All language subtitles for A.Time.to.Kill.S01E03.The.Man.in.the.Background.720p.ID.WEBRip.AAC2.0.x264-BOOP[eztv.io]

He was shot minutes before
we walked in the door,

which is scary.

What would have happened
if we were there?

Narrator: A vicious murder.

It was obvious whoever wanted
to kill him was very angry

because they probably could
have shot him once or twice,

but they had emptied
the magazine into him.

Narrator: A dark mystery
with multiple suspects.

Colwell: You know,
they just didn't get along.

They were fighting
all the time.

Slaman: Maybe
an argument took place.

Maybe a disagreement
took place.

Colwell: He said, you know,
"hey, what are you looking at?

You're staring at me,"
and he pulled out a gun.

Narrator:
The truth will be revealed.

Colwell: We know that that
last phone call actually

came from after John was
already found dead,

so I think that phone call
came from the guy

that killed him.

Narrator:
Every day in North America,

dozens of people are murdered.

The key to solving
the toughest of these homicides

lies in the final 24 hours
of the victim's life.

To crack the case,

detectives must reconstruct
that critical timeline,

the minutes and hours
containing evidence

that can help unlock
the mystery

and catch the killer.

Sylvania township,
a quaint, close-knit town

bordering Toledo, Ohio.

Slaman:
People are happy out here.

In christmastime, the
neighborhoods are all lit up.

You can tell the festivities

for the holidays
are coming around.

Every neighborhood tries to
outdo the next neighborhood.

Colwell: We've always been
fairly lucky --

we haven't had
that many homicides.

Probably the majority
of calls that

we get are
domestic violences,

and we get a lot of
burglary calls.

Narrator:
But on a quiet afternoon,

just ten days before Christmas,

two young girls make
a grisly discovery.

Alessandrini: I was 13,
and my sister Nicole was 12.

We were both in the same
school at the time.

We were the last kids
off the bus,

and we got home -- our dad's
car's in the driveway.

I thought,
"I forgot my keys in the house,

and thank god dad's home."

So we try to, you know,
walk in the front door.

The front door is locked.

Okay, maybe he's napping.

Knock on the door.
Nothing.

I go to the backdoor.

Still no answer.

We look inside,
try to see what was going on.

My sister Nicole says,
"dad's on the floor."

I was like, "what do you mean
he's on the floor?"

She goes, "dad's on the floor.
He's not moving."

There's a front window
on the house.

There wasn't a lock on it,
so I pushed the window open

and got my sister inside.

She unlocked the front door
and we looked at our dad.

He wasn't breathing.
He was blue.

At first, we thought he actually
had committed suicide.

I dialed 911.

911, what's your emergency?

Alessandrini:
I was scared.

I didn't know
what was going on.

The 911 operator told US
we needed to go outside,

because, of course, she doesn't
know what's going on.

And within minutes,
we had police officers

in our driveway.

Narrator:
Veteran homicide detectives

Todd slaman
and Robert colwell

are called to the scene
to investigate.

Colwell:
When the 911 call came in,

I was actually sitting
in my office

in the detective bureau,
and,

originally, I was told by
the dispatcher that there was

a possible suicide.

And then shortly after that,
there was an update

possibly that this
was a homicide.

So that led US to believe
that this

was not gonna be standard,
regular investigation.

When we first arrived
on the scene, Mr. Riebe

was laying there
on the floor.

He was on his side,
face down.

There was a guitar that was
laying there by the body,

so you could tell this was not
a suicide.

He was shot seven times.

He had several bullet wounds,

some of the wounds hit
his shoulder,

one wound hit his hip,

but the wound that really
killed him

had hit him directly
right in the heart.

Slaman:
This crime stood out.

That John riebe was shot
this many times

in the middle of the daytime,
that stood out.

There was the violence of it.

Arntfield: When we see
someone shot seven times,

this is overkill.

Many firearms actually
only have

a magazine that will hold
six or seven rounds,

so someone literally
emptied a gun into this man.

That is not a restrained,
tactical murder.

That is a rage murder.

Narrator: John riebe was
a 39-year-old

single father taking care
of his two daughters.

