1 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: The crushing uncertainty of a family not knowing is what 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: drives me most. In this case, Carol Thompson's mother, stepfather, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 1: and little brother are buried together, side by side, in 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:23,599 Speaker 1: a cemetery about fifteen miles from the Stevenson's farmhouse. Her uncle, 5 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: Eddie Dowell is interred in his home state Michigan. During 6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: my trip to Ohio, I paid a visit to the 7 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: cemetery to stand in front of three marble hearts, two 8 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: larger stones book ending a smaller one in the middle. Billy, Linda, 9 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: and Billy Jr's names etched across the front, with the 10 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: date of their deaths the same. In my line of work, 11 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: this is as sobering and distressing as it gets. Three 12 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: days after the fire, a private memorial service was held 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: for the Stevenson's friends and family. Billy Stevenson and five 14 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 1: year old Billy Junior's caskets were open for viewing. Linda 15 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: Stevenson's body was so badly burned that the family decided 16 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: to have hers closed. Carol Thompson had asked a friend 17 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: to sew a little satin pillow that she could place 18 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: in her little brother's casket. As she explained to me, 19 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: there is no way to escape the bizarre thoughts that 20 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: haunt you after losing your family to homicide. I didn't 21 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: tell a story for a long time when it first happened, 22 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: you know, when it happened, I didn't tell because I've 23 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: thought people would think I was kind of crazier just 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: looking a bit now, you know, I'm just so I'm young, 25 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:37,559 Speaker 1: you know, and I'm dumb, and I've never been around 26 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: de body, and I'm scared, you know. And so I 27 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: walked to the front where the caskets going down the 28 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 1: mont Moms was closed, and I had little Billies on 29 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: one end, Moms in the middle, and Steves on the 30 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: other end, so that two opened in one clothes. So 31 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: I got the little Billy's casket and I go to 32 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: toss the pillow then and when I did, my hand 33 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: brushed the little bill and that hit him. It was 34 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: like a joel And all of a sudden, I felt 35 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: weird and I could see white coming through my pores, 36 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: like yellow like now, I'm not I know, I know 37 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: it sounds crazy. What I'm like, what you know, I 38 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: yang back and I'm like what the hell? And I'm like, 39 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: this is breaking crazy, and I don't want to tell 40 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: anybody else because I don't they might think I'm totally nuts. 41 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: So the I'm like, well, what don't happen if I 42 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: touched Stephile I get the same thing. So I go 43 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: over to Steve's casket and I do Stephen. I get 44 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: the same kind of reaction. So then I'm like, oh, man, 45 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: I gotta try the mom. So I go to her 46 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: her casket. It's closed, right, I can't feel it, but 47 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: I can almost feel it's like right there almost. Oh, 48 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: I can't quite get it, and damn it, why can 49 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: I get to Mom? You know? But I knew it 50 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: was there, get sense of it was the weirdest thing 51 00:02:51,440 --> 00:03:03,639 Speaker 1: ever ever previous Sleean paper ghosts. He said, if I'm 52 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: not home by in the morning, he said, turning TV up, 53 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,519 Speaker 1: well and behold by here's a man that's a two 54 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: time convicted bank robber, as anand federal prowl, and they're 55 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: all scared to death of us man. So I picked 56 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: up phone. I called Ron and said, hey, Ron, did 57 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: you hear what happened at Mom's house. He's like, oh 58 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:25,639 Speaker 1: my god, Carrol says, sorry, oh my god, Oh my god. 59 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: I heard my herd, I said, Ronna, I you know 60 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: the place, are gonna know what time he left last night? 61 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: So what time's relief? I left eleven thirty. Immediately I thought, what, 62 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: wait a minute. What my name is M. William Phelps. 63 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: I'm an investigative journalist and author of forty four true 64 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: crime books. This is season two of Paper Ghosts Burned. 