Original subtitles

Narrator: Tonight...

I want the truth.

Narrator: ...A beautiful woman mysteriously vanishes

Into the night.

It was just kind of a strange set of circumstances.

Narrator: Weeks later, her body washes ashore along the chesapeake bay,

Bringing with it unanswered questions.

How does it take 23 days for her body to end up on the rocks?

There could definitely be something sinister

Going on here.

Narrator: Was her death the result of a tragic accident?

Or was it murder?

He was almost obsessed with my mom.

The affair really put him in a dark place.

Yeah.

Narrator: Private investigator derrick levasseur...

Something just doesn't add up here.

Narrator: ...Journeys to kent island, maryland,

To uncover new evidence...

I think he screwed up.

Narrator: ...To find out what happened to robin pope.

How did robin end up in the water?

Did she fall in? Did she jump in?

Or was she pushed in?

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

♪

So I'm heading over to kent island right now

To look into the death of robin pope.

Robin pope's death is a mystery

That no one's been able to solve.

Levasseur: Robin was 51 years old.

She was loved by her daughters

And very popular with all of her friends.

She had recently beaten cancer,

Started hitting the gym really hard,

And had this whole new positive outlook on life.

But tragically, on the night of March 1, 2013,

Her husband of 20 years,

Wayne pope, returned home to find both robin

And their great dane missing.

Robin's car was still in the driveway.

The dog's body washed up two days later

And only two houses down,

But they didn't find robin's body until three weeks later

And 3/4 mile down shore.

This weekend, police identified a body found in the water along

Kent island as 51-year-old robin pope.

And now the questions are pouring in --

"how did she die," and "did someone kill her?"

Levasseur: The residents here have been trying to piece together

What happened to robin that night.

Was it an accident?

Or was it, like many people think, a murder?

♪

♪

Priscilla, I wanted to thank you for meeting with me today.

I clearly wish it was under better circumstances, um,

But as you know, I'm here looking into your --

Your mother's death.

Tell me the type of woman she was.

So, my mom was a beautiful soul.

She worked really hard.

I remember when I was young, she had two or three jobs

All the time to support us.

She was a single mom.

And she made life amazing, even though we had nothing.

We were very, very close.

Even though I was 3,000 miles away, I'd call her all the time.

Now, what's your relationship with wayne?

Wayne came into the picture, I was like, 7.

Mm-hmm.

They got married, I believe, in the first year,

And he became my stepfather.

Wayne and robin, they were married for approximately

20 years? -Yes.

What was their relationship like in the beginning?

The beginning was great.

He was very attentive.

He was a fun-loving, funny guy

And seemed like a great addition, at first.

We moved in, almost immediately,

And he was there for her for everything.

He was almost obsessed with my mom.

Levasseur: But 20 years into the relationship,

Their marriage fell apart.

Wayne discovered that robin was seeing someone else

And soon after, she moved out of their home.

The day that wayne took my mom's phone by accident

To work with him, he actually called me

And said that he had found out that she was cheating.

What was his behavior like in that phone call?

I would think that would've been something...

Passive about it, just like,

"so, uh, looks like your mom's cheating on me.

Guess we're, uh, gonna split up."

Just very strange.

Wayne just calls you and he says,

"listen, your mom's been cheating on me."

So, your next call is to her and what is that conversation like?

Just very sorry.

You could tell it was something that she felt really bad about,

But she couldn't help, she wasn't

In love with wayne anymore.

When wayne learned of the affair,

How did his behavior change, if at all?

Um, completely.

It was just constant rage.

How did your mom react to this behavior?

Was she -- was she afraid?

Mom wasn't scared of anything.

Especially not a man.

How do you cope with your mom's death?

Do you feel like there's still that unanswered question,

"what happened?"

Now, I cope by knowing that, maybe we are close,

Maybe we can get answers, maybe there is closure coming.

And just gotta move on, keep fighting like she would do.

Well, I can promise you this,

I'm going to come in with a fresh perspective

And maybe get you the closure that you're looking for.

♪

Levasseur: First up, I'm heading to the marina

To meet with sergeant dave sexton.

