WEBVTT - Ernie Merchant’s Secret Recordings | How Steph Watts Orchestrated a Confession in the Brittanee Drexel Case 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:13.399 Y'all. Tonight, we are joined by Steph Watts, the true 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:19.080 crime O g Honey. Steph launched his career at Court TV, 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:25.480 producing live and tape national trial coverage. Steph and I 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:28.120 now we first met on Nancy Gracie's show when she 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.800 was on hl N in about twenty ten. And I'm 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:37.080 telling you he was out of the gate, just a 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:42.240 bronco every night. And you know when he left there, 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.360 he went over and was a field producer with Fox 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:51.239 News The On the Record with Greta Vancestram. Y'all know, 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:55.160 he's worked as an investigative journalist and he's been on 0:00:55.320 --> 0:01:00.960 Investigation Discovery, CNN, Fox News, CBS, and Ox Jim. He 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:05.440 has done things like a special correspondent for the syndicated 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:09.440 crime TV show Crime Watch Daily. He has been an 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:14.880 executive producer. He's developed multi hour specials for ABC twenty 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:19.080 twenty and Oxygen. Y'all know his work on Scott Peterson, 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:25.240 Drew Peterson, Ted Bundy. He even produced Dead Again with 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:29.000 executive producer Dick Woolf for A and E. He is 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:31.520 all over the place. He's been all over the place. 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.800 That's why we call him the OG. He is also 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:41.120 a fierce advocate for murdered and missing victims. I have 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:45.200 worked with him personally on this case and I cannot 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.560 tell you how just honored I am he is with us. 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.200 Steph Watts, welcome to his own seven. 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:55.040 Thank you very much, show. That was a hell of 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.560 an introduction. I'm going to get you to pick up 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:04.320 my funeral. That was a wonderful thanks. Thanks for that introduction. Yeah, 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:06.920 you and I go go way back. And actually I 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:08.920 just got a nice call from Nancy last week. We 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:12.720 just spoke, so it's uh uh, we're getting old, Cheryl, 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:13.760 but's getting old. 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:18.080 He Let me tell you something. I much prefer that, 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:19.040 don't you? 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.840 Old and wise? That's why I'm the og. Thank you 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.040 for having me on tonight. You know, we're talking about 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:27.839 the Britney Drexel case, and it's a case that's near 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:30.360 and dear to my heart. You know, I've worked on 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:35.119 this case since twenty eleven when I first met Don Drexel. 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:36.959 You know, I was, I don't know, can I jump 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.480 right in on this, Cheryl, or honey, you can jump 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:44.040 right in right well? I mean twenty eleven, I was 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:48.239 speaking at a missing person's conference actually in South South Carolina. 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:52.560 It was for q Missing Person's Uh Foundation. 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:54.640 That's where we first met. 0:02:54.919 --> 0:03:00.520 Yeah, right, and John was there and my was I 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:05.200 was sort of talking to the family members about navigating 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.320 the antiquated justice system and how to get you know, 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:11.640 your story to producers and television reporters like myself and 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:14.720 you know, managing the media. And Don came up and said, 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:18.480 you know, and I'll be honest show. I had heard 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.840 the story, but I hadn't really followed it that much, 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:27.280 just because I'd been on other things. And Don said, 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:29.440 you know, can you can you help me with my story? 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.799 No one's helping me. The police aren't helping me. And 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:36.040 that night we always choke about this. We went to 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.120 Hooters because it was the only place to eat wings 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:41.360 and I just, you know, I just fell in love 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.080 with Don. And you've met her. You know, she's just 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:51.840 you know, this kind you know, sort of naive mom 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:56.200 from from you know, upstate New York that's been thrust 0:03:56.280 --> 0:04:02.240 into this horrific situation, and she's just you know, we 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:06.760 we've plowed through twists and turns and you know, Cheryl, really, 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.600 when I jumped in, it's never imagining in a million 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:15.040 years that I would be sitting here today when the 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:18.280 place that we're at that you know, Raymond Moody came 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:20.400 forward and you know, we got the news that there 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.120 was a confession and you know, he was taking us 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.240 to the body and there was going to wave his 