Killer Bods (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Fit for Murder - full transcript

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One has brawn
and good looks...

He was cut.

He just had
a massive physique.

The other,
a badge and a gun.

He prided himself on
the influence that he had.

He was the boss hogg
of jefferson county.

Together, they're
a force to be reckoned with.

For years, bill pagano
and tim todd

Had a father/son
type relationship.

But too much power
can corrupt.

You don't want your
18 year old daughter



Dating a man in his 30s.

I looked him straight
in the eye and I told him

You're an ass ****.

But he was loving her
while simultaneously plotting

To kill her.

And even the perfect body

Can't stop the perfect murder.

A body was lying
in a pool of blood

With a gunshot blast
to the face.

It doesn't matter
how much money you have,

Doesn't matter who you know,

You're not going to
get away with murder.

The 1980s
fitness craze

Transformed the lives
of americans.



As health clubs
sprung up across the nation,

Huffing and puffing gym goers
sweat it out in record numbers.

Pumping iron and aerobicizing
their way into

Smaller spandex outfits,

Shorter shorts, headbands,
leg warmers,

And high top sneakers.

Jack lalanne was big
in our home back then.

He served as a role model
for a lot of people.

And for those who
take fitness to the extreme,

The '80s also gives rise

To the world
of competitive bodybuilding.

For one young man
in middle america,

That world is exactly
where he wants to be.

Tim todd was obsessed
with bodybuilding

And always wanted to be
bigger and stronger.

When you look at tim todd,

6'7", 230 pounds, pure muscle,
snappy dresser,

Handsome, men would see a man
they would like to be,

And women would see a man
they would like to be with.

Many would say that

Tim todd
was the perfect specimen.

He was determined to build
his body and be strong.

Becoming fit was --
was in his mind all the time.

Tim todd was probably

The most muscular
and powerful man

Any person would ever meet
in their life.

For someone committed
to a life of fitness,

Tim todd's origins
seem almost mythic.

His story begins in a small
missouri town with a big name.

Tim grew up in herculaneum.

"hercules," "herculaneum,"

You know, whether anybody
ever called him hercules,

I don't know, but it fits.

With a population
of just 2,300,

Herculaneum is a place where,
even at a young age,

A standout like tim
leaves his mark.

He grew like a weed.

It was like looking up
to the empire state building,

Is how tall he was.

He was all-conference,
all-district, all-county,

And he was voted
most talented senior year,

As well as being voted
the most handsome.

Great personality,
very charismatic,

Had lots of friends.

It's an idyllic
upbringing...

Until tragedy strikes.

When he's 15 years
old lost his father

To a massive heart attack.

He was a cocky young teenager

And used to always challenge
his own father

To push-up competitions,

And wrestled around
with him a lot.

They were wrestling,
and a couple of days

Later he had a heart attack.

I think that blamed himself
a lot for that,

Like it was his fault --

Even though
it wasn't.

His father was young.

He was only in his 50s,

And ever
since then I think

Dad took on the mentality
that he was never going to die.

He was gonna stay young forever

And I think that really
was the impetus for him

Wanting to get really
into health and fitness.

After college,

Tim searches
for his place in the world --

And finds it practically
next door

In the small town
of festus, missouri,

Just five miles south of
where he was raised.

Festus was a up-and-coming,
progressive city

In jefferson county.

But still there was kind of
a small town feel,

You know,
most everybody knew everybody.

Just a nice place.

At the age of 21,

Tim todd
goes to work

For the festus police department

Where his commanding size
immediately leaves its mark.

On a guy who's 6'7" and weighs
240 pounds shows up,

And there is a fight
in progress,

It suddenly might stop.

Tim also makes a big
impression on his boss --

Someone with a key to opening
doors throughout the area --

Police chief bill pagano.

Chief pagano was larger
than life.

He smoked cigars.

He wasn't a big guy,

But he carried himself well.

You knew who the boss was.

He became the chief
of police of festus at age 27,

The youngest chief of police
in the state of missouri.

In jefferson county.

Bill was well known
and he was a fixture.

People knew he had money.

He was very charming.

And bill wanted to control
that county.

