>> He would have one of them uh clean the toilet if he thought the cleaning person hadn’t done a good enough job.

>> A woman in the office.

>> Yes.

He more than once commented on women’s bodies if someone perhaps had gained some weight, you know, that kind of that kind of thing.

John Pereizy grew up with Herman.

He says Herman was bullied as a child.

>> I remember meeting Rex when I was in first or second grade.

He was a loner, not many friends.

The children were super mean to him, made fun of him and teased him.

>> But John says he never saw Humen fight back.

He was big enough that if he got upset and started swinging, he would hurt somebody.

But he never did.

>> As Humeman got older, John points out things didn’t get much better.

>> He was rejected by many girls.

We all go through that awkward stage growing up, and it seemed like that awkward stage stayed with him longer than usual.

Still, he says many in the community find it hard to believe that Huerman is the notorious serial killer, living a double life for more than a decade.

>> People were saying, “Oh my god, I can’t believe we have a serial killer in our town and we grew up with and we walked amongst the killer.

” Another classmate of Humorman’s, actor Billy Baldwin, took to social media when the news broke, tweeting, “It was mindboggling.

” >> Rex, >> hello.

How you doing? >> The awkward Long Island teenager grew up to be a confident and seemingly successful architect.

Antoine Amira met and interviewed him in 2022.

>> Born and raised on Long Island.

>> Okay.

been working in Manhattan since 1987.

>> There’s nothing in my interview that made me think that this person in front of me uh is a dangerous person.

>> Antoine is a hotel food and beverage manager in New York who loves real estate.

He has a YouTube interview show where he handpicks guests whom he thinks are interesting and accomplished.

>> I’m an architect.

I’m an architectural consultant.

I’m a troubleshooter.

>> Antoine says Huerman was well known for his skill at helping companies and individuals get building permits.

>> When a job that should have been routine suddenly becomes not routine, >> Yeah.

>> I get the phone call.

>> Gotcha.

>> Correct.

>> What really stood out for me was he was very, very, very smart >> and known, says Antoine, for his ability to find loopholes in the rules.

He was pleased when he was doing it >> that he could >> that he that he could out outwit the the system.

>> That’s it, folks.

That was Rex.

>> But Antoine says he remembers it was hard to get Huerman to crack a smile.

>> It’s selfie time.

>> Selfie time.

>> Not even during the signature sunglasses selfies he takes with every guest.

>> Two.

Three.

>> Can you smile? That is >> if police are right, Rex Hume was able to hide a life as a serial killer.

And if he did, his habit of eating pizza on the go would turn out to be his undoing.

For more than a decade after the discovery of the Gilgo 4, Rex Herman’s name never appeared on a suspect list until a new task force was formed with Suffach County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison and Suffach County DA a raid tyranny.

>> In February of 2022, we formed the task force and then a mere 6 weeks later, Rex Herman was identified for the first time.

>> A suspect in six weeks.

So, how did they do it? It turns out that buried in the original case files were a number of critical clues that the new task force was finally able to connect.

Remember Amber’s roommate Dave Shaller? >> She’s like, “I love you.

” You know, she gave me a hug and she left.

>> He had told police about one of Amber’s clients and his vehicle.

just a large built man and that he was driving this this first generation Chevy Avalanche.

>> A first generation Chevy Avalanche with a description of an ogrel-like man and the make and model of his truck.

Police took a closer look at Amber’s phone records from 2010.

Shaller had told them that before Amber disappeared, there was one particular client calling incessantly.

He called several times.

He was on the phone with her for quite a while each time.

>> Police back then knew the client was using a burner phone.

That’s a prepaid phone that anyone can buy and use anonymously.

And they knew that Moren, Melissa, and Megan had all been in contact with burner numbers right before they disappeared.

In 2012, with the help of the FBI, they determined that most of those calls connected to cell towers inside a small area of Masipiqua Park.

They called it the box.

So, how large an area is that box? >> It’s, you know, a couple of blocks within within Masipa Park.

The new task force began the search for a large built man who also lived in that small area and owned a Chevy Avalanche at the time of the disappearances.

Was there a aha moment when all of a sudden his name came up? >> Once we were able to attach the avalanche inside of that massipa box which then attached to Rex Hume, that was a moment where we said, “Okay, there’s something here.

” The task force now had a prime suspect.

And when they looked at Humeman’s personal cell phone records, they found that his phone was in the same area as those burner phones when they were used to contact a victim in Masipiqua Park or in Midtown Manhattan.

>> It was always consistent.

Tyranny says this was also true for those awful calls Melissa’s family got from that man using her phone back in 2009.

>> He said, “Do you know what I did to your sister?” And he said, “Well, I killed Melissa.

” >> The task force says that it confirmed that Huerman does in fact use burner phones.

Investigators say he had two different burner numbers in 2022.

and they say they watched and put money on one of those accounts here.

And according to court papers, the team also documented three email accounts using fake names, including John Springfield, Thomas Hawk, and Hunter 1903.

And all linked to those burner numbers.