-Dave, how's it going? -Hey, how are you?

Levasseur: He investigated robin's death

And interviewed the main person of interest,

Wayne pope.

Sexton: I sat down with wayne for probably two hours.

There was some suspicious activity from the --

From the husband.

It was just kind of a strange set of circumstances.

The night that she went missing,

She was in annapolis with a friend.

They had a couple drinks.

About 9:30, almost 10:00,

She makes her way across the bay bridge.

And she's texting her husband,

"hey, I need to get some things from the house."

She wanted to get some mail, she wanted to see the dog,

Bella, a large great dane.

What we think is, she made it to the --

To the house about 10:30, and for some reason,

You know, the husband says he fell asleep,

Uh, about 11:30, wakes up,

Goes out to the front of the house

And see that her car's there.

Walks over to the car, knocks on the door, she's there.

He says she's, uh, sleeping or had dozed off, just like he did.

How could you fall asleep within 15 --

You knew she was gonna be there in 15 minutes

And you fell asleep for an hour?

I said, "that just doesn't add up to me."

Right.

And then, knocks on the door, tells her,

"hey, um, I'm gonna leave.

Your stuff's inside, bella's inside.

I'm going to my parents."

You know, "do whatever you need to do

And then I'll be back later on."

Levasseur: Wayne says that he left home and drove to his parents' house

But didn't go inside.

He just switched his car for his truck,

Which he said he needed for the next day.

On his way back to his house, he bought a cup of coffee

At a convenience store, and then he went home.

Doesn't see her inside the car.

But inside the car is her phone, her purse,

Keys to the car is there.

He calls 9-1-1 and then we become involved.

Levasseur: When robin's great dane, bella, is found dead two days later

Close to a neighbor's pier,

The police, along with robin's family and friends,

Organize a massive search for robin.

Three weeks later, a local fisherman discovered

Robin's remains.

She was located 3/4 mile down shore

From where the dog was found.

It's a long time in the water. What's her --

What's the condition of the body like, at that point?

Her condition of her body was -- was bad.

The medical examiner basically said,

"she has no signs of injury prior to death.

She has no blunt force trauma, no stabbings, she wasn't shot."

The only thing that we can tell you

Is that she may have drowned.

Because she was in the water for 23 days,

That's all they can say. -Right.

Decomposition had started to kick in at that point.

What was she wearing when she arrived at wayne pope's house?

Uh, she was wearing jeans, um, and also, uh, a blouse

That actually washed up on shore couple days

After the dog was found.

And I believe it was inside-out when they found it.

-Inside-out? -Yeah.

The chain of events, I can see why you as an investigator

Would look at this and go,

"something just doesn't add up here."

We speculate that maybe, did he make her wait outside

And she's knocking on the -- on the door,

"come on, wayne, I just talked to you 15 minutes ago.

What's going on?"

He brings the dog out. -Mm-hmm.

And then he -- they walk to the pier and he's like,

"yeah, here's your dog," and throws the dog...

Yeah, you want the dog, go get her.

And she didn't even take her heels off.

So, something happened that was instantaneous thing

That made her go in the water.

The other possible option here, right, which is that

This was a complete accident, where she decides,

I've missed the dog, he left for a little bit,

I'm gonna take her for a quick walk.

They go out there and somehow, the dog falls in the water

And she goes after her and... -You know, you go off a pier

And you're in nine feet of water.

And that cold water hits your body

And then you're kind of

Disoriented, you don't know where you are.

You're trying to save this dog.

That could be something that happened.

♪

Levasseur: In order to get a fuller picture of this puzzle,

I need to see where this accident or crime happened.

Tell me a little bit about kent island.

Lot of families, lot of summer homes.

People that, uh, like the water,

'cause they're right next to the bay.

Kind of a quiet community.

♪

As you can see, the bay is right here.

You know, this is pretty much how it looked, uh,

The time of her disappearance.

♪

Right here, this red brick house that's coming up

Was the pope residence.

As you can see, it's got a -- a pier right off the --

Oh, that's the actual pier right there.

That's the actual pier right there.

