1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,120 Speaker 1: Hi, Helen Gone listeners. We are so excited to share 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: these case updates with you. Did you know that you 3 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 1: can hear this bonus episode plus three more, completely ad 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,559 Speaker 1: free and before everyone else in the I Heart True 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: Crime Plus channel, exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Don't wait weeks 6 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: for the new episode. Subscribe today to get early access 7 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: to all the available case updates with no ads. Subscribe 8 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: to Helen Gone on the I Heart True Crime Plus 9 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: Channel today, exclusively available on Apple Podcasts. I am driving 10 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: from my dad's house in Mountain View to Melbourne down 11 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: Highway nine. This will be the first time that I've 12 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: been on Highway nine in quite a while. The drive 13 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: has not gotten any easier. It is a rough drive. 14 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: It's really curvy. It's almost like as soon as you 15 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: cross over the bridge says sharp curves for the next 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: twenty miles and you have to really concentrate and there's 17 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: no shoulder and the road gets really skinny. So I 18 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: find the drive, even in the daytime, um a little sketchy, 19 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: even more so at night. So I'm driving to the 20 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: pre trial hearing. So far there's been a hearing for 21 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: emotion to suppress Billy Miller's confession and that was denied. 22 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: This is the pre trial hearing. I have no idea 23 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,839 Speaker 1: what they're gonna be covering. Um, I'm just gonna show 24 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 1: up and see what I find. I don't know how 25 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: many people are gonna be there. I just I don't 26 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: know anything. I'm just gonna go in blind and see 27 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: what happens. The last time I drove this specific route 28 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,639 Speaker 1: down Highway nine was four years ago. At that time, 29 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: I drove from Mountain View and went to a specific 30 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: outlook about five miles from Melbourne. It's a scenic beauty spot, 31 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: but it's also a place where some people stopped to 32 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: dump trash. I went there because more than eighteen years ago, 33 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: this is the place where police found the body of 34 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: twenty two year old Rebecca Gold. Rebecca Gould disappeared on 35 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: September twenty one, two thousand four. All I knew about 36 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: the case at the time was what I read in 37 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: the papers that on the day before, on the morning 38 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 1: of September two thousand four, she dropped her boyfriend, Casey 39 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: McCullough off at work at Sonic. After that, Rebecca stopped 40 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: at a gas station called the Possum Trot to buy 41 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: a breakfast sandwich and coffee, then she went back to 42 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: Casey's trailer to pack her stuff. Rebecca's life was in transition. 43 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: She had just enrolled at a college in Fayetteville and 44 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: moved into an apartment there with her sister, Danielle. She 45 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: was supposed to pick Danielle up that morning so that 46 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: they could drive back to school together, but Rebecca never 47 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: showed up up. Danielle spent the day frantically calling her friends, 48 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: but no one had seen Rebecca, and the next day, 49 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: Rebecca was officially reported missing. At Casey's trailer where she 50 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: was staying. Law enforcement found blood everywhere on the mattress, 51 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: in the carpets, and in the washing machine, but Rebecca 52 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,799 Speaker 1: was gone. It was a week later when searchers found 53 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: her body in that embankment off Highway nine. She was 54 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: still wearing her cropped black T shirt with the word 55 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: music printed on it in rhinestone's and her underwear. Her 56 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: body was badly decomposed. For the next eighteen years, Rebecca's 57 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: case would be one of the most notorious cold cases 58 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: in the state of Arkansas. I had followed Rebecca's case 59 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: for years. I'm from Arkansas and my younger sister, Caroline 60 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: was very good friends with Rebecca's baby sister, Danielle. They 61 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: went to high school together, and my dad and my 62 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: sister still live in Mountain View. That's in Stone County, 63 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: which is right next to Iszard County where Rebecca was murdered. 64 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: And in two thousand eighteen, I showed up with a 65 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: couple of producers to make a podcast that became the 66 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: first season of Helen Gone. By the end of the season, 67 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:24,159 Speaker 1: I believed that the lead Arkansas State Police investigator, whose 68 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: name was Dennis Simmons, was doing nothing to investigate the 69 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: case and that he was fixated on someone else, a 70 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: guy named Chris Kntrell, who had nothing to do with 71 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: the murder. The crime scene indicated that Rebecca was murdered 72 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 1: in Casey's trailer and then her killer or killers took 73 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: her body out and dumped it by the side of 74 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: the road where it was found. Based on that crime 75 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: scene and interviews with witnesses, I developed a theory. I 76 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: believed that either Casey McCullough or someone connected to Casey 77 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: McCullough or his family had something to do with it. 78 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: But because I thought that anyone who would bother to 79 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: clean up that crime scene would have to have a 80 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: reason for doing it. In January of two thousand twenty, 81 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: a new lead investigator named Mike McNeil was assigned to 82 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: the case. He called me in early two thousand twenty 83 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: and said he'd heard I had some audio. He wanted 84 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: us to send it to him, And over the next 85 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: several months there seemed to be renewed interest in the case. 86 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 1: Journalist and true crime author George Jared and Jennifer Buckle's, 87 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: a private investigator and professor of criminology, started a Facebook 88 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:38,919 Speaker 1: group called Unsolved Murder of Rebecca Gold. And then in 89 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: November of two thousand twenty, we got the news that 90 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: we've been waiting for for so long. There had finally 91 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: been an arrest. The man who was arrested was forty 92 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: four year old William Miller, and he goes by Billy. 