WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Doug Janis Part 2 0:00:08.285 --> 0:00:11.805 School of Humans at. 0:00:11.645 --> 0:00:13.805 The this is where It's hiking me. 0:00:16.085 --> 0:00:19.525 Were headed down to Sabine County, Texas, to the place 0:00:19.565 --> 0:00:23.085 where on December thirteenth, twenty twenty, there was a massive 0:00:23.125 --> 0:00:27.685 explosion on Toledo Ben Lake. The houseboat belonging to sixty 0:00:27.725 --> 0:00:30.845 four year old Doug Janis, a well known commercial cat fisherman, 0:00:31.285 --> 0:00:34.245 at three point twenty two Echo Ridge went up in flames. 0:00:35.085 --> 0:00:38.045 Firefighters and paramedics rushed to the boat, but it was 0:00:38.085 --> 0:00:41.405 too late. By the time they got there, the walls 0:00:41.405 --> 0:00:43.845 had caved in and the boat was reduced to some 0:00:43.885 --> 0:00:47.605 floating debris, a pile of ashes, and the charred remains 0:00:47.645 --> 0:00:51.365 of a man. Doug Janis was found dead inside that boat. 0:00:53.325 --> 0:00:56.085 At first, police assumed that it had been some kind 0:00:56.085 --> 0:00:59.445 of freak accident, maybe a propane leak, but then the 0:00:59.485 --> 0:01:02.125 medical examiner found the two bullets in the back of 0:01:02.165 --> 0:01:06.885 Doug's head. Doug Janis had been murdered. His much younger wife, 0:01:06.925 --> 0:01:10.845 April May Janis, was nowhere to be found. A witness 0:01:10.885 --> 0:01:13.805 told police that they saw April in her blue truck 0:01:14.165 --> 0:01:17.285 leaving the scene shortly before it blew up. And as 0:01:17.325 --> 0:01:21.085 we also said last week, we found out that April's mother, Anna, 0:01:21.525 --> 0:01:23.725 had died of a fatal gunshot wound to the head, 0:01:24.205 --> 0:01:27.005 another mysterious death that was never fully explained. 0:01:27.925 --> 0:01:30.085 When we reached out to people about. 0:01:29.805 --> 0:01:32.765 Doug Janis's death, a lot of them said they wanted 0:01:32.765 --> 0:01:35.885 to talk to us, but they were scared. They told 0:01:35.965 --> 0:01:38.765 us that people kept dying around them and places kept 0:01:38.765 --> 0:01:41.845 burning down, and that no one was arrested or charged. 0:01:42.485 --> 0:01:45.765 They said that right there in Sabine County, people were 0:01:45.805 --> 0:01:48.925 getting away with murder and they didn't want to be next. 0:01:49.685 --> 0:01:52.605 My research assistant Amy and I headed down to East Texas. 0:01:53.205 --> 0:01:56.965 This was going to be a wild ride. I'm Catherine Townsend. 0:01:57.325 --> 0:02:00.125 Over the past five years of making my true crime podcast, 0:02:00.165 --> 0:02:02.845 Helen Gone, I have learned that there is no such 0:02:02.925 --> 0:02:06.765 thing as a small town where murder never happened. I 0:02:06.805 --> 0:02:09.205 have received hundreds of messages from people all around the 0:02:09.205 --> 0:02:12.565 country asking for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, 0:02:12.885 --> 0:02:16.405 their families, and their communities. If you have a case 0:02:16.405 --> 0:02:18.485 you'd like me and my team to look into, you 0:02:18.485 --> 0:02:20.605 can reach out to us at our Helen Gone Murder 0:02:20.645 --> 0:02:24.245 line at six seven eight seven four four six one 0:02:24.325 --> 0:02:28.245 four five. That's six seven eight seven four four six 0:02:28.405 --> 0:02:31.885 one four five, or you can send us a message 0:02:31.885 --> 0:03:11.765 on Instagram at Helen Gonepod. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. 0:03:21.605 --> 0:03:22.605 All right, one more time. 0:03:24.005 --> 0:03:27.445 We wake up in Sabine County, Texas. We stayed on 0:03:27.485 --> 0:03:31.005 the Louisiana side the night before. We're trying to find 0:03:31.125 --> 0:03:32.045 leeds on the witness. 