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Auto Parts. Hello!

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Campers grab your marshmallows and gather round

0:48

the true crime campfire. Where. Your

0:50

Camp Counselors I'm Katie and I'm Whitney.

0:53

And. We're here to tell you a true

0:55

story that has way stranger than fiction or

0:58

roasting murderers and marshmallows around the true crime

1:00

campfire. In

1:06

geometry, the triangle is the strongest

1:08

shape there is. Any. Weight

1:10

you put on one gets shared are

1:12

equally among the three sides. A perfect

1:14

three way harmony. But. In

1:16

romance for most of us anyway. Three's

1:19

a crowd. Resentment. Start

1:21

to smolder. Secret. Start to slip.

1:23

Things. Can get dangerous. Especially

1:26

when everyone involved is living a double

1:28

life. they want to desperately protect. This.

1:31

Is hey jealousy the murder of the

1:34

trees? Curtis. So.

1:47

Campers for this one were in

1:49

Raleigh, North Carolina January thirtieth: Two

1:51

thousand and eight. It. Was

1:53

just after two o'clock in the morning

1:56

when Kimberly Parker-years phone startled her awake.

1:58

She. squinted at her phone The caller

2:01

ID said it was her friend Latrice Curtis.

2:03

It's weird. Latrice didn't usually call her up in the

2:06

middle of the night. I'm sure it

2:08

must have made Kimberly's stomach lurch a little. I

2:10

mean, usually a 2 a.m. phone call means something

2:12

bad happened. But she didn't

2:14

hear anything much when she answered. Just

2:16

some strange noises. Wrestling, movement,

2:18

the sound of cars passing by,

2:20

and what sounded like

2:22

footsteps walking on gravel. Later,

2:26

Kimberly told Investigation Discovery, something inside

2:28

me just told me to just

2:30

remain on the phone. I

2:32

was saying, Latrice, Latrice. But

2:35

Latrice didn't say anything back. So

2:38

eventually, Kimberly hung up and tried to call her

2:40

back. But there was no answer. So

2:43

a butt dial, maybe? But

2:46

something felt off. If

2:48

she'd known Latrice's husband's cell number, she'd have

2:50

called him, but she didn't, so she drifted

2:52

back into an uneasy sleep. Hours

2:55

later, morning rush hour was just gearing up on Highway

2:58

540 when a man on his way to work

3:00

noticed something by the side of the road and immediately

3:02

hoped to God it wasn't what he thought it was.

3:06

But when he pulled over to take a closer look, his heart

3:08

sank. It was the body of a

3:10

woman, sprawled out on the shoulder of

3:12

the highway, covered in blood. The

3:14

driver called 911. The

3:17

woman had been stabbed to death, and it was

3:19

a brutal attack. People say that

3:22

a lot in these cases, because murder is

3:24

always brutal, really. But when we say brutal

3:26

in this case, we mean brutal, vicious.

3:29

This woman had been stabbed more than 40 times. She

3:33

was a black woman, but she'd lost so much

3:35

blood that her skin was pale. Her

3:38

killer had stabbed her in the face, the

3:40

neck, the shoulders, and chest. The

3:42

knife had severed her jugular vein and her

3:44

carotid artery. It cut her vocal

3:47

cords. And she'd fought back,

3:49

though the pattern of defensive wounds was kind of

3:51

strange. She'd broken her fingernails, but

3:53

there weren't a lot of wounds on her hands. The

3:56

medical examiner would later theorize that the killer must

3:58

have pinned her arms during the attack.

4:02

It was immediately clear to investigators that

4:04

this was a murder driven by rage.

4:07

It certainly wasn't robbery. The victim was still

4:09

wearing her jewelry. No, this

4:11

killer had wanted her totally obliterated, wiped

4:14

off the face of the earth. And

4:16

when that happens, when you see overkill to

4:18

this degree, and especially when you see a

4:20

lot of wounds to the face, it usually

4:22

means the victim knew the killer pretty well.

4:25

Identifying the victim wouldn't be too difficult in this

4:27

case because her car was parked just a little

4:29

ways down the highway from where the body was.

4:31

A white Nissan Centra with

4:33

blood all over the front seat. Looked

4:36

like the victim had been killed there, then dumped by

4:38

the side of the road. When

4:41

the police ran the license plate number on

4:43

the Centra, it came back as belonging to

4:45

a 21 year old college student named Latrice

4:47

Curtis. Latrice

4:50

had been reported missing by her husband Darren

4:52

just a short while before her body was

4:54

discovered, and this is so awful, while the

4:56

investigators were getting started at the scene, Darren

4:59

Curtis actually drove by the crime scene. He

5:02

was worried about Latrice. He'd already called 911 to

5:05

report her missing, and now he's driving down 540 and

5:08

sees a crime scene investigation

5:10

team standing around something covered

5:12

in a blue tarp. And

5:14

then less than a mile further down the road,

5:17

he sees his wife's car. Like can you freaking

5:19

imagine? God. So poor Darren,

5:21

he pulled over of course and ran up to

5:23

the first officer he saw and got the worst

5:25

news of his life, that his

5:27

wife was under that tarp. They'd

5:30

only been married for nine months. Darren

5:32

said he'd talked to Latrice on the phone the

5:34

night before. She said she was on her way

5:36

home from school, she'd gotten out late, and she

5:38

was planning on stopping for something to eat on the

5:40

way back to the apartment. At

5:43

some point, Darren fell asleep, and when he

5:45

woke up and she still wasn't there, he

5:47

figured, okay, you know, she must have decided

5:49

to stay the night at her family's house

5:51

instead, because they were closer, but

5:54

he still couldn't reach her. Her phone

5:56

just kept going to voicemail, and that's

5:58

when he started to worry and called nine 11.

