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- Hi, everyone, I'm dan abrams, and this is "courtcam."
- You ready to take the plea?
[group shouting]
- [bleep] you!
♪ ♪
- I'll kill all you [bleep].
- I hope you die in prison as well.
♪ ♪
- That the drugs were there.
I did not put the narcotics there.
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- First up, we head to jackson county, florida,
For the trial of zachary wester.
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The former sheriff's deputy was charged
With 67 counts of racketeering,
Fabricating evidence, false imprisonment,
And possession of controlled substances.
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Wester's accused of planting drugs
In a dozen vehicles during random traffic stops.
- All of the drivers denied owning the drugs,
But yet, most were subsequently arrested.
- You have the right to remain silent.
- The arrests caused suspicion internally,
And in 2018,
Wester was suspended.
Three years later, the case went to trial.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
- This is a case
About an abuse of an incredible power.
About the abuse of the incredible trust
That we all put-- and we have to put--
In law enforcement in a society.
- The prosecution relied
On the defendant's own bodycam footage
To help argue their case.
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- Steven vann, a convicted felon,
Had recently gotten out of jail
When wester supposedly found methamphetamine in his car.
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- Like the other drivers who testified,
Vann gave the officer permission to search his car
Because he claims he had nothing to hide.
- While the jury got to watch most of the traffic stops,
Some recordings had mysteriously disappeared.
- Why in the world would that have been deleted?
- I wish I knew that answer.
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- Ironically, bodycam footage
Would become the strongest element
In the prosecution's case--
Especially when it came to teresa odom.
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- Hi, how are you? - I'm good.
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- At first, the officer's polite--
Even playful.
- While odom stands behind the vehicle,
Wester begins his search.
[suspenseful music]
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Notice as he prepares to put his gloves on,
There's a small item in his left hand.
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Prosecutors argue that wester is palming
A small bag of meth
Which he claims to find
Next to a spoon in the vehicle.
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[soft music playing]
- Now...
The white, small plastic baggie that was in that spoon
That the deputy just showed you on this video,
Had you ever seen that before? - No, sir.
- Was that in your car? - No, sir.
♪ ♪
- As far as motive?
The prosecution claims
The 28-year-old officer was ambitious
And wanted to move to narcotics
As quickly as possible.
Wester testified he never planted any drugs.
- The drugs were there.
I did not put the narcotics there.
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- And after five days and several witnesses,
The jury was asked to render a verdict.
If wester is found guilty on all charges,
He could spend the rest of his life
Behind bars.
After seven hours,
The jury returns with its verdict.
- In the state of florida v. Zachary tyler wester,
We, the jury, found as follows
As to the counts charged and the information:
Count one--
Guilty of racketeering as charged.
- The clerk went on to read the verdicts
On all 67 charges.
- Count seven--
Guilty of official misconduct as charged.
- In total, the crooked officer was found guilty
On 19 charges...
- Count nine--
Guilty of official misconduct as charged.
Count ten--
Guilty of official misconduct as charged.
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- Including misconduct
In the arrests of vann and teresa odom.
[emotional music playing]
11 of the 12 drivers
Filed civil lawsuits against wester.
In July 2021,
He was sentenced to 12.5 years in a state prison.
- Next we head dy to butler county, ohio,
For the trial of daniel french.
He's charged with aggravated murder,
Burglary, and robbery
In the brutal death of 87-year-old barbara howe.
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French allegedly posed as a maintenance worker--
A job he once held at the retirement community--
To get inside the victim's home.
The plan was a simple robbery,
But that plan went horribly wrong.
And after french's own brother notified police,
French confessed to the crime.
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- To avoid the possibility of the death penalty,
French agreed to plead guilty.
The state said, "no deal,"
And the case went to trial.
The defense argued the murder was accidental.
But the prosecution claimed
That french knew exactly what he was doing.
- This defendant had
No intention of harming her or killing her.
His opportunity at that moment was to do what?
Scoot right out the door.
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- In addition to dna evidence,
The prosecution relied on french's own words
From an interview with police.
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[intense music]
- The defense didn't call a single witness,
And took the jury only an hour and 20 minutes
To reach its verdict.
- We, the jury,
Find the defendant guilty of aggravated murder.
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- Before french was sentenced,
The victim's family delivered impact statements--
None more powerful than howe's daughter, donna.
- I wanted everybody to hear what you did.