And prosecutors say that Humeman was using a burner phone to send these selfies to solicit and arrange for sexual activity.

One of those accounts linked to Huerman, prosecutors wrote, was used to conduct quote thousands of searches related to sex workers, sadistic torture related pornography, and child pornography.

There was a lot of uh torture, uh porn, and depictions of women uh being abused, uh being raped, and being killed.

>> Investigators also say that while they were busy watching Humen, Huerman was trying to watch them, conducting searches on the task force and the Gilgo victims.

not only pictures of the victims, pictures of their relatives, their their their sisters, their children.

Uh and he was trying to locate those individuals.

>> The circumstantial evidence was building, but investigators also had physical evidence from the Gilgo 4, including one male hair that was found in the burlap used to quote restrain and transport Megan Waterman’s body.

and they wanted to see if they could link it to Huerman.

Police tailed Huerman and when he threw out this pizza box in this trash can here in Midtown Manhattan, they pounced.

>> The pizza, which was, you know, obviously very significant.

>> Tierney says that Huerman’s DNA that was found on that pizza crust was consistent with a DNA profile from the hair found with Megan Waterman’s body.

And that DNA profile is only found in 0.

04% of the population.

>> That was a remarkable day.

It was, you know, the weekend and, you know, you read, you get the report and you read it and then you read it again and then you read it a third time and then you read it a fourth time.

Uh, and then you start making calls.

>> With the DNA, the search histories, and the burner phone evidence, the team felt it was time.

When we decided to take down the case, we, you know, it was a sudden decision.

We did see him contacting a number of sex workers using a burner phone, which obviously is concerning.

>> Playing clothes, officers arrested him around the corner from his office.

>> I don’t think he had any clue.

I don’t think he had any clue that we were on to him.

Police spent 12 days looking through Herman’s home, pulling those guns out of the basement and digging in the backyard.

They say it will take some time to comb through what they have now.

And they were tight lipped about what they found.

>> Has the search been fruitful? >> Great question.

And answer is yes.

>> Can you elaborate on fruitful? You said yes, it’s fruitful.

There have been items that we have taken into our possession.

That makes it fruitful.

>> And one more big piece of evidence taken into possession.

A first generation Chevy Avalanche Herman once used and it was sitting on property he owns in South Carolina when they recovered it.

>> We were able to seize that Chevy Avalanche pursuant to a search warrant and we’re certainly going to analyze that.

But there were female hairs found on some of the victim’s bodies that don’t belong to the victims.

So who do they belong to? What do you make of the evidence against Rex Herman? Join the conversation now on social media.

After Rex Herman’s arrest, his quiet neighborhood in Masipeka Park was overrun by investigators and media, focusing intense scrutiny on the ramshackle home and its remaining residents.

his stepson Christopher Sheridan, daughter Victoria Herman, and his wife of more than 25 years, Assaerup.

>> Their life going forward is always going to be the wife or the children of suspected serial killer.

That’s what it’s going to be from now on.

>> Attorney Bob Macedonio represents Assa Erup, who has since filed for divorce from Hurman.

He says she was as stunned as anyone by the accusations.

>> She had no idea this was going on.

The allegations are shocking.

Nobody wants to think that they’ve been living with sleeping next to a serial killer for the past 25 years.

>> As it turns out, Assa may have inadvertently helped focus the investigation on her husband.

Investigators say they’ve identified strands of female hair that were found on two of the victims.

One hair on Waterman comes back to his wife or the DNA profiles are consistent and then the DNA profile from Costello is consistent with the wife.

>> Although prosecutors have evidence that Osa was out of town when those murders occurred.

They will have to explain how those hairs got on the victims.

Suffach County DA Ray Tierney says it could be as simple as transfer.

>> You live at home with a spouse.

A little bit of your hair falls on your shoulder as well as as your spouses.

Then you go out and you interact with a third party and that hair gets on them.

>> Assa Ellerup has not been charged or named a suspect in any of the murders.

You don’t believe that Rex Humeman’s wife was involved in this in any way? >> There’s no evidence to indicate that? No.

Along with the public scrutiny of Assa, there’s also been support from people that perhaps know all too well what she’s going through.

Carrie Rosson, the daughter of serial killer Dennis Raider, who named himself BTK, tweeted, “Asa and her kids are also victims.

>> I can tell that they are going through hell.

” And from Melissa Moore, the daughter of Keith Jesperson, a serial killer known as the Happyface Killer, for taunting authorities with letters signed with a happy face.

>> She reached out immediately to myself and we put her in contact with Assa.

>> At a press conference, Macedonia announced Moore set up a GoFundMe page for Assa, which raised over $50,000.

Money he says will largely go to medical bills.

Assa is battling breast and skin cancer and because Rex Herman was a sole provider for the family, Macedonia says she will soon lose her health insurance.

>> Assa would like me to express her thanks for the support she’s received.

Um she’s going through a very difficult time.

>> Assa’s children have also paid a heavy price.