93 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:58,160 Speaker 1: He's Casey McCullough's first cousin. Now that Billy has been caught, 94 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: we're beginning to answer a lot of the questions we've 95 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 1: had for so many years about Rebecca's case. New information 96 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: has been revealed, and some parts of the story aren't 97 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: adding up. I still have a lot of unanswered questions, 98 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: and I made a promise to Rebecca and to all 99 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: of you in the first season that I wouldn't stop 100 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:21,720 Speaker 1: until I did my best to get justice and answers 101 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: for Rebecca. I'm Catherine Townsend, and in these bonus episodes 102 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: for season one, I'm gonna walk you through everything that's 103 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: happened in the past few months and figure out what's missing. 104 00:06:34,040 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: This is Helen Gone. First, let's go through Billy Miller's confession. 105 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: We learned that Billy had been in the Mountain View 106 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: area for a brief period of time visiting family. He 107 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: claimed that he was helping his mom and brother Jeremy, 108 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: moved from Arkansas back to Texas. If you remember, on 109 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: season one of Helen Gone, we talked to someone who 110 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: said they had seen a man, a white man with 111 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: a darker complexion and black hair, a man who matches 112 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: Billy's description with a woman at Casey's trailer talking to 113 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: Rebecca and then weed eating, and that witness said that 114 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: Rebecca seemed comfortable and that the man they saw was 115 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: talking to Rebecca for about twenty minutes. The witness said 116 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: the man was driving a blue car with Texas plates. 117 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: After Rebecca's murder. Billy Miller left town with his family 118 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: and never came back to Arkansas. He spent some time 119 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: living into Texas. Then he got married and started a 120 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: family of his own. Later, he moved to the Philippines, 121 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: where he worked on oil rigs. His first marriage ended 122 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: and he married for a second time. His new wife 123 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: was from the Philippines. They had another child. Meanwhile, Mike 124 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: McNeil had taken another look at the case. He testified 125 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 1: at a pre trial hearing that when he looked at 126 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: Rebecca's case file, he stated that based on the evidence 127 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: he saw, he believed that either Casey McCullough or someone 128 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: connected to him committed the murder. Mike noticed that Billy 129 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: had been interviewed in two thousand four briefly by some 130 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,559 Speaker 1: investigators in Texas, but based on the fact that Billy 131 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,079 Speaker 1: had been mentioned as someone who was present in Casey's 132 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: trailer shortly before Rebecca was murdered, Mike decided to take 133 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: another look at him. Mike testified that when he saw 134 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: that Billy had allegations of violence and sexual assault in 135 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: his past, he became more interested in him as a suspect, 136 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: and he decided that he wanted to interview him. Mike 137 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: learned that Billy had come back to where some of 138 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: his family members were living in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Sources 139 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: close to his family have told me that Billy was 140 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: planning to relocate his family there from the Philippines, and 141 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: he was looking at buying property in that area. In 142 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: November of two thousand twenty, investigator Mike McNeil made a 143 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: trip to Cottage Grove, Oregon to interview Billy. During that interview, 144 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: Mike told Billy that he had a wash rag from 145 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: the crime scene, one that had DNA on it. In reality, 146 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: Mike had no physical evidence, but Billy didn't know that, 147 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: and it's not illegal to lie to murder suspects. Billy 148 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: tried to make up a story about seeing two strange 149 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: men on the back porch of the trailer on the 150 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: morning when Rebecca was murdered, but Mike McNeil was clearly 151 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: not buying Billy's story. He said, quote, what you saying 152 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: is ridiculous. Tell me what you did, Billy, or tell 153 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: me how you helped Casey cover it up. At that point, 154 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: Billy looked visibly shaken on the video. He asked if 155 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: he could step outside of the room to talk to 156 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: his mother, and when he came back into the room, 157 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 1: he started talking. Billy said that he committed the murder alone. 