He prided himself
on the influence that he had

And even told a newspaper

That he had as much influence
as anybody in the county.

Bill pagano was the big frog
in the small pond.

He was the boss hogg
of jefferson county.

Tim todd admires
everything about his superior.

He wore very expensive suits.

He drove fancy cars,
wore fancy shoes,

Ate in the very
best restaurants,

Always had big wads of cash.

Tim thought the world
of bill pagano.

You know, when somebody
takes care of you,

You tend to have loyalty
and you respect him.

When bill pagano hired
tim todd,

I'm sure pagano thought,
"this guy is perfect" --

Big, powerful man,
who is intelligent, gregarious,

And could work with people.

Five years later,

When pagano spots
a lucrative business venture

In high-tech
private security work,

He takes his favorite
patrol officer along with him.

Bill put law enforcement
and private security together.

Scientific
security incorporation,

Or better known as ssi.

Immediately,
tim todd became

The chief of operations.

Bill pagano liked the idea

Of having somebody
is imposing as tim todd

Acting in his stead.

By the late 1980s,

Bill pagano and tim todd have
formed an unbreakable bond.

For years bill pagano
and tim todd

Had a father-and-son
type relationship.

Bill describes tim
as his best friend.

He loved him like a son.

Tim viewed bill as his new
father, his new best friend.

Tim hadn't ever had a one to
give him that kind of attention

Who had as much power

And as much money
as what bill pagano had.

In 1988, at age 31,

Tim todd
is living large

In more ways than one.

He's catapulted himself

Into the number-two position at
bill pagano's

Private security company,

And he's poised to make
more money

Than he ever thought possible.

Soon tim parlays
his newfound cache:

When a weightlifting gym
closes down on a local mall,

Tim creates for himself
a dream-come-true side job.

In 1988 he opened his own
fitness center --

Mid-america health
and racquetball club.

The square footage of that thing
was just enormous.

The gym was in
the mall, a great location.

There's not any competition,
there's not other gyms in town.

Great place to go workout,
it was a great atmosphere.

We could play racquetball
inside the gym.

So that was good cardio.

At this stage,
he was really growin'.

He was big, he was well formed,
he was cut,

And he just had
a massive physique.

Seemed like everything
was on top of the world.

Fitness and career

Were definitely
important goals for tim todd.

But there was something else
that had piqued his interest.

And that
"something else"

Is aerobics instructor
stephanie pagano --

Who happens to be the daughter
of his boss bill pagano.

Stephanie was petite,
somewhat athletic-looking,

A little bit bouncy.

She struck me
like a cheerleader.

Tim was always popular
with the ladies.

But he and stephanie had begun
what was a serious relationship.

The relationship between
tim todd and stephanie pagano

Began when stephanie
was 17 or 18 years old

And he was around 30
to 31 years old.

In missouri it's not illegal
for a 17 year old

To be having a relationship
with a 30 year old.

Tim is very much
in love with stephanie

He writes her love letters.

They sound like
an 18 year old boy

Writing to another
18 year old girl.

And it's crazy to think
that the pagano family

Would ever condone this.

She's young,
she's inexperience, she's naive.

But dad said
it was fine with him.

In fact the bond
between bill, tim, and stephanie

Grows even stronger.

This relationship
with stephanie is grand for tim.

He's dating the boss's daughter,

The boss is crazy after him,

Stephanie's crazy after him --

But there's only
little problem...

He's married he has two kids.

Before tim todd begins
an adulterous affair

With his boss's daughter,
17 year old stephanie pagano,

He's living the american dream.

It all starts in 1973
with his high school sweetheart

Patti winfrey.

So my mom and dad
would have been

Roughly 17 years old
when they started dating.

Dad was always a flirt,
and mom would talk about

How he would always
make comments about her legs

And she'd always get
embarrassed,

And he would enjoy teasing her
a little bit about that.

Mom was probably
attracted to him,

And I know
he was attracted to mom,

But I don't think it was
this instantaneous,

"wow, that's the one for me."

I don't think it was that.

They were really a pair
for each other.

She was pretty
and he was handsome,

And once they hit it off
they were always together.

