WEBVTT - The Murder Years: Ep. 6 - Mr. Billingsley 0:00:01.960 --> 0:00:05.400 This series is inspired by true events. The stories you're 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:08.400 about to hear are fictional, and so are the characters 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:10.360 who are played by actors. 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.800 Oh yeah, the fall in nineteen eighty six, we were 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:18.720 finally seniors. 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:24.280 Y yep, Ethan Rooney is still my boyfriend. It's been 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:26.680 ten months and we're still going strong. 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:30.880 It really felt like we've been through Helen back and 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:35.120 there was finally some light at the end of that tunnel. Graduation, 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:39.240 you know, something that felt like a normal part of life. 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.440 I couldn't wait to graduate and go to college. I mean, 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:45.839 if you'd been through what we'd been through, wouldn't you 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:46.920 want to get out of this town? 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:52.080 Honestly, the year was off to a really good start. 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:54.840 At least, you know, that's what we have thought. 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:15.040 I'm Nancy Clark. This is The Murder Years, Episode six. 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:22.080 Mister Billingsley. 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:28.240 Good morning, students, Principal Baalumbo Year. Today is November seventeenth. 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:31.640 As you know, it's volunteer week and the sign up 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:35.400 sheets are outside the main office. Let's show the community 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:37.840 what great and giving young men and women you are. 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.440 Let's give back to Mount Pine, Okay mountaineers. 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:45.920 In between home room and first period I ran to 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:48.160 the main office and sign up to volunteer at the 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:51.240 women's shelter. My friend Tatiana signs up too. 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:55.200 I wanted to volunteer at the hospital. I loved the 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:57.480 idea of helping people, and I always wanted to be 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:02.960 a candy striper. The outfit was so cute, right, Plus 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.040 volunteering would look really good on college applications. 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:08.880 The following week is Thanksgiving Week. 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:10.359 And we have the whole week off. 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:20.200 It's really a nice break for me, at least. Monday, 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.680 December one, we're back at school. Carla, Tatiana, and I 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.160 are in the same history class. I remember that Monday 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.680 was a long first day back. Last period we all 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:33.519 had us history senior year. That was the only class 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.480 that we all had together. And that day we had 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:40.680 a sub. Yep, we have a substitute and she makes 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.760 us watch a history movie about the Native Americans. It's 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:44.640 pretty interesting. 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.760 Honestly, I was just happy to zone out and watch 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:50.240 a movie. I didn't care what it was. 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:55.040 The next day, school's pretty normal. Last period. I walk 0:02:55.080 --> 0:03:00.960 into class and that sub is back again. Why where's 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:06.000 mister Billingsley. 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:05.240 Nine one one? 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:06.200 What's your emergency? 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:09.440 I walked in the house to check on. 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.359 Oh my god, sir, what is your emergency. 0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:15.000 I'm in his house. 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:18.639 Oh my god, he's dead. Marcus Diffin. 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.800 Around two pm, Mount Pine police arrive at seven twenty 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:31.600 four Maple Lane, a red brick colonial style house located 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:33.799 in the New subdivision near the brand new mall. 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.560 What I got there, It was a hectic scene. 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.960 Detective Tom Wallace is the lead on the case. By 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:46.200 November of nineteen eighty six, he's worked three brutal murder cases, 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:50.119 Lisa Anderson's in May of nineteen eighty four, Daniel Walters 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.720 in February of nineteen eighty five, and Charlotte Murphy's later 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.200 that year. And now he's got another one. 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:00.400 Charles. Here we go again, right. I had to go 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.000 get my notes and reports before talking to you about 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:07.280 this one. When I arrived at the scene, I was 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.040 briefed by the responding officer who told me the victim 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.000 was a white male in his late thirties or early forties. 