 00:24:41,266 --> 00:24:44,900 [James] This individual was ruled out through investigation. 433 00:24:45,967 --> 00:24:47,967 [indistinct radio chatter] 434 00:24:47,967 --> 00:24:52,100 But several weeks after her death, and the investigation 435 00:24:52,100 --> 00:24:54,433 is running out of leads. 436 00:24:54,500 --> 00:24:59,266 I have frustration and anger, because we spent a lot of time 437 00:24:59,266 --> 00:25:04,367 there talking to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office to see 438 00:25:04,367 --> 00:25:07,266 if anything new was gonna happen on it, 439 00:25:07,266 --> 00:25:09,000 but nothing is happening. 440 00:25:11,266 --> 00:25:15,033 Then a witness comes forward with information about 441 00:25:15,033 --> 00:25:17,634 the first potential suspect they were looking at -- 442 00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:19,300 John Kearns. 443 00:25:20,367 --> 00:25:23,934 We found out that there was an ex-wife, that there were 444 00:25:23,934 --> 00:25:26,967 some court records that we weren't immediately aware of 445 00:25:26,967 --> 00:25:29,700 during the first encounter with him. 446 00:25:31,467 --> 00:25:35,066 There were allegations of domestic abuse. 447 00:25:35,066 --> 00:25:39,467 I have spent a lot of time poring through documents about 448 00:25:39,467 --> 00:25:41,000 John Kearns. 449 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,634 I was able to get his divorce records from one of 450 00:25:45,700 --> 00:25:46,800 the local courthouses. 451 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:51,000 and it detailed pretty significant amounts of abuse. 452 00:25:51,066 --> 00:25:55,734 These documents ultimately showed us what an unstable 453 00:25:55,734 --> 00:25:57,033 person he was. 454 00:25:57,033 --> 00:25:59,967 I learned of some pretty disturbing behavior, 455 00:25:59,967 --> 00:26:04,367 but also some patterns that he's had in his dating life. 456 00:26:04,367 --> 00:26:06,467 When I found all of this out, 457 00:26:06,467 --> 00:26:09,200 I called the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office. 458 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:14,600 My name is Debby Hardin. 459 00:26:15,367 --> 00:26:18,800 I am the ex-wife of John. 460 00:26:18,867 --> 00:26:21,467 I've never told this from beginning to end. 461 00:26:21,467 --> 00:26:26,266 But there was a part of me that finally just felt like, 462 00:26:26,266 --> 00:26:27,166 you know what, it's time. 463 00:26:27,166 --> 00:26:30,600 It's time to go ahead and tell my story. 464 00:26:31,667 --> 00:26:35,000 I received a phone call from Fauquier County 465 00:26:35,066 --> 00:26:36,367 Sheriff's Department. 466 00:26:36,367 --> 00:26:39,867 They'd asked me if I would come in and talk to them about John. 467 00:26:41,867 --> 00:26:45,266 John and I met in 2004. He was funny. 468 00:26:45,266 --> 00:26:47,266 He could be the life of the party. 469 00:26:47,333 --> 00:26:50,166 He came across as very charismatic. 470 00:26:50,166 --> 00:26:53,867 He could make you feel very loved, and the center 471 00:26:53,867 --> 00:26:57,634 of his world. That was how he hooked you in. 472 00:26:57,700 --> 00:27:01,767 During the seven years that we were together, it spiraled 473 00:27:01,767 --> 00:27:04,600 into a domestic violence situation. 474 00:27:06,567 --> 00:27:09,066 According to Debby, one harrowing incident 475 00:27:09,066 --> 00:27:11,300 a year earlier stands out in her memory. 476 00:27:18,033 --> 00:27:20,734 John and I separated in 2011. 477 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:26,033 And in July, I was able to move into a townhouse 478 00:27:26,033 --> 00:27:28,367 that I had rented. 