65 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: Seasoned investigators rely on instincts they've developed over a period 66 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: of time from their experience on the ground, talking with 67 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: and studying people, and as we've learned criminals, they will 68 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: do just about anything to stay out of prison. At 69 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: this point, Detective Cooper and the Sheriff's Department's investigation was 70 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: in flux. Much of it focused on that mystery man, 71 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: Dick Weston, and yet when it came down to it, 72 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: they still didn't have that one concrete piece of evidence 73 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: tying Dick directly to the murders. But Cooper had been 74 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: here before with other cases. The thing to do whatever 75 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 1: it takes on any homicide, if you don't have a 76 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: smoking gun, for lack of better words, you always go 77 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: to the funeral coature one. You want to watch people's reactions, 78 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: and sometimes people don't come up to the casket, and 79 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: I will say something like, uh, this is what you 80 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: give to you a little rotten. Uh So, I mean 81 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: it's it's something you really gotta watch. So you put 82 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: a mike on the casket. Oh yeah, I've done that 83 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: on a couple of them. Put the mic down the 84 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 1: casket and sit back here and recorded, because I mean, 85 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: you know, if it's a crime and passion, you might 86 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: give him say I'm sorry I did this to you, 87 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: you know, do it in a low voice nobody else 88 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: can hear. But but no, we was at we was 89 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: at corepreneural. We'll see what the reactions were. Cooper and 90 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: his team never got what they were hoping for a 91 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:47,119 Speaker 1: funeral confession. Yet something did stand out to investigators. Where 92 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: was family friend Ron Thomas. Up until this point, the 93 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: Sheriff's department had spoken to Ron once, under the pretense 94 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: of Dick being their soul killer, something like, Hey, Ron, 95 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:03,679 Speaker 1: can you help us out here? Do you know anything 96 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: about this guy Dick Weston? That tone eventually changed, so 97 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: with Ron returning for his second interview, now with the 98 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: FBI involved, the conversation was going to be centered on 99 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,280 Speaker 1: Dick and Ron conspiring to carry out the Stevenson murders together. 100 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: Unlike the first meeting, in which Ron stated that an 101 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: unknown white male was still at the Stevenson's house by 102 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: the time he left, Ron now admitted to being acquainted 103 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: with Dick Weston, but said they didn't have a close relationship. 104 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,119 Speaker 1: One thing about that day. We showed him a picture 105 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: of limb to Stevens of purse and the man liked 106 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: to swallow his tongue, his body language, and how you 107 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: reactive with just I was like, how then did you 108 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: find that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, this this wasn't supposed 109 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: to happen in those FBI reports. Ron became extremely nervous. 110 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: When Aiden's brought up the handbag in the Whitewater River. 111 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,799 Speaker 1: He said he didn't have any idea how the bag 112 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: could have gotten near his house. Quote, it looks like 113 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: somebody is trying to set me up. The agent asked 114 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: the obvious question. If someone had been trying to set 115 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: you up, why would they toss the bag in the 116 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: river and hide it. Studying this interview, something became clear 117 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: to me he was putting in place the information he 118 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: needed to cover for himself. That traffic stopped by the 119 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: Amelia cop leaving the Stevenson's before the fire and murders, 120 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: and not knowing Dick Weston all that well, Detective Cooper 121 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: and his team dug into Ron's association with Dick. They 122 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: knew damn well what he had told the FBI was bullshit. 123 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: He and Dick were close friends and business partners and 124 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: had been for years. We find out that Dick worked 125 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: for Ron at a car lot for a little bit, 126 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,239 Speaker 1: and that he had been seen in his house several times, 127 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: and that they had seen each other a little bar 128 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: up in Brookville. So I mean, it wasn't like they 129 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: were glued together. They weren't consulate together, but there was 130 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: an association there. I asked Cooper where Ron Thomas's name 131 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,600 Speaker 1: was at this point in the investigation. I mean, why 132 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: wasn't Ron by then wearing handcuffs and being perp walked 133 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: in front of the media. Ron seemed to be up 134 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: to his eyeballs in this and had just skated by 135 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: with no one seemingly interested in going after the guy. 136 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: He still would not, so no, I don't have anything 137 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: to do with it. And he threw Dick underneath the 138 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: bus without any hard evidence implicating Ron's involvement and Ron 139 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: now pointing a finger at his shady business associate. Cooper's 140 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: focal point had to remain on Dick Weston. But Cooper 141 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,719 Speaker 1: knew Dick Weston was dangerous and he needed to do 142 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: something quick to get him off the street. We were 143 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: to start looking at Dick and come to find out 144 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: what we found. Discovered a Dick and violated his parole violation. 