My dad was the normal,
you know, guy.

Loved football.
He was a bowler.

He golfed.

He was
very family-oriented.

He loved spending time
with US,

doing things with
my sister and I.

He was a great guy.

He met my mom
at a gas station,

and he said, "nice truck."

And they swapped numbers,
and then they dated

about five years
before they got married,

and then I was born three
years later, and my sister

15 months after that.

It was more him doing
everything for US.

My mom wasn't in the picture
as much as she should have been.

My dad just

finally said, "enough is
enough," and, "leave,

and I'll raise
the kids myself."

Narrator:
John was self-employed as

a heating and air
conditioning installer.

Money was tight,
but he did everything

he could to provide
for his daughters.

Alessandrini:
My dad loved Christmas.

We were supposed to go get
a Christmas tree that night.

Our house was actually
a pretty small house,

but every year,
my dad always got

the biggest, bushiest tree
that he could find.

He would get up
in the morning

and cook breakfast --
like, a big breakfast.

Always said,
"breakfast before presents."

It was awesome.
He loved it.

When they told US
that he was shot,

I was shocked, like,
"what do you mean?

No, that can't be possible.
Who would do it?"

And, you know, I just
wanted to know why

somebody would do that
to my dad.

Narrator:
To find John riebe's killer,

detectives must unravel

the last 24 hours
of his life,

beginning with
the crime scene.

Slaman: We started processing
the scene, and,

we found casings
on the floor,

gunshot casings.

The casings have
the caliber of

the gun on the back
of the casings.

Colwell: It was a 380
semi-automatic weapon.

They're small guns

you could just carry
in your pocket,

so we knew what kind of gun

we were looking for
at that point in time.

Narrator:
When they scour the house,

police don't locate the gun,

but they do make some
important discoveries.

Slaman: There was no sign of
a struggle.

John was -- we're assuming
he was playing the guitar.

He was probably sitting,

so John may have not known
it was coming,

and there was no signs
of any forced entry,

so we believe whoever
shot John riebe,

John riebe may have known.

At the scene, the blood that
was on the body was not dry,

and his body was still
somewhat limber.

The flesh was still soft.

That led US to believe
the crime was fairly recent.

It definitely happened in
the last couple of hours.

Narrator: Detectives talk
to John's daughters,

hoping to pin down

his final movements in
the hours before his murder.

That day,
my sister and I,

we got up for school
and, you know,

the normal,
brush your teeth, eat.

You know, dad was saying,
"grab your backpack.

Don't miss the bus."

He told US,
"I'm going to work.

I should be home
when you guys get home."

We said, "okay,
have a good day."

Reiter: After school let out,
they got on the bus

and were dropped off
near their house

at approximately
3:15 P.M. that day.

Slaman: At 3:22,
seven minutes later,

the 911 call comes in
from Jamie and Nicole

finding their dad

dead, shot seven times.

We're looking back and putting
the whole timeline together.

Narrator:
From John's daughters'

information and the state of
the body at the crime scene,

detectives believe John was
killed between 8 A.M.

When the girls left for school
and 3:21 P.M.,

when they found him dead
on the floor.

Alessandrini:
The detectives wanted to know,

"do you have any clue what
your dad did today?"

Like, "no, I was at school.

"He said he was going to work.

I'm not sure what he did."

Narrator: Needing to pin down
John's movements that day,

investigators turn
to his friend, Eric babos,

who sometimes assisted him
at work.

Reiter: Eric babos was
the handyman for John riebe

in the jobs that he did
for the air conditioning

and heating company.

Eric and John went
to high school together,

so they were
longtime friends.

Slaman:
Eric babos was low-key.

He was wanting
to give US information.

He wanted to help US.

Narrator: But Eric tells
detectives he didn't see

or talk to John
the day of the murder.

Colwell: Eric advises US,
December the 15th,

John was not working,
and he was taking that day off.

And Eric was working
at his brother's house,

which is about 3.5, 4 miles
away from John riebe's house.

He advised US
he'd been there all day.

Narrator:
With no leads from Eric,

detectives turn
their attention

to John's
estranged wife, Lisa.

