The Devil Speaks (2018–…): Season 2, Episode 2 - No Remorse - full transcript

[ police radio chatter ]

karr: I have a missing woman,
and I have a missing child.

Sorrells: I'd never seen anyone
beaten so badly.

Karr: There are pools of blood
in the carpet.

There's blood on the walls.

That took an incredible amount
of power and a lot of anger.

♪

[ both laugh ]

honey!
Mom!

Narrator: 49-year-old
army veteran robin sowders

moves to bloomington
to be near his family



after separating from his wife.

Way too long.
Way too long.

Stangas:
Robin was my first child.

He had a very gentle,
loving, kind spirit and heart.

And when robin came out here,
it was wonderful.

♪

narrator:
A few months later,

robin's younger sister stephanie
develops cancer,

and robin is by her side
every step of the way.

York:
Robin came to every treatment.

He came to my house
and spent the day with me

just to make sure I was okay.

[ knock on door ]

[ sighs ]



♪

hi.
Come on in.

You must be robin.

[ chuckles ] guilty.

Stephanie's told me
a lot about you.

Right.

My friend melissa
immediately came to indiana.

She got on a bus and came here
to take care of me.

Narrator: Like robin,

melissa has been through
a divorce.

Oh, let me take those.

Oh, thank you.
Yeah.

York: Melissa kind of
had a crush on robin,

and robin thought
melissa was a beautiful girl.

So the rest was history.

Boys, come help your mother.

2 of melissa's children,

20-year old andre
and 14-year-old aaron,

have moved to bloomington
with her.

♪

robin and melissa
soon start dating,

and he often stops by the hotel
where she works as a cook

to see her.
Hey, where's the barman?

Robin saw melissa
as a fun-loving, outgoing person

and somebody that he enjoyed
spending time with.

♪

narrator: A few months after
they first met,

robin and melissa marry
and get a little house.

I was happy for my brother
and melissa, as well.

It's great, babe.

I try.

[ chuckles ]

oh, that's nasty.
[ chatter ]

[ laughs ]

narrator:
Melissa's youngest son, aaron,

moves in with the couple...

Robin: What's up,
mr. Gold chain?

Narrator: ...While older brother
andre lives across town

with his biological father,

but he spends much of his time
at robin and melissa's.

Okay. [ laughs ]
plates.

York: Robin was very close
to the boys.

He didn't want them
to feel any way

other than they could
come to him

for whatever
they wanted or needed.

Here we go.

Here's to you.
Rock and roll.

[ laughter ]

♪

narrator: Robin has recently
undergone knee surgery,

and family friend
deborah sorrells

is bringing over
a get-well gift.

Sorrells: I saw robin's truck
in the driveway,

and so I thought,
"okay, good, he's home.

I don't have to leave it
in the mailbox."

I walked up to the door...

Robin?

...And I noticed that the bottom
right-hand panel was missing,

which I thought was odd.

I reached up inside
to turn the handle.

♪

[ door creaks ]

are you there?

♪

hello?

♪

the living room seemed fine.
Nothing was upset.

♪

but I looked over to the left...

♪

...And there was blood.

There was blood splattered
on the carpeting.

♪

robin?

♪

♪

robin?

♪

and I see robin...

Laying on the floor
in the opening of the bedroom.

♪

I had never seen anyone
beaten so badly.

His face... Was swollen.

Swollen... Like a pumpkin.

Narrator:
Deborah calls 911

and waits for the paramedics
to arrive.

My friend's been badly beaten.
You need to hurry, please.

You just want
to hold him to you,

but you can't.

They're coming.
The ambulance is coming.

Luckily, the paramedics came...
Quickly.

♪

robin, where's melissa?

I want to call her and tell her
that you've been hurt.

[ strained ]
the fourwinds hotel.

And so I contacted fourwinds.

Hello.
Can I speak to melissa?

It's urgent.

And they said, "melissa never
came into work this morning."

and I said, "if you see her
please let her know

that her husband is being taken
to bloomington hospital,

and he's severely injured."

♪

york:
I got a phone call.

There's police everywhere
at robin's house.

[ siren wails ]

so of course, then my heart
is beating very, very fast.

I immediately started
calling melissa

to find out what was going on.

Nobody would answer the phone,
so of course, I'm panicking.

And when we get there,
the ambulance had left.

Myself and my mom
are crying uncontrollably.

Melissa and aaron
are nowhere to be found.

Narrator: As robin's family
rush to the hospital,

detective shawn karr
arrives at the scene.

Karr: I got the call
that there had been a gentleman

who's beaten almost to death.