145 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: He had a pro violation, and we got ahold of 146 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: his federal Prouser explained to him what was going on, 147 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: and he said, well, yeah, well are you going to violate? Well, yeah, 148 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: I can do that. Such an important maneuver on Cooper's part. 149 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: Violate Dick's parole, get him off the street behind bars. 150 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: Not only might it make Dick more willing to talk, 151 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: but the people in town, many of whom Cooper knew 152 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: had valid, helpful information, would breathe a sigh of relief 153 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:44,080 Speaker 1: that this volatile, tough dude who took pleasure and threatening 154 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: people was in jail and could not hurt them. The 155 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: pro Sir met Dick up in Brookville and Dick. I 156 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: think Dick had an idea something was gonna happen to him, 157 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: but they didn't know what. So pro user inter beauty 158 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: and his took Weston's coming back into Brookville. He gets 159 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: the traffic light in middle of Brookville and stops the 160 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: traffic light and we took him down. I made it 161 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: between us and the FBI and all everything. Ever, how 162 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: did that go? Oh? It was one person in Brookville said, 163 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: I've never seen some many guns out at one time, 164 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: you know. So we took him out. He's by himself 165 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: and and middle of town and we just descend on 166 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: him like it was just unreal. And so we get 167 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: him out. We're arresting were on the pro violation. What 168 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: did he say? Did he say anything? No? And I 169 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: don't think he was really surprised. He was very common cool. 170 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: We took him to the Sheriff's office right there in 171 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: Brookville and Captain Painton I interviewed him. We questioned him 172 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: about the homicide and uh, he said he didn't have 173 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:56,839 Speaker 1: anything to do with it and didn't know anything about it. 174 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: And he was very very cool, calm and cold. Numerous 175 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,199 Speaker 1: homicides I've investigated. I've probably spoken to three cycle paths, 176 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: and he's one of them. Because you could just look 177 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 1: in his eyes and tell I'll kill you if I 178 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: get a chance. Because he had to remain in lock 179 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: up under that federal parole violation, there was very little 180 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: chance Dick Weston was going to be back on the 181 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: street anytime soon. Dick was the key to the Stevenson murders. 182 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 1: That was clear to the Sheriff's department at this point. 183 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: So as Detective Cooper in the FEDS began to build 184 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: a case against Dick on four counts of aggravated murder, 185 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: they're investigative aim stared toward the two women who alibied him. 186 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: Dick's girlfriend, Drusilla, remained tight lipped. She maintained that Dick 187 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: had nothing to do with the murders, and they were 188 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: both at her friend Tanitha's house all night, where Drusilla 189 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: had rented a room. After all, Tanatha had allibied them both. 190 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: The police were looking to get Tanatha to cooperate with them. 191 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 1: Drusilla was living in her house. Tanathan new Drusilla's comings 192 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: and goings, and Drusilla was now paying visits to Dick 193 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: Weston in prison quite often. The Sheriff's department decided to 194 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: bring Tonathan in and put the investigative squeeze on her. 195 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: She was scared, and I think she realized we took 196 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,679 Speaker 1: Dick off the streets. I think she realized that if 197 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 1: I don't fare away out of this, I'm going to 198 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: jail too. I'm gonna lose my kids. So she gave 199 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: us a very detailed statement. At that point in time. 200 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: Come to find out, Tanathan Barger was more than just 201 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,079 Speaker 1: a bystander caught in the middle of a homicide investigation. 