158 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: He said that he killed Rebecca and that he had 159 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: played everyone for a fool all these years. Billy never 160 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: really offered a motive for killing Rebecca, but he did 161 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: say at one point, I am a monster. Billy said 162 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: that on that Monday morning, September four, after Rebecca dropped 163 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: Casey off at work at Sonic and went back to 164 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: his trailer, he happened to be hunting in an adjacent 165 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: field near the mcculla's land. He said that he saw 166 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: her car and realized that she was in there. He 167 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: said that on Sunday, he and his mother and his brother, 168 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:02,719 Speaker 1: we're getting ready to move back to Texas, and they 169 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,959 Speaker 1: went over to see Casey. While he was there on Sunday, 170 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: he saw Rebecca, but he didn't actually talk to her. 171 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: So Billy said that that Monday morning when he came 172 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 1: to the trailer was the first time that he'd ever 173 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 1: actually had an encounter with her. Billy said that he 174 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: hid his truck in the woods to disguise it. Then 175 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,959 Speaker 1: he walked up to the door and knocked. Rebecca let 176 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: him in. He told her he was Casey's cousin and 177 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: he needed to use the phone. Billy said that the 178 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: phone excuse was really just a pretext to get inside 179 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:37,319 Speaker 1: the house. After that, Rebecca turned around and went back 180 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: to the bedroom. He said she was lying on her 181 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: bed with her head facing away from the door, and 182 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: Billy said that he got an urge, an overwhelming urge 183 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:49,680 Speaker 1: to kill her. He said that he'd had these kinds 184 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: of urges before. He was pacing around like an animal, 185 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,560 Speaker 1: in this kind of murderous frenzy, debating what to do. 186 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,559 Speaker 1: While he was pacing, his leg knocked again the piano. 187 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: The piano leg was loose, It had kind of just 188 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:09,200 Speaker 1: been propped up there. Billy said, it rolled down and 189 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: he grabbed it. Then he said he went inside that 190 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: bedroom and he hit Rebecca. He hit her twice, and 191 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 1: at that point the injuries were catastrophic and she was 192 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,079 Speaker 1: bleeding out. He said that he took a necktie from 193 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:27,839 Speaker 1: the closet and strangled her until she stopped moving. After that, 194 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:30,560 Speaker 1: he was in a panic. He decided to do a 195 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 1: quick cleanup. He cleaned up for about fifteen minutes. Then 196 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: he said he threw the bloody sheets and the pillow 197 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: cases into the washing machine. Billy said that he tried 198 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,680 Speaker 1: to stuff Rebecca's body into her black suitcase, the one 199 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: that Danielle, her sister, had told us was missing from 200 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 1: the crime scene, the one that was never found. But 201 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: Billy said that the body wouldn't fit, so he said 202 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,679 Speaker 1: that he took some of the bloody betting material and 203 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,080 Speaker 1: put that in the suitcase. Then he threw her body, 204 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: along with all that stuff, into the back of his truck. 205 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,559 Speaker 1: Billy said that he drove right through Melbourne with Rebecca's 206 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: body exposed in the back of the truck. He pointed 207 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: out the fact that he had passed very close to 208 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:14,719 Speaker 1: the turn off to the police department, and then when 209 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: he got to Highway nine, to that scenic overlook, he 210 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: pulled off the side of the road and dumped her body. 211 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: After that, he put the piano leg the murder weapon, 212 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: in a trash can at a nearby car wash. When 213 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: police asked about the black suitcase, he told them he 214 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: could direct them to the exact place in Izard County 215 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: where that suitcase was. According to information that came out 216 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: during the pre trial hearing, police officers did follow Billy's 217 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: directions and they found the suitcase, but they did not 218 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 1: provide any information about where it was found or what 219 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:56,320 Speaker 1: was inside. After Billy confessed, he was arrested for Rebecca's murder. Eventually, 220 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: he was extradited back to Arkansas. Since November two thousand twenty, 221 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: he's been in jail awaiting his murder trial, but due 222 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: to COVID and other issues, the trial date kept getting 223 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: pushed back. The date was finally set for October thirty one, 224 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: two thousand twenty two, but before the trial, there were 225 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: some hearings. First, there was a suppression hearing to determine 226 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: which evidence would be allowed in court. The first hearing 227 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: was in August of two thousand twenty two, and at 228 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: that hearing, Billy's confession was played and the judge ruled 229 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: that it was admissible. Billy's confession was played for a 230 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: room full of reporters, family members, and people who had 231 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: been following this case for years. I really was worried 232 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: about seeing him because of what he did, but one 233 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: I remember seeing his mug shot and thinking how cruel 234 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: and awful he looked. And everything then got into trial. 235 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: They hading dressed in khaki and then nice navy's shirt 236 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: and tie, and I thought, no way, no way. I 237 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: looked Attie like, how could you do something this cruel? 238 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: This is Diana Cox. She's a resident of mountain View, Arkansas. 