The Case of Lee Rodarte

on the 2nd of August 2017 at approximately 5:15 p.m. 21 year old Savannah gold left her parents home and drove to San Jose Boulevard in Jacksonville Florida she had a 5:30 shift at the Bonefish Grill a casual seafood restaurant where she worked as a waitress but on this occasion she never showed up it was a fairly quiet Wednesday afternoon at the diner her absence wasn't too much of a strain so the on-duty supervisor simply took her hours off the roster for that day and thought nothing else of it suspicions only arose roughly one hour and 15 minutes after Savannah had left the house as her father received a text message from her phone number Savannah's older brother also received a text 43 seconds later although both texts came from Savannah's number her family knew right away that something wasn't right she had just left the house and what appeared to be very high spirits but now proclaimed to be running away with an unidentified man without packing so much as a change of clothes not only that but the text messages were riddled with errors and composed in a completely different way to how she would normally write her phone was switched off when they tried calling just minutes after receiving the texts so they immediately called her place of work and found out that she hadn't shown up it was at that point they called police and filed a missing-persons report Savannah had been gone for less than two hours roughly 40 minutes later her car was found unlocked and abandoned in the Bonefish Grill parking lot and the only thing missing was her phone her wallet ID and a number of other valuable items had not been taken investigators went through the parking lot surveillance tapes and discovered what would then become the primary piece of evidence for the case the majority of footage remains undisclosed to the public but a detailed description of what occurred has already been released what we know is that Savannah parked her car and stepped out of the vehicle at exactly 531 p.m. she then walked over to another vehicle and conversed with the occupant for 14 minutes through the driver's side window she then got into the backseat of said vehicle at 5:45 p.m. 14 seconds later the car began to shake sporadically as if some type of struggle was occurring inside the rear door swung open three times but was immediately and forcefully shut each time it appeared as though someone was attempting to get out but couldn't this lasted for 49 seconds until the vehicle suddenly stopped moving a male figure was then seen getting out and proceeded to walk over to Savannah's car that was 20 feet away the surveillance was grainy and the person could not be identified from the footage alone all that police could ascertain was that he had short brown hair and was roughly 5 foot 11 the unidentified person reached into Savannah's car and took out what police believed was her phone he then slashed the front tire with a knife before walking back to his own vehicle he got in and drove away from the scene at exactly 6:04 p.m. Savannah was never seen exiting the car this was a crucial piece of evidence and essentially all investigators had to go on they had to find out who the man was in the video and fast but they also had to be careful in how they conducted their investigation they couldn't let anyone find out they had this footage in their possession as knowing this information could allow a suspect to alter their alibi to fit with the evidence this would take a significant advantage away from investigators during interrogation and would hinder their ability to build a case to a considerable degree over the following two days investigators briefly interviewed all the staff at the Bonefish Grill for the most part these encounters consisted of just three questions when was the last time you saw Savannah do you know where she is and is there anything you know that could help with our investigation within 48 hours they had three potential suspects whose names were then ran through the motor insurance database the first suspect didn't have a license the second suspect owned a bright red 2001 Jeep Cherokee while the third suspect was registered to a 2012 silver Chevy Malibu an identical match to the vehicle seen on surveillance his name was Leroy Daugherty he was 28 years old and was both a manager and head chef at the Bonefish Grill coincidentally he was the first person to be interviewed at the diner about Savannah's disappearance where he told investigators that he hadn't seen her in about three weeks and knew nothing of her current whereabouts it was only from his co-workers that police discovered he was having an on-and-off relationship with Savannah for the last eight months despite it being against company policy from what investigators could gather this was a very popular individual rising fast through the ranks of his chosen profession he was known for his charm and charisma amongst his colleagues and also had a lot of success when it came to the opposite sex on all accounts his life seemed to be going very well but he was now the prime suspect in a kidnapping investigation and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office planned their next steps in meticulous detail at around 5:15 p.m. on August 5th police arrested row Doherty while midway through his shift at work they told him it was for an outstanding traffic warrant and took him to the JSO Police Department I'll say what I hear you can go ahead and have a seat for me real quick I'll be right back okay yes sir the officer said he would be right back yet Lee was left to sit there for 90 minutes with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company now think of yourself in his position and presume you were guilty of whatever happened to Savannah and that whatever happened was something truly horrific in the present moment you have just been arrested for an outstanding traffic warrant yet you were interviewed the day before about your co-workers disappearance a million and one things will be running through your mind about what could happen next and as each second ticks by the anxiety this will