10x04 - Black Widow

[bunniefuu]

[ominous music playing]

We were already two days
into Christopher
being missing.

[Annie] He was
developmentally delayed.

He had a speech impediment.

So I was a little worried
that somebody

may take advantage of him.

He's in trouble
and he's all alone.

[Amber speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[Annie]
How could this have happened?

And how was I gonna
tell his family? [cries]

[suspenseful music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator]
Twenty-five-year-old
Christopher Gray

is getting ready for work.

Hey, Chris, you ready?

Christopher is first
and foremost, my friend,

but I was also
his legal guardian.

[Christopher]
Have you seen my cap?

[Annie]
I knew him as a youngster.

We developed a bond

and I did some
respite work for him.

He was developmentally
delayed.

He had a speech impediment,

so he needed
some extra assistance

in his daily living.

All right.

His parents were divorced
and they lived

in two separate places.

Chris had lived
with his father

for a lot of years,

but he was an adult
and he didn't really

wanna go live at home
with his parents.

And so Chris
just stayed with me,

after that he stayed
right with me.

[chuckles]

I don't think Chris felt
any different

than if he was my own son.

He was just
part of the family.

He liked to party
a little bit.

He had friends and he'd liked
to go to their houses,

but he was a normal
25-year-old kid

and had a heart of gold,

like, he would be there
for anybody.

At the time he was working
at Walmart.

He enjoyed his job there

most, likely, I think more
for the social aspects of it.

That wasn't what
his goal was.

He wanted to be a licensed
nurses' aide and help others.

Bye, mom.

[Annie] He wanted to have
a wife and children,

that was his goals
as he went through life

and was saying to me,
you know,

"You're gonna make
a good grandmother

when I have babies."
And I was like,

"No, no.

Not yet. Wait."

That evening...

[phone rings]

he called me around 6:00 PM.

Hi, Chris.

He had stated he was gonna be
going to a friend's house.

Okay. Have fun.

And he said, "So if I don't
come home tonight,
don't panic."

He said, "I'll either
come home tomorrow

before or after work."

I love you too.

[chuckles]

Okay.

Bye.

The following day,

I wasn't really that worried
about him.

It wasn't until that night,

when he didn't come home
after work,

I immediately knew
that something wasn't right,

because he was very good

about being
where he needed to be

and keeping in touch
and letting people know

if he wasn't gonna be there.

I started to call
his cell phone

and it would just go directly
to voicemail.

Chris, where are you?

And so I left him
a couple nasty messages about,

you know, where are you?

And, you know,
what's going on?

Call me back, please.

I half went to sleep,

but I was still had
this gut feeling

that something wasn't right.

And the following morning,
my husband got up

around 5:00 in the morning
to leave for work

'cause I asked him
if Chris was here.

No sign of him?

He said, "No."

[tense music playing]

Chris had said to me,
he had some folks

that he rode with to
and from work.

[knocks on the door]

[Annie]
So I went to their house.

Hi, have you seen Chris?

And they said, no.

Chris was a no call,
no show to work.

So I said,
"When did you see him last?"

And they said Monday.

And I said, "Did you give him
a ride somewhere?"

And they said, no.

Chris left with someone else.

I said, "Any idea who?"

And they did not know.

Okay.

I immediately went home

and called the Vermont
State Police.

[phone ringing]

Vermont Police,
Detective Potter speaking.

She was pretty distraught
on the phone.

She basically told me
that she was caretaker

for Christopher Gray.

We were already two days
into him being missing.

She also told me that he had
a diminished mental capacity.

Okay, Annie,
calm down, calm down.

Let's just take it
from the start.

There are a couple
of the things that I need

to get to be able
to move further is,

number one,
a detailed description

of what he was wearing
when she last saw him,

where he was last seen,

who she had made contact with

and any other
viable information

related to Christopher,
that would help me locate him.

When did his shift finish?

Okay. No,
I'll get on this right away.

The first call that I made
was to dispatch.

Yes. Hi. I'd like to report
a missing person.

To enter Christopher

into the National Crime
Information Center

as a missing person.

And then reach out
to the intelligence center

and have them do a ping
on Christopher's phone.

Based on the information
that he was receiving,

the phone had been actually
shut off on the 6th.

The fact that there had been
no activity on the cell phone

for two days,

and nobody had seen him
was quite concerning.

All right. Thank you.

