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♪♪

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Narrator:
Up next, a woman is gunned down
in a crowded parking lot.

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This was six days after
Heather's 25th birthday.

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Narrator: The murder looks
like a professional hit.

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Our victim had a single gunshot
wound to the forehead.

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Narrator:
Evidence reveals a killer
with an elaborate plan.

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This was no spur-of-the-moment
act of vengeance.

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Narrator:
But how many enemies can
a churchgoing young mother have?

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It was pretty intense for us
to get to the bottom of it

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to try to find out
what was going on.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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Narrator:
At 6:00 on a Sunday evening
in the spring of 2009,

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Heather Strube met her
soon-to-be-ex-husband, Steven,

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in a shopping center parking lot
near Atlanta, Georgia.

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As part of a regular routine,
they were exchanging custody

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of their 19-month-old child,
a little boy named Carson.

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Downs:
Because of the issues they were
having during this divorce,

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they decided to meet
at this particular

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shopping center parking lot

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because it was in the open,
there were people there,

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and they just felt
that was the best place to meet.

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Narrator: As Steven drove away,
Heather took baby Carson

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and strapped him
into the car seat in her SUV.

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This was an everyday
sort of occurrence,

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nothing unusual about it.

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But there was someone who seemed
unusual in the parking lot

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that afternoon,
and a lot of people took notice.

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Mayfield:
The callers reported seeing
a strange person

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walking about the parking lot.

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Short male, mustache,
kind of a bushy haircut,

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kind of an unusual look.

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And it drew the attention
of the eyewitnesses

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who were in the parking lot.

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Narrator: The person walked up
to Heather Strube,

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the two exchanged words, then,
to the horror of onlookers,

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drew a pistol from a shoulder
bag and shot Heather

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point blank in the head.

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Calls from witnesses flooded
into emergency dispatch.

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Police arrived to find
Heather dead.

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The absence of a shell casing
led us to believe

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that it had to have been
a revolver

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that the suspect
would've used.

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Baby Carson was unharmed.

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All told, a half dozen people
called 911.

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Their descriptions
of what happened,

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and of the shooter,
were remarkably similar.

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The reports on the 911 calls
were consistent.

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They reported that the shooter
calmly turned

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and walked away
from the scene,

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walked behind
the shopping center,

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where the witnesses
lost sight of him.

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Narrator:
The witnesses, and even police,

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were shocked
by what they'd seen.

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Mayfield:
This murder was the type
of murder

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that really disturbs
the community.

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The entire community feels
vulnerable when,

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in broad daylight, someone is
murdered in a parking lot.

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Narrator: And as the witnesses
recounted what they saw,

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it got even more disturbing.

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All of them said the shooter

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and the victim
appeared to know each other.

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Clearly,
robbery wasn't the motive.

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Mayfield:
All of the victim's belongings
were still in the van.

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Some of those were valuable.

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None of those items were taken.

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It was apparent to us
that someone knew

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that Heather would be
in that parking lot at that time

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to make the exchange
of the child.

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Narrator:
But who would want to kill
Heather Strube?

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She grew up locally, worked at
her parents' flower shop,

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was active in her church --

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a young woman liked
and respected by everyone.

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We felt like, from the start,

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it had something
to do with Carson.

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And so we became very fearful,

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because if we had Carson
in our custody,

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were we gonna be a target?

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Narrator:
But if this murder had something
to do with baby Carson,

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why did the shooter
leave him in the vehicle?

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Police, the family,
the community,

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everyone was baffled
by what happened.

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This crime didn't fit into
our usual categories of robbery,

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domestic killing,
drug deal gone bad.

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This was different.

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♪♪

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[ Gunshot ]

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Narrator:
Heather Strube's murder,

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an execution-style hit in broad
daylight in a public space,

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had the community
of Snellville, Georgia, reeling.

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Whitehead:
It's highly unusual for us

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because we have so few
violent crimes in our city.