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.239 When I entered the dwelling, I saw a victim lying 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:20.680 on his stomach in the foyer on the threshold of 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:25.000 the living room. His head was turned to the side. 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.839 It looked like He'd been severely beaten in the face 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:31.040 and on the back of his head. There was a 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:34.279 Buddy shoeprint on the side of his face, and more 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:38.480 prints trailed off down the hall. This guy was beaten 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.440 to a pulp. He was wearing a thermal shirt and 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:46.080 black sweats, and he was barefoot. He looked like he'd 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:48.159 been dead and more at least a couple of days. 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:53.479 The smell was unbearable. There was dried blood splatter on 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.920 the walls and floors, and on the TV just about 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:04.640 four feet away ransacked. My first thought was a robbery 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:10.159 gone wrong. Maybe our victim surprised the robber. Maybe this 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.560 was a drug deal gone bad. I walked back outside 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:16.880 and learned that the man sitting in the backseat of 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:20.080 one of the patrol cars was our nine one one caller. 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:23.520 He was a middle aged guy, a few pounds overweight, 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:28.120 with brown hair and glasses. He'd looked like he'd seen 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:32.280 a ghost. Well, I guess, in a way, maybe he had. 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:36.039 I was in state of shock. 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:40.360 Back in November of nineteen eighty six. Mister Palombo, Eric 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:43.039 Palumbo was our jovial high school principal. 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:46.279 I told the detective we knew Mark wouldn't be back 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.039 the Monday after Thanksgiving break. 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.360 He was going to visit family out of state. 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:55.000 Today. Mister Palumbo is eighty six and living with his 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.719 wife in Sarasota, Florida. 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:01.279 But when Mark didn't show up for work on Tuesday, 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:06.200 that was odd. He would never just not call in. 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:09.480 So we got a sub last. 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.279 Minute and I decided to go to his house at 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:13.479 lunch to check on him. 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:18.280 I asked mister Plumbo if he knew of any troubles 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:22.080 Mark was having. He said no. He said Mark was 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:25.120 a great guy and a dedicated teacher. Mark would be 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:28.000 the last person he could ever imagine this happening too. 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:31.320 I let him know I may have more questions for 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:34.080 him later, and I would probably want to come to 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:37.039 the school and go through Mark's desk. Maybe there was 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.360 something in there that could help our investigation. 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:45.080 For hours, the police process the scene. They take photographs 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:49.200 and desper prints. The shoe print on Billingsley's face and 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:51.280 the ones down the hall appeared to be from a 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.760 size nine and a half or ten tennis shoe. 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:59.280 Blombo told me Billingsley's parents were no longer alive, but 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:02.279 he had a younger sister with a family in another state. 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:07.080 That's who he was visiting over Thanksgiving break. So when 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:09.279 I got back to the station, I looked up his sister, 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:14.720 Emily Sparks. I called the authorities there and asked them 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:16.720 to make the death notification. 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.600 Late Tuesday night, Detective Kurt Peters is tasked with going 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:26.239 and interviewing Billingslee's sister. Detective Peters worked the Dawn Cartwright 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:28.760 murder at the drive in a little over two years earlier. 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:34.200 Here we go again, right, So yeah, I drove a 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:38.680 long time. I think it was eight hours, and I 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:42.800 got there pretty late. Miss Sparks was there waiting for 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:44.400 me when I arrived. 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.840 Back in nineteen eighty six, Emily Sparks is twenty eight 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:52.280 years old, an elementary school teacher, married with a five 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:55.080 year old daughter. Today she's sixty four. 0:07:56.440 --> 0:08:00.240 I remember, I just couldn't comprehend that my big other 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:00.840 was dead. 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:09.559 She was very, very upset, right LI, So I asked 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:13.160 her about her relationship with her brother, if they were 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:17.720 close or if they had any problems. She said she 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:22.320 loved him. They had a good relationship, but didn't talk 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:28.360 as often as they used to. You know, life was busy. 