WEBVTT - The Football Player, The Firecracker and The Long Fall Down 0:00:01.240 --> 0:00:03.520 Falling in love is the best feeling in the world. 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:07.560 You see stars, you feel giddy, But sometimes that makes 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:12.960 you do crazy things, and sometimes that means murder. Just 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:15.840 because the story starts out with once upon a Times 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:20.599 doesn't mean it ends happily ever after. Welcome to Crazy 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.919 and Love, a production of Katie Studios and I Heart Radio. 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.520 Today's guests are true crime producer Chris Graves, joined by 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:33.000 Antonette Levy. Anjeanette is a journalist with fifteen years of 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:37.120 experience as a crime and court reporter. She is currently 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.080 a host and correspondent for the Law and Crime Network. 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.559 You can find her on Twitter at Angeanette five and 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:49.479 Instagram at an Genette. Episode thirty three, The Case of 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:53.760 the Football Player, the Firecracker, and the Long fall Down. 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:02.240 Twenty year old Josh Hilberly from Tulsa, Oklahoma was many things. 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.640 A MoMA's boy, a good friend, a loving big brother, 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.320 and a star football player for his high school team. 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:13.600 The oldest of two boys, Josh's father loved to describe 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.200 his firstborn son as having a smile that could light 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.480 up a room. On Halloween in two thousand and eight, 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.119 Josh went to a party and met seventeen year old 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:26.920 Amber Fields. Josh was smitten from the moment he laid 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:31.240 eyes on Amber. She was gorgeous and smart, outgoing with 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:35.400 a rebellious streak that Josh's more introverted personality was attracted 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:39.600 to a romantic at heart. Josh swept Amber off her 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:46.880 feet and they eventually began dating. Here's Chris. Josh was 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:50.440 born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. According to his little 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:54.360 brother Zach, football was just everything in Josh's world. They're 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:57.680 in Oklahoma, which that's big football country and being a 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:01.440 high school football stars pretty big d in Oklahoma, so 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:04.800 Josh's talent on the field made him really popular in school. 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:08.800 He was six four pounds. Josh's father and his brother 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:13.200 loved watching Josh play football. According to them, he was 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:16.200 just phenomenal and lit up the field every Friday night 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:19.240 with his talent. Josh had just turned twenty a few 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:23.040 months before meeting Amber, who was seventeen when they met, 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:26.119 and just to note in Oklahoma age consider his sixteen. 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.040 So this was two consenting adults. So the connection they 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:32.680 both felt was pretty immediate and they began dating soon after. 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.240 Josh had a really romantic streak and he used it 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.560 to sweep Amber off her feet quite literally. Amber didn't 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:41.800 know how to dance, and so one night Josh drove 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:43.920 them to a basketball court at a park in his 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.480 neighborhood and he had Amber stand on his feet and 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.040 he taught her how to slow dance under the stars. 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.760 So in the spring of Josh decided to follow his 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:56.760 younger brother Zack into the Air Force, and Zach was 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:00.079 in the middle of serving a tour in Afghanistan in 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:03.399 the summer of Josh was then shipped off to Lackland 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.760 Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for basic training, 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.120 which last got eight and a half weeks. Amber wrote 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:12.160 to him while he was at boot camp. She drove 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.440 eight hours to the Air Force base to see him 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:18.040 graduate from basic training. It was a big, big day 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.520 and after graduating, Josh got his orders. He was supposed 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:24.920 to report to Eilson Air Force Base in the North 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:27.800 Pole and North Pole, Alaska. This is pretty much in 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.200 the middle of nowhere. This is when this is all unfolding. 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.000 So Josh and Amber have a big, big decision to make. 