Her daughter Victoria, who worked for her father at the architectural consulting firm, and her son Christopher are both now unemployed.

Assa struggles to support them, says Macedonio, while she’s also trying to figure out how to start over.

>> How is she getting through every day, >> honestly? >> Yeah.

>> Minute by minute.

She has no one else to turn to at this time.

Family and friends have been hesitant to have her come over because they don’t want the media attention.

She gets followed wherever she goes.

>> For the moment, she and her children continue to live in the house in Masipiqua Park, which the family says was excessively damaged during the police search, seen in these photos provided by Osa’s attorney.

It’s a daily reminder of the unimaginable crimes her estranged husband is charged with and the investigation that continues into what else he may have done.

Rex Huerman, awaiting trial, is locked inside a Suffach County jail in a 60s square foot cell.

He denies killing Melissa Bartholomew, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.

Their voices now silent as the sand where they have been ruthlessly discarded.

>> How sure are you, as you’re sitting here now, that Rex Cerman is the Long Island serial killer? So, we’re just at the beginning stages of this case, but we would not have brought this indictment if we weren’t confident in our case.

>> He took away somebody’s mother, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister, and not just one person, multiple individuals.

>> Huerman is currently the prime suspect for the murder of Moren Brainer Barnes.

And for investigators, an obvious question still hangs heavy.

If Huerman is a killer, are there other victims? >> I mean, isn’t there a real concern that there may be other victims out there? >> Always.

Who’s to say that there’s not more bodies out there that we need to investigate? >> In 2011, police did find other bodies along Ocean Parkway.

After finding the Gilgo 4, there is victim number five, Jessica Taylor.

an escort who went missing in 2003.

Another set of remains police called Jane Doe number six is now identified as Valerie Mack also working as an escort.

Number seven, to investigators surprise, they found a toddler girl.

Number eight, an Asian male dressed in women’s clothing.

Number nine, a female skull belonging to Karen Vada, an escort who disappeared in 1996.

Number 10, female remains from a victim cops nicknamed Peaches because of a tattoo on her torso.

Although her remains were found six miles away, police say DNA confirms Peaches is the mother of that toddler.

None of those victims has been linked to Huerman.

Is it that you can’t connect him yet or you believe he probably isn’t the person who killed these other other individuals? >> I don’t know.

>> Investigations also spread to Las Vegas in South Carolina where Huerman owns property with detectives there taking a fresh look at cases of missing women.

And then there’s Nikki Brass.

>> I remembered him because one, he’s massive and how many massive like 6’5 architects work in Manhattan, live in Masipeka.

>> You’re going from brown and blonde >> now a hairdresser.

Nikki claims she may be one that got away.

She told us she used to work as an escort.

And while we cannot substantiate her story, Nikki claims she can’t shake her memory of the night she says she was solicited for sex by Rex Yur and says she fled the restaurant where they met.

>> I had never gone anywhere and like felt fear.

My gut was telling me I needed to get away and I’ve never had that before.

Nikki says what she found most disturbing is that Huerman himself brought up those bodies bound in burlap by Gilgo Beach.

>> He wanted to like really get into it.

Like he asked me how I thought they could get rid of the bodies without being caught in that area.

And I said, “I’ve never been over there.

I’ve never even seen Gilgo Beach.

” and his response was, “Well, it’s really dark and desolate.

>> I’m John Ray and I’m the lawyer.

” >> Nikki is now represented by John Ray, an attorney who is also representing Shannon Gilbert’s family.

In December of 2011, investigators finally found Shannon here in the marsh, not far from Gilgo Beach, but they don’t believe she was murdered.

>> It’s an unfortunate incident, but right now we believe that she just ran into the marsh and unfortunately drowned.

>> A former investigator told us that he believes Shannon was high on drugs that night and says her death was an accident, something John Ray just can’t believe.

While he doesn’t think Shannon was a victim of Huerman, he does believe she was murdered and points to that 911 call.

>> It absolutely makes no sense that she’s found where she is except that someone else put her there or killed her there.

While questions remain about Shannon’s last hours, there’s no question she’s the reason so many families may finally be getting answers they have long waited for.

We spoke to her sister Sheree in 2011.

>> My sister, you know, didn’t make that 911 call.

I don’t think that these other women would have been recovered either.

Now, investigators hope that with an arrest, they can give the victim’s families who stood with them a sense of justice and of peace.

>> I’ve gotten to know the families and I’m inspired by them and I’m impressed by their patience.

A local legend has it that this place, Gilgo Beach, was named for a skilled fisherman called Gil.

These silver gray waters, once his secret hunting ground.

Today, this beach area is better known for a relentless hunter of human prey, a serial killer whose chilling presence can still be felt in the ocean air.

CBS next Saturday.

48 Hours brings you backtoback episodes all summer long.

Next week, secrets and lies.

>> He said, “If anybody talks to anybody about this, I’ll kill him.

” >> Did you want your stepfather dead? >> No.

The >> plan was murder.

>> 48 hours crime time double feature next Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.