239 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: Diana and her sister Karen have been attending all the 240 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: suppression hearings of William Miller because they, like so many 241 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: residents of mountain View and Melbourne, are highly invested in 242 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: Rebecca's case. Diane is active in George Jared and Jennifer 243 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,560 Speaker 1: Buckolets his Facebook group. She keeps up to date with 244 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 1: all the new information coming out of Iszard County. I 245 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: also found out that Diana's late husband, Junior, was very 246 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: good friends with my dad. They grew up together in Alzheimer, Arkansas. So, 247 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: as it turns out, I've been hearing stories about Diana 248 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: for years, and it was great to finally be able 249 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: to put a name to the face and to meet 250 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: someone else who cared so much about Rebecca and her case. 251 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: My name is Diana Cox, and I got involved in 252 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: this when Catherine came out with The Hell and Gone. 253 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: I had never listened to any podcast before, but this 254 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: seemed to be a big interest and everybody got so 255 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: excited over it. So that's how I got interested, and 256 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: I'm still interested. I love it, and I think my 257 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: sister and I missed our calling of being detectives. But anyway, 258 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: what's what do you mean? It's too late. Diana and 259 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: Karen were at the suppression hearing back in August, and 260 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: she told me about her impressions of Billy's confession video 261 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: when he finally said I did it. I killed her. 262 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 1: Nobody else knows. Nobody else was involved. This is what 263 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: he said. That's nobody else but me and Catherine. It 264 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: was kind of like, in a way he was reading 265 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: like what we have read on different things, you know, 266 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: on our website and things like that. It was like 267 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: kind of like he was reading it. I don't know 268 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:16,440 Speaker 1: what what it was about it. Well, um, that was crazy. 269 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 1: So I just got back from the pre trial hearing 270 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:23,359 Speaker 1: I found out there was a ton of wow. It 271 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: was just it was pretty incredible. On October three, two two, 272 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: I traveled back to Arkansas to attend the pre trial hearings. 273 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 1: That's where I met Diana. On that day, the judge 274 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:40,120 Speaker 1: would be deciding which autopsy photos and crime scene photos 275 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: would be allowed into evidence, and I wanted to be there. 276 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: It was really important that I was at this pre trial. 277 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 1: To my knowledge, I was the only journalist there, and 278 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: if the photos were ruled inadmissible or for some other 279 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: reason the trial didn't happen, this could be my only 280 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: chance to ever see photo of what Rebecca's body looked 281 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: like and what the crime scenemed looked like. We weren't 282 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: allowed to record inside, so it was just me and 283 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: my notebook for hours. So here's what happened. First, I 284 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: saw Billy Miller in person for the first time. It 285 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:27,800 Speaker 1: turned out that instead of having the hearing in the 286 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: main Iszard County Courthouse, it was held in the Izard 287 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: County District Court, which is basically a tiny room inside 288 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: the sheriff station. I got very up close and personal 289 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: with Billy Miller. He was sitting right in front of me, 290 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: unto the left, about five ft away from me. He 291 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,439 Speaker 1: did not look like a psychotic killer. In fact, he 292 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: looked utterly forgettable, which might be one of the scariest 293 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: things about him. He didn't say anything during the pre trial. 294 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,160 Speaker 1: He had several lawyers, and they were challenging the admissibility 295 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: of some of the autopsy photos, arguing that they were inflammatory, 296 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,199 Speaker 1: and they were also trying to get some of the 297 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: crime scene photos which were taken at Casey's trailer thrown out. 298 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 1: The autopsy photos have never been seen by the public. 299 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: Before they started showing the photos, the judge said, if 300 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:20,680 Speaker 1: you don't have to be here, you can leave the 301 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: room now. I'd seen diagrams of Rebecca's autopsy, but this 302 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: was the first time I actually saw what she looked 303 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: like when she was found. They started showing the photos, 304 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:39,439 Speaker 1: they flipped through them rapidly, so we only had a 305 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:45,360 Speaker 1: few seconds to see each one. From what I could tell, 306 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: if you're looking at Rebecca's body from above, she seemed 307 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,360 Speaker 1: to be kind of crouched down. Her legs were apart 308 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,360 Speaker 1: and what I would call almost like a frog position 309 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: when your legs are splayed out. To me, it looked 310 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: like the killer had dumped her down that embankment on 311 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: Highway nine. It looked like she could have tumbled over 312 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 1: a few times and then landed in that position, stuck 313 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,120 Speaker 1: between two trees. On one side of her body. From 314 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,959 Speaker 1: a certain angle, you could see hair hanging down across 315 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: her face, and there was some skin remaining, but Once 316 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: the body was turned over on the autopsy table upright, 317 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: you could see that there was hardly anything left. Rebecca's 318 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: body was in much worse shape than I ever could 319 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 1: have imagined. I was shocked at the level of decomposition 320 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: that the Arkansas, Indian summer causes, and I think it's 321 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,200 Speaker 1: really important to understand how decomposed she was, because looking 322 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,200 Speaker 1: at it as someone without medical training, I would have 323 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: thought she'd been out there for a month. She had 324 00:20:47,320 --> 00:21:04,640 Speaker 1: almost no skin. She was a skeleton. I'm really glad 325 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,679 Speaker 1: that Rebecca's dad, Larry, and the rest of her family 326 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 1: were not present at that hearing, because no parents should 327 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: ever have to see that. But I looked at every 328 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: single autopsy photo because I believe that I owe that 329 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: to Rebecca. As an investigator, that was my responsibility. Then 330 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: we got to the photos of the crime scene. Those 331 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 1: were also a little shocking for different reasons, because a 332 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 1: lot of what we had been told about the crime scene, 333 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 1: things that have been reported in the paper, we're actually wrong. 