WEBVTT - 1. The Murder Case of Daniel Wozniak : A Real Life Phantom of The Opera 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:04.800 Please be advised this story contains adult content and graphic language. 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:09.560 It's called it being recorded and made monitored. Baby, are 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:15.000 you sitting down? Yeah? You don't think any left to 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:16.799 me after I tell you this good That is not 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:22.880 a good story, Okay, but you need to know. I 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:24.760 called them and head looked good down to the theater 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:32.960 on the bay and I had my dad done fully loaded, 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.680 and when I took him up into the attic, I 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:40.400 shot him two times in the back of the head. 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:45.440 It's a horrifying story that drew national media attention, and 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:48.400 it grabbed me unlike any other murder case I had 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:52.000 covered as an investigative reporter. It all started in the 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.760 spring of two thousand ten Buffett and wasn'tiac Both community 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:59.960 theater actors were starring in the play nine, but police 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.400 say on the same day the couple performed in the 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:05.920 play Wasniak Lord his neighbor, twenty six year old college 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:08.680 student Sam Hair, who had recently returned from a tour 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:13.479 in Afghanistan, into the theater and shot him. Wosniak allegedly 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:17.360 then dismembered the body. The motive for the killing reportedly 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:20.920 to steal hair savings account The night of the murders, 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:24.240 Hair's father went to his apartment. He found the body 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:27.360 of twenty three year old Julie Cabawishi, a friend and 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:31.240 classmate of Harrors. She had also been shot and there 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:44.720 was evidence of a sexual assault. Welcome to sleuth. I'm 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:51.080 Linda Sawyer. It was winter and I was in Long Beach, California, 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.760 covering a new story for a TV show called Crime 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.880 Watch Daily. It was a profile piece on a psychologist 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:01.760 who's patients, believe it or not, were some of the 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:06.800 most infamous serial killers in the eighties. After my interview 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:10.000 with Dr von der Pelto, she invited me to stay 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:13.840 for a Christmas gathering at her house that evening. It 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:17.400 was Friday, December four, and rather than face the l 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:20.320 A traffic at rush hour, I thought, why not have 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:24.800 a little eggnog and some holiday cheer. The guests arrived, 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:26.640 and soon the word was out that I was a 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:31.959 crime reporter. And when that happens, people inevitably love to 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:36.320 tell me some local story or an unsolved mystery. But 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.160 I couldn't have been less prepared for what I was 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:42.200 about to hear from a gentleman who once owned the 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:46.519 Liberty Theater, which was located on a local military base 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:52.560 in Los Alamitos, California. Dan Wasniak was in some of 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.280 our Liberty Theater musicals. He was a friend of our 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.880 daughter Alison, and definitely someone we trusted. We liked him, 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.680 everybody liked them, so I have no idea why he 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:06.200 would have killed his friend that dismembered him in the 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:11.040 attic of my theater. There were two shows that I 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.840 did there. One was Charlie's Aunt and the other one 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:17.919 was Arsenic and Old Lace. I played Carrie Grant's character, 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.360 so a lot of fun. It was the case of 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:27.799 a real life Phantom of the Opera on MA Daniel Wazniak, 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:33.600 a Southern California community theater actor, in between stage performances, 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.960 killed his friends and chopped up their bodies in the 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:42.200 attic of the theater prior to and after his showtime. 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:47.360 And his reason he wanted to drain his victim's bank 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:51.760 accounts so he could finance his upcoming honeymoon with his fiance, 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:56.480 Rachel Buffett. Rachel was also an actress and a former 0:03:56.520 --> 0:04:02.440 Disney princess who often played alongside Dan in musicals. You see, 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:04.760 his role was made for you. I don't want to 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:12.880 play an I have not as you have three downright 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:16.320 loss but those are is aren't exactly knocking down my goal. 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:21.080 I lost something, but I don't know what. I know. 