202 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: She found herself in a position where she was in fear, 203 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: not only for her life that of her children. Because 204 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: of that, she agreed to become an FBI in Weren't It. 205 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: From that point on, Tanatha's life seemed to be ripped 206 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: from the pages of a spy novel. She'd meet with 207 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 1: agents for secret rendezvous by a big oak tree off 208 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: the highway or in the woods, out of sight from 209 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: any civilization. So you sit down with them, and how 210 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: are you feeling when you sit down? Really, I couldn't 211 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: even tell you how I felt because I've never done 212 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 1: nothing like that before in my life. I didn't know him. 213 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,599 Speaker 1: My life was going to be changed. It was a 214 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 1: white out from my shoulders to know that I could 215 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: get talk to them and let them know what happened. 216 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: I didn't wan't know about it to know what I was, 217 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: what I was doing, because if they didn't, I wouldn't 218 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 1: a lay up till next day. Tanatha was fearful of Dick. 219 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: She did not want to become murder victim number five. 220 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 1: Her friend Jusilla helped ease the tension and convinced Dick 221 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: that he could us Tanitha. Once that groundwork was established, 222 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: Dick told Tonath the details she would never forget, as 223 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: you can hear in one of her tape statements to police. 224 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: Tanatha was a wealth of information when it came to 225 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: what Dick did the night of and after the murders. 226 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: He said that he had went over back to the 227 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: Stavenson's house, and in the meanwhile when he went in, 228 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: he had time Miss Davidson that Carol Thompson maintained that 229 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: her mother Linda was tied up on the night she 230 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 1: was murdered, though Detective Cooper remains adamant that no such 231 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: thing ever occurred. Said Alan was going to do was 232 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: take the money and like jewelry or whatever that was invadable, 233 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 1: and said when he'd done that that these other two 234 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: guys come in and started shooting by other two guys 235 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: Dick meant, Billy Stevenson and his brother in law, Eddie 236 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: dow What's interesting here to point out is that Dick's 237 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 1: retelling of the events put him in a position where 238 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: he claimed he had no other option but to retaliate. 239 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 1: I don't know for sure how everything happened, but in 240 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: the way he talked, he was standing one saturn and 241 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: they come in and started flowing. Eddie and he started 242 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: pouring back at him, and he killed her and them too, 243 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 1: and said that a bullet had went through the wall 244 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: and hit the little boy. Dick Weston was essentially minimizing 245 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: the cold blooded murder of a five year old child 246 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 1: by shifting the blame onto Eddie and Billy for starting 247 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: the shootout. As you heard at the end of the 248 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 1: last episode, Tonnathan said she saw Dick return to her 249 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: house the morning after the murders wearing a shirt covered 250 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: in blood. Did he explained having the boat on his shirt, 251 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: He just said the one guy I guess it was 252 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: Mrs Staviston I had when he shot him. It didn't 253 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: phase him. He just kept coming towards him, and then 254 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: then after he kept coming towards en. What did he 255 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: say happened and he fell into him? God, Mr Stevenson, 256 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: Belly and Richard Laverne Western Keep in mind that in 257 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: these tapes, she'll sometimes hear the investigator referred to Dick 258 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: by his legal name, Richard Laverne Weston. When Dick was 259 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: telling a story about the shootout, and he said who 260 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: was with him? Or elaborating on note from the way 261 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: he was talking, he was the only one that done 262 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: in and the shooting the son's other two guys said, 263 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: he and I went into in one hand in the 264 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: thirty eight and at the two and the thirty eight, 265 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: both calibers used in the quadruple homicides. Quick note, as 266 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: you hear how the officer asks his next question, Tanathan 267 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: had already given police this information during their secret meetings. 