334 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 1: And this was the first chance that I ever had 335 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:47,359 Speaker 1: to look at that and to figure it out. We've 336 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:49,760 Speaker 1: been told that the first officer on the scene back 337 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,879 Speaker 1: in two thousand four was Charlie Melton. He was the 338 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,879 Speaker 1: police officer who came into the trailer with Casey, and 339 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: he supposedly secured the scene after that. Now, presumably that 340 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: would mean that nothing was moved in there before those 341 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 1: photos were taken, but other sources have told me that 342 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:09,119 Speaker 1: there were multiple people at the crime scene, so I 343 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,360 Speaker 1: just don't want to totally discount the possibility that law 344 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,400 Speaker 1: enforcement or someone else could have moved some of those 345 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: things around before they were photographed. There were about thirty 346 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: photographs and all, and because they were just showing them 347 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: to see if they could be admissible in court, it 348 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: took a few minutes to present them. All the lawyers 349 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: and judges briefly discussed each one, which is why I 350 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,959 Speaker 1: called up Diana afterwards. I wanted to see if she 351 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,919 Speaker 1: remembered the same things as I did, just because we 352 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,000 Speaker 1: had to view them so quickly and we were all 353 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: trying to take notes. First, I wanted to address the 354 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: mattress because since the beginning of this case, we've been 355 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: hearing about this blood soaked mattress. I pictured the mattress 356 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: to really have a lot of blood on it, but 357 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: there was only as we're looking at the mattress on 358 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 1: the right top corner was a pool of blood or 359 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,360 Speaker 1: a big blood stain about the size of a basketball. 360 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,200 Speaker 1: That was about it. And did you notice the stuff 361 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 1: under the bed the pillows, Yes, okay, I remember the 362 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: picture that they were stuffed under the side of the 363 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: bed and you could see blood. It wasn't a lot 364 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,440 Speaker 1: of blood on them, but it was spotted blood on them, 365 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: and they were stuffed under the under the bed, just 366 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: stuffed right there. Evidently whoever stripped the bed or whatever 367 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: they done, they forgot about the pillows. That makes sense. 368 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 1: So like they stripped the bed and through it in 369 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 1: the washing machine, but they forgot about the actual pillows. Yeah, exactly. 370 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,880 Speaker 1: And what do you remember about the washing machine? The 371 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: first picture that I remember saying was really bloody water. 372 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: And then in that thing like up on top of 373 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,680 Speaker 1: your washing machine that you put bleach in, it was bloody. 374 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,120 Speaker 1: It was real old bloody. What do you remember about 375 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:07,200 Speaker 1: the suitcases? Okay, whenever they were scanning around the room, 376 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:12,120 Speaker 1: there was two suitcases sitting up against the wall. They 377 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: were kind of a bluish color, and there were two 378 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 1: of them. Like the suitcases you pull around got the 379 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,680 Speaker 1: wheels on it. There was two of them, and that 380 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:26,360 Speaker 1: really caught my eye. The suitcases, because all we've talked about, 381 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: or anybody's talked about, is the black suitcase. That was 382 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:35,919 Speaker 1: you know, Rebecca's supposedly Rebecca's right. What about what do 383 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: you remember about the interior, Well, it was you know, 384 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:46,120 Speaker 1: like the bathroom was very neat clean. What stood out 385 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:50,199 Speaker 1: to me was all those cleaning supplies, paper towel and 386 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,640 Speaker 1: stuff like that. I think it was on a table 387 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,159 Speaker 1: or a bar or something that stood out to me, 388 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 1: all the cleaning stuff. I was real focused on the 389 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,480 Speaker 1: cleaning products too. Yes, they really stood out. There was 390 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,919 Speaker 1: a lot of cleaning products on the table or whatever 391 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,159 Speaker 1: it was. Um and also you I think you were 392 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: telling me that that you didn't notice any folded clothes, right, 393 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: because we've been talking about how that the clothes like 394 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: they were supposedly clothes folded on the bed, which was 395 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 1: the reason that like he I guess presumably someone took 396 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: him out of the suitcase, put him on the bed, 397 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: and then either put her or put other stuff in 398 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: the suitcase. Yes, that that was one thing that that 399 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:34,400 Speaker 1: we've heard that her clothes were neatly stacked on the mattress. Well, 400 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: there was nothing on the mattress, you know the pictures 401 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: that we saw. There was nothing on the mattress, no 402 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,600 Speaker 1: clothes anywhere that I saw. And you know, that was 403 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,160 Speaker 1: one of the things, wasn't it that they talked about? 