♪♪
Up next, a woman is gunned down
in a crowded parking lot.
This was six days after
Heather's 25th birthday.
The m*rder looks
like a professional hit.
Our victim had a single g*nsh*t
wound to the forehead.
Evidence reveals a k*ller
with an elaborate plan.
This was no spur-of-the-moment
act of vengeance.
But how many enemies can
a churchgoing young mother have?
It was pretty intense for us
to get to the bottom of it
to try to find out
what was going on.
♪♪
♪♪
At 6:00 on a Sunday evening
in the spring of 2009,
Heather Strube met her
soon-to-be-ex-husband, Steven,
in a shopping center parking lot
near Atlanta, Georgia.
As part of a regular routine,
they were exchanging custody
of their 19-month-old child,
a little boy named Carson.
Because of the issues they were
having during this divorce,
they decided to meet
at this particular
shopping center parking lot
because it was in the open,
there were people there,
and they just felt
that was the best place to meet.
As Steven drove away,
Heather took baby Carson
and strapped him
into the car seat in her SUV.
This was an everyday
sort of occurrence,
nothing unusual about it.
But there was someone who seemed
unusual in the parking lot
that afternoon,
and a lot of people took notice.
The callers reported seeing
a strange person
walking about the parking lot.
Short male, mustache,
kind of a bushy haircut,
kind of an unusual look.
And it drew the attention
of the eyewitnesses
who were in the parking lot.
The person walked up
to Heather Strube,
the two exchanged words, then,
to the horror of onlookers,
drew a p*stol from a shoulder
bag and sh*t Heather
point blank in the head.
Calls from witnesses flooded
into emergency dispatch.
Police arrived to find
Heather dead.
The absence of a shell casing
led us to believe
that it had to have been
a revolver
that the suspect would've used.
Baby Carson was unharmed.
All told, a half dozen people
called 911.
Their descriptions
of what happened,
and of the sh**t,
were remarkably similar.
The reports on the 911 calls
were consistent.
They reported that the sh**t
calmly turned
and walked away from the scene,
walked behind
the shopping center,
where the witnesses
lost sight of him.
The witnesses, and even police,
were shocked
by what they'd seen.
This m*rder was the type
of m*rder
that really disturbs
the community.
The entire community feels
vulnerable when,
in broad daylight, someone is
m*rder*d in a parking lot.
And as the witnesses
recounted what they saw,
it got even more disturbing.
All of them said the sh**t
and the victim
appeared to know each other.
Clearly,
robbery wasn't the motive.
All of the victim's belongings
were still in the van.
Some of those were valuable.
None of those items were taken.
It was apparent to us
that someone knew
that Heather would be
in that parking lot at that time
to make the exchange
of the child.
But who would want to k*ll
Heather Strube?
She grew up locally, worked at
her parents' flower shop,
was active in her church...
a young woman liked
and respected by everyone.
We felt like, from the start,
it had something
to do with Carson.
And so we became very fearful,
because if we had Carson
in our custody,
were we gonna be a target?
But if this m*rder had something
to do with baby Carson,
why did the sh**t
leave him in the vehicle?
Police, the family,
the community,
everyone was baffled
by what happened.
This crime didn't fit into
our usual categories of robbery,
domestic k*lling,
drug deal gone bad.
This was different.
♪♪
Heather Strube's m*rder,
an execution-style hit in broad
daylight in a public space,
had the community
of Snellville, Georgia, reeling.
It's highly unusual for us
because we have so few
violent crimes in our city.
At the time, that was, like,
the sixth m*rder
in the history of our city.
The medical examiner conducted
an autopsy of Heather,
and inside the cranial vault,
she located the b*llet
that k*lled Heather,
and they were able
to determine forensically
that this b*llet was fired by a
.38-caliber Rossi
or Taurus firearm.
After the sh**ting, the k*ller
never touched the victim
or the vehicle,
so there were no fingerprints
or other physical evidence
at the scene.
But police had something
going for them...
multiple witnesses
and surveillance cameras.
There were two primary
surveillance cameras
in the front
of the shopping center.
One of them was located
on the roof
and had a very wide view
and sort of swept left
and right.
A second camera, an older model,
showed the parking lot
and the area where the sh**t
walked into the woods.
In a bad break,
neither of these cameras
caught the actual sh**ting.
The camera was panning
to the opposite side
of the parking lot.
It was very disappointing.
But the second camera did
capture images of the sh**t
walking to and from the scene.
The older system
was very grainy.
It was VHS-based.
And it took one picture
every second or two.
So you could look at the
sequential pictures
and get an idea
of the size of the person,
how they were walking, a little
bit about their description,
but not enough to identify
a face, jewelry, tattoos,
anything like that that might be
a positive identification
of the sh**t.
But the video did show
the person
who sh*t Heather had
an unusual way of walking.
It's a gait that you could say
that it's very unique.
It's not the normal gait
that you would expect to see.