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:28.159 You can help me finds. I was never that is 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:31.800 what you imagine, but it was always you. He would 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.000 get a lot of roles, do a lot of theater, 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:36.599 much more than I ever did. There's a gazillion movies 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:39.200 made about the blonde that comes from Oklahoma to be 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:41.560 a famous movie star. It's a dime a dozen in 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:43.520 l A, you know, but it's still something I like 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:47.160 to do, so I continue doing it. Listen to Daniel 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:51.560 the actor speak about his young victims. The two victims 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.560 were two of my close friends, um Sam and Julie. 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:58.279 Sam lived in the same complex that me and my 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:01.440 fiance I lived out. The helped me out on several occasions. 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.359 Just he was there for me when you know I 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:08.239 needed him. And Julie was just a friend in the group, 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.559 just very to the nicest people, to the nicest people 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:15.800 that I've ever known. So wait he kills them. He 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.239 talks about how great they were, and then he kills 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:22.680 them for money. Who is this guy? I had to 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.680 know more. I was stunned to learn that while the 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:29.640 murders took place five years earlier, the trial itself was 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:35.920 about to begin that following Monday, December seven. Fast forward 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:40.520 to and I haven't left Orange County since. So I 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.800 started seeking out his high school friends that knew Daniel 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.480 was nia prior to his time with his fiancee Rachel. 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.000 It was a time. Friends tell me that Daniel didn't 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:53.479 do drugs, he didn't steal for food, he didn't really 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.440 do too much of anything that didn't make his parents 0:05:56.480 --> 0:06:00.320 really proud. Everyone that talked to me about him from 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:04.280 his high school years said, he's really a totally decent guy. 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.839 Pre Rachel, Daniel was often referred to by those that 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:14.560 knew him as this happy, go lucky theater geeky, this goofy, 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:18.080 friendly guy who you know, didn't have his act together. 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:20.720 You know, I literally I just saw him as this 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.400 this sweet kid who um, you know, trying to make 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:28.120 something doing his bass. How is this man that I 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:32.120 watched in court every day at his murder trial? How 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.320 is he the same guy that his friends described to 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:40.279 me as this fun, generous, kind person that always made 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.760 them laugh. And those same friends said to me, there's 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:47.360 no way they can reconcile it either that it was there, Dan, 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.600 who was the kind of person that could murder and 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:54.640 mutilate friends while not missing a mark on stage. I 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:56.960 knew I had to stick around and find the answers, 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.680 so I moved in and spent time getting to know 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:03.040 the various people of interest in this story. I mean, 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:05.000 after all, it's these people who are in the know. 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.680 They had the answers, and like pieces of a very 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:15.320 intricate puzzle, I was hoping to connect them all. On January, 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:19.600 Daniel Patrick Wozniak was sentenced to death, and today he 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.880 sits on San Quentin's death row. But my investigation only 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:29.440 grew deeper. Why Because I suspected there were other accomplices 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:33.440 that were walking free, accomplices that the courts knew about, 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.160 that the police knew existed, and I had to find 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:41.000 out why they weren't being charged. I wondered, what kind 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:45.400 of justice is this for the victims families? You Dan 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:50.559 are coward. My only regret that in this state won't 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:55.720 let me kill this coward myself. You took my daughter's beautiful, caring, 0:07:55.880 --> 0:08:01.160 loving daughters precious left to cover up your highness and 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:06.120 planned crime. During the trial, Daniel was Sniak reached out 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:08.960 to me on a call from his jail cell. It 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.520 was during the penalty phase of his trial, and he 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:15.160 told me that one of his victims, Julie Kibuishi, was 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:18.320 supposed to be killed while he was still performing on stage. 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.440 So who was supposed to carry out this murder? I 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.680 had to find out, And after spending time at some 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:29.800 pretty shady local haunts where Daniel and his older brother 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:33.280 Tim was Nia hung out, I found evidence I couldn't 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:36.040 ignore and I just talked to him and I need 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.800 to make a phone called the detective now because Kin's involved. 