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:27.360 right to a trial. And you're just like, oh my god, 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.159 I cannot believe this is happening, and you want to 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.320 be joyous, but it was so overwhelmed. Anyways, I jumped ahead, 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.560 but yeah, here we are. It's and there's still so 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:38.960 much more going on in this case. I think everybody 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:43.200 thought it ended right twenty twenty two when Raymond Moody 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:47.760 you know, confessed and took them to the body and 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:50.600 waved his right to a trial and was sentenced. But 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.600 the interesting part in all that, Cheryl was there. There 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:55.760 was a little something that happened that all of us 0:04:55.839 --> 0:05:01.080 were like, wait, and that was he asked for immunity 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.320 in a sense we'll use the term community. It was 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:09.720 he asked for immunity for his girl, then girlfriend, Angel Ross, right, 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:16.320 And we always said the story was that you know, Raymond, 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.520 you know, picked her up and took her out there, 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.279 kidnapped her, and it was never an Angel was never 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:26.880 really involved. Well we've learned now, Cheryl, that that is 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:27.440 not the case. 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:29.640 And you know, step I want to go back just 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:32.560 a little bit. For people that aren't familiar with the 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:36.560 Brittany Drexel case, let me tell y'all something. Brittany did 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:41.719 what thousands of students do. She went on spring break. 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.520 She was gonna head down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.640 with her friends from New York. They were having a ball. 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.320 They went all that eight hundred miles just playing music, 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:56.800 having the time of their life. But there was a twist, 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.719 and the twist was her mama didn't know where she 0:05:59.880 --> 0:06:02.160 was us. She lied and said she was going to 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.880 be staying with a friend. She called home and checked 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:06.440 in a couple of times, you know how you do. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.200 Her mom just thought she was down the road with 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:15.800 her buddies until she got a call. So April twenty fifth, 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:19.840 two thousand and nine, is the last time she's seen 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:25.760 alive on Myrtle Beach. So when all this went down, 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.960 it was fast. Brittany and her girlfriends were staying at 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.440 one hotel. There were a group of boys from the 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.360 high school that were another hotel, So they walked back 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:39.000 and forth again. Kids do it all the time every 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:43.000 spring break. But Britney was hanging out with some of 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:44.719 the guys. She decided, I'm going to go back to 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:49.280 my hotel and she walked alone. Even though somebody said, hey, 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.120 I'll walk with you one of the guys, she said, no, 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.640 I'll be fine, it's just right there. Good Lord Nobidal. 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:57.560 She never made it back to her hotel. The guys 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:01.080 never saw her again, her girlfriend never saw her again, 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.400 her mom never heard from her again. As she's walking 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:08.680 from the boys hotel back to her hotel, she calls 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:12.240 her boyfriend. That's the last person that ever heard from her. 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:17.040 So Steph take us from when down got the call 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:22.640 that Brittany was missing and then the realization that she's 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:24.280 missing in South Carolina. 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:29.440 You know, Don and family and friends immediately pack up 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:34.000 and head down, you know, to Myrtle Beach area, and 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:36.120 you know, you can imagine what it must have been 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:38.280 like for them. Where do we start looking? You know, 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:42.200 they questioned Britney's friends, and Dawn was smart, you know, 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:47.000 Daun did everything great. She went immediately, Cheryl to the media, 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:51.560 and you know, the local media knew that this was 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:53.400 going to be a big story, there was a girl 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:57.280 that was missing, and again, but instantly Cheryl Don was fighting, 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:02.680 you know, the battles of oh she's a runaway, you know. 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.880 And the problem with Myrtle Beach is they do get 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:09.920 a lot of missing persons reports, and I've had conversations 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.320 with the police officers and FBI down there, and they 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.800 turn up within twenty four hours. Sometimes they take off 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.080 with a group of people, or you know, they just 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.640 go off and they come back. So you know, there 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:22.840 is you know, it must it's frustrating for pre parentes. 