♪

♪

So, lay it out for me,

In relation to where we are right now.

So, like I said, the pope's house is -- is that way,

Two piers down from the pope house

Is where, uh, bella was found, the dog was found.

And then, probably about 3/4 mile this way, uh,

Is where robin's body was found 23 days later.

23 days.

Interesting.

How did robin end up in the water?

Did she fall in? Did she jump in?

Or was she pushed in?

Narrator: Coming up...

I happened to look down and realized what I was seeing

Was her legs and lower body sticking out from under a rock.

Narrator: And later...

Wayne said, "did you realize that your fiance's

Having an affair with my wife?"

♪

♪

Levasseur: I've come to kent island to try to piece together

The details surrounding the death of robin pope

And to figure out whether this was a tragic accident or murder.

Sergeant sexton sent me a copy

Of the police reports this morning,

And I'm discovering some interesting details.

The record of texts between robin and wayne

That night lead right up until she arrived at his house.

At approximately, let's say, 11:00 p.M.

It looks like, "can I get my mail?"

And then there's another text message sent right after that.

"wayne, I would like to get my mail while I'm here."

This is when she would've arrived at the house.

What's interesting is -- is he never replies,

So you can make -- you can make the assumption that he was --

He was sleeping, that's his alibi, he was out cold.

Or the reason he didn't respond

Is because he ended up opening the door for her

Because it was -- there was no other exchange after that.

I got some crime scene photos here

And the reason I'm focusing on these

Is because, in the text messages,

Robin was adamant about getting her mail.

And yet, here's her mail piled up

On some type of table inside the house.

And I think it's reasonable to assume that either,

A, she -- she never went in the house

Or, b, when she went into the house, something else took place

And she wasn't able to -- to grab it before she left.

It doesn't look like it's thrown on the floor

Or anything like that.

Levasseur: There were no obvious signs of struggle inside the house,

But after the night robin disappeared,

Wayne did have a large bruise and some scratches on his side.

His response for how he received this was, when he found

Bella, he tried to pull her out of the water

By leaning on to the pier,

And that's how he received this abrasion.

I mean, he's -- he's telling the cops what happened,

But I'll tell you this much, having any type of abrasion

On your body days after your --

Your wife has gone missing, not the position

I'd want to be in, that's for sure.

Dispatcher: And what's the address?

He sounded very sincere.

He called the police,

He made them aware of the situation,

He didn't really fumble around.

He was calm, collected.

The only thing, said he had no clue what she was wearing,

But according to wayne, he saw her before he left.

♪

Levasseur: I have a good picture of the night

Robin went missing, but I want to get a better sense

Of what happened the day her body was discovered.

A fisherman found her 3/4 mile further down shore

And nearly three weeks after her dog

Bella washed on to a neighbor's rocks.

Wall: I came over to visit my daughter.

We'd tried to talk about going fishing.

It was a little cold, it was a nice day,

I mean, it was probably like 50 or 60 degrees for March

And that was just nice.

We settled on the dock, probably about an hour,

Hour and 1/2 fishing.

And I happened to look down

And that arrowhead-shaped rock right there.

There was something under the rock.

I couldn't tell what it was at first.

But then I looked closer and I realized what I was seeing

Was her legs and lower body sticking out from under a rock.

Unfortunately, her head and her arms,

Were under the rock.

It was a little bit lower tide, I think, at the time.

So, you see the body, what's your next reaction?

What do you do from there? -Call my daughter over.

I got her out of here before she saw anything.

Right.

And then I walked up and started calling the police.

Never went down, touched the body,

Never tried to remove the body, anything like that?

No.

It -- I know when the paramedics came,

They had to get a boat out to come up,

Because some of the rocks were still icy.

Do you know if, at any point,

Wayne was notified that they had found his wife?

I don't know.

Did you ever see wayne come down here?

-I don't even know wayne. -Let me ask you something.

Were you a pretty good swimmer? -Yeah.

That time of year, March, if I were here with you, right,

And we're both pretty decent swimmers,

If we jumped off robin pope's dock,

Which is the same length as this one,

How successful would we be at swimming back to shore

If we were really trying to do it

And it was higher tide, maybe eight, nine feet?