[ police radio chatter ]

the hospital's saying

that he's probably not
gonna survive his injuries.

And I have a missing woman,
and I have a missing child.

♪

the door's broken.

♪

there are pools of blood
in the carpet.

[ camera shutter clicking ]

♪

there's blood on the walls.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

♪

and in the main bedroom...

♪

...There was just
blood everywhere.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

sheets and blankets and pillows
are pulled down onto the floor.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

♪

it looks like it's a break-in.

So a normal break-in,
you would think, "okay.

They broke in
and they stole stuff."

not the case here.

♪

the living room
is not disturbed at all.

The television, which is usually

one of the main things
somebody takes,

is still sitting there.

There's still a computer.

And my feeling was
this was not a break-in...

That this was
something personal.

Someone knew robin.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

♪

and at that point,
my priorities shifted

to what's happened
to melissa and aaron.

♪

we're concerned that
something's happened to her,

and we can't find aaron, either.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

and as I'm getting ready
to issue orders out to my guys

on, "okay,
this is where we need to look.

This is what we need to do"...

[ cellphone rings ]
detective karr.

...I get a phone call
from dispatch saying,

"we have melissa sowders,

and we have her son aaron
in the station."

keep them there.

There's somebody
I need to talk to.

She's described
as being hysterical.

♪

narrator: Relieved to know
that melissa and aaron are safe,

detective karr hopes they
may be able to shed some light

on what happened to robin.

♪

but melissa's reason
for coming to the police station

has nothing to do
with the assault on her husband.

And detective karr
is stunned to hear

who melissa
is seeking protection from.

♪

narrator: Robin sowders
has been brutally attacked...

[ camera shutter clicking ]

...And is fighting for his life
at the local hospital

while his wife, melissa,
is at the sheriff's office

asking for protection from him.

Karr: When I first met her,
she was very animated.

I mean, she keeps trying
to look out the door

like somebody
is coming after her...

♪

...And appears to not know

anything's happened
to her husband.

And so I make the determination
at that point

not to tell her about robin.

I want to see
what she has to say.

Melissa tells me
the previous day, on Saturday,

she had been at the fourwinds
for her regular shift...

And around 1:00 or 2:00
that afternoon, she came home.

[ chuckles ]

narrator: Robin and melissa
enjoy a few drinks.

They've recently celebrated
their first wedding anniversary.

Karr: Robin had just
had a surgery on his knee.

Was on some painkillers.

No, they don't mix well.

Karr: She had had two or three
glasses of wine with him,

but she had to go back to work

because she was pulling
a second shift.

I'll buy this again.

And while she was there,
andre, her oldest son,

and robin decided to go
to the fourwinds to have dinner.

Andre and his girlfriend
drove down there.

[ laughs ]

♪

karr: And when they got there,
robin starts to get upset.

Hey, baby!

She and he had gotten into
a huge argument.

Who's that?

Like what you see?

Stupid.

Get him out of here!

Andre then drove robin
back to his house.

Go!
Whoo!

[ cellphone buzzing ]

melissa finishes her shift.

She gets her phone out and
starts seeing the text messages.

Narrator: Robin's behavior
is very out of character,

but he's on painkillers
and has been drinking heavily.

Karr: Then he starts talking
about, "hey, you know,

your son's alone with me,"
and he's threatening aaron.

Although robin had no history of
being violent with his family,

when she starts listening
to the messages,

she gets extremely scared.

She finally
gets a hold of aaron.

Mom?

And aaron says that robin
has threatened him.

Melissa: Okay, baby,
you just stay right there.

I'm coming to get you.

♪

melissa:
Get in the car.

♪

you okay?

And then at about 11:30,
she drove back to the fourwinds,

and she and aaron spent
the night in a hotel room there.

[ scanner beeps ]

I let her tell me
the whole story,

and then I broke it to her
that actually, I was there

investigating the beating
of robin.

[ karr sighs ]

♪

♪

narrator: Across town,
robin's mother, shirley,

and sister stephanie
arrive at the hospital.

Robin is in the I.C.U.

York:
It didn't even look like him.

It looked like he was bald
because his head was so swole

and his eyes were just... Black.

Narrator:
As an ex-nurse,

robin's mother, shirley,
knows the situation is dire.

He was blind in both eyes,
and his jaw was... To the side.

Every bone in his face
was broke.

♪

♪

karr:
According to melissa,

aaron's the last one that's seen
robin before he was injured.

I don't know
if aaron is a witness

or if he's a suspect.

One of the things
that stands out

is aaron is a sizable young man.

