03x10 - Cheryl Hooper and Solomon Hayhurst

[bunniefuu]

[audio logo]

NARRATOR: This time
on "K*llers Caught on Camera."

In the West of England,
a mother's life is stolen

in a cold-blooded execution.

EARL PINNOCK: He's jealous.

He doesn't want her life
to move on without him.

NARRATOR: And in New Mexico, a
family argument ends in death.

JOSHUA BAKER: Just
something didn't

feel like it was adding up, you
know, why he hadn't called 911.

MAN 1: It just
sounds like something

bad is happening to her.

WOMAN: We know what
happened because the video

tells us what happened.

MAN 2: I heard some g*nshots.

OFFICER 1: Drop it.

Whatever it is, drop it.

MAN 3: That does not prove
that I k*lled my wife.

MAN 4: The camera doesn't lie.

NARRATOR: In the UK, in
Shropshire is the quiet farming

town of Newport.

But on a suburban
street in January 2018,

the peace was shattered.

[phone ringing]

Emergency services responded.

They were met
by panicked neighbors.

OFFICER 2: Keep right.

Right here, OK?

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
He shot her in the head.

- The police arrive
at an extremely chaotic and

panic stricken scene.

The only eyewitness is
the daughter of Georgia.

She's 14 at the time.

DAVID MASON KC: The victim
was Cheryl Hooper.

She was seated in the driver's
seat of her car,

which was parked
outside the house

that she was living
in at the time.

Cheryl was found with
two shotgun injuries

to her upper body caused
by a shotgun discharge.

NARRATOR: Paramedics
tried to save Cheryl,

but she was declared
dead at the scene.

- Georgia was
initially hysterical,

but when she'd
calmed down a bit,

she was able to tell
the officers who

arrived in simple terms what
had happened to her mother

and who was responsible.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER: My mom
was incredibly outgoing,

loud, talkative, bubbly.

She's really, really well
known in Newport for being

a nice, bubbly person.

NARRATOR: Cheryl
was a single parent,

Georgia, her only child.

- My mom was incredibly loving.

She was all over me, very
protective, very caring.

My mom spent a lot
of time with me.

Being a single
parent, she didn't

really have time for doing
things that she wanted to do.

She enjoyed going
to church, anything that got

her out of the house, really.

She spent a long time
working in sales.

It was something she
really, really enjoyed.

She changed career
several times

and ended up as a manager
of a dental practice.

NARRATOR: In 2010, Cheryl
met a local man, a farmer,

Andrew Hooper, known as Jack.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER: My mom
and Jack met through friends.

They were set up on a date.

It wasn't something that my mom
usually did but she was sort

of encouraged to go and do it.

And that's how
their relationship started.

The first time I met Jack
was when we went to his farm.

He was lovely.

He was very charming.

The farm seemed to be
a successful business,

and Jack put across that
it was really successful.

He had a Range Rover.

He made out that
he was doing OK.

NARRATOR: And Cheryl seemed
happy in the relationship.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
I think she

liked the fact that Jack had
his own farm, he was sensible,

he was clever man and seemed
really kind and caring.

However, this wasn't
always the truth.

Even from quite soon
into the relationship,

his attitude started to change.

He didn't really like her
being around her friends.

He did his best to isolate
her away from them.

NARRATOR: Another issue
was Cheryl's full time job.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER: Jack
expected my mom to be at home,

be the housewife.

She cooked all the dinners.

She did all the cleaning up.

She did all the housework.

It was a big farmhouse and she
was expected to do everything.

He did not want
to lift a finger.

And if she wasn't home cooking
dinner like he expected,

there would be repercussions.

A lot of the time it
was silent treatment.

He wasn't necessarily
physically a*usive.

He wasn't a shouty man.

He would just ice
you out completely.

JULIA SHAW: But it's
really subtle behavior,

and it's like drip-fed.

It's very slow and you
don't realize that it's

happening until it's too late.

Intimate partner
violence doesn't

just involve physical attacks.

When someone is ignoring
you, ignoring your needs,

is making themselves
emotionally unavailable,

that can also be a form
of intimate partner violence,

especially if it's
used with the intention

of making you feel bad.