cause will begin to fester and slowly intensify however the optimism of uncertainty would still be present there would still be hope but this hope is about to be dashed the sound of the door opening would have been a pleasant relief from the monotonous cycle of her darties own thoughts yet this brief moment of alleviation would have instantly converted to shock as Detective Rae Reeves walked through the door the same investigator who had interviewed him about Savannah the day prior Hey it would have been at this moment that Lee realized his situation was far more severe than he was hoping the relative optimism he would have felt during the initial 90 minutes on his own will now be gone which in turn will greatly magnify the contrasting sense of fear he will now be experiencing I want to talk to your actually we wanted to please actually it would be alright to use ah please water like I said I wanna kind of go over some somehow we talked the other day just for a few minutes I had some concerns about a couple things about Savannah so I just had a couple of things that came up that I wanted to ask about specifically - didn't didn't seem to line up someone to come down and talk to you okay yeah all right have you drink any alcohol today any drugs today I took an adderall that my buddy gave me okay because I was there so that's nice yeah yeah I was super tired I here take this header all yeah and do you normally take that now I was I've tooken one long time ago like I wouldn't say high school a little bit at times but it's been years yeah perfect after that all right so Savannah you said that you knew her and you guys had you knew her from work I mean just kind of filming the detective starts off with an open-ended question this gives the suspect total freedom and flexibility in how they wish to respond it's commonly believed that people with nothing to hide are likely to give a short and concise response to these types of questions for example if Lee was completely unconcerned with what was going on he could respond in three short sentences I met her from work I've known her for two years we dated for a bit to the contrary if an individual does have something to hide they are more likely to give a lengthy and detailed response the simple reasoning behind this is that they are seeking approval imagine yourself in a job interview and you're asked an open-ended question such as tell me about yourself you would feel the need to be thorough in order to please your potential employer the psychological premise is exactly the same with regard to police interrogations albe it under completely different circumstances deedledee subjects will see the interrogator as an imminent threat and will therefore attempt to appease this threat to prevent further aggression truthful subjects will have no fear nor concern with regard to the same element they would see the interrogator as a mere inconvenience as opposed to a threat obviously since you've worked since she started working there I'd say probably about eight months ago yeah or so we started hanging out outside of work and at the time I had a girlfriend but I kind of you know we kind of connected me in Savannah so we hung out a little bit here and there got pretty close we come from I guess somewhat similar backgrounds I guess you just say okay um you know she didn't have it the best come growing up neither did I so we kind of connected hung out for a little while and then she started using drugs a lot okay now I used him with her not the same drugs that she used all the time but I did him with her a couple times and then she started to get heavy into him and Oh gotcha okay so I kind of just tried to take a step back and you know put things off probably a month or so ago I saw Savannah at work and she looked healthy again you know she gained a little bit away and just you know friendly talk at work you know telling her you know hope everything's been good she told me you know that I guess she did a lot of drugs and it up in the hospital she not missing like I want to say a couple of days three or four days from work oh so obviously you know me being pretty close to her I was concerned and everything but that but she came back you know she looked good she ended up telling me that I guess you know Nobel's four days she talks pretty well and she kind of caught a you know new sense into why she shouldn't do some drug so it for so much mom and I said she looked good he knows he started looking healthy so we kind of were talking you know there we hang out a couple times she came over to the house and you know we just kick back drink a couple beers watch movies stuff like that like I said we did you know we took like a pain pills here and there on occasion but then she started like bringing heroin over like that that's you know my mom was addicted to methamphetamines when she was when I was younger so the those hard like hard drugs just kind of scare me a little bit so that's why it took step back the first time I ended up telling I was like hey you know for one I'm dealing with a lot of personal stuff myself right now as it is you know I'm a little depressed I think we're moving too fast I think we should you know stop talking and she said I understand it's completely fine no problem you know she said I'll delete your number I'll never text you again and that was the last time that we text it was probably couple to three weeks ago okay sometime in July right right yeah and I think that's one of the things you said was that was the last time that you had contact with her as far as I don't want to put words in your mouth so I mean you you correct me I'm not texting yeah text or a phone call or messenger or anything like that's two three weeks ago yeah okay and and then the last time when was the last time you saw her this is what I was up with I didn't tell you the truth when we talked about the fish okay Lee doesn't know the extent of the evidence but he knows the investigators have something and he now has no choice but to amend his alibi to some degree and give some form of admission this allows the investigators to get one step closer