With that information,
I felt that the next step

that we needed to do
was gather the information

on where that last known
location was

as well as go to where
he was last seen,

which was
at the Woodsville Walmart

in New Hampshire.

[suspenseful music playing]

When I arrived at Walmart,

I met with Chad Bogard.

Hi, I'm Detective Potter.

And his current title
at the time was a manager.

He told me that
he had worked with Chris

on the 6th and was quite
familiar with Chris.

Can I look at your security
footage, please?

And he was concerned as well

that we were there

and we hadn't seen him
since his shift,

which was two days ago.

The Walmart at that time
had just been built.

Uh, so they had
a pretty sophisticated
surveillance system.

They had several cameras
inside and outside the store.

We went to the date
of the 6th

and the time in question,
after his shift,

the timestamp
on the video was 11:30.

One particular video
was an interior camera

that is essentially focused

on the main entrance
to the Walmart.

[tense music playing]

Play that again.

Okay. Wait, hold it there.

Zoom in.

Is that Chris?

He was wearing tan-colored
pants and sneakers.

You could see an ID badge

fixed to his left
breast pocket.

That information coupled
with Mr. Bogard's,

that was there with me

and was able
to positively identify

Christopher within the store.

Play on.

In the video,
you could see Chris

looking for somebody outside,

whether he was gonna meet
with somebody

or somebody was coming in
to meet with him.

And he actually walked back
into the store.

Okay. Why has he come back in?

Play on.

Okay. He grabs his coat.

Chris is done work.

He's wearing that same jacket

that he had on
prior to shifts

with his ball cap.

You see him leave the store
at the end of his shift

through those front doors.

Can you pull up
the exterior camera?

[tense music playing]

You see this vehicle

that's positioned there.

Looks like a black Honda.

You could see
the passenger side

backseat door open
of the vehicle.

And a gentleman gets out
wearing a yellow shirt.

Do you recognize this guy
in the yellow?

No?

One of the things that was
a little concerning to me

was that the person
that got out of the vehicle

actually stood up
and allowed Chris

to get into the vehicle.

Is it because they want him
to remain in the vehicle

and not be able
to have access to a door,

should he wanna leave?

What happens from there?

Who are these people?

Where did he go?

[tense music playing]

Have we any other angle
on the car?

[narrator] The car
is first seen arriving

at the Walmart parking lot

90 minutes
before it picks up Chris.

Generally speaking,
if we can identify the car,

you can identify occupant.

Zoom in.

The most that we were able
to do at the time

was distinguish
the color of the plate

that it was white,
which would lend

that it was
a New Hampshire plate

that we were looking for.

Can you send me some stills
from this video?

We needed to track down
who they were.

[dramatic music playing]

[phone ringing]

Hello?

Detective Potter called

and asked me if I was familiar

with a small Honda car
dark in color,

it didn't ring a bell
with me at all.

He stated that Chris got
into the vehicle

and left Walmart that evening.

Thanks for calling.

Bye.

That was probably

the most anguishing time
of my entire life.

Not knowing where he was.

I really fully believe
that I would see him again.

I just needed to find him.

[narrator] Detective Potter
knows just who to ask

about the mystery Honda

and heads for the Haverhill
Police Department.

[Det. Potter] I printed off
the still images

from the surveillance video
from the store.

I was really hoping
that if I spoke

to one of the seasoned
officers there,

which was Officer Trott

and showed him the images,

he would know
who the vehicle belonged to.

[Det. Corp. Trott] Good
to see you again, Detective.

You as well.

Officer Trott,
he was somebody

that was very well known

within the community
and had a good relationship

with the folks in town.

[Det. Corp. Trott] The images
were very grainy and unclear.

Ring any bells?

[Det. Corp. Trott]
It looked very familiar.

Possibly.

But before I wanted to commit,

I wanted to be able to see

a better quality
video or photo.

[narrator] Detective Trott
visits Walmart

to view a clear image
of the black Honda.

I met with staff there,

I was looking for permission
to review the video again.

Can you show me when the black
Honda first arrived?

[suspenseful music playing]

Zoom in.

There's a red stripe
across the body.

I can see that it has a fin
on the back of it.

And then it has red trim

which is also
very distinctive.

This is Michael Robie's car.

I recognized it to be owned
by a local Haverhill resident

by the name of Michael Robie.

As law enforcement,

Michael Robie was somebody
that we've interacted with

a number of times.

Michael Robie, however,
is incarcerated

at the Grafton County Jail
on some minor offenses.