And so what we see here
is a systematic use

of things that aren't
physical violence,

but are other forms
of control and violence.

NARRATOR: Despite
the warning signs,

after four years together,
the couple decided to wed.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
The relationship

was very much a*usive by the
time that he proposed to mom,

but he promised her
that things would change

and things would get better.

And I think my mom
was in a position

where she thought,
oh, actually,

OK, he is serious about this.

And she said, yes.

NARRATOR: Even with
all his promises,

Jack's relationship
with Cheryl and Georgia

got worse over time.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
The farm was in debt.

He was incredibly
stressed over it

and it made him even more
uncomfortable to be around.

You wouldn't know
what you'd done wrong.

He just wouldn't speak to you.

And sometimes it could be as
simple as like breathing wrong.

There was no rhyme or reason
for a lot of the time.

NARRATOR: After
seven years together,

the relationship
had hit rock bottom.

- His abuse really
reached a fever pitch.

He just became so nasty.

He was drinking a lot more.

He became a lot
more aggressive.

He was more
degrading to my mom,

and things just started
to get a lot more severe.

Jack had come
home really drunk,

and I could hear them shouting.

And I heard a loud bang.

[smashing television]

NARRATOR: Jack had
smashed the television.

After Cheryl went up to bed,
he went to his g*n cabinet.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
I could hear him

at the bottom
of the staircase with his g*n,

breaking the barrels
and putting

them back together
again, which is

how you would load a shotgun.

He then stamped up
the stairs really slowly

and in quite a menacing way.

He flung the bedroom
door open and--

he didn't have the g*n,
but he led my mom to believe

that he had the g*n.

NARRATOR: Cheryl was terrified.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
I've never

seen somebody shake so much.

All she could say to me was,
I thought he had the g*n

and I thought he was
going to sh**t me.

At this point I'd really
realized what he was capable of

and I said to her,
enough's enough.

We're leaving right now.

NARRATOR: Cheryl
and Georgia left the farm

and went to stay with
her parents near Newport.

Jack tried everything to get
Cheryl to return to him,

following her,
attempting to get

her friends to change
her mind, and ultimately

threatening to k*ll himself.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER: She
went round to the house,

and he was in the living
room with a shotgun

between his legs.

The only way that
she really could

think of getting
him to calm down

was, essentially, by putting
her head over the g*n

too and saying, you need to
stop this because I'm not going

to let you take your life.

JULIA SHAW: The kind
interpretation

of him saying I'm going
to k*ll myself is that this

is a man in desperate
need of help,

of support, and someone
who is, in fact, suicidal.

The other side
of this is, or is he

a man who's using this
as a form of manipulation

to play into her
fears and get her

to do something
for him that she

doesn't actually want to do?

So we need to be careful
with interpreting this

because, obviously,
it's delicate

when we're talking
about people's desires

to k*ll themselves,
but I think here

there's definitely
a piece of it

that feels very manipulative.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER: Once
we'd moved into our house,

I was becoming increasingly
concerned about his behavior.

I was sat on the sofa
and I heard a car engine,

and I thought, oh, that's odd.

That's right outside the house.

And then my mom comes
downstairs and goes,

my car's gone.

It's not on the drive.

NARRATOR: Jack had taken the
car because it was registered

to the farm business.

A few days later,
he returned it, but

from then on he
started to appear

in the same places as Cheryl.

[phone ringing]

JULIA SHAW: In this call she
clearly needs help, which

is why she's making the call.

But at the same time,
as she's describing

really serious things,
said in a voice

that is very cautious
and careful and downplaying and

minimizing all of these
very serious things

she's talking about.

This, to me, feels like a woman
who is in desperate need

but is not used
to asking for help.

NARRATOR: In the wake
of Jack's threatened suicide,

the police decided
to remove his weapons.

DAVID MASON KC: It was
a genuine concern that he

was a danger to himself.

And in those circumstances,
the police can take and

remove your firearms from you.

It was a body blow
to him, definitely.

NARRATOR: Shortly after New
Year's, Cheryl and a friend

arranged to go for a drink.