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:32.520 Then I wanted to know how Thanksgiving was, how did 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:36.640 her brother seem did Billingsley share anything that might help 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:40.640 our cads? Did anything seem off about him? And when 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:45.640 did he leave? That's when she said something, I mean, 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:49.640 just stop me dead in my tracks. 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:51.599 Thanksgiving? 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:54.480 No, I told him Mark never came for Thanksgiving. 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:07.360 Mount Pine Police detective Kurt Peters is interviewing Emily Sparks, 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:11.880 Mark Billingsley's younger sister, and she just said something he 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:13.079 was not expecting. 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:17.559 I told the detective, my brother didn't come for Thanksgiving. 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:22.080 He had plans too, but on Tuesday, it was two 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:25.240 days before Thanksgiving, he said something came up and that 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.640 he couldn't make it and he would just see us 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:28.760 at Christmas. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:34.640 Well, that changed everything. I wanted to know what a 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:35.280 game up? 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:39.760 Did Mark say anything before about why he wasn't coming 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:44.320 for Thanksgiving? She said she didn't know. He was vague 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:48.760 and she didn't cry. She told him she was disappointed, 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:52.760 but when he promised he'd come for Christmas, she'll let 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:58.319 it go. I asked if Billingsley was dating anyone. 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:02.600 She said no, did eating drugs? 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:08.000 No? I then asked if there was anyone anyone at all? 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:10.679 She could think of who would want to hurt her brother, 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:15.720 and she said no, and an emphatic no. 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:20.319 I couldn't think of anyone who would have wanted to 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:25.480 hurt my brother, let alone kill him. I told Detective 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.400 Peters it had to have been random. No one, no 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:31.800 one who knew him, would ever want to hurt him. 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:37.000 Unfortunately, Emily couldn't help point detectives in any substantial direction. 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.920 I remember thinking the ransacked house made it look like 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:45.920 it was a robbery, but officers at the scene reported 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.559 back that it didn't seem like anything had actually been stolen. 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:53.080 The kitchen drawers and cupboards open and rifled through didn't 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:56.440 make sense to me, So we were all scratching our 0:10:56.480 --> 0:11:01.280 heads and we considered maybe this was staged to look 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:02.120 like a robbery. 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:06.880 The next day, Detective Wallace says, the autopsy results come in. 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.000 Mark Billingsley had multiple broken bones in his face, including 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:14.520 all seven of his orbital bones. He had several skull fractures, 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:17.240 had five teeth knocked out, his jaw had been broken, 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:21.240 and his collarbone was shattered. His cause of death as 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.360 a cerebral hemorrhage which led to a stroke, and the 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:28.559 corner thinks It was done manually, meaning with hands and fists. 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.160 The time of death was determined as Sunday night, around 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:32.920 ten pm. 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:35.000 It was a gruesome death. 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:49.480 He was the coolest teacher as just a really kind person. Gosh, 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:54.040 I remember I was I was so so sad. 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:59.040 I felt like he cared about us, which was kind 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:02.040 of rare, and it didn't make sense. We kept losing 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:06.960 kids left and right, and then we lost a teacher. God, 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:08.840 I mean, how much more were we supposed to take? 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:19.360 Principal Columbo Here, I'm asking for all students and teachers 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:22.640 to report to the gymnasium immediately for an assembly. 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:28.160 We all file into the gym. Teachers are crying, kids 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:28.720 are crying. 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:32.679 I mean, we all loved mister Billingsley. 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.880 Melanie, Tatiana and I find a spot and sit down together. 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:42.839 Let's all take a moment of silence and remember mister Billingsley. 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:48.000 The principal tells us they're a psychologist available to talk 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.320 to us if we need it. But here's the thing. 