Murder Loves Company (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Killer Coverup - full transcript

[ Bird squawking ]

[ Wind whistling,
branches creaking ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

[ Bird squawking ]

Narrator:
On a remote mountain,

miles from civilization,

a tight-knit team
must work together.

The possibility
for things to go bad

is very, very high.

Out in the wilderness,
where they were,

they used whatever safety
precautions they needed.



The only thing
they can't prepare for

[ suspenseful chord strikes ]
Is each other.

[ Eerie sting plays ]

Ertz: I was like, "what the
hell did you just do?"

Noble: There was no accident.
[ Glass shatters ]

There's no way.

Narrator:
Someone will become a victim.

You don't know if
whoever did something

is coming after you next.

[ Camera shutter clicking ]

[ Suspenseful
music climbs ]

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]
Someone

will become a killer.

[ Eerie music plays ]



[ Gunshot ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

[ Bird squawking ]

Tucked deep in the
California mountains

sits the Kern river valley

and high above,
in the sierras,

is a secluded ski resort.

It's one road traveling
through the mountain

and you basically take a turn
and it heads to the ski resort.

[ Metal creaking ]

Alta Sierra ski resort,
it only has a few runs.

It's kinda small, but it is
very busy when you do have snow.

But it had been dry,
so they weren't able to open,

but this still had
to be maintained.

Di Grazia:
They had a group of people
that were working up there.

They were a tight-knit group.

They were maintaining it,

kinda getting it ready
for some snow,

then for families to come up
and enjoy themselves.

[ Wood creaking ]

[ Thud ]
[ Wings fluttering rapidly ]

Narrator:
Then, on a Saturday morning,
in October 2015,

the five-member team loses their
only means of communication.

A tree had fallen and, now,
there's no phone service

and you have to travel
a fairly good distance

in order to cellphone service.

[ Wind whistling ]

Bobbie:
All right, listen up.

I'm sure you all saw that tree
in the driveway on the way in.

That's our priority.

Robbins: Bobbie was the
supervisor of the group.

He was the boss who called the
shots of the maintenance crew.

Tommy, we'll have you
take the lead with the saw.

Joan, we'll have you work.
["Joanne"]

Joan was dating Tommy
and Tommy had lived with her

and they seemed to have
a fairly lengthy relationship,

a committed relationship,
and they were, you know, adults,

but still kinda
makin' their way.

Carl, why don't you help
'em out with the winch.

Carl was a new employee
to the ski resort

and he was hired on to help and
assist with maintenance, also.

Nick, why don't you
help me out today?

I've got some stuff
I wanna show ya.

And then you had Nick,
a high-school kid

who's just tryin' to earn
a few bucks on the side.

- Wanna section it up?
- Yeah. You guys work over there.

The tree that had fallen,
they had to cut it up

and move it out of there.

Nick, let's see
what you got.

Bobbie, I've only
used this once.

That's all right.

There you go.

They were working with power
tools and things like that

and there's not
a hospital nearby.

It's not like Tahoe,
where you've got

a nice, resort area near there.

They were out there
on their own.

They had to rely on each other

to work and be successful
up there.

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Narrator: By early afternoon,
the tree is clear.

It's all the team can do
until the phone company arrives,

and that may take days.

Want me
to get the tools?

Yeah, clean up
after yourselves.

How about you and me
go do some shootin'?

Meyer:
Bobbie liked to hunt a lot

and he decided to take Tommy
with him hunting.

Tommy looked up to Bobbie.

They spent a lot
of time together...

Get some grouse,
maybe some quail?

...and he was kind of
a father figure to Tommy.

Bobbie considered Tommy
very close to him

and they would typically
go hunting by themselves.

Meyer:
While they went off hunting,
Joan was at the resort,

maintaining the skis,
that type of thing,

and Nick and Carl
decided to go up

to the very top
of the ski lift.

Carl had never been up
to the very top of the mountain.

