All language subtitles for 8ggggsgfgtf

- Two young men gunned down
in the heart of nashville.

- One of them is
on the way to the hospital,

And the other one is here lying
in the middle of the street.

- A music community in shock.

- A lot of people were
horrified when this happened,

Because if it can
happen to them,

It can happen to any one of us.

- A rising star cut down
in his prime.

- This was his dream job.

- He was really
a lovable kind of guy

And was so obsessed
with music.

- A nearly impossible
search for evidence.

- I say, how big
of an area is this?

He said, man, it's the side
of a mountain.

We find hundreds of bullets.

- And a surprise confession
that finally reveals

The sordid and sinful truth.

- And so he tells me that...

He knows who killed
kevin hughes.

[dramatic music]

["just another ghost"]

♪ ♪

- ♪ oh, child ♪

♪ come home
to the gallows pole ♪

[bluesy country music]

[train bell ringing]

♪ ♪

- Nashville, tennessee--

The undisputed capital
of the country-music business.

- It was always the place
people wanted to come.

You came to nashville
to be a star.

- And in the late 1980s,

This was a certified platinum
river of dreamers.

[upbeat country music]

- You would see a lot of people
walking the streets

With their guitar,

Hoping that
somebody would discover them,

Wanting to make it big.

- They were coming in
by the busloads.

- But nobody expects
their dreams

To end in a pool of blood
on music row.

♪ ♪

- That night, I was on call
as the primary

In the murder squad.

I was at home
and just got a call.

The homicide sergeant
at that time says,

Bill, we got bodies
laying everywhere

Out on music row,

And you need to respond.

And so I hop in the car
and drive to 16th avenue.

- It's 11:00 p.M.
When detective pridemore

Arrives outside

Of evergreen records
recording studio.

First responders
are already on hand.

- One of the patrol officers--

He'd never seen
anything like it.

There was so much blood.

- Two people were shot.

One of them's on the way
to the hospital,

And the other one's here lying
in the middle of the street.

- The victims of the shooting

Both have their wallets
with them

And are identified
as 21-year-old sammy sadler

And 23-year-old kevin hughes.

Sammy is in an ambulance
on the way to the hospital,

But kevin is dead from
multiple gunshots to the head.

With the victims
accounted for,

Detectives begin
a thorough investigation

Of the crime scene.

- Kevin hughes had a hand wound
and head wound.

And then, naturally,
we had the bullets

From kevin's body and the one
they found on the ground.

But there's no footprints.
There's no tire marks.

It's on asphalt,
all concrete through there.

So there was no place to leave
any type of physical evidence.

So, hopefully,
someone saw the shooter.

- While kevin's body is taken
to the medical examiner

For an autopsy,

Sammy is rushed into surgery

For his life-threatening
injuries.

- Sammy was bleeding to death.

The bullet hit a major artery

And smashed
through a nerve cluster.

- With sammy in surgery,

Detectives will have to wait
until morning to talk to him.

So they begin to canvass
the neighborhood

And find several folks
who were inside their homes

When they heard gunfire
around 9:00 p.M.

- They said that they heard
one gunshot.

[gunshot]

- The shocked witnesses
tell a consistent story.

They looked out their windows

And saw a man stumbling
out of a parked car,

Blood streaming down his body.

That man was sammy sadler.

- Then they saw kevin running
down the street,

And then they saw the shooter
chasing him, firing a shot.

[gunshot]

Then he said,
now I'm going to kill you,

Just like that,
and fired two rounds...

[gunshots]

And then took off.

Sammy then runs up
to the third floor

Of an apartment building

And runs
into somebody's apartment,

Who administered first aid
and called the police

And called an ambulance.

[dramatic music]

- The witnesses described
a guy who was really stocky

And dressed all in black.

- Multiple witnesses said

That it was someone
wearing a ski mask.

- They also report
that the shooter fled on foot.

- And he ran with a limp.