EARL PINNOCK: Cheryl
arrives at the pub.

You see her walking
in here with her friend,

the beginnings of what is
a rare night out for her.

She's meeting up with
some other friends.

There's about four
or five of them.

NARRATOR: Not long after,
the pub's CCTV captured

somebody else arriving.

It was Jack.

EARL PINNOCK: Fair to say
that Cheryl is quite shocked.

He's not expected to be there.

She has no idea that
he knows where she is,

and it takes all
of them by surprise.

NARRATOR: In order
not to create a scene,

Cheryl and Jack
stepped outside.

EARL PINNOCK: He's seen her
inside the pub with others,

including a male.

He accuses her
of betraying him,

having started
a new relationship,

which was not true.

He's jealous.

He doesn't want her life
to move on without him.

This was the moment
where Hooper

realized that the game was up
in terms of his relationship.

Her life had moved on, and that
what for him may hopefully

have been a temporary
separation

was something which
in her mind was permanent.

NARRATOR: After a brief
conversation, Jack left.

Cheryl was shaken,
but rejoined her friends.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER: I
was at her friend's house.

And I got a text
message from mom to say,

I think Jack has
tracked my car.

I think that was really
when the penny dropped.

He had threatened to burn
the remaining of our belongings

at his house.

I was fed up
of being voiceless,

and I really felt
like it was my time

to say something to him.

JULIA SHAW: She's
clearly calling

him out in this phone call.

And his reaction is
initially to be sad and say,

well, if that's what
you think, but then--

possibly because he's
run out of real things

to say that are
excuses, good excuses,

and even he realizes this
potentially at this point--

he instead attacks
her as a person

and says, well, you
don't know anything

because you're so young.

And that's a pretty
classic thing

that people do when
they're floundering

and when they have nothing
left that they can use.

And even they know that
the only thing you can do

is sh**t low.

NARRATOR: 12 minutes after he
left the pub, CCTV at the farm

captured Jack arriving home.

EARL PINNOCK: Here
we have Mr. Hooper

arriving at the farmhouse.

He leaves the pub
clearly in a rage,

clearly his mind set in some
sort of hostile direction.

As to exactly what
he's planning to do,

no one knows at this stage.

And then the minute or two
later, coming out of the house.

And if you look closely
at what he is holding,

so there's the shoulders,
his arms slightly wider,

and you see there an item
consistent with a shotgun

under some sort of wrapping.

- He's highly emotional
when he goes home

and he gets this
bundle, which is--

we can assume in hindsight--
a weapon wrapped in a blanket

probably,
because in his mind, he

has tried basically everything
else in terms of attempts

at controlling his
ex-partner and her child,

and he's run out
of other things to try.

And we can see this kind of
escalation in intimate partner

homicide cases commonly, where
there's different things that

are attempted and different
kinds of violence that

are elicited against
someone and ultimately it

culminates in m*rder.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
When she did pick me up,

she was on the phone to him
so I had to get in the car

very quietly.

As soon as the phone had
been put down, I said to her,

I really want to ring
the police now.

I'm really worried.

My mom said, no.

She didn't want
to phone the police

and she wasn't concerned.

And she said to me,
he won't hurt us.

As we pulled up on the
driveway, it was dark outside

and you can't really see a lot.

And mom stopped and said,
oh my God, he's here.

He had pulled up his
truck behind our car,

blocking us in so mom
could not drive away.

He then started banging
on the driver's side window.

And I could see a long
object in his hands,

which at that time
looked to me like it

may be a broken shovel
or a piece of scaffolding pole.

I made the decision at this
point to get out of the car

and phone the police.

I was going to go and move him.

I was going to go
and try and do something

to get my mom out of the car.

Unfortunately, before I was
able to get around to her,

he broke the glass
and he shot her.

He waited a few
seconds, and then I

watched him fire that
next shot and watched

my mom slump over in the car.

And I knew she was dead.

He just turned on his
heel and walked away.

And I chased after
him and I grabbed him,

and he wouldn't stop
and speak to me.

NARRATOR: Police were
at the scene within minutes.