479 00:27:28,367 --> 00:27:35,166 I didn't have much of anything, but at least I was safe. 480 00:27:35,166 --> 00:27:37,266 I had couches to sit on. I was able to bring my bed. 481 00:27:37,266 --> 00:27:39,634 So I'm like, I'm good at this point. 482 00:27:39,700 --> 00:27:42,266 I was thinking it would be OK. 483 00:27:43,567 --> 00:27:48,266 July 31st, I started receiving text messages from John in 484 00:27:48,266 --> 00:27:52,100 the morning that were kind of bizarre and concerning, 485 00:27:53,133 --> 00:27:56,000 that we needed to be back together, and that, 486 00:27:56,667 --> 00:27:59,266 you know, he was gonna love me like no man had ever loved 487 00:27:59,266 --> 00:28:00,834 another woman. 488 00:28:00,834 --> 00:28:05,467 It was like bombarding me with texts, like every minute, a text 489 00:28:05,467 --> 00:28:09,800 was coming through. And I finally said, "Stop." 490 00:28:12,567 --> 00:28:14,467 [phone ringing] 491 00:28:14,467 --> 00:28:17,433 A few days later, he started calling my phone. 492 00:28:17,500 --> 00:28:20,567 [phone ringing] 493 00:28:20,567 --> 00:28:25,567 -Then about 10 to 15 minutes, we hear a car door slam. -[slamming noise] 494 00:28:25,567 --> 00:28:29,567 My son from my first husband was looking out the window, 495 00:28:29,567 --> 00:28:32,000 and he yelled right as I got to the door. 496 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:33,634 He's like, "Mom, it's John." 497 00:28:34,867 --> 00:28:37,000 And I started to panic. 498 00:28:39,367 --> 00:28:41,800 He was walking towards the front door. 499 00:28:41,867 --> 00:28:44,367 So I immediately grabbed the phone, and I started to 500 00:28:44,367 --> 00:28:45,567 call the police. 501 00:28:45,567 --> 00:28:48,166 [banging] 502 00:28:48,166 --> 00:28:51,567 He's pounding on the door and punching the door. 503 00:28:51,567 --> 00:28:54,133 And he punches the doorbell. 504 00:28:55,767 --> 00:28:57,767 And he's yelling at me, telling me I needed to 505 00:28:57,767 --> 00:28:59,000 open the door. 506 00:28:59,834 --> 00:29:01,900 John steps in front of the window. 507 00:29:01,967 --> 00:29:04,500 And that's when I see that he has a hunting knife 508 00:29:05,767 --> 00:29:07,634 on his belt. 509 00:29:07,700 --> 00:29:09,567 [banging] 510 00:29:09,567 --> 00:29:13,734 And he patted it as I'm backing up the stairs. 511 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:15,133 And he says, "You're dead." 512 00:29:15,133 --> 00:29:18,166 [banging] 513 00:29:19,100 --> 00:29:20,900 And I like, froze. 514 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,567 The look in his eyes was terrifying. 515 00:29:25,567 --> 00:29:27,166 And I started screaming. 516 00:29:27,166 --> 00:29:28,266 I'm like, "He's going to kill me! 517 00:29:28,266 --> 00:29:29,800 He's going to kill me!" 518 00:29:29,867 --> 00:29:32,367 -[banging] -[sirens approaching] 519 00:29:32,367 --> 00:29:36,066 And thank God, you could hear the sirens in the background, 520 00:29:36,066 --> 00:29:37,634 for the police coming. 521 00:29:39,567 --> 00:29:41,266 John heard it, and all of a sudden he turned, 522 00:29:41,266 --> 00:29:43,867 and he walked away from, you know, the window. 523 00:29:43,867 --> 00:29:48,000 And all of a sudden you hear this loud pop, pop, pop. 524 00:29:48,066 --> 00:29:50,700 My son is like, "Mom, he's slashing your tires!" 525 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:56,166 And then you heard this sick, like, scraping noise, 526 00:29:56,166 --> 00:29:58,900 and he goes, "Mom, he's knifing the car." 527 00:29:58,967 --> 00:30:02,900 And then he got in his car, and he drove off. 528 00:30:04,667 --> 00:30:07,667 Right after that, I went and filed for the emergency 529 00:30:07,667 --> 00:30:09,800 protective order at that point. 530 00:30:12,467 --> 00:30:15,133 But before the court date for her protective order, 531 00:30:15,133 --> 00:30:17,100 Debby says that her problems with John 532 00:30:17,100 --> 00:30:19,100 continue to get worse. 