I wanted to make sure
They knew
What a deviant monster you are.
[emotional music]
You beat her.
You stripped her of her dignity.
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You stuffed her naked body
In a crawl space.
And you almost took her head off.
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She loved living!
And you robbed her and us of many years.
I will never forgive you
And you better rot in hell.
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- As per the jury's recommendation,
French was spared the death penalty.
But he was sentenced to life in prison
With no chance of parole.
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Next, we're in grand rapids, michigan,
For a video court hearing.
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The defendant, identified as vaughn foote
Was charged with drunk driving and is about to be arraigned.
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- That is, if he and the judge
Can work out some technical difficulties.
- Can you hear me, sir?
We cannot hear you.
- After some awkward silence and blank stares,
Judge sara smolenski offers up some tech support.
- I don't know if you can hear us,
But you have to unmute yourself.
There's a microphone-like device
With a red line through it.
You have to click on it.
- Solid advice.
Should do the trick.
And then...
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Nothing.
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With technology failing her,
The judge decides to go old-school,
And presents the defendant with a hand-written note.
♪ ♪
But when the defendant still doesn't respond,
Judge smolenski
Tries to open another line of communication.
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To help sell the request,
She even plays charades from the bench.
- Perhaps the swinging of the phone
Is the judge's way of saying, "tick tock"
As the silence is approaching six minutes.
Finally, it appears something gets through to the defendant.
And he stands up and walks away.
- In the background,
A good boy makes a quick cameo.
- Eventually, the defendant returns
With his phone number written on a piece of paper.
[upbeat music playing]
[phone ringing]
And judge smolenski makes the call.
- Hello? - Okay, mr. Foote.
Finally, we can talk.
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- After connecting by phone,
Vaughn foote pleaded guilty to operating
With a blood alcohol level of .17 or higher
And was sentenced to two days in jail
With credit for two days' time served
And one year probation.
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[suspenseful music]
- We're in canton, ohio,
For the case of 73-year-old
Philip snider.
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Seven months earlier,
Snider said his wife of 53 years died
During a road trip the couple were taking
To graceland in tennessee.
[police radio chatter]
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But when his story didn't add up,
Family members contacted police,
And they paid him a visit.
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- You guys okay?
- I'm okay, yes.
- Okay. - My wife passed away.
[suspenseful music]
- Snider claimed that just four days earlier,
His wife died of a medical emergency
Near graceland.
- She choked on-- on her phlegm.
She kept--
She had been choking for quite a--
About a year.
- Okay. - And, uh...
She wanted to go down one more time before she died.
She thought that--
I think she knew she was gonna die.
[suspenseful music]
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- The already fishy story
Became more questionable
When snider claimed he simply
Gave his wife's body to paramedics.
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- Well, so what happened-- [phone buzzes]
So where's your wife now? What happened to her?
- They took her to a, uh,
Place where they cremate people.
- Okay, and you don't know where that is either?
- No, no.
- Police became even more suspicious
During follow-up interviews
When details of snider's story changed
And they were unable to find any record of his wife
Being admitted to a cremation facility
In tennessee.
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Investigators didn't have enough evidence
To charge snider with any crime.
So for him,
Life continued as usual,
Including daily coffee and conversation
With other locals around town.
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- You enjoying this weather?
- Yeah.
- But unknown to snider,
The person indulging him in conversation today
Is actually undercover police officer joan bauer
Who's been sent in to crack the case.
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- What's your name?
I'm missy.
Yeah. - Nice to meet you.
- In the weeks that followed,
Bauer befriended snider and earned his trust.
All the while,
Their conversations
Were being recorded.
- It's gonna be nice tomorrow.
You wanna go for a walk tomorrow?
- Maybe.
- Over time, bauer got him to open up
About his wife's death and the story he told police.
- Oh, okay.
- Officer bauer continued
Pressing snider for details.
But no one could have imagined
What came out of his mouth next.
- Okay.
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The recorded conversation is enough
For police to make an arrest later that day,
Believing snider killed his wife in their home
Before ever leaving for a road trip.
- Step out for me. - You're kidding.
- Step out. - You're kidding.
- The fun and games are over.
♪ ♪
- Philip snider was charged with aggravated murder
And gross abuse of a corpse.
No motive was established for the killing.
