[ telephone dialing ]
[ telephone ringing ]
♪
-- captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com
captions paid for by discovery communications
narrator: Susanville, california,
a former logging town nestled in
the sierra nevada mountains.
A tight-knit community where everybody knows everybody
and they all know each other's business.
It's here that police officer rob mcelrath falls in love
with former beauty queen joanna beckett.
But their sweet love story has a tragic and violent end.
♪
rob mcelrath is born in susanville in 1973
and is one of three children.
His parents separate when he's still young
and his father remarries and has two more children,
but the family remains close as rob and his siblings grow up.
Jennifer: He wanted to be very much like my father,
who at that time was deputy sheriff with lassen county.
Our father was very loving, very loving guy,
but very protective, and rob definitely picked that up.
And I certainly can remember times in high school
when he was very protective.
Narrator: In high school, rob is on the football team
and plays saxophone in the school band.
Jennifer: He is tall, dark and handsome.
He has this goodness about himself.
He is definitely a peacemaker,
but he also is very respectful of everyone.
♪
narrator: And it's in high school that rob first meets
joanna beckett, a fellow student one year younger.
Joanna lives in susanville too
and grows up with one younger brother.
Samantha: My grandma used to tell us that when my mom
was probably an elementary school age,
she was a tomboy, and then in high school
she started to be a girly girl.
She was beautiful.
Rob had the hots for my mom in high school,
but I guess in high school she didn't see him that way
so it was more like him trying to get at her.
♪
narrator: Upon graduation, rob's hopes of dating joanna
are put on hold
when he joins the u.S. Marines.
He trains as a sniper
and goes on to serve in kuwait and bosnia.
Jennifer: He was very proud.
He was a man of faith and he put god, family, and country first.
♪
narrator: After joanna graduates high school,
she enters the miss lassen county beauty pageant,
and is crowned the winner in February 1993.
Samantha: My mom used to have this blue box that she had pictures in
and she had pictures of her for miss lassen county.
She had a bunch of memorabilia.
She had her miss lassen county stash
and she had the dress that she used to wear.
♪
narrator: In 1994, joanna marries a local man
named rick fincher.
They have two daughters together, holly and samantha,
but that relationship isn't destined to last.
Samantha: My mom and my dad just didn't click
so they had gotten a divorce.
♪
narrator: After four years of service,
rob mcelrath decides to leave the marines
and return home to pursue his childhood dream --
a career in law enforcement.
Growdon: We were good friends. He was a genuinely kind person.
Service was very important to rob.
He was very proud to be able to follow in his dad's footsteps.
♪
jones: I believe rob's first position
was resident post position up at eagle lake.
♪
rob was very well liked by the people
he worked with and the community.
When you have someone who served their country
and is now serving their community,
people would approach him with respect just because of that.
Narrator: Things aren't going so smoothly for joanna.
As a divorced mother of two, her relationships
haven't turned out the way she'd imagined.
But a chance meeting brings rob back into her life.
♪
jennifer: Rob had told me that he just wanted to take her out.
You know, he hadn't seen her in a while
and she had two little kids.
♪
[ bird crying ]
I was so young at the time that I don't remember
my mom and rob really dating.
I just remember that one day
he just showed up and never left.
♪
we became extremely close to rob super fast.
We'd watch movies with him.
He always made such a big deal
about how happy he was that he met me and holly
and he was always going to be in our life.
♪
narrator: On October 16th, 1999, the happy couple
decides to make their union official
with a small ceremony at burney falls national park.
Samantha: Gosh, I don't think I've ever seen,
you know, somebody so in love.
I remember it was a really beautiful wedding
and it was a really, really nice day.
My mom and rob had my younger sister michaela
when I was about 5 years old.
Narrator: Rob adopts joanna's daughters samantha and holly.
We had stood outside of the old courthouse here in susanville,
and taking a bunch of pictures outside and then we went in
and made it official and there was never any,
"oh, well, these are my stepchildren.
You know, these are my adopted children,"
no, it was always "these are my daughters."
and then the year after that robbie jr. Was born.
Narrator: The mcelraths are now one big, blended family.
Samantha: My favorite memories of all of us as a family
are our vacations in crescent city, california.
When we were home, we'd all huddle up on the couch
and throw some big blankets over us
and we had all watch movies and eat some popcorn.
They would go out on their date nights.
But mainly we did things as a family.
Inman: When I first met them, they seemed like
they were happy, they were family-oriented.
They valued each other and they valued their kids
and they wanted to be happy.
