Original subtitles

Knight: William had been a loan shark,

which would definitely give a motive for somebody,

an order to kill him.

It was obvious that she was withholding information.

Paul: We have a lot of unknowns.

It just adds another layer to our investigation.

Knight: If william was killed,

this could have been the exact spot where it happened.

♪

♪

[ dial tone ]

[ two high-pitched beeps ]

narrator: In kalamazoo, michigan,

an anonymous caller has reported

that a man,

69-year-old william gray, has been badly beaten,

perhaps even killed,

but his location is unknown.

Police officer tim knight responds to the tip.

Once we learned that mr. Gray was not at any of the local

hospitals or, uh,

at the jail, I then proceeded to his home, uh,

in an attempt to locate him there.

[ knocking noises ]

but upon knocking on the door did not receive an answer.

Okay.

Narrator: The woman identifies herself

as william gray's daughter.

Has a lease here or whatever.

Okay, um...

So...

Okay.

Knight: William gray's daughter had informed her father had been

known to carry large sums of money,

which would definitely give a motive for somebody in

order to hurt him or...

Whether to rob him of his money or to settle

out a debt that may have been owed to him.

Narrator: William's daughter tells police she last spoke

with him two days earlier on the morning of December 28th.

Anderson: Will and I have been knowing each other

for over 50 years.

Back in junior high school,

will started dating my sister, and I dated his sister,

and my brother wound up marrying one of his sisters.

So, william and I, we have a lot of history.

William was a very caring person.

He liked to eat.

He'd make up a big batch of ribs, chicken,

and he would go around to different people's houses

that were not so well off, and he would share,

uh, whatever he cooked for people.

He was just that kind of guy where he --

he looked out for people who weren't so well-to-do.

He, uh, had a big heart, a big stomach,

and he'd like to drink his wine, too.

But he was -- he was, uh, basically a happy person

who would do a lot for a lot of people.

I can't stress that enough about william.

Narrator: Back on the streets,

the investigation continues.

Officers contact william's landlord to gain access to

william's apartment in order to perform a wellness check.

While they wait, they're approached by

william's neighbor, gordon.

Paul: When we talked to gordon,

he told us that what he had been hearing is that william

had been killed and had been put in the trunk of his own vehicle.

So at that point, I was trying to

figure out what vehicle does william drive,

does he own more than one vehicle?

Um, because at this point, we're thinking if we find

william's vehicle, we'll likely find

either evidence or william himself.

Narrator: Gordon tells investigators

william drives a 2009 white chevy malibu,

but he's not sure

if the rumors about william's death are even true.

There was a sense of urgency, because we didn't know if

mr. Gray was deceased or if he was maybe laying somewhere,

needing medical attention in his car, abandoned somewhere --

we didn't know.

Narrator: Meanwhile, william's landlord arrives to

let officers inside william's apartment.

[ knocking noises ]

[ indistinct talking ]

[ knocking noises ]

[ keys jingling ]

[ indistinct radio chatter ]

[ indistinct radio chatter ]

paul: So when we get into william's apartment and are

looking around, to the officer,

nothing looks disturbed.

There's no signs of forced entry.

There's -- there's no sign of any

sort of struggle in the apartment.

But while the officer's on scene, the neighbor comes up

and starts to recall different items

that she remembered being in the apartment

that were now not there.

Paul: Now we don't know if somebody had broken in,

and it just adds another layer to our investigation.

Narrator: The neighbor then tells officers that

william has a girlfriend named mariah.

Paul: The neighbor reports the relationship

isn't always the best,

and when you have a domestic situation where there's

volatility in that relationship,

that can lead to animosity,

and there's possibly some things missing.

So we have a lot of unknowns, which is very frustrating

to have such a broad investigation at this point,

really nowhere to -- to kind of pinpoint or aim our focus.

Narrator: As they leave, officers are approached by

yet another neighbor.

Narrator: Will's neighbor calls the man who claims to

have information about the location of will's body.

Knight: Now, just because someone

might believe that somebody's dead,

they might not be.