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.040 But Don was adamant that that that was not the 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.560 case with Brittany, and to exasperate her point, she had 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.000 to be somewhere. Brittany was to meet her friends to 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:35.880 return some clothing, you know what I mean, cherylle. So 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.440 it wasn't like, hey, Brittany went to the beach and 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.480 whenever saw again. She was at one hotel going back 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:44.800 to another hotel. She needed to be back there to 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.800 return clothes, and Brittany was a responsible young girls. So 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.920 the fact that she had a place to be within 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:56.600 a time period was something that Dawn knew that something 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.120 terrible was happening. I think in retrospect, Cheryl. Now we 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.480 look back at the footage and we see the family 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:07.200 searching and the police you know, searching and horseback and 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:08.960 you know, you and I were involved in We see 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:13.960 every agency available was searching. To know that all that 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:18.360 time that Brittany was already dead, it's just heartbreaking when 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:23.400 you put it back into perspective. And you know, for years, Cheryl, 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:26.480 this went on. You know, we knew nothing about what 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:30.240 happened to Brittany Drexel nothing, you know. Then you know, 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.440 there were stories of you know, she was seen taking 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.600 a bus and that turned out to be a false lead. 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.800 And then Cheryl a huge break in the case in 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:43.880 twenty sixteen when the FBI hold a press conference and 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.960 name a young man, Deshaun Taylor, as a suspects last 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:51.280 person of interest. That's when I sat down with the 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:54.040 FBI for the first time, and I sat down with 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.080 Deshan Taylor for my show Crime Watch Daily, and I 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:03.920 just felt like the story wasn't right. You know, first 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:08.200 of all, the kid had had one arm. I mean, 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:11.080 he had lost an arm in an accident, Okay, but 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:14.240 it was you know, all of this information was coming 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:18.720 off of a jailhouse snitch who claimed that Brittany was 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:24.959 taken to mcclellanville and you know, gang raped in a 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:26.920 crackhouse or whatever you want to call it. Cheryl, that 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:30.320 wasn't the exact and then you know, rolled up in 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:32.640 a carpet, shot and fed to the alligators. Can you 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:37.160 imagine that this is the story that John Jackson not 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:41.679 only has to process and began to think that these 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.400 are the last moments of her daughter's life, she also 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:46.719 has to get out in front of the media. And 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:51.120 they really positioned her to kind of put her out 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:54.520 there and like almost like they were fishing for more questions. 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:56.000 And that's when Cheryl I knew that there was a 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:56.920 problem with the story. 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:01.040 Well I knew it, and I called on and I said, Don, 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:04.880 there's zero evidence that your child was gang rape. There's 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.360 zero evidence she was fed to an alligator. There's zero 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:10.880 evidence that she was holed up in a stash house. 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:17.400 They provided zero evidence. But here they are publicly saying 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:20.080 all these things. And I said, don are they trying 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:22.800 to pull somebody out? Are they trying to make somebody 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:25.360 where they're just crazy and they are going to contact 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.280 the FBI? Is that what they think is happening. You know, 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:32.680 is this a ploy? Because there's no way they should 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:37.320 believe this is true. I mean, these are fact based people. 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.160 So the only thing that I told Don at the 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:44.000 time that I could fathom is going on is somebody 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:47.800 from the BAU has told them do this, say this 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:49.280 and it'll draw somebody out. 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:53.760 Well that's one theory. That's and it's plausible. But I 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:57.120 truly believe, and I've said this several times and I've 0:11:57.160 --> 0:12:00.559 said it to the FBI, it's good old fashioned systemic 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:04.360 racism pinted on the black guys. These guys had. This 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:07.920 family was not clean, okay, Cheryl. You know they had 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:12.120 a history of objections in the family of another girl. 