1 00:00:00,867 --> 00:00:03,535 [suspenseful music playing] 2 00:00:03,603 --> 00:00:05,270 [Morley] It was just like the young man 3 00:00:05,272 --> 00:00:08,741 was lying there peacefully with his throat cut. 4 00:00:08,808 --> 00:00:11,243 [dramatic music playing] 5 00:00:14,147 --> 00:00:17,082 He was running in fear of his life 6 00:00:17,150 --> 00:00:19,651 from whoever it is that was terrorizing him. 7 00:00:25,158 --> 00:00:28,560 His response was I could kill somebody. 8 00:00:28,628 --> 00:00:30,229 Is he a jealous lover? 9 00:00:30,296 --> 00:00:32,297 Is this a revenge homicide? 10 00:00:36,369 --> 00:00:39,371 He was very shaken, and then he said, 11 00:00:39,373 --> 00:00:42,041 "That was him out in the hall." 12 00:00:42,108 --> 00:00:46,378 This young man that he was using for sexual gain, 13 00:00:46,446 --> 00:00:47,446 dared challenge him. 14 00:00:50,784 --> 00:00:52,651 [narrator] Every day in North America, 15 00:00:52,653 --> 00:00:55,454 dozens of people are murdered. 16 00:00:55,521 --> 00:00:57,923 The key to solving the toughest of these homicides 17 00:00:57,990 --> 00:01:01,726 lies in the final 24 hours of the victim's life. 18 00:01:01,728 --> 00:01:03,462 To crack the case, 19 00:01:03,529 --> 00:01:07,265 detectives must reconstruct that critical timeline. 20 00:01:07,267 --> 00:01:10,135 The minutes and hours containing evidence 21 00:01:10,137 --> 00:01:12,337 that can help unlock the mystery 22 00:01:12,339 --> 00:01:13,372 and catch the killer. 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:22,948 [dramatic music playing] 24 00:01:23,015 --> 00:01:25,283 [narrator] Columbia, Missouri, 25 00:01:25,285 --> 00:01:28,153 a vibrant city with historic charm 26 00:01:28,155 --> 00:01:31,824 located between St. Louis and Kansas City. 27 00:01:31,891 --> 00:01:36,495 Columbia is a college town with a very large university, 28 00:01:36,497 --> 00:01:38,363 the University of Missouri. 29 00:01:38,365 --> 00:01:40,298 It's a very pretty town. 30 00:01:40,333 --> 00:01:42,768 It's a very progressive community 31 00:01:42,835 --> 00:01:45,237 with a lot of young people. 32 00:01:45,304 --> 00:01:48,507 Columbia has traditionally been a very safe place, 33 00:01:48,574 --> 00:01:51,110 not a lot of crime. 34 00:01:51,177 --> 00:01:53,378 [narrator] But on a warm June day, 35 00:01:53,380 --> 00:01:56,381 the community spirit is shattered, 36 00:01:56,383 --> 00:01:57,782 when a group of college students 37 00:01:57,784 --> 00:02:00,185 make a gruesome discovery. 38 00:02:00,187 --> 00:02:01,920 [phone ringing] 39 00:02:01,922 --> 00:02:04,389 [dispatcher] 911, what's your emergency? 40 00:02:04,391 --> 00:02:05,524 [sirens wailing] 41 00:02:05,526 --> 00:02:07,125 [Morley] The 911 call comes in 42 00:02:07,127 --> 00:02:09,394 at 2:10 in the afternoon. 43 00:02:09,462 --> 00:02:13,799 A body has been found between two houses. 44 00:02:13,866 --> 00:02:16,067 It's a primarily college student community 45 00:02:16,069 --> 00:02:18,737 in that area. 46 00:02:18,804 --> 00:02:22,007 [Morley] The young men who find the body think, 47 00:02:22,074 --> 00:02:24,343 well, maybe this is just someone who's passed out. 48 00:02:27,747 --> 00:02:29,614 And then they see the blood 49 00:02:29,616 --> 00:02:32,417 and realize this person is not passed out 50 00:02:32,419 --> 00:02:34,086 but is actually dead. 51 00:02:34,153 --> 00:02:36,421 [dramatic music playing] 52 00:02:36,423 --> 00:02:38,924 [indistinct radio chatter] 53 00:02:41,961 --> 00:02:46,431 When the police arrive, they see that the body 54 00:02:46,433 --> 00:02:49,501 is a young man who's lying on his back. 55 00:02:49,569 --> 00:02:53,372 He is naked except for a pair of blue Umbro shorts. 56 00:02:55,575 --> 00:02:56,775 When they approached the body, 57 00:02:56,777 --> 00:02:58,910 they see a large pool of blood 58 00:02:58,912 --> 00:03:01,847 and an infestation of insects. 59 00:03:03,983 --> 00:03:07,118 He has a gash across his neck, 60 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,322 that's about three and a half inches long. 61 00:03:10,389 --> 00:03:12,301 [Michael] Someone cut his throat and it was deep 62 00:03:12,325 --> 00:03:14,359 all the way down to the spine. 63 00:03:16,329 --> 00:03:18,664 [narrator] Tasked with investigating the crime, 64 00:03:18,731 --> 00:03:22,267 a Columbia police detective Michael Lederle 65 00:03:22,269 --> 00:03:25,137 and County Prosecutor Morley Swingle. 66 00:03:27,673 --> 00:03:31,143 First thing we want to do is identify the victim. 67 00:03:31,210 --> 00:03:33,121 It's very difficult because the victim didn't have 68 00:03:33,145 --> 00:03:35,814 any type of identification on him. 69 00:03:35,881 --> 00:03:39,151 There was no weapon found around the body 70 00:03:39,218 --> 00:03:43,488 and no real sign of a struggle. 71 00:03:43,490 --> 00:03:45,090 [narrator] As Detective Lederle 72 00:03:45,092 --> 00:03:47,292 takes a closer look at the crime scene, 73 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:49,961 he notices a key detail. 74 00:03:49,963 --> 00:03:52,764 We don't see defensive marks on his hands. 75 00:03:52,832 --> 00:03:54,072 Defensive wounds are very common 76 00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:55,567 when there's a knife fight 77 00:03:55,635 --> 00:03:57,436 and they get cut or stabbed in their hands 78 00:03:57,503 --> 00:03:59,437 trying to protect themselves. 79 00:03:59,439 --> 00:04:01,973 That type of evidence is missing. 80 00:04:01,975 --> 00:04:04,309 We start thinking, why? 81 00:04:04,377 --> 00:04:07,846 Why did this person not defend themselves? 82 00:04:07,848 --> 00:04:10,048 It was just like the young man was lying there 83 00:04:10,050 --> 00:04:13,719 peacefully with his throat cut. 84 00:04:13,786 --> 00:04:16,722 [narrator] When the medical examiner looks over the body, 85 00:04:16,789 --> 00:04:20,325 she notices an unusual pattern of injuries. 86 00:04:20,393 --> 00:04:21,726 There at the scene, 87 00:04:21,728 --> 00:04:24,129 she sees that there was bruising 88 00:04:24,196 --> 00:04:27,399 across the top of the chest 89 00:04:27,401 --> 00:04:29,935 and when the body was rolled over, 90 00:04:30,002 --> 00:04:33,204 there's bruising between the shoulder blades, 91 00:04:33,206 --> 00:04:38,143 and that struck the medical examiner as unusual. 92 00:04:38,145 --> 00:04:39,878 [narrator] As she studies the body, 93 00:04:39,945 --> 00:04:44,215 the medical examiner notices something else. 94 00:04:44,217 --> 00:04:47,352 [Morley] She also realizes that the lack of blood 95 00:04:47,354 --> 00:04:49,354 going down the front of the body 96 00:04:49,356 --> 00:04:53,358 and the blood flowing down the neck to the grass 97 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,161 indicates to her that the throat was cut 98 00:04:56,228 --> 00:05:00,232 after the young man was on his back on the ground. 99 00:05:02,301 --> 00:05:04,102 That's unusual. 100 00:05:04,170 --> 00:05:07,105 So that suggests that either the victim was unconscious 101 00:05:07,107 --> 00:05:09,441 or completely unable to respond 102 00:05:09,443 --> 00:05:13,912 when the actual injury that caused his death occurred. 103 00:05:13,914 --> 00:05:15,594 [narrator] The medical examiner determines 104 00:05:15,648 --> 00:05:17,449 the victim likely lost consciousness 105 00:05:17,516 --> 00:05:19,785 from constriction around his neck, 106 00:05:19,852 --> 00:05:23,054 either from being chocked or strangled. 