On Sunday, August 22nd, 2004, 2 days after my wife Susan Sutton’s birthday, we were having a family get together.

our son Christopher and his girlfriend Juliet, my law partner Teddy Monto.

We had a birthday cake.

John and Susan lived in a very fancy neighborhood, Carl Gables.

John was a local attorney.

The firm had had a very successful week.

The firm got a settlement over a million dollars.

After dinner was over, we were watching the Olympics in swimming and diving.

Everything was fine that evening.

Everybody was relaxed.

>> John and Susan’s son Christopher and his girlfriend Julia Driscoll had plans to go to the movies.

So, they left.

>> Shortly thereafter, my law partner Teddy Monto left.

Approximately 10:00.

I decided to go in to bed.

Susan retired to one bedroom, John to the other.

Susan often times slept in the second room because her husband John snorred.

Settling into the evening, unaware that at that time about four blocks away, there was a man who had driven up Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol in his waistband with one intention.

He was there on a mission.

A mission to murder John and Susan.

>> Next thing you know, I saw someone come in.

>> He took out his Glock.

>> I heard a bang.

A big bang.

I was being shot >> and the bullets even broke the headboard, shattered the glass, the mirror.

John Sutton flipped out of the bed, landed on the floor, and then the gunman turned towards Susan, and shot her six times.

Gunman then turned back to the master bedroom, fired more times at John, emptying the gun.

>> I knew that I had been shot in the head.

I needed assistance, and I went for a telephone.

>> Call was 911.

>> Somebody came in and shot me.

I need police and I need an ambulance.

>> 2240 6186.

>> Susan Sutton was assassinated in her bed.

Didn’t have a chance.

And John Sutton should have died for all intents and purposes, but did not.

My name is Karen Kagan.

I was the prosecutor on homicide duty and I went into that house.

I was able to see the bullet holes and the blood on the floor and the blood in the bathroom.

Most remarkably, nothing else in that house was disturbed.

There was beautiful jewelry on the vanity.

Undisturbed.

It was clear this was no burglary.

It was a premeditated effort to make sure that they were dead.

>> I could not imagine that anyone would want to kill us.

>> The question was, who done it? Everybody says it was somewhat of a miracle that I survived.

I lost a tremendous amount of blood.

>> Just hours after someone broke into John Sutton’s home, murdered his wife, and tried to kill him, doctors weren’t sure he would live.

>> They apparently gave me last rights.

They thought that I was gone.

>> When you got to the hospital to see your father, tell me what you saw.

>> Almost unrecognizable person.

Melissa Sutton was 18, a freshman in college.

Her mother was dead.

Her father had been shot multiple times, twice in the head.

>> The fact that I knew his hands and I knew his ears and his skin tone, I could tell that this kind of disfigured person was my dad.

>> She knew him, but he had a harder time recognizing her.

>> You cannot see me now.

You don’t even see a shadow.

No.

>> John Sutton woke up in intensive care blind.

>> The magnitude of my injury, the facial pain and the loss of the eyesight was just so huge.

>> You must have been racking your brain thinking, who could have possibly have done this? >> I certainly was.

And I thought people were trying to kill me when I was in the hospital.

I felt that I wasn’t safe.

I wanted to get out of there.

It was just one big mess.

>> And John still hadn’t heard what happened to his wife.

>> I remember asking Melissa, “How’s mom doing?” She had been told by the police not to tell me about Susan.

Later on, I was told that she passed away.

Alissa, >> what kind of woman want your mom? >> Intelligent, confident.

Oh, you got mommy.

>> The kind of person who’s in their 40s but wants to take violin classes and calculus classes because she just wants to be better.

>> And more than anything, she wanted to be a great mother.

Once the head nurse of a surgical intensive care unit, she gave her career up in the late 70s when she and John adopted their first child, Christopher.

>> That was the happiest day of her life.

It was absolutely the happiest day of her life.

>> Susan’s sister, Mary Marier.

>> I heard her on the telephone.

I could hear her screaming from Florida, you know, how happy she was and how thrilled she was.

>> Almost 7 years later, they adopted Melissa.

>> She loved those children.

>> Hi, Christopher.

and she loved them unconditionally.

>> Now, those children were planning their mother’s funeral while police scoured the crime scene, seeing Susan Sutton’s jewelry and John Sutton’s wallet untouched on a dresser.

>> Take the wallet.

Easy cash at least.

But nothing was taken.

This person had a mission.

>> Miami date detective Rosanna Cordderero hoped John, even with a serious head injury, could help her.

>> He remembered bits and pieces.

He thought he remembered a figure at the door.

He might be a black man or wearing all black clothing.

He was not sure.

>> So with that kind of spotty memory, the information he provided wasn’t very helpful.

>> No, it wasn’t.

>> She thought she’d have more luck with Teddy Monto, John’s law partner.

Teddy told her he was on the phone with John’s wife, Susan, and heard gunfire.

So he raced to the scene, arriving just after police.

I was the one who told him that Susan had died and he was very emotional about it.

