Murder Loves Company (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Friends to the End - full transcript
A close-knit group of co-workers are devastated when one of their own is found dead near a soccer field at the edge of their quiet Indiana town. Was this a random act of violence, or are these workers not as close as they thought?
At a popular restaurant,
friendships among co-workers
are called into question
because one of
their own is dead...
A gruesome scene
at a local police...
When it broke in the news,
we didn't want to believe
that it was one of us.
I wish I could describe
the pain, but you can't.
Could someone from their
tight knit group
be responsible?
We were just really,
really nervous
because we were thinking
the person that
killed her could come.
Everyone they know...
Everyone they trust...
Everyone a suspect.
I was still shocked.
Even though I had that
feeling in my stomach,
it was still like, "oh, my
god, that was actually her."
Evansville, Indiana is home to
folks living
good, clean lives,
working hard jobs to get ahead.
For the young crew of employees
at the roadhouse restaurant,
the lessons are entrenched.
Well, we've talked about
family first, family first.
And that's part of our
culture and the way
that we do things at
Texas roadhouse, absolutely.
They call themselves
"the roadies,"
and this group is as
tight knit as they come.
Anything we went out and did,
we all just went out and did
it together after our shifts.
Game nights, Christmas parties,
it didn't matter what it was,
we just did it together.
For servers Ansley bowles
and Halee Rathgeber,
it's actually hard to remember
a time they weren't friends.
Me and Halee, we went
to high school together,
and whenever me and Halee
started taking college
classes together,
we started becoming like,
closer and closer friends.
We were all really close
with the people from work.
So much so that we actually
started tracking each other
our senior year of high school.
Turn on your location so
that if any of us get lost,
we know exactly where
to find each other.
We just stayed really, really
close after high school.
The group also includes
honorary roadie...
Jordan Hughes.
Jordan got pregnant when
we were in high school.
We were all close friends,
so we helped her
through her pregnancy,
took Jordan to her
doctor's appointments.
The father is no
longer in the picture,
but new boyfriend Thaddious rice
fills the role happily.
It was so sweet to see
how he treated
Jordan's kid, Jackson.
Just buying the stuff they need,
diapers, food, groceries.
He was really
taking care of them.
When Sunday, April 23rd's
night shift ends,
co-worker and fellow
roadie, Jake Allen,
issues an open
invitation to the group.
Drinks, drinks,
party tonight?
Sounds like
a hoot and a holler.
You want to go have
drinks tonight?
With no takers,
this becomes the
roadie's final goodbye.
By morning, their lives
will be changed forever.
About nines miles away
from the roadhouse
are the local soccer fields.
At this early hour,
something out of place
catches the eye of
two local residents.
A lady and her daughter
were driving by and they saw
something laying in the
soccer field parking lot.
At first they couldn't
exactly see what it was.
So they stop
and check that out.
And when they got a
little bit closer...
...they discovered that
it was actually a body.
911, what's your emergency?
I was out to the scene within
20 minutes of the discovery.
The streets had been
blocked off with police tape.
You know, in this area, we don't
have a lot of violent crime.
I was in shock to see
the young lady's body
in the parking lot
where she'd been left.
It was immediately apparent
that she was deceased
and that this was a crime scene,
so the area was
immediately roped off
and we began doing interviews
of the witnesses
that found the body.
We saw the girl
laying in the dirt
and we thought we better
stop and check on her.
As investigators
detail the events
that led up to the
body discovery,
C.S.I Begins their analysis
of the crime scene.
It was clear that she had
laid there for some time.
There was a lot of
blood in that area.
As detectives lean in,
they can see a likely
cause of death...
A gunshot to the head.
The only other piece
of apparent evidence
is laying next to the victim.
There was a blue towel found
at the scene next to the body
and it was covered in blood.
The blood soaked towel was
covered in her DNA obviously,
but we noted the brand of
the towel to be comfort bay.
There is certainly
a lot of blood
at the crime scene, but
no evidence of a weapon.
The search fanned out from
the body at that point.
We searched that entire area
looking for shell casing,
looking for projectile,
looking for the gun.
There was a lot of garbage
and debris laying around,
but there was not
a lot of physical evidence
to be actually found,
and we did not find any
shell casing in this case.
At the moment,
not finding a weapon
is the least of
detective's concerns.
She didn't have
anything with her.
She didn't have her wallet,
she didn't have a phone or keys,
no identification with the body.
Luckily, the victim's
body reveals something.
We were able to
identify certain tattoos
that this young lady had on her.
Photos are taken and the scene
is further analyzed.
She's laying on her back.
It appeared that there
was almost a snow angel
that had been left, a partial
snow angel in the gravel.
I found it hard to fathom
that somebody gets shot
in the back of the head
would have fallen or
laid in that position.
We believe that she was at
ease with whoever shot her,
that she was not
expecting to be attacked.
We wondered whether
this was a robbery,
was this a drug deal,
was this a lover's quarrel,
you know, what was this?
To add to the
frenzied morning...
The media begins to spread
word of the discovery.
Officials inform us,
a woman's body
was discovered just
before 7:00 this morning.
And I got a call from managers
at my station saying,
"hey, there's been a body found,
we need you to go to the scene."
Right now authorities are
considering this death
suspicious, and because of that,
a death investigation has begun.
All we knew was that
there was a young female
who had been found at
the Alcoa soccer field
and they kept saying
it was suspicious.
We begin today in Warrick county
with a death investigation
It was like the lead
story on all the news stations.
It can be very beneficial
to us, and in this case,
just reporting that
there was a body found
is what prompts people to start
checking on their loved ones
and maybe find out that
somebody is missing
quicker than they would
of without that reporting.
And because of that, a death
investigation has begun.
The news quickly makes its way
to all corners of the community.
And for the mother of roadhouse
waitress Halee Rathgeber,
a sense of horror sets in.
So Monday morning,
on the 24th,
I was reading Facebook
and drinking my coffee,
just a normal, you know,
Monday morning.
I scrolled upon the news and
it said that a body was found
at a soccer field
in Warrick county.
Of course I think, "oh, my
gosh, that's horrible."
And then later,
when they updated it...
We begin today
in Warrick county
with a death investigation...
...they said it's a young
female, late teens/early 20s,
then I needed to
know who it was.
I wanted to make sure
it wasn't my girls.
Heather's oldest child, Halee,
isn't responding
to calls or texts.
She never didn't answer the
phone, she never didn't reply,
that was so out of character
for her, it didn't happen.
Her mothers and sisters
begin reaching out to her
friends, starting with Ansley.
Mrs. Collins, how are you?
Halee's mom called
me and was like,
"there was a body found
in Warrick county,
have you talked to Halee today?"
No, I haven't seen her.
You haven't talked to her?
And I was like, I'll
check her location.
And I checked her location, it
said, "location not available."
Yeah, I still have her
keys to her apartment.