♪
[ indistinct yelling ]
narrator: Still, it's not long before the honeymoon
comes to an end
as the growing family struggles to survive on a single income.
As I got older, my mom and dad started to argue about money.
Jennifer: Like, there were times when I would try to call them
and their phone would be disconnected.
So I'd go by and one of the girls
would be like "our phone bill isn't paid."
I'm like, "where's your mom?"
"oh, she's out getting her nails done."
they had enough to get by on.
I mean, even probably more than that.
She just didn't know how to budget.
Samantha: Gosh, my mom would spend money on the stupidest stuff --
manicure kits that she'd never use, pedicure kits.
I mean, she had this big box full of nail polish
that she never used.
We witnessed a few times mom writing bad checks.
My mom definitely had a shopping addiction.
Narrator: Over time, the strain wears on rob.
He'd get pretty upset. He'd come home, there's no food.
We're not taken care of.
Jennifer: Sometimes their landlord would make a complaint
with the sheriff because they would be late
on their payment.
Samantha: Rob's a high-end member of the community,
you know, he's a police officer.
Everybody knows him, and I can imagine
it was quite embarrassing for him
for people to know about his financial situation.
Jennifer: There was a lot of times that I would see him
and he, like, he would have circles under his eyes.
Growdon: You could see that there was some stress in the relationship
and rob was one of those people
who when he was feeling stress in his personal life,
you could see it.
♪
narrator: Rob mcelrath is a well-liked police officer
in susanville, northern california.
Joanna, a former local beauty queen,
has finally found her prince charming.
But it turns out that real life isn't anything like a fairytale.
[ indistinct yelling ]
samantha: I'm pretty sure it was really difficult for my mom
to be a stay-at-home mom.
I mean, I don't know when it happened, but at one point
there was just a time where she just stopped.
She was in her bedroom all the time.
She was just sleeping 24/7.
Jennifer: Sometimes I would go over there
and the kids would be, you know, in the house.
"where's your mom?" and "oh, she has a migraine.
She's in the bedroom. She didn't feel good today."
when rob was working night shifts,
he would get off at 6:00 in the morning.
He would come in and joanna would not feel well
or she was tired
and he would make the kids breakfast,
get them off to school.
And I said, "hey, man, are you getting your sleep?
You know, you need to get some rest."
he said, "you know the military, the marines
taught us how to unwind."
he said he was taught how to handle the stress from the job.
♪
narrator: Around town, gossip starts to circulate about joanna.
Jennifer: Rumor was that she was sleeping around.
She would have affairs on rob, she would date other people
and she was caught doing it more than a couple times.
Rob knew, and we all knew.
Somebody gave me a letter joanna had written to a boyfriend.
They said "if you don't give it to rob,
I'm going to give it to him."
so I did.
Narrator: Joanna's infidelity deeply upsets rob
and he struggles to cope.
There were times where he'd call me at 1:00 in the morning,
midnight.
"hey, do you want to go for a ride?"
and he'd come pick me up
and we would drive around and talk.
[ sirens wailing ]
rob was hurt, a little jealous, too.
I've seen him cry and he's hurt
and he just wanted his life to be with his family.
And I tried to encourage him and support him
and help him understand things are going to be okay, you know.
He would try to put a smile on his face
and try to be positive.
But ultimately you could see how he was feeling.
♪
when our parents split up we were devastated
and I know he didn't want that for his children.
He didn't want them to be at the window waving goodbye,
you know, at the end of his visit or whatever
or dropping them off.
No, he didn't want that at all.
I think it came to a point
where he was probably ready to leave joanna,
you know, but he didn't want that for the children.
So what happened was she ended up leaving him.
♪
narrator: Soon after, rob gets news that twists the knife even deeper.
Um, well, she left him for another man, robin james.
He was an ex-con and rob was concerned about that.
And immediately robin had moved in
and none of us were okay with it.
And then, next thing we know, we're having to pack up
everything at that house
and we're moving over to spruce street.
Inman: I told rob "it's okay to be jealous,
but don't let that rule your life."
narrator: Joanna's new boyfriend doesn't last long.
She breaks things off with robin
and asks rob to give their marriage a second chance.
Rob wanted to work stuff out with joanna and I supported him
because it's his decision.
It was weird. It was like one moment
she kicked robin out and then the next moment
rob was moving back in, like, it was so fast.
Narrator: Rob moves back in with joanna and the kids, but keeps
his rental house on fifth street in case things don't work out.
Jennifer: And he had said the first couple of weeks it was great.