We were hoping, as we did
a canvass of the neighborhood,

That someone may have seen him
prior to the murder

And then seen him afterwards.

But we were not able
to find him.

So I'm hoping sammy could
tell us who the shooter is

Or give us some sort of idea,

'cause at this point,
we don't have any information.

But we have to wait
until he's stable enough

To where we can talk to him.

- Investigators
struggle to answer

The most basic questions
about the crime.

- We didn't know the motive
for what happened.

We had motives

That it was just an innocent,
mistaken identity.

I was thinking, well,
maybe it could be a robbery,

You know, because there's been

A lot of robberies
in the area.

- But under scrutiny,

The robbery angle
holds little water.

- If it was a robbery,

He would have
at least attempted to get,

You know, his belongings
from him.

The shooter made no attempt.

♪ ♪

- With two victims,
one alive and one dead,

Detectives wonder
who was the intended target

Or if this was just
a random attack.

- So we were investigating it
from every angle.

[indistinct chatter
over police radio]

- It's late in the night

When detectives finish up
at the crime scene.

But it is critical

To inform kevin hughes'
next of kin of his death.

Sammy's friends and family
are also informed

About his serious condition.

- We would make that
a top priority,

Is to let the family know

Before the word
gets out on the street.

- Kevin's parents are shocked
by their son's murder.

- Anytime you notify next
of kin, you know, it's hard.

It's...

You know, you want
to ask them questions,

But you got to be sympathetic
enough to let them grieve.

[somber music]

- Hours later, with sammy
in critical condition,

Nashville wakes up
to the tragic news.

- I was getting ready
for work,

And I was watching television.

And they broke in
with the local news.

They said
kevin had been killed.

I felt very, very sad
and very scared.

- A lot of people were
horrified when this happened,

Because if it can
happen to them,

It can happen to any one of us.

And so I think

There was
a legitimate level of fear.

♪ ♪

- At that point
in the investigation,

Every option is on the table.

But you still have to do
what we call the victimology.

- Detectives discover
that sammy sadler

Is a singer-songwriter.

The deceased victim,
kevin hughes,

Worked at "cash box" magazine
as a chart director.

- Kevin hughes was

A country boy from a small town
in illinois.

- Kevin was pretty much
brought up--

Very, very christian family,
went to church every week.

And kevin just was
so obsessed with music.

And he kind of reminded me
of winnie the pooh.

He was really
a lovable kind of guy--

You know, just always happy,
jumping around.

- He had a lifelong dream
of charting music.

- Charting music is when
you rank songs by popularity.

- Back when he was
in high school,

He would chart songs
on the radio

And see how close
his charts came up

With the official charts.

And he did that
most of his adolescent life.

- In 1984,
kevin moved to nashville

To attend belmont university,

The preeminent school
for the music business.

- But he left belmont

When he was entering
his senior year

To go full-time
at "cash box" magazine.

♪ ♪

He had been working there
as an intern,

And the position came open
for him to take it

As the chart director,
and this was his dream job.

[bluesy country music]

- Kevin and I were coworkers
at "cash box" magazine.

So "cash box" is a magazine
sort of like "billboard."

They have their charts.

- Radio stations report daily

How many times
they played this song,

How many times
it was requested.

The more times it had been
played on the radio,

The higher up you are
on the chart,

Which would regulate into
sales of the actual record.

- Kevin loved his job.
I mean, absolutely loved it.

And by the time I got there,
he was just in his element.

- Kevin's job brought him
in proximity to the musicians

That he had long idolized,

Including the other shooting
victim, sammy sadler.

- Sammy saddler, reason why
he was in nashville,

He wanted to make it big
as an artist.

- He had the dream

That so many people coming
to nashville do have

Of wanting to be that guy
at the top of the charts

At some point and wanting
to sell out those crowds

And make money
doing what he loves.

- In nashville,
that hunger for fame

Is like weeds in a vacant lot.

It's everywhere.

- It's a hard industry
to be in.