Narrator: Carl, a divorced
father of two teenagers,

is the crew's elder statesman

and he treats the youngest,
Nick, like his son.

The mountain offers
something special

for everyone
on the Alta vista team.

But, in just a few short hours,

this resort will become
the epicenter

for a terrifying mystery,

one that will change
their lives forever.

[ Bird squawks ]

After a weekend away,
Carl Woolwine's ex-wife,

along with one
of his two children,

are driving home on the lone
access road over the mountain.

That weekend, my daughter
Amber and I were outta town

and my son John was going
a friend's house

while Carl was working
over the weekend.

We were traveling home
that Sunday evening.

We were traveling
over highway 155,

through Alta Sierra
and down into Wofford heights

and that's the only way
down the mountain.

And it was about 10 pm
and my daughter Amber

saw somethin' unusual
on the side of the road.

Amber said, "hey, mom,
that looks like dad's Van."

So I slowed down and she said,
"that is dad's Van".

Amber jumped out of the pickup
and she went over there.

It was unlocked.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

And she said,
"the keys are in here.

Everything's in here."

We tried calling him...

[ Ring ]
Okay. It's going
through this time.

...but there was no answer.

[ Beep ]
Hey, you've reached Carl.

Leave a message
and I'll get back to you.

- Hey, John. It's your mom.
- Narrator: For Lynette,

the concern is doubled

because their son
is supposed to be with him.

Weller: Our son, he was going
to a friend's house

and then he was gonna stay
the weekend with Carl.

Narrator: At first,
Lynette tries to rationalize

the roadside find.

It wasn't uncommon
for that Van to break down.

He was having some
[Laughs] mechanical issues

so we weren't really
surprised to see it

on the side of the road.

We figured maybe he broke down
on his way home from work.

Narrator: Within an hour,
she finds her son John

safe and sound at her house.

John did try to call his dad,
and left messages,

but he never really thought
much of it, you know?

So he just had
his friend's parents

take him back to my house.

It's gonna be okay.
Let's just go check...

But it wasn't like Carl
to not return calls

or pay attention
to where his kids were.

He was very attentive that way.

That's when I just
really became concerned.

So we went to Carl's house,
not knowing what to expect,

and so I went in alone.

[ Wind whistling ]

[ Suspenseful music
intensifies ]

I was afraid.

[ Click ]

[ Water dripping ]

[ Sinister music plays ]

Carl?

[ Floorboards creaking ]

Nothing looked out of place.

[ Eerie sting joins ]

Carl?

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator: Now, there is no
question in Lynette's mind

something horrible must've
taken place on that mountain.

Di Grazia: It's desolate.

I mean, you could really get
away with murder out there.

Narrator:
But what happened?

[ Eerie sting joins ]

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]
Answers will be hard to come by.

I remember seeing his leg
just moving nonstop...

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

...which told me
he was very nervous.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

[ Bird squawking ]

Narrator:
The moment Lynette Weller found

her ex-husband Carl's
abandoned Van...

[ Wind whistling ]

...she knew
something was wrong.

But after an almost two-hour
search comes up empty,

her concern has morphed

[ suspenseful music climbs ]
Into an intense fear.

[ Bird squawking ]

It wasn't like Carl
to not return calls.

So it was horrible because,
not knowing what happened,

you know, was it an arrest
or an accident?

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

I mean, when somethin'
like this happens,

you never know what to expect.

Narrator:
Lynette then remembers

she knows someone
in a position to help.

Hey, it's Lynette.

Weller:
My niece used to work

at the Alta Sierra
ski resort.

So I call her, to get
a hold of Carl's boss.

She said, "yeah, I'll give him
a call and have him call you."

So, within a few minutes,

I did receive a phone call
from Bobbie Rhynes.

[ Ring, beep ]

Hello.

Hey, Lynette. It's Bobbie,
calling you back?

Hey, yeah, Bobbie,
have you seen Carl?

We've been looking
for him.