He says but then it changed,
and he says "I don't feel like I can trust her."
♪
samantha: So on new year's eve, rob had to work.
So the next day he had had the night off.
♪
rob and my mom we're just going to, you know,
hang out and drink a couple beers,
you know, have, what we thought was going to be
a relaxing night.
Inman: Rob and I worked together on January 1st.
Oh, we worked a day shift
and he had told me during the day
that he was going to try to work stuff out with his wife.
Narrator: Joanna's daughter, samantha,
is going to spend the night at a friend's house.
Before she leaves, rob starts drinking.
Samantha: And I just remember thinking, like,
"gosh, I've never seen rob this drunk."
and then I grabbed my stuff and left.
♪
narrator: Rob and joanna mcelrath have decided
to give their 11-year marriage another chance
even after joanna's infidelities drove the couple apart.
On new year's day, 2011, rob and joanna are enjoying
a low-key evening at home.
After dinner, rob starts drinking heavily.
♪
[ telephone dialing ]
[ telephone ringing ]
♪
I received a call at home from one of the sergeants
that was on the scene. And so I was definitely anxious
to start putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
♪
so when I first arrived, there was 14, 16 inches of snow.
♪
and right up here, there was different patterns of blood
that actually was on the side
and on top of the rail.
And then, when you look over,
then rob was down below the bridge.
♪
jennifer: I was at home with my husband and child
and my husband was with the volunteer fire department,
and he had a scanner on and he was like,
"there's something going on at devil's corral."
this call comes out on my radio. There was a body found.
Samantha: So that night I had stayed at a friend's house out in standish
right outside of susanville.
And I walked into our living room
and I'm looking around, and the first thing
that I can get out of my mouth is "where's dad?"
my wife at the time receives a text message from joanna.
And it said "rob's missing."
we went over to joanna's house and sat with her.
Joanna said they had a few mudslides.
That night he was laying in a chair,
hallucinating, if you will, or having bad dreams or something.
She went into the bedroom and he slept in the chair,
and when she came out he was gone.
♪
I went to the crime scene shortly after hearing about it.
I did see rob's body at the scene.
You could tell that he'd fallen from the bridge.
Narrator: An inspection of rob's body reveals
that he has a gunshot wound to the head.
We could see that there was at least one bullet hole.
Narrator: Rob's car is found parked at the scene.
The first responders think he may have driven there
and taken his own life.
Jones: No one's ever looked at rob and thought that
he would be a person who would commit suicide.
On the other side of that,
just the issues that he has gone through with joanna
over the past two years, you just -- you never know.
Growdon: You know, I had been concerned about rob's well-being
in the months prior to his death
because the stress in his personal life, was apparent.
Narrator: Police head to the mcelrath home
to break the news to rob's family.
We're all sitting there and I heard a car door closed,
and I looked outside and it was the pastor
for the susanville police department
and everybody knows that when he shows up
it's not good.
So he came in and asked us kids to leave the room
and I snuck out into the hallway to listen,
and I heard them tell my mom
that they had found my dad dead up there.
♪
inman: Joanna seemed to be upset.
I heard her say that she was going over
to rob sister's house.
♪
it caused a lot of pain.
He was such a good person.
He certainly didn't deserve this.
I mean, it was devastating.
It was -- it was devastating.
♪
narrator: As detectives investigate the crime scene,
the evidence quickly casts doubt on the suicide theory.
Jones: It was a pretty high rail.
So it would be hard for someone to shoot themselves
and then let gravity take them over the rail.
Whether gravity could have pushed
the biggest portion of his body over the rail or not,
I don't know, but I definitely doubted it.
Narrator: Rob's body is found face down in the snow
wearing a t-shirt,
a light long-sleeved shirt, boots, and pajama pants.
This was very weird because it was a very cold night.
Other than the 14 inches of snow,
it was probably in the 10 to 15 degree mark.
Wasn't what you'd expect someone to wear
if they knew they were going outdoors
at that time of year.
Jones: The blood patterns on the bridge
were very inconsistent with a person
just throwing themselves off a bridge.
The blood was in different areas,
the area of the blood showed movement of the body
and it was very hard to connect the dots at the time.
We did not find a weapon at the scene.
So it was very mysterious and, you know,
we knew moving forward
that we wouldn't know a whole lot
until we got to an autopsy.
Narrator: Rob mcelrath's autopsy is performed on January 3rd, 2010.
After the autopsy was complete, we discovered
that rob was shot in the face.