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At the time, that was, like,
the sixth murder

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in the history of our city.

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Mayfield:
The medical examiner conducted
an autopsy of Heather,

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and inside the cranial vault,

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she located the bullet
that killed Heather,

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and they were able
to determine forensically

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that this bullet
was fired by a

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.38-caliber Rossi
or Taurus firearm.

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Narrator:
After the shooting, the killer
never touched the victim

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or the vehicle,
so there were no fingerprints

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or other physical evidence
at the scene.

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But police had something
going for them --

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multiple witnesses
and surveillance cameras.

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Mayfield:
There were two primary
surveillance cameras

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in the front
of the shopping center.

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One of them was located
on the roof

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and had a very wide view

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and sort of swept left
and right.

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Narrator:
A second camera, an older model,
showed the parking lot

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and the area where the shooter
walked into the woods.

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In a bad break,

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neither of these cameras
caught the actual shooting.

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The camera was panning
to the opposite side

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of the parking lot.
It was very disappointing.

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Narrator:
But the second camera did
capture images of the shooter

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walking to and from the scene.

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Mayfield: The older system
was very grainy.

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It was VHS-based.

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And it took one picture
every second or two.

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So you could look at the
sequential pictures

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and get an idea
of the size of the person,

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how they were walking, a little
bit about their description,

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but not enough to identify
a face, jewelry, tattoos,

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anything like that
that might be

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a positive identification
of the shooter.

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Narrator: But the video did show
the person

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who shot Heather had
an unusual way of walking.

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It's a gait that you could say
that it's very unique.

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It's not the normal gait
that you would expect to see.

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Mayfield: One can look
at the various photographs

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sequentially that are taken
by the video

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and see that the person
takes extremely long steps

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and straightens out the knee
of the front leg when they walk.

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This was rather
compelling evidence.

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Narrator:
In an attempt to create
a likeness of the shooter,

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the witnesses who called 911
were sent to a forensic artist.

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We had a high volume
of eyewitnesses in this case.

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Narrator:
Despite the unusual number
of witnesses,

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there was striking agreement
among their descriptions.

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All of the witnesses said
the shooter

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was a very slight man
between 5'5" and 5'8",

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and, most important,

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there was something very odd
about the suspect's hair.

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At least one of the witnesses
identified this crazy hairdo

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as possibly a wig.

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Whitehead:
The most distinctive thing
they reported was this wig

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that looked somewhat
like Sonny Bono.

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But they called it a wig
and a mustache.

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Narrator:
This was the composite sketch

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that was ultimately released
to the media.

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Even veteran police officers

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said they'd never seen
anything quite like it.

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The sketch was interesting.

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It had -- showed, like,
a wild hairdo and a mustache

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that was kind of
strange-looking.

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Mayfield:
The artist's sketch almost
looked like a clown-like figure.

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Not very realistic.

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But then we realized that
the witness statements

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also described the shooter

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as having a clown,
strange-like appearance.

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Narrator:
Now things got even stranger.

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All the evidence indicated
Heather Strube knew her killer,

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yet no one --
not Heather's friends,

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not her family,
not her co-workers --

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had any idea
who this person was.

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Detectives were coming
to an uncomfortable conclusion.

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Perhaps the killer had been
wearing a disguise.

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Quite frankly, I have never
worked a homicide case

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where the shooter
wore a disguise.

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This was a first for me.

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♪♪

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Narrator:
Heather Strube's bizarre murder
was big news

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across the Atlanta metro area.

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So when police released this
composite sketch of the shooter,

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it generated a lot of interest,

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and it caught the eye
of a truck driver

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who happened to be
staying in a hotel

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near the shopping center
at the time of Heather's murder.

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He observed a white pickup truck
in the parking lot,

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and he observed someone
sitting in the driver's seat

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that looked rather crazy --

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had a wild hairdo
and a mustache.