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.880 One of the uncles, you know, Dashaun, had a record 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:21.640 armed robbery of a restaurant. So to me, it's like, 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.679 we're in a high profile case. Let's it's sloppy police work. 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:28.080 Let's pin it on these guys. And you know what, 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:32.720 that's that my theory is a good theory because we 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.400 now know that they're suing the FBI for I think 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:40.280 ten million dollars because of this this situation. Now, let 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:43.400 me be clear that they're not suing I call them 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.280 my FBI guys, my team, my new team of guys 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:47.800 that I've been working closely with. 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:51.080 Conley and Kevanaugh and Anderson absolutely know what they're doing. 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.960 And I'm saying, you know, day one, when I was 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.760 listening live to the you know, press conference, that's what 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.800 I thought that it's got to be. I could not 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:06.760 even make myself go to what you're saying. They just said, Hey, 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:08.800 let's blame it on the black guy and move on 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:10.280 and everybody will just accept it. 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.680 Well, and you know, I've had you know, I've worked 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:16.600 closely with Mike, and I'll get to that. That's why 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:19.800 that I have that close relationship. You heard me on 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:23.400 the phone with them prior to this recording. I was 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:26.480 getting an update from Mike. We really created a circle 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:30.040 of trust over the years. But you know, Mike and 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.840 a new team, they were handed a mess. I mean, 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.200 you know, and I've said this to Donn and Everybody's 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:41.200 where this Britney Drexel's case was a perfect example of 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:46.480 a failure of multi jurisdictional investigations. Okay, we had all 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:49.760 these different departments. We had the SLED, we had the 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.600 Georgetown Police Department, we had the Myrtle Beach Police Department, 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:56.959 we had the FBI. There was five jurisdictions, right, so 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:00.439 Mike and the team and they, you know, everybody wants 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:02.559 to get across the finish line, but they weren't cooperating. 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:05.319 And it's interesting, Cheryl, because when I did my Ted 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:09.520 Bundy special I had investigators and the Ted Bundy on 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:13.840 and Ted Bundy case was in a perfect example. And 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:18.440 the police admitted that this was a epic failure of 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:22.000 multi jurisdictional investigation. And we want everybody to use this 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.200 as an example of what to not do and hope 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:28.240 this never happens again. And Cheryl, here we are again 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:32.480 in two thousand and nine to twenty twenty twenty two. 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:35.480 I'll use that date because that's when things change with 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:39.040 the same problem. Every one of those those jurisdictions had 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.960 little pieces of evidence, and everyone always says to me, Steph, 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:44.560 what was the new evidence that brought this cheryld. There 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:50.760 was no new evidence. There was new information and there 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:53.080 was no new evidence, and people get confused on that. 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:56.240 What I mean by that is they had all the 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.640 pieces of the puzzle. Those guys took the new team 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.320 took all those and started to look ats up. The 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:07.840 new information was the truck that Raymond Moody was driving. Okay, 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:10.640 so now they could go back and look at those 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.960 tapes of Brittany walking down this and detail them and 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:18.080 see Okay, then they saw Raymond's truck. Now they put 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:22.680 Raymond Moody and Angel Voss at the same location as 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:25.920 Brittany Drexel and then they matched it up with the side. 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.840 So they did incredible, incredible police work. But Cheryl the 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:32.840 elephant in the room on this and the biggest problem 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:37.920 with this story is they had Raymond Moody on the radar. 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:45.400 The day after Britney Drexel disappeared, Raymond Moody was pulled over. Okay, 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:47.560 this is what this is the most frustrating part of 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:51.480 the store. He was pulled over on his motorcycle for speeding. Okay. 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:54.720 He was wearing one of those smaller motorcycle caps, the 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.720 old style, Like it's more like a cat, like it 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.080 sits on top of your head, right, like it just 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.040 covers your brain. It doesn't. And he's covered in scratches. Okay, 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:06.720 So I'm gonna play Devil's advocate on this. The guy 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.040 pulls him over. Raymond Moody is a registered sex offender. 