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.600 The Air Force is not going to let Amber live 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.960 on base with Josh unless they were married. So that's 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:44.880 the big question. Do they tie the not? Both Josh 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:47.400 and Amber's parents felt like they were not a good 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:51.120 match for one another. Their personality seemed to clash, and 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.120 Amber's mother thought neither Amber nor Josh were ready for 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:58.560 the adult responsibilities that come with marriage. Despite both families 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:01.960 thinking the young couples twenty two and Amber eight team 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.160 were wrong for each other, they got married anyway in 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:09.440 a quick courthouse ceremony in August of The wedding may 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.840 have been a no frills affair, but the reception was 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:16.000 a fancy blowout at a local country club. Young in 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:18.480 love and now legal in the eyes of the Air Force, 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.919 Josh and Amber moved to Aileson Air Force Base in 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:28.960 October of So Josh and Amber moved to this relatively 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.200 small and remote military base. I mean, I'd never even 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:34.520 heard of it. When I was doing the research on 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.000 the story Internet, I haven't heard of it either, and 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:38.680 I thought I had heard of all of them. It 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:41.719 is super, super remote. I can't even imagine living in 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.520 a place like that. Think about how isolating that would be. 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.159 And and in Alaska, you know, isn't it dark for much? 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:50.880 You know, half of the year dark pretty much all 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:53.479 of the time, which I would think could affect your 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:57.840 your mood, your circadian rhythm, your health, And I just 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:01.520 can't even imagine. There's a lot of factors that that 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:05.320 this particular location would bring into someone's relationships. So the 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:09.640 base itself only has about two thousand one active duty 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:12.599 service personnel, and to compare that to some of the 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:16.479 other larger army bases, the largest one Fort brag that 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:21.000 has about five and fifty tho active duty personnel on base. 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:25.039 So this is like a town in the middle of nowhere, 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:28.039 and they're moving to the North Pole place that has 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:32.000 nine months with significant snow, with a yearly average of 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:35.560 fifty eight inches. The national average is twelve inches, and 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.880 it's considered one of the coldest places in Alaska. As 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:41.520 you mentioned, there's a lot of darkness because the sun 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:43.320 doesn't come out for a good part of the year, 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.479 and it has an average low night time temperature of 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:50.520 negative seventeen degrees in January, which is pretty cold. So 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:53.640 here you have two very young people who have rushed 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.000 into marriage and are living with each other for the 0:05:56.120 --> 0:06:00.440 first time in this harsh cold environment. So you know, Jeanette, 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.280 Josh's dad thought that Josh was making a huge mistake 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.240 when he started dating Amber and eventually married her. They 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:10.159 were just so different and now they've compounded that all 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:13.960 of that with this really remote area. What were Amber's 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:17.560 parents thought, Well, Amber's mother also thought that Josh and 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.600 Amber were not a good match. She really thought they 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:23.279 were way too young, they were naive, and that they 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:26.520 looked at marriage not really in a realistic way. They 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:28.720 looked at it more as a fairy tale and not 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:32.640 really as this lifelong commitment that's going to take compromise 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:37.080 and sacrifice and really work relationships. You have to keep 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:39.640 them in a good spot, and they require a lot 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:43.039 of thoughtfulness and work to be successful. So once the 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:46.719 harsh realities of both marriage and Alaska start to sink in, 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.120 you know, Josh and Amber, they start getting into arguments. 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:52.800 They're fighting more and more, and both would call home 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:57.520 crying to talk to their parents. So it's about November 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:03.279 and winners approached and the days are getting darker. The 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.440 isolation is wearing on Josh and Amber, but they get 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:11.040 some good news. Amber is pregnant. Josh and Amber find 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:13.680 out they're having a baby boy, and they decided to 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.560 name him Levi and although having a baby on the 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:19.640 way should have been really happy. Josh and Amber, we're 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:22.880 finding that being away from their support systems, their friends 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:26.560 and family in Alaska was really sending them down this 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.320 this really dark path that they just weren't prepared for. 