>> And then Teddy said something surprising.

>> He was a marksman.

>> And he’d been shooting a gun earlier that day.

>> He’s a competitive shooter.

That’s something that he did as a hobby.

That raised our eyebrows.

>> Detective Cordderero immediately sent Teddy’s gun in for testing and she pushed him for more information about his late night phone call with Susan.

He was not forthcoming with me.

>> She suspected Teddy was hiding something.

>> He’s asked to submit to a polygraph, which he does, and he fails.

Especially in regards to his relationship with Susan.

>> The interrogation continued until Teddy finally revealed his secret.

>> He did in fact confess to having a sexual relationship with Susan.

>> Did that make him a suspect in your mind? >> It did.

Obviously, he has a motive.

A motive at least to kill John.

Maybe not necessarily Susan, but love triangles can drive people to do very extreme behavior.

>> But Teddy’s gun didn’t match the murder weapon, and police were able to confirm he wasn’t in the Sutton home during the shooting.

As for the polygraph, police say he failed because he was covering up the affair, hoping to keep it from John.

>> That was a pretty big surprise.

How did you deal with that betrayal? >> I wasn’t very happy with it.

Very, very upset.

>> Up until that point, John and Teddy had a strong working relationship, and their law firm had just gotten one of their biggest settlements ever, more than a million dollars.

>> They had been very successful in their civil litigation, and along the way had made some enemies.

In fact, John had had death threats against him.

Police investigated every one of them, but they all had alibis.

>> It was that point that I started interviewing some of John’s closest friends.

>> Lead detective Larry Bellow says there was one name that kept coming up >> and they said, “You need to look at Christopher Sutton.

” I said, “Christopher Sutton, the son?” Absolutely.

>> Belleu thought it odd that fingers were being pointed at John and Susan’s son, Christopher, then 25 years old.

For months since the shooting, Christopher had been right by his father’s side.

And when John finally left the hospital, he moved in with his son.

But police were hearing alarming stories about Christopher.

>> That he would like to have his parents dead.

>> He actually choked his mother one time, saying that he could kill her.

>> The son who once seemed so devoted was now their prime suspect.

>> I didn’t do it.

I never had anything to do with it.

the Polynesian islands of Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean, nearly 7,000 m from the Miami home where Susan and John Sutton were viciously attacked.

What happened here more than 15 years ago, police say, may hold the clue to solving the case.

>> We learned that Christopher Sutton had been sent away to a uh a behavioral school by his parents.

>> When he was just 16, John and Susan sent their son here.

Christopher, they say, have been getting into lots of trouble.

We were told that there was oppositional defiant disorder or conduct defiant disorder, those sort of things.

>> He was in and out of more than half a dozen schools.

>> I was routinely driving him to school, dropping him off at the front door, and he was routinely going out the back door and doing other things.

>> Skipping school, though, was the least of their problems.

Susan’s sister, Mary.

He and some other kids broke into a teacher’s house and trashed the inside of the house and spray painted the inside of the house.

>> He was arrested.

>> We were sued.

>> $50,000 in damage.

>> Perhaps more.

>> Were you an out of control teenager? >> Out of control? I mean, like I definitely wanted to do my own thing.

I was definitely into body piercings and tattoos, you know, things my parents absolutely hated.

I really wasn’t doing anything that was horribly wrong.

But Mary says if Christopher didn’t get his way, he could get extremely angry.

>> Christopher had a rifle.

It was not loaded.

He pointed it at Susan and Melissa and he told him that it was loaded and he was going to shoot them.

>> You threatened your mother at gunpoint.

You threatened to kill her.

>> No.

>> No.

>> No.

>> His parents to me always seemed a little bit harsh on him.

Christopher’s friend Eric Pulk says the Sutton tended to overreact >> and it was rough on him >> perhaps.

But when Christopher was 16, things really escalated.

>> Susan called me and said, “We’ve got a problem.

” >> In Christopher’s room, Susan found a note.

>> It was a plan to kill his parents for the inheritance.

>> I saw it.

I read it.

It was there.

How did he react when this happened? >> It wasn’t his fault.

He was just kidding.

He wasn’t serious.

>> But the Sutton were.

They were frightened and they wanted Christopher out of the house.

>> You got a restraining order against your 16-year-old son.

>> Correct.

>> He was a valued member of our household.

>> Eric invited Christopher to live with his family.

The judge agreed.

He went to school when he was supposed to go to school and he didn’t cause any problems living with us.

>> And then 3 weeks later, >> it was a Friday night, I believe.

>> Two men came to get him.

>> They were trying to wrestle him across my lawn.

>> Christopher was shipped off to Somala, a place called Paradise Cove.

But this was no vacation.

It was a hardcore behavior modification program for troubled boys.

Randy Rogers parents sent him here when he was 17.

>> If you didn’t follow every rule, he says punishments were severe.

>> You would go to like the box for a day.

>> The box? >> Yeah, like the isolation box.

>> In 1998, 48 hours investigating a story of abuse here filmed the isolation box.