It would've been no problem.

I mean, the cold would've shocked you, but I'm --

I was a lifeguard, and I'm a strong swimmer.

I would've made it back. -No problem?

Unless I hit my head or something like that,

I would've made it back easy.

Levasseur: I'm not finding many clues at the spot

Where robin's body was found,

Although it is interesting that kurt feels robin could've

Swum back to shore from her own dock that night.

But bella, robin's dog,

Was found much closer to home by their neighbor elaine.

Hi, elaine. How you doing?

Derrick.

I had contractors coming over for --

To give me a price on landscaping

And we were walking through the yard.

Walked out to the pier and looked down and I found bella.

I notice that you got a little emotional

When you were talking about bella.

Were you -- were you really familiar with the dog

Or was it just your neighbor's dog?

She was like the neighborhood dog,

But she was always at my house, just coming over to say hi.

So, I immediately went across my neighbor's yard,

Over to wayne and robin's house and knocked on the door.

And he answered and I was crying

And told him I found bella on my rocks.

What's his initial reaction right when you tell him?

There was none.

No reaction at all?

Upset, maybe like...

There was no reaction.

He walked over with me and looked down at her.

And as we were starting to walk back, he said to me,

"it's worse than you know." I didn't know what to think.

I'm thinking he's talking about bella, that she was injured.

And I said, I didn't look at her that close

Because I didn't wanna see -- see her.

And, um, he said, "no, my wife

And my dog went missing last night."

What I found odd, is he said, "my wife and dog,"

Which he knew that I knew robin and bella,

So it was very impersonal.

There was no tears, there was no -- there was no nothing.

At any point, and I know I have dogs,

I know how I would react,

When wayne came over and saw bella,

Did he make an attempt to try to pull her

Out of the water at all or off the rocks?

-None. -None?

None. He took one look at her and started walking back.

Did he ever lean down to try to get a --

To look at her, to see if there was anything going on?

-No. Never. -Never laid down on his side?

-No. -Never at all?

No.

Levasseur: I'm speculating, but if elaine's recollection of events

Is accurate,

Then how did wayne get that bruise?

And what else could he be hiding?

Narrator: Coming up...

♪

Levasseur: Since the minute that robin pope's body

Washed ashore in kent island, many of her friends and family

Continue to believe that her jilted husband,

Wayne pope, was to blame for her death.

And I'm discovering inconsistencies

In his account of what happened.

I've tried to contact wayne to get his side of the story,

But he's been unwilling to meet with me.

So, now, I'm on my way to his lawyer's office

To see if he'll talk.

All right, let's do it.

♪

♪

Levasseur: I'm derrick levasseur. I'm a private investigator.

I'm looking into one of his clients, wayne pope.

Nobody wants to speak.

This guy's completely innocent

According to his lawyer and everybody else,

But yet, nobody wants to talk about it.

I'm just here to find out what wayne pope

Would like to say about this, give him an opportunity

To tell his side of the story.

And that doesn't seem like it's gonna happen,

So move on to the next spot.

Levasseur: I do have another way of hearing wayne's side

Of the story, his police interview with sergeant sexton.

Levasseur: The interrogation tapes are very compelling.

Betrayal is a common motive for murder,

But I'm still not clear on whether or not

Wayne was even capable of hurting his own wife.

I know there was a lot of tumultuous things

That happened over the three weeks

After wayne learned of robin's affair,

But over the years, what were some of the other things

That she confided in you about?

Were there other issues that were going on

In the relationship prior to the affair?

Robin loved wayne.

But wayne wasn't the kindest person to her.

We'd go out to dinner,

He would say things to make her feel bad about herself.

Like, "why would you wear that dress?

That dress looks ugly on you" or "it makes you look fat."

Why would you say that to your wife?

You know, it's like, she looks beautiful.

Let's just put it out on the table.

Robin was a beautiful woman

And I'm sure there were other men

That were drawn to her, walking by.

Everybody says, she was the light of the room,

But she -- she really was.