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.520 I need to call the detective first, because I need 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:44.440 to call him and by him now before they catched 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.679 me on this recording device, because it looks like I'm 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:48.719 not trying to tell him right away. Him said he 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.160 has evidence with them or there he knew where it 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:57.160 was or something. Yeah, do you know that Tim had 0:08:57.200 --> 0:09:02.600 some evidence? Oh good, oh god, oh god. Okay, that's 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.920 a ridiculous, And I have to go tell the detectives 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:09.520 in here. Um Kim Kim good speak up only to 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:13.000 me so far, and it was in casting. I thought, 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.280 I'm going to believe taking right now. Danny's interrupted and 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:18.319 he starts freaking out, and he's really frantic, and he 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.880 said something, and something slips that he had evidence, so 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:26.440 I have to I don't, don't, don't, don't, can't get done. No, babe, 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:30.240 I'm gonna do it. All of Daniel's friends tell me 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:34.240 he changed ever since she entered his life, and everyone 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:36.959 that knew them as a couple say Rachel was in 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:40.559 charge and she called the shots. Yet Daniel was still 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:44.199 obsessed to be with Rachel no matter what. If I 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.440 was given the opportunity to talk to my fiance right now, 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:50.640 I'd either say can I be with you out there? 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.520 Can you be with me in here? I mean the bond. 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:56.560 I just love her like that's that's the hardest part 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:58.240 about getting through my day. It's just no one that 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:02.640 I can't be with her period. It's you know, it's 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:06.600 it's it says absence makes the heart group, wonder does 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:11.280 it really does? Yet all indications were that Rachel did 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:15.800 not return that same love, not at all. She actually 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:22.079 told police early Thursday morning after Daniel's arrest the night before. Now, 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.959 remember this is just two nights before their wedding was 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.839 supposed to take place. She told police that Daniel was 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.360 a lousy lover and furthermore, he didn't have much to 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:36.000 work with down below. What a thing to say about 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:41.520 your future husband. He actually fell for me first, and 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:46.200 um at the time he was he had already kind 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:48.080 of become my best friend, and I was hanging out 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.360 with them so often. I wasn't head over heels in love, 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.160 but I was okay with him. Halfway through the trial, 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.079 I learned from a source about the existence of a 0:10:57.240 --> 0:11:01.319 letter written by a notorious Orange count, a Gelhouse informant 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:07.559 named Fernando Perez. Perez was housed next to Daniel Waznia Excel. 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:11.880 He said he had a conversation with Daniel and he 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:17.040 wrote about that conversation to Detective Jose Morales, telling him 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:21.280 that in this conversation with Daniel, Daniel confided in him, 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:24.400 saying that Rachel knew about the plan to murder Sam 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:27.959 for his money, and her alleged response to Daniel was 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.000 do whatever you have to do to make us happy. 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:36.400 So with any good true crime saga, this one has 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:43.320 it all. Intrigue, greed, lust, love, jealousy, and of course 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.040 the sex tape with an old flame who came back 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:51.000 into Dan's life for one last fling. The story opens 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.079 with a father's discovery of a dead body in his 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:59.040 missing son's apartment. That father is Steve Hare. He's a 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.599 retired teacher who has a very special relationship with his 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:06.080 only son, Sam. What I would do is I would 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.880 go over Sam's apartment once or twice a week after work. 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:12.880 I drive over there because it was closer to his place. 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:18.080 We will go to the gym and we would work out. 