107 00:05:23,056 --> 00:05:25,256 When it's learned that he is strangled 108 00:05:25,258 --> 00:05:27,459 and then his throat is slit, 109 00:05:27,526 --> 00:05:29,127 it speaks to me that the killer 110 00:05:29,129 --> 00:05:31,996 had a lot of anger. This is personal. 111 00:05:31,998 --> 00:05:34,132 I'm going to put my hands around your throat 112 00:05:34,134 --> 00:05:35,734 in an effort to kill you 113 00:05:35,736 --> 00:05:37,402 and then I'm also gonna slit your throat 114 00:05:37,470 --> 00:05:39,738 almost as insurance, but also because 115 00:05:39,740 --> 00:05:44,676 I have that much rage that I still need to unleash. 116 00:05:44,744 --> 00:05:47,012 [narrator] The forensics team collects evidence 117 00:05:47,079 --> 00:05:49,748 and sends it on to the crime lab. 118 00:05:49,815 --> 00:05:53,552 His fingernails were scraped and that was collected 119 00:05:53,619 --> 00:05:55,620 so that you can see if there was any DNA 120 00:05:55,688 --> 00:05:57,622 under his fingernails. 121 00:05:57,624 --> 00:06:00,959 Also, this young man had shaved his chest 122 00:06:00,961 --> 00:06:04,362 and the medical examiner found limb hairs, 123 00:06:04,364 --> 00:06:06,698 L-I-M-B, off of your arm. 124 00:06:06,700 --> 00:06:09,167 Limb hairs were on his chest. 125 00:06:11,837 --> 00:06:13,438 [narrator] Then investigators 126 00:06:13,506 --> 00:06:15,507 get their firstbreak in the case 127 00:06:15,509 --> 00:06:17,676 from a surprising source. 128 00:06:20,179 --> 00:06:23,615 At the scene, an officer said he knows who the victim is. 129 00:06:25,651 --> 00:06:28,787 He said that's a young man that we had actually arrested 130 00:06:28,854 --> 00:06:31,990 back in April for a noise violation. 131 00:06:33,526 --> 00:06:34,859 [narrator] The victim is identified 132 00:06:34,861 --> 00:06:39,197 as 23-year-old Jesse Valencia. 133 00:06:39,199 --> 00:06:41,866 Jesse Valencia was a University of Missouri 134 00:06:41,868 --> 00:06:43,402 college student. 135 00:06:43,469 --> 00:06:46,171 His intention was to go to law school someday. 136 00:06:48,340 --> 00:06:50,342 Jesse was very active in the college life. 137 00:06:50,409 --> 00:06:53,945 He was known to socialize quite a bit. 138 00:06:53,947 --> 00:06:57,282 He was a free spirit. 139 00:06:57,349 --> 00:06:59,151 He was model beautiful. 140 00:06:59,218 --> 00:07:01,419 He was gay and it seemed like 141 00:07:01,421 --> 00:07:05,023 everybody who met him liked him. 142 00:07:05,090 --> 00:07:07,893 [narrator] Investigators turn to the medical examiner 143 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,763 hoping she can help establish when Jesse was killed. 144 00:07:11,765 --> 00:07:13,365 The medical examiner determines 145 00:07:13,432 --> 00:07:15,834 that Jesse was killed before it's sunrise, 146 00:07:15,901 --> 00:07:18,537 which was at 5:44 am. 147 00:07:20,173 --> 00:07:22,641 [narrator] To find Jesse Valencia's killer, 148 00:07:22,708 --> 00:07:24,709 detectives will now need to reconstruct 149 00:07:24,777 --> 00:07:27,212 his final 24 hours. 150 00:07:31,584 --> 00:07:33,852 They begin by canvassing the neighborhood, 151 00:07:33,919 --> 00:07:37,255 looking for witnesses to the crime. 152 00:07:37,257 --> 00:07:41,726 They didn't find people who had heard anything. 153 00:07:41,794 --> 00:07:44,929 Then they found an apartment where the door 154 00:07:44,931 --> 00:07:48,733 had been left ajar and it turns out 155 00:07:48,801 --> 00:07:53,405 it was the apartment of Jesse Valencia. 156 00:07:53,472 --> 00:07:55,807 [narrator] Detectives speak with Jesse's neighbor, 157 00:07:55,875 --> 00:07:58,743 Christopher Kepner, to see if he heard or saw 158 00:07:58,745 --> 00:08:02,814 anything unusual in the early morning hours. 159 00:08:02,882 --> 00:08:06,417 Christopher Kepner said that he got home from drinking 160 00:08:06,419 --> 00:08:08,419 at 3:00 in the morning. 161 00:08:08,421 --> 00:08:10,822 He'd been very intoxicated. 162 00:08:10,890 --> 00:08:12,824 Christopher's awakened by bumping 163 00:08:12,826 --> 00:08:15,227 and loud noises and voices. 164 00:08:15,294 --> 00:08:18,429 So something was happening in Jesse's apartment. 165 00:08:18,431 --> 00:08:21,099 The pounding that Christopher Kepner had heard 166 00:08:21,101 --> 00:08:23,635 had occurred on a narrow timeframe, 167 00:08:23,637 --> 00:08:27,739 sometime between 3:00 and 5:44 am. 168 00:08:30,243 --> 00:08:34,779 He said he heard a voice saying, "Stop it. Stop it." 169 00:08:34,847 --> 00:08:37,716 And Kepner pounded on the wall and he said, 170 00:08:37,783 --> 00:08:40,085 "Yeah. Stop it. Be quiet." 171 00:08:42,989 --> 00:08:45,990 And then he never heard anything else. 172 00:08:45,992 --> 00:08:48,260 [dramatic music playing] 173 00:08:48,327 --> 00:08:50,729 [Morley] Investigators got a search warrant 174 00:08:50,796 --> 00:08:53,865 to search Jesse's apartment. 175 00:08:53,933 --> 00:08:55,934 So the time of Jesse's death is placed 176 00:08:56,001 --> 00:08:58,203 in the early morning hours. 177 00:08:58,270 --> 00:09:01,139 Who would be at Jesse's apartment at this time? 178 00:09:01,206 --> 00:09:02,874 Somebody who knows him and perhaps 179 00:09:02,876 --> 00:09:04,475 has an intimate relationship 180 00:09:04,477 --> 00:09:08,013 or a romantic relationship with him. 181 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,548 And moreover, Jesse's door was ajar 182 00:09:10,550 --> 00:09:12,617 and Jesse's body was found outside, 183 00:09:12,685 --> 00:09:14,886 partially clothed, almost like he was running 184 00:09:14,888 --> 00:09:17,289 in fear of his life from whoever it is 185 00:09:17,356 --> 00:09:19,024 that was terrorizing him. 186 00:09:21,894 --> 00:09:24,496 [narrator] As detectives comb through the apartment, 187 00:09:24,563 --> 00:09:28,099 a crucial detail catches their attention. 188 00:09:28,167 --> 00:09:32,504 They find a note addressed to Jesse from an ex-boyfriend. 189 00:09:32,571 --> 00:09:36,708 The note was from a person that signed it as Jason 190 00:09:36,775 --> 00:09:40,645 and was talking about things needed to be returned 191 00:09:40,713 --> 00:09:45,083 from a breakup between Jesse and this person. 192 00:09:46,518 --> 00:09:47,852 Looking into a homicide, 193 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,722 lovers, boyfriends, girlfriends, 194 00:09:50,789 --> 00:09:54,926 those are often people that because of emotional rage 195 00:09:54,928 --> 00:09:56,728 might end up committing a homicide. 196 00:09:56,730 --> 00:09:58,330 So once the investigators see 197 00:09:58,397 --> 00:10:00,732 that there's this letter from Jason, 198 00:10:00,734 --> 00:10:03,668 Jason automatically becomes a potential suspect. 199 00:10:03,670 --> 00:10:06,204 [dramatic music playing] 200 00:10:08,407 --> 00:10:09,874 [narrator] After breaking the news 201 00:10:09,876 --> 00:10:12,677 to Jesse's family about his murder, 202 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:16,281 they ask his mother about his relationships. 203 00:10:16,348 --> 00:10:19,083 [Morley] Linda Valencia, she was from Kentucky 204 00:10:19,085 --> 00:10:21,886 and Jesse had been her favorite child. 205 00:10:21,888 --> 00:10:23,555 She doted on him. 206 00:10:23,622 --> 00:10:26,958 Jesse was very open with his mother. 207 00:10:27,026 --> 00:10:30,562 She knew that that he had multiple relationships. 208 00:10:30,629 --> 00:10:33,732 Maybe a little promiscuous. 