No.

No, I haven't seen him
since Saturday.

He said he was gonna be
hanging with John,

though, so.

Okay.

And I said, "well,
I am gonna be calling

and filing
a missing-persons report.

Is it okay with you if I give
the sheriff's department

your name and phone number?

'Cause they may wanna
talk to you."

Yeah, totally, uh.

Yeah, anything
I can do to help.

Okay.
Thanks, Bobbie.

He seemed very compassionate
and concerned.

Really hope
you find him.

Thanks.
Me, too.

It is such a small community,

kinda everyone knew
each other in passing,

and Bobbie was known
as that person that was a guy

who would go and fix something
if you called on him to fix it.

- Bye.
- And so they knew they had

Bobbie's support
to help them find their dad.

Narrator:
Lynette's mind starts racing.

Could Carl's good nature
have put him in danger?

[ Melancholy tune plays ]
Carl was openly friendly,

always joking, laughing,
just always...

He always had a good time,
no matter what was goin' on.

He could strike up
a conversation

with anybody, about anything,
and we became good friends,

right off the bat,
and that just grew, so.

Logsdon: Carl always pitched in
and helped.

If anybody was broken down
along the road, he'd been there.

He knew what that was like.
He stopped,

just because he was
that type of guy.

Narrator:
By Monday morning,

it had been 36 hours
since Carl was last seen,

long enough for local police
to take Lynette's reporting

of his disappearance
very seriously.

We located Carl's Van
about a mile or two

away from the ski resort.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]
[ Camera shutter clicking ]

It was empty.

We didn't find much in it.

You go around the area,
you photograph all

of the shoe tracks
that you can find

so that, if you need
to eliminate someone

or confirm a shoe track
later on, you have that.

There were some tire tracks that
were pretty close to the Van,

on the side of it.

We seized the vehicle,
towed it back

to our headquarters,
and had it processed.

Detectives conducted a door-
to-door search on the mountain.

Heard anything
on Saturday night?

Basically,
a neighborhood canvass,

to see if anyone had heard
anything, had seen anything,

if anyone maybe had video
surveillance on their home

that could've possibly picked up
some of this activity.

- No?
- No, so.

And nothing was found.

There were no witnesses,
no video footage.

No one saw or heard anything.

I suppose not many ex-wives
would be the first one

to file a missing-persons
[Laughing] report,

if their ex-husband
went missing.

I mean, [sniffle] They
might be the first suspect

on the list, actually.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Mckillop: Carl had separated
from Lynette.

They share the children
and they would, you know,

communicate back and forth
about events.

They seemed to have
a very good relationship,

for people
that are divorced.

She was genuinely concerned
about Carl's disappearance.

[ Eerie music joins ]

Narrator:
Investigators next turn
their eyes up the mountain,

to the resort where Carl worked.

They had suspicion
and cause to go

to the ski resort
and to investigate.

Narrator: The five-person
maintenance crew's

working and living conditions

are testing
at the best of times.

Mckillop:
It's very cold and windy there,
much colder than it would be,

of course,
'cause you're elevated.

It's very dark.

[ Wind whistling ]

The sleeping conditions
in the cabin...

It had a couple bedrooms,

but they just would crash
there for the weekend.

Better conditions than camping,
but not a luxury hotel, either.

[ Suspenseful music
intensifies ]

[ Clack ]

[ Clattering ]

[ Gunshot ]

[ Clack ]

They would all get together
and shoot guns.

[ Gunshot ]

[ Sigh ]

They had like a little
target range.

[ Laughing ]

There was beer bottles,
things like that,

that they would shoot at.

[ Gunshot ]

So it wasn't unusual that
anyone had guns up there.

[ Gunshot ]

Narrator:
Could the close quarters
and access to guns

have led to an unforgivable
offense?

All evidence suggests Bobbie,

Tommy,

Joan,

and Nick

are the last people to see Carl
before he disappeared.