Arntfield: An ex-wife,
an ex-husband,

um, an estranged spouse,

this is someone who,

in most circumstances,
needs to be excluded

as being a suspect

and is a person of interest
almost by default.

You need to look at
what were

the dynamics of
this relationship?

What were any strains
or stresses on the relationship?

What we had heard from the girls
is that, you know,

they just didn't get along,
they were fighting all the time.

Alessandrini: My mom was around
for birthdays and christmases

and holidays.

They kept in touch,
'cause, you know,

we're her kids, but there
was a lot of fighting.

Maybe there was
some sort of vendetta

or personal argument
that had evolved to a certain

level where she got angry
and perpetrated violence

that erupted
in this horrible killing.

Narrator:
Hours after John riebe

is found dead, police question
his estranged wife, Lisa.

Slaman:
Lisa was very upset.

She was
emotionally distraught,

seeing her daughters in that
state of being so upset.

She was visibly shaken.

Some suspects
will go too far,

will go over the top,
excessive grief.

Um, excessive theatricality.

It could have a number
of motives behind it,

but everyone deals
with grief differently.

So without knowing what
that person's baseline

responses to trauma
and what their triggers are,

you always need
to dig deeper.

Narrator: To find out whether
Lisa could have killed John,

investigators need to
establish motive

and whether she had
the opportunity.

Colwell: Maybe there was some
kind of domestic issue between

the two of them --
we're looking to find out

where was she that day?
What was she doing that day?

Was she the last person
to see John?

Lisa said that
she last talked

to John around
11:46 that morning.

Narrator: With this new piece
of information,

detectives rework
the timeline for

the hours before
John's murder.

Arntfield: A phone call can help
build a victim's timeline

much like any
device-related activity.

It leaves a trail --
it provides a definitive

place where they are last seen
and heard from.

And the contents of that
communication can also be

very important.

Slaman: They had talked
about going out possibly

the next night, getting some
Christmas gifts for the girls.

She said that there was
no duress, no anger.

Narrator: Detectives look
into Lisa's story

and work
to verify her alibi.

Lisa was a receptionist,
and Lisa said

that she was
at work that day.

There was a couple witnesses
there that had said,

yeah, she was there
at the timeframe

that we were looking at.

And when the girls called her
and told her what was going on,

she left early and went
right over to John's house.

Narrator:
With Lisa at work all day,

detectives determined
she couldn't be involved in

John's murder,

and she's no longer
considered a suspect.

They were separated,
but Lisa

would describe John
as a good father.

He took care
of the girls.

You come into a lot of homes
where the common denominator

is the kids.

I think John and Lisa had
that type of relationship.

Narrator: Lisa then offers up
a piece of information

that sheds new light
on the investigation.

Colwell: Well, in the meantime,
she had checked

her phone messages,
and she had realized that

John had left her two voice
messages just, you know,

a minute before
three o'clock that day.

And she played both
those messages for US.

Reiter: John riebe
had called his ex-wife,

asking her
if she could go

to the heating and air
conditioning business in

Toledo and pick up a check
that was waiting for him for

a project that he had done
earlier in the week.

And then within a minute,
minute and a half,

he called back --
right back,

he says, "hey, Lisa, someone
is waiting for his money.

I need you to go
pick up this check."

There was a level of urgency
to the second phone call.

It was more,

"hey, Lisa, why haven't
you called me back?

"I need you,
I'll explain it to you,

"but I need you
to call me back.

I got someone here waiting."

So...

You know, there was definitely
a different tone.

Colwell: This was before
cellphones really had taken off,

so a lot of this
was land lines,

and you knew exactly
where the person was.

John had called her
from his house at that time.

Narrator:
These phone calls are

a significant development
in the case

and further narrow
down the timeline.

Slaman:
From the phone calls,

we know that John
was alive at 2:58.

We know that John
was alive at 2:59.

We know John
was found dead

at 3:21.

So whoever shot
and killed John,

it was in that timeline.

Now we have
a 22-minute timeframe

that we're dealing with.

Narrator: But it's what
detectives hear next

that turns the case
on its head.

At the 2:59 phone call,

you could hear something
in the background.

You could hear
a second male's voice.