533 00:30:21,367 --> 00:30:23,934 -On August 4th, -[match hissing] 534 00:30:23,934 --> 00:30:25,767 he told me that he had burned all of my stuff. 535 00:30:25,767 --> 00:30:28,967 I wanted, one, to see if he had burned it all, and if there was 536 00:30:28,967 --> 00:30:31,367 anything remaining, I wanted to get it. 537 00:30:31,367 --> 00:30:35,433 So my parents and my boys and myself went over to 538 00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:38,567 the house and saw the burn pile. 539 00:30:38,567 --> 00:30:42,133 He had had a big bonfire in the backyard, and I took 540 00:30:42,133 --> 00:30:45,834 pictures of it and found pieces of photo frames, 541 00:30:45,834 --> 00:30:47,467 and my wedding dress. 542 00:30:47,467 --> 00:30:49,100 There was just like little tiny burned chunks left. 543 00:30:49,100 --> 00:30:50,834 Not much was left. 544 00:30:50,834 --> 00:30:54,567 After that, my parents got me out of the state until 545 00:30:54,567 --> 00:30:56,400 the protective order could be served. 546 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:02,000 I found out that two days after my protective order was served, 547 00:31:02,066 --> 00:31:05,734 John got into a road rage incident. 548 00:31:05,734 --> 00:31:10,033 According to court records, a motorcyclist cut him off. 549 00:31:10,033 --> 00:31:12,800 He then cuts in front of the motorcyclist. 550 00:31:13,834 --> 00:31:17,066 John got out of his car and started punching 551 00:31:17,066 --> 00:31:19,266 and kicking this gentleman. 552 00:31:19,266 --> 00:31:21,533 And just starts beating the crap out of him. 553 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:23,433 [siren wailing] 554 00:31:24,467 --> 00:31:29,900 He was arrested for assault at that point. 555 00:31:29,967 --> 00:31:34,033 His mental state just kind of seemed to be spiraling to 556 00:31:34,033 --> 00:31:35,700 an even more dangerous level. 557 00:31:37,467 --> 00:31:42,133 [Melissa] On October 7, 2011, the district court in 558 00:31:42,133 --> 00:31:46,100 Prince William County ordered John to take anger management 559 00:31:46,100 --> 00:31:47,800 classes, and do counseling. 560 00:31:48,667 --> 00:31:51,967 [Patrick] All of this information paints a hypothetical picture of what 561 00:31:51,967 --> 00:31:53,967 could have happened between John and Sarah. 562 00:31:53,967 --> 00:31:55,333 -[match hisses] -[fire roars] 563 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,066 [James] He's prone to violence, to outbursts. 564 00:31:58,066 --> 00:32:01,467 You have somebody like Sarah who is extremely strong-willed. 565 00:32:01,467 --> 00:32:03,367 She had something to say, she'd say it. 566 00:32:03,367 --> 00:32:06,900 [news broadcast] Her family says that the most recent guy she was dating was 567 00:32:06,967 --> 00:32:08,767 this man by the name of John Kearns. 568 00:32:08,767 --> 00:32:12,333 And he has sort of a troubled past. 569 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,467 [James] Things start stacking up in an investigation like this. 570 00:32:15,467 --> 00:32:18,967 You put two people like that together, and it's almost a pot 571 00:32:18,967 --> 00:32:20,400 getting ready to boil over. 572 00:32:26,567 --> 00:32:28,567 We go live to Virginia for the murder mystery of a local 573 00:32:28,567 --> 00:32:31,266 reporter found dead in her own cottage. 574 00:32:31,266 --> 00:32:33,600 [Debby] When I found out about Sarah, 575 00:32:34,567 --> 00:32:37,867 and I saw her picture, and the minute I saw 576 00:32:37,867 --> 00:32:40,166 her picture, I saw me in the picture. 577 00:32:40,166 --> 00:32:42,900 I could see, 578 00:32:42,967 --> 00:32:45,066 at least to me, that there was similarities. 