Was wayne someone who was self-confident,

Where he was okay with that and he almost embraced it?

Or was he someone who was jealous and defensive about it?

-Oh, he was jealous. -How so?

I mean, if we were -- if we were at a party

And he was getting mad at robin for having too much fun,

He'd just leave her and tell her to find her own way home.

-He was a possessive guy. -Very.

Tell me what you know about robin's affair.

His name is rob.

He was her personal trainer at the gym.

Okay.

Wayne had gone over to confront rob in anger.

And his fiance answered the door and said,

"no, I'm sorry, he's not here," and then wayne said,

"did you realize that your husband --

Your fiance's having an affair with my wife."

So, this -- the affair really put him in a dark place.

Yeah.

What was his feelings towards bella?

Wayne always complained about bella to me.

Like, "I hate that damn dog."

Oh, I'll never forget, he thought it would be funny

To throw bella in the pool.

She was afraid of the pool, she wouldn't go in.

And wayne just picked her up and threw her in the pool.

And she started trying to swim,

But she just sunk right to the bottom.

I said, "what the hell are you doing?"

He said, "I just wanted to see if she could swim."

What happened to robin on March 1st?

I know there was a search. Were you part of that search?

There wasn't a day that I didn't look for her.

I would leave my job and I would go.

I didn't stop.

Was wayne part of that search with you?

Never.

Not even a "how's the search going, guys?"

Nothing.

After robin's death, did you or any one of your friends

Confront wayne to say, "hey, listen,

Did you have anything to do with robin's death?"

He wasn't anywhere near us.

And wayne didn't talk to anybody.

I miss her terribly.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about...

I just...

I want -- I want the truth, so we can have closure.

So she can dance her last dance in heaven.

♪

Levasseur: I'm recreating the 18-mile drive wayne pope

Made to his parents' house that night while he allegedly left

Robin at home to pick up her mail and see the dog.

Wayne says that he headed there to swap out his car

For his truck, which he needed for the next morning.

This is the house, I think, right here.

This is definitely the house.

I can't even see too much of the house, it's so dark.

I don't want to spook anyone,

But there's definitely cameras all over this property.

From what we know,

Wane's parents had people over at the house.

There was some type of get-together.

And according to wayne's parents,

They did not know it all,

That wayne was coming to the house

Or that he picked up his truck.

There's a couple scenarios as to why

Wayne didn't' go inside.

The first scenario was the completely innocent one.

He came here to get his truck.

He didn't want to disturb anybody.

He grabbed his truck and he left.

Second scenario is that he came here to create an alibi.

When he realizes that there are more people at the house

Than just his parents and now, he's scrambling.

Now, he's trying to figure out what's gonna do,

Because he can't go inside and he needs an alibi to confirm

That he wasn't anywhere near the house

When whatever happened to robin happened.

Levasseur: If wayne was looking for an alibi,

Where would be a logical place to get one?

I think it's right in here.

Levasseur: That night, his next stop was at a convenience store.

What I look at when I see this store as I sit here parked,

Is I see confirmation that there's a security camera here.

I mean, lookit. You can see from here.

You could've easily known from walking in that store,

He was gonna be on camera.

And all he came in here for was a cup of coffee.

He didn't buy anything that he needed in the morning,

And he -- something for the house, groceries, nothing.

Cup of coffee and he left.

Narrator: Coming up...

We were able to show that he went to annapolis.

I think he observed her when she was with this other gentleman.

♪

♪

Levasseur: Robin pope's body was found off the coast of kent island

Almost five years ago,

And it's starting to look like her husband,

Wayne, could possibly have been involved in her death.

But I still don't have any objective evidence

To back this up. -Good afternoon.

Levasseur: What had been bothering me from the start was this --

Robin and her dog bella went missing,

And according to authorities,

Fell in the water at the same time.

So, why were they found on different days and locations?

Was it due to natural circumstances

Or does it indicate there was foul play involved?

♪

It's good to see where it happened in --

In the field like this and...

Levasseur: Dr. Cecily steppe is an oceanographer.

She studies the biological effects of water currents.

Levasseur: Here's the popes' house, right here coming up.