6:01

But he couldn't have expected a scene like this. Latrice

6:05

grew up the only girl in a house full

6:07

of brothers, and she was a daddy's girl to

6:09

the core. Her dad Sherman loved to

6:11

take her hunting and fishing, and he taught her

6:13

how to play basketball. As she

6:15

got older, she was less interested in fishing

6:17

and basketball and more interested in hair and

6:19

makeup, but whatever she was into at any

6:21

particular time, Latrice was a bright light. You

6:24

can see it in pictures of her, she just glowed.

6:28

Her friend Kimberly says she didn't have a shallow

6:31

or materialistic bone in her body, and she was

6:33

the kind of friend who made everybody feel important

6:35

and cared for. She was a

6:37

good listener, which is a rare and precious gift. You

6:39

could go to her with her problems, and she'd be there.

6:42

She wasn't the type to only stick around when times

6:44

were good. So unsurprisingly, Latrice

6:47

was popular at school, and boys lined

6:49

up to ask her out. But

6:52

she was a great student, too, and not easy

6:54

to distract. She was ambitious with big

6:56

plans for her future, and after

6:58

she graduated high school, she started college

7:00

with an accounting major. Her

7:03

dad told Investigation Discovery that he cried like a baby

7:05

the day he dropped her off at the dorm. Oh,

7:08

yeah, my dad did too, although in hindsight,

7:10

that could have been about the tuition. No,

7:14

I mean, he was sad to see his baby

7:16

leave home, you know, and I was only 17. I started really

7:19

young, so I'm sure it's hard for parents.

7:22

Yeah, and it wasn't just her dad. Latrice cried,

7:25

as much fun as that brand new freedom is at

7:27

that age. It's also a little sad to let go

7:30

of your parents, even when everything

7:32

they've said and done over the past few years

7:34

has made you literally die of humiliation. It

7:39

was at the university where she met Darren Curtis.

7:41

He was a former National Guardsman studying

7:43

accounting too, and they hit it off fast.

7:46

Being the one girl in a family full

7:48

of boys, Latrice's brothers were protective of her.

7:51

So when she first told them about Darren, they

7:53

were side-eyeing the poor guy something fierce. But

7:56

it didn't take long for them to realize

7:58

that Darren really cared about Latrice. And

8:00

they ended up liking him lot her friends

8:02

like them to. He was little shy free

8:05

that an alum, a thoughtful guy, And

8:07

he was respectful both toiletries and to them.

8:10

They. Felt like she was safe with him and

8:12

about a year into the relationship the Trees and

8:14

Daring got married. They.

8:17

Did it kind of non traditionally

8:19

a lofoten? Didn't really tell anybody

8:21

about it beforehand. Litter. He

8:23

says friend Kimberly figured maybe they just didn't know

8:25

how their families are to react since they were

8:27

both still so young and in school. They.

8:30

Probably just didn't on have to go

8:32

through the whole process of convincing everybody

8:34

and explain themselves, but they seemed happy.

8:36

They got a little apartment together in

8:38

Raleigh and the trees were still taking

8:40

classes at North Carolina Central. University. Everything

8:42

seemed good. Now

8:45

this. Devastation. Everybody.

8:48

Was shellshocked. Kimberly thought back to

8:50

that weird. Phone call the night before. Had

8:53

the trees called her before the murder?

8:56

Committee. Right after. Is

8:58

a haunting thought that she might have used the

9:00

last of her strength to dial the number, then

9:03

lay dying, as Kimberly called. The. trees,

9:06

The trees guy

9:08

kimberly. Wished to the depths of

9:10

her soul that seed known what was happening

9:12

that all see really heard was sound of

9:14

cars wishing past and some rustling noises she

9:17

couldn't have known. The. Trees

9:19

his dad called University Security at Nc See you

9:21

when he couldn't get hold of are all. Morning

9:23

and his heart dropped when they told him

9:25

you. Need to call the Wake County Sheriff's

9:27

Department. He. And his wife

9:30

drove there. In. Total Foods. Their.

9:32

Lives would never be the same again. The

9:34

bottom had fallen out of their world. Deron.

9:37

Curtis of course was the first one detectives when

9:39

it's talk to and he sat down for an

9:41

interview right. Away. Knowing. How

9:44

the trees had fought for her life see a

9:46

size. Took pictures of his hands, arms and chest

9:48

to see if he had knee injuries. He

9:50

didn't. He. Gave up his dna

9:52

and fingerprints with no fuss. To.