Bobbie's position at the resort
was the general manager.

He would oversee
all the employees

who worked for the resort,
so we spoke with him.

Up there
at the ski resort,

who works up there
with you?

Detective Meyer started asking,
"how long have they

worked there,
how well do you know them?"

Well, Tommy's been there
the longest.

He and I are buds.

Joan came on a little bit
after that.

The three of us
all kinda hang out.

And then, the other two
are pretty new.

Nick's just a kid,
and then there's Carl.

He just started out.

Mckillop: Bobbie said he arrived
about 8:30 in the morning.

And Tommy, Joan,
and Nick arrived

at the resort about 10:30

and then Carl showed up
about 11:00 am.

Carl.

All right,
let's get at it.

Narrator: Bobbie says the group
then grabbed the chain-saws

and dealt with the tree that
took out the ski lodge's phone.

Do you have a firearm
in the house right now?

Yes.

Do you mind if we take
a look at that firearm?

Mckillop: Bobbie said the last
time he saw Carl

was at 4:00 pm on Saturday,

that Carl
left the ski resort

and was not scheduled
to work on Sunday.

He said he didn't know
what happened.

He didn't know where Carl was.

Bobbie: Fully licensed
and registered.

Appreciate it.

Narrator: Bobbie claims the guns
are for target practice

and protection at their
remote location.

[ Gunshot ]

[ Clack ]

[ Gunshot ]

Tommy, you know,

he was looking up to Bobbie,

so Tommy would
also carry a gun.

They both always carried a gun
when they were up there.

[ Gunshot ]

[ Sinister music plays ]

Narrator: To verify Bobbie's
story, they speak to Tommy,

at the house
he shares with Joan.

Robbins:
There was a .40-caliber

Smith & Wesson
semiautomatic pistol

that was found under a pillow
in Tommy's bedroom.

There's a lot of better
places to hide one.

That would indicate to me

that he wanted to have
quick access to that pistol.

[ Sinister chord strikes ]

The gun was retrieved
from Tommy's house

and it was sent to the lab.

Narrator:
Next, detectives turn to the
only woman on the mountain.

Meyer: Joan was very vague
with her interview.

She didn't want to get
into detail about the weekend.

I told her
that we were conducting

a missing-person investigation
and asked her if she knew why

somebody would want Carl dead
and she said she did not know

why anybody would want
to hurt Carl.

Carl left and that
was it. I mean...

About what time
did he leave?

Pretty early.
I'm not really sure.

Joan told us that the last
time she saw Carl was

at about 5:30 or 6:00
on Saturday evening

and that everyone
was getting along fine.

Narrator: The final person
detectives need to question

[ suspenseful chord strikes ]
Is Nick.

Robbins: Nick seemed to be
the outlier.

He was much younger
than everyone else.

Narrator: But, when the teenager
comes forward...

...he comes right out
with an unbelievable story.

[ Gunshot ]

Meyer:
It was kinda strange.

You're thinking,
"this might not be true."

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

[ High-pitched tone joins ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator:
It's been over 36 hours

since someone has seen
Carl Woolwine.

His family fears
something terrible took place

in the mountains high above
Wofford heights, California.

It was horrible,
not knowing what happened.

Was he deceased
or was he missing?

[Crying] Whoever
did this has no idea

[sniffle]
How many lives this affects.

[ Sniffle ]

We were running out of time
and we wanted to try

and give closure to the family,
but, we still had to find Carl.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]
[ Squawking ]

Narrator: That's when Nick,
Carl's youngest coworker,

comes forward
with a story to tell.

So, at that time,
I was told Nick drove Carl

up to the top of the mountain

and, once they arrived
at the top of the mountain,

Nick had a chance
to show Carl around.

Narrator: Nick claims, after
a short conversation...

Come on.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

- Come on.
- ...The two drive back

down the mountain.

Carl returns to work,

while Nick joins
the others for lunch.