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:33.360 They weren't mature enough to handle it. Yeah, you have Alaska, 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.840 new marriage, an air Force space, that's a lot for 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:41.360 these young people. We're going to take a break. We'll 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:57.720 be back in just a moment. So we just learned 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.960 that in January it's negative seventeen degree and for all 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.440 we dark. And this is when all of this is 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:05.800 playing out for Josh and Amber. I mean, can you 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:10.360 imagine being in that situation? Absolutely not. It sounds like 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:14.040 hell to me. Winter affects me. I think it affects 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.720 a lot of people. But what this is like a 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:20.080 winter on steroids. This is a whole another level. Not 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.840 only that she you know, Amber is pregnant, which means 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:28.440 she's got all of these swings whatever, you know, hormones raging. Yeah, 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:30.840 and none of it's her fault. It's all her body 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:34.680 making another human being. That that's compounded by everything else. 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:41.160 Right by January of eleven, Josh Nimber's relationship was on 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:46.240 the rocks and teetering on disaster. Amber was still in 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:51.440 her first trimester pregnant with little Levi. She and Josh 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.800 would argue constantly, neither ever knowing what would set the 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:59.600 other off. On January second, Josh Namber had been fighting 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:04.560 because Amber wanted take out and Josh did not. Amber 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:09.280 started making dinner. Josh quote got in her face, knocked 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:11.240 a dinner plate and drink out of her hand, and 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:15.280 then grabbed her breasts. Josh squeeze so hard he broke 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.080 blood vessels and bruised Amber. It seemed like Josh has 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:23.240 been trying to pop her implants. Amber filed a police 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:28.360 report against Josh for domestic abuse. The reports stated that 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.240 officers took photos of the wounds and also took Josh 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.760 into custody to cool down for the night, but no 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:37.640 charges were filed. Just a few months later, the young 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:42.480 couple got hit with another blow. In May, even Josh's 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.640 discharge from the Air Force due to misconduct for drug use. 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:52.199 Josh had allegedly been using oxycotton. The troubled couple moved 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:55.480 back home to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and into a twenty fifth 0:09:55.480 --> 0:10:00.680 floor apartment of the University Club Tower building. The University 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.720 Club Tower is pretty well known. It was built in 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.760 ninety six and was the first building in the United 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.920 States to be designed by using a computer. It has 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.960 an interesting design. In the first eight floors are the 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.680 parking structure for the residents, so and then it shoots 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:18.840 up into the sky with the rest of the building. 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:21.880 And Josh and Amber moved into the University Club Tower 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:25.560 the first week of May eleven, and pretty quick it 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.040 becomes apparent that Alaska and the isolation from friends and 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:32.160 family may not have been at the root of their problems, 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.480 so Josh and Amber pretty quickly Josh and Amber fell 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:39.640 back into their routine of arguing. Their fighting escalates and 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:43.440 on May twenty eleven, Josh is now the one filing 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:46.840 a protective order against Amber in Tulsa County District Court. 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.960 Josh alleges that Amber grabbed the floor lamp and threw 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:52.280 the lamp at him, heating him in the head and 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.640 wounding him. Josh reported that the paramedics had taken to 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:59.319 the hospital where he had received ten staples and eleven stitches. 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:03.600 That's pretty gash. However, nothing came of Josh's protective order 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:06.320 filing because neither Josh nor Amber showed up at the 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:11.120 court hearing on and the case was dismissed, which we 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:14.240 often see in cases of domestic abuse. You and I 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.320 have covered a lot of stories. Somebody reports and then 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.040 they don't show up to finish the report. That's kind 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:24.040 of common, unfortunately. You know, maybe there's a cooling off 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.680 period and they don't follow through. Yeah, I mean, what 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:29.640 other things do you think could have been going through 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:33.120 Josh's mind for not showing up. Look at our culture 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.360 and you know this whole idea that men are the big, 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:40.160 strong ones, right, and for a lot of men coming 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:43.319 to terms with the fact that they may be a victim, 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.960 that is very embarrassing. And you know, it's possible that 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.560 Josh felt a lot of shame over the abuse he 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:52.840 was suffering at the hands of Amber, and that could 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:55.800 have possibly played a part in him not showing up 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:59.800 for that hearing. And the CDC actually reports that one 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:03.600 in seven men will experience physical violence by their intimate 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.680 partner at some point in their lifetimes, and at least 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:10.760 three million acts of domestic violence will occur annually to men. 