209 00:10:33,766 --> 00:10:35,010 [narrator] When Detective Lederle 210 00:10:35,034 --> 00:10:36,768 brings up Jason's name, 211 00:10:36,835 --> 00:10:38,970 Linda immediately recognizes it 212 00:10:39,004 --> 00:10:41,439 as her son's ex-boyfriend. 213 00:10:41,507 --> 00:10:45,443 Linda felt that the breakup between Jesse and Jason 214 00:10:45,511 --> 00:10:47,512 had not been a good one 215 00:10:47,514 --> 00:10:51,716 and that it had been more Jesse's idea than Jason's, 216 00:10:51,718 --> 00:10:54,653 and she felt like it was possible 217 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,722 that Jason wasn't taking the breakup well. 218 00:10:57,724 --> 00:11:01,292 She was fearful that he was a possessive type of person. 219 00:11:03,662 --> 00:11:07,132 And that he may be the stalking type. 220 00:11:07,199 --> 00:11:08,533 We have to unravel 221 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,202 the mystery behind Jesse's death. 222 00:11:14,106 --> 00:11:15,173 [dramatic music playing] 223 00:11:15,175 --> 00:11:17,341 [narrator] In the brutal murder of 23-year-old 224 00:11:17,343 --> 00:11:21,179 University of Missouri student, Jesse Valencia, 225 00:11:21,181 --> 00:11:24,983 detectives are zeroing in on their first suspect. 226 00:11:25,050 --> 00:11:28,787 Jason Speedman, a recent ex-boyfriend. 227 00:11:28,854 --> 00:11:32,791 Jason was another very handsome young man, 228 00:11:32,858 --> 00:11:34,225 very friendly. 229 00:11:37,063 --> 00:11:41,332 And when he found out that Jesse was dead, 230 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,769 he totally broke down in grief. 231 00:11:47,606 --> 00:11:51,409 During our conversation with Jason Speedman, 232 00:11:51,477 --> 00:11:55,880 he described a very different scenario from Jesse's mother. 233 00:11:55,882 --> 00:11:58,816 He admitted to having a relationship with Jesse. 234 00:11:58,818 --> 00:12:00,685 They broke up two to three months prior to that 235 00:12:00,687 --> 00:12:04,355 but they still had a really good relationship. 236 00:12:04,423 --> 00:12:05,890 They remained friends. 237 00:12:05,892 --> 00:12:08,226 [dramatic music playing] 238 00:12:08,228 --> 00:12:10,962 [Morley] Jason gave his alibi 239 00:12:10,964 --> 00:12:13,297 that he had been at work that night 240 00:12:13,299 --> 00:12:15,500 until shortly after 6:00. 241 00:12:15,567 --> 00:12:18,903 And then went to a new boyfriend's house 242 00:12:18,971 --> 00:12:21,706 until he came home about 1:00 in the morning 243 00:12:21,708 --> 00:12:25,443 and went to bed. 244 00:12:25,445 --> 00:12:29,046 Even though the police find Jason believable 245 00:12:29,048 --> 00:12:31,916 from his demeanor, they still can't rule him out 246 00:12:31,984 --> 00:12:37,722 because at the crucial time when Jesse was being killed, 247 00:12:37,724 --> 00:12:40,258 Jason was home alone sleeping. 248 00:12:40,260 --> 00:12:42,327 And being home alone sleeping 249 00:12:42,394 --> 00:12:44,863 is not a particularly good alibi. 250 00:12:44,930 --> 00:12:46,531 [suspenseful music playing] 251 00:12:46,533 --> 00:12:51,269 We asked Jason for a DNA swab, he gives it to us. 252 00:12:51,271 --> 00:12:53,738 We really don't have much more to hold Jason, 253 00:12:53,806 --> 00:12:55,673 so we let him go. 254 00:12:55,741 --> 00:13:00,077 But we continued to keep him as a potential suspect. 255 00:13:00,079 --> 00:13:02,413 [narrator] Searching for new leads, 256 00:13:02,481 --> 00:13:06,551 detectives continue talking to Jesse's social circle. 257 00:13:06,618 --> 00:13:08,419 It's sort of like a spider web. 258 00:13:08,421 --> 00:13:11,222 As you talk to one friend, they tell you other friends 259 00:13:11,290 --> 00:13:14,959 and so the police department ended up interviewing 260 00:13:14,961 --> 00:13:17,228 a large number of Jesse's friends 261 00:13:17,296 --> 00:13:19,297 as they're trying to find out 262 00:13:19,364 --> 00:13:22,834 what happened to him on that last night of his life. 263 00:13:22,836 --> 00:13:25,303 [narrator] Detectives learn that Jesse attended a party 264 00:13:25,305 --> 00:13:28,172 in the hours before his murder. 265 00:13:28,174 --> 00:13:30,441 They tracked down the host of the party. 266 00:13:30,443 --> 00:13:34,712 Another student named Jennifer Weatherspoon. 267 00:13:34,780 --> 00:13:36,581 [Morley] Jennifer was just a really good friend 268 00:13:36,583 --> 00:13:39,584 of Jesse's. 269 00:13:39,586 --> 00:13:41,920 She said Jesse was having a good time 270 00:13:41,987 --> 00:13:46,657 and sort of being the life of the party. 271 00:13:46,659 --> 00:13:49,260 [narrator] Investigators learn that at the party, 272 00:13:49,262 --> 00:13:52,263 Jesse had made a call to his newest fling, 273 00:13:52,265 --> 00:13:56,067 a young man named Ed McDevitt. 274 00:13:56,069 --> 00:13:57,268 The phone was actually answered 275 00:13:57,270 --> 00:14:00,405 by Ed McDevitt's roommate. 276 00:14:02,208 --> 00:14:06,211 He and Ed had ended up going to the party. 277 00:14:06,278 --> 00:14:10,014 Jesse and Ed had just met earlier that week 278 00:14:10,016 --> 00:14:13,417 and had struck up a relationship. 279 00:14:13,419 --> 00:14:15,954 [narrator] But Ed's roommate, Eric Thurston, 280 00:14:16,021 --> 00:14:19,691 makes a poor impression on the other party guests. 281 00:14:19,758 --> 00:14:23,694 People described him as not very friendly. 282 00:14:23,696 --> 00:14:26,030 Eric is kind of rude, 283 00:14:26,032 --> 00:14:29,567 he's kind of a... Lack of a better word, a jerk. 284 00:14:29,569 --> 00:14:33,438 Eric Thurston got bored at the party 285 00:14:33,505 --> 00:14:35,440 and he said he was going to go 286 00:14:35,507 --> 00:14:39,310 find something more exciting to do and he left. 287 00:14:40,646 --> 00:14:42,981 [narrator] Shortly afterwards, Jesse and Ed 288 00:14:43,048 --> 00:14:45,383 leave the party together. 289 00:14:45,450 --> 00:14:48,052 [Morley] They walked a couple of blocks 290 00:14:48,054 --> 00:14:52,190 and Jesse was hoping Ed would come home with him. 291 00:14:52,257 --> 00:14:54,392 But Ed said he's too tired 292 00:14:54,394 --> 00:14:56,995 and he has to go to work in the morning. 293 00:14:57,062 --> 00:14:59,330 [narrator] Jesse then returns to the party 294 00:14:59,332 --> 00:15:02,066 and spends time with his friend Jennifer. 295 00:15:02,068 --> 00:15:04,869 By that time, she was cleaning up after the party 296 00:15:04,871 --> 00:15:08,539 and they sat together for a while and talked. 297 00:15:08,607 --> 00:15:12,276 She tells us that the last time she saw Jesse 298 00:15:12,278 --> 00:15:15,079 was about 3:45 am. 299 00:15:15,081 --> 00:15:17,582 He said he's going home and going to bed. 300 00:15:20,352 --> 00:15:22,219 [narrator] Jennifer's account allows detectives 301 00:15:22,221 --> 00:15:24,956 to narrow down Jesse's window of death 302 00:15:25,023 --> 00:15:29,093 to between 3:45 and 5:44 am. 303 00:15:30,629 --> 00:15:33,965 It also gives them two new suspects, 304 00:15:33,967 --> 00:15:36,634 Ed McDevitt, Jesse's latest fling 305 00:15:36,636 --> 00:15:39,537 and his roommate, Eric Thurston. 306 00:15:42,574 --> 00:15:43,908 We discovered that Eric Thurston 307 00:15:43,910 --> 00:15:45,376 does have a criminal history. 308 00:15:45,444 --> 00:15:48,446 It's drug possession and minor larceny. 