9:55

The investigators. The guy seemed totally heartbroken,

9:57

exactly as you'd expect a husband to

9:59

be. The. Baron said he

10:01

in the trees weren't having any marital troubles

10:03

or anything. They were happy. Haven't

10:06

really been married that long. Less than a

10:08

year. Still, Newlyweds. Barons.

10:11

Effect wasn't throwing up any red flags

10:13

and the officers who were talking to

10:15

friends and neighbors asking about their marriage

10:17

where get in the same story again

10:19

and again. Normal happy couple know loud

10:21

fights, nothing because anybody concern. Baron.

10:24

Didn't have an alibi. He. Said he'd

10:26

been home all night, but he immediately

10:28

gave them permission to searches apartments and

10:30

there was nothing overtly suspicious. So.

10:32

After a long interview, the detectives cut their

10:35

and lose told him not to leave town

10:37

while their investigation was unfolding. They.

10:39

Couldn't rule him out yet, but there was nothing to

10:41

rule him in. The.

10:43

Autopsy results came in not long after

10:46

this, and they produce something kind of

10:48

startling. At the time of her murder,

10:50

Latrine had a condom stuck inside her.

10:53

And. As you might expect, it was full

10:55

of dna. Now. Sterling Part

10:57

about this was that there and hadn't seen

10:59

his wife the night before, he'd talk to

11:01

her on the phone, but he hadn't spent

11:03

the night with her. And without being too

11:05

gross here, it was pretty clear that the

11:07

condom hadn't been in there along the genetic

11:09

material and site it seemed. Press. So.

11:13

Hadleigh trees been sexually assaulted at the time

11:15

of her murder. The medical

11:17

examiner didn't think so. The. Murder

11:20

was so violent, so vicious. If she'd

11:22

been assaulted in a sexual way, you'd

11:24

expect to see a similar level of

11:26

brutality. Their butts. There was nothing. No

11:28

bruising or injuries to her genital area

11:30

or anything like that. So what could

11:32

they make of this? Well.

11:35

One of the first things they checked on to

11:37

try and verify part of barons Alibi was

11:39

the Curtis as phone records. They immediately found the

11:41

ten pm phone call from which we sit there

11:43

and the when he told them about where she

11:46

said she was running late getting home from school.

11:48

was planning to stop for food on the

11:50

way. but they also found something else intriguing. a

11:53

lot of from the tree says

11:55

phone to the same number over

11:57

and over again including multiple calls

11:59

on night of the murder. That

12:02

number belonged to a young guy named Steven

12:04

Randolph. Steven

12:06

Randolph was sort of your stereotypical

12:09

Chad at NCCU. Super popular and

12:11

charming and a star on the

12:13

basketball team. Steven had NBA

12:15

dreams and he was pretty confident he was

12:17

going to be drafted soon, making millions and

12:19

going down in sports history. Steven

12:22

initially seemed reluctant to come into the police

12:24

station for an interview but his landlord slash

12:27

roommate was a preacher and kind of a

12:29

leader in the community and he kind of

12:31

leaned on Steven a little bit and talked

12:33

him into it. Drove him down to the

12:35

station, walked him in and Steven sat down

12:37

with detectives. He said he

12:39

knew Latrice from school. They had a

12:42

few classes together, they worked together on an assignment

12:44

or two, she'd been over to his place like

12:46

once. They were just friends. Yeah.

12:49

Of course once the detectives mentioned

12:52

the condom found inside Latrice's body, the

12:54

DNA evidence inside it, just waiting for

12:56

processing at the lab and the phone

12:59

records chock full of his number Steven

13:01

caved. Okay, okay, he said we

13:03

were having an affair. This

13:06

would come as a surprise to almost everybody.

13:09

Darren had no idea Latrice was seeing another

13:11

guy and even her friends only knew Steven

13:13

as a friend and study buddy. Apparently

13:16

she'd been keeping a pretty big secret. Steven

13:19

admitted he'd been with Latrice the night of the

13:21

murder. She came over after class he said we

13:23

had sex and yeah the condom got stuck.

13:26

We were both freaked out about it. We tried for

13:28

like half an hour to get it out but we

13:30

couldn't and finally Latrice said she'd probably have better

13:32

luck in her own bathroom at home so she

13:34

left. She called him a

13:36

couple times after that Steven said while she was driving

13:38

back to Raleigh. She was flipping out about the

13:41

condom worried she might get pregnant. The

13:44

detectives ears pricked up at this. We've

13:46

shared this statistic on the show before and it's

13:48

still true. The number one cause

13:50

of death in pregnant women is homicide

13:53

specifically homicide by the baby's father. Obviously

13:56

the investigators knew this as well as anybody

13:58

and they also knew that Steven Randolph

14:00

was right at the cusp of a possible

14:02

NBA career. An unplanned pregnancy

14:04

could be a major wrench in those plans.