You're doing anything you can
to get ahead

And get discovered
and have that big break.

- In the music scene,
there's a lot of greed,

A lot of people
willing to cut corners.

- That also opens
all these different avenues

For people to find ways
to get to the top

That might not be the right way
to get to the top.

- Detectives have to wonder
if the shooting

Was driven by the sins
of greed and ambition.

[dramatic music]

- In my years
in law enforcement,

It's money, sex, or power

That fuels violence and crime.

♪ ♪

- 24 hours after being shot,

Sammy sadler wakes up
from multiple surgeries.

One bullet lodged in his arm

Will stay there
the rest of his life.

Detectives are waiting

And expecting answers
to their questions.

- He seemed
a little traumatized,

But sammy was coherent enough
for us to talk to him.

- Coming up...

- I'll never forget.

He said, sue, there's something
that happened

That concerns me
and upsets me.

- Sammy sadler told us that
on the night of the murder,

Somebody was knocking
on the door.

- The killer came out

And killed kevin there
like it was a setup.

- ♪ come home
to the gallows pole ♪

- ♪ judgment day shall come ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- The shootings
of sammy sadler

And kevin hughes

Outside of a nashville
recording studio,

Have rocked
the city's music world.

- You know,
I started thinking about,

Maybe I ought to get a weapon

To carry with me and stuff,
you know?

- Detectives are mystified
by the crime.

But with sammy finally awake

After going through multiple
surgeries on his injured arm,

They are hoping he can provide
answers to their questions.

- The first time I saw him,
had his arm up.

You know, his arm was hurting.

We didn't know if
he could remember everything.

There was a possibility
he didn't.

- Sammy is sedated and bleary,

But he asks detectives
about kevin.

- He didn't know
that kevin was dead.

That was just one more punch
in the gut for sammy.

♪ ♪

- Despite
sammy's physical trauma,

Detectives have to try and get
as much information from him

As quickly as possible.

- Sammy told us that
on the night of the murder,

Kevin was working late.

It was a Thursday.

He had to get the charts out
for Friday

For the edition of "cash box."

So sammy called him
and asked him to go out.

They had dinner,
and then they stopped

At evergreen records,
the recording studio,

After dinner
to make a phone call.

- But sammy tells detectives

That while he was making
that call to his folks,

Something strange happened.

- Somebody was knocking
on the door.

So kevin went to the door.

♪ ♪

But he came back and said,
I can't see anybody.

After sammy had finished
his phone conversation,

He and kevin walked out.

Kevin had parked his car

On the south side
of 16th avenue.

As kevin had gotten
into the car,

Sammy was opening the car
and getting into it

When the shooter approached
sammy and shot him.

♪ ♪

And then kevin was sitting
in the car,

Saw what was going on,

And he jumped out of the car
and started running.

He got shot once
while he was running...

[gunshot]

Fell down.

Then the shooter came over,

Stood over him,

Fired two more rounds...

[gunshots]

And then ran off.

So we were under the impression
that the main target was kevin.

- Sammy swears he never got
a good look at the triggerman.

- Sammy wasn't able to give us
a very good description

Of the shooter,

Just that he was stocky
and had a ski mask.

- But there's one detail
about sammy's story

That doesn't sit quite right
with detectives.

- We kept asking, who decided
to go over to evergreen?

Did kevin know
you were going to evergreen?

So you're looking at it

From an investigator's
point of view.

It seemed like sammy is
the one that asked him to go.

- Could sammy have set
this whole thing up?

- My idea was
that if he is involved,

He had to set up

Where they were going to be
that night.

- Detectives know

That for an ambitious
young country artist,

The music charts are essential
to success.

Could that be connected
to the motive to kill kevin?

Detectives press sammy
for more information.

- We asked him, you know,
did you shoot him?

Were you involved?

- They couldn't get over
the fact

That they were together

And the killer came out
and killed kevin there,

Like it was a setup.

- We thought,
if he is involved,

Maybe somebody paid him

To bring him back
to the office.