That's when you also --
you can hear John say,

"I've got someone here."

Colwell:
So we know he's in --

he's in the house with someone,
and that someone is probably

the person that kills John,

because 20 minutes
from that message,

he's found dead
by his two daughters.

Narrator:
Detectives now believe

if they can identify
the background voice

on the phone message,
they'll find their killer.

At that particular time,

um, I was involved with an FBI
task force in northwest Ohio,

and we had access
to Quantico, Virginia,

through our office.

So we sent
the tapes to Quantico

to try to get them enhanced

so they could identify
who's in the background.

The FBI had voice analysis,
but the FBI was unable

to determine who
that person was.

Narrator:
Getting no more information

about the background voice,

detectives ask Lisa,
John's ex, about his enemies.

Slaman: Lisa advises
that the only person

John had arguments with
was Chuck

from the heating
and air conditioning company

that John had
subcontracted for.

Chuck owed John

some money
for completing the job.

John was very upset.

Maybe an argument took place.

Maybe a disagreement
took place.

So Chuck became
a person of interest

at that time.

Alessandrini:
He did owe my dad money

from just previous jobs.

I didn't know if there was,
like,

something going on with them.

Narrator:
With suspicion swirling around

John's business associate,
Chuck,

detectives pay him a visit
at his hvac company.

Colwell: He was the guy
that was in charge,

very confident in himself,

and he definitely wanted
things done his way.

Narrator: When police ask about
his relationship with John,

Chuck admits
to owing him $500.

Slaman: Chuck dealt
with subcontractors,

and he had learned that you
don't pay your subcontractors

until the job's done
or else they wouldn't

complete the project.

He thought not only John,
but all other subcontractors,

if you prepaid them,
they wouldn't get the job done.

But Chuck said that John
had completed the job

the week before, and he actually
had a check waiting for him.

Narrator: Chuck tells detectives
about a series of phone calls

he had with John, all near
the time of John's death.

The first phone call,
I believe, was at 3:03,

and John wanted to know if he
could send someone else to

pick the checks up.

And Chuck said,

"no, you have to come down
and get the checks."

There was another
phone call at 3:05.

John was saying, "hey, can
I send someone else down?"

"No, you can't.

You have to come down
and get the check."

Narrator: Eight minutes later,
the phone rang again.

The next phone call,

there were two voices
on the phone,

and the second voice says,

"hey, John owes me money.

It's 150 bucks, so I'm gonna
come down and get the check."

That call was it 3:13,

and that's the one where
Chuck said to the guy,

"hey, I told you before.
I'm not changing my mind.

John has to come down
and get the check."

The phone went dead.
He actually hung up on him.

Narrator: Chuck tells detectives
he didn't recognize

the other person
on the phone.

He shares his company's
phone records

to prove he's telling
the truth.

Colwell: Chuck said he was
in his office that day,

and he was with
his employee.

The phone records tell US that
they had multiple phone calls,

so we knew they were
at their business.

Narrator: With the company's
phone records and Chuck's

statements clearing him

from the murder,
detectives colwell and slaman

now look at the implications
of his story.

We narrowed down the timeframe
from the phone calls.

So now we got
an eight-minute timeframe

that we're dealing with.

Arntfield: The timeline in
this case is remarkably tight.

We have a series of telephone
calls and then, minutes later,

his two daughters coming home.

That you can't help but question
whether his daughters

actually crossed paths
with the killer,

and if they were just
a couple of minutes earlier,

if they, too, would have been
victims themselves.

Alessandrini: He was shot
minutes before we walked

in the door, which is scary.

What if the bus had gone
a different route that day,

and we get dropped off
first instead of last?

We could have been there,
walking in the door.

What would have happened
if we were there?

Narrator:
Working with a timeline of

just eight minutes,
from 3:13 to 3:21 pm,

detectives need to uncover
the identity of the man

with John the afternoon
he was murdered.

What are the odds that somebody
else gained access to

the home and killed him

in that same length of time
and was still able to escape?

It really leaves only
one possibility,

and that's the other man that
was on the phone at 3:13.

Colwell: It was an incredibly
tight timeline at this point,

and now it's just
a matter of trying to --

to figure out who that person
that was in the house.