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:54.760 It wasn't just because of mister Billingsley's death. They knew 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:58.000 we had been through so much shit, so much death 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.959 those last couple of years, and so many of us 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.720 were really screwed up trying to process it all. 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:09.560 Detective Tom Wallace takes the lead on this case. He 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.640 salved two other murders before this one, but he says 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:14.120 this case was trickier. 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:17.400 So yeah, I remember, we weren't able to get any 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:20.319 clean fingerprints from the scene, so that was a dead end. 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.559 It just didn't look like a robbery or a drug 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:28.720 deal gone bad. I needed to know more about Billingsley's 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:33.280 life in Mount Pine, so after school that day, mister 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.040 Palumbo escorted me to his classroom and I looked through 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:40.520 his desk, which didn't turn up anything useful, But Principal 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:44.400 Palumbo told me that Billingsley's closest friend was a fellow 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:48.400 teacher named Jesse Clayton. Turned out he was still at 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:52.400 school and luckily was willing to talk back. 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:55.360 In nineteen eighty six, Jesse Clayton is the hot teacher. 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:59.280 He teaches creative writing in English. We used to joke 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.560 that mister Billy was the robman to mister Clayton's batman. 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.520 I was sick to my stomach that mark was gone. 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.560 Today, Jesse is the principal at Mount Pine Middle School. 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:12.680 He agrees to talk with me there. 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:17.200 I mean, Mark Billingsley was like my best friend. He 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:21.080 was definitely my best work friend. So I asked Clayton 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.640 if he and Billingsley spent any time together outside of school. 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.440 I told the detective that we did lots of stuff together. 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:32.120 You know, we played soccer, we went to the movies, 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:39.000 always action movies. We'd play pool at my house, we'd 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:43.560 watch sports, you know. Sometimes we even went on double dates. 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:46.680 I mean, the fact that he was dating was news 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.840 to me. His sister said he wasn't seeing anyone. So 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.440 who was he dating and was it serious? 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:58.360 I told the detective. Her name was Colleen Mulligan. She 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:02.480 was a little bit younger, twenty seven ish. She had 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:06.640 a kid from another relationship. I told him they've been 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.760 dating for six months or something like that, and Billingsley 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:16.040 was completely crazy about her, but he kept it totally 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:22.640 quiet for some reason. The relationship was a secret. In fact, 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.000 Mark told me that it was Colleen who didn't want 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:31.680 anybody to know about the relationship at all. And I 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:39.440 think it was getting tumultuous between them. 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:46.080 Interesting, the relationship was tumultuous, how, I wondered. I pressed 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.920 Clayton some more. Told the detective. 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.400 It seemed to me that Mark was way more in 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:57.040 love with her than she was with him, and not 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.960 long before he died, Mark told me that it felt 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.840 to him like she was playing games or pulling away, 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:11.160 but she didn't say why. He kept telling her how 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:17.280 much he'd loved her and he adored her son, but 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:23.080 she just kept getting more and more distant. 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.760 Detective Wallace sets out to speak with Colleen Mulligan. Immediately, 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.800 he leaves the school and goes directly to Blue Balloon 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:32.880 Kids hair salon, where she works. 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.080 I was surprised to see a detective at my job. 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:38.600 That didn't happen every day. 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.920 Colleen Mulligan agrees to talk with me about Mark Billingsley 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:47.600 and everything that transpired back in nineteen eighty six. Today 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.640 she owns her own hair salon in Mount Pine. 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:53.880 Yeah. I was in the middle of a haircut when 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:56.680 this detective asked me to go outside and talk. 