There's actually a picture
in my parents' senior yearbook

Where they were voted
most handsome and prettiest,

And they're sitting on a bench
there at the high school.

And I'm actually
in their yearbook.

My mom is roughly three months
pregnant at that point.

Tim and patti take on

The sudden
harsh realities of parenthood.

I'm sure they were
scared kids at that time,

But they decided

That they wanted to be married
and start a young family.

In 1978 they set down
roots in festus, missouri --

35 miles due south of st. Louis.

It probably was
a little harder for mom.

You know, dad was kind of
pursuing everything

That he wanted to do,

And she was supportive of that,

But she was also
the one at home,

Making sure that we were fed
and we had clean clothes,

And the house was clean,
and that sort of thing.

My father became
a police officer --

Not so much as a dream
to be a police officer,

But it was more of a way
for him to support his family

And to give a steady
living for his family.

In a matter of
eight years

That all changes.

By 1988 tim todd's career
in private security

And as a gym owner is soaring.

And the todd family appears

To be living
a picture-perfect life.

He is an american
success story

Who married his
high school sweetheart,

Had a happy marriage,
was the father of two children,

And it looked like he was living
the american dream.

But he was actually
more complicated than that.

Tim is juggling
an ongoing affair

With stephanie pagano,

An aerobics instructor
at his fitness club

Who also works alongside him

At her father's
private security firm.

Try as they might,

Their affair isn't a secret.

It was kind of like one
of those taboo things

And you just
didn't talk about it.

Everybody in town knew
about the affair,

And patti was suspecting it at
that point time.

There was a point when
my mom confronted my dad

About having an affair
with stephanie,

And he admitted to it.

And my mom had him
come into the kitchen

And bring the kids in
and tell us what was going on.

I said, "dad, I've already known
this had been going on."

I remember being
in my dad's office

And stephanie's sitting
on the corner of my dad's desk,

And them being very flirtatious
with one another --

With bill there as well.

At that point he actually
was going to break it off

With stephanie --
that's what he had told us.

Tim's ongoing affair
with stephanie

Is a painful cycle
of separations

And reconciliations for patti.

Patti said that
they fought over stephanie

On more than one occasion.

He wasn't really good at
hiding things.

It went on
for quite a while.

Stephanie definitely put
a lot of pressure on dad

To continue the relationship.

She was very much infatuated,

And might say obsessed,
with my dad.

Some of my dad's friends would
tell me they'd be working out

And the phone would be
ringing off the hook.

And it was stephanie trying
to get a hold of him.

He can't continue
to be the boyfriend

And married with two kids.

And there's pressure
from bill

And there's pressure
from stephanie for him

To get a divorce.

Pagano was going around
telling people

What tim was going
to be a son-in-law.

Pagano was putting
real pressure on tim

To marry stephanie.

He has to make a decision.

According to bill pagano,

Tim todd wanted his wife dead.

That he didn't want
to just divorce her,

He wanted her dead.

And tim todd had said,

"I want you to help me find
the hit man."

And he wanted then to raise
the children

By himself.

Being the owner
of a security firm

And privy to all types
of private conversations.

Bill secretly records
all his meetings and calls.

He's not only
going to get rid of his wife,

But he's going to make
lots of money from it.

He had a life insurance policy
on her

For $100,000
and if she would die --

And if it looked like
an accident,

He would collect $200,000.

Two former lawmen
on the wrong side of the law

Are proposing the unthinkable,

And hanging in the balance
is patti todd's life.

In the spring of 1990,

Tim todd's marriage to patti,
his wife of 15 years,

Is reaching a boiling point

Over tim's ongoing affair
with stephanie pagano.

Mom found out that
he was still seeing stephanie.

And she blew up.

She left the house
after the argument.

And it was just me and dad
in the kitchen.

I looked him straight in the eye
and I told him,

"you're an ass ****."

It just cannot continue,

This level of drama stress,
and tension --

Something's gonna break.

Tim promises his wife patti

That he's ending his affair.

At the same time,
he's formulating a plan

With his
trusted adviser bill pagano

To kill her.

What tim doesn't know
is that bill

Is secretly recording
their meetings

And phone calls...