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Narrator:
For now, this didn't help much
in identifying Heather's killer.

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But the truck driver
had more information.

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He looks at cars all day long,
and he said

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that he would recognize
this car when he saw it again.

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It was an older-model,
white F-150

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and had a little bit
of trim on it

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that wasn't common
to all such vehicles.

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Narrator:
Why was this important?

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Because the Strube family
owned an F-150.

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And Steven Strube,
Heather's soon-to-be-ex-husband,

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had a possible motive
to harm her --

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custody of their
19-month-old son, Carson,

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had become contentious.

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Allen:
There was a custody dispute.

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I mean, Steven wanted to be
the primary caregiver.

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Narrator:
But Steven was seen driving away
in his own vehicle,

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not the family truck,

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right after he gave
Heather the baby.

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He wouldn't have had time
to double back

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and commit the murder.

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Perhaps most important,
he was 6 feet tall,

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much taller than all
the descriptions of the shooter.

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Steven could not have been
the one

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that actually
pulled the trigger.

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Narrator: Detectives turned back
to their key witness,

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the truck driver who got
a good look at the shooter

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and the shooter's truck,
an F-150.

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We did ask this person,
this witness,

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if he would be willing
to ride with us

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to take a look
at a pickup truck

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and see if it looked like
the pickup truck he'd saw.

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Narrator:
The witness took one look
at the Strube family truck

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and made a positive
identification.

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He was 100% confident that
that was the same vehicle

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that he saw in the motel parking
lot behind the shopping center.

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Narrator:
This was enough for police
to get a search warrant.

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Whitehead:
Being an older-model truck
like that,

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you would expect there
to be all kinds of fibers,

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all kinds of particles
in the carpet

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or on the seat or wherever,
but it was just immaculate.

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It wasn't a new truck,
but it was a clean truck.

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Narrator:
The only piece of visible
evidence was a receipt

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for ice cream dated the day
Heather was killed.

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It was from a fast-food
restaurant about an hour's drive

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from the site of the murder.

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Joanna Hayes,
Steven's 43-year-old mother,

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freely admitted she was the one
driving the family truck

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and said she'd driven it
on the day of Heather's murder.

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She indicated that she stopped
and bought the ice cream

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on the way
to her parents' house.

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Narrator:
This appeared to put
enough distance

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between Joanna and the murder

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that she could not be
the shooter.

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Forensic analysts now did
an extensive search

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of the truck.

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They went over every
interior surface

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with what are known
as tape lifts.

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Downs:
They're like big pieces of tape

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that they put down
onto the floor,

244
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,200
they smooth it out,
they peel it back.

245
00:12:25,233 --> 00:12:28,316
Narrator:
Even though the truck had been
extensively cleaned,

246
00:12:28,350 --> 00:12:31,000
analysts found something.

247
00:12:31,330 --> 00:12:33,300
It looked like
a single black hair.

248
00:12:33,333 --> 00:12:36,266
It was sent to Chris Thompson
of FiberVisions,

249
00:12:36,300 --> 00:12:40,000
an international manufacturer
of synthetic fibers.

250
00:12:40,330 --> 00:12:44,116
Using infrared analysis
as well as light microscopy,

251
00:12:44,150 --> 00:12:48,300
Thompson determined the fiber
had several unusual qualities.

252
00:12:48,333 --> 00:12:52,200
It did not contain any texture,
and it was pigmented.

253
00:12:52,233 --> 00:12:56,183
So, kind of limits the number
of applications or products

254
00:12:56,216 --> 00:12:58,660
that it could go into.

255
00:12:58,100 --> 00:13:02,133
Narrator:
The fiber's length, 4 inches,
was also uncommon.

256
00:13:02,166 --> 00:13:04,266
The length was consistent
with something

257
00:13:04,300 --> 00:13:06,266
you might find in a wig.