268 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: They just now needed her to say it on tape. Okay. Subsequently, 269 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 1: after Richard Laverne Weston making a statement about how how 270 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,119 Speaker 1: the robbery and the killings went down, did he know 271 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: also make some kind of a statement that he had 272 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: rearranged the bodies to make it looflected than two people 273 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,920 Speaker 1: involved in the shooting. Would you can lighten me on that. 274 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:34,919 Speaker 1: He didn't say right out how he done it, but 275 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 1: he says, uh, they was put in a place to 276 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 1: where they think that they are two or three and 277 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: the shootings instead of this one. That question by the 278 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: investigator produced an interesting response because if Tanatha's story was true, 279 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 1: that would mean Dick used two different caliber weapons himself, 280 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:58,160 Speaker 1: but more importantly, it would absolve Ron Thomas of any 281 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: direct involvement. Okay, did you observe anything, Elpso on the 282 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: sixth there was a gun um along severalone and he 283 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: had two grants in his hand. He pulled out his 284 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 1: pocket and showed to us at bark. Cooper believed that 285 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 1: forty four caliber weapon was possibly the gun Billy Stevenson 286 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 1: was holding at the time of his death, a gun 287 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: from Billy's collection that was incidentally missing from the crime scene. 288 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: You recall a kind of jewelry. He was showing you 289 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 1: rings and so is a big cluster and then there 290 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 1: was one small one. Can you describe the ring it 291 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: was you're referring to as a cluster for me? Okay, 292 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,479 Speaker 1: it was something like a dinner ring on it was larger, 293 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: about fifteen sixteen diamonds in the top, and there was 294 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: a si. Among the jewels Dick allegedly had in his 295 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: possession was a diamond ring worth approximately four to six 296 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: thousand dollars, which would be worth nearly triple that amount today. 297 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: Carol Thompson had told Cooper and later showed me photos 298 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: of a unique, expensive diamond ring that her mother, Linda 299 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: always wore. If they were the same, that would mean 300 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: Dick or somebody he knew, took that ring off Linda's hand, 301 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:25,680 Speaker 1: either dead or alive. Tonathan said Drusilla was instructed by 302 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: Dick to hold onto it in case she ever needed 303 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: the money. Okay. Then later on on July eight, the 304 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: following day, did you observe Richard Laverne Weston with a 305 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: brown paper bag for him when he'd come out to 306 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: the car, And he had a brown paper bag out 307 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: of the car. But when we come back from picking 308 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: up the girls, he had money at laying on the 309 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:54,719 Speaker 1: bar to paper the truck, and which was five thousand 310 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,400 Speaker 1: top on the dollar. Okay. When you returned to the house, 311 00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 1: you saw that he had laid out five thousand five 312 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: in the dollars and cashman, it was that cash payment 313 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: Dick made on his truck just days after the Stevenson 314 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: murders that initially caught Cooper's attention. Where in the hell 315 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: had a guy like Dick Weston gotten fifty five dollars 316 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 1: in cash? What's more, Dick wasn't the only person to 317 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: suddenly come into extra money. Tanathan also revealed that following 318 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,639 Speaker 1: Dick's arrest, she accompanied Drusilla to Ron Thomas's house on 319 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: several occasions. The first it was to pick up one 320 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 1: thousand dollars and take it to a lawyer in Indianapolis. 321 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,720 Speaker 1: During the second visit, Tanathan said she witnessed Ron's wife 322 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: and Drusilla a brown envelope containing three thousand dollars in cash. Ron, 323 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: overseeing the transaction, allegedly asked, how long will it take 324 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: you to get that money to a lawyer? According to Tanatha, 325 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: Drusilla went on to launder the money, going to the bank, 326 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: purchasing a cashier's checking her name, and writing it out 327 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: to a lawyer in Missouri. Except she only sent two thousand, 328 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: Tanathan said, Drusilla pocketed the rest for herself. Why would 329 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: Ron Thomas, a good friend of the Stevenson's, foot the 330 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 1: bill for Dick Weston's lawyer, what state did Ron have 331 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: in this? As for the rest of that money stolen 332 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: from the Stevenson home, depending on which person you speak to, 333 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,440 Speaker 1: there was upwards of two hundred thousand or as little 334 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:34,359 Speaker 1: as forty thousand still missing. And based on what Tanath 335 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 1: the Barger told the officer, they had a good idea 336 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: what happened to all that money? Just as uh the 337 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: yon show us his now he said, what do you 338 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: know any nights here? Question that that can get a show? 339 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:48,720 Speaker 1: You can get one off upon us? It's no lot 