309 00:15:48,513 --> 00:15:50,314 While that doesn't mean a person 310 00:15:50,316 --> 00:15:53,384 is automatically going around and committing crimes, 311 00:15:53,452 --> 00:15:56,387 it does mean you're a little bit less believable 312 00:15:56,455 --> 00:15:58,656 than somebody who's gone through their life 313 00:15:58,658 --> 00:16:01,659 without committing any crimes at all. 314 00:16:01,661 --> 00:16:04,395 [narrator] Armed with this incriminating information, 315 00:16:04,397 --> 00:16:05,997 detectives call Eric Thurston 316 00:16:06,064 --> 00:16:08,599 down to the station for questioning. 317 00:16:08,667 --> 00:16:11,936 The first impression is that he's a little aloof, 318 00:16:12,004 --> 00:16:16,174 he's not cooperative, so that raises some red flags. 319 00:16:17,809 --> 00:16:19,477 His demeanor was cold, 320 00:16:19,479 --> 00:16:23,481 it was not at all disappointed, 321 00:16:23,548 --> 00:16:26,150 that a young man he had just been at the party with 322 00:16:26,152 --> 00:16:28,353 the night before is dead, 323 00:16:28,420 --> 00:16:31,555 not at all shocked by it. 324 00:16:31,557 --> 00:16:34,692 [Michael] That's kind of puzzling. 325 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:40,498 And then Eric tells us that he and Ed used to be lovers. 326 00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:42,833 [narrator] As detectives drill down on Eric, 327 00:16:42,835 --> 00:16:44,368 they discover the relationship 328 00:16:44,370 --> 00:16:47,838 between the two men had been violent. 329 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,108 There had been a domestic relations incident 330 00:16:50,175 --> 00:16:53,844 between Ed McDevitt and Eric Thurston, 331 00:16:53,846 --> 00:16:55,313 where the police had been called in 332 00:16:55,380 --> 00:16:57,448 because of a physical squabble 333 00:16:57,450 --> 00:16:59,517 between the two of them. 334 00:16:59,584 --> 00:17:02,253 So it did seem that there were high passions 335 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:05,289 between Eric Thurston and Ed McDevitt. 336 00:17:10,462 --> 00:17:13,998 With Jesse having multiple lovers, 337 00:17:14,066 --> 00:17:16,400 one of the things that we were looking at is, 338 00:17:16,402 --> 00:17:19,070 is Eric a, uh, jealous lover? 339 00:17:19,072 --> 00:17:22,073 Is this a revenge homicide? 340 00:17:22,140 --> 00:17:27,278 Perhaps you have somebody who's very jealous of Jesse. 341 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,748 Jealousy is among the top motives for murder, 342 00:17:30,816 --> 00:17:33,017 especially in cases where males perceive 343 00:17:33,085 --> 00:17:36,487 that they're in part of a romantic love triangle 344 00:17:36,555 --> 00:17:39,424 or that they want to get back at the person 345 00:17:39,491 --> 00:17:44,428 that is involved with their partner. 346 00:17:44,430 --> 00:17:47,098 [narrator] Having established a potential motive, 347 00:17:47,165 --> 00:17:49,767 Detective Lederle confronts Eric. 348 00:17:49,769 --> 00:17:51,836 Did he murder Jesse Valencia? 349 00:17:53,906 --> 00:17:57,975 [Morley] His response was, "I could kill somebody. 350 00:17:58,043 --> 00:17:59,310 I could kill somebody easily. 351 00:17:59,377 --> 00:18:01,379 I didn't happen to kill this person. 352 00:18:01,446 --> 00:18:03,581 Yeah. I could kill somebody." 353 00:18:03,583 --> 00:18:07,151 [Michael] That was a weird and kind of unusual statement. 354 00:18:08,921 --> 00:18:11,589 Is Eric involved? We have to dig deeper 355 00:18:11,591 --> 00:18:14,158 and figure out what is going on. 356 00:18:18,831 --> 00:18:21,699 [narrator] In the coldblooded killing of Jesse Valencia, 357 00:18:21,766 --> 00:18:23,501 investigators have their sights 358 00:18:23,503 --> 00:18:26,838 set on his new lover's roommate, Eric Thurston. 359 00:18:28,307 --> 00:18:30,508 They grill Eric about his whereabouts 360 00:18:30,510 --> 00:18:33,244 during the window of time Jesse was killed. 361 00:18:36,048 --> 00:18:38,315 [Morley] Eric said after leaving the party 362 00:18:38,317 --> 00:18:41,519 at 3:00 in the morning, he had got online 363 00:18:41,586 --> 00:18:44,722 and had chatted with some other people. 364 00:18:46,325 --> 00:18:48,726 And so between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning, 365 00:18:48,728 --> 00:18:52,196 he had gone over to a house of two young men 366 00:18:52,264 --> 00:18:54,265 for the rest of the night 367 00:18:54,333 --> 00:18:56,667 and they'd actually fixed breakfast together. 368 00:18:56,669 --> 00:18:59,670 [tense music playing] 369 00:18:59,672 --> 00:19:01,806 [Michael] We're gonna verify that information. 370 00:19:04,943 --> 00:19:06,810 The police tracked down those two young men 371 00:19:06,812 --> 00:19:11,149 that he said he went and stayed with that night. 372 00:19:13,285 --> 00:19:14,752 And they confirmed that, yes, 373 00:19:14,819 --> 00:19:17,488 he had stayed the night at their house. 374 00:19:20,091 --> 00:19:23,127 So now Eric Thurston did have an alibi. 375 00:19:24,630 --> 00:19:28,432 [narrator] With Eric ruled out, 376 00:19:28,500 --> 00:19:31,302 detectives ask him more about Ed McDevitt, 377 00:19:31,304 --> 00:19:35,173 who was Jesse's most recent romantic partner. 378 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,776 [Michael] Eric tells us that Ed has a drinking problem 379 00:19:38,778 --> 00:19:42,379 and sometimes becomes violent when he's drinking. 380 00:19:42,381 --> 00:19:46,250 It also happens that Ed is a cook 381 00:19:46,318 --> 00:19:49,386 at a restaurant 382 00:19:49,388 --> 00:19:52,490 and has access to a lot of knives. 383 00:19:56,061 --> 00:19:59,930 [narrator] Having learned the Jesse's most recent boyfriend 384 00:19:59,932 --> 00:20:02,600 had a history of violent outbursts, 385 00:20:02,667 --> 00:20:06,604 investigators haul Ed McDevitt down to the station. 386 00:20:06,671 --> 00:20:09,674 [Morley] Ed went into all the details 387 00:20:09,741 --> 00:20:13,744 about the relationship that he'd had with Jesse. 388 00:20:13,812 --> 00:20:18,449 They had met at a gay bar the night before Jesse died. 389 00:20:19,751 --> 00:20:21,886 Ed tells us that he and Jesse really hit it off 390 00:20:21,953 --> 00:20:24,555 and they go back to Jesse's apartment. 391 00:20:26,091 --> 00:20:27,958 [narrator] Ed tells investigators 392 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,961 the last time he saw Jesse was when he had gone 393 00:20:30,963 --> 00:20:33,564 to Jennifer's party. 394 00:20:33,566 --> 00:20:36,367 After he and Jesse walked a couple of blocks, 395 00:20:36,369 --> 00:20:39,036 they are finally separated and Ed was walking 396 00:20:39,038 --> 00:20:41,772 toward his own home. Jesse called him 397 00:20:41,774 --> 00:20:44,108 and tried to talk him into changing his mind 398 00:20:44,110 --> 00:20:47,711 to coming back and spending the night. 399 00:20:47,713 --> 00:20:49,714 But Ed said he's too tired 400 00:20:49,781 --> 00:20:51,449 and he has to go to work in the morning. 401 00:20:51,516 --> 00:20:54,452 [narrator] Ed tells detectives that Jesse's call 402 00:20:54,519 --> 00:20:57,721 came in at 3:14 am. 403 00:20:57,723 --> 00:20:59,723 They checked the phone records. 404 00:20:59,725 --> 00:21:02,593 The phone backed up what Ed was saying 405 00:21:02,661 --> 00:21:06,597 and also it showed that that call had been at 3:14 406 00:21:06,665 --> 00:21:08,599 in the morning. 407 00:21:08,601 --> 00:21:11,268 [narrator] But then Ed contradicts earlier testimony 408 00:21:11,270 --> 00:21:13,170 from his roommate Eric. 409 00:21:15,206 --> 00:21:17,074 [Michael] Ed tells us that about 3:30 410 00:21:17,142 --> 00:21:19,744 when he arrived home, Eric's there. 