They were just havin'
a good time, drinking beers,

havin' normal discussions,

and Nicholas thought
everything was okay.

At that point in time,
during that discussion,

Carl was up at the shop
working on one of the sno-cats.

Narrator: According to Nick,
around this time,

the group starts
bad-mouthing Carl.

Nick didn't like
what he was hearing,

so, he said, "I'm sick,"
and he goes in the bathroom.

Narrator:
While in the bathroom,

Nick hears a single gunshot.

[ Gunshot ]

[ Water running ]

[ High-pitched tone plays ]

Immediately, he assumes
someone in the group

turned their anger on Carl.

[ Water continues running ]

Nicholas was beside himself.

Nicholas didn't know
what to do.

His first instinct is
to get outta there.

So he goes and he grabs his
stuff and he started taking off.

In speaking with Nick,
the story was a bit farfetched.

I at first thought
he might've been

makin' up part of the story.

You're thinking,
"this might not be true."

Narrator:
But Nick's statement does

officially turn
Carl Woolwine's disappearance

into a murder investigation...

Okay. Ready?

...and search warrants
are issued

on everybody from the resort.

These are
our two suspects.

We had a homicide investigation
that was involving a gun.

Entry points...
Front door here.

Tactical entry points...

Windows here, here,
here, and here.

Where there's one gun,
there's always two or three.

The safest way to do it is

to have the S.W.A.T. Team
execute the search warrant.

Narrator: Quietly,
the unit moves into position

around Tommy and Joan's house.

[ Radio chatter ]

The possibility for things
to go bad is very, very high.

Tommy ertz,

Joan noble,

we have a warrant
to search your house.

Come out
with your hands up.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

[ Lock clicks ]

Man over radio:
Need the helicopter.

Helicopter assist to remove.

[ Static crackles ]

[ Helicopter rotors whirring ]

Narrator:
At the same time,

another S.W.A.T. Team arrives
at boss Bobbie rhynes'S house.

All three persons of interest
are taken into custody.

So, when we initially
spoke with Nick,

he provided us
a clothing description

of what everybody was wearing
during the incident

and so,
at that point in time,

we're looking
for specific clothing,

hoping that we find
some sort of trace evidence,

DNA or blood, on 'em.

[ Camera shutter clicking ]

Narrator:
Along with boots and clothing

they believe the group
was wearing on the mountain,

authorities recover something
far more interesting.

At Tommy's house,
we located

eight spent 9-millimeter
shell casings,

which was odd because he
had a .45 handgun,

not a 9-millimeter.

I'm not sure why he would have

those spent shell
casings with him.

So after the S.W.A.T. Team
hit Tommy'S house,

they had a chance to send
some investigators over there

to search Bobbie's house.

Located multiple firearms
inside of a safe.

Narrator: The suspects are taken
to the station,

where detectives Robbins
and Meyer settle in

for a long night
of interrogations.

You have to push him
a little bit.

You have to see if he's going
to stick with that story

or if a little bit of pressure

will make the whole
truth come out.

Okay.

Narrator: With Bobbie repeating
his story

that Carl left
the ski resort alive,

they move one room over
to speak with Tommy ertz,

boyfriend to Joan.

[ Door creaking ]

I wasn't buyin' it.

His level of nervousness
was obvious.

It was increasing.

I remember seeing his leg
just moving nonstop,

which told me
he was very nervous.

Narrator: Like Tommy,
Bobbie denies any wrongdoing.

This brings detectives
to his girlfriend, Joan noble.

Meyer:
She failed to mention that,
obviously, there was a shooting.

I could tell, with her
nonverbal communication,

she was not being truthful.

She'd tend to look around
the room a bit, pause,

and that let you know that
there's a little something else

that she's not telling you.

I would venture to guess
that Tommy and Joan

had some sort of conversations
about what they would say

if they were confronted
by law enforcement

about what happened.

Narrator: As long as these three
remain quiet,

there is no proof
Nick is speaking the truth.