0:03:33.085 --> 0:03:37.125 This is the bridge that divides Texas and Louisiana across 0:03:37.125 --> 0:03:41.485 the water. And if you believe that April committed this crime, 0:03:42.445 --> 0:03:45.565 she would have had to cross this bridge, and the 0:03:45.645 --> 0:03:48.645 fire department would have had to cross this bridge as well. 0:03:49.245 --> 0:03:50.285 And it's a long bridge. 0:03:50.645 --> 0:03:55.765 Yeah, And looking out over the lake, it reminds me 0:03:56.205 --> 0:04:01.805 of driving over the bridge at Mobile, Alabama, where you're 0:04:01.805 --> 0:04:04.885 looking out over the bay, because it is the biggest 0:04:04.925 --> 0:04:05.885 lake I've ever receive. 0:04:06.885 --> 0:04:09.805 So he was murdered on this side. Yes, he was 0:04:09.885 --> 0:04:12.365 killed in Texas, and she lived on the other side. 0:04:12.525 --> 0:04:15.765 She lived in Louisiana, Okay. And is this the only 0:04:15.805 --> 0:04:17.165 way to cross this? Is that one of the things 0:04:17.165 --> 0:04:19.685 we're gonna ask her. I believe, So look at all 0:04:19.685 --> 0:04:20.925 these trees on the middle of the water. 0:04:21.965 --> 0:04:25.485 That's true, And I believe there was only a limited 0:04:25.925 --> 0:04:30.605 number of ways that you could leave where he actually lived. 0:04:31.605 --> 0:04:34.925 There's the neighborhood in one mile. The destination is on 0:04:34.965 --> 0:04:36.365 your left the lake house. 0:04:37.845 --> 0:04:40.565 We saw in April's arrest affidavit, which was the one 0:04:40.605 --> 0:04:43.045 piece of information we were able to obtain through a 0:04:43.085 --> 0:04:46.365 foyer request, that there had been at least one witness, 0:04:46.845 --> 0:04:49.325 a person who said they saw April leaving the crime 0:04:49.365 --> 0:04:52.205 scene on the night of Doug's murder. We also saw 0:04:52.245 --> 0:04:54.925 on social media that a first responder who had gone 0:04:54.965 --> 0:04:59.245 to the scene posted about another witness, someone else who 0:04:59.285 --> 0:05:01.565 said they saw a vehicle speeding away from the houseboat 0:05:02.285 --> 0:05:07.405 right before it basically blew up. Today we're meeting someone 0:05:08.045 --> 0:05:10.525 someone who lived in the same neighborhood as Doug in 0:05:10.605 --> 0:05:13.445 April and had known April since she was ten years old. 0:05:14.125 --> 0:05:17.005 This person had a family member who saw the fire 0:05:17.045 --> 0:05:20.685 on the houseboat. That family member called the witness, and 0:05:20.765 --> 0:05:23.325 I'm not sure I've ever heard about anything like this before. 0:05:23.525 --> 0:05:27.525 The witness watched on FaceTime the houseboat while it was 0:05:27.565 --> 0:05:30.925 burning down, so they actually saw the fire. They called 0:05:30.925 --> 0:05:34.285 the police, but considering everything that has happened since then, 0:05:34.765 --> 0:05:38.445 they're scared. Our witness would only talk to us in person. 0:05:39.045 --> 0:05:41.565 They said they wanted to look us in the eyes first. 0:05:42.165 --> 0:05:44.205 They were open about the fact that they're scared of 0:05:44.205 --> 0:05:47.445 April and whoever else may have been involved in Doug's 0:05:47.485 --> 0:05:50.805 unsoul murder. We're meeting at a tackle shop where Doug 0:05:50.845 --> 0:05:53.445 went every day to have lunch. It's a place where 0:05:53.485 --> 0:05:55.685 he was happy and he had a lot of friends. 0:05:56.205 --> 0:05:59.325 We were finding out more and more information about April Janis. 0:06:00.605 --> 0:06:03.365 Like Doug, a lot of her background was kind of 0:06:03.405 --> 0:06:06.205 a mystery, and there seemed to be huge pieces of 0:06:06.285 --> 0:06:11.165 missing time, huge gaps in her story. April grew up 0:06:11.245 --> 0:06:14.005 just a few doors down from Doug Janis. Doug didn't 0:06:14.005 --> 0:06:16.045 move to the area until around two thousand and three. 