- Georgia was
extremely courageous.

EARL PINNOCK: So having learned
the name of Cheryl's attacker,

there is an urgent
concern to apprehend him.

The police don't
know whether or not

he's still walking around
carrying a loaded weapon,

they don't know what his
next steps are going to be.

We have the police
arriving at Hooper's farm.

They're in the line of fire.

Here is a man who is well
acquainted with firearms.

But as they get closer to him,
what they're surprised to see

is that, actually, he
has already shot himself.

He's bloodied.

He's clearly in a lot of pain.

It's a grotesque scene.

In layman's terms, he's
blown his face off.

NARRATOR: Jack was
taken to the hospital,

and police recovered the weapon
he'd used to sh**t himself

and presumably Cheryl.

DAVID MASON KC: It was
a Victorian age shotgun

hidden in the barn, which
is what he'd picked up

when he went back to the farm.

It was a shotgun that
nobody knew about.

It wasn't on his
shotgun certificate,

otherwise it would
have been removed.

NARRATOR: Jack Hooper's
injuries were so terrible

that doctors had
to reconstruct his face,

and police could not interview
him for almost a year.

Finally, in June 2019,
his case came to trial.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
It was really

shocking to see his injuries,
especially going from being

quite a burly man, a tall man.

It was a massive contrast
to see him looking frail

and sat in a wheelchair.

NARRATOR: Georgia was
first to give evidence.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
The police did apply

for special measures for me.

So if I wanted to have a screen
so that I wouldn't have

to be in the main court
with him and see him,

I had that option.

However, I decided that
I didn't want to do that,

and I wanted to go
in open court as normal

and stand in the box
and give my evidence,

and for him to know
that he hadn't broken me

and that I was going
to do everything

I could to make him
pay for his actions.

DAVID MASON KC: Jack's case was
always that it was an accident.

He had only meant
to frighten Cheryl,

and that the use
of the shotgun was to try

and persuade her to come back.

And he never meant to fire it,
he never meant to hurt her.

Utter rubbish.

Proving the case
against Jack was

done through
the ballistics evidence,

through the unlikelihood of him
going with a weapon loaded and

c*ck, and the extreme
unlikeliness of the weapon

accidentally going off once,
perhaps, but twice, no way.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
He chose

to go and find an antique g*n.

He chose to test it and make
sure that it worked.

And he chose to track us
and turn up to our property.

He chose to load the g*n.

There are so many
choices that he

made that show just how intent
he was on k*lling my mom.

NARRATOR: The jury were not
convinced by Jack's defense.

EARL PINNOCK: Jack
Hooper received

a sentence of 31
years imprisonment

for the m*rder of Cheryl.

The evidence from
Georgia was pivotal.

And it wasn't just
because she was an eyewitness.

It was the immediacy
of the account that she gave

and the bravery and courage
with which she gave it.

DAVID MASON KC: It was
a horrendous k*lling.

It shows just how quickly
a relatively normal, traumatic,

yes, a*usive familial
relationship can

turn into an absolute tragedy.

No one could ever have
predicted that he'd

behave in the way he did.

And that's the frightening
thing about it, really.

GEORGIA GABRIEL-HOOPER:
My mom wasn't someone

that someone would suspect
to be in this coercively

controlling relationship.

She wasn't walking around
covered in bruises from him.

And I think it's
really important

that people understand
coercive control

and just how
dangerous it can be.

It can feel so helpless
and like you are so trapped,

but it is possible to get away.

And you can have a successful
life, no matter how dark or bad

it has been.

You can still recover.

I would like to think that my
mom is proud of what I'm doing.

I'm trying to focus
on myself now,

creating myself a good career,
moving forward in my life.

And I think it's
really important

to remember that my mom
was such a kind person who

was so involved in the
community, who gave so much

for her family
and for me, her child.

And that she was normal
and friendly and loving,

and that she's not just
a statistic for a m*rder case.

[audio logo]

NARRATOR: The heavy
use of alcohol

is known to cause short and
long term cognitive impairment.