258
00:13:08,300 --> 00:13:11,830
Narrator:
And that wasn't all
the tape lifts recovered

259
00:13:11,116 --> 00:13:13,300
from inside the Strubes' truck.

260
00:13:13,333 --> 00:13:17,350
Trace elements of gunshot
residue were also found.

261
00:13:17,383 --> 00:13:20,216
This residue
is almost impossible

262
00:13:20,250 --> 00:13:22,183
to completely clean up.

263
00:13:22,216 --> 00:13:25,316
Mayfield:
This trace, minute evidence
is more common

264
00:13:25,350 --> 00:13:27,166
than most people realize.

265
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,830
Narrator:
The evidence was compelling.

266
00:13:29,116 --> 00:13:33,830
The killer was almost certainly
driving the Strube family truck

267
00:13:33,116 --> 00:13:34,300
the evening of the murder.

268
00:13:34,333 --> 00:13:37,160
But who was behind the wheel?

269
00:13:37,500 --> 00:13:39,830
Who handled the gun?

270
00:13:39,116 --> 00:13:40,350
Who wore the wig?

271
00:13:40,383 --> 00:13:43,233
We were not able to come up
with a single piece

272
00:13:43,266 --> 00:13:45,200
of direct evidence

273
00:13:45,233 --> 00:13:48,160
concerning the guilt of anyone
in this case.

274
00:13:48,500 --> 00:13:52,200
♪♪

275
00:13:55,133 --> 00:13:57,383
Narrator:
A wig fiber and gunshot
residue told detectives

276
00:13:58,160 --> 00:13:59,150
that Heather Strube's killer

277
00:13:59,183 --> 00:14:02,383
was most likely driving
the Strube family truck.

278
00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:05,333
Joanna Hayes,
Heather's Mother-in-Law,

279
00:14:05,366 --> 00:14:09,116
admitted driving
that truck that very day,

280
00:14:09,150 --> 00:14:11,350
but she claimed
she couldn't be the killer

281
00:14:11,383 --> 00:14:13,383
because she had an alibi.

282
00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,300
A receipt for ice cream
from a restaurant

283
00:14:16,333 --> 00:14:19,100
an hour away
from the murder showed

284
00:14:19,133 --> 00:14:21,200
she could not be
Heather's killer.

285
00:14:21,233 --> 00:14:23,830
Well, we found the receipt
and we looked at it

286
00:14:23,116 --> 00:14:25,383
because she was adamant
that she couldn't have done it.

287
00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:27,333
Narrator:
Joanna did have a motive.

288
00:14:27,366 --> 00:14:31,166
She didn't want to share custody
of her grandson with Heather.

289
00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,383
But even prosecutors
had to admit

290
00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:38,000
that a single wig fiber
and traces of gunshot residue

291
00:14:38,330 --> 00:14:40,100
made for a thin case.

292
00:14:40,133 --> 00:14:41,316
So they gambled.

293
00:14:41,350 --> 00:14:43,366
They brought in Steven Strube

294
00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:45,316
and showed him
their surveillance tape

295
00:14:45,350 --> 00:14:48,330
of the shooter
recorded at the scene.

296
00:14:48,660 --> 00:14:53,166
We began to ask him if it looked
like anybody he knew.

297
00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,500
And he began to really
look hard at the video.

298
00:14:57,830 --> 00:14:58,233
Can you tell?

299
00:15:13,150 --> 00:15:15,300
It is apparent from not only
what he said,

300
00:15:15,333 --> 00:15:21,183
but how he reacted
that he recognized his mother.

301
00:15:40,283 --> 00:15:42,660
Narrator: Prodded by detectives,

302
00:15:42,100 --> 00:15:46,116
Steven agreed to call his mother
while they listened in.

303
00:16:17,383 --> 00:16:19,200
She didn't act
like most people would,

304
00:16:19,233 --> 00:16:22,200
where she just came right out
and said, "You're crazy.

