12x25 - Printed Proof

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Narrator: he was obsessed with an exotic dancer.

He indicated that he spent approximately $, over the

Course of several months.

He must have been pretty bad that he had to buy love.

Narrator: but the money couldn't last forever.

Thus, he hatched a plot.

Narrator: and he didn't care what price he paid to get it.

When I said, "did you to plan to k*ll them?"

"Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

I planned to k*ll them, but I wasn't gonna let themknow

That."

He just wanted to see what it felt like to k*ll someone.

Narrator: residential real estate in medford, oregon, is an

Extremely competitive business.

So when roxanne ellis got a last-minute appointment to show

A vacant apartment, she was happy to oblige.

I did not know who she was showing the property to.

She just wrote ":" and then the address.

Usually, our routine would be to write down who it's with, the

Phone number, and the address.

But that day, it just didn't get done.

Narrator: a few hours later, roxanne called her business

Partner, michelle abdill, and asked her to come pick her up.

She said her car battery was dead.

In response to the call -- and not knowing exactly what was

Said, but I'm sure something to the effect that "I need

You" -- and that's all it took, and she was on her way.

Narrator: no one heard from either woman after that call.

I probably called times on her cellphone.

She had a cellphone and a pager.

And I paged her probably about the same amount of times.

Narrator: friends and family called police to report the two

Women missing.

Police found michelle abdill's car in the parking lot of the

Apartment complex where she went to pick up roxanne.

I knew something awful had happened.

She always locked her car.

And to have it open and a nice leather coat laying there on the

Seat, camcorder in the car, her purse -- I knew something was

Definitely wrong.

The whole thing just stunk.

It stunk big time, and we actually put detectives on this

Case that night.

Narrator: roxanne ellis' vehicle, a silver toyota pickup

Truck, was nowhere to be found.

Inside the rental property, police found no signs of a

Struggle and no evidence of v*olence.

There was no biological evidence.

There was no blood.

There wasn't anything to the visible eye that we really had

To go on.

Narrator: several days passed without any word from either

Woman.

Their church held a vigil to keep attention focused on the

Case.

It all started to be almost surreal.

They were gone,very unlike them.

So it was panic, I guess.

You know, it started to feel a little bit panicky that I didn't

Know where they were.

They're out there somewhere.

If they're out there, and they're safe, somebody to call

And let us know.

We don't know where they are.

Narrator: the two women were not just business partners.

Roxanne ellis and michelle abdill also had a

Personal relationship, which led police to consider another

Possibility.

They were domestic partners.

They were outspoken about gay issues.

They were active in that area, trying to make changes that

Would positively impact gay-rights issues.

Narrator: was it possible that their disappearance had

Something to do with their lifestyle or political views?

Three days after they went missing, a cable-tv repairman

Found roxanne ellis' truck in a parking lot about three miles

From the rental property.

When I went out on my first service call at mariposa on

State street, I just happened to see the vehicle.

We realized that there was blood dripping out of the bottom

Of the undercarriage of the vehicle.

We could see a head of one of the victims up near the front

Cab area of the pickup bed.

Narrator: the bodies of both women were found inside, covered

With some cardboard boxes.

It was an extremely brutal way to die.

They both had two g*nsh*t wounds to the head.

They both were bound and gagged and hog-tied.

Their eyes were covered.

Their mouths were covered.

Their hands were duct-taped behind their backs, and their

Ankles were duct-taped.

Narrator: but who would not only killthese two women, but

Executethem?

And what message was the k*ller sending?

[ Silenced g*nshots ]

Narrator: no one knew why roxanne ellis and

Michelle abdill were m*rder*d.

The motive didn't appear to be robbery.

Blood patterns indicated the women had been sh*t inside the

Truck.

Four shell casings from a .-Caliber p*stol were found

Near the bodies.

There were no foreign fingerprints in the truck, but

There were several overlapping shoe prints from a man's shoe.

This was on kind of the chrome-plated bumper area that

Had kind of a dirty grime, kind of oxidized layer on it.

And when the individual stepped on the bumper, he left a

Negative impression.

Narrator: the autopsies revealed the women were k*lled

The day they went missing, and there were no signs of sexual

as*ault.

The medical examiner found bluish-green polyester fibers in

And around the fatal wounds.

Either the g*n was fired through an item like a blanket

Or some intermediate object, or intermediate target, and then

Fired into the victims' heads.

Narrator: and there was a gash in roxanne's calf near the

Tape bindings...

Which suggested the k*ller bound the women inside the apartment,

Led them down to the garage, then cut the binding so they

Could get into the truck.

This really was something really out of the ordinary.

This really was something that we didn't know the whole story

Yet.

But now we're thinking, you know, we're thinking this was

Kidnap.

This was almost t*rture-like.

This was something really out there.

Narrator: on the day of the murders, roxanne ellis had an

: A.m. Appointment to show a rental property to a man whose

Name was not listed in her appointment book.