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.960 I remember she acted surprised, which didn't make sense to me, 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:05.000 I mean, given the recent tragedy. So we went out 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.400 to the back alley and that's when I told her 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:12.879 that her boyfriend Mark was found dead. Well, she just 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:17.760 lost it. How hadn't she known that her boyfriend was murdered. 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:20.639 At this point, it was all over the news. She 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.040 was acting like she's hearing it for the first time. 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:27.399 I asked when she saw or talked to Mark last. 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.840 I told him that Mark and I had talked on 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:36.120 the phone a few days before, maybe maybe four days before, 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:41.520 and well, everything sounded normal with him. 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:44.560 I wanted to know specifics. I wanted to know what 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.320 they talked about, and she said that Mark wanted to 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.600 see her, but she was busy, and could she see 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.520 him the following week. Then I asked her how their 0:17:53.560 --> 0:18:00.359 relationship was. I told her it had been described as tumultuous. Remember, 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.600 she looked surprised. She said, sure, it had its ups 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:07.920 and downs, like any relationship. It was her first relationship 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:12.000 in a while. I'm going to read from my notes now, 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:17.919 I wrote. See Colleen admitted that Mark wanted more of 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:21.720 her time, but she had a son at school at work, 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:25.120 so she wasn't always as available as Mark would have liked. 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:29.040 She said she was a private person and wanted to 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:32.439 keep the relationship between them, and he wanted to shout 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:36.440 it from the rooftobs. Then I asked her about her 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:38.520 son and her son's father. 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:44.800 I remember being thrown by that question, you know, like 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:47.720 why was he even asking about my son? 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:51.360 And this is very clear in my memory. She got 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:56.359 very defensive, which of course made me suspicious. She hammed 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:59.640 an awe, then said her ex was not a good guy. 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:05.400 Then she started to shake and cry. 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:12.480 Look, I was afraid my ex was a scary guy, 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:17.200 or he used to be a scary guy back in 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:24.439 like eighty four. He used to hit me. I actually 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:27.400 spent some time at the woman's chilter because of him, 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:32.000 and he did some time for it. But then early 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:35.440 around eighty five he got out and he changed. He 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:39.040 was in counseling and anger management for a few days 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:43.800 a week, and then he stopped drinking. And we were 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.800 trying to have a better coparent relationship, you know, for 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.960 our son, although he could only see him during court visits, 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:52.440 supervise visits. 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.119 I asked her if her ex knew she was dating. 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:57.920 She paused. 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:05.639 I told the detective yes, yes, and that he hated 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:07.040 Mark with everything he had. 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:23.000 It's Thursday, December fourth, nineteen eighty six, and Detective Tom 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:25.960 Wallace is talking with Colleen Mulligan in the alley behind 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:29.119 the hair salon where she works. She just told him 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:31.359 she's afraid of her abusive ex boyfriend. 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.920 Colleen said her ex didn't know Mark personally, all that 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:39.480 mattered was that he found out she was dating, and 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:42.480 she said her ex was especially jealous that Mark was 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:47.080 spending time with his son. Then I'm just going to 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:51.200 read this right from my notes, I wrote. She got 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:56.639 this look on her face like oh no. She collapsed 0:20:56.680 --> 0:21:02.920 against the dumpster and started crying. I asked Colleen her 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:08.080 ex's name in between her sobs. She said Darren mcmay. 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:14.000 Detective Wallace asks where Darren McVeigh lives. Colleen tells him 0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:16.399 he lives at the rain Tree apartment complex near the 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:20.240 Inner State. Detective Wallace calls for a backup, but when 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:22.680 they arrive, Darren mcveigh's not there. 0:21:23.760 --> 0:21:26.560 Colleen also told me that McVeigh did some odd jobs 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:27.879 over at Pinewood Farm. 