411 00:21:19,811 --> 00:21:22,613 But we already have a different timeline 412 00:21:22,615 --> 00:21:26,350 from Eric that he met up with other people 413 00:21:26,352 --> 00:21:29,754 from a gay dating website. 414 00:21:29,821 --> 00:21:31,822 And it just throws a lot of question marks 415 00:21:31,890 --> 00:21:34,625 into our investigation. What's going on here? 416 00:21:34,627 --> 00:21:37,194 We have to figure out if he's telling the truth. 417 00:21:38,830 --> 00:21:41,165 [narrator] With no one to confirm Ed's alibi, 418 00:21:41,167 --> 00:21:43,834 it's possible he doubled back to Jesse's place 419 00:21:43,836 --> 00:21:47,971 after they partied and killed him. 420 00:21:47,973 --> 00:21:50,775 Looking for evidence to connect him to the crime, 421 00:21:50,842 --> 00:21:53,644 they collect Ed's DNA. 422 00:21:53,646 --> 00:21:56,647 Police also get a search warrant for Ed's apartment 423 00:21:56,649 --> 00:21:59,850 and in that search, they did find 424 00:21:59,918 --> 00:22:01,919 an extensive knife collection, 425 00:22:01,986 --> 00:22:03,921 so they seized that knife collection 426 00:22:03,923 --> 00:22:06,724 as potential evidence to compare 427 00:22:06,791 --> 00:22:08,592 and see if maybe one of those knives 428 00:22:08,594 --> 00:22:10,461 had been the murder weapon. 429 00:22:10,463 --> 00:22:13,197 [narrator] Despite all of their investigative work 430 00:22:13,264 --> 00:22:15,599 across multiple suspects, 431 00:22:15,601 --> 00:22:18,836 detectives are no closer to catching Jesse's killer. 432 00:22:22,074 --> 00:22:24,542 As the officers conduct their investigation, 433 00:22:24,609 --> 00:22:26,877 they are finding more young men 434 00:22:26,945 --> 00:22:29,347 who had connections with Jesse. 435 00:22:29,414 --> 00:22:33,417 They had Jason who had been the recent breakup 436 00:22:33,419 --> 00:22:37,221 of a long term relationship. They had Ed McDevitt 437 00:22:37,288 --> 00:22:39,356 who definitely was a sexual relationship 438 00:22:39,358 --> 00:22:42,693 that had just started two nights before. 439 00:22:42,761 --> 00:22:46,497 So it seemed like everywhere the police turned, 440 00:22:46,564 --> 00:22:48,432 there was another potential suspect. 441 00:22:50,435 --> 00:22:54,838 [narrator] Then, investigators catch a break in the case. 442 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,709 An anonymous tip comes in through their Crime Stoppers phone line. 443 00:23:01,045 --> 00:23:04,582 [Michael] What's interesting about this tip 444 00:23:04,649 --> 00:23:10,321 is that it claims that a Columbia police officer 445 00:23:11,723 --> 00:23:15,125 has had an affair with Jesse Valencia. 446 00:23:15,127 --> 00:23:17,928 Now that really complicates things. 447 00:23:17,996 --> 00:23:22,233 The person never gave a name of who that officer was 448 00:23:23,935 --> 00:23:26,470 and there were a lot of Columbia police officers, 449 00:23:26,472 --> 00:23:28,939 so now you had a lot more suspects. 450 00:23:29,007 --> 00:23:31,809 [tense music playing] 451 00:23:31,811 --> 00:23:34,678 When an anonymous tip comes in, 452 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,548 you have to take it for what it's worth 453 00:23:37,615 --> 00:23:39,149 that the person wasn't willing 454 00:23:39,151 --> 00:23:42,420 to provide their name, and sometimes they're just 455 00:23:42,487 --> 00:23:45,423 people trying to get somebody else in trouble, 456 00:23:45,490 --> 00:23:47,825 and sometimes there's truth to it. 457 00:23:47,892 --> 00:23:51,095 But it was still a mystery as to who that officer might be. 458 00:23:51,162 --> 00:23:54,031 Could it be one of ours that did this? 459 00:23:54,033 --> 00:23:57,668 That's the question that instantly pops in our mind. 460 00:24:00,338 --> 00:24:01,605 [tense music playing] 461 00:24:01,607 --> 00:24:04,074 [narrator] Detectives have received an anonymous tip 462 00:24:04,076 --> 00:24:09,079 that has turned the Jesse Valencia murder investigation upside down. 463 00:24:09,081 --> 00:24:12,550 The tipster claims Jesse was having a secret affair 464 00:24:12,617 --> 00:24:15,753 with a Columbia Missouri police officer. 465 00:24:15,820 --> 00:24:17,221 When it comes to police officers, 466 00:24:17,288 --> 00:24:19,156 this is supposed to be a fraternity 467 00:24:19,224 --> 00:24:21,959 and a profession where everyone's in it 468 00:24:21,961 --> 00:24:23,961 for the right reasons. And when you're faced 469 00:24:23,963 --> 00:24:26,497 with potential betrayal of that trust, 470 00:24:26,499 --> 00:24:28,632 it's really unsettling. 471 00:24:28,634 --> 00:24:31,635 But at the end of the day, you have a job to do. 472 00:24:31,703 --> 00:24:34,905 [narrator] The tipster doesn't name the officer, 473 00:24:34,973 --> 00:24:37,308 but does mention a friend of Jesse's, 474 00:24:37,375 --> 00:24:39,176 Andy Schermerhorn, 475 00:24:39,178 --> 00:24:42,646 who may have details about the affair. 476 00:24:42,714 --> 00:24:47,451 We locate Andy Schermerhorn and he comes in voluntarily. 477 00:24:48,987 --> 00:24:51,322 [Michael] He and Jesse are both pre-law students 478 00:24:51,389 --> 00:24:53,123 at University of Missouri, 479 00:24:53,191 --> 00:24:55,059 and he described their relationship 480 00:24:55,126 --> 00:24:56,727 as friends with benefits. 481 00:24:56,794 --> 00:25:00,664 [foreboding music playing] 482 00:25:00,666 --> 00:25:03,667 Andy confirmed that in fact Jesse 483 00:25:03,669 --> 00:25:08,272 did have an affair with a Columbia police officer. 484 00:25:08,339 --> 00:25:12,476 [Morley] But he didn't know the officer's name. 485 00:25:12,544 --> 00:25:16,880 Jesse referred to that officer as Columbia's finest. 486 00:25:16,882 --> 00:25:18,549 [narrator] Detective Lederle asks 487 00:25:18,616 --> 00:25:22,886 how Jesse and the mystery police officer met. 488 00:25:22,888 --> 00:25:24,688 [Morley] He said friends of Jesse's 489 00:25:24,690 --> 00:25:29,627 had been having a loud party on April 18th, 490 00:25:29,694 --> 00:25:32,162 and the officers had responded. 491 00:25:32,230 --> 00:25:33,631 They were arresting those friends 492 00:25:33,698 --> 00:25:35,966 for a noise violation, 493 00:25:36,034 --> 00:25:38,636 and Jesse who was intoxicated 494 00:25:38,703 --> 00:25:41,038 and who wanted to go to law school 495 00:25:41,105 --> 00:25:44,374 and who was brash said, "What's your probable cause 496 00:25:44,376 --> 00:25:47,778 for arresting my friends?" 497 00:25:47,845 --> 00:25:51,782 And the police officer had arrested him. 498 00:25:51,849 --> 00:25:53,517 [narrator] Jesse had been released quickly 499 00:25:53,519 --> 00:25:57,054 with a ticket for obstruction of justice. 500 00:25:57,121 --> 00:25:59,189 But there had been instant chemistry 501 00:25:59,257 --> 00:26:01,292 with the arresting officer. 502 00:26:03,795 --> 00:26:08,032 [Morley] They had begun their sexual relationship immediately that night. 503 00:26:08,066 --> 00:26:11,268 The officer had come by after he got off his shift at 3:00 in the morning 504 00:26:11,270 --> 00:26:13,771 and began having this affair with Jesse. 505 00:26:16,074 --> 00:26:20,077 [narrator] Detectives continue to press Andy for more details 506 00:26:20,144 --> 00:26:23,280 and he makes a shocking revelation. 507 00:26:23,282 --> 00:26:25,215 Andy tells us about an incident 508 00:26:25,283 --> 00:26:28,218 involving this officer, Jesse, and himself. 