0:06:16.565 --> 0:06:19.325 She lived with her father, Bob Thompson, and her mother Anna. 0:06:20.325 --> 0:06:23.365 Bob Thompson wrote a book which he self published, called 0:06:23.405 --> 0:06:26.805 A Different Ballgame Now. In that book, he described in 0:06:26.885 --> 0:06:30.325 detail what happened the night April's mom was shot, and 0:06:30.645 --> 0:06:33.645 his version of events. We'll get more into that later, 0:06:33.965 --> 0:06:35.925 but we've talked to some of the other people who 0:06:35.965 --> 0:06:38.165 are around that night, and let's just say we will 0:06:38.205 --> 0:06:40.965 be taking everything that Bob says with a massive grain 0:06:41.045 --> 0:06:46.285 of salt. Bob passed away in twenty twenty three. So 0:06:46.445 --> 0:06:50.165 these are direct excerpts from the book. They're his words 0:06:50.645 --> 0:06:54.205 being read by an actor. Bob starts his story when 0:06:54.205 --> 0:06:56.885 he moved to the area of Toledo Bend in nineteen 0:06:56.885 --> 0:07:01.205 seventy four. In this story, basically, Bob blames everything that 0:07:01.285 --> 0:07:03.765 happened to him on what he described as the shady 0:07:03.845 --> 0:07:07.165 characters who live there. Back then, he had gotten into 0:07:07.245 --> 0:07:10.285 a motorcycle accident which caused permanent nerve damage to his 0:07:10.365 --> 0:07:13.925 left arm. Eventually he had the arm amputated because of 0:07:13.965 --> 0:07:16.805 the pain he was going through. This earned him a 0:07:16.845 --> 0:07:21.205 reputation locally as a one armed motorcycle man, which he 0:07:21.245 --> 0:07:24.645 seemed to relish. He was married, but that marriage ended. 0:07:24.885 --> 0:07:27.685 Then he said he married a second time. He claims 0:07:27.725 --> 0:07:30.405 that that marriage fell apart when he found his wife 0:07:30.405 --> 0:07:32.525 with a sixteen year old boy in a motel room. 0:07:33.405 --> 0:07:36.445 Now again, and I can't stress this enough. This is 0:07:36.565 --> 0:07:39.205 his version of events. This is Bob's version of events. 0:07:39.605 --> 0:07:41.845 So as we go on, I think you'll see a 0:07:41.885 --> 0:07:44.725 pattern of him taking zero accountability. 0:07:44.805 --> 0:07:45.645 It seems like. 0:07:45.685 --> 0:07:49.125 When he's narrating, he's always the victim. In his story, 0:07:50.245 --> 0:07:53.645 Bob said he had a turbulent childhood. He discovered when 0:07:53.685 --> 0:07:56.245 he was an adult that his father had actually had 0:07:56.285 --> 0:08:00.685 a whole secret second family. So after his second divorce, 0:08:00.965 --> 0:08:03.925 Bob got a small settlement from his motorcycle accident. He 0:08:04.045 --> 0:08:06.045 was forty five years old at this point and ready 0:08:06.045 --> 0:08:08.525 to start a new life. That's when his father gave 0:08:08.565 --> 0:08:10.885 him a piece of property in East Texas at Pine 0:08:10.965 --> 0:08:14.245 Lake Reservoir. In the book By the Way, Bob uses 0:08:14.285 --> 0:08:19.405 aliases so Doug, Janie is Augie and Terry. Doug's wife 0:08:19.405 --> 0:08:23.085 at the time is Sherry. He calls April his daughter June, 0:08:23.405 --> 0:08:26.845 and his wife Anna is Barb. He said that he 0:08:26.885 --> 0:08:29.565 met Anna, April's mother at the dentist's office by chance. 0:08:30.005 --> 0:08:32.085 It was the summer of nineteen eighty nine. 0:08:32.125 --> 0:08:34.605 He had drunk some lake water and gotten a severe 0:08:34.725 --> 0:08:37.725 toothache from it. Anna was at the dentist with her mom. 0:08:38.525 --> 0:08:41.245 He and Anna started chatting. He got her phone number, 0:08:41.325 --> 0:08:44.005 even though he believed that because she was only twenty four, 0:08:44.125 --> 0:08:47.525 she was probably too young for him. But even with 0:08:47.645 --> 0:08:49.845 the twenty one year age difference, they fell in love. 0:08:49.885 --> 0:08:52.845 They started dating. Anna had just got back from training 0:08:52.845 --> 0:08:55.845 for the Coastguard, but she was rejected because she couldn't 0:08:55.845 --> 0:08:59.005 swim the required distance, even though Bob said she was 0:08:59.205 --> 0:09:01.525 very athletic, Anne a skilled markswoman. 