And then
when we leave the office,

That's your chance.

- And sammy further stokes
investigators' suspicions

When he asks
for police protection.

- Why was he so concerned
about someone coming after him

If it was, you know, robbery?

Maybe these guys were coming
after him to take care of him.

If they're going to kill one,
why not kill the guy

That could snitch on them?

We just didn't feel like

He was being
completely honest with us.

I suspected him
of being involved in it,

Either directly or indirectly.

- Detectives asked kevin's
"cash box" colleagues

About sammy.

- Sammy was probably
kevin's one friend

Outside the office
that I know about,

And I think they did
a lot of things together.

I know that the night
he was killed,

Kevin was working late
on the charts.

And sammy came by...

I guess,
just to keep him company.

But I didn't know
any more than that.

- When sammy is released
from the hospital,

Detectives try
one last technique

To determine
if he's telling the truth--

A polygraph test.

- He passed.

So that gave us
a little more information

That maybe he just didn't know.

- And if he had set up
kevin's murder

And used his own shooting
as a cover,

The grave injuries he suffered

Made it
an exceptionally risky plan.

- You know, you never know
how a bullet travels.

It could have gone anywhere
and killed him.

♪ ♪

- Detectives now think
sammy is an innocent victim.

So they clear him as a suspect

And leave him
to continue his recovery.

Back in illinois,
family and friends gather

For kevin hughes' funeral.

- It was
a small, little church.

His dad consoled me, you know,
because I was crying

And I was very upset.

He had very strong
christian faith,

And so he was just saying,
well, you know,

Kevin's up in heaven,
and he's with the angels.

♪ ♪

- After the funeral,
detectives ask kevin's family

If there was anything unusual
going on in his life

Before his death.

And that's when they learn

That shortly
before his murder,

Kevin had divulged
some surprising news.

- His father gave us
the information

That some things
have happened in his job,

And he had to make a decision.

He was thinking
about leaving nashville.

He was thinking about leaving
because of his job.

- Kevin's parents knew that
he was worried and anxious,

And they knew
it was about his job.

But I don't think
that he had told them

Exactly what was going on
he was upset about.

- Kevin's colleague sue

Confirms what
his parents told detectives.

- I'll never forget.

He said, sue, there's something
that happened

That concerns me and upsets me,

And I want to talk to you
about it,

But I want to talk
to my parents first.

I just don't know,

But it was weighing
really heavily on his mind.

He was scared of something.

- ♪ come home
to the gallows pole ♪

- ♪ judgment day shall come ♪

[dramatic music]

- A week
into the investigation

Into the brazen shooting

Of "cash box" magazine
chart director kevin hughes,

Detectives learned that he had
some problems with work,

And they wonder
what could drive him

To want to quit his dream job
and leave nashville.

- It is weird for someone to
want to leave that environment

Unless it was
a hostile environment.

- Detectives interview
everyone at "cash box,"

Hoping to find
the source of kevin's problem.

- Trying to find out
all about kevin's history

And working pattern--

Who he worked with,
who his friends were.

- And we tried to be
as helpful as we could,

Basically, and answer
the questions.

- And that's when we learned
about chuck dixon,

An independent promoter.

♪ ♪

- He came by all the time,
all the time,

Whether it was
to visit with kevin

Or I think maybe
to give suggestions

And stuff to people.

- Chuck dixon,
he had a big cadillac.

He wore a big fur coat,

And he referred to himself
in the third person.

- Chuck dixon was big
in the music industry.

He was kind of that guy
that you know if he shows up,

You're doing
what he tells you to do.

- And chuck had grown close
to kevin before his death.

- After kevin was murdered,
I'll never forget--

Chuck dixon was sobbing.

I mean, he was just crying.

He was devastated
by kevin's death.

- Detectives interview chuck,

But he seems as mystified
as anyone about the shooting.

- When we talked to him,

He said he didn't know
anything about it.