But Randy says even worse things went on at Paradise Cove in the early days of the program when Christopher first got there.

>> They would tie them with with duct tape.

They took them to some compound that was in the mountains, left them hog tied there.

>> A year into Paradise Cove, Christopher sent a video message home to his parents.

>> I apologize.

I wouldn’t tell you.

I don’t feel like you guys love me.

I feel that like I’m just I’ve just been I’ve been stuck here just to get me out of your hair.

You guys still dislike me for some reason.

Cuz even though my wishes are to be here, I don’t care.

They don’t come true.

>> John, Susan, and Melissa traveled to Samoa to see for themselves what it was like.

>> Was he happy to see you? >> Absolutely.

Christopher said he tried telling them about abuse.

>> Did I believe it? No.

>> You didn’t believe it? >> I didn’t believe it.

Can’t imagine that that’s what was happening.

>> Christopher was hoping to leave Paradise Cove forever on his 18th birthday, but his father got a court order to keep him there for another year.

>> He was, shall we say, fighting the program.

When you met Christopher, >> Randy says he could only imagine how angry that would have made Christopher.

>> When you learned about the shooting at the Sutton home, what were you thinking? >> I was thinking that Chris might have been behind it.

>> You can understand how he may have wanted to exact revenge >> against his parents for his time at Paradise Cove.

>> Uhhuh.

>> To the point of murder.

In 2000, Paradise Cove with a dwindling enrollment and accusations of abuse shut down.

But whatever happened to Christopher there was a long time ago.

Christopher was now 25.

And as far as John was concerned, a loving son who after the shooting wanted to take care of him.

>> I said, “Don’t live with Christopher.

I think Christopher had something to do with this.

” He was very angry with me about that.

>> I didn’t suspect him.

And of course, I wouldn’t have wanted it to be Christopher.

I mean, that’s the worst thing.

>> But Mary is sure Christopher was behind the shooting of his father and the murder of his mother.

>> Christopher isn’t like you and me.

Christopher is not like other people.

There’s something missing.

The night before the funeral is when I was convinced that Christopher had had something to do with it.

>> She says Christopher talked about what happened.

He sat there and he said, “Oh, Susan was shot more than one time.

” He was describing how the person came in to the house and went down the hallway.

>> So, Christopher was familiar with details about this shooting that had not yet been released.

>> Yes.

The blood drained from my body.

I looked at Christopher and I thought, “You killed her.

You did it.

” But Christopher was nowhere near his parents’ house when they were attacked.

He and his girlfriend were at the movies seen here on the theat’s security cameras.

If Christopher didn’t shoot his parents, who did I cried.

I couldn’t believe it.

You know, I was in shock.

It doesn’t even seem real that it could have even happened.

>> Christopher Sutton says he was horrified when he found out about his mother and father.

>> He started balling his eyes out.

He seemed like he was devastated.

>> Christopher’s then fiance, Julia Driscoll, says she was reeling herself.

>> I was in shock at that point.

Your entire world just blew up.

>> Juliet met Christopher when she was just 17.

He was 19 and just back from Samoa.

The Sutton, she says, treated her like a daughter.

>> Susan kind of taught me about like makeup and clothes and all that sort of stuff.

You know, John was always just like really supportive of me.

>> John even gave Juliet a job in his law office.

And for the most part, John and Susan financially supported her and Christopher.

>> They only wanted what was best for us.

Who could have done this? Was it random? Wasn’t it random? >> Who did you think had done it? >> I had no idea.

>> I said, “Christopher, can I speak to you for a moment?” I He said, “Absolutely.

” >> Detective Rosanna Cordderero met Christopher at the crime scene shortly after he’d been told about the shooting.

I remember he had a couple of tears come down his face.

>> But before she could even offer condolences, he said something to her that just didn’t seem right.

>> He said to me, “We had dinner here at the house, but we left around 9:00 and we went to the movies.

Do you want my ticket stubs?” >> So, he was offering you an alibi? >> Yes.

That’s really weird.

It’s unusual.

>> You offered up an alibi before she even asked for one.

>> Absolutely.

>> Why? Because of Teddy’s interrogation, >> Teddy Monto, the man who was secretly having an affair with Susan, had already told Christopher about his police interrogation.

Christopher says he assumed he was next.

So, he told Cordderero where he was during the shooting.

>> And I recovered the surveillance tape of Christopher walking out of the movie theater.

>> Here he is with Juliet leaving the theater a little before midnight, but something caught Cordderero’s eye.

The first thing he does as he’s walking out, he’s not even out of the theater, is he gets on his cell phone.

>> Lee Detective Larry Bellow ordered Christopher’s phone records.

We saw a particular number that came up several times, >> 331 times to be exact.

In the weeks leading up to and right after the murder, >> we identified that number as belonging to a individual by the name of Garrett Cop.

A man named Garrick Cop had been arrested less than 24 hours after the shooting for assaulting someone with a gun in another part of Miami.

He was now out on bail.

Detective Belleu immediately called the arresting officer.