579 00:32:46,867 --> 00:32:50,567 When I read more about -- he had gone over to Sarah's, 580 00:32:50,567 --> 00:32:53,834 it reminded me so much of when he had come and threatened to 581 00:32:53,834 --> 00:32:56,033 kill me at the townhouse. 582 00:32:56,033 --> 00:32:58,567 [banging] 583 00:32:58,567 --> 00:33:00,567 When Sarah was murdered, 584 00:33:00,567 --> 00:33:04,233 he was facing up to three months in jail for violating 585 00:33:04,233 --> 00:33:05,834 my protective order. 586 00:33:05,834 --> 00:33:08,367 It was a no contact, no exception order. 587 00:33:08,367 --> 00:33:10,734 -[phone dialing] -[phone ringing] 588 00:33:10,734 --> 00:33:14,233 [Debby] At one point, he'd actually called me 23 times in a row. 589 00:33:19,367 --> 00:33:21,867 Technically, each one of those was a violation of 590 00:33:21,867 --> 00:33:23,300 my protective order. 591 00:33:26,867 --> 00:33:30,000 To me, it showed how much more unhinged he was getting. 592 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:33,634 It was during that time that Sarah Greenhalgh was murdered. 593 00:33:36,166 --> 00:33:38,066 I felt so bad. 594 00:33:39,734 --> 00:33:42,600 If John did it, I felt like... 595 00:33:43,934 --> 00:33:45,233 ...I was responsible. 596 00:33:46,467 --> 00:33:48,400 He was mad at me. 597 00:33:50,567 --> 00:33:52,233 [match hissing] 598 00:33:54,834 --> 00:33:59,166 [James] As things started to accumulate, this individual 599 00:33:59,166 --> 00:34:01,300 became a person of interest. 600 00:34:02,667 --> 00:34:06,066 Eventually, as things built up, you know, he became more 601 00:34:06,066 --> 00:34:07,266 than that. 602 00:34:07,266 --> 00:34:10,000 [Patrick] John Kearns' lawyer later confirms that he is 603 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:11,033 now a suspect. 604 00:34:11,033 --> 00:34:13,033 [news broadcast] We know he has a past of violence. 605 00:34:13,033 --> 00:34:17,100 He was cited by the court for apparently making harassing 606 00:34:17,100 --> 00:34:18,700 phone calls to his ex-wife. 607 00:34:19,767 --> 00:34:21,767 [James] There were several interviews with him. 608 00:34:21,767 --> 00:34:25,533 He agreed to give us some access to his social media 609 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:27,634 accounts and things like that, and they were taking a look 610 00:34:27,700 --> 00:34:28,800 while we were talking. 611 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:32,300 They discovered that he had deleted some information 612 00:34:32,367 --> 00:34:35,100 pertaining to he and Sarah from his cell phone. 613 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,467 He was asked about that. 614 00:34:37,467 --> 00:34:40,133 There was no clear explanation as to why. 615 00:34:41,867 --> 00:34:46,066 During the last interview, it became accusatory. 616 00:34:46,066 --> 00:34:49,867 And at that point, he asked for an attorney. 617 00:34:49,867 --> 00:34:52,400 So the interview was terminated. 618 00:34:56,266 --> 00:35:00,066 [K.C.] Despite the evidence that police do have against John, 619 00:35:00,066 --> 00:35:04,500 the Commonwealth attorney does not prosecute the case. 620 00:35:08,667 --> 00:35:10,400 [James] The argument at his apartment, 621 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,734 that social media post hours before her death, 622 00:35:14,734 --> 00:35:16,734 -[trickling] -[match hissing] 623 00:35:16,734 --> 00:35:20,066 -[fire roaring] -[smoke alarm beeping] 624 00:35:20,066 --> 00:35:23,300 only one person who knows what the truth behind that is, 625 00:35:23,367 --> 00:35:24,700 and she's dead. 626 00:35:25,467 --> 00:35:29,133 All the evidence led you to believe that we were on 627 00:35:29,133 --> 00:35:32,867 the right track, that we had the right suspect, 628 00:35:32,867 --> 00:35:35,400 but it was highly circumstantial at that point. 