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:23.160 After workout, Sam, who was known for his volumeless appetite, 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:25.640 we'd go out and gets on the eat and then 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:27.559 we go back to his place and just kick back 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:31.480 and watch him TV. Father son time. We were best 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:35.760 friends as well as dad and son. And don't forget 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:37.800 once he got out of the army, he's not a 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.959 kid anymore. You're able to talk to your child a 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.920 man to man and these are very very important times, 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:48.000 but fun times. So boy, I could just tell you 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:51.439 that Sam and I were best buddies. On Sam Hair's 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:55.599 return from his three year military tour in Afghanistan, he 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:59.520 decided to move into the Camden Martinique apartments, a complex 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:03.319 right us from the Orange Coast College. Sam enrolled there 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:06.079 so he could earn a diploma with the hopes that 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:10.440 he would someday become a military officer. The Camden apartments 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:13.800 in Coasta Mesa, California were very much like a dorm, 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:17.520 with nearly all of Sam's neighbors enrolled into college across 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.640 the street. It was there he met his newest friend, 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:25.319 Reuben Menacho, who himself was a former Marine, and the 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:27.839 two of them hit it off. Damn told me that 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.480 he was going to do something that Friday. The night 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:34.439 before we went out to dinner, Sam, Julie and I 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.640 and so we went out to dinner. After dinner, we 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:40.679 had a great time. He took some price from me, 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.640 which how you really don't like people take photo eight 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.640 out of my bake. But that wasn't given to Sam. Yeah, 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.400 that's he didn't. He used to do that just to 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:54.040 piss me off to people would say he would literally 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:56.480 order it, would never order an entree. He'd ordered just 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.720 like a side of fries and then would wipe up 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:01.920 every body else's place. You're going to eat that? Are 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:03.960 you gonna finish that? Like the flour? They even thought 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.240 about being done. It's like you're done with that, you know, 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:08.440 And and all of a sudden he had a full meal, 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:12.319 and I was he paid for some friends. Yes, he is. 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.920 After Sam's night out with his friends, he mentioned to 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:18.800 Reuben that he promised someone he'd helped them with an 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:22.320 errand the next afternoon and Ruben had to remind him 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:26.760 that their mutual friend Dave Barnhard was hosting a beach barbecue. 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:29.520 Sam assured him that he'd make it after he was done. 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:34.160 Friday came, we went to the beach day was having 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:38.200 a barbecue with his family, UM a couple of friends. 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:41.920 And when I started asking for Sam, nobody knew where 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.800 he was at. So Sam was invited to this barbecue. 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:46.840 He was supposed to be there, Yes, I believe so. 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.840 I mean if I was there, then he must have 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.120 been invited, because they never invited me to something without Sam. 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:57.800 So and I did ask the guys about Sam, so 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:00.040 they said, oh, I think Dave told me that he 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.320 was helping out a friend. Even that night we went, 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:04.640 we went out and had some drinks with the guys, 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.720 and Sam was not found when we were at cam Then. 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:10.920 I think it was either Jake or Dave that went 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:13.120 to knock at his door and then nobody was there. 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:15.840 They came back and said, okay, it was a normal day. 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:19.080 You know, Sam is not answering the phone. But that 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:22.280 afternoon when he wasn't showing up for the barbecue, you 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:24.440 were calling him, you were texting, you were trying to 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.240 reach out, and at one point did did someone inswer 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.400 the phone? Yes, there was another person in Lyne that 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:33.760 answered the phone. And when they answer, it was very windy. 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.440 And I said if he was driving a car or 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:40.280 standing outside because it was a windy day. But I 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:42.840 asked him where, I said Sam, and he goes yes, 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.640 And I'm like, they didn't sound like Sam. I was like, 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.280 where are you? What do you sound weird? And he goes, oh, no, 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.680 I'm just having some issues. And he made the mistake 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:54.960 to say that he was having issues with his father. 0:15:56.040 --> 0:16:00.160 So that was a flag to me because Sam him 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:02.920 has a great relationship with his father and mother. So 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:07.760 that immediately gave you pause automatically, and I questioned him. 