Believing he is,

it's up to detectives
to get one of them to crack.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator:
It's been more than two days

since anyone has seen
or heard from Carl Woolwine.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

[ Gunshot ]
According to his coworker Nick,

that's because he is dead.

And that's why Tommy ertz,

Joan noble,

and Bobbie Rhynes
are sitting in separate

Kern county sheriff's
interrogation rooms.

[ Door creaking ]

Though all three claim
to know nothing

about Carl's disappearance,

detectives spot
the weak link in room 2.

We were probably 40,

40 to 50 minutes
into the interview,

maybe just a little bit
less than that,

and Tommy did a 180.

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

Narrator:
Tommy claims it all started
Saturday afternoon.

Apparently, Carl made
a suggestive comment about Joan.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Tommy says, he and Bobbie
went to confront Carl.

I thought we were cool.
Like who would say that?

I was just jokin', man.
I was just makin' a joke.

Carl, let's have a talk.
C'mere.

[ Sniffle ]

[ Gunshot ]

[ High-pitched tone plays ]

[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

Narrator:
Is Tommy telling the truth?

[ Ominous chord strikes ]

Did Bobbie really shoot Carl

or is Tommy protecting himself
and his girlfriend, Joan?

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

[ Haunting vocals play ]

I could see someone having
a tipping point

and getting so angry

that they'd wanna do something
about it physically.

Like how many more times

is a man gonna say something
to me that's suggestive?

When a man makes
a suggestive comment to you,

it makes you feel like you're
not equal to that person,

you know, it's dehumanizing.

[ Gunshot echoes ]

Narrator:
Police take Tommy's story

into interrogation room 3.

This is where Joan
has been waiting.

[ Tearfully ]

Having heard their stories,

sheriffs place Joan
and Tommy under arrest.

[ Foreboding chord strikes ]

[ Sniffle ]

As detectives move back
to room 1,

there is no way
for them to know

how Bobbie will respond
to these new allegations.

Meyer: Bobbie did a lot of
movement in the chair,

moving back and forth.

He was uneasy.

As a detective, the person
conducting the interview,

you're done.
All questioning must cease.

So that's what me
and detective Meyer did.

We collected our notepads
and our pens

and we walked out
of the interview room.

Narrator: It's been a long day
for everyone involved.

But with Bobbie
refusing to talk,

the facts of this case
may never be fully revealed.

We went back to our desks

to complete the booking
paperwork for Bobbie

and then something happened

that has never happened
in my career as a detective.

[ Knocking ]

[ Sinister music climbs ]

Noble: I've never done anything
like this before.

I did want the truth out.

That's why I did my interview
while I was in jail.

Ever since that year,
it's just been goin' downhill.

You can die in here.

[ Suspenseful chords strike ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Narrator:
More than 24 hours

after Carl Woolwine
was first reported missing,

sheriffs have enough reason
to believe he's been murdered.

They have also arrested
Tommy ertz

[ static warbles ]
And Joan noble,

[ melancholy tune plays ]
But, to this point,

their boss and accused shooter
Bobbie Rhynes

still sits
in interrogation room 1,

[ knocking]
Refusing to talk.

We heard a knock
on the interview room door.

[ Door creaking ]

So I walked over
to detective Meyer's desk

and told him, "Bobbie wants
to talk to us again."

Okay.

So, the detectives gave him
a little bit

of pieces of the puzzle,
and then he started to talk.

He's not gonna disrespect
you like this.

Joan heard the comment
and she thought it was weird,

but she didn't seem
to be too offended.

It's okay.
Really, just don't do

- how can you say that?
- Anything stupid.

I can deal with it.

[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

Mckillop:
But Bobbie became upset.

[ Sinister music plays ]

[ Eerie music plays ]

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Look, Tommy,
this has all been

[ gunshot ]

[ High-pitched tone plays ]

[ Water running ]

[ Gasp ]

[ Melancholy tune plays ]

I looked over at Bob

and he had the gun up
and was bringin' it down.