>> Now, please tell me you still have that gun.

>> He did, >> and it turned out to be a match.

>> It was the same gun used in the Sutton shooting.

21-year-old Garrett Cop was brought in for questioning.

>> I had to get something out of him.

Denial, denial, denial.

>> It was a tense interrogation.

>> He continued to deny, deny.

>> After six hours of questioning, >> he finally broke.

>> Garrett Cobb confessed.

>> What was the plan? >> Go in this room.

>> He said, “Look, you’re going to have to protect me.

I did it, but I did it because Christopher threatened to kill me and my son.

” >> Who did he want you to shoot? Garrett told police the plan to kill the Sutton was all Christopher’s idea.

>> Who got you the gun to use? Chris, >> he actually drew a sketch as to how he got in the house.

>> Spine glass door on the back patio.

>> Was that door unlocked when you got there? >> Yep.

>> Did Chris tell you he left it unlocked? >> Yep.

>> Garrett went straight to the bedrooms where he said Christopher told him he’d find the Sutton.

>> Shot John Sutton.

shot Susan Sutton.

>> Do you recall how many times you shot her? >> No, sir.

>> Garrett says Susan was under the covers when he fired.

>> There was actually bullet holes through the comforter.

So, what he told me matched.

I knew he had had done this.

>> Garrett Cobb was arrested.

>> I did not have enough for a warrant for Christopher.

>> Police needed more than Garrett’s word that Christopher put him up to it.

The next person I knew that probably had direct knowledge of all this was his fianceé.

>> Juliet Driscoll was brought in for questioning.

>> I knew nothing.

I knew absolutely nothing.

>> She denied knowledge of anything.

>> The fact that people could even think that I would know something like that.

>> And she continued to deny for hours, >> 13 hours.

None of which was taped by police.

>> Like that I would let something like that happen to John and Susan.

She says police yelled and threatened her with arrest.

>> No, she was never under arrest.

I I never threatened her with that.

>> But Juliet says she felt pressured and told them what she did know.

That Christopher had a deep seat of resentment towards his parents for sending him to Samoa.

>> He believed that he was entitled to have whatever he wanted.

If he wanted this car, he should be able to have this car.

If he wanted the condo, he should be able to have the condo because I deserve this.

They sent me to Samoa.

They deserve to pay for what they did.

>> And for the most part, the Sutton did pay.

>> They paid rent.

They paid car payments.

They paid bills.

They took us on vacations.

>> But he wanted more.

>> But he wanted more.

He said he could find somebody to kill his parents.

>> That he could find a hitman to take out his parents >> and it would be easy.

I listened to it for six years.

He said it for years and years and years.

>> Did he talk to you about what your lives would be like after his parents were gone when he would inherit the estate? >> Mhm.

>> What did he say? >> Things would be good cuz we wouldn’t have to worry about money.

>> Juliet says she never told anyone because she didn’t believe Christopher was serious.

>> It was like the boy who cried wolf.

You know, you hear something so many times and you just you you don’t think about it.

>> And then shortly before the murder, >> there was a fight.

>> Over what? >> It was over a bill not being paid.

>> Susan Sutton refused to pay Christopher’s car insurance bill.

>> The only times he would really like get like really angry would be when they wouldn’t give him what he wanted.

>> Juliet told police Christopher was furious.

He knew his father had just received a million dollar plus legal settlement.

>> And with that information, I had enough at that point to get a warrant for Christopher Sutton.

>> But Christopher was nowhere to be found.

>> I got a call from one of the detectives.

>> I’d like to come by and talk to you.

>> She said, “Don’t let anybody in the house.

>> Don’t answer the door till I get there.

>> Don’t pick up the phone.

” >> He must have been like, “What the heck? >> I’m coming over to see you.

Stay where you are.

” Did I think Christopher would come back to try to finish it off? Yeah.

Detective Cordderero was dreading what she was about to do.

Tell John Sutton his son was behind the shooting.

I know I told him that what I’m about to say is going to be hard for you to accept, but trust me, every road leads back to Christopher.

>> I was just at that point so shell shocked.

>> For almost 2 weeks, Christopher was on the run before police found him.

>> Cops arrested 25-year-old Christopher Sutton.

>> John Sutton didn’t want to believe it, but what he was hearing was starting to make sense.

when I was told that Garrett was the shooter.

And of course, I put that together.

Garrett and Christopher were like twins.

>> But I don’t know if you could actually prove this case to a jury without having Garrett cop.

>> But if prosecutors Kathleen Hog and Karen Kagan wanted Garrett to testify, it was going to cost them.

The death penalty was taken off the table.

Garrett would get a deal just 30 years for shooting John and Susan.

Garrett Cop is a a drug addict, a little thug.

>> Christopher’s attorney, Bruce Fleer.

>> He needed a way out to help himself, and he told the detectives about Chris Sutton.

He basically uh kept his ass out of the electric chair.

>> Garrett is now saying that Christopher promised him $100,000 to kill the Sutton.