14:07

So what did Steven do after Latrice left his

14:09

place that night? I wondered

14:11

what my girlfriend's house, he told them. Wait,

14:14

what? Excuse me,

14:16

your girlfriend's house? Yeah.

14:19

Turns out Latrice wasn't the only one keeping

14:22

secrets. Steven was a bit of a

14:24

player. He had another girlfriend,

14:26

a woman named Velma Newton. Steven

14:28

said she'd spent the rest of the night at her

14:30

house, hanging out with her and some mutual friends. Huh.

14:35

This wasn't the only thing that made

14:37

the investigators nervous about Steven Randolph. They'd been

14:40

chatting with Robert Reeves, Steven's roommate slash landlord,

14:42

the guy who drove him to the station

14:44

for his interview, and Reeves happened to

14:47

mention something that made the hairs on the back of their

14:49

neck stand up. Steven was

14:51

interested in knives. Had a

14:53

whole collection of knives and swords back at the house. None

14:57

of this proved anything, of course, but it

14:59

raised everybody's eyebrows. And it was

15:01

enough to get a warrant. First for Steven's DNA

15:04

to check against the sample in the condom, and

15:06

some DNA evidence they'd found in Latrice's car, and

15:09

then for his car and room. The

15:11

DNA, obviously, would take some time to process.

15:13

The car in the house, they could search right away.

15:17

But they didn't find anything much. The

15:19

knives and swords were there, but there was no obvious blood on

15:21

any of them. I mean, it wasn't

15:23

a huge surprise in a way. Latrice had most

15:25

likely been killed in her own car. So unless

15:27

Steven was dumb enough to bring the murder weapon

15:29

back home with him and put it back in

15:31

his case. Yeah, so

15:34

it was frustrating. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time

15:36

a killer would do something so boneheaded. We

15:38

see a lot, don't we? So often that

15:41

knife is super important to keep. Sometimes

15:43

they're smart enough to get rid

15:45

of it for sure. So they

15:48

went over to talk to the girlfriend, Velma

15:50

Newton. She was like, Yeah, yeah, Steven

15:52

was here that night from 10

15:54

until about 1am. This was

15:56

interesting because the medical examiner had put Latrice's time

15:58

of death between one and two. two in the morning,

16:01

right on the edge. So our boy

16:03

didn't have the greatest alibi. But Velma

16:05

insisted Steven wouldn't hurt a fly. She

16:08

was clearly smitten with a guy. Well,

16:11

what about Velma herself? Did

16:14

she have anything to do with Latrice Curtis' murder?

16:17

Velma denied it. But

16:19

there was something weird going on in the

16:21

weeks leading up to the murder, she said.

16:23

Velma had been getting weird phone calls. Threatening.

16:27

The caller, whoever it was, was not happy

16:29

about Steven and Velma's relationship. It was stuff

16:31

like, Steven better quit doing what he's doing

16:34

or somebody's going to get hurt. Stuff like

16:36

that. This guy wanted

16:38

her and Steven to break up ASAP.

16:41

It was weird. She couldn't imagine who the

16:43

hell it would be, especially since she wasn't sure

16:45

it was the same caller every time. It might

16:47

have actually been a couple different male voices. And

16:50

then it got scarier. The calls

16:52

were less vague and more specific. Stuff like,

16:55

I'm going to break his legs and end

16:57

his basketball career. And

17:00

then Steven started getting the same kind of calls

17:02

too. I hope you have a gun, the

17:04

caller told him. And then

17:07

one night he went outside to find the

17:09

tires slashed on his car. A

17:11

couple weeks later, Velma's tires got slashed

17:13

too. I don't know

17:16

if any of y'all have ever had

17:18

your tires slashed, but my asshole X

17:20

slashed mine after I finally dumped him,

17:22

smashed my back windshield too. And it's

17:24

an incredibly creepy feeling, like just really

17:26

violating. It makes you feel totally exposed.

17:28

Like somebody's turning this big malevolent spotlight

17:30

on you. And it is not a

17:32

nice feeling. So

18:00

somebody was sticking his

18:02

or their noses in

18:04

Stephen Randolph business. To.

18:07

Why? The. Detectives were

18:09

intrigued. Whoever. Was allegedly

18:12

harassing seven and his girlfriend Velma. Could

18:14

they also have a grudge against the

18:16

trees? None. Of the call seem

18:18

to have mentioned her by name but they had to wonder.

18:21

That. A be literally says husband's deron. This.

18:24

Case was certain to get seriously weird.

18:27

And. Then the investigators caught an

18:29

unexpected break. They. Got a call

18:31

from a state Trooper. his name was Trooper Cooper Hand

18:33

A as as of the third that. The a

18:35

strip of rebirth. Trooper

18:38

Cooper. Had been on patrol on Highway

18:40

Five Forty on the night of the murder

18:43

and at about one Sistine. In the morning.

18:45

He'd happened to drive by a couple of cars parked

18:47

on the side of the road. No.

18:49

One was a minivan it had

18:51

it's hazard lights blinking the windshield

18:53

wipers on the windows crack a

18:55

little bit and the other with

18:57

a white Nissan Sentra. It.