0:09:02.885 --> 0:09:04.165 Things got serious fast. 0:09:04.805 --> 0:09:07.045 Anna found out out that she was pregnant, so they 0:09:07.085 --> 0:09:10.725 married on July fourth, nineteen eighty nine. April was born 0:09:10.765 --> 0:09:14.005 on December twenty first of that same year. So Bob 0:09:14.085 --> 0:09:18.085 is describing April's childhood is troubled. And it's interesting because 0:09:18.085 --> 0:09:20.845 he kind of described the source of their troubles as 0:09:20.965 --> 0:09:25.725 multiple issues with the Pine Harbor Property Owners Association. Mainly 0:09:25.765 --> 0:09:29.045 they seem to involve Bob's refusal to pay dues, his 0:09:29.165 --> 0:09:31.165 insistence that this was unfair and he. 0:09:31.205 --> 0:09:32.605 Believed people were out to get him. 0:09:33.405 --> 0:09:35.805 I won't get into all these petty disputes he had 0:09:35.805 --> 0:09:38.285 with the homeowners association because it is a long story 0:09:38.605 --> 0:09:41.005 and a lot of it has no real connection to 0:09:41.245 --> 0:09:44.525 Anna's death, but I do think it's important to note 0:09:44.565 --> 0:09:47.885 Bob and many others did describe some real issues with 0:09:47.965 --> 0:09:51.605 discrimination in that area. There are two sides to the subdivision, 0:09:52.005 --> 0:09:55.445 Bob's side with many modest trailer homes and the house side, 0:09:55.565 --> 0:09:59.925 with more traditional lakefront properties. On the house side amusing 0:09:59.925 --> 0:10:03.125 air quotes here, the yards are mode and things look 0:10:03.205 --> 0:10:06.205 more orderly in general, and according to to Bob, the 0:10:06.285 --> 0:10:08.965 house side people look down on the people who lived 0:10:09.005 --> 0:10:12.005 on the trailer side. Here's what he wrote in the book. 0:10:12.565 --> 0:10:14.885 They're his words being read by an actor. 0:10:15.965 --> 0:10:18.485 The associations spent their dues on the house side of 0:10:18.525 --> 0:10:21.125 the subdivision and called those trailer trash in their little 0:10:21.165 --> 0:10:24.365 board meetings. Their streets were in good shape and ours 0:10:24.365 --> 0:10:25.165 were potholes. 0:10:26.165 --> 0:10:28.965 Bob talked about how April loved to draw as a child. 0:10:29.365 --> 0:10:33.245 She was constantly making pictures and coloring. She was a tomboy. 0:10:33.605 --> 0:10:36.405 She loved riding motorcycles and helping her dad with stuff 0:10:36.405 --> 0:10:39.205 around the house. Now, I do want to say that 0:10:39.245 --> 0:10:42.085 I find it very odd reading this book that Bob 0:10:42.125 --> 0:10:45.205 spends nearly as much time talking about his tax problems 0:10:45.245 --> 0:10:49.525 with the homeowners association and weird petty financial stuff as 0:10:49.525 --> 0:10:52.645 he does about his wife's death. This, to me, is 0:10:52.685 --> 0:10:56.045 incredibly bizarre, given that he's writing this book about his 0:10:56.205 --> 0:11:00.525 daughter possibly being involved in his wife's death. That's a 0:11:00.605 --> 0:11:03.565 huge bombshell, and he kind of buries the lead under 0:11:03.605 --> 0:11:07.245 a lot of these petty tax problems. The tone of 0:11:07.285 --> 0:11:10.965 the book honestly feels like at times for me. Kind 0:11:11.005 --> 0:11:15.685 of one big pity party from Bob. Bob talked more 0:11:15.765 --> 0:11:18.685 about how April hung around the subdivision. He said it 0:11:18.765 --> 0:11:21.365 was mostly a neighborhood of retired people at that point, 0:11:21.565 --> 0:11:24.405 so he said April had a hard time finding friends 0:11:24.405 --> 0:11:27.365 her own age. He said his marriage to Anna was 0:11:27.485 --> 0:11:30.445 very happy. They were constantly together, fishing and hanging out 0:11:30.485 --> 0:11:34.205 on the lake. He also refers to using babysitters for 0:11:34.325 --> 0:11:36.445 April so he could spend some quality time with Anna. 0:11:37.445 --> 0:11:40.645 And then he said this about the babysitters, which I 0:11:40.645 --> 