Now in court, he's looking to solidify
A plea agreement with the state
Which calls for him to disclose the whereabouts
Of his wife's body
In exchange for a recommended life sentence
With parole eligibility after 20 years.
- To the charge of aggravated murder,
How do you plead?
- Guilty.
- Is there anything that you would like to say
Prior to the sentencing?
[suspenseful music]
- All right, so you're telling me
You put your wife in the tennessee river?
- Yes, sir.
- Are you willing to take law enforcement
To the area where you--
You placed her in the tennessee river?
Yes, sir.
- Well...
In this particular case,
I'm going to make sure that you do it.
- For the charge of aggravated murder,
How do you plead?
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- Guilty.
- He's pled guilty to killing his wife.
But before he learns his sentence,
A member of the victim's family
Has asked the court
If he could give a victim impact statement.
[emotional music]
That family member is his own son.
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- The man sitting before you
Is not the father I know.
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He is not the man who raised me--
Teaching me many things,
Of which one was to have honor and respect.
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I see no honor
And certainly no respect in his actions
Leading up to today.
- And finally, judge frank forchione
Has some harsh words of his own to share.
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- Now, to me,
To accept this agreement between the state
And your counsel and you-- it sickens me.
This is one of the most
Ghastly crimes I've ever seen.
You're going to die in prison.
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That's the legacy that you've left this family.
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And the last comment that I will make to you, sir, is this,
And I hope you think about this
For the rest of your life.
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The hottest places in hell
Are reserved for people like you.
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As seeing you committed murder,
I'm going to sentence you to life imprisonment...
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With a parole eligibility
After serving 20 years in prison.
Like I said before, you're going to die in prison.
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- Following the hearing,
Snider changed his story again,
Claiming he dumped his wife's body
In a dumpster in kentucky.
Her remains have yet to be found.
Joining us now is officer joan bauer
Who you didn't see there, but you heard her voice.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We appreciate it.
- Thank you for having me.
- So have you done undercover work
Like this before?
- Yes, um,
I've been a police officer for 31 years,
And I'd say probably 26, 27 of them where undercover.
- And how long did it take you to--to gain his trust?
- You know what? It really didn't take too long.
It was about four weeks total.
- Now, take us through that moment
Where he's, you know,
Basically confessing
To how he killed his wife.
- Honestly, when he first told me,
I was sick to my stomach.
Like, I honestly thought,
"he has to see this on my face,"
'cause I think I turned green.
I mean it--it really was sort of revolting.
And I wasn't expecting it the way he told it.
It's still sort of spine-tingling to me.
- It sounds like this confession
Was almost worse than you expected.
- It definitely was worse, uh--
It was worse because it--it--
It came so, like, matter-of-fact
When he said, "imagine this," you know?
And it was almost like he was excited to tell me.
Like I said, I've done undercover for a long time,
But I've never had someone like that.
It was pretty much a shock.
- So did I hear correctly
That he thought the two of you were gonna get married
- Yes, I told him that he had to be truthful.
You know, how can I marry somebody
Who isn't truthful,
That I trusted him, and I was okay with his answer.
And so that is-- that's why he con--
And I also agreed to kiss him on the cheek.
- So you said, "you have to be truthful
And then I'll marry you"?
And that's how it led to him confessing?
- He thought that we were gonna get married.
He actually-- it's pretty interesting because
He somewhat was thinking, uh, in the state of ohio,
You can't make a spouse testify against another spouse.
And he felt like that was gonna keep me safe.
He was worried about me.
He was worried about the police questioning me.
He was worried about all that.
He sort of thought that that would keep him safe.
So at least that's the way I like to think about it--
That that was what he was thinking.
But there was never any, um,
Any romantic talk of marriage.
It was convenience for him.
He was all about phil.
He didn't care what he had done.
He would have done it again.
He made that very clear.
- So you agreed to kiss him on the cheek?
- Right, I know.
I mean, but hey, it was--
I mean it was a life-- I mean, it was--
He said I had to agree.
And to tell you the truth, after he confessed,
And he asked me for the kiss,
And I was really sort of sick to my stomach.
But at the same time, I didn't know
If I had the audio and video.
What if I didn't, you know?
So I can't say no, you know?
What if I have to come back at him later that day
And that the audio and video failed?
- Officer joan bauer,
Thank you so much for joining us.
Really appreciate it.
- Thank you.
- That's it for this edition of "courtcam."
I'm dan abrams.
Thanks for watching.
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