to a confession while also keeping the capacity of the evidence hidden until a more critical moment last time I saw her was Wednesday afternoon okay I heard that she has been basically telling a lot of people at work that we hooked up a bonds like a couple days before that and that she was going to like tell about the whole situation you know I'll try to get me fired no why why would that get you I open a manager institution employees okay so you guys aren't supposed to friend yes sir okay and she just told people again so she was out with that work with the restaurant that we were having sex okay I put in a parking lot she pulled in a little bit after me I parked and I said hey kind of talk to you for a second and she said yeah what's up and I was like I heard you've been saying some things about me in you continuing to hang out and you know that we're boyfriend and girlfriend and she she asked me she said can I come sit in the car because I just did some heroin and I'm a little paranoid heroin doesn't make you feel paranoid it makes you extremely relaxed and oblivious to your surroundings some might argue that heroin can cause paranoia depending on the user yet Savannah was driving moments earlier and was about to start a shift at work if she was using she most certainly wasn't the type to get paranoid I said why are you doing that you know you're doing really well I should've been doing it and so she came to sat in the car and I explained to her situation I told her that servers at bonefish were coming to me and telling me that you're telling people when you're out that we're having sex girlfriend and I said how appreciate you know I need you to stop because for one is jeopardizing my job we agreed to you know split stop talking mutually and just move on and you know be cordial or whatever but it was nothing more than that and she said [ __ ] you you know you're a piece of [ __ ] and I said she said she's gonna keep talking you know telling lies and stuff about me and everything like that and at that point Lee has just tried to cover his tracks as much as possible without giving away anything incriminating he may have thought a witness saw him at the scene with Savannah and was most likely hoping the verbal argument the extent of what was seen he therefore gives away this detail in an attempt to come across as truthful yet as we know the investigators have proof that Savannah never got out of the car and he's about to lock himself into his second lie which is exactly what the detectives want she had her phone in her hand she got out of the car and walked towards the main entrance from San Jose so like your thumb so this is like I wouldn't say she was walking along the edge of the plaza but she was walking maybe towards this way and I was saying older model Ford pickup green okay drove past me and around and she got in okay the suspect has now thrown away his best possible defense which would have been that he drove away from the parking lot with Savannah and that she got out at another destination where they then parted ways if he had known about the surveillance footage this would have no doubt been his revised narrative but it's no longer possible due to this fabrication this is now his stated alibi under caution and any amendments that he might try to make at a later stage will have no credibility whatsoever so she gets out of the backseat and begins walking toward in the direction of not necessarily paralleling San Jose but she's walking towards 295 or down towards that entrance area yeah and then she's got her phone and you said you thought she was calling somebody the detective knows this alibi is completely fabricated so you might be wondering why he's inquiring into it further the truth is that he's not actually inquiring only pretending to the suspects responses to these questions are of no importance and the detective is not information-gathering he's simply getting the suspect who let his guard down as much as possible by making him think that he is being believed as the suspect continues to convey this made-up narrative his anxiety will slowly diminish his belief that he is fooling the detectives will increase and his heightened state of mind will decrease as a result this is a well-known strategy and the reason for this strategy is because the detective is about to initiate the first confrontation he wants to catch the suspect completely off-guard um she was she had it in her hand look like I mean I couldn't tell if she was texting shot or anything but she had her fun yes she had her phone out and was looking at it and then it looked like she was going to put it up to a year and then yeah the green truck came around okay and Shawn do you think it was between the time that she got out and started using her phone to that green truck pulled up this goes on for roughly 90 seconds Android Rd appears to be considerably more at ease 295 all the way to Beach Boulevard Beach Boulevard to grow park and in park how long's that usually take this chap I think it usually takes about 25 minutes or so we see a very sharp and very sudden switch the suspect is taken from feeling assured to once again feeling threatened it's believed that when the immediate shift from one emotion to the next is so extreme a suspect can become disoriented and their ability to think critically can be affected in other words it's much harder for them to think up lies on the spot or fabricate emotion in a convincing manner after a long nervous breath he takes three seconds to respond yet somewhat saves himself with the answer the fact he stated his injuries were self-inflicted could give reason for the nervous breath and his hesitation to respond as self harm is a taboo subject and some might be embarrassed or even ashamed to admit to it the detective recognizes this and immediately puts him back on the spot why the first interjection from the female detective she alludes to the fact that the neck is an unusual place for a self-inflicted injury essentially stating that she's not buying it but also refrains from applying too much pressure which is being saved for a more pivotal moment