Narrator:
As business owner, Chuck,
is wrapping up his interview,

he drops a bombshell, telling
police that at 4:06 P.M.,

he received a final call.

Slaman: Chuck says it's
the same person.

So this same guy
calls again and says, "hey,

"John's in the hospital.

I need to come down
and get the check."

And that's when Chuck said,

"when John's
out of the hospital,

he can come and get it."

Not that Chuck believed him.

Colwell: That last
phone call came in

after John was
already found dead.

Chuck told US that was the same
guy that was connected

with those other calls
from John riebe's house,

so we believe
that last phone call

came from the person
that killed John.

Narrator: As police wait for
a trace on the phone call,

they circle back
to the crime scene,

looking for any new clues.

Colwell: The girls had never
seen anybody leaving

as they were coming home.

We talked to the bus driver,
and the bus driver

didn't remember seeing
anybody leaving the scene.

Slaman:
Where the house was,

it was a very busy road.

We combed the neighborhood,
and, no --

no one saw or heard anything.

Narrator:
With no new witnesses or leads,

the investigation hits a wall.

You get a little set back.

It would be much easier
in a case

if, you know,
a neighbor two doors down

would've said, "hey, I saw this
guy running out of the house."

You know,
that would have been huge.

But, um,
there was nothing.

It was extremely difficult.
It was extremely difficult.

Narrator: Then they get
an unexpected break.

Colwell: I got a phone call
from Eric babos.

He advised me
that he might have

some information that would
assist in our investigation.

Narrator: Eric tells police
he had been at a party

at John's house
the Friday before his murder

when a man came in
he didn't recognize.

He told US that there was
a guy that came in there,

and he was delivering drugs,
and said that his name was j.R.,

and then when
he was leaving, j.R. Said,

"you know, hey,
what are you looking at?

You're staring at me."

And he pulled out a gun,
and he pointed it at John

and Eric
and threatened them.

John riebe was
a dedicated father.

He took care of
his daughters.

But John riebe
also liked to party.

He liked the night life.

He, -
he, drank.

He used drugs on occasion.

Colwell: We got John's phone
to see who he had talked to

the day of the 15th --
when we were

looking at phone records,
you could see that John

had called j.R.

Narrator:
Detectives now zero in

on a new suspect
in John's murder --

local drug dealer, j.R.

Reiter: Sylvania township
police detectives,

when they were told that j.R.

Was a drug dealer,
they thought that perhaps

he had something
to do with the crime.

And maybe John riebe
owed him money for the drugs.

Narrator: Police ask
John's friend Eric

to come down
to the station again,

hoping he can help
identify j.R.

Slaman: Eric described him
as a big guy.

He was imposing,
kind of short-cropped hair,

well built,
and he brandished a gun,

but he didn't recognize him.

Narrator: When detectives
run the name

j.r. Through the database,

they discover his real name
is valynn Rodgers,

and he's been arrested
for an unrelated crime.

So myself and sergeant colwell,
we went down to Lucas county

sheriff's department,

and we did an interview
with him in a --

in a back conference room,
and we actually sat

and talked with valynn Rodgers
about John riebe.

Valynn Rodgers
was a big guy.

He took care of himself.
He obviously worked out.

Narrator: When detectives
question valynn about the day

of John's murder,

he says he was visiting
a friend 11 miles away.

According to valynn,
the last time he spoke

with John was on the 10th.

That was the last time
he said he'd seen him alive.

The day of the homicide,
John was trying to score

some dope and had called
valynn Rodgers, but...

They never connected.

Colwell: From the phone records,
you could see

where it went
the voicemail,

so we knew that
that information

that valynn Rodgers
was giving US was true.

Narrator:
Valynn also denies waving

a gun around
at John's party.

Valynn says,
"I was at the party.

"I scored -- I scored some --
some dope for John.

I was in and out."

He said he liked John riebe.

He said he always
had the money,

it was a simple
transaction.

"Why would I kill him?"

Narrator: Detectives track down
friends of valynn Rodgers,

and they confirm they were
with him in another town until

4 P.M. on the day
John was murdered.

Detectives also look closer
at Rodgers' activities

the night of the party.