Residents of the building saw a man going in and out of the

Vacant apartment and were able to provide a general description

Detailed enough for police to create a composite sketch.

Incredibly, the sketch resembled the man who found roxanne's

Truck.

When we started interviewing the cable man and we had seen

The composite sketch, all of us started talking, you know, "this

Guy looks a lot like the composite."

Narrator: investigators suspected that the k*ller might

Have left fingerprints on the duct tape he used to bind the

m*rder victims.

It's difficult to handle tape without touching the sticky

Side.

So analysts treated the tape with gentian violet, a chemical

Dye.

When the tape is immersed in the gentian violet, the dead

Skin cells that are pulled from the fingers or palms of the hand

Will then react with the gentian violet, and you'll get

A nice, dark image of the latent prints.

Narrator: just as they suspected, the k*ller left

Behind two clear prints.

When he was binding the ladies, he was touching the

Sticky side of the tape.

Narrator: the prints did not match the cable repairman, and

He was eliminated as a suspect.

Next, investigators tried to identify roxanne's : a.m.

Appointment.

They checked the caller log on her office phone and traced the

Call to the tiki lodge, a low-rent motel in downtown

Medford, oregon.

I entertained the thought that maybe one of the tenants

Could be in town looking for an apartment to rent or something

Like that.

Narrator: but finding that tenant would be a problem.

They couldn't track the room calls at this time because they

Were having problems with their phone equipment.

So I've got a phone call from the tiki lodge.

I can't identify what room it came from.

Narrator: the motel had rooms.

Almost all were occupied on the day of the murders.

Detectives began the painstaking task of trying to identify all

Of the tenants.

For the most part, it was people just passing through.

The registration cards didn't have date of births, so you're

Looking at very common names.

Narrator: and most of the hotel guests paid in cash --

Another dead end.

So investigators had to return to the scene of the crime in the

Hopes they might have missed something.

Narrator: based on the evidence, police suspected that

Their k*ller called real-estate agent roxanne ellis from the

Tiki lodge motel...

And asked her to show him the vacant unit at the sheraton

Court apartments.

This meant the k*ller was familiar with the building and

Knew the apartment was vacant.

He didn't give his name, and roxanne either knew him or

Didn't ask for it.

Around : a.m., Roxanne showed the apartment to the

k*ller.

What happened during that time was unclear.

[ Telephone rings ] but roxanne was still alive at

: P.m., When she called her domestic partner,

Michelle abdill, probably at gunpoint, with the false story

That her car battery was dead and that she needed a ride home.

Roxanne?

Shut up, and you do what you're told.

Who are you?!

Just shut up. Sit down!

Are you okay?!

Narrator: both women were probably in the apartment, where

They were bound with duct tape.

The k*ller left his prints on the sticky side of the tape.

The garage was attached to the living area, so the k*ller could

Have put them into the truck without being seen.

There was a gash on the calf of roxanne ellis' leg, suggesting

The k*ller cut her binding so she could get into the truck.

He most likely k*lled them in the garage with a .-Caliber

w*apon, using something with bluish-green fibers as a

sil*ncer.

[ Silenced g*nshots ] he also left his shoe

Impressions on the bumper.

He left roxanne's truck in a parking lot about three miles

Away, and it wasn't found until three days later.

All police had were the k*ller's fingerprints, his shoe

Impression, and a composite sketch.

Several days passed with no leads.

Then, a woman called police to say the composite sketch looked

Remarkably similar to her son.

It makes me ill, and I can't believe my son would do anything

Like this.

She makes the call.

We get that information.

She's got an address that is very close to where the truck

Was recovered, so we're convinced that she's not leading

Us down the wrong road.

Narrator: the woman's -year-old son,

Robert acremant, had just moved to oregon.

She said her son was familiar with the vacant apartment where

The murders took place.

She had been to that sheraton court address

Previously with her son, and that was shown to them by

Roxanne ellis.

Narrator: and there was another possible connection to

The murders.

Robert acremant's brother was the manager of the

Tiki lodge motel.

The call made to roxanne ellis before her m*rder originated

From the tiki lodge.

However, robert acremant had no motive to k*ll roxanne ellis or

Her partner, michelle, and he had no criminal record.

He'd never been charged with any criminal activity.

In fact, he ended up going into the air force.

He served honorably in the air force.

He went on to get a master's degree, and he had a good job,

Really, working for roadway trucking in california.

Narrator: a credit-card check revealed that acremant had been

Spending a lot of time and money at a strip club in las vegas.

He had some money.

He headed to vegas and fell for the stripper, who he envisioned

As his girlfriend.

He had run himself into debt, obviously had an addiction to

Her and to that lifestyle.

Narrator: the stripper's stage name was ecstasy.

She said that he was spending up to , bucks on a weekend.

He ended up running through -- I think it was about $, worth

Of credit-card debt.

He had a retirement fund that he managed to max out.

So he spent a ton of money on that woman.