340 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:53,360 Speaker 1: don't And he says, well, he says Alius after bottle one, 341 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 1: and he asked if there was a store open it 342 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: with sale hard were early in mploying, and I told 343 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:04,120 Speaker 1: it the author was one open at seven o'clock. Tannathan said. 344 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,120 Speaker 1: Dick left early the next morning and returned hours later 345 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,479 Speaker 1: with a shovel in hand. He gave it to her 346 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,880 Speaker 1: and said she could use it for um gardening work. 347 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: Tanathan then recalled the day when she and Drusilla went 348 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 1: out for a drive not too far from where Lynda 349 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: Stevenson's purse was found in the White Water River. She 350 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: took me out through their later own and was pouring 351 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: it out that that was the road. And she got 352 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: out of the car out there and went up into 353 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: the wooded area on the route of the road, and 354 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 1: she turned real white to pay all and she looked 355 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: back over her shoulder back into the wooded area. And 356 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: I used her on the way out and later on 357 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,200 Speaker 1: about it, and she said that was where the mono 358 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: was buried. This area where Tanatha is talking about, it's 359 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:52,159 Speaker 1: about a seventy minute drive from the crime scene. Don't forget. 360 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: And those days before cell phones and sell towers which 361 00:22:56,119 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: could easily pinpoint your exact location. Not mentioned DNA analysis 362 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:05,479 Speaker 1: connecting a suspect directly to a crime scene. This might 363 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: as well have been in another country. The Sheriff's department 364 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,879 Speaker 1: was working under the theory that Dick Weston committed the 365 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: murder sometime after Carol Thompson made that PM call to 366 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: her mother. What was still unclear, though, was Ron Thomas's involvement. 367 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: Did Dick act alone where his actions premeditated? Could he 368 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 1: have seized on an opportunity he saw while at the 369 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,360 Speaker 1: Stevenson's that night and returned later on with an accomplice. 370 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: Detective Cooper was not leaning one way or the other. Still, 371 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,680 Speaker 1: the crime scene had the feel of two or more shooters, 372 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: as there were two different caliber weapons used and two 373 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 1: different heights measured as far as bullet location on the bodies. 374 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 1: With reliable information coming in at a fairly good clip, 375 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 1: it was becoming more and more obvious how fear Dick 376 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 1: Weston was in that Brookville community. Time is the levant 377 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,160 Speaker 1: and in the end of time, President myself got taken. 378 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:21,960 Speaker 1: Sorry Cooper. Going back to those cassette tapes, I found 379 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,120 Speaker 1: an interview police conducted with a juvenile source who spent 380 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: time inside Tanatha's house in the days following the murders, 381 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 1: And what is hard to ignore is the inherent fear 382 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 1: you can hear in the child's voice while describing what 383 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: she witnessed in the conversations she had, She okay, was 384 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: that well Dick was still there? Did you see Dick? 385 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: Question with the gun in your house? The focus of 386 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,440 Speaker 1: the interview then shifted to interactions the child had with 387 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: Drew se La once Dick was in prison. When you 388 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,440 Speaker 1: and Drew were riding around in her truck, did you 389 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: and her have occasionally talk about anything? Just wrote around? Yeah, 390 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: about to telephone. We're about to tell phone, She said, 391 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,200 Speaker 1: if she can't get on because everybody's don't. The young 392 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: girl was hugging the phone talking to her friends, as 393 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: kids often do, and so with only one land line 394 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: in the house, no one else could use it. Drusilla 395 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,920 Speaker 1: was pissed about this. She says, she can't talk that 396 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: because the boys on. But you wan't think she ever 397 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: hard at you do well? She said, if I tell 398 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: her that Mary wasn't to film, it's difficult to hear, 399 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,399 Speaker 1: but it's worth repeating that. The child said, if I 400 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: told anyone where the money was, Drusilla was going to 401 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,680 Speaker 1: kill me. She said that if you told where the 402 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: money was, how would you know where the money? Background road? 403 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: According to the child, Drusilla told her that the money 404 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 1: was somewhere on the background road. Drew told you that 405 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,800 Speaker 1: she had the money. Very no, no, she didn't say 406 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,000 Speaker 1: there she had an on the background road? And what 407 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,439 Speaker 1: did the child mean by background road? It was becoming 408 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:26,960 Speaker 1: clear that there was a large sum of money, likely 409 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,400 Speaker 1: stolen from the Stevenson home, that Dick and Drusilla hid 410 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 1: somewhere so law enforcement could never find it. Oh, she 411 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:36,399 Speaker 1: said she she was saying about being buried. She just 412 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: said she had the money. What money was she talking about? 