There was another person that
Eric said was at the party,

so we called him up
and basically said, "hey,

can you come in and talk
to US for a little bit?"

And we ask him, "did some guy
come there and deliver drugs?"

He said, "yeah, some guy
came, he brought some drugs."

And I asked him,
did he pull out a gun

and threatened --
threaten you guys, and he said,

"no, there was
no guy with a gun."

So at that point,
we know that the story

Eric babos came to tell US
that night was a complete lie.

Narrator: Now investigators
turn their attention back

to John's longtime friend,

Eric babos and discover
he's got a criminal past.

Colwell: He had a drug
and alcohol problem.

He had some dui arrests.

He had a temper problem.
He had domestic violences.

His wife
had moved out on him.

His kid wasn't staying
with him anymore.

He was a guy that was, you know,
kind of down and out.

My dad helped him out a lot.

Like, he had
a kid younger than US,

and my dad helped him, like,
"hey, you know,

"I know you don't have any
work right now.

"You can help me out,
and I'll pay you

to, you know, grab my tools,
help me carry things."

Narrator: The more detectives
learn about Eric,

the more red flags they find.

Colwell:
The girls thought Eric was

not a good influence
on their dad.

You know, he partied too much,
and they never liked him.

They thought he was --

he acted strange around them.

He was kind of weird,
but not anything where

I thought he would ever
do anything like this,

like, shoot my dad.

Narrator: Investigators have
zeroed in on John riebe's

longtime friend,
Eric babos,

as their prime suspect
in his murder.

Slaman: Eric's alibi
was that he was

renovating his brother's house.

It was on westacre,
which is about, you know,

three and a half, four miles
from the crime scene.

And he said he was dropped
off by his father around

10-ish and picked up
by his brother

around 4:30 that afternoon,

and he had never
left the house.

Narrator:
Detectives colwell and slaman

reach out to Eric's family,

asking if they can confirm
the handyman's alibi.

They were saying, "yeah,
we dropped him off and

picked him up."
But...

During the timeframe

of the murder,
he's unaccounted for.

Eric babos was at the house
alone the whole day,

and so he couldn't
get anyone to

substantiate the alibi
that he was there.

He could have,
at any time,

gotten a ride from somebody
else, ridden his bike,

or walked to
John riebe's house.

Narrator:
Through John's phone records,

detectives catch Eric
in another lie.

Slaman: Eric said that he had
last spoken with John the day

before the homicide, and that
he had not been there that day,

he had not talked
to John that day.

But from the phone records,
that's a lie.

He spoke to John
that -- the day of the homicide.

He spoke to him
in the morning,

around eight in the morning,
then he called him around

11-ish.

Narrator: Investigators confront
Eric with this information,

and his story changes.

He admitted to US that he did
talk to John that morning,

and he said he wanted to know
if they were gonna go work

that day.

Eric said John told him,
"you know,

"I'm gonna have some coffee,
I'm gonna,

you know,
see what's going on.

I don't know if I'm working
today or not."

And then Eric said,
you know, "we got to get paid."

And John said, "yeah, yeah,
I'll get with you later on it."

So we knew they were talking
to each other on the phone.

Thomas: Once you start
lying to investigators,

they are gonna

lay hard on that person
and start to look at everything

they've said,
and they're gonna keep digging.

Narrator: Suspicion about Eric
keeps growing

as Jamie remembers
something unusual that

happened the day of
her father's murder.

Eric called my house
and actually asked for my dad.

And I said,

"well, no, my dad can't
come to the phone right now.

"Something's going on."

And he's saying, "I want
my money. I want my money."

It's $150.

Like, why?

All of a sudden you're calling
and asking for money?

Slaman: Eric said he called,
because he wanted to

get the $150,
because he promised his son

that he was gonna take him
Christmas shopping,

so he wanted that money
right away.

We know that John called Lisa
before three o'clock that day

and left her a voice message

and said there was a guy
waiting there, and he's waiting

to get his money.

Now we find out Eric wanted
to get his money.

So Eric babos actually
kind of gave US his motive.

Narrator:
Having identified a motive,

detectives take a closer look
at Eric's movements

on the day John was killed.