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:09.800 When I questioned it more, he hung up and then 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.640 I called again, no answer. I texted, no answer, so 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:15.320 and that that's when I got a little bit more 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.960 worried and asked, I started asking the guys more question, 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.480 but since they say no, I don't know, so I 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:23.960 just let it go. But the idea that you know, 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:26.440 you did kind of press this person and they hung 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:30.800 up on you really must have heightened your your concern 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:34.320 at that point, Yes, and hand my concern, but since 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.000 I didn't see it from the other guys, it lowered 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:42.440 it again. While Reuben was uneasy over the whereabouts of 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:47.240 his friend Steve Hair, Sam's father was still expecting his 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:52.080 son to arrive at their home that weekend. It's Friday 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.640 when you had an expectation that your son at some 0:16:57.800 --> 0:16:59.960 point that Friday was going to head up to your 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:04.760 and your wife's home in Anaheim Hills. Well, what it was. 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:09.160 Raquhel had spoken to Sam around twelve twenty on Friday afternoon, 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:13.879 that was the afternoon of one, and they had mentioned 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:16.360 Raquel wanted to speak to him, and he said, Mom, 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:20.520 I'm busy, I'm helping somebody, But we were anticipating Sam 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.639 to come over for the weekend. However, knowing Sam, I 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.800 probably I was not expecting him really until Saturday. It 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.000 looks Sam was in a war zone. He was a 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:32.760 decorated combat veteran. He was an a war zone. He 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:34.720 would call every two or three months when he got 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.879 off the hill, his observation posts and what have you. 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:42.359 So I certainly not really overly concerned, saying I wonder 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:44.480 where he is. I wish he'd dropped me a line 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.600 let us know if he's coming or not. By Saturday 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:51.520 early evening, there's still no word from Sam, So Steve 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.120 decides it's time to get in his car and drive 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.159 down to Sam's place in Coasta Mesa. I had a 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:00.480 key to his place, so that wasn't an issue. So 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:04.520 I arrived there approximately nine o'clock and I knocked at 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.840 the door. There was no response. I said, okay, I 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:11.359 have got the key, and I let myself in. I 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:14.080 opened the door, turned on the lights, livering was fine, 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:18.320 Everything looked very neat in place. Peeked into the bedroom. 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:25.000 That's going on, sirs? What once I went into the 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.440 apartment and then I saw the body. That's when my 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:38.000 whole world changed. Dead body? Are you sure, sir? Does 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:43.360 your son know who it is? Okay, we're standing people, sir. 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:45.480 I've got someone on the way. Okay, I'm just gonna 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:52.320 get information from you. Are right on Friday May, Julie Kibuishi, 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:57.160 Sam's close friend and tutor, also went missing. Julie's friends 0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:01.200 were texting her frantically. It was text after text coming 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:04.840 in her phone. Hey, Julie, your mom called, Can you 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:09.200 call me please? Is everything okay? By the next day, 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.439 Julie's mom was desperate. This kind of thing never happened 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:16.720 to my daughter. So we called it police and I said, 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:18.840 I don't care. I don't care where you find her, 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:21.440 but I need to find her. It's cose to MASA 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:25.320 detective Michael Cohen who arrives at the crime scene. As 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:27.639 we walked in, you know, the kitchen look clean. Everything 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.600 looked very clean inside until we went into the bedroom 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:37.280 or a male. Once we were in the bedroom, we 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.920 had seen a lone female slumped over the bed that 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:43.800 appeared to have a gunshot wound to the back of 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:47.080 her head. Initially, we saw blood and it appeared to 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:51.080 us that it looked like some type of either blood 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:54.239 force object had hit her or it could have been 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:57.320 a gunshot, when we weren't sure initially at first from 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:01.000 our initial investigation until we found more later. She was 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:05.639 bent over the bed actually with her knees partially on 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:09.399 the ground. Her torso was slumped over on top of 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:12.600 the bed, almost like in a kneeling position. Her pants 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:17.959 were somewhat ripped and pulled down. It appeared to us 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:22.080 like maybe there was a sexual assault that had gone bad. Yes, 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:29.240 in the bedroom, but there's some such activities. There's the 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:33.359 one call was from