413 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: I don't know. She told you could say anything about it. 414 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: She Drusilla Merritta wasn't playing. She was doing Dick's bidding 415 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 1: for him, which, as she told the kid, could include 416 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:03,359 Speaker 1: murder if the situation called for. We knew Dressille was 417 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,159 Speaker 1: involved the point she seen the stolen property. She was 418 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: involved in burying the stolen property and taking possession of it. 419 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 1: We didn't know whether she was involved directly in a 420 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: homicide or not. Dick became more incense while in jail 421 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 1: as the days passed and the noose tightened. On the 422 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 1: phone with Drusilla, he warned or rather threatened her specifically 423 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:31,200 Speaker 1: about going anywhere near that money. Turns out that background 424 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:35,680 Speaker 1: road the juvenile source mentioned went by another name. We 425 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: knew that they took the money out and buried it, 426 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: and from what I could tell us from what Drew 427 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,200 Speaker 1: that told her and Dick, they buried it on what 428 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 1: was called tunnel road. And we couldn't find a tunnel 429 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:55,439 Speaker 1: road nowhere. Well, come to find out, the locals up 430 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:59,359 Speaker 1: there they call it tunnel road because the trees are 431 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: grown over so much. That's always dark when you drive 432 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: down through there. So yeah, we we knew it was 433 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 1: buried out their own tunnel road somewhere. They didn't know 434 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 1: exactly where. However, in response, Cooper in the Sheriff's department 435 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:19,359 Speaker 1: devised an extraordinary plan. Well, we started twenty four hour 436 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: surveillance of Drusilla, and that was interesting. At that point 437 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 1: in time. We had the FBI and went cooperation with 438 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: the in the state police. We had an airplane setting 439 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,160 Speaker 1: through airport, and we had a pilot setting their two seven. 440 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: On top of that, Cooper's boss had a connection with 441 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: a local car dealership, so he and Cooper would literally 442 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,960 Speaker 1: change vehicles every day and follow Drusilla wherever she went 443 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: with minimal risk of being noticed. Remember Tnatha had begun 444 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: working for them. She was also watching Drusilla's every move. 445 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: When Drew left the house, Nathan called Cooper and relaid 446 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: that information. She would get the phone and call us 447 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 1: and say she's leaving seven in the morning, where she's 448 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: leaving in the next fifteen minutes, and the minute that 449 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,720 Speaker 1: would happen, we would get the plane in the air 450 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 1: day and night, and we would start a surveillance. They 451 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: needed Drusilla to lead them to the money. But Drusilla 452 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:27,479 Speaker 1: was very street smart. She knew they were following her. 453 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,200 Speaker 1: She had no clue, however, that every time she left 454 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 1: the house a plane was in the air with eyes 455 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: on her. Well, and behold, she went out of Tongue Road. 456 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: She got out, walked into the woods, and and the 457 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: I don't remember the agents or the state troopers watched 458 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:48,640 Speaker 1: her go over by this tree, and she has sort 459 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 1: of walked around and look and got back on our 460 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: car and left. Well, we then we knew, okay, we 461 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: know it's in this area, so we kept waiting for her, 462 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 1: hopefully she'd go out and dig it up. Well, she 463 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: never didn't do that. She just went by it a 464 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 1: couple of times. After figuring out the general location of 465 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: whatever Drusilla kept visiting in the woods, law enforcement went 466 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 1: out and started digging. So we got a metal detector 467 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 1: and went out by the the tree and went around 468 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:22,680 Speaker 1: with the metal detector. Well, it didn't pick nothing up 469 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: an FBI agent. I don't know where they got it 470 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: at or where it came from, but they come back 471 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: with a military mind sweeper. Yeah, a big one, you 472 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: know what I'm talking about, Like he using World War 473 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,120 Speaker 1: two or the sweep roads from mines and we went 474 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,600 Speaker 1: over there and they hit that and boy, that thing 475 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,680 Speaker 1: just went wild, you know. So we knew something metal 476 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,440 Speaker 1: was down there, so dug it up. And when we 477 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: dug it up, there was a I garhead Dick Wesson's 478 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:55,720 Speaker 1: name on it had an ID number and side was 479 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 1: like twenty eight thousand dollars in cash. A forty four 480 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:05,640 Speaker 1: melt them Wesson a bunch of jewelry it was. It 481 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: was a treasure troue crime scene evidence. Oh yeah, oh yeah. 482 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 1: It put the question right there all down. The Feds 483 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: in the Sheriff's department went back to Dick. They didn't 484 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: give away specifics, They simply told them they had evidence. 485 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,080 Speaker 1: Did he want to say anything? At this point, Dick 486 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:28,240 Speaker 1: willingly spoke without his lawyer present, but minimized his role, 487 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: pushing the blame once again on the victim. He said 488 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: that Stevenson tried to shoot him, and when Stevenson fell four, 489 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 1: he couldn't shoot him because gun wouldn't fire. Well, this 490 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 1: is a revolver. Revolvers don't malfunction, so that was a 491 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 1: little hard for us to believe. So we took the 492 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: forty four all thos we sent to the FBI lab 493 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:56,720 Speaker 1: and come to find out the forty four did have 494 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 1: a malfunction that when you're laying on the ground and 495 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: you're trying to shoot up, it wouldn't fire. So that 496 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,720 Speaker 1: kind of corroborated what Dick had said and the position 497 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,960 Speaker 1: we found Billy's hand in with the pistol, because Billy 498 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: probably come out there was forty four, wanted to defended 499 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,560 Speaker 1: this family and he was met by whoever you know 500 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: right there and shot in four holes and then on 501 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:26,320 Speaker 1: the money on one of the rappers on the money 502 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 1: and found Dick Weston's thumb print, And so do you 503 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: take this now to Dick and say hey, oh yeah, 504 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:36,480 Speaker 1: and said hey, you know, we know you're involved. You're 505 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 1: gonna be charged. Well, I'd say he do it all 506 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 1: Ron Thomas in Well, if you can get me out 507 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,200 Speaker 1: of jail, I'm sure I can prove that Ron Thomas 508 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 1: did this, and he had the money somewhere around violin 509 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 1: And you know, I can really help you guys if 510 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 1: I can get out of prison. So then he started 511 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: really throwing wrong or at the bus. This minds you 512 00:32:57,040 --> 00:32:59,120 Speaker 1: coming from a guy who claimed the events of that 513 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 1: night were a burglary gone wrong. And remember in his 514 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:06,320 Speaker 1: first interview with the FBI, Dick said he was the 515 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 1: only one involved, so why would he changes to now 516 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,240 Speaker 1: Cooper's checkmate move paid off, and it would now be 517 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:20,320 Speaker 1: safe to say from that point on any loyalty between 518 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 1: Dick Weston and Ron Thomas was officially over. In the 519 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: next episode of Paper Ghosts, we went to the filling 520 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: station to get guys and just all at once were 521 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: surrounded by ever beyond cop that was don't basically tell 522 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: me what you told down. He said that people have 523 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,400 Speaker 1: a lot of money. This karate guy that you know 524 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 1: this got a black failed karate showed him creep pase 525 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 1: for money and that he's sad he was involved in 526 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 1: a hell of a shoot out. There. I stood and 527 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: looked at that man that night, I stood and looked 528 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:14,520 Speaker 1: at this mass murder. Talk to him. Paper Ghosts is 529 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,040 Speaker 1: written and executive produced by me and William Phelps and 530 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:23,440 Speaker 1: I Heart executive producer Christina Everett, with script consultant Matthew Riddle, 531 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:27,440 Speaker 1: audio editing and mixing by a Booze Afar thanks to 532 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:31,479 Speaker 1: Will Pearson at I Heart Radio. The series theme number 533 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:34,800 Speaker 1: four four two is written and performed by Thomas Phelps 534 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,320 Speaker 1: and Tom Mooney. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 535 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:42,240 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 536 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.