Colwell: We went
to his brother's house

where he was supposed to be
working that day,

to see if there was
work going on,

those kind of things.

It was kind of unusual,
because there was a bike

in the side yard there,
and you could tell

by the tracks in the snow that
someone had been riding

that bike in the last day.

I actually had my son, who
was 11 years old at the time,

and I had him ride
a bicycle from Eric's

brother's house to John
riebe's house and timed him,

and there's two or three
different ways you could go to

do it, my son was able to do it
in about 20, 25 minutes,

so we knew Eric could do
it easily there and back.

Narrator:
John was killed between 3:13

and 3:21 in the afternoon,

and Eric babos's alibi
for that timeframe

isn't holding up.

Colwell: He puts himself
at this house doing work.

He said he was going out,
back and forth,

taking stuff out
to the trash can.

We checked both the neighbors
that were next to this house

and said, "did you ever
see Eric babos there?"

These people knew Eric because
he had actually lived

in that house for a while,
and they said, "no,

we never saw Eric that day."

Narrator:
With Eric in their crosshairs,

detectives get a search warrant
for his home and phone,

looking for evidence that
connects him to John's murder.

Slaman: Well, you're searching
for anything,

a gun or clothing items
with some bloodstains

or something,
maybe it was on the clothes,

maybe unaccounted for money,

maybe a check stub,
or anything that can

link to the crime.

Narrator:
But investigators aren't able

to locate the gun
that killed John riebe

or any items that
yield physical evidence.

It would be pretty rare

or stupid of someone to shoot
somebody seven times

and then hold on
to that gun.

That gun, I'm sure,
is in a river somewhere.

Alessandrini: I'm still
thinking it's not real,

like,

why is this happening?

Waiting for answers,
waiting for

what really happened.

Pretty much

twisted
our whole world around.

It's horrible.

Narrator: While detectives
have established

that Eric had the motive
and opportunity to kill John,

they don't have physical
evidence tying him

to the murder.

They revisit the timeline
and learn that at 4:15 P.M.,

Eric's brother took him
to the bank

and hardware store after
picking him up that day.

There was a video camera
at the bank, and there was

a video camera at
the department store he was in.

Reiter: The police detectives
were able to determine

what Eric babos
was wearing that day

through video that was taken.

Narrator: Detectives get
another search warrant,

this one specifically for
the clothing Eric was wearing

on December 15th,
the day of the crime.

We sent that shirt
that he was wearing to the lab,

and it came back with
gunshot residue on that.

It was on the left sleeve,
which made sense,

because the way the gun
would reject,

it would probably
spray his left sleeve.

I mean, this was
an investigator's dream.

Narrator: After discovering
physical evidence linking

Eric babos to the murder
of John riebe,

detectives colwell
and slaman set a trap

for their prime suspect.

Colwell: We asked Eric babos,
would there be a reason,

you know, you would have
something on that shirt,

you know,
do you sport shoot?

Or, you know,
do you skeet shoot?

Are you a hunter
or something like that?

"No, no, I don't do any --
I don't own any guns."

You know, he locked
himself into that.

Narrator: Investigators
are certain Eric

is their killer,

but they still
don't have enough evidence

to make an arrest.

You don't always have
an offender on video

pulling the trigger,
you don't always have DNA.

Cases are built
a brick at a time,

and when you don't have
enough circumstantial evidence,

that's when you may not
get convictions.

Narrator: Detectives slaman
and colwell

fear Eric might
get away with murder.

Then they get the break
they've been waiting for.

Chuck had advised US that there
was that last phone call where

someone was trying to get
paid, trying to get the money.

So we got Eric's phone records
for December the 15th.

We saw that
that phone call

actually came from
Eric babos's cellphone.

He called and asked
for the money again.

So that last phone call
that after -- John was

already found dead
came from Eric's phone.

Slaman: That was huge.

That was a huge significant
break in the case,

because now we have
Eric babos

that's been identified
by Chuck.

He said,

"that's the same person
who said,

'i want to come down and get
the check.'"

there's only one person
that was connected to that --

John's helper, Eric babos.