629 00:35:39,467 --> 00:35:42,100 As weeks and months turn into years, 630 00:35:42,100 --> 00:35:44,567 police have no new leads. 631 00:35:44,567 --> 00:35:47,533 [news broadcast] Sarah Greenhalgh was murdered six years ago, 632 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:49,467 but still no arrests. 633 00:35:49,467 --> 00:35:51,834 Now detectives tell us they're re-evaluating evidence 634 00:35:51,834 --> 00:35:54,166 and working closely with the Commonwealth's attorney 635 00:35:54,166 --> 00:35:56,767 and the forensic lab in hopes of catching 636 00:35:56,767 --> 00:35:58,667 Greenhalgh's killer. 637 00:35:58,667 --> 00:36:00,734 More than a decade after Sarah's murder, there have 638 00:36:00,734 --> 00:36:03,533 never been any charges brought against any suspect. 639 00:36:05,100 --> 00:36:06,934 [Sarah, Sr.] I think it's a cold case. 640 00:36:06,934 --> 00:36:10,266 And I think they're not doing much of anything. 641 00:36:11,100 --> 00:36:12,467 Something should happen. 642 00:36:12,467 --> 00:36:16,667 And whoever did this should not go scot-free. 643 00:36:16,667 --> 00:36:20,100 That's all we could wish for at this point, 644 00:36:20,100 --> 00:36:22,300 is for something to happen. 645 00:36:22,367 --> 00:36:25,567 I think that Sarah would be so disappointed that no one is 646 00:36:25,567 --> 00:36:26,867 doing anything. 647 00:36:28,166 --> 00:36:29,300 [birds chirping] 648 00:36:32,767 --> 00:36:35,367 [James] I haven't been involved in a number of years. 649 00:36:35,367 --> 00:36:38,734 I retired in 2020. 650 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:42,667 In my mind, I know that we did the best we could do at 651 00:36:42,667 --> 00:36:45,166 the time, and that we were on the right track. 652 00:36:45,166 --> 00:36:49,734 And in my mind, I know who killed Sarah Greenhalgh. 653 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:54,533 But proving that in court is something 654 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,200 that we weren't able to do. 655 00:37:01,667 --> 00:37:04,066 Today, the current investigative team is still 656 00:37:04,066 --> 00:37:05,567 considering the case. 657 00:37:05,567 --> 00:37:07,867 My name is Maggie Cleary Kilgore, 658 00:37:07,867 --> 00:37:10,066 and I am a deputy Commonwealth's attorney in Culpeper. 659 00:37:10,066 --> 00:37:12,467 I have been appointed the Special Prosecutor 660 00:37:12,467 --> 00:37:14,233 in this case. 661 00:37:14,233 --> 00:37:17,367 The Sarah Greenhalgh case is still very much an open 662 00:37:17,367 --> 00:37:18,834 and active investigation. 663 00:37:18,834 --> 00:37:21,467 I don't want it to seem like we have our sights set 664 00:37:21,467 --> 00:37:23,066 on one person only. 665 00:37:23,066 --> 00:37:25,533 We are still willing to receive information and look into any 666 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:27,033 new leads that we might receive. 667 00:37:28,066 --> 00:37:31,266 We are going to do everything we can to see that Sarah's 668 00:37:31,266 --> 00:37:32,700 family has justice. 669 00:37:35,934 --> 00:37:40,800 These are my notebooks from investigating Sarah's case, 670 00:37:40,867 --> 00:37:46,300 and in the ten years I've been a reporter, these are the only 671 00:37:46,367 --> 00:37:48,300 notebooks I've ever held on to. 672 00:37:48,367 --> 00:37:51,133 I keep them, I think, because, you know, I guess 673 00:37:51,133 --> 00:37:55,100 I always thought one day that maybe this could be helpful, 674 00:37:55,100 --> 00:37:56,300 if the case was prosecuted. 675 00:37:57,734 --> 00:38:02,166 I want something to be done. Somebody has to do something. 676 00:38:03,567 --> 00:38:05,467 [James] This is Trinity Episcopal Church. 677 00:38:05,467 --> 00:38:07,867 This is the church where Sarah Greenhalgh's service was held. 678 00:38:07,867 --> 00:38:10,433 In the back is where she's buried. 