It was obviously very urgent that we needed to find him

and his vehicle in hopes that he was still alive.

Narrator: Kalamazoo police are now searching for william gray's

white chevy malibu after learning

his body might be stuffed inside the trunk.

[ dinging noises ]

[ dinging noises ]

♪

knight: Myself and other officers began checking

the area, and officers did locate other white vehicles

that closely resembled mr. Gray's,

but none of them ended up being his vehicle.

So we began a grid search of

driving through parking lots and parking structures

in hopes to find mr. Gray's car.

And it was also difficult because it had recently snowed,

so driving through and figuring out which color of

cars were covered in snow, because we're looking for

a white one, made it more difficult,

as well as vehicles'

license plates had been covered in snow,

and we'd have to manually get out

and brush off all the plates.

And people would be wondering what we're doing and, you know,

without giving out too much information,

we just had to inform them we were looking for a missing car.

There were several times where we found a 2009 white chevy

malibu, ran the plate, and it wasn't william's.

Narrator: The news leaves william's family and friends

fearing the worst.

Anderson: I was shocked when I first heard that he had

come up missing, because william always let somebody know

his whereabouts.

Two days prior to him reported missing,

he had dropped me off,

and I have to say, I'm very...

Thankful for the words,

the last words that we said to one another.

As I got out of the car,

I says, "I love you, baby boy."

he says, "I love you, too, bro."

and I said, "I'll see you in a couple of days."

okay.

And those were the last words that william and I had.

♪

narrator: Unable to find william's car,

investigators set out to find his girlfriend, mariah.

They start by speaking with her circle of friends.

One of those people that we found was jules,

who is a good friend of mariah's.

And she agreed to come into the department

to talk to detectives.

Narrator: While jules says she doesn't know where mariah is,

she recounts an incident from

a party the night of william's disappearance.

Narrator: Jules explains william was there

with his girlfriend, mariah,

and was later robbed at the party.

Narrator: Jules claims that despite her close relationship

with william's girlfriend, mariah,

she had not heard from her since william was reported missing.

Moorian: During the interview with jules,

we believed that she was leaving out key information

that we thought that she knew.

That -- that's a very common obstacle that detectives have

to overcome during investigations is when people

don't wanna talk or don't want to provide information.

There was nothing to hold her on or arrest her on,

so she just eventually just left.

Narrator: Investigators next head to the residence

where jules claimed the party took place,

a house rented by a woman named sarah.

Um...

[ indistinct radio chatter ]

and while searching the residence, as she allowed us

to do, I noticed a smell of, like, cleaning solvents,

almost like the effect of pine-sol,

that the house had been recently cleaned.

And I began informing sarah that we had reports there was

an assault that took place in her house,

and that there was a report of a lot of blood

that had been shed during this assault.

So after speaking with sarah in more detail

about the events of william gray being at a residence,

I formed sarah that if the disappearance of

william gray had ended up being a homicide, her misleading

investigators during this investigation would

cause her serious legal consequences.

-Sarah: Mm-kay. -Okay?

-Sarah: Mm-hmm. -Okay.

Narrator: Then officers come across a locked room

and are told that william's girlfriend, mariah,

lives there.

Narrator: The door knob is stained red.

[ suspenseful music ]

knight: I'm looking at that staining on the door,

and if william was killed,

this could have been the exact spot where it happened.

Narrator: Kalamazoo public investigators have just

located what appears to be blood

where william gray was reportedly robbed.

Moorian: There was plenty of information to go ahead

and apply for a search warrant to go ahead

and process the inside of this residence to see if there was

an actual crime that had occurred.

Inside the residence,

there was trace amounts of blood that were located

on the walls of the residence and on the floor.

There was also and unattached garage,

and inside this garage, there was blood-stained carpet

as well as paint cans that were located.

There was obvious signs of cleanup and cleaning agents

in same areas where blood was found inside the residence.

It was obvious that there -- a crime had occurred,

and attempts were made to clean up the crime scene.

Narrator: Although investigators feel sarah, who lives in

the residence, is likely withholding information,

they don't have enough solid evidence proving she was

involved and are unable to make an arrest.

