Forensic Files (1996–…): Season 7, Episode 24 - The Metal Business - full transcript

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NARRATOR: Just after
opening a vintage car

restoration business, Phil
Rouss became seriously ill.

Doctors had difficulty
finding the cause.

But to forensic scientists,
it looked like foul play.

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From the day he found an
abandoned Model A Ford

in an old cotton
warehouse, Phil Rouss

knew that vintage automobiles
would be his life.

For most of his career,
Phil was a salesman.

In 1997, he quit
to finally pursue



his dream of starting an antique
car restoration business.

He called it Top
Quality, and it was

housed in the garage near his
home in Bartlett, Tennessee.

Phil was real excited
about going into business.

That was his dream.

NARRATOR: To no one's
surprise, the shop

was successful from
the day it opened,

and with that success
came the need to expand.

For capital, Phil turned to
his best friend and next door

neighbor, Steve White,
who was anxious to invest

in the business in exchange
for part ownership.

Phil's good friend, Kimo
Coelho, also joined the company.

As a matter of fact,
everybody was happy

with the way things were going.



Everybody was happy we
got off to a good start.

NARRATOR: It was
Phil's knowledge,

talent, and experience that
made the company so successful.

I've been working on them
since I was 15 years old.

I guess I worked on
my first antique car

when-- I think I was 16.

NARRATOR: When Phil
Rouss became ill

just two months after the shop
opened, it was a serious blow.

I got to where I
didn't have any energy

and my stomach gave
me a lot of trouble.

I had trouble with digestion,
I had severe chest pains,

my hands and feet
began to get numb.

NARRATOR: And to
make matters worse,

medical tests couldn't
find the cause.

I had an ultrasound done, a
CAT scan and an ultrasound.

And all those tests
came up negative.

NARRATOR: Inexplicably,
Phil's condition

continued to get worse.

He lost 30 pounds and
had difficulty walking

and his cognitive abilities
were also affected.

He came home and
he says, Jo, I think

I've got Alzheimer's,
I'm getting Alzheimer's.

And I said, why, Phil?

And he said, I've forgot
my way to the shop.

NARRATOR: To protect his
investment while Phil was ill,

Steve White ran the day to day
operations of the business.

By December, Phil was
convinced he was going to die.

I was so sick that night.

I was in such bad
pain that I actually

took my shirt off and
laid on the kitchen floor

on the linoleum.

I thought maybe that cold
floor would take the pain

and burning out of my stomach.

NARRATOR: Restoring
automobiles sometimes

involves chemicals
and solvents that

can cause illness
if the workplace

isn't properly ventilated.

Phil wondered whether
this had been his problem.

But his doctors were doubtful,
since no one else in the shop

became ill.

Then Phil became convinced that
someone was trying to kill him.

So he went to
police headquarters

with an unusual request.

He said if he died,
he wanted the police

to perform an autopsy
because he thought

someone was poisoning him.

The police were skeptical.

I noticed that the other
detectives were walking around

and in fact, one of them
was kind of doing this.

And I got upset.

I got very aggravated with that.

NARRATOR: Phil's family
thought he was exaggerating.

I wanted proof that something
was being done to him.

And we said, you
should have waited.

Nothing in the world
could have convinced me

that I was wrong that
night or I'd have never

gone to the police station.

If you didn't think
it took some cojones

to go down to the police
station, you're wrong.

NARRATOR: Phil was desperate.

He was afraid that nothing
would be able to save his life.

Just months after opening
his vintage car restoration

business, Phil
Rouss was so sick he

could no longer run the
business on a day to day basis.

His best friend, next door
neighbor, and business partner,

Steve White, was now
running the business.

My business partner told
me not to worry about it.

He said, if you're
sick, you stay home.

Stay home and get well.

NARRATOR: While sitting
home, Phil Rouss

heard rumors that his company
wasn't paying its bills.

We were taking
money in, but money

was never distributed
to back to our suppliers

to pay their bills.

NARRATOR: Rouss went to the bank
and discovered that 10 company

checks written by his
partner had bounced

because of insufficient funds.

And he also learned why
the company had no money.

And when I got
copies of the checks,

I can be honest with you.

I was not happy with what I saw.

He was paying for his
personal cell phone bill--

$70, $80 a month-- he was paying
for his own military insurance,

he was making checks
to this local wine

and spirits company somewhere
close, a store buying booze.

NARRATOR: And Phil
noticed that Steve White

had written a check
to a company called

American National for $127.

When he didn't recognize the
company, Rouss decided to call.

She said, it's life insurance.

I says, can you tell
me more about it?

She said, well it's
for $100,000 and

the beneficiary and owner of
the policy is Steve Alan White.

NARRATOR: But the
life insurance policy

wasn't on Steve White's
life, it was on Phil Rouss'.

And there was no
reciprocal policy

on Steve White's life naming
Rouss as the beneficiary.

Leona White says her husband did
nothing wrong, that they were

only trying to protect
their investment

in the event of Phil's death.

Steve wasn't into
auto restoring.