♪ ♪

- As detectives continue
their interviews

With the circle of people
around "cash box,"

Another name comes up--
tony d'antonio.

- Tony d'antonio
was from philadelphia.

Then he went to vegas
and was a car dealer

And then came to nashville.

- He was
the previous chart director

At "cash box" magazine
and a good friend of chuck's.

- Tony started out
as a chart manager,

But it was taking too much
of his time or whatever,

And so he hired kevin.

- Detectives hope
that tony can shed some light

On why kevin was thinking
about leaving "cash box."

- When we talked to tony,

He talked about kevin
and how he knew kevin

And how he felt so sad because
he said he's a nice kid.

- And when asked
for his whereabouts

On the night of the murder,
tony has an alibi.

He was at home with his wife,
a fact she confirms.

- Nothing comes out
of the interview with tony.

- Nobody seems to know
what was going on

In kevin's work life
that would cause him trouble.

And while detectives
are convinced

That the shootings
are connected to "cash box,"

They struggle to find any real
evidence of how or why.

- We beat our heads
over what was going on

At "cash box."

- But as the crime
continues to make headlines,

Intriguing leads
start to emerge.

- We're getting people
calling and talking about,

There was disputes
at "cash box"

Concerning the chart ratings
and charts,

And you have to follow up
on each one of those leads.

We followed up
on as many as we could

And hoping one of them
would lead us, you know,

In the right direction.

And we determined there's
a good side of the business

And a bad side.

- But when detectives
go back to "cash box"

To ask more questions,

Fear has descended
on the staff.

- All of a sudden,
everyone was zipping up,

Not wanting to talk to police,
not wanting to talk to media,

Not wanting to really help out

In this investigation
much at all.

- So we just had to go
through the motions,

Trying to find somebody

That would tell us
what was going on at work.

- There have always been
guns and crime

And crazy marginal characters
in the music business,

Just about every level.

- I was kind of scared
at that point

Because I didn't know
what had happened.

We don't know
why he was killed.

We thought it sounded like
it was a hit.

And we didn't know
what was going on.

We didn't know who it was or...

Were we next?

♪ ♪

- Coming up...

- Kevin was dealing
with illegal activity,

Way in over his head as far
as who he was involved with.

- He said, well, I know
who killed kevin hughes.

- ♪ come home
to the gallows pole ♪

- ♪ judgment day shall come ♪

- Two weeks
into the investigation

Of the murder of kevin hughes
and shooting of sammy sadler,

The investigation
is being stonewalled.

- The "cash box" employees
wouldn't say a word to us.

They didn't want to talk
to us about it.

- Detectives don't know

Whether it's because
the employees

Are actually scared
or because they are engaged

In some kind
of illegal activity.

They reach out
to sammy sadler,

Who's now out of the hospital,

And press him
for more information.

But he swears he's told them
everything he knows.

And no gun has been found
to match the bullets

Gathered at the crime scene.

The shooting on music row
is officially a cold case.

- Of course,
we had other cases.

The murders just kept coming.

So when another case
come along,

We had to devote
all of our energy toward that.

- Kevin's friends and family
wonder if justice

Will ever be served.

- I think there was a level
of frustration, you know?

Why can't they catch this guy?

- I did keep in touch
with kevin's parents.

That was hard on them.
It was really, really hard.

At that point, they just
wanted to know what happened.

[dramatic music]

- Although new cases
demand his attention,

The unsolved shooting
on music row

Never leaves pridemore's mind.

And as sammy sadler slowly
recovers from his injuries,

He tries to forget
the awful events of March 1989

And rebuild his music career.

- He really is
a very good singer,

And he recorded good songs,
really good songs.

♪ ♪

- Then, four years later,
in 1993...

[telephone ringing]

Detective pridemore
gets a call from an agent

At the georgia bureau
of investigations

Who's working
with an informant

On an unrelated case.

- Agent dale thomas said
he wanted to meet with us.

He had an informant
who had conversations

With tony d'antonio.