404 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,399 Speaker 1: But I did not say that at all. And also 405 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:55,360 Speaker 1: did you notice the the bloodstains in the living room, Yes, 406 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: on the wall and baseboard, yeah, and the carpet too, 407 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:00,240 Speaker 1: But I couldn't tell whether I think it was the 408 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,880 Speaker 1: living room, Yes, yes it was. I wonder if that 409 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:08,160 Speaker 1: was maybe tracked the way the door the way I understand, 410 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: he wouldn't have had to gone in the living room 411 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: to take her out the back right exactly the trailer 412 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: was made, you know, the back door and and everything. 413 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,200 Speaker 1: So was did he track it in there or what? Yeah? 414 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,919 Speaker 1: And they also said that they originally that the police 415 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: were saying the fight started in the kitchen or it 416 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:33,200 Speaker 1: started in the in that area, and then that's also 417 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:35,479 Speaker 1: kind of what my witness had said. But then like 418 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 1: I don't I don't think any of the evidence I 419 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: saw points to the fight starting in the bedroom. It 420 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,199 Speaker 1: looks like something happened on that carpet outside. What do 421 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 1: you remember about the porch. I remember the porch was 422 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:54,199 Speaker 1: empty all but that they call it a thumper or 423 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: a tire checker. It was that, Yes, I remember that 424 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:04,480 Speaker 1: was it. But I remember sin faint blood like a drag, 425 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: and I do remember that on the porch, and then 426 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 1: two spots of blood on the steps. Did you notice 427 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,359 Speaker 1: he seemed to me really looking at the not the 428 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 1: autopsy photos, but all the crime scene photos crime scene. 429 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,119 Speaker 1: He looked at all the crime scene. He did not 430 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: look at us autopsy at all. And I wish they 431 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: had made him look at him. I wish they had 432 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: made him look up there at it. But he hung 433 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 1: his head the whole time. But yeah, he really watched 434 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,119 Speaker 1: the crime scene, all of them. But I tell you 435 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:35,359 Speaker 1: what those crime scene Catherine. Really it was kind of 436 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 1: like a question to me on some of the stuff 437 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: where it was. Yeah, and then William. That was also 438 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,200 Speaker 1: one of the things that was weird to me about 439 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:46,120 Speaker 1: his confession. He's he mentioned everything that was online. So 440 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 1: it's just the whole thing is very strange to me. Yes, 441 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,479 Speaker 1: it is. It's very strange. Just like I told you 442 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,439 Speaker 1: start with, it was like he was reading some of 443 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 1: the things that he had heard or read before you know, 444 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 1: on on on how that some of the things that 445 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: come out that how she was or around this and that. 446 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: But it was to me, I don't know, he I 447 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 1: don't know. It's it was a very strange confession. Honestly, 448 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: after seeing the crime scene photos, I have more questions 449 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,159 Speaker 1: than ever because it does seem like a lot of 450 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: the things that Billy Miller confessed to are true. But 451 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 1: there's a piece missing and I'm not sure what it 452 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: is yet. Maybe someone else let him into that trailer, 453 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,359 Speaker 1: or maybe someone else struck the first blow and Billy 454 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: finished it off and cleaned up. Maybe he's covering for 455 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 1: someone else, perhaps one of his family members was there 456 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: at the time. I absolutely believe that he had a 457 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: role in killing Rebecca, but I don't think he did 458 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: the whole thing on his own. It's illogical that William 459 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:56,720 Speaker 1: did this in I'll vacuum, you know, completely by himself. 460 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,440 Speaker 1: This is Jennifer Buckles. She's a criminal investigator and professor 461 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,800 Speaker 1: of forensics. After she listened to Helen Gone, she got 462 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: interested in Rebecca's case. Later, she contacted Rebecca's father, Dr. 463 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:19,960 Speaker 1: Larry Gold and George shared. Since then, Jennifer and George 464 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,480 Speaker 1: have worked on a lot of cases together. They also 465 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 1: started a Facebook group, Unsolved Murder of Rebecca Gold, where 466 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: they tried to use crowdsourcing to help get information and 467 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: leads on Rebecca's case. The couple of aspects of Rebecca's 468 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 1: case that really caught my attention and that I thought 469 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: I hadn't been considered or given any attention by law 470 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: enforcement is the fact that her body was removed from 471 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 1: the crime scene to a secondary location and someone had 472 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: tried to clean the scene. And those actions are super rare, 473 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: like most killers just don't do that. They usually des 474 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 1: grabbed the weapon and they sleeve the scene. And so 475 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 1: that immediately told me like, it's got to be someone 476 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,720 Speaker 1: who has like a known connection to her and that residents. 