I was like, "her
phone's probably dead,
she's probably
at her apartment.
I'll drive by there, and I'll
go see what she's doing."
She went to the
apartment and called me.
She said, "her car's unlocked,"
she just said, "she's not here."
Right now authorities
are considering...
As Halee's family continues
to search for her,
the chilling thought seeps
deeper into her mother's mind.
It's not her, it's
not her, can't be her.
It was just something
unimaginable.
So I contacted a police
detective I knew from Evansville
and asked, you know,
"hey, I can't find Halee,
do you know anyone
in Warrick county?"
I get a text message that says,
"I need pictures
of her tattoos."
Photos were provided
by her mother,
and there was a cross
tattoo that matched
what we had found
at the soccer field.
So we knew that it was
Halee Rathgeber as our victim.
A parent's worst
fear comes true,
and the nightmare
will only continue
when the roadies come under
the glare of suspicion,
and one of them is proven
to be a cold blooded killer.
It's early stages,
but officials inform us
that the victim is a white
female in her late teens...
The day 20-year-old
Halee Rathgeber
is found shot to death, her
group of friends, the roadies,
as well as her family,
struggle with their loss.
I've lost a child, and
that's an unbearable pain.
And then to find out
how was even worse.
It didn't make sense.
The day of finding out about
her leaving the world...
I wish I could describe
the pain, but you can't.
She was humble in every way.
That was Halee, she
just set the example.
She was my best friend...
And most of all, my daughter.
I'm sorry...
Can I have a minute?
Right through here...
Right in this area is
where the body was found.
We held the crime scene
secure for 24 hours,
but still even
after that came...
I still came back looking
for... just trying to see
if there was anything
we'd overlooked.
We turned over
these railroad ties,
which are actually
staked into the ground.
We pulled those up to
look for shell casing,
trying to see if somehow maybe
it had rolled under something.
And we searched these
ditches for the same thing.
And two guys were actually
assigned to come down
and search this whole area
on their hands and knees
with pairs of scissors
and to cut the grass
with scissors literally,
to look for a shell casing.
Six hours into
their investigation,
detectives are glad to
know the victim's name,
but the motive remains elusive.
With her wallet
and phone missing,
the call is made to
bring in the FBI.
I work for the cellular
analysis survey team,
or the C.A.S.T. Team, which
is a group of FBI agents
who have specialized training
in all things cellphones.
One of the biggest clues we
can exploit is the cellphone.
So the first thing
I always ask for
is the cellphone
records of the victim.
The records will tell
us where she was,
who she spoke to last,
whether it was a
text or a voice call.
Basically what you're doing
is recreating a snapshot
of the last 24 hours
of her life.
While special agent Horan
awaits the victim's
phone records,
the coroner gets to
work examining the body.
The cause of death was
in fact a gunshot wound.
The coroner realized
that she had
a entrance wound in
the back of the head
and an exit wound in
the front of the head.
And so then, they looked for
any other type of injuries
that may suggest what happened,
if there was any type
of defensive wounds.
They do fingernail
scrapings to see
if there's anybody's DNA
underneath their fingernails.
Also sent for DNA testing...
The blood-soaked blue
towel found at the scene.
Frankly, from the
way that we found her
laying on this towel and the
towel had been spread out...
Sexual misconduct would
definitely go through your mind.
At the autopsy, the
crime scene technician
collected the
sexual assault kit.
He confirmed that there was no
indication of sexual assault.
Learning Halee worked
the previous night,
it is believed the
close-knit roadies
were the last to see her alive.
Could one of them know something
to break open the case?
From the get-go,
we wanted to know more about
her circle of friends,
her co-workers,
to start working out who
may have had the motive.
Usually those co-workers
are able
to start pointing us
in the right direction.
They begin with Ansley,
the only one who had keys
to the victim's apartment.
When was the last
time you saw Halee?
The end of our
Sunday morning shift.
Hey, so I'm all finished up for
the day. I'm gonna get going.
Me and Halee worked together
that Sunday morning.
We were supposed to
go to the library
and study
later on that night.
I'll see you at the
library tonight, okay?
Yeah, I'll
see you later.
Ansley tells detectives
she figured Halee
skipped the library
because she needed to
see their friend, Jordan.
Halee had told me she had to go
get her wallet from Jordan.
Does this new
information mean Jordan
is the last person
to see halee alive?
Jordan Hughes was one
of Halee's best friends.
She actually came in voluntarily
and talked at length.
Jordan confirms
halee did come by
to pick up her wallet
Sunday evening.
Do you happen to know
what time that was?
Probably around 10:00.
Halee stopped by
with other friends
earlier that weekend.
They came to lend Jordan support
during a memorial
service for a relative.
Then they were together
Friday, going to the funeral.
Halee was right
there the whole time.
She took care of Jordan.
Me and halee both
attended the memorial
together with Jordan.
I think that Jordan needed
Halee's motherly nature
just floating around.
Also in attendance
is Jordan's boyfriend,
Thaddious rice,
who seems to have a reputation
among Halee's friends.
It didn't really
sit well with me.
The funeral, it was on a Friday
and halee had passed
away on a Monday,
so it was within a weekend.
Many of the friends
involved in the case
were suggesting and theorizing
that Thaddious rice may be
involved in Halee's killing.
With no proof though,
investigators are no closer
to a suspect in Halee's death.
One call from another
roadie will change all that.
Less than a day into
their investigation,
detectives have still not found
murder victim halee Rathgeber's
wallet or phone.
It is why they're focusing on
the tight knit group of
people who knew halee best...
Her friends from the roadhouse.
That's when they learn a
roadie's new boyfriend,
Thaddious rice, has a history
of run-ins with the law.
We brought him to the sheriff's
office for questioning.
Thaddious had been questioned
a couple weeks earlier
in an investigation,
and he was a possible suspect.
All right, thaddious,
we're just here to chat.
We're investigating the
murder of Ms. Halee Rathgeber.
But he didn't talk and
he invoked his right
to an attorney at that time.
To not talk, it was suspect.
And your human nature is,
is, "what do you got to hide?"
Thaddious' silence is deafening,
but detectives have
nothing to hold him on.
Just as the case
returns to square one,
a call comes in from one
of Halee's good friends...
Isaiah hagan.
Well, I was...
Isaiah, he was a
co-worker with halee.
He had a really good, strong
relationship with her.
She was always
over at the house,
probably about four
or five days a week.
They spent a lot
of time together.
I don't think they
officially dated,
but they were together for
about, I'd say 9 to 10 months.
I just wanted to tell
you guys where I was.
Isaiah explains
after their shift,
he went to hang out with
roadie, Jake Allen.
But later that night,
halee calls him.
Halee, she wanted to hang out,
so I went over to her place
and she told me she
wanted me to drop her off.
Isaiah says after a
short time together,
halee asked for a ride.
She wanted to meet someone
at a local landmark...
The Newburgh locks and dam.