509 00:26:30,021 --> 00:26:32,556 Andy says that Jesse and him are having sex 510 00:26:32,624 --> 00:26:34,291 at Jesse's apartment... 511 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,094 [knocks on door] 512 00:26:37,096 --> 00:26:39,563 when there's a knock on the door. 513 00:26:39,631 --> 00:26:41,098 [Morley] Jesse went to the door 514 00:26:41,165 --> 00:26:43,767 and here was a uniformed police officer. 515 00:26:45,770 --> 00:26:48,705 Andy was panicking and Jesse said, 516 00:26:48,707 --> 00:26:51,642 "That's okay, that's okay. This officer's a friend." 517 00:26:53,445 --> 00:26:56,380 And then the officer came over and ended up 518 00:26:56,382 --> 00:27:01,451 engaging in sexual activity with Andy and Jesse. 519 00:27:01,453 --> 00:27:03,253 When it was over, 520 00:27:03,321 --> 00:27:04,788 he looked at Andy and said, 521 00:27:04,790 --> 00:27:08,125 "This has got to remain a secret." 522 00:27:08,192 --> 00:27:11,929 [Michael] Andy was shaken. 523 00:27:11,996 --> 00:27:13,931 [Morley] Then Jesse said to the officer, 524 00:27:13,998 --> 00:27:15,799 "When will I see you again?" 525 00:27:15,867 --> 00:27:19,136 And the officer said, "Well, sometime when I drop by." 526 00:27:21,139 --> 00:27:22,840 And left. 527 00:27:29,214 --> 00:27:31,415 [narrator] Andy reveals that over time, 528 00:27:31,482 --> 00:27:33,817 Jesse was becoming increasingly frustrated 529 00:27:33,819 --> 00:27:35,686 with the officer. 530 00:27:35,753 --> 00:27:37,354 Jesse was starting to get upset 531 00:27:37,356 --> 00:27:39,490 because he had assumed 532 00:27:39,557 --> 00:27:42,493 that the municipal court ticket he had gotten 533 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,962 would go away since he's having sex with the officer 534 00:27:45,964 --> 00:27:48,632 and it hadn't. 535 00:27:48,634 --> 00:27:50,234 And also he's starting to think 536 00:27:50,301 --> 00:27:52,703 the officer was married. 537 00:27:52,705 --> 00:27:55,505 Jesse said that the next time the officer came over, 538 00:27:55,507 --> 00:27:58,642 he was gonna confront him about whether he's married. 539 00:27:58,644 --> 00:28:00,778 [Keira] This police officer has a lot to lose. 540 00:28:00,845 --> 00:28:03,380 He could lose his job, he could lose his relationship, 541 00:28:03,448 --> 00:28:06,183 and he could lose his standing in the community 542 00:28:06,250 --> 00:28:08,852 if he does not want it to be known that he's gay. 543 00:28:08,854 --> 00:28:12,122 And so in that sense, Jesse would turn the tables on him 544 00:28:12,124 --> 00:28:14,591 in that power dynamic. 545 00:28:14,593 --> 00:28:17,594 So it's possible that Jesse prompts this attack 546 00:28:17,596 --> 00:28:20,597 and this rage. 547 00:28:20,599 --> 00:28:25,335 [narrator] Detectives hope Andy can identify the police officer. 548 00:28:25,403 --> 00:28:28,405 [Michael] We start showing him police yearbooks. 549 00:28:28,473 --> 00:28:32,209 He'd thumbed through the pages and closed it and said, "He's not here." 550 00:28:32,211 --> 00:28:33,877 And the detective said, "Wait a minute, 551 00:28:33,945 --> 00:28:35,746 all the officers are in there." 552 00:28:35,748 --> 00:28:38,749 [foreboding music playing] 553 00:28:45,089 --> 00:28:47,691 Andy sat there for a minute and then he said, 554 00:28:47,693 --> 00:28:48,926 "That was him out in the hall." 555 00:28:54,099 --> 00:28:58,068 Andy whispers and points stating, "That's him." 556 00:28:59,237 --> 00:29:02,105 [narrator] The officer is Steven Rios, 557 00:29:02,107 --> 00:29:03,907 a three-year veteran of the department 558 00:29:03,975 --> 00:29:07,778 with a wife and baby at home. 559 00:29:07,780 --> 00:29:11,982 [Morley] Rios was a officer who had been very ambitious. 560 00:29:11,984 --> 00:29:13,650 He had political aspirations, 561 00:29:13,718 --> 00:29:15,919 he wanted to be in the management 562 00:29:15,987 --> 00:29:18,122 at the police department. 563 00:29:18,189 --> 00:29:20,924 So now police had another suspect 564 00:29:20,992 --> 00:29:24,828 and it was a suspect that was within the police department. 565 00:29:26,397 --> 00:29:30,267 [narrator] Complicating things even further, 566 00:29:30,269 --> 00:29:33,069 is that Officer Rios 567 00:29:33,071 --> 00:29:35,973 helped secure the crime scene. 568 00:29:37,609 --> 00:29:39,276 Did he tamper with evidence? 569 00:29:39,278 --> 00:29:42,279 Did he remove the weapon that we didn't see 570 00:29:42,281 --> 00:29:45,682 because he already took it out of there? 571 00:29:45,684 --> 00:29:49,419 So now we have to develop tactics 572 00:29:49,421 --> 00:29:52,422 because unlike other people we interview, 573 00:29:52,424 --> 00:29:55,692 an officer has the inside track 574 00:29:55,694 --> 00:29:57,761 on how we work that area. 575 00:29:57,763 --> 00:30:01,565 This officer may in fact try to outmaneuver us 576 00:30:01,567 --> 00:30:02,966 during an investigation. 577 00:30:05,369 --> 00:30:06,837 [narrator] Detectives are caught off guard 578 00:30:06,839 --> 00:30:09,439 by what happens next. 579 00:30:09,507 --> 00:30:11,642 The investigators got a surprise 580 00:30:11,709 --> 00:30:14,845 because Steven Rios showed up on his day off and said, 581 00:30:14,847 --> 00:30:18,248 "I understand you got a anonymous call." 582 00:30:18,316 --> 00:30:20,651 He said, "I think some people are speculating 583 00:30:20,718 --> 00:30:22,719 that it might be me and I just want you to know 584 00:30:22,787 --> 00:30:27,257 it definitely wasn't me. I had nothing to do with it." 585 00:30:27,325 --> 00:30:29,927 Steven Rios may have thought that all he had to do 586 00:30:29,994 --> 00:30:31,261 was come in and say that 587 00:30:31,329 --> 00:30:33,096 and leave and it would all be over. 588 00:30:34,666 --> 00:30:36,733 But instead detectives said, 589 00:30:36,735 --> 00:30:40,404 "Well, would you be willing to sit down and talk?" 590 00:30:40,471 --> 00:30:44,407 And Rios said, "I'd be glad to." 591 00:30:44,409 --> 00:30:48,612 I believe that Steven Rios was supremely arrogant. 592 00:30:48,679 --> 00:30:50,614 The sort of person who thinks he's smarter 593 00:30:50,681 --> 00:30:52,416 than everybody else in the room 594 00:30:52,483 --> 00:30:54,351 and he felt he would be able to deal 595 00:30:54,353 --> 00:30:55,619 with any question 596 00:30:55,686 --> 00:30:57,521 that the detective might have. 597 00:30:59,891 --> 00:31:02,559 [narrator] When the investigators interview Steven, 598 00:31:02,561 --> 00:31:06,230 they ask how he knows Jesse Valencia. 599 00:31:06,297 --> 00:31:09,166 [Morley] There's an old saying in law enforcement 600 00:31:09,233 --> 00:31:10,901 that a provable lie 601 00:31:10,903 --> 00:31:13,637 is the next best thing to a confession. 602 00:31:13,639 --> 00:31:17,341 And it turned out that Steven Rios is a born liar. 603 00:31:19,043 --> 00:31:20,711 He started out by saying 604 00:31:20,778 --> 00:31:24,047 the only contact I've ever had with Jesse Valencia 605 00:31:24,049 --> 00:31:26,983 was when he gave him that ticket. 606 00:31:26,985 --> 00:31:31,054 The detective let him run with that for a while. 607 00:31:31,056 --> 00:31:34,324 And then he said, "We talked to a young man named Andy 608 00:31:34,392 --> 00:31:36,526 who said he was at Jesse's apartment 609 00:31:36,594 --> 00:31:39,262 on May 15th having sex with Jesse 610 00:31:39,264 --> 00:31:41,365 and you showed up and joined them." 611 00:31:43,001 --> 00:31:45,869 And Rios goes, "What? Sex?" 612 00:31:45,937 --> 00:31:49,806 Like it's the most absurd thing in the world. 