Most people would have
called the police,

Or they would have called
the spouse

And they would have told
the person, no, can't do that.

That's crazy.

But instead,
they're having a discussion

About killing patti
and getting a hit man.

A bank teller
at one of the local banks

Remembered that,
on a Saturday,

Tim todd came in and withdrew
$5,000 in cash.

Tim todd actually gave that
$5,000 to pagano

To actually pay to the hit man.

Stephanie is tired
of waiting for tim

To be free of patti,

But bill pagano says,
once patti is dead,

He's going to make the lovebirds
wait to be together.

In mid-March 1990,

They discuss when and where
the murder will occur.

There was a bodybuilding
competition coming up

In cape girardeau
at the end of the month --

That competition
was going to be his alibi,

And he was going to leave
patti behind,

And that's when
she could be killed.

How the hitman
will kill patti

Has yet to be decided.

Both men know that, if it
looks like an accident,

Insurance will pay double.

There were certain ways that
they discussed,

Ways to go about it.

They also discuss
using equipment

At the gym to aid in her demise.

Lock her in a tanning bed

And literally burning her to
death, I guess.

Bill pagano says he'll
meet with the hitman

To hand off the down payment.

It is the final step
in the plot to kill patti.

On March 26, 1990,

Plans to kill tim todd's wife
take a drastic turn.

A call came in to

The jefferson county
sheriff's department.

There was a dead body
in a garage.

When the sheriff's
deputies arrive

At the address provided,

They instantly
recognized the home

As the residence of
former police chief bill pagano.

They found a gruesome scene

Where a body was lying
in a pool of blood

With a gunshot blast
to the face.

Nothing about this
scene lines up

With what tim and bill
secretly discussed

While scheming the murder
of tim's wife patti todd.

Least of all, the dead person
in the garage --

It's not patti.

The body is that of tim todd,

Pagano's longtime protege.

The circumstances are not
apparently clear

At the beginning.

You have a wife
and you have a girlfriend.

Who is the shooter?

Could one or the other
have killed him?

Investigators can never
rule out the spouse,

Particularly when
the relationship was turbulent

As it had been between tim todd
and patti todd.

For tim's wife patti,

Spousal abuse and neglect
could be a motive.

While investigators
scrutinize her,

They also question
his girlfriend stephanie pagano.

Stephanie's
relationship with tim

Is not the fairy tale story
any longer.

The sexual relationship's
not working.

He's not being there
when she needs him.

And there is this divorce
that's still hanging over --

Is he gonna get a divorce,

Is he not going
to get a divorce?

Several witnesses
report that, on March 25,

The day before tim's death,

Stephanie pulled tim
out of the gym.

A witness had seen
stephanie pagano

Poking tim todd
in the chest

And screaming at him,

And they had seen him
yelling back.

Well, it clearly appeared
that stephanie

Was the aggressor
in the argument,

And tim was on the defense.

It was obvious that this was
an ultimatum moment

In their relationship.

Neither stephanie
nor patti

Are on the hook for long.

Later that day the person who
pulled the trigger steps forward

With an admission
that stuns everyone.

Bill pagano
tells the sheriff,

"I had to kill his ass."

The people who knew
tim todd and bill pagano,

Including the sheriff himself,
were shocked that it was pagano

That actually shot tim todd,
who was like a son to him.

Bill pagano confesses
that he's responsible

For the death of tim todd,

But is emphatic
it wasn't murder.

Bill claims that tim's death
is the tragic end

To a series of events
that began a few weeks earlier,

When tim came to him
with a dangerous proposition.

Pagano had revealed

That he had made secret
tape recordings of tim todd

In which they discussed
hiring a hit man.

Todd was not in his right mind,

That he had been using
a lot of steroids

In preparation
for a bodybuilding contest,

And that he was making
threats against his wife.

Bill said that his strategy was
to play along with tim's plans

So that he could get tim

Confined in
a mental health facility

So that he couldn't
follow through

On this plot
on patti,

And that if tim wouldn't
allow that to happen,

Then he would arrest him
and charge him with conspiracy

To murder his wife.