Back on the streets, officers continue their canvass

looking for anyone else who might have

seen william before he disappeared.

They speak with a friend of william's named lance.

Officer: Early in the morning.

Officer: Okay.

Lance was asked if he knew of anybody

that would have wanted to harm mr. Gray.

Narrator: It's then that lance reveals

who robbed william at the party --

a man named san jose.

Officer: All right.

Paul: Now, with this information,

we've got somebody that we've talked to

who is friends with william, who has given us

a name of somebody who they believe would want to hurt

william and then pair that with the robbery that we had,

you know, a week before william went missing

where we know that san jose was the person who did that.

We know that we've got to --

we've got to find him and talk to him.

Narrator: Investigators dig into san jose's background and learn

he's currently behind bars on an unrelated charge.

Paul: So san jose is one of those people

that comes across our desks on a regular basis.

I mean, he's a essentially a career criminal.

You know, we know a number of things

that he's been involved in in the past,

but is he capable of actually murdering somebody?

And that's what we needed to find out.

Narrator: Detectives begin by pressing san jose for

his version of events on the night of the party.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Moorian: San jose provided us the names of some

other people that were present at the party,

and one of the names that san jose provided us

was australia wilhite.

Narrator: Investigators extend their search

to include australia wilhite.

The name is familiar to detectives, who conduct

a background search and discover an extensive criminal record,

which includes drugs and weapons charges.

There is enough information,

there's enough probable cause, to apply for

a search warrant for her phone location.

We started pinging australia's phone.

We had learned that her phone was pinging

at a residence within a mile of public safety headquarters.

♪

narrator: An additional warrant is granted to search

the residence where australia is holed up.

Fearing she might be armed,

a k-9 swat unit arrives

and sets up position outside the residence.

[ indistinct radio chatter ]

[ dog whining ]

[ indistinct talking over loudspeaker ]

narrator: All members of the public inside

the house are instructed to exit the building.

[ dog whining and barking ]

the reason that the swat team and the k-9 unit was used, uh,

was so they could go ahead and make entry

during the service of the search warrant,

make sure that it's safe and everybody inside is secure,

so that way,

investigators and detectives and lab techs

and specialists can go in and process

the scene, and detectives can search

and -- and interview people.

[ dog whining ]

little did we know what we would find inside there.

Narrator: Kalamazoo public safety

swat team members are conducting a raid on a house

investigators believe

may be central to the disappearance of

69-year-old william gray.

With the help of a k-9 unit,

the house is made safe, and the search begins.

[ dog whining ]

paul: So as we searched the house,

we found a number of different items.

We found a number of items with australia's name on it,

we found recreational drugs,

a number of cellphones,

and a folding knife that was kind of buried in some cushions

in the living room, which we bagged up for

the processing, because again,

we know that the scene had been cleaned, and we could have

additional evidence here that have been cleaned, as well.

[ dog barking and whining ]

narrator: Australia wilhite is arrested,

but she refuses to talk to investigators

without a lawyer present.

Then a woman named nikki comes

into the station with something to say.

She was at the party the night william went missing.

Narrator: Nikki claims that despite leaving the party early

and not actually witnessing the attack on william,

she's currently being harassed by someone

calling her phone repeatedly.

Moorian: So this is very common in investigations.

People want to minimize their knowledge

of anything that had happened,

and nikki was explaining to us she was being cooperative,

but we believe that she was leaving out

key information that we thought that she knew.

Narrator: Investigators gamble and attempt to bluff,

telling nikki that they've interviewed all

the people at the party, and it's only her story that

has inconsistencies.

Nikki: Right, okay.

Narrator: Detectives press nikki to come clean.

Narrator: Nikki willingly gives her mobile phone to detectives,

and they soon determine, under forensic analysis,

that information has been deleted.

[ nikki sobbing and speaking indistinctly ]

um...

Paul: She starts to shed light on one of the people

who was there who made her feel uncomfortable

at the party.

Narrator: Nikki claims that a man named shanadore rice

was there and was involved in an argument

between william and william's girlfriend, mariah.