Okay. So right on the water.

Right on the water.

Well, it can get very shallow here.

Right.

Looking at this now, what's striking me is that,

At the end of the pier,

There's no really easy way to get to shore.

The night when she entered the water,

There was a very strong tide pushing down the bay.

That would be suggestive of this

Possibly being the point of origin

Where the bodies entered the water.

That would line up with that?

-Yes. -Now, as you can see right here,

This is actually right where bella was found.

So, you have the pope dock right there, two docks down,

She was found right in this rocky area here.

Based on the autopsy report,

She had some bruising to her paws.

She might have tried to climb up on the rocks.

Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful.

And I can definitely see how she couldn't have

Made it up onto the -- the rocks.

That's a pretty steep drop.

Let's talk about robin.

If robin goes into the water, same time, if she had tried

To swim directly from the dock back to the rocks,

I know it's a tough climb up,

But all she really would need to do

Is just to get on to the rocks so she doesn't drown.

Would she be able to do that with those conditions?

Potentially, if she was -- a clear mind, she could get up.

Right.

At least, close enough to shore to yell.

Well, here's where robin pope's body was found.

How long would it take a body to go from

Robin pope's house, to that area right there?

If there were no obstructions, and if it were not dragging,

If currents are about maybe 1/2 mile an hour,

It would probably take on the order of a couple hours.

Only a couple of hours? You're the expert.

Tell me, how does it take 23 days for her body

To end up here?

If the body sank back closer to where it went into the water,

Decomposed, waited the two weeks for the --

The gases to build up into the body,

And then it might've been transported.

I don't have a feeling how long it would've been

Floating afterwards.

You'd think someone would've noticed it,

If it were floating in the water.

Right. My hypothesis is that she was

Either unconscious or disoriented enough,

That when she entered the water,

She was not capable of swimming to shore.

My guess is that she would just sink straight down.

So, what we're talking about here is something happened

While she was still on the shore that rendered her unconscious

Or she could've already been dead.

Right.

If she was already dead, she would've --

She would've immediately sunk to the bottom.

Right.

And what you're telling me is the science,

The biology behind that backs it up.

-Correct. -It's fascinating.

♪

Levasseur: While still possible, it is looking much less likely

That robin's death was a tragic accident,

But if there was foul play involved,

Why weren't charges ever filed?

Lance richardson is the state's attorney

And conducted an interview with wayne

At the time of the incident.

I told him, I said, "it's a search for the truth for me.

I just want to find out what happened."

What was -- what was that like? What was his demeanor?

You've worked a lot of cases.

What was your take on it?

He looked petrified.

And I made him an offer.

I said, "I want you to submit to a polygraph exam, lie detector,"

And I said, "this is a win-win for you."

Said, "if you take the polygraph and you fail it,

I'm not gonna release that information."

But in my mind, I'm thinking,

I'll know I have the right guy, if he was involved.

But I said, "if you pass this lie detector,

We'll release it to the community that you cooperated

And you passed a lie detector test,"

And at least in the court of public opinion,

He can clear his name.

So, we set up this polygraph exam

And the day that it was to happen,

He showed up, but then he got cold feet

And left and never submitted to it.

But at that point, you weren't pointing the finger.

You were objective, you wanted to see where it took you.

Got to be objective, just follow the evidence,

Can't go into it with preconceived notions

Or else I'm gonna be biased. -Right.

I just follow whatever the evidence brings us.

But there were a lot of suspicious circumstances.

You know, his following her

Right before this incident took place.

There was some marital issues.

There was potential motive on his part.

All those things led me to believe

That there could definitely

Be something sinister going on here.

Talk -- talk about that. You said, "following her."

What do you -- what do you mean by that?

She was in annapolis with another gentleman.

We were able to show that he went to annapolis,

G.P.S. On phones, we could see his location, where he traveled.

I think he observed her when she was with this other gentleman.

You were able to confirm all that?

Yes.

Did you ever ask him about that?

I did not personally get to ask him,

But that's what I wanted the polygraph,

Potentially to, you know,

Get him to explain his actions,

But we weren't able to get that far.