I don't know
who she was meeting
and it did worry me a bit, but
I still just dropped her off.
Isaiah told us that he had no
idea who halee was meeting.
He didn't really
want to ask questions,
but he thought it
was kind of odd
that she would
meet somebody there.
And he was a little
worried about it,
but he didn't ask any questions
and went ahead and
left her there anyway.
Instead of returning to Jake's,
Isaiah eventually goes home.
Feeling uneasy,
close to midnight,
he tries to contact halee.
After he left from there,
he sent her a text saying,
"hey, thanks for the talk."
All right, bye.
Police now have a better idea
of Halee's movements
the night of her murder.
And one fact about a fellow
roadie piques their interest.
Jake Allen's house is very
close to the locks and dam
in Newburgh, which is
a couple miles away
from the soccer fields
where she was found.
We were not ruling Jake out
because there was
a lot of questions
about, you know, where he was
after midnight.
We caught up with Jake Allen
Monday night.
Jake Allen?
We interviewed him about
his whereabouts
on Sunday evening.
Jake Allen just talked about
how he and Isaiah hagan
were together the night
before Halee's body was found.
Jake also verifies
that he stayed home
to hang out with other
friends all night.
Before letting him go,
Jake is presented
with a search warrant.
Detectives have cycled through
a number of Halee's
colleagues and friends...
...but are no closer to
discovering
if any of the roadies
are responsible for the tragedy.
Then, an opportunity
presents itself as the family
and friends of halee Rathgeber
gather to honor her.
Five days after
halee was killed,
we had a candlelight
service for her.
Investigators stake
out the vigil.
Sometimes we'll attend
a funeral or a vigil
to watch and see if anyone shows
up, see how they're acting.
There was a lot
of tears flowing.
It was definitely
a surreal moment,
just to get everybody together,
and just try to release a
little bit of the sadness.
They started building
basically a monument
on the fence at
the soccer field.
There were so many flowers.
There were so many things.
But at the same time, there
was plain clothes officers.
They were looking for anybody
that was out of place.
Whoever murdered her could
have been right there
the whole time.
It was horrible.
We were just nervous
because we were thinking
the person that
killed her could come.
Despite investigator's
best efforts,
the vigil doesn't
yield any new suspects.
That's hard for
everybody to understand.
It's hard to stomach
how something like this
could happen when
you don't know why.
They need to find
a vital clue...
And fast.
Some times it's just
that little point
in the right direction that
sends us down the right path.
By April 29, 2017,
detectives have worked around
the clock for five days
searching for 20-year-old
halee Rathgeber's killer.
But they're no closer
than when they started,
leaving hope
hanging by a thread.
Everybody just checked
their pride and their ego
at the door and were
here to solve the case.
At that point, it's like
1,000-piece Jigsaw puzzle
laid out on the table,
and that's one piece
you got to figure
out where it fits,
and it's not put
together well yet.
So it's hard to, it's like,
this might be a
really important piece
that's gonna lead us
somewhere or might not.
One solid direction
has been elusive
until a potentially
case-altering lead surfaces.
The wallet had laid
out for a few days
and was found by a mowing crew.
They were gonna
try and figure out
who it belonged
to and call them,
and when they
googled the name,
they found out that
she'd been murdered,
and they contacted
us to collect it.
Out of the belief
that too many people
had already touched it
and that no good evidence
would be retrieved,
we did not process it
for any type of
fingerprints or DNA.
The wallet leads detectives
back to the two roadies at
whose house it was last seen...
Jordan and her boyfriend
thaddious, who now has a warrant
out for his arrest
in an unrelated case.
Thaddious had been arrested
a couple of times in Evansville.
We were just able to call on
another agency to go ahead
and execute the arrest
warrant that existed for him.
Rumors among Halee's
co-workers, the roadies,
are spreading like wildfire.
There were people
on social media
saying thaddious rice did it.
They thought thaddious rice
killed halee.
This makes thaddious
their only suspect,
but the list is
about to multiply.
We learned that somebody
from Texas roadhouse
had brought some bloody clothes
to one of our
local dry cleaners.
He is James Whitson,
a name they have yet to hear,
though a pile of bloody clothes
changes a lot of things quickly.
We were very interested in
who that person was then
and immediately
began investigating
any possible involvement there
and his relationship to halee.
A cook at the roadhouse,
James says he isn't
close to the others.
He also claims to have a simple
explanation for the blood.
His story was that he
had actually been cut
earlier in that week.
We did a search warrant,
we got his DNA to test it.
With blood evidence,
typically it takes
a fair amount of time to
get it back from the lab.
Two to three weeks
is lightening speed.
In a high profile
case like this,
they get their result
in just a few days.
There was only one
source of DNA...
His.
James' story is confirmed.
We were able to
quickly clear him.
Detectives also
get more DNA news,
this time from the
crime scene itself.
Crime scene technicians
took scrapings
of Halee's fingernails
at the autopsy,
and there was no other
DNA besides her own
found under her fingernails.
The bloody towel
next to Halee's body
at the soccer fields
offers a similar story.
The blue towel was
found next to the body,
it was covered in blood
and it was sent in
and analyzed for DNA.
But there was only
one source of DNA
found on that towel,
and that was halee Rathgeber's.
It's disappointing,
but reinforces the type of
suspect they're looking for.
We didn't find there to
be any sign of a struggle.
The fact that there was
nothing under her fingernails
to indicate that she had fought,
and just the fact
that that gunshot
came from the back,
leads us to believe
that she knew her attacker
and was comfortable with him.
Almost a week after
Halee's murder,
the FBI steps in with big news.
Despite Halee's
phone still missing,
her cellphone records
have been obtained.
Obviously we want to
know the last activity
that was on her phone.
I started digging into
where the phone was,
so I established
a rough timeline.
The next thing I wanted
to do was find out
who was she talking to.
The records would
indicate that she had
been speaking with Isaiah hagan.
So we were able to get
Mr. Hagan's records,
and I was able to determine
that his movements
that evening were identical
to Halee's movements.
Basically what I saw
from the records is that
Mr. Hagan had met up with
halee at her apartment
and they had traveled
together over to
the east side of
Evansville to the area
where the soccer complex was.
The phone activities show
that they both arrived
at the park area
around 11:00 P.M.
This contradicts Isaiah's story.
He claimed he dropped
halee off at a different
local landmark to meet
an unknown person.
Investigators also have
more than just the call logs.
Completely a lie.
Typically we don't
get text messages
as they were typed out,
we just get a notation
on the records
that a text was sent.
But in this case we were able
to get the actual content.
Isaiah's texts and the location
from where they were
sent are damning.
But adding to the mystery,
Halee's cell signal
abruptly disappears.
Halee's phone had been shut off
at the soccer complex
about 11:25 that evening.
And Mr. Hagan's
phone had then left.
And about 3:00 A.M. Halee's
phone had come back on.