613 00:31:49,808 --> 00:31:53,543 The detective said, "You guys had a threesome." 614 00:31:53,611 --> 00:31:56,280 Then Rios goes, "Well, it wasn't a threesome. 615 00:31:56,347 --> 00:32:00,217 I just watched them having sex." 616 00:32:00,284 --> 00:32:02,752 And ultimately he ends up admitting 617 00:32:02,754 --> 00:32:05,756 that he had a sexual affair with Jesse. 618 00:32:05,823 --> 00:32:08,825 He admitted that it began 619 00:32:08,827 --> 00:32:12,562 on the night that he had arrested Jesse. 620 00:32:14,766 --> 00:32:18,468 His strategy became admit the sexual affair, 621 00:32:20,305 --> 00:32:22,839 but deny the murder. 622 00:32:22,907 --> 00:32:24,374 [narrator] Detectives drill down 623 00:32:24,376 --> 00:32:26,309 on Officer Rios' timeline 624 00:32:26,311 --> 00:32:29,846 in the hours leading up to Jesse's murder. 625 00:32:29,914 --> 00:32:32,916 Steven Rios said that he had worked his shift 626 00:32:32,984 --> 00:32:36,053 and got off at 3:00 in the morning, 627 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,122 and that instead of going directly home, 628 00:32:39,190 --> 00:32:40,790 he and some other officers went up 629 00:32:40,792 --> 00:32:43,593 to the top of the parking garage 630 00:32:43,661 --> 00:32:46,329 and drank beer together. 631 00:32:46,331 --> 00:32:51,001 He said that he left about a quarter till 5:00 632 00:32:51,068 --> 00:32:54,537 and that he got home around 5:30. 633 00:32:54,539 --> 00:32:56,940 And he said as soon as he got home, 634 00:32:57,008 --> 00:32:58,442 he went to bed. 635 00:33:01,212 --> 00:33:05,349 The detectives asked him if he had a knife 636 00:33:05,416 --> 00:33:09,820 that would have cut the throat of Jesse Valencia. 637 00:33:09,887 --> 00:33:14,157 [narrator] Officer Rios denies owning such a knife. 638 00:33:14,225 --> 00:33:16,292 Even if a homicide didn't occur, 639 00:33:16,294 --> 00:33:18,495 he was having sex on duty, 640 00:33:18,497 --> 00:33:20,964 that's a fireable offense. 641 00:33:20,966 --> 00:33:23,934 That's within our code of conduct, it's prohibited. 642 00:33:25,503 --> 00:33:28,572 It could end his career. 643 00:33:28,639 --> 00:33:31,374 Now we truly have a motive here. 644 00:33:31,376 --> 00:33:33,577 [narrator] Officer Rios continues to deny 645 00:33:33,644 --> 00:33:35,846 his involvement in Jesse's murder. 646 00:33:35,913 --> 00:33:38,448 [Morley] He concluded by saying, "I didn't kill him. 647 00:33:38,450 --> 00:33:42,786 I had nothing to do with his death." 648 00:33:42,853 --> 00:33:45,255 They let Rios go along on his way 649 00:33:45,257 --> 00:33:47,591 because they still had no proof for sure 650 00:33:47,658 --> 00:33:49,325 that he was the killer. 651 00:33:49,327 --> 00:33:52,129 They just knew he was a liar. 652 00:33:52,196 --> 00:33:54,864 [narrator] But before Officer Rios leaves, 653 00:33:54,866 --> 00:33:58,268 he agrees to provide a DNA sample. 654 00:33:58,270 --> 00:34:01,138 When the DNA results came back, 655 00:34:01,205 --> 00:34:03,339 they were huge. 656 00:34:03,341 --> 00:34:07,144 DNA under the fingernails of Jesse Valencia 657 00:34:07,211 --> 00:34:10,747 turned out to be a combination of Ed McDevitt's DNA, 658 00:34:10,815 --> 00:34:13,984 he'd been in a sexual relationship with Jesse 659 00:34:14,018 --> 00:34:17,888 and this police officer, Steven Rios' DNA. 660 00:34:17,955 --> 00:34:21,357 [tense music playing] 661 00:34:21,359 --> 00:34:23,894 [Morley] There was no match to Jason. 662 00:34:23,961 --> 00:34:27,364 There was no match to Eric Thurston. 663 00:34:27,431 --> 00:34:30,500 It really narrows it down now 664 00:34:30,568 --> 00:34:34,838 to Ed McDevitt and to Steven Rios. 665 00:34:34,905 --> 00:34:37,440 They both had somewhat of a motive, 666 00:34:37,442 --> 00:34:39,576 so now we're looking at 667 00:34:39,578 --> 00:34:42,712 who has the strongest reason to kill Jesse? 668 00:34:42,714 --> 00:34:45,715 [tense music playing] 669 00:34:48,286 --> 00:34:50,487 [narrator] With two DNA matches, 670 00:34:50,489 --> 00:34:53,223 investigators go back to the autopsy 671 00:34:53,290 --> 00:34:56,093 hoping that Jesse's body may offer more clues 672 00:34:56,160 --> 00:34:58,562 as to who killed him. 673 00:34:58,629 --> 00:35:01,098 His most recent boyfriend Ed McDevitt 674 00:35:01,165 --> 00:35:02,632 or his secret lover, 675 00:35:02,634 --> 00:35:06,169 Officer Steven Rios. 676 00:35:06,171 --> 00:35:08,771 Detectives focus on the mysterious bruises 677 00:35:08,773 --> 00:35:10,974 found on Jesse's body. 678 00:35:10,976 --> 00:35:12,309 We're trying to determine 679 00:35:12,376 --> 00:35:14,177 what possibly could've happened 680 00:35:14,179 --> 00:35:15,845 to cause him to have these bruises 681 00:35:15,847 --> 00:35:17,647 on his upper torso. 682 00:35:17,715 --> 00:35:20,450 The one went across the collarbone area 683 00:35:20,518 --> 00:35:22,519 and the other was in the middle of the back 684 00:35:22,586 --> 00:35:25,388 between the shoulder blades. 685 00:35:25,390 --> 00:35:27,124 [narrator] When they look closely, 686 00:35:27,191 --> 00:35:29,526 the pattern looks strikingly like the bruises caused 687 00:35:29,593 --> 00:35:33,530 by a police chokehold known as an LVNR, 688 00:35:33,597 --> 00:35:36,866 Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint. 689 00:35:36,868 --> 00:35:39,202 The officer will get the person's neck 690 00:35:39,204 --> 00:35:42,872 between their bicep and their forearm and squeeze 691 00:35:42,874 --> 00:35:45,808 and it cuts off the blood going to the brain 692 00:35:45,810 --> 00:35:48,145 and it renders a person unconscious 693 00:35:48,212 --> 00:35:51,948 between three and seven seconds. 694 00:35:52,016 --> 00:35:54,618 The officers demonstrate that hold 695 00:35:54,685 --> 00:35:56,219 to the medical examiner 696 00:35:56,221 --> 00:35:57,754 and the medical examiner said 697 00:35:57,821 --> 00:35:59,956 that's consistent with the bruises 698 00:36:00,024 --> 00:36:03,226 being found across Jesse's body. 699 00:36:03,294 --> 00:36:07,831 Every officer on the force is taught this technique. 700 00:36:07,898 --> 00:36:11,234 We know that Steve Rios knows this move. 701 00:36:11,302 --> 00:36:14,704 [suspenseful music playing] 702 00:36:14,706 --> 00:36:16,839 [narrator] Even with the evidence stacking up 703 00:36:16,841 --> 00:36:18,642 against Officer Rios, 704 00:36:18,709 --> 00:36:22,045 the case against him is still weak. 705 00:36:22,112 --> 00:36:25,848 Investigators need more to build their case. 706 00:36:25,850 --> 00:36:30,119 [Michael] It appears that Steve has a solid alibi. 707 00:36:30,121 --> 00:36:32,255 Then we start looking closer. 708 00:36:32,323 --> 00:36:33,723 [Morley] There were several officers 709 00:36:33,725 --> 00:36:35,258 who had gotten off the shift 710 00:36:35,326 --> 00:36:39,396 and gone to drink beer at 3:00 in the morning. 711 00:36:39,463 --> 00:36:43,133 And one, a dispatcher named Leah Wooden, 712 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,803 she remembered that as she was leaving, 713 00:36:46,870 --> 00:36:51,341 she got a phone call at 4:57. 