679 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:16,900 And here's the burial spot, Sarah Greenhalgh. 680 00:38:18,133 --> 00:38:20,300 I hope that Sarah's mother 681 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:22,700 can see the day when 682 00:38:23,867 --> 00:38:26,600 her daughter's killer is brought to justice. 683 00:38:28,667 --> 00:38:31,734 [Sarah, Sr.] It's now been 12 years. 684 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:35,767 I was sure that it was gonna be solved by now. 685 00:38:35,767 --> 00:38:37,867 But now I have doubts. 686 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,300 I am 94, 687 00:38:42,233 --> 00:38:46,634 so I'd like to see it solved during my lifetime. 688 00:38:46,700 --> 00:38:51,767 The whole thing is just such a terrible tragedy that someone 689 00:38:51,767 --> 00:38:55,000 with all of her potential should be gone. 690 00:38:58,567 --> 00:39:02,934 Sarah, in many ways, lived a life that many talk 691 00:39:02,934 --> 00:39:06,533 about or dream about in terms of 692 00:39:07,667 --> 00:39:10,634 embracing it with gusto. 693 00:39:12,967 --> 00:39:17,433 Her mother gave me the license plates on the back of her car. 694 00:39:17,500 --> 00:39:19,567 "Carpe diem" was her mantra. 695 00:39:19,567 --> 00:39:22,800 It was live for the moment, and that was 696 00:39:22,867 --> 00:39:26,967 Sarah Libbey Greenhalgh. She's gone, 697 00:39:26,967 --> 00:39:31,000 but I'm gonna make sure that her memory is preserved. 698 00:39:34,367 --> 00:39:37,400 [Sarah, Sr.] I do have a lot of her clothes, and I wear them. 699 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:40,634 My daughter wore this ring every day. 700 00:39:41,767 --> 00:39:45,934 I just wear the things that were hers, because it makes me 701 00:39:45,934 --> 00:39:47,567 feel better to wear them. 702 00:39:47,567 --> 00:39:51,233 I learned a lot from being her mother. 703 00:39:51,233 --> 00:39:55,767 Sarah would love to be here, and to be a part of this. 704 00:39:55,767 --> 00:39:59,533 This is the kind of work that she wanted to do. 705 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:03,467 She would want the mystery solved, because there's a killer 706 00:40:03,467 --> 00:40:04,800 out there somewhere. 707 00:40:12,100 --> 00:40:31,867 ♪♪ 708 00:40:31,867 --> 00:40:32,967 [gun clicks] 709 00:40:32,967 --> 00:40:35,734 This is a tale of jealousy and betrayal 710 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,967 and in the middle is a killer clown. 711 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:43,634 Lose your life in such a way is absolutely hideous 712 00:40:44,867 --> 00:40:48,900 There was a gasp--Inside, there were three children. 713 00:40:48,967 --> 00:40:50,400 I could just feel she was caught. 714 00:40:51,500 --> 00:40:53,433 He stabbed me 17 times in the chest. 715 00:40:54,667 --> 00:40:56,300 Then they found me. Thank you, Lord. 716 00:40:58,367 --> 00:41:01,367 Sex, betrayal, money-- this case has everything. 717 00:41:02,266 --> 00:41:04,467 He amassed a astoundingly high body count. 718 00:41:04,467 --> 00:41:07,000 He is definitely lurking in the background. 719 00:41:07,066 --> 00:41:08,300 He is hunting. 720 00:41:09,266 --> 00:41:10,433 Is this somebody I know. 721 00:41:10,500 --> 00:41:11,834 Do I know the killer of my mother? 722 00:41:11,834 --> 00:41:14,266 YHou're going to jail for killing someone. 723 00:41:14,266 --> 00:41:16,600 How many more victims do we have here? 724 00:41:18,166 --> 00:41:19,600 She was the key to the whole thing. 725 00:41:21,233 --> 00:41:22,967 The entire courtroom is in disbelief. 726 00:41:24,166 --> 00:41:25,266 I think I'm gasping. 727 00:41:25,266 --> 00:41:28,166 That is what makes a People story.