And when it reappeared,
it reappeared on the same
cell sight that covers the
park, where she was found.
And it moved from that area over
to about the southwest
side of Evansville.
Then there was no more
activity on the phone.
It's all proof Isaiah
fabricated a story.
The man who originally
came forward
as a concerned friend
is now the prime suspect.
With conflicting stories,
detectives put in a request
to see all of the
surveillance footage
from Halee's
apartment that night.
What they see and hear from
Isaiah could tell
them everything.
I know this is just a
tragedy that you want to
wish never happened.
But we got to
have the truth.
You've got
to tell me.
Five days after
halee Rathgeber's murder,
her cellphone and
text data are creating
an interesting picture.
One that makes her close
friend Isaiah hagan
a prime suspect, but the
evidence is all circumstantial.
That changes the moment
detectives get their hands
on surveillance footage from
Halee's apartment complex.
We were able to determine
through surveillance video
that Isaiah arrived
at her apartment
and the two of them leave
together shortly thereafter.
It all plays out
the way Isaiah says
until it doesn't.
A video actually shows
Isaiah coming back
in the morning, going
through her vehicle.
Isaiah is acting alone,
meaning any suspicion thaddious
rice is involved evaporates.
They now have proof
Isaiah lied to them.
We obtained a search
warrant for the hagan home,
where Isaiah hagan was living.
And talked to Isaiah's parents.
We just have a few questions
about your son Isaiah.
- Any firearms in the house?
- I have a handgun.
- We're gonna take a look at it.
- Sure, no problem.
While they were
there, they discovered
that there was a missing
9mm highpoint.
They couldn't explain
that it was missing.
The 9mm was in the range
of guns that would have
caused a wound of that size.
We were not able to
determine a specific caliber
of the bullet
that killed halee.
One, because we didn't
find a shell case
and two, because we couldn't
find the projectile.
Detectives continue their search
through Isaiah's house.
They found an identical
towel to the one
that was found next to halee
in the parking lot by her head.
It was from the same
company and the same color
and everything else.
So that was pretty significant.
Isaiah's father then explains,
he was in contact with Isaiah
on the night in question
over money his son owed him.
While Isaiah was at
the soccer field,
that he received a
text from his dad
asking if had gotten
the money yet.
He said that he was waiting
on her to get off work.
Isaiah had written bad checks
that his father had to cover.
His father never
knew the full story
behind his plan
to pay him back.
Apparently he had
whether with
or without Halee's permission,
we don't know because she's not
here to tell us,
had written a couple checks on
her bank account to himself.
Two checks in the
amount of $300.
One cleared,
one did not clear.
Mr. Hagan's father
had noticed
that this had not cleared
because he was a joint signer
on that account and covered
that amount for Isaiah.
And so there was some money
that was owed to his dad
that his dad kept
asking about
on the day of or the night
of that halee was killed.
It seems Isaiah had no shortage
of ways he attempted
to make the money.
There was some recent
thefts in his history.
Isaiah had stolen
from his roommates,
including a TV
out of the living room.
So we were finding out
that a lot of his friends
and associates had some
real problems with him.
He's struggling to keep jobs,
he was stealing
from his roommates.
He actually was stealing
some of our stuff
and pawning it off at
some local pawn stores.
And we eventually told him that,
you know,
he couldn't stay
with us anymore.
Fellow roadie Jake Allen,
once a suspect, was also a
victim of Isaiah's theft.
He was at one point
taking from me,
taking from my roommate,
taking from his roommate,
and you know,
pawning stuff off for money
for whatever trouble he was in.
They were painting a pretty
bleak picture of him.
There were a lot of other
people that he had stolen from
or had taken stuff
from in the past
that would dog him or ask him
for money on a constant basis.
Isaiah's parents
say they had no idea
he was so desperate for money.
Still, they refused to
believe he could kill
for a few hundred dollars.
They seem forgiving
and understanding,
so I don't think it was
anything to kill somebody over.
You want to take
a seat over there.
We regrouped and
decided it was time to
pick Isaiah hagan up, bring
him in for questioning.
I'm sure you knew that we'd
have to talk at some point.
We're gonna grind
some things out.
There were several
points where you could
see him shift gears and
start spinning a new tale.
I don't remember which
one, Friday or Saturday
and then I met her at her
apartment around 10:30.
His story is, she wanted
me to drop her off there,
the locks and dam,
we talked briefly.
She said it was okay for me
to go, and I left her there.
She just told me
like, it was okay
that I could go, and I
was like, "are you sure?"
Because I didn't want to
leave her by herself really.
And I said, "look, obviously
he's lying to you."
His phone is showing
where he truly was
in the timeframe that
he's associated with that.
I knew it was my
opportunity to go talk
to Mr. Hagan and confront
him with some technology.
So we're gonna
show you a movie,
which shows your phone.
This is you.
And this
is Halee's phone
and this is a map of
the Evansville area.
If you look over here,
this scale shows you
the time of the day.
Faced with
indisputable evidence,
Isaiah admits he took
halee to the soccer fields,
but he continues to
deny he murdered her.
She was my best friend.
I'm not gonna tell you I
killed her when I didn't.
I'm not going to.
He initially denied that
he ever had her cellphone,
but then that story
changed several times
to include, "oh, yeah I found
it in the middle of the road.
I saw it laying in the
middle of the road
and I picked it up," to, "oh, I
finally found it in my car."
Essentially what he told us was
that he had Halee's
phone the entire time.
When he had left the park, he
had taken her phone with him
and when he turned
it on, he checked it.
He finally ended up
confessing that he had thrown
Halee's phone out the window.
He was afraid that if anybody
found him with the phone
that he would get in trouble
because it's Halee's phone.
He told them a specific area
where he threw it
out the window.
We sent people to
search that area
and we were never able
to locate the phone.
Investigators have heard enough
and arrest Isaiah.
Isaiah never did confess to me
or any other law
enforcement officer
that he had shot halee.
He didn't want to make
any further statement.
We informed him he was
being arrested for murder,
robbery, and
obstruction of justice.
The only thing I've wanted
in this entire situation
is justice, and I want
it done the right way,
that's all I really
cared about at all.
If that means a
former friend of mine
is going away for
a very long time,
in this case Isaiah,
then, so be it.
23-year-old
Isaiah hagan goes to trial
and is found guilty of murder.
Prosecutors can
pursue life in prison,
but it would mean more time
in court for Halee's family.
We made the determination that
we would offer them a 60-years
on the sentence,
and they did take that.
There isn't really
a group anymore.
A lot of people have left.
We don't do Christmas dinners
or Thanksgiving dinners.
We don't do
birthday parties out,
we don't hang out at each
other's houses anymore.
Everybody just fell apart.
When halee passed away,
we just stopped.
I don't think that
any amount of time
is gonna change what happened.
It's not gonna bring her back.
I want him dead.
I'm not ashamed to say it.
Thank god they
put him in prison.