One can look
at the various photographs
sequentially that are taken
by the video
and see that the person
takes extremely long steps
and straightens out the knee
of the front leg when they walk.
This was rather
compelling evidence.
In an attempt to create
a likeness of the sh**t,
the witnesses who called 911
were sent to a forensic artist.
We had a high volume
of eyewitnesses in this case.
Despite the unusual number
of witnesses,
there was striking agreement
among their descriptions.
All of the witnesses said
the sh**t
was a very slight man
between 5'5 " and 5'8",
and, most important,
there was something very odd
about the suspect's hair.
At least one of the witnesses
identified this crazy hairdo
as possibly a wig.
The most distinctive thing
they reported was this wig
that looked somewhat
like Sonny Bono.
But they called it a wig
and a mustache.
This was the composite sketch
that was ultimately released
to the media.
Even veteran police officers
said they'd never seen
anything quite like it.
The sketch was interesting.
It had... showed, like,
a wild hairdo and a mustache
that was kind of
strange-looking.
The artist's sketch almost
looked like a clown-like figure.
Not very realistic.
But then we realized that
the witness statements
also described the sh**t
as having a clown,
strange-like appearance.
Now things got even stranger.
All the evidence indicated
Heather Strube knew her k*ller,
yet no one...
not Heather's friends,
not her family,
not her co-workers...
had any idea
who this person was.
Detectives were coming
to an uncomfortable conclusion.
Perhaps the k*ller had been
wearing a disguise.
Quite frankly, I have never
worked a homicide case
where the sh**t
wore a disguise.
This was a first for me.
♪♪
Heather Strube's bizarre m*rder
was big news
across the Atlanta metro area.
So when police released this
composite sketch of the sh**t,
it generated a lot of interest,
and it caught the eye
of a truck driver
who happened to be
staying in a hotel
near the shopping center
at the time of Heather's m*rder.
He observed a white pickup truck
in the parking lot,
and he observed someone
sitting in the driver's seat
that looked rather crazy...
had a wild hairdo
and a mustache.
For now, this didn't help much
in identifying Heather's k*ller.
But the truck driver
had more information.
He looks at cars all day long,
and he said
that he would recognize
this car when he saw it again.
It was an older-model,
white F-150
and had a little bit
of trim on it
that wasn't common
to all such vehicles.
Why was this important?
Because the Strube family
owned an F-150.
And Steven Strube,
Heather's soon-to-be-ex-husband,
had a possible motive
to harm her...
custody of their
had become contentious.
There was a custody dispute.
I mean, Steven wanted to be
the primary caregiver.
But Steven was seen driving away
in his own vehicle,
not the family truck,
right after he gave
Heather the baby.
He wouldn't have had time
to double back
and commit the m*rder.
Perhaps most important,
he was 6 feet tall,
much taller than all
the descriptions of the sh**t.
Steven could not have been
the one
that actually
pulled the trigger.
Detectives turned back
to their key witness,
the truck driver who got
a good look at the sh**t
and the sh**t's truck,
an F-150.
We did ask this person,
this witness,
if he would be willing
to ride with us
to take a look at a pickup truck
and see if it looked like
the pickup truck he'd saw.
The witness took one look
at the Strube family truck
and made a positive
identification.
He was 100% confident that
that was the same vehicle
that he saw in the motel parking
lot behind the shopping center.
This was enough for police
to get a search warrant.
Being an older-model truck
like that,
you would expect there
to be all kinds of fibers,
all kinds of particles
in the carpet
or on the seat or wherever,
but it was just immaculate.
It wasn't a new truck,
but it was a clean truck.
The only piece of visible
evidence was a receipt
for ice cream dated the day
Heather was k*lled.
It was from a fast-food
restaurant about an hour's drive
from the site of the m*rder.
Joanna Hayes,
Steven's 43-year-old mother,
freely admitted she was the one
driving the family truck
and said she'd driven it
on the day of Heather's m*rder.
She indicated that she stopped
and bought the ice cream
on the way
to her parents' house.
This appeared to put
enough distance
between Joanna and the m*rder
that she could not be
the sh**t.
Forensic analysts now did
an extensive search
of the truck.
They went over every
interior surface
with what are known
as tape lifts.
They're like big pieces of tape
that they put down
onto the floor,
they smooth it out,
they peel it back.
Even though the truck had been
extensively cleaned,
analysts found something.
It looked like
a single black hair.
It was sent to Chris Thompson
of FiberVisions,
an international manufacturer
of synthetic fibers.
Using infrared analysis
as well as light microscopy,
Thompson determined the fiber
had several unusual qualities.
It did not contain any texture,
and it was pigmented.
So, kind of limits the number
of applications or products
that it could go into.
The fiber's length, 4 inches,
was also uncommon.
The length was consistent
with something
you might find in a wig.
And that wasn't all
the tape lifts recovered
from inside the Strubes' truck.
Trace elements of g*nsh*t
residue were also found.
This residue
is almost impossible
to completely clean up.