I was like, "what the hell
did you just do?"

You okay, man?

I was like,
"I... don't know."

[ Wind whistling ]

He gave me a hug.

Did what
we had to do.

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

After that, we walked back
to the trailer.

[Sniffle] I ran inside.

Hey.

What just happened?

Tommy?

Noble:
I just remember being scared
that Tommy had been hurt.

My heart's racing
and I'm just waiting

and it seemed like forever
until Tommy started to move.

[ High-pitched tone joins ]

I was just zoned in
and just walkin'.

So I walked
into the bathroom and...

[ Vomiting ]

...just started throwin' up.

[ Gasping ]

I get told by Bob to go
get Nick, so I drove down.

I was like, "Nick,
let's just get back up there

and see what the hell's
goin' on."

Get in.
All right.

Noble: I had walked up
to the maintenance shed

to see what was going on.

Bob had already had
the backhoe out

and already dug the hole.

I didn't see Carl,
at first.

Bob just said,
"oh, he's over there,"

and just nodded his head.

He told me that the boys
were gone,

Tommy and Nick,
and that I had to help him now,

that it was up to me.

His exact words were,
"grab his pant leg.

You don't wanna
get blood on you."

And, at that point, I just was
gonna do whatever I had to do

to get home and be safe.

We moved him.

I remember

[exhales] Carl hitting
the bottom of the grave

and the sound his body made.

[ High-pitched tone plays ]

There was no accident.

I knew.

I knew that he meant to.

Bob's an excellent marksmen.

There-there's no way.

Narrator:
The question that lingers is...

Why kill over comments
about another man's girlfriend?

Robbins:
Some years back, Bobbie lost
a daughter to a suicide.

It had an affect
on his behavior.

It's a huge tragedy

and it's something that
a parent would never get over.

[ Eerie music plays ]

If that didn't happen
with the daughter,

I honestly believe
that situation that did happen

probably wouldn't
have happened.

[ Metal creaking ]

Narrator:
CSI and the medical examiner
are sent up the mountain

to retrieve Carl
from his shallow grave.

About at the three-foot Mark,

they ended up
locating Carl's body.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

It's a big moment
and it's a relief, too,

knowing that you
finally have found

the body that you're
looking for.

Right now, obviously,
[ Handcuffs ratcheting ]

We're gonna have
to arrest you.

It literally made me nauseous

to think that I had spoken
with him on the phone

and that he was actually
the one that did this.

And that he'd lied and acted
so concerned and caring.

Narrator: The physical evidence
can't disprove his claim

the shooting was an accident,

so Bobbie is acquitted
of first-degree murder

and a second-degree
murder charge

ends in a hung jury.

Before another trial
is launched,

Bobbie is offered a plea deal.

[ Melancholy tune plays ]
So, Bobbie pled no contest

to voluntary manslaughter,

so that gave Bobbie
a 14-year sentence

and he'll have to serve
85% of that

before he's eligible
for parole.

Tommy and Joan
were both convicted of

accessories after the fact.

While they didn't have
any initial involvement

in the actual killing,

they did help and try
to cover up for Bobbie.

Ertz:
I did a plea deal.

It was three years
felony probation.

But, I just found out
Bob didn't get murder.

I'm stuck here
with accessory to murder

on a case that's,
I guess, not a murder case.

Narrator: Joan agrees to the
same punishment as Tommy...

Three years felony probation.

[Crying] The people
responsible have no idea

how many lives it's affected

and one selfish act

[sniffle] Has created...

[ Haunting tune plays ]

...lifetimes,

[ melancholy tune plays ]
A lifetime of...

[ Sniffle ]

Um...

Grief and anger and...

[ Sniffle ]

...you know, my kids
growin' up without a father.

My son doesn't have anybody
to play catch with anymore,

practice baseball and...

[ Sniffle ]
You know, those days are gone.