The pain doesn't go
away like people think.
It doesn't get better with days
or talks or conversations.
Her loss was still the
way I feel right now.
friendships among co-workers
are called into question
because one of
their own is dead...
A gruesome scene
at a local police...
When it broke in the news,
we didn't want to believe
that it was one of us.
I wish I could describe
the pain, but you can't.
Could someone from their
tight knit group
be responsible?
We were just really,
really nervous
because we were thinking
the person that
killed her could come.
Everyone they know...
Everyone they trust...
Everyone a suspect.
I was still shocked.
Even though I had that
feeling in my stomach,
it was still like, "oh, my
god, that was actually her."
Evansville, Indiana is home to
folks living
good, clean lives,
working hard jobs to get ahead.
For the young crew of employees
at the roadhouse restaurant,
the lessons are entrenched.
Well, we've talked about
family first, family first.
And that's part of our
culture and the way
that we do things at
Texas roadhouse, absolutely.
They call themselves
"the roadies,"
and this group is as
tight knit as they come.
Anything we went out and did,
we all just went out and did
it together after our shifts.
Game nights, Christmas parties,
it didn't matter what it was,
we just did it together.
For servers Ansley bowles
and Halee Rathgeber,
it's actually hard to remember
a time they weren't friends.
Me and Halee, we went
to high school together,
and whenever me and Halee
started taking college
classes together,
we started becoming like,
closer and closer friends.
We were all really close
with the people from work.
So much so that we actually
started tracking each other
our senior year of high school.
Turn on your location so
that if any of us get lost,
we know exactly where
to find each other.
We just stayed really, really
close after high school.
The group also includes
honorary roadie...
Jordan Hughes.
Jordan got pregnant when
we were in high school.
We were all close friends,
so we helped her
through her pregnancy,
took Jordan to her
doctor's appointments.
The father is no
longer in the picture,
but new boyfriend Thaddious rice
fills the role happily.
It was so sweet to see
how he treated
Jordan's kid, Jackson.
Just buying the stuff they need,
diapers, food, groceries.
He was really
taking care of them.
When Sunday, April 23rd's
night shift ends,
co-worker and fellow
roadie, Jake Allen,
issues an open
invitation to the group.
Drinks, drinks,
party tonight?
Sounds like
a hoot and a holler.
You want to go have
drinks tonight?
With no takers,
this becomes the
roadie's final goodbye.
By morning, their lives
will be changed forever.
About nines miles away
from the roadhouse
are the local soccer fields.
At this early hour,
something out of place
catches the eye of
two local residents.
A lady and her daughter
were driving by and they saw
something laying in the
soccer field parking lot.
At first they couldn't
exactly see what it was.
So they stop
and check that out.
And when they got a
little bit closer...
...they discovered that
it was actually a body.
911, what's your emergency?
I was out to the scene within
20 minutes of the discovery.
The streets had been
blocked off with police tape.
You know, in this area, we don't
have a lot of violent crime.
I was in shock to see
the young lady's body
in the parking lot
where she'd been left.
It was immediately apparent
that she was deceased
and that this was a crime scene,
so the area was
immediately roped off
and we began doing interviews
of the witnesses
that found the body.
We saw the girl
laying in the dirt
and we thought we better
stop and check on her.
As investigators
detail the events
that led up to the
body discovery,
C.S.I Begins their analysis
of the crime scene.
It was clear that she had
laid there for some time.
There was a lot of
blood in that area.
As detectives lean in,
they can see a likely
cause of death...
A gunshot to the head.
The only other piece
of apparent evidence
is laying next to the victim.
There was a blue towel found
at the scene next to the body
and it was covered in blood.
The blood soaked towel was
covered in her DNA obviously,
but we noted the brand of
the towel to be comfort bay.
There is certainly
a lot of blood
at the crime scene, but
no evidence of a weapon.
The search fanned out from
the body at that point.
We searched that entire area
looking for shell casing,
looking for projectile,
looking for the gun.
There was a lot of garbage
and debris laying around,
but there was not
a lot of physical evidence
to be actually found,
and we did not find any
shell casing in this case.
At the moment,
not finding a weapon
is the least of
detective's concerns.
She didn't have
anything with her.
She didn't have her wallet,
she didn't have a phone or keys,
no identification with the body.
Luckily, the victim's
body reveals something.
We were able to
identify certain tattoos
that this young lady had on her.
Photos are taken and the scene
is further analyzed.
She's laying on her back.
It appeared that there
was almost a snow angel
that had been left, a partial
snow angel in the gravel.
I found it hard to fathom
that somebody gets shot
in the back of the head
would have fallen or
laid in that position.
We believe that she was at
ease with whoever shot her,
that she was not
expecting to be attacked.
We wondered whether
this was a robbery,
was this a drug deal,
was this a lover's quarrel,
you know, what was this?
To add to the
frenzied morning...
The media begins to spread
word of the discovery.
Officials inform us,
a woman's body
was discovered just
before 7:00 this morning.
And I got a call from managers
at my station saying,
"hey, there's been a body found,
we need you to go to the scene."
Right now authorities are
considering this death
suspicious, and because of that,
a death investigation has begun.
All we knew was that
there was a young female
who had been found at
the Alcoa soccer field
and they kept saying
it was suspicious.
We begin today in Warrick county
with a death investigation
It was like the lead
story on all the news stations.
It can be very beneficial
to us, and in this case,
just reporting that
there was a body found
is what prompts people to start
checking on their loved ones
and maybe find out that
somebody is missing
quicker than they would
of without that reporting.
And because of that, a death
investigation has begun.
The news quickly makes its way
to all corners of the community.
And for the mother of roadhouse
waitress Halee Rathgeber,
a sense of horror sets in.
So Monday morning,
on the 24th,
I was reading Facebook
and drinking my coffee,
just a normal, you know,
Monday morning.
I scrolled upon the news and
it said that a body was found
at a soccer field
in Warrick county.
Of course I think, "oh, my
gosh, that's horrible."
And then later,
when they updated it...
We begin today
in Warrick county
with a death investigation...
...they said it's a young
female, late teens/early 20s,
then I needed to
know who it was.
I wanted to make sure
it wasn't my girls.
Heather's oldest child, Halee,
isn't responding
to calls or texts.
She never didn't answer the
phone, she never didn't reply,
that was so out of character
for her, it didn't happen.
Her mothers and sisters
begin reaching out to her
friends, starting with Ansley.
Mrs. Collins, how are you?
Halee's mom called
me and was like,
"there was a body found
in Warrick county,
have you talked to Halee today?"
No, I haven't seen her.
You haven't talked to her?
And I was like, I'll
check her location.
And I checked her location, it
said, "location not available."
Yeah, I still have her
keys to her apartment.
I was like, "her
phone's probably dead,
she's probably
at her apartment.
I'll drive by there, and I'll
go see what she's doing."
She went to the
apartment and called me.