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:14.760 There's a missing girl in the neighborhood. He's covered in scratches, 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:21.640 he's pulled over for speeding, and nobody connects the dots. Nowadays, Cheryl, 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:25.720 you know that that information is all inside those officers' 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:29.080 cars at that time, they would have to phone that 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:33.040 back in to the station, right be Like I pulled 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.720 over this particular individual, the person that received the call 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.760 wouldn't have physically seen the scratches on his face. So again, 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:43.040 it was sort of a failure of the system. But 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.120 nobody's Cheryl, and we're all in the same line of work. 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:49.440 I'm an investigative journalist, you're an investigator. Those are braces 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.280 we need to be more tuned in, Like, Cheryl, that 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.960 guy's got scratches on his face. Hey, he's a registered 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.480 sex offender, Sir, where were you last night? Like they 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:01.520 didn't connect the dots. And I've got Moody on tape, Cheryl, 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:05.720 And one of the most shocking statements that says, he says, 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:08.600 I wish those black kids had gone down for this crime. 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:14.200 He was watching all of this happen all these years 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:15.440 and never say a word. 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:21.560 When I teach at the Academy. One thing I tell 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:25.200 young investigators when they have a murder or a missing person, 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:31.520 pull traffic tickets. Chances are that name may be in there. 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:35.359 Because you want to talk historical. You covered Ted Bundy, 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.760 he got a traffic ticket. So did Dennis Raider BTK, 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:42.720 so did David Burker with son of Sam. It's common 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:47.560 because when they're in that zone, they're concentrating on their hunting, 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.720 they're looking for a victim, they're concentrating on what they did, 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:55.880 what they're gonna do. They're concentrating on anything but driving. 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.760 So it's not uncommon that they're going to speed or 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:00.840 go through a stop sign or on a traffic light. 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:05.600 You pull those tickets. Absolutely, you're one hundred percent right, step. 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:06.840 Brian, don't forget. 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.400 I was just gonna say, got. 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:10.479 Stopped, you know. 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.080 And it tells you the time of day they hunt, 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:15.879 and it tells you the area that's where they are. 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:18.760 Right and exactly. And it's interesting that you use the 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:22.480 word hunt because if we can jump ahead to this 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:27.359 recent FBI document that was released, it's Mike's statement that 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:31.320 they're using at angels sentencing. Raymond Moody says in there 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:34.520 and I quote you that that night they were hunting 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:39.159 a girl. They were hunting h for a victim, and 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:42.720 unfortunately that victim was vic Brittany Jrexel. I think you 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:44.879 heard me say to Mike on the phone, you know, 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.000 and I hate to use this term, Cheryl, but you've 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.199 heard it over and over again. Britney Drexel was the 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:55.119 perfect victim. She was alone, she was beautiful, she was petite, 0:18:55.760 --> 0:19:01.480 she was vulnerable, you know. And I think what's really important, 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:04.359 and I hope I'm not jumping too far ahead, is 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.280 there was a lot of mystery about how Raymond Moody 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.720 got her into the car. And when I went out 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:14.919 to the Polliard with the FBI, with investigators in the 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:19.080 family cho the place was horrific. I was like, how 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:22.320 did they get her down this path, over this fence 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:25.800 into this bush? And it was bugs bugs. We were 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:27.919 like we dawn. In fact, we couldn't even stand to 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.520 be there. Well, he had a tent set up, he 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:35.280 had a whole camp, he had it all pre arranged, 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:39.080 and you know, Angel Voss was the one who had 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:43.800 gotten out of the car approached Britney Drexel and said, oh, hi, 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:45.760 you know, do you how you doing. Do you know 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:51.840 we're tourists too, do She single handedly lured Britney Drexel 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:54.719 into that car under the guys that they were tourists 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:57.879 and that they were going to drive her back to 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:00.560 the hotel. Now what's always bothered a show, and we 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:03.600 talked about this before, is how did they restrain her? 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:06.720 How did Britney stay calm? What she dead in the car? 