0:11:41.765 immediately found odd. 0:11:42.285 --> 0:11:45.805 They were always hugging her and buying her prisons and such. 0:11:46.845 --> 0:11:48.925 Now this could have just been an innocent comment about 0:11:48.925 --> 0:11:52.125 some friendly neighbors, as Bob paints it, but in my opinion, 0:11:52.645 --> 0:11:56.125 this statement takes on a pretty sinister meaning given what 0:11:56.205 --> 0:12:00.525 happened next. April had a hard time at school. Bob 0:12:00.645 --> 0:12:04.605 said she was harassed by both teachers and students. He 0:12:04.685 --> 0:12:08.565 blamed the teacher who lived on the house side. April 0:12:08.605 --> 0:12:10.765 was also being bullied on the bus by other kids, 0:12:11.205 --> 0:12:13.885 so her parents ended up driving her to school themselves, 0:12:14.525 --> 0:12:17.765 and she did not always make it there. Apparently, April 0:12:17.805 --> 0:12:21.485 was absent a lot other sources have told us April 0:12:21.525 --> 0:12:24.445 was having trouble at school for another reason. By the way, 0:12:24.565 --> 0:12:27.045 this is not meant to be any sort of a diagnosis. 0:12:27.085 --> 0:12:29.565 I have never met April, and I do not know 0:12:29.765 --> 0:12:32.925 what she was experiencing, but several people we talked to 0:12:33.165 --> 0:12:35.565 said that as a child, April appeared to have some 0:12:35.645 --> 0:12:39.885 kind of learning difficulties. They believe that's why she was bullied. 0:12:41.485 --> 0:12:45.045 Bob's everyone was against his mentality means that as you 0:12:45.085 --> 0:12:48.365 read through this book, he never takes any accountability for 0:12:48.445 --> 0:12:51.925 April's welfare. For example, when he talks about April riding 0:12:51.965 --> 0:12:55.525 the bus, Bob said April was getting carsick for some reason. 0:12:56.045 --> 0:12:58.245 He said the bus driver tried moving her upfront and 0:12:58.325 --> 0:13:01.205 multiple other things, but the bottom line was April kept 0:13:01.205 --> 0:13:03.685 throwing up, so she had to stop riding the bus 0:13:03.725 --> 0:13:06.365 for that reason. As I read through this, I can't 0:13:06.365 --> 0:13:09.965 help thinking maybe she was having severe anxiety for other reasons. 0:13:10.765 --> 0:13:13.925 One Facebook commenter who was at school with April said 0:13:13.925 --> 0:13:17.365 that April used to hiss at other children. Another one 0:13:17.405 --> 0:13:19.965 said April would come to school dirty, that kids would 0:13:19.965 --> 0:13:23.325 tease her because of her hygiene. When I read those comments, 0:13:23.685 --> 0:13:25.765 my heart breaks for that little girl. That must have 0:13:25.845 --> 0:13:30.245 been so hard for her and so lonely. Bob bought 0:13:30.245 --> 0:13:33.165 April her first gun at age ten, a two twenty 0:13:33.205 --> 0:13:35.845 three caliber rifle for deer hunting. He said she was 0:13:35.885 --> 0:13:39.285 a good shot, but she wasn't much of a deer hunter. 0:13:39.365 --> 0:13:41.925 She thought the deer were too pretty and innocent, so 0:13:42.005 --> 0:13:45.605 she mainly stuck to target shooting, with occasional squirrels and birds. 0:13:46.125 --> 0:13:47.925 He and April hung out with a man in his 0:13:48.005 --> 0:13:51.445 sixties in their neighborhood, who he called Paul. Bob talked 0:13:51.445 --> 0:13:54.645 about an incident with Paul in his book, Remember He's 0:13:54.685 --> 0:13:57.365 calling April his daughter June. 0:13:57.765 --> 0:14:00.645 June told me Paul had grabbed her and kissed her 0:14:00.645 --> 0:14:03.525 and got his saliva in her mouth, and it was 0:14:03.645 --> 0:14:06.885 nasty and had a tobacco smell. I asked her why 0:14:06.965 --> 0:14:09.245 she didn't tell me then, and she said she was 0:14:09.285 --> 0:14:12.085 afraid of what I might do to him. Well, there 0:14:12.085 --> 0:14:13.605 when our friendship. 