Narrator: Nikki tells detectives the only other thing she knows

about shanadore is that he's moved to nearby south haven.

Detectives reach out to their counterparts at the south haven

police department, who are familiar

with shanadore rice.

Shanadore is contacted and agrees to come in

for an interview.

We start off by asking him about, you know,

his situation in life, where he grew up,

just kind of some personal information at first trying to

get him to open up, kind of feel comfortable.

Um...

Moorian: We don't know what shanadore knows,

and he doesn't know all the details or facts

that we know,

so it's kind of like a little cat and mouse game,

maybe at the initial stages.

Moorian: Sometimes when you show somebody a photograph of

an individual, they break down right there, they start crying,

they're remorseful,

they don't want to see that person.

Um, so...

Sometimes it's a lot of weight on somebody's shoulders

and they just want to tell us the information.

We didn't know, but we thought we would give it a shot,

and I just wanted to see what his reaction was gonna be.

♪

narrator: Entering the second hour of

their interview with shanadore rice,

kalamazoo detectives show him

a photograph of william gray,

the man rice was seen arguing with prior to

gray going missing.

When I showed the photograph of mr. Gray to shanadore,

he asked who -- who that person was.

And when I said, "it's william gray,"

he says, "oh, was that his name?"

that was important to me, because he referred to mr. Gray

in the past tense, like he wasn't with us any longer.

Yeah.

Yep.

Moorian: From that point on,

shanadore acknowledges that he was inside that

address on north rose street that night with mr. Gray.

He says that there was an altercation,

but he paints a picture of self defense by saying that

mr. Gray came at him with a knife, and -- which is common.

People want to minimize or de-escalate the situation

to make it -- paint a better picture for themselves.

Narrator: Shanadore admits beating william with his fists.

Moorian: Not only does he admit to striking mr. Gray

in the face and in the head multiple times

until he's deceased...

...He also implicated australia wilhite.

Due to the fact that he was a loan shark,

australia believed that william might have

a large sum of money in his apartment.

So shanadore explained how australia came up with

this scheme to assault william and steal the keys

to his apartment.

So...

It just escalated way out of hand.

Australia was kind of the ringleader

and orchestrated and directed the people inside this house

during this assault and murder.

She was directing people to clean up

after mr. Gray was murdered.

But they didn't want to speak because they were in fear

of australia, who was directing the whole event at gunpoint.

♪

shanadore then informs us that he places mr. Gray in

the trunk of his own vehicle,

and then he then drives him to the city of detroit.

Narrator: Investigators travel to detroit to recover

william's body.

The decision was made to take shanadore with us

so he could direct us to where he placed mr. Gray.

Narrator: Shanadore leads detectives to an abandoned house

located in the north end of town.

William's distinctive white chevy malibu is

finally located,

and michigan state police impound the vehicle

for forensic analysis.

Paul: We ended up finding a body that matched

the description of what shanadore told us,

as well as consistent with -- with william.

The feet and the hands were bound.

He was naked, wrapped in a blanket, and frozen solid.

Narrator: Shanadore rice pleads guilty to second-degree murder

in the death of william gray

and is sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison.

Australia wilhite pleads guilty of being an accessory

to murder and is sentenced to four years.

Moorian: This case was memorable because it involves

people like australia trying

to intimidate people in not cooperating

with law enforcement or the police.

Some people had no reason to not cooperate, but they did it

out of -- in fear of her,

and this case very well could have went unsolved without

the investigation being pressed on and not stopping

in the investigation.

Paul: To get that closure for the family, not only to hold

people accountable for what they did,

but to be able to give the family their loved one to

actually give them the proper burial and respect that --

that he deserves and that the family deserves

is very significant.

If william was here, I'd say,

"I still love you, baby boy,"

but I still can't figure out why.

Actually, he'd have his glass of wine,

and I'd have one, too,

but that -- that's william.

He was quite a guy.

And I tell people, if you have a loved one,

whether it be a family or friend,

after any of your conversations,

you let them know that you've got love for them,

because it might be the last time you say that

or they hear that.