JULIA SHAW: Research has shown
a clear link between drinking

alcohol and engaging
in violent crimes,

but what's important
to note here

is that alcohol does
not make people violent.

What alcohol does is
it disinhibits you.

In other words, if you already
have violent tendencies either

towards somebody else
or yourself and you drink,

you are more likely to engage
in bad decision making.

NARRATOR: And in the US,
another family

mourns a loved one lost
to a deadly c*ck

of alcohol and g*ns.

[audio logo]

In Southern New Mexico
is the tiny community

of Truth or Consequences.

FRANCES LUNA: Truth
or Consequences

is a small town
in the Southwestern part

of New Mexico.

It came about it's name
through Ralph Edwards

doing a game show
production and a promo

for his shown in the '50s.

He wanted a town
that would take

on the name of his game show.

ANNOUNCER: Hello, there.

We've been waiting for you.

It's time to play
Truth or consequences.

FRANCES LUNA: The town
voted in favor

of changing its name from
Hot Springs to Truth or

Consequences,
and has subsequently

celebrated the name
change every year since.

Truth or Consequences is filled
with just good hearted people.

It's filled with a lot
of tourists who fall in love

and come back and make
it their home.

NARRATOR: This little
community was home

to 75-year-old Vietnam vet
Solomon Curtis Hayhurst,

also known as Butch.

JOSHUA BAKER: Solomon
Hayhurst served

his country in the armed
forces for the United States.

He was wounded in battle,
and then he came home.

He worked as a New Mexico
game and fish officer in law

enforcement for many years.

- Everyone who
knew Sol liked Sol.

He was a great guy, easy to get
along with and very friendly.

He loved his job
and loved his community

and loved his friends.

NARRATOR: Sol had been
with his wife Kiva

for over five happy decades.

FRANCES LUNA: They were
longtime sweethearts,

I believe even high
school sweethearts.

And they had a love
that never failed.

They leaned on each other
in good times and bad.

They lived in King Canyon,
which is in the rural part

of Southern County.

And they had a small, modest
little ranch style house there.

NARRATOR: Over
the last few years,

Solomon's days were
spent as a caregiver.

FRANCES LUNA: Kiva
had been sick,

and Sol had spent
most of his time

recently taking care of Kiva.

And she was incapacitated
and sleeping in a hospital

bed in the living room.

He was having to be
the caretaker and provider.

NARRATOR: Also
living in the King

Canyon property with Sol and
Kiva was their 48-year-old

son, Sam.

FRANCES LUNA: Sam and Sol spent
most of their time together.

And they were drinking
buddies and they were friends.

Sam served his country,
I believe, in the Navy.

Then after that he came home.

He had had his
struggles with alcohol

and was never really able
to hold down employment.

[phone ringing]

NARRATOR: Deputies were
dispatched to the scene.


then able to make contact

with the caller, Sam Hayhurst,
Despite the remoteness

of the house, deputies
were quickly on the scene.

JOSHUA BAKER: The first
responding deputies

made contact with Sam on the
front porch of the residence,

and they placed
him in handcuffs.

Once he was secured
in the vehicle,

we made entry
into the residence.

NARRATOR: They found
Solomon Hayhurst

on the living room floor.

JOSHUA BAKER: Solomon
Hayhurst had a close range

g*nsh*t wound to the face.

There were no signs of life.

I did notice a semiautomatic
handgun next to his legs

so we left that in place
for the forensic team

to come in and document.

Kiva Hayhurst was in the bed.

At that time I didn't
know her condition.

And there was a handgun
laying on the bed next to her,

so I moved that firearm so
if she woke up with strangers

in her house and her
husband on the floor,

she wouldn't be inclined
to react to that.

NARRATOR: An ambulance
took Kiva to the hospital.

She was still unaware
that her husband was dead.

Later that night, Sam
Hayhurst was interviewed

at the Sheriff's Office.

JOSHUA BAKER: When he
was taken into custody,

Sam did a reek the odor
of an alcoholic beverage

and did seem to be
under the influence.

At that time he was
just being detained.

He was not under arrest.

He talked about his father
being extremely intoxicated,

threatening to sh**t
him, threatening harm,

and that he had to sh**t
him in self-defense.