- The very same
tony d'antonio

That had been
the chart director

At "cash box" before kevin.

- It was concerning purchasing
of a gun of some sort.

- The agent tells
detective pridemore

That the informant claims to
have sold an unregistered gun

To tony d'antonio
on March 9, 1989,

The exact day
kevin and sammy were shot.

[siren wailing]
[gunshots]

- And I said, man,
we need to talk to this guy.

But the gbi agent said,
you can't use him.

This informant is undercover
with me right now.

He said, when I'm finished
with him, you can have him.

- Pridemore is frustrated
that he can't speak

To the undercover informant

But grateful for this new lead

That points a suspicious
finger at tony d'antonio

- Now we knew
what direction to go in.

So we went back and started
reinterviewing people

And getting
a better idea of tony.

- With distance
from the murder,

People are more willing
to talk about tony

And the greedy underbelly

Of the nashville
music business.

- It's a business that
might be people's passion,

But passion also equals money.

Behind the scenes,
there's a lot of cutthroat,

Going at each other,

Every man for himself
type of stuff.

- In 1993,
they are only rumors.

But the tales they tell

Are darker
than a tennessee coal mine.

- At that time, it was kind of
a not-very-well-kept secret

That there was this
payola scheme with "cash box."

Payola is when promoters
or artists are giving

Certain amount of monies
to fudge a little bit

And put their songs
higher up on a chart.

- We heard it all depended
on how many ads you bought

From the magazine

To determine how high up
you went in the chart.

Once you stop buying
the ads or slowed down,

Then your song would drop,
and then that's it.

You're gone.

That was the word we were
getting from anonymous sources.

- And the two people
at the heart of the rumors

About the "cash box" scam
throughout the 1980s?

The two people
police had interviewed

Four years earlier--

Independent music promoter
chuck dixon

And former "cash box"
chart director tony d'antonio.

- All the rumors were,

Chuck dixon and tony d'antonio

Were both getting paid
to place songs

Higher up on charts.

- According to sources,
this was the wicked system

That was in place

When the clean-cut
kevin hughes arrived

As the new chart director
at "cash box" in 1987,

And it continued
long after his death.

- Kevin was a lot different.

He was a small-town guy,

Came to nashville
to go to school

And break
into the music business

In an honest way.

- Did kevin hughes run afoul

Of chuck and tony's
dirty scheme

And end up paying
the ultimate price?

[gunshots]

Pridemore doesn't have
any proof,

But he does have
his instincts.

- Our feelings
at that point were,

We had a true motive.

Kevin was dealing
with illegal activity.

He was way in over his head,

As far as who
he was involved with.

And that's what got him killed.

- But despite many
in the music business

Being aware of the dirty
business at "cash box,"

Investigators have
never been able to prove

The payola rumors,

And the owners of "cash box"
have always denied it.

There's no physical evidence,
no on-the-record witnesses,

Nothing that a prosecutor
can use.

And then, finally, in 2002,

Detectives get the news
they've been waiting for.

The undercover informant
is finally free

To talk about the gun
he sold tony d'antonio

In 1989.

- His name is steve daniels,

And we drove down to georgia
and talked to him.

That's when it all started
coming out.

- ♪ come home
to the gallows pole ♪

- ♪ judgment day shall come ♪

[dramatic music]

- In 2002, the informant
who told georgia authorities

That he'd sold a gun
to tony d'antonio

Is no longer undercover.

His name is steve daniels,

And detective pridemore races
down to georgia

To talk to him.

Daniels tells detectives
that back in the late '80s,

He and tony d'antonio were
in cahoots together.

- He and tony had been
transporting drugs--

Marijuana--
from texas to nashville

And that they'd done it
several times.

- And steve said tony had
bought a gun from him

On March 9, 1989,

The same night
kevin was murdered.

And then in 1993,

Steve daniel heard
about the murder

Of kevin hughes
on crime stoppers,

And something
clicked in his mind.