And he was immediately paralyzed and ultimately died.
The autopsy was 100% conclusive
that he was shot by another person.
♪
January 2nd, 2011, at approximately 10:15 a.M.,
austin county sheriff coroner's office
received a report of a deceased person
in the area of devil's corral near the railroad trestle.
Narrator: Just two days into the new year of 2011,
rob mcelrath, the former marine who became his hometown's
most beloved police officer, has been found dead.
At this time we have determined that this case is a homicide.
The day of the autopsy, my partner and I
went to joanna's house to speak to her.
It was just to start a timeline, anything to help us out
with what his movement was the day prior to his death.
♪
narrator: Joanna mcelrath tells detectives
about her final night with rob.
Jones: Joanna said when rob got off his shift that day,
he went to joanna's house on spruce street.
♪
she'd already given him one mudslide,
which I think is some type of vodka rum drink
and that he had chugged it
and he immediately wanted another one.
And after he had had a couple of drinks,
they went back to his home,
which was on fifth street at the time.
Joanna told us that rob became incredibly drunk
and he started saying things like "the blood of dead marines
are on my hands."
I never saw any type of symptoms or personality
and characteristics from rob that would indicate ptsd.
Not to say that a person can have ptsd
and not display those out publicly.
So she said that he essentially passed out.
She woke up the next morning to find rob gone.
His badge was on the bed, some articles of clothing were gone,
and his gun was gone as well.
Narrator: Something about joanna's behavior
doesn't sit right.
Jones: The thing that sticks out is we were walking down a hallway
and she had some type of iguana
and she was giggling about how we shouldn't look at the iguana
because apparently that species is illegal in california.
Her demeanor about losing a husband
was not very normal.
At no time did joanna shed a tear talking to me.
Samantha: Why isn't she crying? Why isn't she upset?
I mean, your husband was just found dead.
Like, how do you not cry about that?
Narrator: Police start to consider joanna a possible suspect.
We were getting reports from people who were concerned
based on some of the things that she was doing.
Jennifer: When I would come over, the conversation
was about getting the finances,
getting a car, getting the washer and dryer, and money
so that she could go out and go shopping.
♪
narrator: And it's not only joanna that people suspect.
Police are pointed in the direction
of her ex-lover robin james,
the man she broke up with shortly before
patching things up with rob.
Jones: Robin james is an ex-felon.
We had known from speaking
to other people in the investigation
that she was dating robin james in the past
and it was common knowledge
that she'd actually lived with him.
We were definitely suspicious of robin james.
Narrator: Police get a warrant for robin james's phone records
and decide to bring joanna and robin in for questioning.
We were in the house. I remember I was cleaning
in the living room and I had heard somebody
and saw somebody like right outside the window.
So I open the blinds and there's cops all over outside,
like, telling us that they got a warrant.
They were taking my mom in for questioning.
Growdon: Joanna we were able to locate without much problem.
Now, robin james was harder to locate.
Jones: So we served a search warrant at the residence he lived at,
and the residence is a local nonprofit group
that assists people who don't have jobs,
helps them get back on their feet.
He was not at that residence.
Growdon: We were getting bits and pieces of information
about where he might be
and we had a great deal of concern.
We still hadn't recovered the murder weapon.
♪
narrator: At the sheriff's office,
police conduct an interview with joanna.
♪
with pressure mounting, she tells a terrifying story
about robin james on the night rob was murdered.
Joanna said, "okay, I haven't been telling you the truth,
but here's the truth."
when she was at rob's house after he woke up
and he was talking about the different things
from his military history,
he requested to go to devil's corral.
So she drove him to devil's corral.
♪
and at one point in this conversation joanna broke down.
♪
she said that robin james happened
to be at devil's corral.
♪
that rob was assaulting her,
that robin james
was only trying to stick up for her.
♪
and at one point, robin james pulled a gun and shot rob.
She didn't want to leave but robin made her leave.
♪
narrator: Eventually, police find robin james
at a computer store in town.
Once we were able to locate him and get him in custody,
it was just a huge relief to me.
Jones: I interviewed robin james
the day after I interviewed joanna.
♪
narrator: Robin offers a version of events
that's very different to joanna's.
Robin told me that joanna had been telling him
for a period of time
that rob was abusive both sexually and physically
and that they were going to have life together
as long as rob was gone.
Robin james indicates joanna had planned this out.
He had obtained a handful of sedatives.
And the plan was for joanna to put those in rob's drink
throughout the night as he drank and he would just die.