She said, "her car's unlocked,"
she just said, "she's not here."
Right now authorities
are considering...
As Halee's family continues
to search for her,
the chilling thought seeps
deeper into her mother's mind.
It's not her, it's
not her, can't be her.
It was just something
unimaginable.
So I contacted a police
detective I knew from Evansville
and asked, you know,
"hey, I can't find Halee,
do you know anyone
in Warrick county?"
I get a text message that says,
"I need pictures
of her tattoos."
Photos were provided
by her mother,
and there was a cross
tattoo that matched
what we had found
at the soccer field.
So we knew that it was
Halee Rathgeber as our victim.
A parent's worst
fear comes true,
and the nightmare
will only continue
when the roadies come under
the glare of suspicion,
and one of them is proven
to be a cold blooded killer.
It's early stages,
but officials inform us
that the victim is a white
female in her late teens...
The day 20-year-old
Halee Rathgeber
is found shot to death, her
group of friends, the roadies,
as well as her family,
struggle with their loss.
I've lost a child, and
that's an unbearable pain.
And then to find out
how was even worse.
It didn't make sense.
The day of finding out about
her leaving the world...
I wish I could describe
the pain, but you can't.
She was humble in every way.
That was Halee, she
just set the example.
She was my best friend...
And most of all, my daughter.
I'm sorry...
Can I have a minute?
Right through here...
Right in this area is
where the body was found.
We held the crime scene
secure for 24 hours,
but still even
after that came...
I still came back looking
for... just trying to see
if there was anything
we'd overlooked.
We turned over
these railroad ties,
which are actually
staked into the ground.
We pulled those up to
look for shell casing,
trying to see if somehow maybe
it had rolled under something.
And we searched these
ditches for the same thing.
And two guys were actually
assigned to come down
and search this whole area
on their hands and knees
with pairs of scissors
and to cut the grass
with scissors literally,
to look for a shell casing.
Six hours into
their investigation,
detectives are glad to
know the victim's name,
but the motive remains elusive.
With her wallet
and phone missing,
the call is made to
bring in the FBI.
I work for the cellular
analysis survey team,
or the C.A.S.T. Team, which
is a group of FBI agents
who have specialized training
in all things cellphones.
One of the biggest clues we
can exploit is the cellphone.
So the first thing
I always ask for
is the cellphone
records of the victim.
The records will tell
us where she was,
who she spoke to last,
whether it was a
text or a voice call.
Basically what you're doing
is recreating a snapshot
of the last 24 hours
of her life.
While special agent Horan
awaits the victim's
phone records,
the coroner gets to
work examining the body.
The cause of death was
in fact a gunshot wound.
The coroner realized
that she had
a entrance wound in
the back of the head
and an exit wound in
the front of the head.
And so then, they looked for
any other type of injuries
that may suggest what happened,
if there was any type
of defensive wounds.
They do fingernail
scrapings to see
if there's anybody's DNA
underneath their fingernails.
Also sent for DNA testing...
The blood-soaked blue
towel found at the scene.
Frankly, from the
way that we found her
laying on this towel and the
towel had been spread out...
Sexual misconduct would
definitely go through your mind.
At the autopsy, the
crime scene technician
collected the
sexual assault kit.
He confirmed that there was no
indication of sexual assault.
Learning Halee worked
the previous night,
it is believed the
close-knit roadies
were the last to see her alive.
Could one of them know something
to break open the case?
From the get-go,
we wanted to know more about
her circle of friends,
her co-workers,
to start working out who
may have had the motive.
Usually those co-workers
are able
to start pointing us
in the right direction.
They begin with Ansley,
the only one who had keys
to the victim's apartment.
When was the last
time you saw Halee?
The end of our
Sunday morning shift.
Hey, so I'm all finished up for
the day. I'm gonna get going.
Me and Halee worked together
that Sunday morning.
We were supposed to
go to the library
and study
later on that night.
I'll see you at the
library tonight, okay?
Yeah, I'll
see you later.
Ansley tells detectives
she figured Halee
skipped the library
because she needed to
see their friend, Jordan.
Halee had told me she had to go
get her wallet from Jordan.
Does this new
information mean Jordan
is the last person
to see halee alive?
Jordan Hughes was one
of Halee's best friends.
She actually came in voluntarily
and talked at length.
Jordan confirms
halee did come by
to pick up her wallet
Sunday evening.
Do you happen to know
what time that was?
Probably around 10:00.
Halee stopped by
with other friends
earlier that weekend.
They came to lend Jordan support
during a memorial
service for a relative.
Then they were together
Friday, going to the funeral.
Halee was right
there the whole time.
She took care of Jordan.
Me and halee both
attended the memorial
together with Jordan.
I think that Jordan needed
Halee's motherly nature
just floating around.
Also in attendance
is Jordan's boyfriend,
Thaddious rice,
who seems to have a reputation
among Halee's friends.
It didn't really
sit well with me.
The funeral, it was on a Friday
and halee had passed
away on a Monday,
so it was within a weekend.
Many of the friends
involved in the case
were suggesting and theorizing
that Thaddious rice may be
involved in Halee's killing.
With no proof though,
investigators are no closer
to a suspect in Halee's death.
One call from another
roadie will change all that.
Less than a day into
their investigation,
detectives have still not found
murder victim halee Rathgeber's
wallet or phone.
It is why they're focusing on
the tight knit group of
people who knew halee best...
Her friends from the roadhouse.
That's when they learn a
roadie's new boyfriend,
Thaddious rice, has a history
of run-ins with the law.
We brought him to the sheriff's
office for questioning.
Thaddious had been questioned
a couple weeks earlier
in an investigation,
and he was a possible suspect.
All right, thaddious,
we're just here to chat.
We're investigating the
murder of Ms. Halee Rathgeber.
But he didn't talk and
he invoked his right
to an attorney at that time.
To not talk, it was suspect.
And your human nature is,
is, "what do you got to hide?"
Thaddious' silence is deafening,
but detectives have
nothing to hold him on.
Just as the case
returns to square one,
a call comes in from one
of Halee's good friends...
Isaiah hagan.
Well, I was...
Isaiah, he was a
co-worker with halee.
He had a really good, strong
relationship with her.
She was always
over at the house,
probably about four
or five days a week.
They spent a lot
of time together.
I don't think they
officially dated,
but they were together for
about, I'd say 9 to 10 months.
I just wanted to tell
you guys where I was.
Isaiah explains
after their shift,
he went to hang out with
roadie, Jake Allen.
But later that night,
halee calls him.
Halee, she wanted to hang out,
so I went over to her place
and she told me she
wanted me to drop her off.
Isaiah says after a
short time together,
halee asked for a ride.
She wanted to meet someone
at a local landmark...
The Newburgh locks and dam.
I don't know
who she was meeting
and it did worry me a bit, but
I still just dropped her off.
Isaiah told us that he had no
idea who halee was meeting.