And you haven't spoken with him since?

No.

Five years since, have not spoken with him?

No, I have not.

Sexton: Hello?

Hey, sarge, what's up? It's derrick.

Hey, derrick, how you doing?

Hanging in there. Listen.

You guys were actually able to track

Wayne pope's actions that night

Before the disappearance to annapolis,

In the same area where robin pope was.

Is that true?

That's true. Yeah.

So, he could've been following her.

He could've been.

He was over there, had dinner with some friends

And then he was over there a little longer than,

You know, just having dinner.

So, he -- he definitely could've been.

Okay.

I did some checking on the shirt that was found,

That washed up on the -- on the shore there.

-Okay, the blouse? -And the blouse, that --

That blouse had no tears or rips or anything like that.

It was inside-out, but it was -- it was intact.

Okay.

However, she did have a piece of t-shirt

On her arm that had been ripped up,

And we don't know how that -- that happened.

Okay, I mean, that could be a sign of struggle, no?

It could be.

But it also could be from her body --

Body floating on the bottom of the -- of the bay

And just catching different debris and things like that.

Fair enough.

Narrator: Coming up...

When she got inside and went to go for her mail,

She encounters him and something happens inside that house.

♪

♪

Levasseur: I can see why it's been so hard for police

To definitively prove that robin pope's death

Was a homicide, but I personally believe that

While it's still possible it was an accident,

It's very likely that she was murdered,

And I'm ready lay out my case to detective sexton.

We did talk to some people that maybe you haven't talked to,

And I wanted to bounce some stuff off you

And see what you thought about it.

That's fine.

According to state attorney lance richardson,

Not only was robin pope in annapolis

The night of her death, wayne pope was there, as well.

Yes.

Basically, he told us that he was there

To take his daughter some dinner,

Which didn't happen.

We talked to the daughter and he never brought her dinner,

So we know that was a -- that was a lie.

Right.

And despite their issues, she decides to go over

To his place, get her mail, and see the dog.

Yep.

There's a quick text message from her.

"wayne, I'm just here to get my mail."

No response from wayne.

No phone call, no text message.

To me, that would suggest that whatever happened,

She didn't need to text him anymore.

If he hadn't responded by opening the door,

She would've said, "wayne, either comes out --"

-Where are you? -"let me in or I'm gonna leave."

But she doesn't.

I think wayne opened that door.

That's when they had contact.

Exactly.

She didn't plan on being there long.

She had her keys, her wallet, and her cell phone

All in the car.

I believe when she got inside and went to go for her mail,

Wayne was waiting for her.

She encounters him and something happens inside that house.

Well, it's a good theory.

But, you know, after doing a search warrant in the house,

We didn't see any signs

Of any kind of fight or anything like that.

That doesn't mean there wasn't a fight.

He has the bruise on his body.

I know he gave you an explanation for it,

But we both know that alibi didn't check out.

If he was doing something like trying

To strangle her or suffocate her,

I think wayne would've had more than

Just a little mark on his side.

What if he caught her off-guard?

What if when she went to go for that mail

That hadn't been moved, he snuck up behind her?

But the bigger question that nobody seems

To be able to answer is,

"why did robin go out to the dock?"

In my opinion, she didn't go out there voluntarily.

I believe she may have already been dead and wayne pope

Is the reason that she got out back.

I think he picked her up, he brought her out back,

And as he did, bella, who had access to the house,

Could come and go as she pleased, she followed.

He goes over the dock.

He realizes he has to get rid of the body.

She can't be found in the house.

He throws her off the dock.

He looks down at bella and realizes the only reason

Robin would be in that back yard was for the dog.

He picks bella up, and he throws her in the bay, as well.

Another reason I think robin was attacked

Before entering the water,

Is because of what I learned from an oceanographer,

Dr. Steppe.

She told me that the way

Bella was found is indicative of a body

That was still conscious, right, still had oxygen in their lungs.

No argument there.

There's no argument there at all.

But when I brought up robin, she had a different opinion.

Robin was an avid swimmer.

She was a strong woman, she was in the gym all the time.