19:00

Was a strange seen. a little bit eerie

19:02

even late at night to empty cars just

19:04

sit and by the side of the road.

19:06

It's the kind of thing a state trooper

19:08

is gonna stop and investigate. The.

19:10

Just as he was starting to do that,

19:13

Trooper Cooper got called away on more urgent

19:15

business so he had to jet, but he

19:17

didn't have time to jot down the license

19:19

plate numbers on both cars. And.

19:21

The next morning when he saw the murder

19:23

on the news, he realized what he must

19:25

have seen the night before and he ran

19:27

the license numbers and lo and behold that

19:29

white center came back as belonging to the

19:31

victim or treat. Curtis. In.

19:34

The minivan. The. Minivan

19:36

was registered to none other than

19:38

Robert Reeves. Remember Semen Randolph

19:40

landlords last roommate? the guy who drove

19:42

him to his police interview the day

19:44

after the murder. So. What

19:46

the hell was Robert? Reeves is car due in

19:49

part right behind the tree says on the night

19:51

she was stabbed to death. What? Was

19:53

this guy story? So.

19:55

Reads was a forty three year old local

19:57

minister. and motivational speaker everybody

20:00

him the bishop and he was super well liked

20:02

well respected in the durham community. Did he

20:05

have any connection to Latrice Curtis? As

20:07

far as detectives could tell none whatsoever.

20:10

But he did rent out a room to her

20:12

secret lover and when they reached out

20:15

to bishop Reeves about the car he came into the

20:17

station agreed easily to giving them

20:19

his fingerprints and DNA and sat down for

20:21

an interview. Yeah he owned that minivan

20:23

he told them. Steven's been borrowing it lately. His car

20:25

had a couple flat tires and the kid didn't have

20:27

money to fix him so I told him yeah he

20:29

could use the minivan. Okay

20:33

so Steven Randolph is the one who's been driving

20:35

that car lately. Yeah, bishop

20:37

said. Well that's strike two

20:40

for Steven Randolph. The

20:42

detectives were curious to see what else the bishop

20:44

might know about his young tenant. Did

20:46

Steven ever confide in you about his relationship

20:49

with Miss Curtis they wanted to know? Yeah

20:51

the bishop said it was getting pretty strained I

20:53

think. The girl was a lot more interested in

20:55

him than he was in her. I think she

20:57

was a little bit clingy. He was

20:59

seeing somebody else and he didn't want to be tied down. And

21:04

now with the possibility of an

21:06

unwanted pregnancy yeah see where

21:08

this is headed. The bishop hesitated

21:11

a little and then he said he had

21:13

one more thing that they should probably know

21:15

about. I found

21:17

a gun under Steven's pillow he

21:19

said and that is strike three. It

21:22

was starting to sound like habeas grab us time. The

21:25

next day Latrice's dad got a call from

21:28

the lead detective. We've made an arrest she told

21:30

him. Latrice's dad felt some

21:32

tiny measure of relief for the first time

21:34

since this nightmare began. Who he

21:37

said who did it? His

21:40

name is Robert Reeves said the detective. Robert

21:43

Reeves the bishop. Latrice's

21:46

family had never heard of this guy. As

21:48

far as anybody knew she'd never even met him

21:51

and everybody in bishop Reeves's life was stunned at

21:53

the news of his arrest. They'd never seen the

21:55

slightest hint of violence out of the guy. He

21:57

was a beloved member of the community. But

22:00

the bishop was keeping some big secrets,

22:03

and when he finally went on trial in September of 2009, it

22:06

all came spilling out. The

22:09

star witness at the trial was Steven Randolph,

22:11

Latrice's secret lover and Bishop

22:13

Reeves' tenant. Steven

22:16

met Robert Reeves at a car wash one afternoon and they

22:18

got to talking. Steven was in

22:20

college. He was looking for a job at the time and

22:22

he didn't have a real stable place to live and Bishop

22:24

Reeves asked if he wanted to come look at a room

22:27

for rent in the house he shared with his sister. Seems

22:30

like a good deal at the time. Reeves offered him

22:32

$300 a month rent, which was less than

22:34

he didn't paying and it was a nice house. Steven

22:37

moved in, happy to have his housing situation

22:39

sorted out. But as

22:42

we all know, we can't have nice things. And

22:45

not long after Steven moved in with the

22:47

bishop, there was an unexpected little... hmm...

22:50

development. They were sitting

22:52

in chat one evening about a month

22:55

before Latrice Curtis's murder when the bishop

22:57

suddenly said, Are you a freak?

22:59

You know, sexually? Not

23:03

a thing you'd expect a beloved local preacher to ask

23:05

you out of the blue. I mean,

23:08

it's not like it was totally out of left

23:10

field, I guess. Steven just had Latrice over and

23:13

the bishop saw her leaving and I guess assumed they'd just

23:15

had sex. You

23:17

ever thought about working for an escort service, Reeves

23:19

asked him? You could make a

23:21

lot of money, good-looking guy like you. I could help

23:23

you get started. Wow,

23:26

weird, awkward. But hey, Steven

23:28

was young and hot and broke and

23:30

this was intriguing. No, he'd

23:32

never thought about it before, he said, but what would

23:34

it involve? I'm

23:37

sure Steven was probably imagining wealthy

23:39

older ladies taking him out for fancy

23:41

dinners, buying him video games and slicking him $100 bills,

23:44

all in exchange for a little companionship and

23:46

maybe a little something something in the bedroom.