477 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: The other thing that stuck out to her was the 478 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 1: road back Casey's. You know, there's a road that leads 479 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:12,240 Speaker 1: basically from Casey's property to where Rebecca was found, and 480 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 1: I think there's been like a little mentioned about through 481 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: the years, but it seemed like the prevailing theory is 482 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 1: that the killer like took pavement, either went up and 483 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 1: around through Melbourne or went down and around through a 484 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,840 Speaker 1: mountain view which never made sense to me because usually 485 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: a person like they want to have a dead body 486 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: in their car for the least amount of time possible, 487 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,600 Speaker 1: so obviously, like there's an alternate route that doesn't take 488 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: your own pavement that's rarely traveled, and you know law enforcement, 489 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: like there's not gonna be any cops out there, that 490 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: would be the logical route to take. So then it 491 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,640 Speaker 1: occurred to us, well, assuming they took that that throw 492 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:50,760 Speaker 1: it says to be someone either local to the area 493 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 1: or who has spent a decent amount of time in 494 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: the area. So again, it's just like the evidence has 495 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 1: kept kind of pointing to someone with a personal relationship 496 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 1: or connection to Rebecca. Another weird thing about Billy is 497 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: that before he was arrested, he actually reached out to 498 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: me and also to Jennifer. He called me while I 499 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: was staying at my grandmother's cabin by myself in the 500 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:23,040 Speaker 1: middle of nowhere, I was getting multiple calls a day 501 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: about people of interest, and a lot of them turned 502 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 1: out to be people whose names were being whispered around 503 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: town because they knew Rebecca, but who had nothing to 504 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: do with her murder. To the best of my recollection, 505 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: Billy told me some coworkers of his had been talking 506 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,080 Speaker 1: about people and had mentioned the names Chris and Jennifer. 507 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 1: But again, at the time, a lot of people were 508 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,600 Speaker 1: calling me and had stuff to say about Chris and Jennifer, 509 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 1: So nothing that Billy Miller said particularly stuck out, at 510 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: least until afterwards, when I realized how creepy it was 511 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:58,080 Speaker 1: that the person who confessed to killing Rebecca called me 512 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: in a remote location and presuming when you knew exactly 513 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 1: where I was. Billy also made contact with Jennifer by 514 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,280 Speaker 1: reaching out on the Facebook group that she and George 515 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 1: Jared had started to help their investigation, and we started 516 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 1: out in October and within a month a guy named 517 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:21,000 Speaker 1: William Miller joined the group, and thankfully due to a 518 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,440 Speaker 1: woman named Miranda who had dated Casey for a year 519 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,280 Speaker 1: and a half, she had mapped his whole family tree 520 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,320 Speaker 1: for us, and so when that request to join came in, 521 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 1: She's like, that's Casey's cousins. I'm like, well, that's interesting. 522 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: Then he maybe he lurked around for a month or so. 523 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 1: I think it was towards the end of eighteen is 524 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 1: when he started making comments on some of the posts, 525 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,440 Speaker 1: But you know, like aside from being Casey's cousin, there 526 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,240 Speaker 1: wasn't really any other red flags to his comments. I mean, 527 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 1: he was throwing ideas out just like everybody else. We 528 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 1: just thought that, I mean, most people probably know about 529 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:58,240 Speaker 1: My theory is that, well, he thinks we don't know 530 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 1: who he is, so he is in the group to 531 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: spy for Casey and his family. Right, there were definitely people, 532 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,880 Speaker 1: There are people doing that. There's always spies. Yeah, and 533 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: that's fine. I mean, yeah, we want the killer to 534 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 1: know what's going on. Yeah, we want them to see 535 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 1: what's in our group, and we want them to stay 536 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 1: on edge so that we don't That's fine. And then yeah, January, 537 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,360 Speaker 1: which ironically is Casey's birthday, William Villari sent me the 538 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 1: first message, like a direct message to me, and he 539 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: had sent me a photo of a newspaper article, the 540 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 1: one that says a neighborhood heard screams in the hours 541 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 1: before the murder or something like that, and he had 542 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,400 Speaker 1: asked if I'd seen the article, what did I think? 543 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,479 Speaker 1: You know? And so, Mike, this is interesting because I'm 544 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 1: talking to Casey's cousin now, and so I just wrote 545 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: back like normal, you know, I'm like, thanks for reaching out. 546 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 1: I appreciate you, know, your insight, your thought process. You know, 547 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,960 Speaker 1: we do know that that report from a neighbor was 548 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: made to police, but we don't know the timeframe, like 549 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: police have not ever divulged what time they heard the screen, 550 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:08,719 Speaker 1: So it's hard for us to put much stock in 551 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:10,920 Speaker 1: that or use it at this point, you know. And 552 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: so it's been from there on out. We just went 553 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:16,839 Speaker 1: back and forth periodically, and he would ask a lot 554 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: of the same questions that tons of other people asked, 555 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 1: and he might have been digging a little bit, I'm sure, 556 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: you know, to try to get our viewpoint on stuff, 557 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,279 Speaker 1: but it was really it's fairly benign. Obviously. I've read 558 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 1: them over and over and over again, now like did 559 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:32,799 Speaker 1: I miss something? And I don't really feel I do. 560 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,799 Speaker 1: I did. But there's a few things that he was 561 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,200 Speaker 1: he had more focused on than others, and one was 562 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:42,600 Speaker 1: the timeline, like the actual timeframe of when Rebecca was killed. 