He could have inflicted
the injuries on robin.

So, aaron, tell me about
what happened last night.

Because he's underage,

he has to have
a guardian with him.

Well, the problem I have is
his only guardian is melissa.

I was at home with my dad...

well, my stepdad.

He had been drinking.

He was shouting,
and I got scared.

And I climbed out of the window.

My mom came to get me.

Aaron's very matter-of-fact,
very calm, no emotion,

something that I wouldn't expect
from somebody

who was scared to death
and ran for his life.

I think he did run
from the house,

but is he the one who inflicted
the injuries on robin

and then he ran?

I can't figure that out,
so I released her and aaron.

I didn't have enough
to hold them.

♪

narrator: With so many questions
still unanswered,

detective car returns
to the scene of the crime.

♪

karr:
When I looked over it again,

the odd thing was even though
there was blood everywhere,

it didn't look like some massive
beating with a weapon.

Normally,
we would expect castoff.

Blood flying everywhere
in droplets.

There's no droplets.
These were all smears.

Narrator: The lack of cuts
on robin's face

leads detective karr to believe

he was beaten not with a weapon
but with fists.

Karr:
And I think most of the blood

came from after the beating.

♪

to throw punches hard enough
to break someone's eyes

and fracture their skull...

[ coughing ]

...That took
an incredible amount of power

and a lot of anger.

♪

in the bedroom, the dresser
was pulled out from the wall.

♪

we found robin's phone
underneath the dresser

and were able to figure out

that he had been
in contact with melissa

up until about 11:30
that night...

♪

...And then all communication
from his phone just cut off.

[ siren wails ]

narrator: Detectives believe
robin was attacked

shortly after this time.

The next step is to speak
to everyone

who had been in contact with him
that night.

Karr:
According to melissa,

andre is the one
who had taken him home.

♪

when andre wells walked in,
I just first took notice

that he's the extremely tall,
pretty muscular,

but no evidence of blood
or injuries to his hands.

♪

and he gives us basically
the same account of events

that melissa had given us.

♪

he and his girlfriend
drove down there.

They had some drinks,
took him to the hotel.

He got out of hand.

Take him home right now!

And they brought him back.

Go!
Robin: Whoo!

[ brakes squeal ]

[ laughs ]
hello, you guys.

♪

narrator: The detective
then turns the conversation

to melissa and robin's
relationship.

♪

karr:
He gets upset

when he starts
talking about robin,

says he's close to robin.

Andre actually seemed
to care for robin

and actually got upset

about listening to
what had occurred to him.

He seemed like a decent,
nice guy.

All we got for right now...

Narrator: Despite andre's
reaction to the attack,

detectives still need
to verify his whereabouts.

♪

karr:
Andre's girlfriend stated

that once
they dropped robin off,

they had gone to his
father's house, andre senior.

And andre senior confirmed

that andre stayed
the whole night.

♪

narrator:
In the hospital,

robin's condition
remains critical,

and he dips
in and out of consciousness.

York:
He was real anxious.

And I asked him, I said,

"what happened?
Who did this to you?"

♪

♪

narrator: Detective karr
confronts melissa

with new information
from the hospital.

♪

♪

what happened?

Narrator: Robin sowders
is in critical condition

after being violently attacked

and has made
a startling revelation.

Robin is adamant
that melissa did this.

♪

[ monitor beeping ]

narrator: Robin undergoes
emergency surgery

to relieve the pressure
on his brain,

but his injuries are too severe.

Let them just
turn the machines off.

So we made the decision
to have the ventilator removed.

♪

which I had done many times
an assist with in my career.

It's a little different
when it's your son

or your family.

[ sniffles ]

♪

we all begged mom
to come out of the room,

and she wouldn't.

I said, "no.

I brought him into the world,
and I'll see him out."

and I did.

[ monitor beeping ]

[ flatline ]

♪

karr: We're now in a full-blown
homicide investigation.

[ engine starts ]

we have somebody
who's capable of murder,

and they're walking around.

♪

and it's up to us to find him.

♪

narrator:
With melissa claiming

to have spent the night
at the fourwinds hotel,

detective karr
checks out her alibi.

Can you show me
the booking form?

Yeah.
So we just we log in here.

We discovered that the locks
on the doors were key-coded.

This is everyone
who was here that night.

So we asked them to pull
all the records for the room

to verify that
they'd actually spent the night.

So that shows
what time she entered.

Narrator:
The records confirm

that melissa entered her room
at half-past midnight,

almost an hour after
robin last used his phone.