Narrator:
On December 29, 2004,

just
four days after Christmas,

detectives arrest Eric babos
for John riebe's murder.

We went and knocked on the door,
and I remember he came down,

walked down the steps,
and sat on the steps.

And we told him,

"we have an arrest
for aggravated murder."

And he just got up and put
his hands behind his back.

And that 100% reinforced
that we had the right guy.

It was Eric babos.

Narrator: Detectives are
now able to reconstruct

the final 24 hours
of John's life.

Slaman:
The morning of the homicide,

John riebe gets his kids
off to school.

Around eight o'clock,
he gets them off to the bus.

And he spoke to Lisa
around 11:46 that morning.

You know, John's --
you know, stays in,

and he's got that urge
to party a little bit.

So John called
valynn Rodgers, but...

They never connected.

Two o'clock,

Eric, who's been dropped off
at his brother's house

on westacre, decides

"I'm gonna go over there.

I'm gonna confront John
because I want my money."

During that time, before three
o'clock in the afternoon,

Eric gets inside the house
and confronts John.

"Hey, I need this 150 bucks.
We did a job for you.

I worked for you.
I want my money."

Colwell: John, at that time,
tried to appease him

and reached out to

the ex-wife, Lisa, to see if
she would go get the money.

And he was unable
to make contact with her.

At that point in time,

John called Chuck
to see if it would be okay

if his helper, Eric, could
just go pick up the money,

and then he was advised
that John had to sign off

on the check.

Eric didn't believe that,
and so John called back again,

and this time, he actually
handed the phone

to Eric babos, and he asked
Chuck to explain to him

why he couldn't come get
the money himself.

Slaman: We think right in
that time, right around 3:13,

either John is deceased

or John's going to be dead,

because at 3:21,

Jamie and Nicole
find their dad dead.

There's a fourth
phone call at 4:06 where Chuck

from the heating
and air conditioning place

picks up,
and it's Eric babos

saying,
"hey, I'm John's helper.

"John owes me money.

Can I come get the check up?"

"No.
John has to come."

There's absolutely no doubt
in that case that

Eric babos shot John riebe
seven times over $150.

Arntfield: I think money was
really just the rationalization.

It was about ego
and proving a point.

No one was going to
deny him

that amount of money,
whether it was $150

or $150,000,
and at the end of the day,

what we're dealing with here
is actually someone with

sociopathic tendencies
who could rationalize

in their twisted mind

that that was
a logical outcome.

Alessandrini:
Eric's known US since...

We were born,

so it's not like he didn't...

Know US.

We had enough
interaction with him.

It wasn't anything like
this random guy, random person,

who's upset about something
who killed my dad.

No, I'll never forgive him.
I'll always be angry.

Narrator:
On August 5, 2005,

a jury finds Eric babos
guilty of

the murder of John riebe
and sentence him to life

in prison.

My dad and Eric had been
friends since high school.

Like, how could you do that

to somebody you've known
most of your life?

And my dad helped him
out a lot, so...

Like, why?
Do you not have a heart?

Slaman:
The timeline was everything.

I can't remember,
in my 38 years,

a case having such
a close timeline.

You almost never get
something like that.

Everything played out.

You could match the crime

to the time,
to the phone calls,

the 911 calls, it all
fit together very tightly.

Arntfield: This case is
one of tragedy.

It's christmastime.

You have a father murdered,

leaving two daughters
fatherless.

A family was destroyed,

you know,
reduced to ruins.

Very, very difficult.

My dad was a great dad,
a hard worker.

Um, but I do,
I miss his goofiness, and...

His -- his singing
in the car.

That's what I miss
the most.

It's hard knowing my kids
won't know him.

And my son actually
asks about him,

because he sees
pictures of him,

and it's hard,
then he's like,"who's that?"

"That's grandpa."
"Where's grandpa?"

It's hard to explain,
and...

Christmas is hard, but we just
try to make the best of it.

So I'll always
remember my dad.

Slaman: I can't imagine
being that age

and finding my father
shot and killed.

No matter how bad
the circumstances are,

people want to know the truth,
and I think we served him well.

They have closure.
They can put it to bed.

They can go on
with their lives.