Sam, her father, and he was 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:36.120 looking for his son also, so we felt that Sam 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.760 was on the run and had maybe had some involvement 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:43.880 with this homicide. For June and Massa Kabuishi, they both 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:47.679 feared that fateful knock at their door. It's any parents 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:51.159 worth nightmare, and it was Detective Michael Cohen's job to 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.720 deliver the news. My partner and I when we had 0:20:54.800 --> 0:21:00.359 to make the death notification to Kibayashi family, it was 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:02.280 tough because we had a young girl who was twenty 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:04.960 three years old, and now we had to make contact 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:09.000 with her parents. My partner and I drove over to Mr. 0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:12.680 And Mrs Kubayashi's home, knocked on the door and made 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:15.960 contact with her and her husband. Once we walked in, 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:18.760 they had to sit down on a couch, which I 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:22.640 remember still to this day. They sat down. I then 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:26.320 proceeded to tell Mr. And Mrs Kubyashi that we had 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:30.080 located their daughter and an apartment complex in Costa Mesa, 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:33.880 and that she had been basically murdered. When I made 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:42.680 that statement, two Mr and Mrs Kubayashi, Mrs Kubyashi basically 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:48.399 just broke down and started crying. Her husband tried to 0:21:48.720 --> 0:21:52.280 calm her down, and we we tried to calm her down, 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:54.679 which we finally were able to after a few minutes. 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:59.320 And it was just a very tough situation. When you 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:07.520 see the pairs become so emotional, and as detectives, and 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:10.360 not only as detectives, but as fathers of having our 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:13.560 own children, you start thinking about how you would react 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:18.840 to that type of situation. Julie was loved by everyone 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.800 who knew her. She was a talented dancer and a 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:27.760 budding fashion maven, and she was also really smart, which 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:31.960 is why Sam's parents said. Julie would help Sam often 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:36.240 with his studies as his tutor. She looked up to him, 0:22:36.320 --> 0:22:39.000 and she was very good at tutor and him in 0:22:39.280 --> 0:22:42.920 anthropology and he got in a in that class. I said, 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:45.080 sim is there anything going on with you and Julie? 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:47.960 And he says absolutely not that she's like my kid's sister. 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:52.440 Steve realized that he knew very little about Sam's friends 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:56.000 at the Camden apartments, but he was certainly determined to 0:22:56.080 --> 0:22:59.040 find out more and to find his son. Okay, I 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:02.920 got the list of names by calling those few numbers 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:06.440 that I had on my phone of Sam's friends. The 0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:10.600 first two I called were Ruben Menatro and Dave Barnhardt. 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:15.040 I spoke eventually Dan Moseniack. I spoke to a number 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:18.200 of people, and each one of those people were telling 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:21.240 me while when the last time they saw Sam, what 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:24.360 did they hear? What do they know? And I took 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:26.600 it from there and I called for a few hours 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:30.080 speaking to people, and then I got a few hours sleep, 0:23:30.280 --> 0:23:34.040 and then on Sunday was this was Saturday evening, Saturday night, 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:37.120 Sunday morning when this was all occurring, got a few 0:23:37.160 --> 0:23:42.320 hours sleep, awoke, and then was out searching again. Steve 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:46.320 had a feeling that finding Julie's body in Sam's apartment, 0:23:47.000 --> 0:23:51.399 combined with Sam's military background and his knowledge of handling guns, 0:23:51.840 --> 0:23:55.400 would certainly make Sam a person of interest for the authorities. 0:23:56.200 --> 0:23:58.880 But the other news Steve was about to tell police 0:23:59.400 --> 0:24:03.160 would leave little doubt for them that Sam was their 0:24:03.359 --> 0:24:07.240 reasonable prime suspect and could very easily be on the run. 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:11.680 We put all points Bolton out for him because we thought, 0:24:12.240 --> 0:24:14.919 you know, right now, he's our loan suspect. There's nobody 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:17.000 else that we should be looking for other than him, 0:24:17.040 --> 0:24:19.600 because we can't find him and his father is trying 0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:21.800 to call him and answering his phone. So we felt 0:24:21.840 --> 0:24:24.280 at that point in time he was the initial suspect 0:24:24.320 --> 0:24:27.639 of interest and we need to find the situation at hand. Lawrence, 0:24:27.680 --> 0:24:29.600 you got to speak to the police. What have you 0:24:29.960 --> 0:24:32.440 fill them in on what you know. So they took 0:24:32.480 --> 0:24:34.720 me down to the station and took me to an 0:24:34.760 --> 0:24:37.600 interview room, and of course your whole world is crashing 0:24:37.640 --> 0:24:40.880 around you, and then they started questioning common senses. There's 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:43.480 a dead body in your child's apartment and your child 0:24:43.640 --> 0:24:45.640 is not there. The first thing I thought, they're gonna 0:24:45.840 --> 0:24:49.080 suspect him, understandably. So so as they were questioning me, 0:24:49.160 --> 0:24:51.560 I said, look, before you find out, I'll let you 0:24:51.640 --> 0:24:54.200