NARRATOR: Forensic
psychologist Larissa Johnson

has studied the case.

- He's calmer than
one would expect,

but that's not necessarily
indicative of guilt.

We also have
to factor in that he

is slightly at least
intoxicated,

and that could be
playing a role here.

What we do know
is typically there

might be a level
of anxiety or distress

that's associated with having
just taken someone's life,

and so you would typically
expect to see that reflected

in someone's speech.

FRANCES LUNA: Any time there's
a m*rder in Sierra County,

the news spreads
quickly because it is

such a tight knit community.

So everyone knew very quickly
about Sam k*lling his dad.

My instant thought went to Kiva
knowing that she had just

lost her lifetime husband.

It was heart wrenching.

NARRATOR: Having spoken
with Sam Hayhurst,

investigators had no reason
to doubt his version of events.

Sheriff Joshua Baker
still had his suspicions.

- Something didn't feel like
it was adding up, you know,

why he hadn't called 911.

So I was doing a secondary
sweep around the living room

area, looking for any
evidence we might have missed

or might have been overlooked.

And on the TV stand,
I noticed what

appeared to be an ADT camera.

In today's age, video
surveillance is a major part

of any criminal investigation.

Many homes have
surveillance video,

businesses have
surveillance video,

we have dash cams and body
cams on law enforcement.

It's instrumental
in everything we

do in today's law enforcement.

NARRATOR: Baker returned
to the Sheriff's Office

and spoke to Sam
Hayhurst a second time.

Despite Sam's insistence
that the camera didn't work,

ADT were able to confirm
that in actual fact,

the camera in the living
room was recording video.

JOSHUA BAKER: When
we learned that there

was actually video
footage on that camera,

we were pretty excited.

It showed the entire
living room and the entry

to the hallway where Solomon
Hayhurst had been shot.

NARRATOR: The footage
had no audio,

but investigators were now able
to piece together what happened

in the Hayhurst residence.

- This video is from
earlier in the evening.

This is Solomon
Hayhurst, and this

is Sam sitting in the chair
next to Kiva who's in the bed.

And you can see
Solomon coming over

and appears to be
consoling Sam,

patting him on the shoulder.

Appears to be a normal
family evening.

This video clips from
later on in the evening.

You can see Sam
sitting in the chair,

the living room light is on.

Solomon is sitting
here next to Kiva

and Sam has some
papers in his hand

and seems to be agitated
about something.

But Solomon seems to be
sitting in his chair,

quietly listening.

In the next clip, Sam walks
out from the hallway with two

handguns, one in each hand.

And walks up to Solomon
and just hands him

the two firearms,
and turns around

and walks out of the room.

You can see he seemed
somewhat surprised,

immediately sets one on the bed
and then begins to check to see

if the other one is loaded.

When I first saw this
video, it explained

where the firearms
came from and

how Solomon came into
possession of the firearm that

was by him, which contradicted
Sam's statements that Solomon

had retrieved the firearm.

And this was the first evidence
we had that Sam's story

was not honest.

Then Solomon walked
out the front door,

and there was a camera outside
the front door as well.

It did not sh**t video, but it
took an image of Solomon

on the front porch
with the firearm.

The next video clip showed him
walking back into the house,

and he was now holding
the firearm with the grip

reversed in his hand.

So not in a firing grip.

NARRATOR: What they saw
next shocked investigators.

JOSHUA BAKER: Solomon
comes in, stops

abruptly in the doorway to the
hallway, appears to be talking.

Shows the weapon
that he's holding

it backwards in his hand.

His arms clearly bent below
waist level as he's talking,

and then he's shot
and falls to the floor.

It's clear in the video
that Solomon

was not acting aggressive.

He didn't come back in the
house in a threatening manner.

He wasn't even holding the
firearm in a firing position.

It was facing
backwards in his hand.

You can see him quickly
retreat back using the doorway

as protection and putting
his right arm up

in a defensive posture.

When we moved the body
of Solomon Hayhurst,

we found that firearm
had a loaded magazine but

an empty chamber, but there was
a loose b*llet under his body

as well.