Narrator: According to robin, the pills weren't strong enough
to finish the job.
Jones: But they had a back-up plan.
Joanna had taken rob's gun out to robin james.
The plan was that robin james had to get joanna's car
and that she would drive rob up to devil's corral in his car.
So robin james went before them, and he was waiting
at the back side of the devil's corral bridge.
When rob and joanna showed up, he went up to rob
and he basically asked him,
"what are you doing to joanna? Take your hands off her,"
and that type of things, simulating and acting like
he was assaulting her.
So the plan was to pick him up and throw him over the bridge.
And so as he tried to get a hold of rob
and push them over the bridge, rob fought him off.
[ men grunting ]
so at one point, robin pulls the gun and shoots rob in the face.
♪
after they shoot rob, they leave.
And so after they discussed it, they thought rob's body
would be too apparent to discover.
So robin and joanna went back up to devil's corral
and collectively they picked rob up
and they threw him over the bridge.
♪
narrator: Robin and joanna are putting the blame on each other.
But detectives have found evidence that reveals the truth.
Jones: We obtain text message information
from robin james's phone.
The text messages lined out the entire crime
from start to finish.
♪
narrator: Joanna mcelrath is suspected of killing her husband, rob,
on a bridge at devil's corral.
She claims that it was her jilted lover, robin james,
who committed the murder, and robin insists
that joanna was the mastermind.
But investigators have evidence that proves
exactly what happened.
The information was all of the text messages
exchanged between he and joanna.
♪
robin and joanne are texting to each other the entire time.
♪
narrator: The messages continued the following day.
♪
the text messages corroborate robin's story and clearly show
that joanna was behind rob's murder.
Jones: She did plot the whole crime,
and although robin james pulled the trigger,
she is the psychopath that planned it.
So robin james said that he destroyed some of the clothes
that they were using, anything that was contaminated with blood
at different dumpsters around town.
He told us who he gave the gun to that was ultimately destroyed
and never recovered.
In the final interview with joanna
after she had lied several times,
she was confronted with the text messages.
She wasn't shocked. She wasn't shocked at all.
I think that when she saw that we had all of the text messages
between her and robin that she knew she was done.
Narrator: Police believe joanna's plan was to make
rob's death look like a suicide.
They suspect she killed him for financial gain,
but could never prove this theory.
It is quickly confirmed that the stories she told robin james
about rob being abusive were lies.
She claimed that he was abusive and I asked the girls,
I said, "she was saying that. Is there anything to that?"
and one of the girls told me, "no, definitely not."
[ banging ]
samantha: One night I remember they had gotten into an argument.
I went into the bathroom.
My mom had walked off to the side of the house
and I heard banging on the wall.
So I climbed up and looked out that window
and when I look down, my mom was slamming her face
into the wall outside.
[ banging ]
I went out to check on her and she was coming in
and one of the kids asked, "well, what happened?"
and she tried to say that rob had hit her.
She claimed that he beat her, when in reality
it was all her doing that.
Narrator: In 2014, joanna mcelrath and robin james
both plead guilty to first-degree murder.
They are sentenced to 25 years to life.
Joanna is eligible for parole in 2030,
robin in 2031.
During the proceedings she would turn around and smile at me.
It was just disgusting.
I would just look at her with disgust,
you know, like she was an abomination.
She was just a very manipulative,
and in my opinion, a psychopath.
Samantha: Oh, I believe that she is so far gone in her mind
that she believes everything that comes out of her mouth.
I mean, she hasn't even changed her story
about what happened that night. She hasn't confirmed any of it.
It's just lie after lie after lie.
You know, it's scary being related to somebody like that.
♪
narrator: Rob's celebration of life
is held at the susanville assembly of god.
Jennifer: It was beautiful. There was so many people there
they couldn't fit in the church.
Like, there were people in the sanctuary,
there were people in the hallway,
there were probably 200 people outside.
Samantha: He was in his uniform and we were able
to put some stuff in his pockets to have him buried with.
I put a note in there telling him that I loved him.
♪
inman: I wish there were more cops like rob,
like, he really impacted our community with how he acted.
And I mean, that's the thing I think I'll remember most
about rob is just, you know,
what a good person he was, you know?
Narrator: On may 6th, 2016, susanville dedicates
a new street in honor of rob mcelrath.
Inman: Even without the benches or the street name,
rob would still be remembered.
Jennifer: He had told me, "j,
I just want to be able to go before god
and say I have done everything
I possibly can to keep my family together."
so, and he did.
He did.
♪