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:15.839 So men can definitely be victims of domestic violence. This 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.240 isn't uncommon, you know. I think it's almost like a 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:24.440 first Men are human too, and it doesn't matter your gender. 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.880 Anyone can be an abuser, and I think it's hard 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:30.760 for some people to wrap their heads around that, even 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:32.720 though I think we're learning more about that if you 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.199 if you really look at these issues and pay attention. 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.560 So men represent as much as fIF of all cases 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:43.600 of domestic partner violence, and male victims are also less 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:47.520 likely to seek out medical care, so that the incidences 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:50.280 of domestic violence on men may very well be under 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:55.040 reported because of that whole societal norms about viewing men 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:58.920 as the big, burly types and it's probably just you know, 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:02.880 embarrassing for them. So the National Domestic Violence Hotline has 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:05.680 reported that when they hear from male contacts that reach 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:10.040 out daily, that these men feel emasculated and like less 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.840 of a man when undergoing situations of abuse at the 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:16.760 hands of spouses or partners, and some have even reported 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.720 feeling so ashamed that they don't want to acknowledge the 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.920 abuse because they fear that if they do, it will 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:27.160 make the situation real. So at this point, neither Josh 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:31.160 nor Amber seem like angels when it comes to domestic violence. 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:32.960 But I think we need to remember that both of 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.880 them are really pretty much kids. She's nineteen and he's 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:39.679 still twenty two. So how does a young man who's 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:44.199 just twenty two years old process being domestically abused, especially 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.920 one who grew up in the hyper masculine world of football. 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.680 And did Josh even know there was help out there 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:52.280 for him? It just feels like both of their parents 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:57.280 worst nightmare was coming true. Just eight days after Josh's 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.600 twenty third birthday, at four pm on g In seventh, 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.640 two thousand eleven, a Tulsa nine one one operator received 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.920 a strange call. Someone had witnessed a man fall out 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:11.080 of the twenty five story window at the University Club 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.920 Tower building and watched him plummet seventeen floors to his death. 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:19.560 The body landed on the roof of the building's parking structure. 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:24.360 Take a listen to the nine one one call the 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:26.960 park department and I just saw someone jump out the 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:31.200 window out of the probably the seventh nineteenth Flooria University 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:34.360 Club Power Department at keventh Eaton, Denver. Let me keep 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:38.040 the neighbor of that place is University University Club, which 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:40.120 is them. Some were on the way, all right, I 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:43.560 could not smoking figure out here looking right at there. 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:47.600 I'm looking right at it, and he the glass broke 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.880 and he fell down. Well, the people, okay, I don't 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.000 want to three four or five, seven, eight, ninety eleven, 0:14:54.000 --> 0:15:02.680 twelve four We all right, thank them. When first responders 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:05.080 arrived to the roof of the parking deck, they found 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.520 Amber distraught and crying next to Josh's broken and dead body. 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.400 Amber was led away by police officers who also arrived, 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:18.840 and Amber was begging everyone to quote fixed Josh. The 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:21.720 detectives and police officers who arrived on the scene at 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.680 first believe they were dealing with an accidental and tragic death. 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:30.640 So that's pretty shocking. It's awful. I can't even imagine 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.280 seeing something like that. So when law enforcement gets to 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:36.760 the University Club tower, they think they're just dealing with 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.160 a freak accident that somebody might have fallen out a window. 