>> Did you ask Garrick Cobb to kill your parents? >> Absolutely not.

So Garrick Cop is a liar.

>> Absolutely.

>> I believe we can win this case.

>> He’s about to get his opportunity.

>> All right.

>> As the trial begins, John Sutton sits far from his son.

>> Miss Kagan, opening statement.

You may proceed.

>> Prosecutors immediately tell the jury how close Christopher was to admitted hitman Garrick Cobb.

>> They were friends for years.

Over the years, they were dope smoking buddies.

>> Christopher did nothing but sell drugs the whole time he got back from Samoa all the time, taking money from his father.

>> The plan was for Garrett Cop to go in the Sutton’s home and do the shooting and then he would get paid when the defendant got his money.

>> Uh yeah, you can bring Mr.

Cop back out.

>> In shackles, Garrett Cop takes the stand.

>> Where was Mr.

Sutton when you shot at him initially? on the bid.

>> Who was the person with whom you were in a plan to shoot John and Susan Sutton? >> Chris.

Chris S.

>> Christopher’s defense needs to prove Garrett is lying.

They zero in on the tough interrogation by police.

>> They got aggressive with you, didn’t they? >> Somewhat.

Got pushy a little bit.

Leaned up against me.

>> Yeah, like this.

>> Yep.

>> That’s what they’re saying.

Garrett.

Garrett.

Something like that.

>> You need to tell us something, Garrett, cuz they’re going to fry your ass in the electric chair.

>> Excuse me.

>> Garrett would have said Mother Teresa did it to get himself a deal.

To get himself out of the death penalty, to get him out, get get himself out of that situation.

>> Sir, you can come forward, please.

>> But incredibly, it wasn’t the first time prosecutors say Christopher had tried to execute such a plan.

>> Would you tell the members of the jury uh your first and last name? >> Jose Pon.

Po N.

Jose Pion is an ex-con with a murder conviction on his juvenile rap sheet.

Pion met Christopher in 1999, about a year after he returned from Samoa.

>> He asked me if I knew of any hitman that would uh kill his parents.

>> Was he joking or did he seem serious? >> He seemed serious.

Uh he said that his parents were um worth about $500,000 to a million dollars and they had some property and um life insurance.

I mean like I don’t know where I mean like I don’t know where he came up with that stuff.

>> He’s a liar too.

He >> Yeah.

about the about that.

Absolutely.

>> Then Detective Bellow tells the jury about what he believes is a defining moment in the case.

After arresting Christopher, he showed him Juliet’s statement incriminating him.

>> Well, I showed him the comments about we’re going to be better off after they’re gone.

At that point, he almost immediately dropped his head to the table, started crying, and said, “I’m >> to the detective.

” Christopher’s reaction appeared to be an admission of guilt.

But Christopher says he only cried because he believed police were setting him up.

>> You know, they forced somebody to lie.

It’s it’s it’s it’s hard to swallow.

>> Mr.

Driscoll, if you’ll come forward, stand in front of.

>> But would the woman who once planned to marry Christopher now offer testimony that could put him away for life? And what did he express to you was his opinion about his mother? >> She was a because he felt that she wouldn’t give him what he wanted and what he deserved >> and that being money.

>> Yes.

>> And she tells the jury how angry he was about Samoa.

>> He would say they deserve to die.

>> Good afternoon, Miss Driscoll.

But on cross-examination, Juliet says she only told the police incriminating information about Christopher after they threatened her with arrest.

>> She was threatened with a death penalty.

She was threatened with going down.

But she’s a liar, too.

In in part, yeah.

>> But Juliet says everything she told the police was in the end true.

She insists, though, that she never knew Christopher would actually try and kill his parents.

I did not know at all that he was behind this.

No, >> you didn’t believe he was going to do it, did you? >> And then in a moment, the defense team was hoping for Juliet, a prosecution witness, raised doubt about Christopher’s guilt before the jury.

>> I’m still confused about the whole matter.

I don’t know if he did it or not.

Nobody knows what really happened except for him and Garrett.

>> But by now, John Sutton has a pretty good idea.

After hearing the evidence, he’s convinced his son is responsible and he takes the stand.

>> That I had two bullets go in here and two which went out over here.

>> Prosecutors asked John about his troubled relationship with his son after Samoa.

>> Did your son ever complain to you about money? >> Yeah.

>> And the complaints continued after the shooting, too.

Coming home from the hospital, John says Christopher wanted control over the finances.

>> I didn’t want him in the bank account.

>> A father helping prosecutors convict his own son, the boy he had raised for 25 years.

>> Do you still love Christopher? I would have to say that I do not.

And it’s hard.

I can’t connect the dots between what he was doing at age five and what happened after age 13.

>> Your father told me that he no longer loves you.

I can’t control how he feels.

>> How does it make you feel? >> It hurts.

I mean, it definitely hurts that he no longer loves me.

And I’ve always considered him my father and you know like you know and that and I always will.

Now it’s up to Christopher to convince the jury of that love and his innocence.

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