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.840 The answer to those questions is now we now know 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:13.240 they told so what happened is Ray was in the front, 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:17.440 Angel was driving. They pretended to get I'm sorry. Ray 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.000 was driving. Angel got in the passenger seat. Brittany got 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:25.160 in the backseat. Ray pretended to get lost, pulled over Angel, 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:28.840 They switched drivers. Raymond tried to get into the back 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:32.240 of the car okay, but the car was locked. He 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:35.440 then got into the drivers to the front seat. Passenger 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:39.560 jumped into the backseat, restrained Britney Drexel and said, I 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:42.600 need you to calm down. We're just going to kidnap you. 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:47.240 We're going to call they forgot whoever it was. We're 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:49.360 going to get five thousand dollars for you. We've done 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:54.320 this before. So the entire time Britney is very calm 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:57.520 because she's like, Okay, they're just going to take me 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.359 to this place, they're going to get the money, and 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:02.880 they're gonna let me go. They've done this before. So 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:06.440 it's as crazy as that sounds, we can at least 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:11.399 understand now, Cheryl, why she was calm, cool and collective 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:15.520 during that time. Isn't that a crazy story? 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:20.600 That is so frightening on every level? And you know, 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:24.280 you think you know, Brittany was a soccer star, she 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:27.200 was a popular kid. She was smart, she was beautiful, 0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:32.399 she was fatigue. I guarantee you on some level, she's thinking, 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:36.000 if I just go along, it's gonna be fine. They're 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:38.040 telling me it's gonna be fine. They're not hurting me 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:39.800 right right. 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:42.359 And Cheryl, if I can read a little bit of 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:45.560 this document, this is an FBI document that will be presented. 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:49.280 Actually these are Raymond Moody's words. Angel Voss exited the 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.119 explorer to talk to Brittany to kind of soften her 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:55.639 up a little bit, maybe trust us. Voss succeeded and 0:21:55.720 --> 0:21:58.400 led Brittany back to the car. They used a ruse 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:00.920 that they were tourists from out of town and learned 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:03.240 that Brittany was also a tourist. Brittany told him the 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:05.880 name of a hotel and they offered to drop her off. However, 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:10.879 as they drove north on the boulevard her hotel towards 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:14.119 her hotel, talking casually, Moody turned off the boulevard, acting 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:17.120 like he was lost. Brittany did not say anything. At 0:22:17.119 --> 0:22:19.760 that point, Moody drove across King's Highway and then stopped, 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:22.639 claiming he was lost and needed to change drivers. This 0:22:22.840 --> 0:22:25.760 was part of the abduction plan, and Moody quickly initiated 0:22:25.800 --> 0:22:28.760 the next step. When they walked around the car to 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:32.320 get outside, Moody into the back seat to restrain Brittany. 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:35.560 The back door was locked from the outside. Moody insisted 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:38.920 entering the passenger side front door, and before Voss put 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:42.240 the vehicle into reverse, Moody dove through the seat and 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:45.720 immediately physically restrained Brittany with his arms and hands. He 0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:49.240 told her not to panic because he kidnapped girls, demanded 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:52.560 a five thousand dollars ransom from the city Chamber of Comments, 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:56.040 then returned the girls safely. Moody told Brittany that the 0:22:56.080 --> 0:22:59.680 city usually bade the ransom without question because they didn't 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:03.359 want negative media attention. Moody recalls handcuffing Brittany at that 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:06.080 point either in the car at the Polyard landing and 0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:08.600 stayed with her in the backseat. Brittany did not say 0:23:08.680 --> 0:23:13.240 much during her trans transport. I mean, this document, Cheryl, 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:18.119 is shocking. It's the details in here are horrific. And 0:23:18.160 --> 0:23:20.520 one thing I wanted to point out, this is an 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:26.560 FBI document of Moody's detailed confession to Mike Conley. This 0:23:26.600 --> 0:23:31.560 is the first of fifteen interviews. Okay, Cheryl, So there's 0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:33.879 still a lot of holes in this. But what Mike's 0:23:33.880 --> 0:23:37.639 spanning on doing is on February thirteenth, at two thirty pm, 0:23:37.680 --> 0:23:41.480 at Angel Voss's sentencing, and the reason that this document 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:44.600 came out, in these details came out, we were sort 0:23:44.600 --> 0:23:46.399 of trying to keep them quiet. And that's why I 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:48.320 texted us, said, Cheryl, look, let's get ahead of this. 0:23:48.600 --> 0:23:53.760 It's coming out. Let's let's talk about this. Is they 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:58.840 can't change the charges, Okay. Angel Voss is only charged 0:23:58.880 --> 0:24:02.240