23:49

He wouldn't be the first broke college student to consider

23:51

giving it a try. He told

23:54

Reeves he wouldn't be totally averse to the

23:56

idea. Alright

23:58

then, Reeves said. Let's see what you're

24:00

working with. Steven looked at

24:02

him. He mean like, yeah,

24:06

Reeve said, drop your pants. Let's

24:08

see. Steven

24:10

was a little uncomfortable, but it made

24:12

sense. I mean, if Bishop was gonna

24:14

help him get into the escort biz,

24:16

I guess he needed to inspect the

24:18

merchandise. So Steven dropped Rau. And

24:21

that's when the conversation took what you might call

24:23

a turn. Reeve's

24:25

reached out and started trying to like, fondle

24:28

and rub up on Steven. Steven,

24:31

being a straight dude, was definitely not interested in

24:33

any of this. And he jerked away and pulled his

24:35

pants back up. Yeah,

24:37

but Bishop didn't seem fazed. He

24:40

started telling Steven this story about how he was

24:42

at a house party one time and the lights

24:44

were out, and he started getting a blowjob from

24:46

some girl. And then in the middle of it,

24:48

the lights came on and it turned out to

24:50

be a guy. Great

24:54

story. I'm not gay

24:56

or bi or anything, Steven said, trying

24:58

to shut this conversation down. Getting

25:01

a blowjob from another guy doesn't make you gay,

25:03

the Bishop said. You can just pretend it's a

25:05

girl doing it. It feels exactly the same. Now,

25:09

at this point, two things were crystal clear

25:11

to Steven. One, that

25:13

when this guy said escort, he meant

25:15

four dudes. And two, that the Bishop

25:17

wanted to, you know, perform certain sexual

25:20

acts on him. As

25:22

you can imagine, Steven was skeeved out by this

25:24

whole line of conversation and he got the hell

25:26

out of there as fast as he could. After

25:29

pacing around outside for a little while, he

25:31

went back in the house and laid it

25:33

out for the Bishop. Look, dude, I'm not

25:35

interested. Nothing's gonna happen between you and me. I'm

25:38

straight, okay? The

25:41

Bishop said he understood and he apologized and

25:43

for the moment, it seemed like he was

25:45

gonna drop it. But

25:47

of course, he didn't. After

25:50

that initial conversation, Bishop tried a few more

25:52

times to talk Steven into letting him give

25:54

him oral sex. He even offered

25:56

to let him stay in the house rent free if he'd agree

25:58

to it now and then. Steven

26:00

was freaked out. So freaked

26:02

out that he actually borrowed a gun from

26:04

his cousin and started sleeping with it under

26:06

his pillow, just in case Mr. Reeves got

26:08

any bad ideas. And I think

26:10

he started looking for other housing options at that point too,

26:12

but he just hadn't found any yet by the time all

26:15

this started. He was just

26:17

trying to give the bishop a wide berth in the

26:19

meantime, stay away as much as possible. And

26:21

whether Steven made any connection in his

26:24

own mind between the bishop's sexual advances

26:26

toward him and the threatening calls and

26:28

slash tires, I'm not sure. I wouldn't

26:30

be surprised though. Remember how

26:33

in one of those threatening phone calls the caller said,

26:35

I hope you have a gun? Well,

26:37

when Steven went and checked for the gun he'd

26:39

borrowed from his cousin later that day, he found

26:42

it was missing. And later

26:44

he found out that the bishop had confiscated

26:46

it. That's how he put it. I confiscated

26:48

it. Like, I don't want you having this

26:50

in my house. Freaking creepy.

26:54

And Steven Randolph was by no means

26:56

the only young guy Bishop Reeves had

26:58

worked this particular MO on. Two

27:00

other guys took the stand at the trial and

27:02

told their stories and they sounded an awful lot

27:04

like Steven. One guy had

27:07

been working in a kiosk at the mall when

27:09

Reeves sidled up and started a conversation. Offered

27:11

to drive the guy home since he didn't have a car. And

27:14

on the drive, Reeves started up with a

27:16

witness called Guy Talk. Sex

27:18

talk. About women at first, but then

27:21

it took the same turn as the conversation

27:23

with Steven. Hey, wanna escort for me? You

27:25

can stay with me for free. Yada yada

27:27

yikes. Like, dude, I

27:29

just met you. What the fuck? Like, this

27:31

poor guy. All he wanted was a ride

27:33

home from like frickin' sunglass hut or whatever

27:35

and suddenly he finds himself in a scene

27:37

from an after school special about stranger danger.