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:42.680 They asked Amber to come down to the station to 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:47.080 file a report. Amber's grandmother comes with her. At around 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:50.480 six pm, Amber and her grandmother are sitting alone in 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:53.560 a police interrogation room. Amber starts talking to her grandmother, 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:56.960 and the officer who brought them in to file the 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:00.240 report watches them on a closed circuit monitor, and he 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:04.080 decided to record the conversation. The officer didn't tell the 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:07.440 grandmother or Amber that they were being recorded. So Amber 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:10.200 is distraught and she starts telling her grandmother what happened, 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.480 and her grandmother instinctively tries to get Amber to stop 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:16.200 talking to no Avail. We can listen to a little 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:21.480 excerpt of what the officer recorded. Josh just dead, and 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:31.960 I'm here. I didn't just lose my husband. Genie and 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:37.680 Patrick lost their son. Sad lost his brother, his grandma's 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:41.400 poor Grandma's gonna have ar attack when she finds out 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:46.480 there her little Josh is gone. Well, I kept seeing 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:52.280 like I just held his broken body. I wonder if 0:16:52.280 --> 0:17:04.920 his parents know yet. I'm sure if they did, they 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:09.160 were right. They kept saying, if we stay together, I'm 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:21.040 going to kill him. So did this happen? How did 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.320 this happen? Why did he have to follow the window, 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:32.160 fall out of window. I'm a horrible person who could 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:38.200 do that? Who could do that? Push my husband and 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:44.720 make him fall up the window? Did you intentionally know? 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:50.520 Of course, not that's what they're gonna take it. I 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:55.400 just keep watching him fall over and over and over, 0:17:55.560 --> 0:18:03.360 getting my head watching him flail. I think that, you know, 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:09.240 my last thought was please catch yourself. You know. I 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:11.440 just want to know what was going through his head, 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.240 if he knew he was going to die, if he 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:18.800 said a prayer, or if he cursed my name, or 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:22.560 if he just I thought that he could catch himself too. 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:28.960 And then just watching him in the ground. That's crazy. 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.840 When that officer who was recording her that Amber says 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.720 she actually pushed Josh before he stumbled and fell through 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.720 the window. The case now goes from accidental to a 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:43.240 possible homicide investigation. Amber is arrested on a second degree 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:47.040 murder charge and taken into custody. Just hearing that is 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.879 so chilling. I mean, she's clearly broken up about it. 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.960 It's not like some of the other interrogation things where 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:56.760 we've heard like people singing or doing really weird things. 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:00.760 She does sound broken, but she did say she pushed him, 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:04.040 so we don't know the situation between them. When that happened. 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.840 Hours after Josh Hilberling fell to his death on June seven, 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:12.199 two eleven, investigators believe they have what amounts to a 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:15.880 confession to at the very least second degree murder from 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:20.320 his wife. When detectives searched Josh and Namber's apartment, they 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.919 found a clean and tidy place with no signs of 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:28.760 a possible physical fight. Nothing seemed out of place. Officers 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:32.719 also found a bag pack that belonged to Josh. Amber 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.040 story was that she and Josh had been fighting that 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:37.440 day because Josh was planning on going to a music 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:41.040 festival with his friends and he was going to sell 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:44.840 pills at the festival. She explained that this is why 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:49.640 the police found Josh's packed bag. Amber also told investigators 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.159 that Josh grabbed her by the shoulders so hard his 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:55.520 grip left marks and a scratch, and that she had 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:59.119 pushed him in self defense. She claimed that Josh had 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:01.800 stumbled back into of the window and the window had broken. 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.600 Before Amber knew it, Josh had fallen to his death. 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:09.800 But when detective stuck deeper into Josh Naber's relationship, they 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:12.600 found the protection order Josh had filed against Amber just 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:16.760 weeks before his death. Detectives felt the protection order pointed 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:20.960 to Amber being the abuser in their relationship. When investigators 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.200 spoke with Josh's family, his father told him that Josh 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:27.720 had called him on June seventh, just hours before his death, 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:30.320 to tell him he couldn't take the fighting and abuse anymore. 