So the question we have now

is who's driving
Michael Robie's car?

When's the next sighting
of the Honda?

We started
the painstaking task

of just looking at more video,

and more video,
and more video.

We see the black Honda

this time coming in
from the opposite direction,

pulls up into the front
of the store.

Two male subjects
exit the vehicle

and come
into the Walmart store.

Follow them inside.

[tense music playing]

One of them
is the male subject

that we've seen
earlier in video.

He's wearing
the yellow parka.

I was able to identify him
as Timothy Smith.

This is someone that I know,

somebody that
I can communicate with,

the other male subject
in the baseball cap,

his name is Anthony Howe.

I know Anthony's family
personally

because it is a small
community,

you do come to know
these people.

We wanted to review
more video footage

because at the time
I could see that the vehicle

is being driven by somebody

but I'm not able to determine
who that is.

Let's see if we can identify
the driver.

Who's that?

A person wearing gray
and white

exits the driver side
of the vehicle.

[suspenseful music playing]

Follow them inside.

Zoom in.

The driver of the vehicle
is also a Walmart employee

that I recognized
to be Amber Talbot.

When I saw that Amber Talbot

was operating the vehicle,

that made complete sense to me

because she is Michael Robie's
girlfriend

and she's looking around
as if she's looking
for someone.

Bring up the footage
of when they left with Chris.

The last we see
Christopher Gray

he is leaving
the Walmart parking lot.

What we need to do now
is determine

where he went from here.

Where did that vehicle go?

[narrator] Detective Trott
calls Detective Potter

with an update.

Hi.

I've got a positive ID
on the vehicle.

I know who the owner is,

and I recognize
the three people

that Chris left with.

The conversation with Wally
at that point was that,

you know,
he was gonna continue

on his end
with the investigation,

which was within his area
of jurisdiction.

He was gonna take
that information

and go to that residence

where the vehicle's owner
resided and continue

the investigative effort
from there.

[Det. Corp. Trott]
Timothy Smith, Anthony Howe,

and Amber were staying
at a piece of property

where Michael Robie lives.

I drive past Michael Robie's
mother's house,

as I continue up
and I approached the house.

I can see that his vehicle
is not there.

I went to the residence.

I knocked on the door
several times.

I didn't hear
anything inside.

Nobody came to the door.

I ended up leaving
one of my business cards

in the door.

And I left.

[Annie] I just really stayed
close to home.

And it was just the scenarios

of every single thing
you could think of

going through my head
of what happened to him.

One of my concerns was that
he didn't always pick up on

when people were not
being kind to him.

He would not always
get those cues.

So I was a little worried

that somebody may take
advantage of him.

I knew whatever was happening

was completely out
of his control,

that he would've called me
if he could have.

I knew that
it was at that level.

So it was a really hard time.

[dramatic music playing]

[Det. Corp. Trott] I returned
to the police department.

Made contact with
Vermont State Police

and Detective Potter.

Hang on.

Something's just come in.

I'll call you back.

I had received a message
from Amber Talbot.

She had found out that
I was looking for her

and was awaiting
a return phone call.

Hi, Amber.

Sorry I missed your call.

I was able to make
contact with Amber,

let her know that I would
like to speak with her

if she was available.

And she agreed
and was willing to meet me

at the police department.

I met with her outside.

Conveniently and ironically

Anthony Howe
was also with her.

She was driving Mike Robie's
black Honda Civic.

Hi, Amber.
Thanks for coming in.

Would you be happy to come in
and answer a few questions?

Absolutely. No problem.

Uh, Detective,
can I have a word?

[Det. Corp. Trott]
Anthony asked kind of
a strange question.

He asked me if I was aware
of there were any

arrest warrants out for him.

He was visibly very nervous

and that was pretty
uncharacteristic of him.

Why don't you wait here?

I told him that
I was not aware of any,

that I would check for him

after I was done speaking
with Amber.

And he stated that he would
appreciate that.

Trooper Nate Hamilton
was in there with me.

We explained to her
that she wasn't under arrest.

When did you last see
your work colleague,

Christopher Gray?

Um, it would have been Monday.

Amber stated that Christopher
had asked her at work,

previously in the week,

if she would be able
to give him a ride.

So you gave him a ride?

She confirmed that she did,
in fact,

along with Anthony Howe
and Timothy Smith,

they had driven him
to Newbury Crossing

where they dropped him off,

and then that was
where they last

had contact with Christopher.