Karr: The problem was
the key only recorded

when someone entered the room.

It didn't record when the door
was open from the inside.

♪

narrator: With no surveillance
cameras in the hotel,

detectives can't prove
or disprove

whether melissa and aaron
stayed there all night.

Melissa was there.

But then, melissa's co-worker
claims to have spoken to melissa

the morning after the attack
on robin.

Karr: She had met melissa
that Sunday,

before melissa
had come into my office.

♪

she had told melissa,

"hey, your husband's more
or less dead in the hospital,"

and she was surprised
that melissa was here

rather than at the hospital.

Melissa didn't say anything

and decided to come over here
and file a restraining order.

♪

narrator: The co-worker's
statement suggests

melissa knew that her husband
was in the hospital

before going to
the sheriff's office.

Obviously, that was a little bit
of a surprise to us.

Melissa at least acted like

she didn't know
anything had happened to robin

when she talked to me.

And that just set off
all kinds of red flags.

We're reasonably sure
melissa is lying to us,

but we don't know about what.

♪

our strongest thought was
it was aaron.

Aaron's the last one
to see him alive.

Aaron's got the size
and the ability to do this.

So we actually think

melissa is probably
protecting her youngest son.

♪

narrator:
While detectives consider aaron

as a possible suspect,

neither he
nor his mother, melissa,

have any cuts
or bruises on their fists...

wounds the investigators
would expect to see

after such a violent attack.

Karr:
We're stuck.

We have no other persons
to look at

other than melissa and aaron,

and we really have nothing
physically, anyway,

to link them to this.

And their stories are identical,
and we can't shake that.

So unless somebody calls us
with information,

this may not go solved.

♪

narrator: Months pass,

and robin's family remain
traumatized by the killing.

York:
It's been very frustrating.

It was a long,
drawn-out situation.

I prayed for closure.
I just wanted it to be over.

Just want it to be over.
Just want it to be over.

♪

narrator:
Then, a random traffic stop

provides investigators
with a new lead.

[ siren wails ]

kehr:
Man named brian thompson...

he had gotten stopped.

He was driving
without a license,

which is a misdemeanor.

Narrator: But brian thompson is
on probation for armed robbery.

Karr: The probation violation
is going to send him

back to prison for six years
in a different county

for a robbery,

and he does not
want that to happen.

Look, is... is there someone
I can talk to?

Uh, I've got some information
on a murder.

♪

♪

narrator: Brian thompson
reveals to police

he has information about
the murder of robin sowders.

He tells police he is a friend
of robin's stepson andre wells.

Brian thompson
relates a story to me

where shortly after
the murder of robin,

he and andre get together.

♪

why you need to go there?

And then out of nowhere,

andre had related to him
how he had killed robin.

♪

narrator:
Even though andre's alibi

that he was at his
father's house had checked out,

detectives take
these new allegations seriously.

Brian thompson, his friend,
told a very plausible account

of what happened
that was consistent

with the forensic evidence that
there was blunt-force trauma,

that there was repeated blows.

It just made sense.

Karr: The problem with brian is
he does have a criminal past,

a fairly significant one.

For all I know,
he and andre had a falling out

and he's going to
throw this on andre.

We need something more,

and the route we took
was get andre to talk.

♪

so we cut a deal,

and brian agrees to wear
a recording device.

Sure about this?

This or six years inside, man.

This is to switch it on.

It's a digital recorder
that was hidden on his person.

♪

to ask somebody
to wear a wire is difficult.

♪

that puts them
in a lot of jeopardy.

Andre.

And I never knew

when brian
was going to meet with andre.

♪

narrator: Detectives request
phone records

and cell-tower information
to try to pinpoint

where andre's phone was
during the night of the attack.

Kehr: Andre told us
that he had dropped robin off...

♪

...And that he went
to his dad's house

and that he never
saw robin again after that.

Karr: We have proof
through the cellphone records

that at 11:27,
melissa calls andre.

We don't know what was said
in that conversation.

Kehr: The call that was placed
at 11:27 put andre

on the north side of town,

where his dad's house
was located.

Narrator:
But immediately after the call,

andre's phone goes on the move.

♪

karr:
By tracking his cellphone,

we were able to show
that he traveled south.

And then his phone
hits off the tower

next to his stepdad's house,
next to robin's house.

♪

our cellphone records
are putting andre there

at the time that
brian is putting him there.

Now we've got a suspect.

Narrator:
Detectives are now certain

andre was at robin's house
at the time of the attack.

This means
he gave a false alibi.

But investigators
need more evidence

before they can arrest him.