So that was very indicative
that he had gone outside and

removed the b*llet from
the chamber of that weapon

and had it in his hand
whenever he was shot.

In Sam's interview
he said that he

knew his dad was
coming to hurt him

and he had to defend himself.

The video clearly shows
that was not the case,

but he was in fact
laying in wait

with his shotgun for his father
to walk around that corner.

NARRATOR: What Sam did next
only deepened their suspicions.

JOSHUA BAKER: It
shows Sam walking

right over the deceased
body of his father, right

past his mother in the bed
and walking outside.

Doesn't stop to check
on his father,

doesn't try to render
aid, just walks

right outside like nothing.

After seeing the video footage
of what had transpired,

I was absolutely
convinced that this

was a cold blooded,
premeditated m*rder.

NARRATOR: Now armed
with the video evidence,

Sam Hayhurst was interviewed
for a third time.

- We, again, got him
to reaffirm his original story.

We slowly eased
into the fact that we

did have the video
surveillance,

and that we had
seen what occurred.

His demeanor did change.

I could see his stress
levels going up.

I could see the blood
vessel in his neck,

I could see his pulse in it.

And as we pressed
him harder, he had

some sort of medical episode.

I'm not sure 100% if it was
a legitimate medical episode

or if he was faking
it, but either way, we

had to treat it as if it
was a real medical episode

and call emergency services.

NARRATOR: Investigators
now had enough evidence

to prove Sam Hayhurst
m*rder*d his father.

FRANCES LUNA: The trial
took place two years

after the m*rder happened.

The defense side
was working to show

that it was a case
of self-defense

and not a case of m*rder.

JOSHUA BAKER: Sam pled
not guilty in court.

The district attorney's
office did offer him

a plea deal prior
to going to trial,

he refused it and insisted
on going to trial.

Given the video evidence, I
was a little bit surprised

that he chose to go
to trial, maintaining

a self-defense
claim, but he did.

NARRATOR: A clue to the likely
motivation for this m*rder

could be found
in the video recordings.

FRANCES LUNA: Sol and Kiva had
two children, Sam and Carrie.

Carrie had a daughter.

They raised their granddaughter
for 10 years of her life,

and they were very
happy doing so.

They were happy
to be able to share

their love and their knowledge
and their home with her.

It appeared as though Sam
had issue with the will and

their intent to leave
the goods from the family

to their granddaughter,
and not to Sam.

Sam did not want
their granddaughter's

name to be listed in the will.

He felt that he
should be inheriting

the items and the family goods
instead of the granddaughter.

LARISSA JOHNSON: In the field
of forensic psychology, when

we are evaluating
risk of violence,

particularly risk
of future violence,

we can focus on what we
call the three Ds, drivers,

destabilizers and inhibitors.

In Sam's case, a driver might
be financial uncertainty or

financial dependence,
a destabilizer

might be ongoing
father-son conflict

and a disinhibitor
might be alcohol.

So when we combine heavy
drinking with the circumstances

that Sam Hayhurst was
in-- so this is losing job

opportunities, ongoing
stress, potential

ongoing familial conflict--

this creates kind
of a toxic c*ck.

It leads to a pressure build
up within this small home

environment, and then
there's nowhere

for this pressure to go.

JOSHUA BAKER: Sam was convicted
for first degree m*rder,

and received a life sentence
in the state of New Mexico.

Without the video
evidence, I don't

think we would have ever
charged Sam with homicide

because I don't think we
could have ever disproved

his account of the events.

The video evidence
made this whole case.

FRANCES LUNA: Any m*rder
is a tragedy, however,

this one has completely
destroyed the Hayhurst family.

Sol didn't get to see
his wife to the end,

and they moved Kiva
to a nearby nursing home

where she finished out her
days, passing away just

a short time after the m*rder.

JOSHUA BAKER: It's
an extremely brutal case,

mainly because of how things
transpired, Sam sh**ting and

k*lling his father
who was a great man,

a great father,
a great grandfather

and had a lot of loving family.

And he took that
away from them.

[audio logo]

[music playing]