563 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,359 Speaker 1: He told me on multiple occasions like I'm trying to 564 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:47,960 Speaker 1: do what you do and put together the timeline of how, 565 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:52,200 Speaker 1: how and when the murder actually went down. And he 566 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:55,240 Speaker 1: talked several times about the maybe the person who cleaned 567 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,400 Speaker 1: up ward gloves and now you know, I'm kind of 568 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,200 Speaker 1: like that might have been true, but there wasn't, like, 569 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:05,280 Speaker 1: you know, any huge red flag. And then the last 570 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:10,279 Speaker 1: conversation we had was, I think it was September. He 571 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:14,280 Speaker 1: had posted a photo in our group of Chris Cantrell 572 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:17,000 Speaker 1: and so something about his tear drop tattoos must mean 573 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:20,440 Speaker 1: he committed a murder. Remember that. So and I we 574 00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: rarely removed posts, but that one had come down. And 575 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:25,719 Speaker 1: then I messaged him, I'm like, no, we can't have 576 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,640 Speaker 1: people posting photos and pointing the finger at someone who, 577 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:32,280 Speaker 1: as far as we know, has no connection to this case, 578 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,359 Speaker 1: So please don't do that. And you know, he apologized, 579 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:39,120 Speaker 1: And that was really our last exchange, which makes sense 580 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: because that's when Mike McNeil was onto him. When I 581 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:45,440 Speaker 1: was talking with Diana, we both said it seemed that 582 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:48,680 Speaker 1: Billy was studying those crom scene photos, almost like he 583 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,320 Speaker 1: was taking notes on them. Jennifer got a similar impression 584 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,680 Speaker 1: from him when he first read his confession. In fact, 585 00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:58,600 Speaker 1: some of his quotes almost seemed like he took them 586 00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:02,000 Speaker 1: straight from George, because specifically the one where he said 587 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:05,759 Speaker 1: he drove with her body right through Melbourne past the 588 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,520 Speaker 1: Sheriff's department. I'm like, that's something Georgia said. Are written 589 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: like and and and we never believed that anyways, he 590 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:15,480 Speaker 1: did not drive your downtown Melbourne with a dead body 591 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:18,120 Speaker 1: in the open bet of your pickup truck, like nobody 592 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:21,560 Speaker 1: would do that. He's wording what really? And look, I 593 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 1: mean if it was if I really believe that it 594 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:26,600 Speaker 1: was only him, I would be a lot happier right now, 595 00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:28,399 Speaker 1: you know, because it'd be like, oh, justice is served. 596 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:30,759 Speaker 1: But I feel like, um, when I read the confession, 597 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: I had exactly the same thought. I was like, this, 598 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,440 Speaker 1: this feels like he's been reading stuff online or something 599 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,920 Speaker 1: and took it from there. It was really strange, yes, 600 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,920 Speaker 1: and some of it just it just couldn't be like 601 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,560 Speaker 1: he I guess. He said something about like he went 602 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,320 Speaker 1: hunting early in the morning and he knocked on Rebucca's 603 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,760 Speaker 1: door about eight. Well, Rebucca is supposed to be taking 604 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:55,880 Speaker 1: Casey to work at that time, like he but Casey 605 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:00,239 Speaker 1: clapped into twelves. She wouldn't have been home at n talk, 606 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 1: so that it can't be true. But then he said, 607 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: like he committed the removal, he clean did all his cleaning, 608 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:07,239 Speaker 1: and then he went back to his mom's house, and 609 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,920 Speaker 1: they hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. Like your 610 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 1: your brother had to go to the high school. They 611 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,319 Speaker 1: were certainly up by ten o'clock or whatever time in 612 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:17,200 Speaker 1: the morning. So I then we knew some of that 613 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,759 Speaker 1: just had to be a lie if there's other And 614 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:22,560 Speaker 1: and the thing about his mom, I know there's been 615 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:25,040 Speaker 1: a lot of speculation that she might have known something. 616 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:26,840 Speaker 1: So I just wonder how much the mom knew and 617 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:30,080 Speaker 1: when she knew it. What I've been told is that 618 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:34,480 Speaker 1: they confirmed that she knew now that she knew her 619 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:38,360 Speaker 1: son killed Rebecca. I don't know the timeframe for sure 620 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:40,920 Speaker 1: of when she found that out, but what I've been 621 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:44,919 Speaker 1: told is that she has known that information for quite 622 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:55,680 Speaker 1: a while and obviously did nothing about it. Billy never 623 00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: went to trial. On October nineteen, William Miller was convict 624 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:02,719 Speaker 1: did a first degree murder and sentenced to forty years 625 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:06,640 Speaker 1: in prison. Billy is now incarcerated with the Washita River 626 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 1: Correctional Unit in Malvern, Arkansas. After the conviction, Billy said 627 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,319 Speaker 1: that he was willing to speak privately with Rebecca's dad, 628 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:21,520 Speaker 1: Larry Gould, and her older sister Tiffany. So the three 629 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:23,400 Speaker 1: of them went into a back room with a sheriff 630 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:27,319 Speaker 1: station to talk in private. After about fifteen minutes, they 631 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:31,919 Speaker 1: came out and according to Larry, the confession Billy gave 632 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 1: to him was totally different than the one that he 633 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:39,480 Speaker 1: had made in court. If Billy has two different stories, 634 00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,680 Speaker 1: that must mean that he lied in one of them. 635 00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:45,960 Speaker 1: And if he lied before, what's to stop him from 636 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:52,480 Speaker 1: lying again? What is Billy Miller hiding? I'm Katherine Townsend. 637 00:38:52,920 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: This is Helen Gone. Helen Gone is a production of 638 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:03,880 Speaker 1: School of Humans and I Heart Media. Our producer is 639 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:08,279 Speaker 1: Gabby Watts. Executive producers are Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr, and 640 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 1: Elsie Crowley. Music is by Ben Tale Special thanks to 641 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:31,759 Speaker 1: season one producers Taylor Church and James Morrison. School of 642 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:32,200 Speaker 1: Humans