0:14:14.285 --> 0:14:17.565 Not exactly the caring father. Instead of immediately calling the 0:14:17.565 --> 0:14:21.285 authorities or doing anything to protect his daughter, he basically 0:14:21.325 --> 0:14:26.165 blamed her for ending his friendship. April never had many friends, 0:14:26.485 --> 0:14:29.205 but she did have her horses. Bob wrote that she 0:14:29.285 --> 0:14:32.325 had a natural talent for horses. They even bought one 0:14:32.365 --> 0:14:35.925 from a neighbor one that was totally wild, but April 0:14:36.005 --> 0:14:38.525 was able to ride the horse. She showed real gentleness 0:14:38.565 --> 0:14:41.045 and compassion, even after one of her horses kicked her 0:14:41.085 --> 0:14:43.445 and she broke her arm. She had a cast on 0:14:43.445 --> 0:14:45.765 that arm for six weeks, but right after that she 0:14:45.805 --> 0:14:49.485 went back to riding horses. As April grew up, they 0:14:49.525 --> 0:14:52.445 seemed to be, at least according to Bob, a happy family. 0:14:52.965 --> 0:14:56.485 People have told us that Anna and Bob were together constantly. 0:14:56.965 --> 0:15:00.605 They said Bob seemed to adore his wife. Bob described 0:15:00.605 --> 0:15:02.925 Anna as a positive and friendly person who had a 0:15:02.925 --> 0:15:06.045 special love for hummingbirds. Apparently, they would I write up 0:15:06.045 --> 0:15:07.845 to Anna and she could get them to land on 0:15:07.885 --> 0:15:08.925 her fingers. 0:15:09.845 --> 0:15:10.565 Bob said. 0:15:10.685 --> 0:15:13.645 The family first met Doug Janis when Doug moved to 0:15:13.645 --> 0:15:16.645 their neighborhood in two thousand and three. Doug was married, 0:15:16.725 --> 0:15:20.045 but separated from his wife Terry. In the book Remember, 0:15:20.325 --> 0:15:21.965 Bob called Doug Aggie. 0:15:22.565 --> 0:15:24.365 June was out in the yard and came over to 0:15:24.365 --> 0:15:27.445 see who else was here, and they were introduced. June 0:15:27.485 --> 0:15:29.645 had started filling out as a young lady and was 0:15:29.685 --> 0:15:32.645 a pretty girl, OGGI hugged her and told her how 0:15:32.645 --> 0:15:35.405 pretty she was and how lucky mom and dad are 0:15:35.445 --> 0:15:36.725 to have such a pretty daughter. 0:15:37.885 --> 0:15:40.925 Now, I should say here, Doug's behavior with young women 0:15:41.245 --> 0:15:43.765 had already been noticed by other people in that neighborhood. 0:15:44.205 --> 0:15:47.125 We talked to another resident who wants to remain anonymous. 0:15:47.645 --> 0:15:50.405 They told us they banned Doug from their home after 0:15:50.445 --> 0:15:52.565 he saw their sixteen year old daughter and was staring 0:15:52.605 --> 0:15:57.005 at her super openly and in their opinion, being very creepy. 0:15:57.045 --> 0:16:00.285 After that, the parent told their teen they were never 0:16:00.405 --> 0:16:03.045 allowed to have Doug there without them home, and they 0:16:03.045 --> 0:16:05.125 told Doug if he shut up on that property without 0:16:05.165 --> 0:16:08.845 their premon they would shoot him on site. That's how 0:16:08.845 --> 0:16:11.605 blatant this person claimed Doug's behavior was, and that was 0:16:11.645 --> 0:16:15.285 on a first meeting. Bob seemed to notice right off 0:16:15.325 --> 0:16:18.765 that Doug had a maybe too friendly interest in his daughter. 0:16:19.365 --> 0:16:22.445 This guy had his share charisma to make everyone feel good, 0:16:22.525 --> 0:16:25.445 but he hugged our daughter for just a few seconds 0:16:25.485 --> 0:16:28.685 more than needed. A red flag should have been thrown 0:16:28.805 --> 0:16:32.405 because this guy was just too friendly. All he wanted 0:16:32.405 --> 0:16:34.685 to see my little body shop and he said he 0:16:34.765 --> 0:16:37.325 buys and sells and swaps all kind of stuff and 0:16:37.445 --> 0:16:39.565 need a repair and painting, and that he could make 0:16:39.605 --> 0:16:41.565 it worthwhile for me to do some work for him. 0:16:41.565 --> 0:16:45.485 Occasionally I said, yeah, we can do that, but it 0:16:45.605 --> 0:16:49.485 bothered me. He couldn't keep his eyes off June because 0:16:49.485 --> 0:16:52.885 he was forty six years old and June just turned thirteen. 