The problem was brian was the
only in to andre that we had.

♪

narrator:
After several weeks,

brian finally comes to the
detectives with the recordings.

Karr:
Quite honestly,

I don't think
we're expecting a whole lot.

♪

we're listening
to the recording.

And we pause.

♪

rewind. Listen to it again.

Pause, rewind,
listen to it again.

♪

I'm like, "we've got it."

♪

narrator:
It's been a year

since robin sowders
was beaten to death,

and monroe county sheriffs
still haven't made an arrest.

♪

but informants
brian thompson believes

he's got exactly
what the investigators need.

♪

when we'd interviewed andre,
andre cared for robin,

really liked robin, was upset
that robin had gotten hurt.

And this was a side of andre
that we hadn't seen.

That's it. Right there.

"you're going to say
something like that,

you be prepared
for what's gonna happen to you.

♪

hmm. Yeah.
That sends chills down my spine.

♪

karr: That just shows
his mentality.

I mean.
If you're gonna threaten aaron,

then you're gonna get
what's coming to you.

And that was
his thought process,

and that's what happened.

Kehr: He's expressing
no remorse at all.

He's proud of it.

He would do it again.

He would do it
10,000 times again.

It was chilling.

♪

narrator:
On September 18, 2012,

andre wells is arrested
and charged with robin's murder.

Karr:
He never once really refuted it.

He never said he didn't do it.

He just basically said that,
"it couldn't have been me."

it was nice to go to the family
and say, "hey I've got him."

♪

york:
I was devastated.

I didn't think he was capable

because him and robin
were so close

that I never dreamed
andre wouldn't do anything

to harm my brother... ever.

♪

narrator: In court,
deputy prosecutor jeff kehr

lays out
what he believes happened.

Kehr:
On the night of October 23rd,

robin had been drinking.

Karr: Robin had just had
a surgery on his knee

and was on some painkillers.

Kehr: They went down
to the fourwinds.

When robin got there,
he was intoxicated.

Melissa asked andre
to take him home.

Please get out of here.
Who brought him here?

Take him home.
Take him home right now.

After being dropped off
at the house,

robin was blowing up
melissa's phone.

[ cellphone keyboard clicking ]

he was sending text messages.

He was calling her
and leaving voicemails...

...Some of them
which were threatening

her younger son, aaron.

Kehr: Melissa phoned aaron
and picked him up.

Karr:
Phone records show

that at about 11:27,
there's a phone call to andre.

[ scanner beeps ]

we know andre drove down
to robin's house.

[ brakes squeal ]

you home, man?

Andre went in the house,
confronts robin.

What's going on here, man?
What's the noise?

They get into an argument.
Don't touch me.

Get out.
Get out of my damn house.

♪

according to brian thompson,

andre goes
to the detached garage.

He gets a roll of duct tape,
and he wraps his hand.

♪

and then andre goes back
into the house.

♪

that's when we think
andre started to beat robin.

I thought I told you
to get out of my... ah!

♪

♪

kehr: He beat robin in the head
with his fists,

he stomped robin
with his feet in the chest,

and he left robin there to die.

♪

he kicked the lower panel
of the door in

to make it look like
there had been an intruder.

Karr:
Andre left the scene.

He was able to dispose of
the duct tape and his clothing.

And then the following morning,

robin was discovered
by deborah sorrells.

♪

narrator: The jury find
andre wells guilty of murder,

and the judge sentences him
to 60 years in prison.

Kehr: Those recordings
were very critical toward

obtaining a conviction
in this case.

The jury was able
to hear from andre wells

in his own words what he did.

Narrator: For assisting
the investigation,

all charges against
brian thompson are dropped.

Karr:
Without the audio recordings,

without andre saying, "I'd do it
10,000 times over again,"

I don't think
we would've made the case.

♪

narrator:
There is no evidence

that melissa encouraged
the attack on robin

or that either she or aaron
knew what andre did.

She refuted the statement
by her co-worker

that she knew
robin was in the hospital.

Police couldn't rely on robin's
claim that melissa was involved

due to his condition.

As such, no charges
were brought against her.

Andre's girlfriend and father

were not charged in connection
with andre's false alibi.

For robin's family,

andre's conviction
provides little comfort.

York:
We don't even do family anymore.

We don't do christmas,
thanksgiving.

Nothing.

[ voice breaking ]
ever since he left.

♪

and that's sad.

It's sad for my mom.
[ sniffles ]

stangas: You don't have closure.
Never.

But there's no closure.

You just learn to deal with it.

You learn to deal with it.

♪