- That's when daniels
realized that d'antonio

Matched the description
of the shooter.

- So he's got the right
height, the right build.

I said, but what else
do you think

Would make us
believe it's tony?

And I'll never forget.
He laughed.

He said, he runs like a duck.
He waddles like a duck.

The profile of the shooter
was that he ran with a limp.

So everything matches

The early part
of the investigation.

So we knew tony was the guy.

- But detective pridemore
needs hard evidence

To make a case.

So he presses daniels
for more information

About when he sold the gun
to d'antonio.

- Did you test-fire the gun?

He says, yeah,
I test-fired the gun

Before I sold it to him.

So he showed us
where he test-fired the gun.

I said, how big
of an area is this?

He said, man,
it's the side of a mountain.

♪ ♪

- Daniels points
to a forested area

On a map of northern georgia.

- He said,
this whole area here,

There's all kinds
of bullets in there--

Shotguns, rifles, pistols.

Everybody that came over,
we used to shoot guns.

♪ ♪

So I thought, well,
this is going to be impossible.

- It might be
a needle in a haystack,

But if pridemore can find
a bullet that matches

The one found
at the crime scene,

It would link
d'antonio's gun purchase

To the gun
used in the shootings.

- So we go up there,
and we search.

And you just go up there
and scoop with a sifter,

And we find
hundreds of bullets.

I'm overwhelmed.

I said, there is no way I can
take all these bullets back.

So I said,
let's just take a handful.

So I scooped up
a handful of the bullets,

And I put them in a bag

And brought them back
to nashville.

- Detectives bring the bullets
to the ballistics lab,

Praying for the remote chance
of a match

With the ones found
at the crime scene in 1989.

- The firearms examiner,
he called me the next day,

And he said,
most of the bullets

That you brought me
are not worth a damn.

He said, but the third one
is a perfect match

To the bullet
that came out of kevin's head.

♪ ♪

- Detective pridemore
can hardly believe his ears.

- Because the odds
of ever finding a bullet

In that mountainside
with those hundreds of bullets,

I mean, that's a god thing.

I knew god was the reason
why that happened.

- Armed with this critical
piece of evidence,

Detectives are now
firmly convinced

That tony d'antonio
killed kevin.

In July 2002,
d'antonio is tracked down

And arrested in las vegas,

Where he now works
as a casino pit boss.

- When they walked up,

Tony said,
is this about the kevin thing?

They said that he seemed
almost relieved to see them.

- He is extradited
back to nashville

And charged with the murder
of kevin hughes

And the attempted murder
of sammy sadler.

Tony pleads not guilty.

Even with steve daniels'
testimony

And the ballistics evidence,

Prosecutors know
a guilty verdict

Is far from guaranteed.

And then they catch a break.

In 2002,

An investigator
in the nashville da's office,

Myra langlois, finally cracks
the chart-fixing scam

Around "cash box" magazine.

She arrests
local music promoter

Robert metzger for fraud.

- Robert metzger was
a shady character.

He was one of these people
that was taking money

From innocent victims,
wannabe stars,

And pretending to run them
up the "cash box" chart.

- Investigator langlois thinks
she's just working

A case of simple fraud.

But to her surprise,

Under pressure
and facing prison time,

Metzger offers up
a scintillating tidbit

About kevin hughes' murder.

- He said, well, I know
who killed kevin hughes.

At the time, I didn't know
about kevin in 1989.

I had to go look it up.

And I said, well,
what do you know about it?

He said,

Well, I was in the room

When kevin hughes' murder
was discussed.

- ♪ come home
to the gallows pole ♪

- ♪ judgment day shall come ♪

[train bell ringing,
horn blowing]

[country music]

- Independent music promoter
robert metzger

Is staring down jail time for
scamming aspiring musicians

Out of their
hard-earned money.

Looking for a way
out of his legal trouble,

He offers investigators
critical information

About the 1989 double shooting

Of kevin hughes
and sammy sadler.