0:16:54.045 --> 0:16:58.165 Despite Bob's reservations, he and Doug became friends. Anna and 0:16:58.205 --> 0:17:00.245 Bob would meet up with Doug to play Texas holding 0:17:00.285 --> 0:17:03.325 poker and barbecue fish and hang out on Doug's houseboat. 0:17:04.045 --> 0:17:07.805 Bob said Doug always flashed a lot of cash, but 0:17:08.005 --> 0:17:09.605 he said Doug didn't seem to have a nine to 0:17:09.685 --> 0:17:14.005 five job. Apparently, Doug supplied local restaurants with catfish and 0:17:14.125 --> 0:17:17.805 hustled a lot. Bob and others have stated that Doug 0:17:17.885 --> 0:17:22.245 Janis had powerful friends in Sabine County. One of Doug's 0:17:22.245 --> 0:17:24.965 best friends was a local Justice of the Peace. Another, 0:17:25.045 --> 0:17:27.885 according to Bob, was a judge. And according to Bob, 0:17:27.965 --> 0:17:31.205 this same JP friend, who he calls Jake Butts in 0:17:31.245 --> 0:17:34.325 the book, could take care of things for people, things 0:17:34.365 --> 0:17:38.045 like getting people out of d WI charges. Then there 0:17:38.125 --> 0:17:41.805 was the night that changed everything, and again the version 0:17:41.845 --> 0:17:45.125 of events and what went down totally depends on who 0:17:45.205 --> 0:17:48.725 is telling this story. It was September third, two thousand 0:17:48.725 --> 0:17:52.165 and four. On that night, Bob and Anna allowed their 0:17:52.245 --> 0:17:54.685 daughter April to go to the car races with Doug 0:17:54.725 --> 0:17:58.005 and another friend of his named Lester and Lester's wife. 0:17:58.045 --> 0:18:00.245 The races were supposed to be over and everyone was 0:18:00.285 --> 0:18:03.445 going to go home at around eleven PM, but April 0:18:03.525 --> 0:18:08.325 didn't come home two am. Anna was super worried. She 0:18:08.485 --> 0:18:11.285 called Lester and his wife. The wife said April and 0:18:11.365 --> 0:18:15.205 Doug had left their house hours earlier, so Anna and 0:18:15.245 --> 0:18:18.085 Bob wondered what they were doing after they left Lester's 0:18:18.085 --> 0:18:21.485 house and why they were presumably alone for all that time. 0:18:22.405 --> 0:18:25.485 Doug finally dropped April off between two thirty and three 0:18:25.605 --> 0:18:30.165 am that night, and by the next morning, Anna Thompson 0:18:30.445 --> 0:18:42.925 was dead. On September third, two thousand and four, thirteen 0:18:43.005 --> 0:18:45.085 year old April went to the races with some family 0:18:45.085 --> 0:18:49.125 friends of her parents, including Doug Janis, but Doug didn't 0:18:49.165 --> 0:18:52.925 drop her back home until after two am. According to 0:18:52.965 --> 0:18:57.085 Bob's version of events, when Doug dropped April off, he 0:18:57.205 --> 0:18:59.965 drove away fast before they had a chance to confront him, 0:18:59.965 --> 0:19:03.485 but they did confront April about what she and Doug 0:19:03.525 --> 0:19:06.405 were doing in the woods for all that time. According 0:19:06.405 --> 0:19:10.045 to Bob, Anna turned on her daughter. She screamed at 0:19:10.045 --> 0:19:13.725 her and grounded her. This part is shocking to me. 0:19:14.285 --> 0:19:16.845 April was in those woods with a much older man 0:19:17.525 --> 0:19:18.885 and a thirteen year old girl. 0:19:19.005 --> 0:19:20.205 Cannot give consent. 0:19:20.885 --> 0:19:23.405 I am heartbroken at the way these parents treated her, 0:19:23.485 --> 0:19:27.685 especially considering that Bob claims Anna was also molested as 0:19:27.725 --> 0:19:28.125 a child. 