27:39

Ugh. Now, this

27:43

guy actually did end up moving into Reeves'

27:45

house, just like Steven. I mean, rent free

27:47

is a tough deal to turn down and

27:49

I think Reeves actually held back on the

27:51

whole like, I want to have sex with

27:54

you myself thing until the guy had already

27:56

moved in. But this guy made

27:58

it clear he wasn't interested in escorting. or

28:00

being involved with Reeves in a sexual way and After

28:03

he realized that this guy wasn't gonna play

28:05

ball Reeves frickin started demanding rent because of

28:07

course he did ended up calling the cops

28:09

on the guy Another

28:12

young man testified that he showed up at

28:14

Reeves house to install a security system and

28:16

Reeves started him on all this escort Talk

28:18

while he was working Then

28:20

Reeves asked him how big his dick was and

28:22

if he'd ever gotten a blowjob from a guy

28:24

before and this is an exact

28:26

quote From the court papers on this case except I'm

28:29

taking out the witnesses name The

28:31

witness became uncomfortable and said he had to leave

28:34

Defendant that's Reeves shook his hand

28:36

gripped his wrist and began pulling him

28:38

into the house towards the bathroom Defendant

28:41

offered the witness money and said just close your eyes

28:43

and you won't know Just let me do what I

28:45

got to do and I'll give you some money for

28:47

it and you can go Yay

28:52

The witness pulled away and basically fled from

28:54

the house leaving all his equipment behind

28:57

That's how scared he was. He like left the wiring in

28:59

the paperwork and everything So

29:02

obviously this dude had

29:04

a history of being like the final

29:07

boss of sex pasts Yeah, and it

29:09

tended to revolve around young men half

29:11

his age in vulnerable financial or housing

29:13

situations He'd come to them

29:15

as the Pentecostal Bishop eager to help them get

29:17

back on their feet and then he'd spring the

29:20

trap Now I

29:23

doubt we have to say this but we're gonna say it anyway Reeves

29:26

being a predatory skis bag has nothing

29:28

to do with his sexual orientation. Okay,

29:30

of course God

29:33

knows we've seen more than our share of

29:36

heterosexual skis bags on our show So

29:38

just wanted to remind everybody of that

29:40

in case somebody got the

29:42

wrong idea. Okay Yeah, in fact most

29:44

of the skis bags we've seen on our show

29:46

open heterosexual Every now and

29:48

again. Yeah, you're gonna get yourself. Everybody can be

29:50

a skis bag Everybody regardless

29:53

of gender orientation can be

29:55

a fucking skis bag. All right, fortunately, yep And

29:59

It's important. Remember that Sexual abuse, sexual

30:01

coercion. All that stuff happens to men, to

30:03

not as women. It happens to people. Of

30:06

all genders and it's interesting,

30:08

it's even call it that

30:10

men don't tend. To grow up

30:12

hearing the same kinds of warnings? Women. Do

30:14

to be on high alert for the stuff

30:16

at all times like it's exhausting it all

30:18

the time. So young men. Can actually be

30:21

extra susceptible when it does happen for

30:23

like, it can take them a little

30:25

longer to recognize that they're in danger

30:27

or being groomed or whatever because it's

30:29

just not on their radar like it

30:32

is ours. for example, Nc, even conversation,

30:34

I know, Every woman listening heard

30:36

the word escort and said oh

30:38

no, leave then yeah, like. Men:

30:41

Don't necessarily have that same. Little

30:43

Gut Punch re route. So.

30:47

Other than his secret life, what evidence

30:49

to the prosecution. Half against bishop

30:51

Robert Reeves. A shit

30:53

done In fact. Obviously it raise the investigator

30:55

suspicions that the state trooper had seen the

30:57

his mini van parked behind litter. he says

31:00

car on the night of the murder right

31:02

around the time the crime happened. He tried

31:04

to explain that away saying whole steven been

31:06

driving my car lately but according to Velma

31:08

Newton and several of her friends, semen was

31:11

at her house most of that night. Not.

31:13

Only that. but when the Bishop came in

31:15

for his interview detectors noticed his hands and

31:18

arms were covered and scratches and cats and

31:20

yet some abrasions on. One leg, Steven

31:22

didn't have any injuries. Next.

31:25

The detectives busted the bishops alibi. He claimed

31:28

he was at church at the time of

31:30

the murder, but his own sister blue that

31:32

out of the water. And. Then

31:34

there was the Dna. Mixed.

31:36

With the traces own all over the steering wheel

31:38

of a car. Races.

31:40

Defense try to create some reasonable doubt on that,

31:42

saying it could have been transferred dna since the

31:45

trees had just been. It resists house with Stevens,

31:47

but there was far too much Dna for that

31:49

to be the case. And

31:52

then there was the fun. Phone.

31:55

that's what the investigators called bishop rees extra

31:57

cell phone the one he used for plan

32:00

The number on the phone

32:02

matched the one that had made all those threatening phone

32:04

calls to Stephen and Velma in the weeks leading up

32:06

to the murder, and they were able to ping

32:08

the phone to the locations where their tires were

32:11

slashed too. Wow.