305
00:16:22,233 --> 00:16:24,160
I didn't do this."

306
00:16:24,500 --> 00:16:27,216
Narrator:
Detectives now looked hard
at Joanna's alibi

307
00:16:27,250 --> 00:16:31,660
that she was an hour away from
the murder, buying ice cream.

308
00:16:31,100 --> 00:16:32,350
Downs: We knew, after looking
at the receipt

309
00:16:32,383 --> 00:16:35,350
for the ice cream purchase,
that she was there at 7:19.

310
00:16:35,383 --> 00:16:38,660
Narrator:
Heather was shot at 6:00.

311
00:16:38,100 --> 00:16:41,160
Could Joanna have been
at the site of the murder

312
00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:44,350
and the fast-food restaurant
64 miles away?

313
00:16:44,383 --> 00:16:47,150
Could she have been
in both places?

314
00:16:47,183 --> 00:16:50,200
We decided to drive from
the shopping center

315
00:16:50,233 --> 00:16:55,133
to the chain restaurant where
she purchased the ice cream,

316
00:16:55,166 --> 00:16:56,333
and we were able to determine

317
00:16:56,366 --> 00:17:00,350
that she had plenty of time
to commit the murder

318
00:17:00,383 --> 00:17:03,383
and drive to the store
to purchase the ice cream.

319
00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:08,160
Narrator:
Joanna also had another
possible connection.

320
00:17:08,500 --> 00:17:11,830
She once owned a gun
like the murder weapon,

321
00:17:11,116 --> 00:17:12,283
a .38 caliber.

322
00:17:12,316 --> 00:17:15,166
Mayfield:
Joanna Hayes' ex-husband
had stated that,

323
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,233
before their divorce, she had
access to that type of weapon.

324
00:17:19,266 --> 00:17:24,100
Narrator:
When questioned, Joanna
still denied any involvement.

325
00:17:39,660 --> 00:17:41,366
When confronted with
the evidence we had against her,

326
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,283
she was not convinced
that we had enough.

327
00:17:44,316 --> 00:17:47,333
Narrator:
And prosecutors worried
she might be right.

328
00:17:47,366 --> 00:17:50,116
The murder weapon
hadn't been found,

329
00:17:50,150 --> 00:17:52,283
and neither was
any sort of wig.

330
00:17:52,316 --> 00:17:56,200
And every single witness --
and there were a lot --

331
00:17:56,233 --> 00:17:58,383
said the shooter
was a man.

332
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,116
I had to overcome the evidence
of my own witnesses

333
00:18:02,150 --> 00:18:06,300
saying that they described
a male shooter.

334
00:18:06,333 --> 00:18:07,383
That's a high burden.

335
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,316
In May of 2011, Joanna Hayes

336
00:18:10,350 --> 00:18:14,133
stood in court facing
a felony murder charge.

337
00:18:14,166 --> 00:18:17,216
Steven Strube was cleared
of any involvement.

338
00:18:17,250 --> 00:18:20,333
Prosecutors said Joanna had
an elaborate plan

339
00:18:20,366 --> 00:18:23,000
for killing
her daughter-in-law.

340
00:18:23,330 --> 00:18:27,116
Joanna donned the disguise --
the wig and mustache --

341
00:18:27,150 --> 00:18:29,316
in an attempt
to hide her identity.

342
00:18:29,350 --> 00:18:33,330
She waited in the parking lot
for Heather and Steven

343
00:18:33,660 --> 00:18:34,333
to exchange the baby.

344
00:18:34,366 --> 00:18:38,233
Once she was sure the baby
was secure in his car seat,

345
00:18:38,266 --> 00:18:40,830
she approached Heather.

346
00:18:40,116 --> 00:18:42,333
No one knows what they said
to each other,

347
00:18:42,366 --> 00:18:45,150
but Joanna let her gun
do the talking

348
00:18:45,183 --> 00:18:49,133
and essentially executed
Heather in broad daylight.