If she had seen bella thrown in the water,

She would've dove in after her, she would've held her breath,

She would've grabbed her and brought her to shore.

Based on the way that robin entered the water

And based on the way she was found,

How quickly she sunk and nobody was able to find her,

There's only two ways that dr. Steppe

Believes she entered that water,

She was either disoriented or unconscious, possibly dead.

I don't need to tell you what happens to a body

That's already deceased when it hits the water.

It sinks. -It sinks.

You're right.

Let's talk about wayne's behavior afterwards.

He knows that he has to get out of that house

As soon as possible to create an alibi.

He decides to take a 25-minute drive to his parents' house.

But when he gets there, whether he remembered it

Or he just found out when he got there,

There were other people at that residence.

That's other people for you to ask about his demeanor

When he walked into the house.

He didn't like that, so he decides against it.

Switches out his from his truck.

Now, he's trying to figure out, how do I confirm

That I ever left the house?

So, he's driving down the road, he's about almost halfway home,

And he's getting on the highway and he sees a convenience store.

What does he think?

You know what? 7-eleven, they have cameras.

That's right. Security cameras.

There's my alibi. -Yeah.

I'm gonna go inside that store, I'm gonna be seen on camera,

And when detectives check my pattern,

They're gonna see that I was there.

Here's the problem with that.

The cup of coffee.

Why are you gonna buy a cup of coffee

When you're going home to go back to sleep?

To me, that makes no sense.

You're gonna drink a coffee 30 minutes before you go to sleep?

No.

When are you gonna drink a cup of coffee?

In the morning.

I think it represents a one momentary lapse in judgement,

Where wayne pope made a mistake.

So, this may just be a tragic set of events,

Where wayne pope was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

-But he's a suspect. -He's a suspect.

I'm not saying he did it, but I'm saying, I think

Wayne pope knows what happened that night.

♪

Levasseur: It's finally time that I share what I've discovered

With robin's daughter priscilla.

Levasseur: When I looked into this investigation,

What I learned, your mom was actually in downtown annapolis

Earlier that evening.

She was having dinner and drinks with some people.

She may have even been out on a date.

And what we also learned is that

Wayne was also in downtown annapolis around that same time.

What?

From your reaction, you didn't know that.

No.

Knowing that he was in annapolis at the same time, that's crazy.

And I have reason to believe

That whatever happened inside that house

Between wayne and your mother, rendered her unconscious,

Or she was already dead.

Now, maybe that was an accident inside the house,

I'm qualifying here, stay with me,

But whatever happened to your mom,

I believe happened well before she ever went outside.

But that's not where it ends

Because there's another piece of evidence that was found

That I think is extremely significant in this case

And that's your mother's blouse.

When your mother's blouse was found,

It was found around the same time

And the same location as bella,

Which leads me to believe

That the blouse was thrown in the water after your mom

Had already been thrown in the water.

Your mom was wearing an undershirt under her blouse

And it was torn to shreds.

So, to my point, if she was wearing that blouse,

As well, wouldn't you expect the blouse

To have some type of similar damage?

Wayne pope is a strong person of interest

And he has not been completely forthright

With the authorities up to this point.

You know, I just learned a lot of this, so I'm shocked.

I didn't think it was possible for there

To be more evidence that he did this.

There is a scenario where this was a freak accident.

But if, in fact, it was an accident,

An argument that escalated,

Wayne owes you and your sister an explanation.

However, if this was intentional and wayne killed your mother,

He needs to answer for what he did.

Absolutely.

You really did do an amazing job and to learn more,

It just solidifies what I've thought all along.

Hopefully, we finally can bring the closure to this case

And allow your mom to finally rest in peace.

Yes.

♪

Levasseur: Robin's death left a hole in the lives of her family

And her close group of friends.

They spent the last five years searching for answers,

Answers that have been painfully elusive

Due to wayne pope's continued silence.

However, I've shared the new evidence that I uncovered

With the authorities and connected sergeant sexton

With dr. Steppe, the oceanography expert.

I'm hoping that this will recharge the investigation

As they continue to seek answers for robin and her family.

♪