Narrator: the stripper said acremant was obsessed with her

And insisted on calling her his "girlfriend."

His family reportedly encouraged him to break off this

Relationship because they felt that he was being used.

Narrator: eventually, the money ran out.

Well, then she dumps him.

"You can't pay for what you're asking me to do, and, therefore,

We're done."

Narrator: but robbery didn't appear to be the motive in

Roxanne ellis and michelle abdill's murders.

Robert acremant's mother said he left oregon after the murders

And was headed to california, but she didn't know where.

Fortunately, police knew exactly how to find out.

Narrator: the prime suspect in the murders of real-estate

Agents roxanne ellis and michelle abdill was -year-old

Robert acremant, whose own mother called police to say he

Resembled the composite drawing of the k*ller.

I'm so sorry.

That's all I can say.

I'm so sorry.

She probably had made the hardest phone call a person can

Make in their life because she suspected that he was involved

In these horrible crimes, and I believe it really took some

Moral fiber for her, in order to step up and make that phone

Call.

Narrator: lieutenant tim doney left oregon and

Followed bob acremant through his credit-card activity to

Stockton, california.

We felt he was desperate, we felt that his behavior was

Escalating, and we felt he was a danger to the public.

Narrator: a s.w.a.t. Team apprehended acremant in a motel

Room in stockton, without incident.

In the motel room, he had a canvas bag with books about

m*rder, a taser, handcuffs, a roll of duct tape, and a

.-Caliber handgun with a homemade sil*ncer with

Bluish-green fibers like those found on roxanne and michelle.

There was blood on the interior portion of it right at

The muzzle end at where the b*llet would come out, heavily

Caked blood.

Narrator: dna analysis showed this was a combination of blood

From both roxanne ellis and michelle abdill.

Acremant's fingerprints matched the fingerprints on the duct

Tape used to bind the victims.

His shoes were compared to the impressions found on the bumper

Of roxanne's truck, and were consistent.

We had the eyewitness evidence placing him at the

Scene.

We clearly felt that we had plenty of evidence to try this

Case -- a very solid case.

Narrator: acremant not only confessed to the murders, but he

Confirmed that the motive was robbery.

He said he spent all of his money on the las vegas stripper

And needed more.

And, thus, he hatched a plot to obtain more money so he could

Have that contact again.

This was so ridiculous that, I mean, he must have been pretty

Bad that he had to buy love.

It's too bad for him that he didn't ever experience the love

That my mom had, you know?

Narrator: he said he met roxanne ellis a few days before

The murders when roxanne showed his mother the sheraton court

Apartment.

Acremant said he planned to force roxanne to write him a

Business check for $,.

He had roxanne lure her partner, michelle abdill, over to the

Apartment, too, because a business check that size

Requires both of their signatures.

Eventually, acremant realized that he wouldn't get away with

It and didn't go to the bank.

He didn't really have a very good plan.

You walk in with a check for $,.

Yeah, I think the bank teller's gonna be a little -- a few flags

Are gonna go up.

Robert's trying to rectify and fix this situation that's

Just getting worse and worse and worse.

Let's go.

Let's go.

[ Muffled screams, silenced g*nshots ]

Bob acremant hates a lot of things.

He hates a lot of people.

I think he hates himself.

And I think that's about as close to the devil as you're

Gonna get, and that is bob acremant.

Narrator: while talking to police, acremant also admitted

k*lling a friend of his, scott george, seven weeks

Earlier.

And what he said about that was that he just wanted to see

What it felt like to k*ll someone.

During our interviews, he would joke, he would laugh in

Reference to his victims, and really showed no sense of

Feeling sorry or remorseful for what he had done.

I think probably the only thing he was sorry for is the fact

That he got caught.

Narrator: he also confessed during a telephone interview

With reporter libby dowsett.

It was an experience I'll never forget, that's for sure.

He came off like he was talking about a football game.

He came off like he was talking about a football game.

You know, just laughing and joking and talking about -- you

Know, when I said, "did you plan to k*ll them?"

"Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

I planned to k*ll them, but I wasn't gonna let themknow

That."

He was disturbing.

Just to sit in the audio booth alone talking to him was

Frightening.

Narrator: in october of , robert acremant was convicted of

Two counts of aggravated m*rder, first-degree kidnapping, and

Robbery, and was sentenced to death.

You better believe when he gets that needle put in his arm,

I'm gonna be right there.

The forensic evidence in this case was important in securing

His identity and making this case.

And the forensic evidence also helped us prove the enormity of

The horrible crimes that he committed.

Narrator: robert acremant still sits on death row but

Apparently grew impatient for that day to come.

He didn't settle down once he got to jail.

He tried to k*ll himself.

They found a w*apon under his mattress.

He had to be cut down when he had a sheet around his neck.

Well, one of the jurors that heard the case spoke to the

Medford paper after the trial was done, and he said that he

Thought acremant was the personification of evil.

And that really struck home to me in a nutshell.