at a later stage yeah a knife some time in July July yeah well it's I kind of peel the scab here and there at work and even on stuff like that I filled it last night working probably not the best advertisement for the Bonefish Grill if they're head chefs are peeling their scabs off at work but then again the wounds are more than likely a fresh injury from his struggle with Savannah and they hadn't been peeled off at all but this and this was the same night this one was just a lot worse yeah and this one was it was in July yeah like a few weeks back yeah okay when she's in the car what does she say to you about what her plans are so if she's scheduled to work that night so if she's going to work she didn't talk about I mean I assumed she was going to work she was in her uniform but she didn't say when she got out the car she didn't say anything after she got out of the car they further reinforced his confidence by going back to his narrative of the truck and allow him to convey the story in more meticulous detail they are once again giving him a false sense of security only to use it against him at the opportune moment and she gets in that truck she let's be honest we won't even call her she would Savannah okay Savannah again with this picture in the same place from where your drawing was they drove over here you're here and you they drive out over here do they stop does she get out and go into work oh no keep going I didn't see once they turn the corner pass ATM once she got in and they left I left you as I just you run into him on the road anywhere no okay did she call you later on or text you later on Savannah mm-hmm no other contact with her so where's Savannah right now I don't know where would I find her I don't know this is a far more aggressive confrontation it's essentially an accusation that the suspect is involved in Savannah's disappearance innocent subjects will usually reciprocate this aggression and respond to this type of question with a question of their own such as why are you asking me that or what are you trying to say they would openly recognize and refute the allegation most often in a forceful manner Lee had no emotional response whatsoever nor an ounce of shock he answered the question with a composed demeanor almost as if he knew it was coming it lets the detectives know he was anticipating some type of blunt confrontation that's not my prime I need to find her and here's a couple reasons I need to find her one is I'm hoping that that she's still alive and that's really I really do I'm holding out for that and if she's not alive then I think she and her family are due that knowledge I think that's I think they need some closure because I think the reality is is if somebody's you know dead somewhere a parent would want to know I think if you get kids know okay so one day when you have kids you would be uncertainty is is what whatever kind of a person she is and I'm not about to say what kind of a person she is because I'm not making judgments I'm saying that this human being is if she's alive then I want to find her I need to make sure she's okay because of several days now she hasn't been around some things happen to the human body and people can't stand a lot of things that can transpire but the other thing is if she's not this family deserves better than this this family deserves better than somebody who works with her and who's got knowledge and won't tell the police because they're worried about their own ass because that's permanent that's pretty cheap I'll be honest with you and are your feelings in it I don't really care about your feelings what I care about is finding her so where is she I don't where is it I need to know where Savannah is I don't know where she is you don't know because you had something done with her and you weren't involved in that part I don't know tell me something what can I work with I told you the last time I saw this moment would have been rehearsed multiple times before the interrogation started the investigators would have planned who would reveal the surveillance to the suspect and at roughly what moment the suspect had been confronted multiple times and the situation was now fully transparent yet he continued to maintain his innocence by clinging on to his narrative it becomes evident that he isn't going to budge so the female detective takes the initiative she reveals their final and most substantial piece of evidence for the purpose of maximizing the pressure I could imagine I don't care what she said you were whatever but my little girl is that age maybe and you're not telling the truth hae-sung gets out of hand in the car I didn't do it okay you didn't do anything that she was in you're Clark she never got out of your car she never got how did your car leave we're not saying that you did anything I'm trying to find her I didn't say you did any more issues well we can prove that you left with her in the car so please do do do everybody a favor just tell us where she you've got to be able to be able to separate we're not sitting here saying you did anything to her I don't know she's on drugs maybe she she passed I don't know I'm not in that car with you guys I know that she's in that car with you have proof of all of it so manually then you tell us now if you're if you're being an honest man are you being honest yes okay let's start being honest she never got out of your backseat leave she never got have you ever seen your backseat video cameras don't lie leave how do you know how do you how do you think I know this information Lea I wasn't there but a video camera caught it tell me what happened I don't know how did help what happened to her was it an overdose is that what happened I don't know I'm not in the car with you guys you just said she was in your car and she admitted Lee had done heroin this is a cross between the how and why solution and the alternative question both are used to lower the gauge of admission for the purpose of getting one foot in the door which will then become the new foundation for building the case the how and why solution essentially blames the victim while at the