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:32.359 So Detective Wallace and the patrol cars drive to the 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:36.080 other side of town to Pinewood Farm. When they pull up, 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.359 they see four guys standing next to a tractor armed 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:42.159 with his mugshot. Detective Wallace walks right up to the 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:45.000 man in the middle. He stands face to face with 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:46.280 Darren McVeigh. 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:50.560 And I remember he seemed completely unfazed we were there. 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:52.560 I asked him if he'd be willing to come to 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:55.320 the station with us and answer a few questions, and 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:56.159 he said he would. 0:21:57.880 --> 0:22:02.200 At the station Detective's Wallace Peter's interview Darren. 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:07.199 McVeigh, Yeah, I remember how cool he was acting. 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:09.159 How odd that seemed to me. 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:16.320 I asked him about his relationship with Colleen. I had 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:18.960 some anger issues in the past that I took out 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:21.600 on her, but the past is the past. 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:23.320 I did my time. 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:25.680 I'm in a much better place with her and myself. 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:30.360 I asked him about being on probation now after being 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:35.320 convicted on domestic battery charges last year. He brushed it 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:39.320 off as nothing again. I'm just gonna read to you 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:44.200 from my notes, let's see, I wrote. I noticed some 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:48.240 small cuts and bruises on his knuckles. When I asked 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:50.359 him how he got them, he said it was from 0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:53.200 working on his truck and at the farm. He couldn't 0:22:53.240 --> 0:22:58.520 remember exactly. Then I asked him his shoe size. They 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:02.920 were ten, the bloody shoe prints where a nine were 0:23:02.920 --> 0:23:05.919 a ten. I asked him what he was doing on 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:10.880 Sunday night. He was vague and said quote, I don't 0:23:10.880 --> 0:23:13.320 know what this is about, but I know I was 0:23:13.359 --> 0:23:16.800 around and people can vouch for me. Then I asked 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:21.080 how he felt about Colleen dating Mark Billingsley, and. 0:23:21.040 --> 0:23:27.560 I swear in that moment his face changed, right before 0:23:27.680 --> 0:23:28.400 our eyes. 0:23:30.040 --> 0:23:33.879 I saw rage. Then he said I want a lawyer. 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:37.320 Interview was over. 0:23:38.640 --> 0:23:40.320 At that point. We had enough to hold him for 0:23:40.320 --> 0:23:44.840 forty eight hours, so we did, and then we reached 0:23:44.840 --> 0:23:47.240 out to Prosecutor Ben Blythe to see if we could 0:23:47.240 --> 0:23:50.280 get a search warrant for mcveigh's apartment and vehicle. 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:53.880 Early Friday morning, the judge signs the warrant. 0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:58.520 Now we're in business. We went to Darren mcday's place 0:23:58.600 --> 0:24:03.000 and searched a small, one drew apartment. I remember I 0:24:03.040 --> 0:24:05.919 fill his like three hours to go through everything. We 0:24:06.000 --> 0:24:08.880 went through his drawers and closets, his garbage, he can 0:24:08.920 --> 0:24:13.480 cut open his mattress. We searched his garage space which 0:24:13.680 --> 0:24:19.600 had a small storage area, and we searched his pickup truck. Nothing, 0:24:20.280 --> 0:24:25.520 no bloody clothes, nothing. This was disappointing. 0:24:29.760 --> 0:24:32.919 If Darren McVeigh did kill mister Billingsley, he could have 0:24:32.960 --> 0:24:35.920 disposed of all the incriminating evidence in the last few 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:39.359 days and they may never find it. So the detectives 0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:42.399 asked Prosecutor Ben Blythe to go back and try and 0:24:42.400 --> 0:24:45.560 get a search warrant for Pinewood Farm, where McVeigh works. 0:24:46.200 --> 0:24:49.000 The judge signs the warrant, but with conditions. 0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:52.320 We were only allowed to search the areas Darren McVeigh 0:24:52.400 --> 0:24:56.880 had regular access to, so we searched the WORKSHD, the barns, 0:24:56.920 --> 0:25:00.359 and the garage where they housed the farm equipment. Again, 0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:01.439 we found nothing. 0:25:03.600 --> 0:25:06.480 When forty eight hours are up, they let Darren McVeigh go, 0:25:07.160 --> 0:25:09.880 but out of concern for Colleen and her son's safety 0:25:10.240 --> 0:25:12.879 and in case McVeigh tries to run, they put a 0:25:12.920 --> 0:25:16.320 surveillance team on him and one week later it pays off. 0:25:18.520 --> 0:25:22.920 It was around one am one of our undercover officers 0:25:22.920 --> 0:25:25.399 who'd been watching McVeigh saw him come out of his 0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:27.919 house with a duffel bag. He then put it in 0:25:27.960 --> 0:25:31.359 his truck and drove off. The undercover followed him to 0:25:31.480 --> 0:25:36.320 a storage facility just outside Mountain Pie. He watched McVay 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:39.240 as he went into a storage unit. When he returned, 0:25:40.000 --> 0:25:41.080 he was empty headed. 0:25:42.680 --> 0:25:45.600 Detective Wallace calls the owner of the storage Facility and 0:25:45.680 --> 0:25:48.639 Learns storage unit number B one seven to one was 0:25:48.680 --> 0:25:52.800 being rented by Darren mcvay's brother, Thomas. An hour later, 0:25:52.880 --> 0:25:56.480 Detective Kurt Peters is at Thomas mcvay's house asking if 0:25:56.520 --> 0:25:58.880 he would be willing to open up the unit to police. 0:25:59.480 --> 0:26:02.640 He agreed, so Thomas is there. 0:26:04.200 --> 0:26:08.840 There are several officers, Me and Detective Wallace arrives soon 0:26:09.000 --> 0:26:13.240 after the search begins. It was an eight or twelve 0:26:13.359 --> 0:26:18.119 unit and it was pretty packed, lots of Foxes, kids stuff, 0:26:18.359 --> 0:26:21.760