She was specific and adamant

that it was
at Newbury Crossing.

Did he say who he was meeting?

And as we were just ending
the interview with her

which was relatively short.

Thank you.

Actually, I just remembered.

She stated that she actually
dropped Christopher off

in front of a residence
on Route 5 in Newbury.

-So not at Newbury Crossing?
-No.

When we asked her
specifically

why she didn't tell us
that to begin with,

she stated that it was because
she didn't actually know

where Newbury Crossing was.

It was obvious that we weren't
going to be able to get

any other information
from her.

Thanks again for your time,
Amber.

I'll see you out.

I escorted her back outside
where she met with Anthony.

Anthony agreed to come
inside with me.

We had him come in
the interview room.

I verified for him to put
his mind at ease first

that there were no
arrest warrants for him,

so he wasn't being arrested.

Can you tell me about
the night of October 6th?

We went to Walmart,
picked up Chris.

[Det. Corp. Trott] They left.

They made a quick trip
to Newbury Crossing.

They dropped him off.

Are you 100% sure of that?

At that point,

Anthony asked if he could
speak with me alone.

Trooper Hamilton
stepped outside.

I leaned into Anthony
a little bit

and looked him in the eyes

and said, "Anthony,
tell me what's going on?"

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Anthony speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott] I could
see that he was nervous.

He was wrenching his hands.

[Anthony speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Anthony speaking]

He would look away from me,
look at me,

and then look down,
or away, or up

whenever I asked him
a question.

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Anthony speaking]

[suspenseful music playing]

[Det. Corp. Trott]
When I go back in to
speak with Anthony Howe

the second time

because he's confessed to us

we advised him of his Miranda
rights

and he's still willing
to waive his rights

and speak with us
at that time.

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Anthony speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott] He told us

two knives were used
in the stabbing.

I asked him if he had stabbed
Christopher at all.

He stated that he had not.

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Anthony speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Anthony speaking]

-[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]
-[Anthony speaking]

He stated that
his fingerprints

would be on the Kn*fe

and some of the other
evidence

because he had handled them.

He tried to help clean up.

He moved Christopher Gray.

So all indications would show

that he actually took
part in it.

But he was still hanging
on to Timothy Smith

being the primary aggressor.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Timothy Smith
is next for questioning.

[Det. Corp. Trott] He went
into an interview room.

I was not in the interview
at that time.

I was in another room
watching and listening.

[Timothy sobs]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Timothy speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Timothy speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Timothy speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Timothy speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Timothy speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott] When he
made this confession,

he stated that he was sorry.

He even... offered

and wanted to write a letter
of apology

to Chris's family.

[Det. Potter] The game plan
at that point was

seize the residence,

secure all the potential
evidence there.

The crime scene
investigation team

for New Hampshire State Police

had the ultimate role
of processing the scene

and collecting evidence
from that residence.

[Det. Corp. Trott] It was at
that time that we recovered

both of the knives

both in the location
where Anthony Howe

stated that they were.

We recovered one Kn*fe
and some clothing

out of a well
that was on the property.

The clothes were
bloodstained.

He also stated that
another Kn*fe

had been taken
into the house.

We went into the residence

and into the attic area

where we were able to locate

and recover a second Kn*fe...

as well as clothing.

You could see where an area
where the bonfire had been

where it looked
as if they tried to

utilize water and paint

to get rid of the blood

that was on the ground.

In talking with Anthony,

him and Timothy had put
Christopher Gray's body

in a wheelbarrow

and they rolled it over
to a shallow grave

that they had dug
behind the residence.

And that's where we recovered
Christopher Gray's body.

When you're removing
that body,

it's emotional,
it's a process.

It's hard, yeah.

But this is what we do.

It was at that time
that we knew

we had to make a notification
to the family.

[Annie] As soon as I saw them
walking towards the door,

I knew.

I knew that it wasn't gonna
be a positive outcome.

And they said,
"Annie, he's been m*rder*d."

No. [sobs]

And, of course,
I had thoughts of guilt

that I was his guardian
and I was supposed

to be looking out for him

and how could this have,
you know, happened

and how was I gonna...

tell his family. [cries]

[Det. Corp. Trott] As a result
of the information

that we had obtained so far,

as well as the physical
evidence,

Timothy Smith
and Anthony Howe

were charged with m*rder.