0:19:29.045 --> 0:19:31.285 In his book, Bob wrote this. 0:19:31.725 --> 0:19:34.725 I went outside, hoping that it would end soon. I 0:19:34.725 --> 0:19:37.685 didn't realize that June might take this as me being 0:19:37.685 --> 0:19:40.765 a trader to her. From what I found out later, 0:19:41.245 --> 0:19:44.005 I guess my wife was shoving June up against the 0:19:44.085 --> 0:19:46.885 dining room wall to make June look her in the face. 0:19:47.525 --> 0:19:49.845 And the last thing I heard my wife say was 0:19:50.565 --> 0:19:53.165 if I ever catch you around that child molester again, 0:19:53.245 --> 0:19:55.365 I'll kill you. You understand me. 0:19:56.325 --> 0:20:00.085 So, from what Bob said, they believed that Doug was 0:20:00.085 --> 0:20:04.885 a pedophile, and they made it April's fault. Bob describes 0:20:04.925 --> 0:20:08.085 what he said happened next early September. 0:20:08.205 --> 0:20:11.805 Nights in Texas were sometimes in the mid eighty degree range, 0:20:12.485 --> 0:20:15.685 and this night was no exception. I went upstairs to 0:20:15.725 --> 0:20:19.005 bed and was so glad it was all over. I 0:20:19.045 --> 0:20:21.405 had opened the windows and let the breeze come through 0:20:21.445 --> 0:20:25.245 the upstairs bedroom hours before because it was not going 0:20:25.285 --> 0:20:28.325 to be long until the sun would come up. I've 0:20:28.365 --> 0:20:31.885 always been an early riser, and by now I'd been 0:20:32.005 --> 0:20:34.645 up for about twenty hours and was pooped out with 0:20:34.685 --> 0:20:37.725 all the commotion for the last three or four hours. 0:20:38.085 --> 0:20:41.165 I got undressed and just dropped on the bed. It 0:20:41.205 --> 0:20:44.925 probably didn't take me long to fall fast asleep, since 0:20:44.925 --> 0:20:48.685 it was so hot. I usually slept naked as no 0:20:48.725 --> 0:20:51.805 one could walk in the room since it was upstairs. 0:20:53.005 --> 0:20:56.165 I woke to here screaming and crying and sobbing. It 0:20:56.205 --> 0:20:59.765 was June coming up the stairs. I hollered, what's wrong, 0:21:00.205 --> 0:21:04.445 and June said, come quick, Dad, I think mom's been shot. First, 0:21:04.525 --> 0:21:06.965 I ran to the dress drawers to get some underwear, 0:21:07.365 --> 0:21:09.805 but putting my hands on the dresser and feeling for 0:21:09.885 --> 0:21:12.805 the handle, I thought, what if she's on her last breath. 0:21:13.405 --> 0:21:17.005 She wasn't making a sound. I just thought, June will 0:21:17.045 --> 0:21:17.925 just have to not look. 0:21:18.765 --> 0:21:19.125 I felt. 0:21:19.165 --> 0:21:21.125 I didn't have time to go across the room to 0:21:21.165 --> 0:21:23.725 the light switch and come back to get dressed. I 0:21:23.805 --> 0:21:25.885 ran down the stairs and Mom was lying on the 0:21:25.885 --> 0:21:29.365 couch moaning. There was blood all over her pillow. I 0:21:29.405 --> 0:21:32.645 didn't remember saying anything, but I remember the deep pain 0:21:32.725 --> 0:21:35.365 in my body of fright. I started to move her 0:21:35.405 --> 0:21:38.045 head to one side, but couldn't see any wound, but 0:21:38.125 --> 0:21:40.005 there was a lot of blood everywhere, and it was 0:21:40.005 --> 0:21:43.245 already dark and puddled. I turned around and called nine 0:21:43.285 --> 0:21:45.445 to one one and told the police to get an 0:21:45.445 --> 0:21:48.965 ambulance here fast, because I thought my wife had been shot. 0:21:49.845 --> 0:21:50.485 Bob said. 0:21:50.525 --> 0:21:53.365 After that, he ran upstairs and got dressed, and then 0:21:53.525 --> 0:21:55.485 he called a friend of his, who he called Greg. 0:21:56.045 --> 0:21:59.325 This person lived next door to Doug. Greg and his 0:21:59.405 --> 0:22:02.045 wife were at Bob's house in less than five minutes. 0:22:02.965 --> 0:22:05.205 We asked June if she had seen or heard anything. 0:22:05.765 --> 0:22:07.725 She said she heard a loud bang, and when she 0:22:07.765 --> 0:22:09.885 came in the living room, Mom was lying on the 0:22:09.885 --> 0:22:12.005 couch moaning, and she came and got me. 0:22:12.845 --> 0:22:13.245 She said. 0:22:13.365 --> 0:22:15.965 Later, when she went to the bathroom, she noticed the 0:22:16.005 --> 0:22:18.245 back door to the house trailer was wide open, and 0:22:18.285 --> 0:22:20.205 there was a gun lying in between the house and 0:22:20.245 --> 0:22:22.925