same time minimizes the motivations behind the crime the alternative question plants a seed in the suspects mind where they are given an alternative and far more morally accepting choice for what happened it's a smart move yet the suspect doesn't fall for it on this occasion a body's overdose all the time is that what happens does she overdose tell us we can't make up that we can't falsify video camera Lee I'm not lying to you because you know I'm telling the truth because you know that's what's on the video how else would I know that I don't unless I have a video where did you go with her I didn't go anywhere with you did so the video cameras line I don't know this I mean why I'm telling you the surveillance footage was no doubt incriminating evidence yet wouldn't close out a case on its own that easily the investigators need a confession and continue to apply pressure in a relentless manner they attack the suspects character while simultaneously appealing to his sense of morality that's why I'm so passionate about this this is someone's child you might not have kids but damn it is she's someone's kid we're fact finders we don't have anything personal against you no no no no no no where did you go with her where did you go with her leave be human you're a human you're a man what did you go with her I know you're not that cruel inside seriously where did you go with her maybe you think maybe you don't know where she is then where did you go please I'm begging you Lea please please tell us please don't make us waster any more of our time just tell us please tell us please I'm begging you I know you're not evil this tell us where she is I'm making you please please can you please just tell me where did you go with her then can you please tell us up at least tell us that part where did you go with her afterwards she didn't get out your car and you know that off because that new DJ that's how the reason for here just tell us where where did you go with her tell us that at least point us in that direction I owe her family we've been no ones we're not saying anything that you intentionally didn't just tell us where you went when you let down there you run down clear line you made a left from San Jose I thought and you get up on 295 okay where else did you go before you 900 I'm a knight getting actually my hi I'm Riley we're going straight home okay so what did y'all do and you got home the man I was with you she was with you and that's okay at that point but I need to know what Robin where did she go from there if she still liked your house okay she's still in her car no where is she I don't know where she is okay where did you last Robyn I didn't drop her off we went to my house this is a breakthrough the investigators have got lead to amend his story once more by lowering the level of admission and this shows that he can still be influenced as stated earlier they were trying to get one foot in the door which they have now done and this is their new platform to build on the more dammit Ori elements for the doors to be kicked open she kept up in that door three times Lee she kicked it we saw it where's Savannah you do know we we understand listen we understand we're not trying to hate you on anything man I'm telling you I'm thinking about this girl and her family your family she was please tell me where to go Anya that's happy remember you the released footage of the interrogation tape cuts off at this exact moment the state's attorney has been contacted by multiple sources to release the next segment but has so far refused to do so all we know is that Leroy Dougherty admitted to killing Savannah gold the only information that is currently released is that he proclaimed to have killed Savannah by breaking her neck he then took her back to his house where he burned her body in a self-made fire pit and then dumped her in a lake at the dead end of a secluded Road Savannah had injuries to over 75 percent of her body the medical examiner was unable to pinpoint the exact cause of death the only conclusion was that it was a violent homicide the segment of admission was cut yet the JSO released the footage that came just moments after it shows a human being experiencing an emotional reckoning so overwhelming while also trying to process the terrifying nature of his immediate situation Oh stupid [Music] the instant anguish over his decision to confess combined with the looming prospect of what lays ahead will have forged a unique emotional distress that very few will ever experience it's a harrowing sight and under different circumstances would be extremely difficult for most people to witness yet we are now couched within the context of events that led up to this moment and this will make its observation far more tolerable but by no means easy yeah [ __ ] [ __ ] - does that make any sense thank you the voice of good that's what you everything how many places man [ __ ] head totally li was remanded into custody and taken to the Duval County Jail where he was denied bond in spite of the overwhelming evidence against him and the prospect of life in prison without the possibility of parole he pled not guilty and claimed that Savannah's killing was an act of self-defense even though he stands at 5 foot 11 weighing 163 pounds while Savannah was just 5 feet tall and weighed 91 pounds he claimed that he was in fear of his life after she slapped him multiple times in the face at which point he grabbed her neck felt a pop and realized he had accidentally broke it resulting in her death the state's attorney's office had no comment on this motion all they have stated is that this trial is expected to commence during the summer of 2020

Channel: JCS - Criminal Psychology

Views: 5,063,602

Rating: 4.8764067 out of 5

Keywords: psychology, true crime, criminology, forensic science, interrogation

Id: L0H6xYwMQnk

Length: 39min 48sec (2388 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 11 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/GreenyGaming]

"Never go full Rodarte"

--True Crime Loser

[u/pulp1]

Super interesting! Although hard to find any further details about this case