His involvement in the business
had been more from a business

management standpoint.

We kept trying to
have business meetings

so we could see the checkbook,
which we have never seen.

And every time we'd
go to have a meeting,

Steve would get up and get angry
and storm out of the house.

So we were getting a
little bit suspicious.

NARRATOR: The final straw
came when Steve White closed

the company's bank accounts
without telling Bill, who found

out through the bank teller.

She said, well, Mr. White
came in two days ago,

walked out of the bank with
$2,943, and closed the account.

And she said, the reason I
mention it to you, Mr. Rouss,

is because there were
checks outstanding

and he said he didn't care,
he just wanted the money.

NARRATOR: Rouss believed that
as 50% owner of the business,

he had the power to halt
all such transactions,

but he was wrong.

When Phil's lawyer reviewed
the partnership agreement,

he discovered that Phil only
owned 2% of the business,

Steve White owned
the remaining 98%.

Well, I signed a lot
of things in 1997.

If Steve came over and said, you
need to sign this because this

is whatever, we'd sign it.

He was completely duped and
into signing this contract.

NARRATOR: Phil now began
to suspect his partner

and decided to visit
Dr. Kevin Merigian,

one of the top
forensic toxicologists

in the United States.

He was one of the worst
cases that I had seen.

So I mean he was
very, very sick.

And I said, well, I
think I'm being murdered,

I don't know how.

I don't know how, I don't
know what's being used on me.

NARRATOR: Dr. Merigian analyzed
Phil's urine test which

had been done earlier
and he also performed

a physical examination.

But before the results were
in, Phil had more bad news.

All of the business assets
he'd brought with him

to the company, which included
the building and real estate,

had been transferred to
his partner, Steve White,

and put up for sale.

Phil Rouss was not only
dying, he was now penniless.

Phil Rouss began to suspect
that the improprieties

in his business and his
suspicions of being poisoned

might somehow be related.

Mr. Rouss wasn't
very functional,

if you would say, cognitively.

He had an inability
to concentrate,

focus, he was very anxious.

NARRATOR: To find the cause
of the illness, Phil's urine

was sent for a
heavy metals test.

The test revealed Phil
had arsenic in his system.

A level of 63 is in the high
range, but far from lethal.

Normally, there is no
arsenic in one's system

unless the person has
consumed large amounts

of seafood, which Phil had not.

He said, Mr. Rouss,
do you know of anybody

that might want you dead?

I says, what are you telling me?

NARRATOR: Dr. Merigian suspected
Phil was being poisoned.

The poisoned cells
do not continue

to exhibit arsenic in them.

Arsenic does the damage and
then it's excreted from the body

or it's sequestered in the bone.

So by any measure,
you're not going

to be able to identify the
actual compound itself,

even though the damage is there.

NARRATOR: Phil tried
to recall anything

suspicious about
the time he spent

with his partner, Steve White.

And then he
remembered-- every time

he and Steve had a meal
or a drink together,

Phil's health deteriorated.

I noticed that several
times when we ate together,

I would get sick afterwards,
the next day or two.

And I just kept getting sick.

Every time we'd eat
together, I'd get sick.

NARRATOR: Even more
alarming, Steve White

was a chemist by training
and taught chemistry

at the local high school.

As a final forensic test,
Dr. Merigian gave Phil Rouss

very specific instructions.

I told him, don't
cut your hair.

And then I would be able
to clip it and send it

to a laboratory for analysis.

NARRATOR: When someone
is exposed to poison,

it goes through the body
and is usually excreted,

but it also gets
deposited in the hair root

at the time of exposure.

When the hair grows
out, the shaft

becomes an historic record of
when the exposure took place.

When Phil's hair
grew longer, a strand

was sent for an ICP test, which
tests for 22 different metal

components at the same time.

Hair grows at a
pretty regulated rate.

And someone could
take a shaft of hair,

divide it into segments, and
determine what was present

a month ago, what
was present two

months ago depending
on that placement

on the original shaft.

NARRATOR: The hair was cut
into quarter inch pieces,

marked, then each piece was
placed in a separate vial,

mixed with acidified water,
and boiled for seven hours.

This cocktail was then
put through the ICP.

The test results were startling.

When Phil was in the
hospital, his hair

showed no exposure to poison.

But prior to that, when
Phil was living at home,

Dr. Merigian found traces
of another poison, mercury.

I believed that he
was ingesting it.

I didn't know who or why it
would be delivered to him,

but I had no doubt that he was
poisoned with heavy metals.

NARRATOR: State law
requires that police

be notified when any poison
is found in someone's system.

When the Bartlett
Police Department

learned of the poisoning
and the financial dispute

between Phil and his partner,
they took out a search warrant

to search Steve White's home.

I thought that at that time,
well, now we have something

to look into and we were
going to investigate

it as a criminal matter.

NARRATOR: In White's
backyard, in a storage shed,

they found a laboratory.

It kind of looked like a
little mini science lab,

like a chemistry lab.

A makeshift lab, you know?

There were several different
jars of unusual looking

powders, strange looking
like burner and things

like that that you would
see in a science lab.