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:34.280 Josh's father said Josh had packed a bag and wanted 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:37.840 his father to come pick him up. His father was 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:42.400 at work and told him he couldn't come until later. So, 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:46.280 according to Josh's dad, earlier in the day on June seventh, 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:49.280 Josh called him to tell him that he couldn't take 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:51.760 the abuse from the fighting anymore, and he asked to 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:54.880 be picked up. Josh said told Josh he couldn't come 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:57.240 right away because he was at work, and that he'd 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:00.960 come after he was done, and that would be the 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:03.919 last time that Josh's father spoke to his son, and 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:07.840 that call really haunts his father to this day and 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.439 he regrets that he didn't come get Josh when he 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:14.760 first called. But according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:18.320 the most dangerous time for victim of abuse is when 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:21.280 they finally decided to leave that abuser. And of course, 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:24.000 Amber claimed that Josh hadn't actually packed the bag to 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:27.520 leave her, but he had packed the bag because he 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:29.399 was planning to go to a music festival with some 0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:32.240 friends where he planned to sell some pills, which is 0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:34.840 part of what Josh had been doing apparently, and part 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:37.280 of what the strife was in their relationship now that 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:38.760 he was out of the Air Force and didn't have 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:41.560 a job, and that this was the whole reason that 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:44.040 they were fighting to begin with. They were fighting because 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:46.719 he was leaving to go hang out with his friends. 0:21:50.160 --> 0:22:07.760 Let's stop here for another break. Yeah. The toxicology report 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:11.520 from Josh's autopsy came back clean. There were no drugs, 0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:14.240 no alcohol in his system, which seems to poke a 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.800 hole in Amber's story. Investigators also spoke to one of 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:20.680 Josh and Amber's next door neighbors, and he tells them 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:24.400 that he heard Amber yell no, no, no, and then 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:28.639 charging footsteps before hearing the sound of glass breaking, and 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:31.480 then hearing Amber scream oh my god, Oh my god, 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:35.840 oh my god. On June eight, investigators bump up the 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:40.560 charges against Amber to first degree murder. Amber Hilberling was 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:44.479 released that afternoon on a two D fifty thou dollar bond, 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:48.399 that's according to jail records, and while Amber is awaiting trial, 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:53.959 she gives birth to Levi on August six. Amber has 0:22:54.000 --> 0:22:56.439 offered two different plea deals that would have dropped her 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:00.280 sentence down to five years with fifteen years of role, 0:23:00.720 --> 0:23:03.879 but Amber declines both of those authors. She maintains her 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:07.199 innocence and that what happened to Josh was simply a 0:23:07.240 --> 0:23:11.399 horrible accident. I know. She also maintained that the push 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:13.919 was an accident, that they were in a fight, and 0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:16.960 she didn't realize that those windows could break. You would 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:19.919 think on a floor of a building you would have 0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:23.200 some pretty maybe shatterproof glass or something like that, but 0:23:23.400 --> 0:23:29.560 in this case, obviously they didn't. And it's just absolutely horrible. 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:32.440 This was, I hate to say it, a story where 0:23:32.480 --> 0:23:34.520 the parents might have been right, and maybe they should 0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:37.760 have waited a little bit. Definitely, I think anybody that 0:23:37.920 --> 0:23:42.280 young really needs to think twice before committing to a 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:46.760 relationship long term. To me, when I hear about people 0:23:46.800 --> 0:23:50.160 having children so young, I mean, think about how your 0:23:50.160 --> 0:23:55.800 brain matures, how you mentally and emotionally mature or not 0:23:56.280 --> 0:23:59.520 when you're that young. And that's why when I see 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:02.560 people getting into these things at sex just such a 0:24:02.600 --> 0:24:07.320 young age and and mistaking probably infatuation for actual love. 0:24:07.920 --> 0:24:10.720 I really want to just walk up to them. Do 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:13.000 you know what you're doing? Do you know what you're thinking. 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:15.639 I'm not saying it can't work out for the best, 0:24:15.800 --> 0:24:18.919 but I really think you got to think twice. Sometimes 0:24:20.160 --> 0:24:23.719 we may never really know absolutely without a doubt, what 0:24:23.800 --> 0:24:26.760 was going on it. You never know what goes on 0:24:26.840 --> 0:24:30.320 behind closed doors. I truly believe that with relationships, even 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:33.560 if you think you know a couple really well, you 0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:42.520 don't know what goes on. Amber's child began on March eleventh, thirteen, 0:24:42.680 --> 0:24:47.240 and she took the stand on March sixte Amber testified 0:24:47.240 --> 0:24:49.600 that she pushed Josh in self defense and that she 0:24:49.720 --> 0:24:54.320 never intended to kill her husband. Amber further explained that 0:24:54.359 --> 0:24:59.240 she could not have anticipated the window breaking on March eighteenth, 0:24:59.359 --> 0:25:03.320 two eleven, just seven days after her trial began. Amber 0:25:03.400 --> 0:25:08.600 is convicted of second degree murder. This does not require 0:25:08.680 --> 0:25:13.480 under law that the prosecution prove intent to kill. The 0:25:13.560 --> 0:25:16.720 jury only deliberated for three hours, and the judge upheld 0:25:16.720 --> 0:25:21.879