He didn't really
want to ask questions,
but he thought it
was kind of odd
that she would
meet somebody there.
And he was a little
worried about it,
but he didn't ask any questions
and went ahead and
left her there anyway.
Instead of returning to Jake's,
Isaiah eventually goes home.
Feeling uneasy,
close to midnight,
he tries to contact halee.
After he left from there,
he sent her a text saying,
"hey, thanks for the talk."
All right, bye.
Police now have a better idea
of Halee's movements
the night of her murder.
And one fact about a fellow
roadie piques their interest.
Jake Allen's house is very
close to the locks and dam
in Newburgh, which is
a couple miles away
from the soccer fields
where she was found.
We were not ruling Jake out
because there was
a lot of questions
about, you know, where he was
after midnight.
We caught up with Jake Allen
Monday night.
Jake Allen?
We interviewed him about
his whereabouts
on Sunday evening.
Jake Allen just talked about
how he and Isaiah hagan
were together the night
before Halee's body was found.
Jake also verifies
that he stayed home
to hang out with other
friends all night.
Before letting him go,
Jake is presented
with a search warrant.
Detectives have cycled through
a number of Halee's
colleagues and friends...
...but are no closer to
discovering
if any of the roadies
are responsible for the tragedy.
Then, an opportunity
presents itself as the family
and friends of halee Rathgeber
gather to honor her.
Five days after
halee was killed,
we had a candlelight
service for her.
Investigators stake
out the vigil.
Sometimes we'll attend
a funeral or a vigil
to watch and see if anyone shows
up, see how they're acting.
There was a lot
of tears flowing.
It was definitely
a surreal moment,
just to get everybody together,
and just try to release a
little bit of the sadness.
They started building
basically a monument
on the fence at
the soccer field.
There were so many flowers.
There were so many things.
But at the same time, there
was plain clothes officers.
They were looking for anybody
that was out of place.
Whoever murdered her could
have been right there
the whole time.
It was horrible.
We were just nervous
because we were thinking
the person that
killed her could come.
Despite investigator's
best efforts,
the vigil doesn't
yield any new suspects.
That's hard for
everybody to understand.
It's hard to stomach
how something like this
could happen when
you don't know why.
They need to find
a vital clue...
And fast.
Some times it's just
that little point
in the right direction that
sends us down the right path.
By April 29, 2017,
detectives have worked around
the clock for five days
searching for 20-year-old
halee Rathgeber's killer.
But they're no closer
than when they started,
leaving hope
hanging by a thread.
Everybody just checked
their pride and their ego
at the door and were
here to solve the case.
At that point, it's like
1,000-piece Jigsaw puzzle
laid out on the table,
and that's one piece
you got to figure
out where it fits,
and it's not put
together well yet.
So it's hard to, it's like,
this might be a
really important piece
that's gonna lead us
somewhere or might not.
One solid direction
has been elusive
until a potentially
case-altering lead surfaces.
The wallet had laid
out for a few days
and was found by a mowing crew.
They were gonna
try and figure out
who it belonged
to and call them,
and when they
googled the name,
they found out that
she'd been murdered,
and they contacted
us to collect it.
Out of the belief
that too many people
had already touched it
and that no good evidence
would be retrieved,
we did not process it
for any type of
fingerprints or DNA.
The wallet leads detectives
back to the two roadies at
whose house it was last seen...
Jordan and her boyfriend
thaddious, who now has a warrant
out for his arrest
in an unrelated case.
Thaddious had been arrested
a couple of times in Evansville.
We were just able to call on
another agency to go ahead
and execute the arrest
warrant that existed for him.
Rumors among Halee's
co-workers, the roadies,
are spreading like wildfire.
There were people
on social media
saying thaddious rice did it.
They thought thaddious rice
killed halee.
This makes thaddious
their only suspect,
but the list is
about to multiply.
We learned that somebody
from Texas roadhouse
had brought some bloody clothes
to one of our
local dry cleaners.
He is James Whitson,
a name they have yet to hear,
though a pile of bloody clothes
changes a lot of things quickly.
We were very interested in
who that person was then
and immediately
began investigating
any possible involvement there
and his relationship to halee.
A cook at the roadhouse,
James says he isn't
close to the others.
He also claims to have a simple
explanation for the blood.
His story was that he
had actually been cut
earlier in that week.
We did a search warrant,
we got his DNA to test it.
With blood evidence,
typically it takes
a fair amount of time to
get it back from the lab.
Two to three weeks
is lightening speed.
In a high profile
case like this,
they get their result
in just a few days.
There was only one
source of DNA...
His.
James' story is confirmed.
We were able to
quickly clear him.
Detectives also
get more DNA news,
this time from the
crime scene itself.
Crime scene technicians
took scrapings
of Halee's fingernails
at the autopsy,
and there was no other
DNA besides her own
found under her fingernails.
The bloody towel
next to Halee's body
at the soccer fields
offers a similar story.
The blue towel was
found next to the body,
it was covered in blood
and it was sent in
and analyzed for DNA.
But there was only
one source of DNA
found on that towel,
and that was halee Rathgeber's.
It's disappointing,
but reinforces the type of
suspect they're looking for.
We didn't find there to
be any sign of a struggle.
The fact that there was
nothing under her fingernails
to indicate that she had fought,
and just the fact
that that gunshot
came from the back,
leads us to believe
that she knew her attacker
and was comfortable with him.
Almost a week after
Halee's murder,
the FBI steps in with big news.
Despite Halee's
phone still missing,
her cellphone records
have been obtained.
Obviously we want to
know the last activity
that was on her phone.
I started digging into
where the phone was,
so I established
a rough timeline.
The next thing I wanted
to do was find out
who was she talking to.
The records would
indicate that she had
been speaking with Isaiah hagan.
So we were able to get
Mr. Hagan's records,
and I was able to determine
that his movements
that evening were identical
to Halee's movements.
Basically what I saw
from the records is that
Mr. Hagan had met up with
halee at her apartment
and they had traveled
together over to
the east side of
Evansville to the area
where the soccer complex was.
The phone activities show
that they both arrived
at the park area
around 11:00 P.M.
This contradicts Isaiah's story.
He claimed he dropped
halee off at a different
local landmark to meet
an unknown person.
Investigators also have
more than just the call logs.
Completely a lie.
Typically we don't
get text messages
as they were typed out,
we just get a notation
on the records
that a text was sent.
But in this case we were able
to get the actual content.
Isaiah's texts and the location
from where they were
sent are damning.
But adding to the mystery,
Halee's cell signal
abruptly disappears.
Halee's phone had been shut off
at the soccer complex
about 11:25 that evening.
And Mr. Hagan's
phone had then left.
And about 3:00 A.M. Halee's
phone had come back on.
And when it reappeared,
it reappeared on the same
cell sight that covers the
park, where she was found.
And it moved from that area over
to about the southwest
side of Evansville.