Pagano said that he had
recorded these conversations

In case anything
ever went to court,

But also in case he ended up
being killed by tim todd.

Pagano tells investigators

That he invited tim to his house

Under the ruse of a secret
meeting with the hitman

Where he could hand off
a reference photo of patti.

The former police chief
explains how,

Despite his good intentions,

Things went terribly wrong --

That he was unable to make
a citizen's arrest,

So he shot
and killed tim in self-defense.

He confronted todd
with a shotgun

And asked him to go peaceably
to a mental health facility.

Todd goes berserk
and spins around,

And is diving for cover,
and pagano tells the sheriff

He's afraid that tim
is gonna come up with a gun.

Bill pagano said,
"I was in fear for my life,"

And that, "I shot him twice."

Multiple officers said
that bill pagano was weeping,

That he was upset
and distraught.

Evidence at the crime scene

Supports bill's claim

That tim intended to follow
through with his murderous plan.

According to pagano,
tim todd had brought along

With him that photograph
of tim and patti todd

Because that picture is going
to be given to the hit man,

So the hit man would know
he's killing the right person.

And more evidence
that backs up pagano story.

They found a handgun,
a revolver,

Lying on the garage floor
next to tim todd.

The location of tim's body

Near the back of a parked car

Further corroborates
pagano's description

Of what transpired
inside the garage.

It seemed quite likely

That it was self-defense.

The sheriff reaches
the same conclusion...

But hours later,
when tim todd's body

Is being removed from
the crime scene,

The medical examiner
makes a shocking discovery.

And they're moving his body,

And you see
the back of his head.

It's not an exit wound --
this is an entry wound.

It's an entry wound
to the back of the head.

The shot to the face couldn't
have been the first wound.

Once all the evidence
was put together,

The first shot
was to the back of the head,

And the second shot
was to the face

As he was lying there
on the ground.

How in the hell
is this self-defense?

We don't have a man
with a weapon in his hand.

We don't have a man who's
shooting at bill pagano.

We have a man
who is fleeing from him.

Pagano's story was not
adding up.

But the medical
examiner's conclusion

Meant that the case had to be
examined as a possible homicide.

33 year old tim todd is dead,

And bill pagano, his mentor
and father figure,

Claims the shooting
was an act of self-defense.

Bill pagano's claim
was that he was trying

To make an arrest of tim todd
all by himself

So that he could take tim todd
into custody

And take him
for mental health treatment.

It was significant that
there were no handcuffs

There at the scene.

So how this short, fat man
was going to keep

This tall, powerful man
in custody all by himself

Was a bit of a question.

Investigators
discovered that the gun found

Lying next to tim
isn't exactly smoking.

Pagano had gave
the impression

That todd was pulling that gun.

Later he admitted he'd never
actually seen tim pull it.

Turned out there were
no fingerprints on the weapon

And it had not been discharged.

Investigators are also
troubled by evidence

That isn't found
at the crime scene.

After he'd made all these
secret recordings

Of conversations with tim

Regarding a hit man
and so forth,

There was no recording made
that day in the garage.

If you're talking to
tim todd about getting a hit man

And you've recorded
every conversation,

On the day you kill him,

Why didn't you have
that tape recorder going?

After pagano's many
secret recordings come to light,

The sheriff is astounded by yet
another version of the story

From tim todd's wife.

Patti todd
believed that bill pagano

Was pressuring tim
to marry stephanie.

November he's
telling her that,

"patti, I don't want to
divorce you,

But if I don't,
bill's going to kill me."

Tim todd told patti

On the last day
of his life that,

"bill pagano has told me

He's going to kill me
if I don't marry stephanie."

She believes that tim
was just playing along

With this whole idea

And that eventually they were
going to get away from pagano

And start a new life
somewhere else.

Witnesses report
that tempers flared

Between bill and tim

Less than 24 hours
before tim's death --

The same day stephanie and tim
fought outside the gym.

A 12 year old girl saw
pagano and tim todd

In a heated argument.

Pagano is using profanity,

Was taking his finger

And pointing it
in tim todd's chest,

And the girl said that
tim todd's demeanor

Was calm and quiet

As this irate older man
was poking him in the chest

And screaming obscenities
at him.