714 00:36:51,343 --> 00:36:53,076 By that time, she told us 715 00:36:53,143 --> 00:36:54,744 Steve was already gone 716 00:36:54,812 --> 00:36:57,480 and she estimates that he left about 10 minutes prior 717 00:36:57,548 --> 00:37:00,416 to that phone call. 718 00:37:00,418 --> 00:37:01,951 [narrator] This new information 719 00:37:01,953 --> 00:37:04,020 places Officer Rios' departure 720 00:37:04,022 --> 00:37:08,024 from the garage at 4:47 am. 721 00:37:08,026 --> 00:37:11,427 Levy Rios, the wife of Steven Rios 722 00:37:11,429 --> 00:37:12,762 had told the police officer 723 00:37:12,830 --> 00:37:15,432 he had gotten home around 5:30, 724 00:37:15,499 --> 00:37:17,567 and so that gave this window of time 725 00:37:17,569 --> 00:37:22,272 between 4:47 and 5:30. 726 00:37:22,306 --> 00:37:25,775 [Michael] Is it possible for Steve to leave 727 00:37:25,843 --> 00:37:28,378 the top of the garage at 4:47, 728 00:37:28,445 --> 00:37:30,980 drive to Jesse's apartment, 729 00:37:30,982 --> 00:37:33,583 have an altercation, 730 00:37:33,585 --> 00:37:35,184 kill him, 731 00:37:35,186 --> 00:37:37,387 and then drive back to his home 732 00:37:37,454 --> 00:37:41,458 by the time his wife tells us around 5:30? 733 00:37:43,394 --> 00:37:45,194 [narrator] Investigators do a test 734 00:37:45,196 --> 00:37:47,664 to see if Officer Rios could have killed Jesse 735 00:37:47,731 --> 00:37:50,333 in that 43-minute window. 736 00:37:50,335 --> 00:37:51,935 We left the police department 737 00:37:52,002 --> 00:37:55,805 and we drove to Jesse's apartment. 738 00:37:55,807 --> 00:38:00,076 And then we drove from Jesse's to Steve Rios' home, 739 00:38:00,144 --> 00:38:03,546 and we timed all of that. 740 00:38:03,614 --> 00:38:06,549 The total time... 741 00:38:06,551 --> 00:38:08,351 was approximately 10 minutes. 742 00:38:08,419 --> 00:38:12,155 And that's enough time to slit somebody's throat, 743 00:38:12,222 --> 00:38:14,490 so you did have a situation 744 00:38:14,492 --> 00:38:16,826 where Rios would have had the opportunity 745 00:38:16,828 --> 00:38:19,829 to commit that crime. 746 00:38:19,897 --> 00:38:21,898 [narrator] Then a piece of evidence comes in 747 00:38:21,900 --> 00:38:24,968 that cracks the case wide open. 748 00:38:25,035 --> 00:38:27,303 The DNA on the limb hairs 749 00:38:27,305 --> 00:38:31,808 found on Jesse's body was Steven Rios' DNA. 750 00:38:32,977 --> 00:38:36,179 It was clear that Jesse's body 751 00:38:36,181 --> 00:38:41,184 had Steven Rios' limb hairs across his chest. 752 00:38:41,186 --> 00:38:43,853 So all those pieces come together 753 00:38:43,921 --> 00:38:47,457 and tell us that Steve Rios 754 00:38:47,524 --> 00:38:49,592 is in fact the murderer. 755 00:38:52,196 --> 00:38:54,998 [narrator] With this final piece of the puzzle, 756 00:38:55,065 --> 00:38:56,933 detectives are able to piece together 757 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:01,004 Jesse Valencia's final 24 hours. 758 00:39:01,071 --> 00:39:03,406 Jesse would been going home and going to bed 759 00:39:03,474 --> 00:39:06,142 at about 3:45. 760 00:39:06,144 --> 00:39:08,078 About 4:47, 761 00:39:08,145 --> 00:39:13,016 Steve Rios drives over to Jesse Valencia's apartment. 762 00:39:13,083 --> 00:39:16,152 Arriving at Jesse's apartment at 4:50 am. 763 00:39:18,622 --> 00:39:21,691 Jesse's upset about him not taking care of that ticket 764 00:39:21,759 --> 00:39:23,826 that he received back in April. 765 00:39:23,828 --> 00:39:26,095 He's threatening Steve to tell 766 00:39:26,097 --> 00:39:28,498 about their sexual encounters 767 00:39:28,500 --> 00:39:30,100 and the fact that Steve has 768 00:39:30,167 --> 00:39:33,236 been performing some of those encounters in uniform 769 00:39:33,303 --> 00:39:35,438 while on duty. 770 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:38,908 Rios, this politically ambitious officer, 771 00:39:38,976 --> 00:39:41,043 is feeling that his whole career 772 00:39:41,045 --> 00:39:42,378 is about to end 773 00:39:42,380 --> 00:39:44,447 and he's just not gonna let that happen. 774 00:39:47,651 --> 00:39:51,521 [Michael] At this point, Steve's mad. 775 00:39:51,588 --> 00:39:55,458 [narrator] Officer Rios becomes violent. 776 00:39:55,460 --> 00:39:57,460 The neighbor heard the young man saying, 777 00:39:57,528 --> 00:39:59,662 "Stop it, stop it." 778 00:39:59,664 --> 00:40:04,401 Jesse runs when he realizes that Rios is dangerous. 779 00:40:04,468 --> 00:40:06,202 Rios chases him 780 00:40:06,270 --> 00:40:10,874 until Rios catches him from behind, 781 00:40:10,941 --> 00:40:14,244 puts him in that Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint, 782 00:40:18,081 --> 00:40:20,216 renders him unconscious. 783 00:40:20,284 --> 00:40:24,821 That whole encounter can be done in minutes. 784 00:40:24,823 --> 00:40:28,892 [Michael] At this point, Jesse is incapacitated, 785 00:40:28,959 --> 00:40:31,628 then Steve puts him back down on the ground. 786 00:40:33,564 --> 00:40:35,298 He pulls out his knife. 787 00:40:35,300 --> 00:40:38,268 [ominous music playing] 788 00:40:41,905 --> 00:40:44,440 [Michael] And he cuts Jesse's throat 789 00:40:44,442 --> 00:40:46,709 and killed him. 790 00:40:46,711 --> 00:40:48,778 It's such an aggressive cut, 791 00:40:48,846 --> 00:40:53,449 it literally nicks his spinal column. 792 00:40:53,451 --> 00:40:55,852 This is a crime that was motivated 793 00:40:55,919 --> 00:40:58,254 chiefly by ego and narcissism. 794 00:40:58,256 --> 00:41:01,457 Steven's reputation and his ambition 795 00:41:01,459 --> 00:41:06,329 was more important than this young man's life. 796 00:41:06,396 --> 00:41:08,197 [narrator] Steven Rios is charged 797 00:41:08,199 --> 00:41:09,933 with first degree murder. 798 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,402 He's found guilty and sentenced to life in prison 799 00:41:12,469 --> 00:41:16,873 plus 23 years for killing Jesse Valencia. 800 00:41:16,875 --> 00:41:19,075 I started out my closing argument 801 00:41:19,142 --> 00:41:21,944 by saying that Steven Rios 802 00:41:21,946 --> 00:41:24,147 used his badge for sex 803 00:41:24,214 --> 00:41:25,948 and then used his knife 804 00:41:25,950 --> 00:41:29,619 to close the lips of his lover forever. 805 00:41:29,686 --> 00:41:32,155 It's a despicable crime 806 00:41:32,189 --> 00:41:36,159 and he deserves every day that he serves in prison. 807 00:41:36,227 --> 00:41:39,695 When you have a cop who commits a crime, 808 00:41:39,697 --> 00:41:41,698 that's the worst of the worst, 809 00:41:41,765 --> 00:41:44,434 in my opinion. 810 00:41:44,468 --> 00:41:46,168 We're held to a different standard, 811 00:41:46,170 --> 00:41:47,703 you know, it's a higher standard. 812 00:41:47,705 --> 00:41:49,438 Bad cop's a bad cop, 813 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:51,975 they need to be out of there. 814 00:41:52,042 --> 00:41:54,377 I'm so glad that we got the right person 815 00:41:54,379 --> 00:41:56,445 and put him in jail. 816 00:41:56,447 --> 00:42:00,116 It'll never give back Jesse to his family or friends, 817 00:42:00,183 --> 00:42:04,387 but hopefully that's some type of solace 818 00:42:04,389 --> 00:42:06,923 to the family. 819 00:42:06,990 --> 00:42:09,392 [narrator] Jesse's loved ones will always remember him 820 00:42:09,459 --> 00:42:11,394 for his carefree spirit. 821 00:42:11,461 --> 00:42:15,665 None more so than Jesse's adoring mother, Linda. 822 00:42:15,667 --> 00:42:17,800 Just the thought of it, just me talking about it, 823 00:42:17,868 --> 00:42:19,469 I'm getting a little choked up here 824 00:42:19,536 --> 00:42:24,273 because that's a relationship that is forever gone, 825 00:42:24,275 --> 00:42:26,275 you know, I can't even imagine. 826 00:42:26,277 --> 00:42:28,945 I don't wanna even imagine what she's going though.