32:14

The prosecution theory was this. Latrice

32:16

left the house on that night of

32:18

January 29th at around 10pm, and

32:21

for whatever reason, the bishop followed her. It's

32:23

possible he'd been stalking her for a while already,

32:25

the way he'd done with Stephen and his

32:27

other girlfriend, Velma Newton. The

32:29

prosecutor thinks that Latrice, still worried about the condom stuck

32:32

inside her, must have pulled over on the side of

32:34

the highway to try and get it out. It

32:37

was late at night, probably not many people out on

32:39

the road, and she may have worried that if she

32:41

tried getting the condom out at home, Darren would figure

32:43

out something was wrong and question her, or find the

32:45

condom in the garbage or something. So

32:49

she pulled over, and at some point, the bishop

32:51

pulled up behind her in his minivan, put

32:53

his hazard lights on, approached the car. We

32:56

don't know exactly what happened at this point, whether he knocked

32:58

on her window and offered to help or what. Right,

33:02

but what we do know is that at some point

33:04

he pulled out a knife and stabbed this poor girl

33:06

to death in the front seat of her car. And

33:09

then he transported her body about a half mile down

33:11

the road and dumped her, like you would a

33:13

bag of trash. All

33:15

we assume out of burning hot jealousy

33:18

over Stephen Randolph. Did

33:20

he plan the murder before that night, or was

33:22

it a crime of opportunity? We

33:24

can't be sure. If Velma had

33:26

been the one to leave the house that night instead

33:28

of Latrice, would he have followed her instead? Would

33:31

she have been the one on the side of the road? We

33:34

don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised. This

33:36

man clearly had an obsession with his

33:38

tenant, Stephen Randolph, and both of these

33:41

women, Latrice and Velma, were in his

33:43

way. The crazy

33:45

part is, he was never going to have

33:47

a romantic or sexual relationship with Stephen. Stephen

33:49

told him that, but apparently the bishop could

33:51

not wrap his head around that. In

33:54

his mind, these women were the roadblock, not the

33:56

fact that Stephen was straight and half his age

33:58

and not remotely interested in him. Oh

34:00

no, Le Treat was the problem. So.

34:03

He standard as. Just. Like Jesus

34:05

would do. I guess right? Bishop Reeves way

34:07

to follow your calling man. I

34:10

think it's safe to say that Reeves is one

34:12

of those clergymen who picks a job because it's

34:14

a target rich environment, not because they truly want

34:16

to do good. But. It just goes

34:18

to show you how compartmentalize this man's

34:21

life was. He had his public life

34:23

as a man of god and motivational

34:25

speaker and a community leaders. And then

34:27

he had his secret life. Trying to

34:29

get young men into bed. The

34:32

prosecutors had a mountain of evidence on this guy

34:34

and it didn't take the jury long to convict

34:36

him. On. October ninth, two thousand

34:39

and nine. He was found guilty of first

34:41

degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.

34:44

I'm sure it left a smoking crater in

34:46

his church community and it most definitely left

34:48

one in the lives of the people who

34:50

love the trees. One of the trees. his

34:52

brothers told the so Fatal Attraction that Deron

34:54

was a changed person after he lost his

34:57

wife. Just. Less trusting,

34:59

less open. Murder.

35:01

Tends to do this and poisons

35:03

everything it touches. And.

35:05

The trees his family and friends have been

35:07

without are now for almost sixteen. Years. Her

35:10

friend Kimberly said she thinks sometimes about what was

35:12

Reese would have been like. As a mom and

35:14

in her chosen for rear she could have had

35:16

a teenage kid by now. She. Probably

35:18

be a successful accountant. And

35:21

Kimberly says what really makes are furious

35:23

years later is how the three sit

35:25

have never been involved in this situation.

35:27

In the first place. As far as

35:29

we know, she'd never spoken a word to

35:31

robberies. He wasn't even on her radar. She

35:34

wasn't a threat to him in any way. That.

35:36

Was all just a fiction cooked up in the

35:38

mind of a man who, like almost everybody else

35:40

in this case, was living a double life. So.

35:43

Many secrets he probably had trouble keep animals

35:45

straight. and the really sad part

35:48

is he must not have even been that insists

35:50

even randolph because at the end of the day

35:52

when the spotlight started to turn towards him he

35:54

took the first chance he could to try and

35:56

pin the murder on stevens oh he has a

35:58

gun he collects nice and swords didn't want to be

36:00

tied down. Like so many of the other

36:02

cases we've covered, this one just

36:04

feels so senseless. But

36:07

there is one small small grace

36:09

in this story. I think

36:11

there's a pretty good chance that if he hadn't

36:13

been caught for this murder, Robert Reeves would have

36:15

escalated. I think we'd have seen worse

36:18

and worse from him and his position in the

36:20

church as a trusted authority could have made it

36:22

a lot easier for him to get there. At

36:25

least now we've got him where he can't hurt anybody

36:27

ever again. So

36:30

that was a wild one, right campers? You

36:32

know we'll have another one for you next week.

36:34

But for now, lock your doors, light your lights,

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and stay safe until we get together again around

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