NARRATOR: Leona White says
the reason her husband had

the lab was for their
children as a way

to interest them in science.

He would do things
like mix baking powder

and vinegar to make a volcano.

NARRATOR: But investigators
soon discovered

items in the shed that were
anything but child's play.

In a glass jar
labeled baking powder,

forensic scientists found
traces of mercury and arsenic.

The arsenic was a
special formulation

which won't be identified
here, except to say

it was odorless and tasteless.

Detective Bailey confronted
White with the lab results.

And he had told me that was
crazy, absurd, and ridiculous.

He said, there's no way
there's arsenic in that.

I'll tell you what,
bring it to me

and I'll drink every bit of it.

A few minutes
later, he had said,

if I was going to kill this guy,
I sure wouldn't use arsenic,

I'd do it with something
much quicker and lethal.

Everything in his
statement that he

gave to the police, a 21-page
rambling statement, was false.

And I'm not even sure if
Steve White is his real name.

NARRATOR: A search of the
car restoration office

produced an envelope
found hidden

behind the electrical panel.

Analysis of the
materials inside revealed

arsenic, antimony,
mercury, and lead,

each a highly toxic metal.

A forensic document examiner
compared the handwriting

on the envelope to known samples
of Steve White's and concluded

they were both similar.

Steve white.

Was arrested and charged
with the attempted

murder of Phil Rouss.

But important questions
remained-- how did the poisons

get into Phil Rouss' body?

Forensic toxicology proved
Phil Rouss had been poisoned

by heavy metals,
and similar poisons

were found in the home of his
business partner, Steve White.

But prosecutors didn't have
enough evidence to show

how Phil Rouss was poisoned.

We were never able
to prove conclusively

how he got these compounds
into Mr. Rouss' system.

We were able to prove that
he had ample opportunity.

NARRATOR: Phil Rouss recalled
a number of incidents

with Steve White marked
by unusual behavior.

Prior to his illness,
Phil and Steve were having

dinner at a local restaurant.

Not long after
placing their order,

White complained about
the poor service.

He got up and went
into the kitchen

and came back with Phil's
entree but not his own.

There was another incident
involving a bottle of wine.

Mr. White made a bottle
of wine, brought it

to Mr. Rouss insisting
that he drink all of it

and insisting that he get the
bottle back because he wanted

to give Mr. Rouss some more.

NARRATOR: And White would
often visit Phil at home

to share a cup of coffee
and talk about work.

But Phil said Steve
would frequently

ask Phil to get something
from another room,

leaving Steve alone
with the coffee.

Phil and Kemo Coelho
both recalled a time

when White offered to get
them hamburgers for lunch.

After eating these, they became
they both became very ill.

And they actually made a joke
about how they were never going

to send Steve White out
for food again because it's

going to make us sick again.

NARRATOR: When confronted
with the evidence,

Steve White denied
any involvement

with Phil's illness.

His lawyer claimed that the
accusations were circumstantial

and that there was no proof
White was in any way involved.

The defense also pointed out
that the lab results showed

only trace amounts of
the various heavy metals

in Rouss' body, but
never a lethal amount.

The prosecution claimed
this was intentional,

that Mr. White wanted
Phil to die slowly,

after a prolonged illness, so
there would be no suspicions.

I hate to say ideal,
but it actually

is the ideal way of trying to
harm someone because if you're

not focused or you're
not suspicious of it,

the physician won't see it.

The fact that there were
poisons found, the amount

of these poisons that it
would take to kill Mr. Rouss

was irrelevant.

The mere fact that
the defendant had

arsenic, antimony, lead,
mercury at his disposal

was the relevant fact.

NARRATOR: The prosecution
says the motive was money,

that Phil Rouss' death
would have enabled

White to get out of debt.

White had over $90,000 in credit
card debt, a substantial amount

for a public school teacher.

The prosecution subpoenaed
several waitresses

from the Bartlett area,
all attractive women

with the same story.

They said Steve White was
a very generous tipper.

In one instance,
for a $15 check,

White tipped the waitress $60.

A $100,000 life
insurance policy

could pay his way out of debt.

If Mr. Rouss had died, he
would also have inherited

100% of a small business.

NARRATOR: After a
week-long trial,

the jury found Steve White
guilty of first degree

attempted murder, theft,
and sales tax violations.

He was sentenced to
31 years in prison.

If it hadn't been for the heavy
metals test and Dr. Merigian

running all tests on my husband,
he would have been dead.

NARRATOR: His antique
automobile restoration

business is now closed.

To this day, White
maintains his innocence.

These people were our
friends for 14 years.

I mean we thought
they were our friends.

I couldn't believe that he had
made that charge against Steve.

I know Steve didn't do it.

NARRATOR: Phil still has
numbness in his extremities

and is unable to walk
due to nerve damage.

This guy that I know, he
was my business partner, he's

going to jail.

I don't know for a long time.

I don't know, I may be
crippled the rest of my life.

I said, two families
are devastated.

Who won today?

You tell me.

Tell me who won here today.

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