One of the things
that was still

a little unclear with us
was the motive

for Christopher Gray
being k*lled.

[narrator] Detective Trott
pushes Anthony Howe

for more information.

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Anthony speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Anthony speaking]

Hi.

Could you give me all
the jail phone calls

between Amber Talbot
and Michael Robie?

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Investigators
sees over 200 hours

of jail phone calls
between Amber

and her incarcerated
fiance Michael Robie.

[Amber speaking]

-[Michael speaking]
-[Amber speaking]

-[giggles]
-[Michael speaking]

[Amber speaking] [laughs]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]
One of the phone
conversations

that we obtained
consisted of Amber

referring to Christopher
being k*lled.

[Michael speaking]

[Amber speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[Amber speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[Amber laughs]

This phone call obviously
gives you a little bit

of insight into the minds
of these two people.

[narrator] Listening to more
jail phone calls

reveals that Michael Robie
had discussed harming Chris

with his friends
just weeks before.

It became clear
that Michael Robie

had solicited the help
of his two friends

and Amber, his girlfriend,

to lure Christopher Gray

to their property

and inflict bodily
harm on him.

Hi, Amber.
It's Detective Trott.

Would you mind coming back
to the station?

She was made aware
of additional information

and evidence that we had

connecting her
with this crime,

more specifically,
her direct involvement in it.

[Amber speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

She was still reluctant
to make any admissions.

[narrator] Detectives play
Amber the jail phone call.

[Amber laughs]

[Amber speaking]

-[Michael speaking]
-[Amber speaking]

[giggles]

-[Michael speaking]
-[Amber speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Amber speaking]

[investigator speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Amber speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Amber speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Amber speaking]

Michael's very possessive,
was very jealous,

and very upset, angry,
and taken aback

that Christopher Gray
was hitting on his girlfriend

while he was incarcerated.

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Amber speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Amber speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Amber speaking]

[Det. Corp. Trott speaking]

[Amber speaking]

There is really no
emotion from her.

There's no remorse.

She was the bait.
She was proud of this.

She encouraged it even.

She's a true definition
of a black widow spider

as far as I'm concerned.

It was very apparent
that this was a crime

that had been orchestrated

behind bars by Michael Robie.

A warrant was drawn up

and both Amber Talbot
and Michael Robie

were charged with conspiracy
to commit m*rder.

Timothy, Anthony, and Amber

plead guilty to second
degree m*rder

and conspiracy
to commit m*rder.

[narrator] With no evidence
of Michael Robie

specifically asking
his friends

to k*ll Christopher,
he receives a lesser charge.

[Det. Corp. Trott]
Michael Robie pleads guilty

to as*ault,

conspiracy to commit as*ault,

hindering apprehension,

and conspiracy to hinder
apprehension.

These participants
were willing to lure

Christopher Gray away
from Walmart,

which they did successfully.

Under the pretense
that he was just going to be

going to a bonfire
with some new friends,

probably feeling comfortable
and happy

that someone is showing him
some attention.

He gets to their property,

where he is dropped off with

Timothy Smith
and Anthony Howe.

Amber Talbot leaves
him there,

goes to her mother's house
where she remains.

A bonfire does take place.

There's some consumption
of alcohol.

Christopher went from that
bonfire with friends

to realizing that
he's in trouble

and nobody's there helping him

and he's all alone.

I can't imagine what he must
have been thinking,

feeling, experiencing.

[eerie music playing]

[Det. Corp. Trott]
Amber Talbot for her role,

was sentenced to 25
to 50 years.

Timothy and Anthony
are sentenced to 40 years.

Michael Robie...

is sentenced to 20
to 40 years.

Ultimately,
the motive behind this

is a boyfriend's jealousy.

He reacted very angrily

to the extent
that he conspired with friends

to inflict bodily harm
on Christopher Gray,

simply because of him,
probably very innocently,

showing some attention
to his girlfriend.

[Annie] Chris was an amazing
young man

who taught me a lot.

I learned from Chris
because I knew that Chris had,

you know,
difficulties and barriers

and blocks in his life
that kept him

from maybe getting what
everybody else

came naturally to.

He was so strong
and pushing through

those things.

Even in the worst
of the worst times

when he was feeling down
and out,

he was just so full of life.

And he just brought
a sense of purpose

to my life knowing
he would forever

be watching over me,

and that he in fact
is my guardian.