349
00:18:49,166 --> 00:18:53,166
She drove 64 miles away
and bought ice cream

350
00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,166
in an attempt
to create an alibi.

351
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,830
But police proved that
she could have made the drive

352
00:18:59,116 --> 00:19:00,333
in plenty of time.

353
00:19:00,366 --> 00:19:05,160
Joanna didn't realize she left
a single wig fiber

354
00:19:05,500 --> 00:19:07,200
and gunshot residue
behind --

355
00:19:07,233 --> 00:19:10,116
clear proof that
whoever drove the truck

356
00:19:10,150 --> 00:19:11,383
was Heather's killer.

357
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:13,183
Where Joanna got rid of

358
00:19:13,216 --> 00:19:17,200
the .38 caliber and the wig,
no one knows.

359
00:19:17,233 --> 00:19:21,383
In the end, the most damning
evidence came from her son,

360
00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,150
Steven, who recognized her

361
00:19:24,183 --> 00:19:27,250
from this scratchy
surveillance video.

362
00:19:29,116 --> 00:19:31,233
Mayfield: Based upon the quality
of that videotape,

363
00:19:31,266 --> 00:19:33,366
a stranger could probably
never identify

364
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,166
anyone to any degree
of certainty,

365
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,100
but it's different
to identify a family member

366
00:19:39,133 --> 00:19:41,166
that you've lived
with your whole life.

367
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:42,366
Narrator: A jury agreed.

368
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:47,660
Joanna Hayes was convicted
and sentenced to life in prison,

369
00:19:47,100 --> 00:19:49,200
plus five years probation.

370
00:19:49,233 --> 00:19:51,233
She still maintains
her innocence.

371
00:19:51,266 --> 00:19:54,166
Mayfield:
The prosecution used your son's
own words against you.

372
00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:55,216
I know.

373
00:19:55,250 --> 00:19:57,100
And now he's got to live
with that.

374
00:19:58,366 --> 00:20:02,116
Because they dangled his son
as a carrot in front of him.

375
00:20:02,150 --> 00:20:05,100
They told him repeatedly,
"Call your mom, do this,

376
00:20:05,133 --> 00:20:07,166
and we will go help you
get your son."

377
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,283
Narrator:
Steven later retracted his
identification of his mother.

378
00:20:11,316 --> 00:20:15,250
Heather's father has
primary custody of baby Carson.

379
00:20:15,283 --> 00:20:17,116
In a biting piece of irony,

380
00:20:17,150 --> 00:20:20,333
Joanna can have no contact
with the grandson

381
00:20:20,366 --> 00:20:23,116
she was willing to kill for.

382
00:20:23,150 --> 00:20:27,333
Allen:
Carson has a laugh that very
much reminds me of Heather.

383
00:20:27,366 --> 00:20:29,500
When we lost Heather,

384
00:20:29,830 --> 00:20:31,300
that was just a hole
in my heart that --

385
00:20:31,333 --> 00:20:33,350
it's never gonna heal.

386
00:20:33,383 --> 00:20:36,250
Downs:
Joanna Hayes almost pulled off
the perfect crime --

387
00:20:36,283 --> 00:20:40,000
closer to committing the perfect
crime than anybody I ever saw.

388
00:20:40,330 --> 00:20:42,150
Mayfield: Of all the murders
I've prosecuted,

389
00:20:42,183 --> 00:20:47,500
very seldom do I see a planned,
calculated, cold-hearted,

390
00:20:47,830 --> 00:20:51,660
cold-blooded murder
like this one.

391
00:20:51,100 --> 00:20:52,333
This one was different.

392
00:20:52,366 --> 00:20:56,250
What made it different
was Joanna Hayes.

393
00:20:56,283 --> 00:20:59,266
She's just the most
evil defendant

394
00:20:59,300 --> 00:21:01,283
I've ever convicted
of murder.