And finally tim todd shrugged

And said,
"well, she's a grown woman."

Pagano screamed,
"it has got to stop.

It has
got to stop."

I feel like pagano
had a sense

That he was losing control.

It could be that
bill pagano

Was furious with tim todd
for breaking stephanie's heart,

And that he wanted tim todd

To go ahead
and become his son in law

Like he told everybody
publicly was going to happen,

Or it could have been
that he was tired of tim todd

Having the affair
with his young daughter

And that he wanted tim todd
to stay away from her.

As other details surface,

A stark contrast emerges

Between bill pagano's
shiny public image

And his less-than-flattering
private reality.

Bill pagano was well known.

He was liked and he was feared;

Was a master politician
who used his job as police chief

To know just the right touches
to use

To have people under his thumb,

To have them owe him favors,
to have them want to please him.

People called me from
out of the woodwork

About bill pagano,
saying, "he's dangerous.

You need to be very careful.
He's a very dangerous man."

He was very
volatile, explosive,

So he had that reputation.

As the case against
bill pagano picks up steam,

Investigators uncovered
damning evidence

Pointing to another
possible motive.

It was revealed that his
company had taken out

A series of life insurance
policies on tim todd

Worth a total of $1.5 million,

Payable on the death of that
employee to the company --

And pagano, of course,

Was the sole stockholder
in the company.

That's 1.5 million reasons
that pagano

Might have wanted him dead.

This discovery leads
investigators to the truth

That bill pagano
wanted tim todd dead.

In April 1990, bill pagano
is arrested and charged

With first degree murder

And armed criminal action.

It was a huge story.

Not a lot makes the news
from festus.

Fair to say that they had
never seen so many reporters

And so much national attention.

A lot of people
had differing opinions;

A lot of people around festus
didn't think that he did it.

The four week murder
trial ends in October 1991.

The jury found
william nick pagano

Guilty of second-degree murder
for knowingly killing tim todd.

I was surprised when
the jury came back

With the verdict
of second-degree murder

Instead of first-degree murder.

First-degree
implied premeditation,

And, I mean, it took
a lot of foresight

And intricate planning.

William pagano
is sentenced

To 23 years behind bars.

The sentencing that
bill pagano received,

In my view,
wasn't anywhere stiff enough.

I'm losing my dad
for a lifetime,

And he will be in and out of
prison within 23 years,

And still be a man that can
go about

Living his life afterwards.

Adding insult to injury,

Pagano was granted bail

Allowing him to live
in his own home

While his case is
brought up on appeals.

And when it was known
that he would still be

Out and about after being
convicted of murder,

People were stunned.

As he waits for
an appellate court

To review his case,

Bill pagano remains a free man
for three years.

But pagano's conviction
is upheld,

And he is ordered to prison
in 1994.

Law enforcement
showed up

Immediately at his house.

Bill met them at the door

And said,
"fellas, wait here for me.

I'll be right with you."

"may I go change my clothes?"

And the officer said yes.

He then went in another room,
grabbed a gun,

And shot himself in the head.

I had to forgive
bill pagano --

And forgive my dad

For the situation
that he put himself in,

And put us in.

It took years.
It wasn't an easy process.

He wasn't a monster.

There was a whole other side
to him that was amazing.

Amazing.

There was never a question
whether or not he loved us.

We knew beyond a shadow of doubt
that that man loved us.

My dad was an imperfect man.

Made a lot of mistakes.

Made some bad choices.

But those bad choices

Aren't the man that he is --
or was.

He loved big.

And I'm still proud --
proud to call him dad.

My mom is doing...

She's doing well.
She's a very strong woman.

She obviously
went through hell.

Her marriage was rocky.
She loved dad.

It's maybe odd to say this,

Because my dad
wasn't faithful all the time,

But I know dad loved mom too.

She's a happy grandmother.

Money and political
connections allowed bill pagano

To accomplish
anything he wanted to accomplish

In jefferson county
through most of his life.

And what this case shows

Is that it doesn't matter
who you are,

It doesn't matter how much money
you have,

It doesn't matter
who you know:

You're not going
to get away with murder.