This trace, minute evidence
is more common
than most people realize.
The evidence was compelling.
The k*ller was almost certainly
driving the Strube family truck
the evening of the m*rder.
But who was behind the wheel?
Who handled the g*n?
Who wore the wig?
We were not able to come up
with a single piece
of direct evidence
concerning the guilt of anyone
in this case.
♪♪
A wig fiber and g*nsh*t
residue told detectives
that Heather Strube's k*ller
was most likely driving
the Strube family truck.
Joanna Hayes,
Heather's Mother-in-Law,
admitted driving
that truck that very day,
but she claimed
she couldn't be the k*ller
because she had an alibi.
A receipt for ice cream
from a restaurant
an hour away
from the m*rder showed
she could not be
Heather's k*ller.
Well, we found the receipt
and we looked at it
because she was adamant
that she couldn't have done it.
Joanna did have a motive.
She didn't want to share custody
of her grandson with Heather.
But even prosecutors
had to admit
that a single wig fiber
and traces of g*nsh*t residue
made for a thin case.
So they gambled.
They brought in Steven Strube
and showed him
their surveillance tape
of the sh**t
recorded at the scene.
We began to ask him if it looked
like anybody he knew.
And he began to really
look hard at the video.
Can you tell?
It is apparent from not only
what he said,
but how he reacted
that he recognized his mother.
Prodded by detectives,
Steven agreed to call his mother
while they listened in.
She didn't act
like most people would,
where she just came right out
and said, "You're crazy.
I didn't do this."
Detectives now looked hard
at Joanna's alibi
that she was an hour away from
the m*rder, buying ice cream.
We knew, after looking
at the receipt
for the ice cream purchase,
that she was there at 7:19.
Heather was sh*t at 6:00.
Could Joanna have been
at the site of the m*rder
and the fast-food restaurant
Could she have been
in both places?
We decided to drive from
the shopping center
to the chain restaurant where
she purchased the ice cream,
and we were able to determine
that she had plenty of time
to commit the m*rder
and drive to the store
to purchase the ice cream.
Joanna also had another
possible connection.
She once owned a g*n
like the m*rder w*apon,
a .38 caliber.
Joanna Hayes' ex-husband
had stated that,
before their divorce, she had
access to that type of w*apon.
When questioned, Joanna
still denied any involvement.
When confronted with
the evidence we had against her,
she was not convinced
that we had enough.
And prosecutors worried
she might be right.
The m*rder w*apon
hadn't been found,
and neither was any sort of wig.
And every single witness...
and there were a lot...
said the sh**t was a man.
I had to overcome the evidence
of my own witnesses
saying that they described
a male sh**t.
That's a high burden.
In May of 2011, Joanna Hayes
stood in court facing
a felony m*rder charge.
Steven Strube was cleared
of any involvement.
Prosecutors said Joanna had
an elaborate plan
for k*lling her daughter-in-law.
Joanna donned the disguise...
the wig and mustache...
in an attempt
to hide her identity.
She waited in the parking lot
for Heather and Steven
to exchange the baby.
Once she was sure the baby
was secure in his car seat,
she approached Heather.
No one knows what they said
to each other,
but Joanna let her g*n
do the talking
and essentially ex*cuted
Heather in broad daylight.
She drove 64 miles away
and bought ice cream
in an attempt
to create an alibi.
But police proved that
she could have made the drive
in plenty of time.
Joanna didn't realize she left
a single wig fiber
and g*nsh*t residue behind...
clear proof that
whoever drove the truck
was Heather's k*ller.
Where Joanna got rid of
the .38 caliber and the wig,
no one knows.
In the end, the most damning
evidence came from her son,
Steven, who recognized her
from this scratchy
surveillance video.
Based upon the quality
of that videotape,
a stranger could probably
never identify
anyone to any degree
of certainty,
but it's different
to identify a family member
that you've lived
with your whole life.
A jury agreed.
Joanna Hayes was convicted
and sentenced to life in prison,
plus five years probation.
She still maintains
her innocence.
The prosecution used your son's
own words against you.
I know.
And now he's got to live
with that.
Because they dangled his son
as a carrot in front of him.
They told him repeatedly,
"Call your mom, do this,
and we will go help you
get your son."
Steven later retracted his
identification of his mother.
Heather's father has
primary custody of baby Carson.
In a biting piece of irony,
Joanna can have no contact
with the grandson
she was willing to k*ll for.
Carson has a laugh that very
much reminds me of Heather.
When we lost Heather,
that was just a hole
in my heart that...
it's never gonna heal.
Joanna Hayes almost pulled off
the perfect crime...
closer to committing the perfect
crime than anybody I ever saw.
Of all the murders
I've prosecuted,
very seldom do I see a planned,
calculated, cold-hearted,
cold-blooded m*rder
like this one.
This one was different.
What made it different
was Joanna Hayes.
She's just the most
evil defendant
I've ever convicted of m*rder.