- And so he tells me he knows
who killed kevin hughes.

- Metzger tells
investigator langlois

That in 1989, he was
a participant in chuck dixon

And tony d'antonio's
greed-fueled payola scheme.

- He was making payments
to chuck

To run his clients
up the "cash box" chart.

According to robert metzger,
he saw an argument

Between chuck dixon
and kevin hughes.

A week or so before
kevin was killed,

Chuck was trying
to give him money.

Kevin hughes was
refusing the money.

And then a few days later,

Chuck dixon, tony d'antonio,
and robert metzger

Have a meeting.

And there's discussion
about robert metzger saying,

I'm not going to pay you
this $15,000

Unless you can handle
kevin hughes

Because he's going to blow up

What you've got going on here
at "cash box."

And chuck dixon's response is,
I can handle kevin hughes.

And if I can't handle him,
he'll be gone.

I had figured out that this was
an open investigation

Over at the nashville
police department.

And so I called over there.

I gave them the information.

- When detective pridemore
gets the call

About robert metzger's story,

He knows it's the final piece
of the puzzle

Of why kevin hughes
was killed.

- Kevin said,
everybody's cheating,

Getting a little money,

And he was
going to try to clean it up.

- With kevin
threatening to destroy

Their crooked business,
chuck dixon and tony d'antonio

Decided to kill kevin,

With tony doing
the dirty work himself.

- Tony d'antonio
and chuck dixon

Were power-hungry,
egomaniac psychopaths.

- But there will be no
comeuppance for chuck dixon.

He died of cancer in 2001.

That leaves tony d'antonio

To face the music alone.

In September 2003,
d'antonio's trial begins.

- I went to the trial,
and I'll never forget

Going into that courtroom
and seeing tony there.

And, boy, he looked scary,

Really scary at that point.

- Facing tony's
intimidating presence,

Kevin's former colleagues
take the stand

And testify
to the possible motive.

- And there were witnesses

That believed he was
about to blow the lid

On this chart-fixing thing.

- Since the murder weapon
was never found,

Prosecutors must rely

On the testimony
of robert metzger,

Steve daniels,
and the ballistics reports

To prove their case

And, of course,
sammy sadler's emotional

And chilling firsthand account

Of the night that changed
his life forever.

[gunshot]

And what
about d'antonio's alibi

That he was with his wife
the night of the murder?

- Detectives spoke
to tony's now ex-wife

And got her
to tell the truth,

That tony didn't come home
till after 3:00

That night
that kevin was murdered.

- But, I mean,
we all were still not sure

That, you know,
it was going to come

To where he was guilty.

[dramatic music]

- On September 24, 2003,

The jury returns a verdict

After eight hours
of deliberation.

- When the verdict came out,

They found tony d'antonio
guilty of first-degree murder.

And then guilty
of sammy sadler's

Attempted murder.

- I was very, very pleased.

It was a special feeling
because it was my case.

♪ ♪

- Two weeks later,
tony d'antonio is sentenced

To life without parole.

He died in prison in 2014.

Kevin hughes landed
in nashville with dreams,

But he had the misfortune
of crossing paths

With an evil
he couldn't have imagined.

- I think when kevin
started that job,

He thought he had landed
the job of a lifetime for him.

I think that he thought
it was all just legit.

- It was all about greed,

And I just don't think
kevin understood

The depth of evil
that tony was capable of.

- And while sammy sadler does
rebuild his life and career,

The bullet lodged in his arm

Will never let him forget
that dark night.

- All for almighty dollar,
you know?

Where did it get tony?

♪ ♪

- It's a real tragic tale,

And I think that kevin hughes
deserves to be remembered

As someone who...

Was trying
to do the right thing,

Maybe got in
a little over his head.

But when he figured out
he was over his head,

He was still trying
to do the right thing.

- Kevin loved life.
He loved his job.

I think his dream
was like the american dream--

To get married and have
the white picket fence,

And he was robbed
of all of that.

♪ ♪