Then there was no more
activity on the phone.
It's all proof Isaiah
fabricated a story.
The man who originally
came forward
as a concerned friend
is now the prime suspect.
With conflicting stories,
detectives put in a request
to see all of the
surveillance footage
from Halee's
apartment that night.
What they see and hear from
Isaiah could tell
them everything.
I know this is just a
tragedy that you want to
wish never happened.
But we got to
have the truth.
You've got
to tell me.
Five days after
halee Rathgeber's murder,
her cellphone and
text data are creating
an interesting picture.
One that makes her close
friend Isaiah hagan
a prime suspect, but the
evidence is all circumstantial.
That changes the moment
detectives get their hands
on surveillance footage from
Halee's apartment complex.
We were able to determine
through surveillance video
that Isaiah arrived
at her apartment
and the two of them leave
together shortly thereafter.
It all plays out
the way Isaiah says
until it doesn't.
A video actually shows
Isaiah coming back
in the morning, going
through her vehicle.
Isaiah is acting alone,
meaning any suspicion thaddious
rice is involved evaporates.
They now have proof
Isaiah lied to them.
We obtained a search
warrant for the hagan home,
where Isaiah hagan was living.
And talked to Isaiah's parents.
We just have a few questions
about your son Isaiah.
- Any firearms in the house?
- I have a handgun.
- We're gonna take a look at it.
- Sure, no problem.
While they were
there, they discovered
that there was a missing
9mm highpoint.
They couldn't explain
that it was missing.
The 9mm was in the range
of guns that would have
caused a wound of that size.
We were not able to
determine a specific caliber
of the bullet
that killed halee.
One, because we didn't
find a shell case
and two, because we couldn't
find the projectile.
Detectives continue their search
through Isaiah's house.
They found an identical
towel to the one
that was found next to halee
in the parking lot by her head.
It was from the same
company and the same color
and everything else.
So that was pretty significant.
Isaiah's father then explains,
he was in contact with Isaiah
on the night in question
over money his son owed him.
While Isaiah was at
the soccer field,
that he received a
text from his dad
asking if had gotten
the money yet.
He said that he was waiting
on her to get off work.
Isaiah had written bad checks
that his father had to cover.
His father never
knew the full story
behind his plan
to pay him back.
Apparently he had
whether with
or without Halee's permission,
we don't know because she's not
here to tell us,
had written a couple checks on
her bank account to himself.
Two checks in the
amount of $300.
One cleared,
one did not clear.
Mr. Hagan's father
had noticed
that this had not cleared
because he was a joint signer
on that account and covered
that amount for Isaiah.
And so there was some money
that was owed to his dad
that his dad kept
asking about
on the day of or the night
of that halee was killed.
It seems Isaiah had no shortage
of ways he attempted
to make the money.
There was some recent
thefts in his history.
Isaiah had stolen
from his roommates,
including a TV
out of the living room.
So we were finding out
that a lot of his friends
and associates had some
real problems with him.
He's struggling to keep jobs,
he was stealing
from his roommates.
He actually was stealing
some of our stuff
and pawning it off at
some local pawn stores.
And we eventually told him that,
you know,
he couldn't stay
with us anymore.
Fellow roadie Jake Allen,
once a suspect, was also a
victim of Isaiah's theft.
He was at one point
taking from me,
taking from my roommate,
taking from his roommate,
and you know,
pawning stuff off for money
for whatever trouble he was in.
They were painting a pretty
bleak picture of him.
There were a lot of other
people that he had stolen from
or had taken stuff
from in the past
that would dog him or ask him
for money on a constant basis.
Isaiah's parents
say they had no idea
he was so desperate for money.
Still, they refused to
believe he could kill
for a few hundred dollars.
They seem forgiving
and understanding,
so I don't think it was
anything to kill somebody over.
You want to take
a seat over there.
We regrouped and
decided it was time to
pick Isaiah hagan up, bring
him in for questioning.
I'm sure you knew that we'd
have to talk at some point.
We're gonna grind
some things out.
There were several
points where you could
see him shift gears and
start spinning a new tale.
I don't remember which
one, Friday or Saturday
and then I met her at her
apartment around 10:30.
His story is, she wanted
me to drop her off there,
the locks and dam,
we talked briefly.
She said it was okay for me
to go, and I left her there.
She just told me
like, it was okay
that I could go, and I
was like, "are you sure?"
Because I didn't want to
leave her by herself really.
And I said, "look, obviously
he's lying to you."
His phone is showing
where he truly was
in the timeframe that
he's associated with that.
I knew it was my
opportunity to go talk
to Mr. Hagan and confront
him with some technology.
So we're gonna
show you a movie,
which shows your phone.
This is you.
And this
is Halee's phone
and this is a map of
the Evansville area.
If you look over here,
this scale shows you
the time of the day.
Faced with
indisputable evidence,
Isaiah admits he took
halee to the soccer fields,
but he continues to
deny he murdered her.
She was my best friend.
I'm not gonna tell you I
killed her when I didn't.
I'm not going to.
He initially denied that
he ever had her cellphone,
but then that story
changed several times
to include, "oh, yeah I found
it in the middle of the road.
I saw it laying in the
middle of the road
and I picked it up," to, "oh, I
finally found it in my car."
Essentially what he told us was
that he had Halee's
phone the entire time.
When he had left the park, he
had taken her phone with him
and when he turned
it on, he checked it.
He finally ended up
confessing that he had thrown
Halee's phone out the window.
He was afraid that if anybody
found him with the phone
that he would get in trouble
because it's Halee's phone.
He told them a specific area
where he threw it
out the window.
We sent people to
search that area
and we were never able
to locate the phone.
Investigators have heard enough
and arrest Isaiah.
Isaiah never did confess to me
or any other law
enforcement officer
that he had shot halee.
He didn't want to make
any further statement.
We informed him he was
being arrested for murder,
robbery, and
obstruction of justice.
The only thing I've wanted
in this entire situation
is justice, and I want
it done the right way,
that's all I really
cared about at all.
If that means a
former friend of mine
is going away for
a very long time,
in this case Isaiah,
then, so be it.
23-year-old
Isaiah hagan goes to trial
and is found guilty of murder.
Prosecutors can
pursue life in prison,
but it would mean more time
in court for Halee's family.
We made the determination that
we would offer them a 60-years
on the sentence,
and they did take that.
There isn't really
a group anymore.
A lot of people have left.
We don't do Christmas dinners
or Thanksgiving dinners.
We don't do
birthday parties out,
we don't hang out at each
other's houses anymore.
Everybody just fell apart.
When halee passed away,
we just stopped.
I don't think that
any amount of time
is gonna change what happened.
It's not gonna bring her back.
I want him dead.
I'm not ashamed to say it.
Thank god they
put him in prison.
The pain doesn't go
away like people think.
It doesn't get better with days
or talks or conversations.
Her loss was still the
way I feel right now.