Two Wigs, a Gun and a Murder Part 2 | Full Episode

foreign [Music] a quiet street in Richmond Virginia as I was getting dressed my husband and I heard three loud bangs not a street where you'd expect a murder thing I could see at the top of the driveway my friend and neighbor Fred Javelin he put both hands on my shoulders and he said Megan for Javelin is lying in his driveway he's dead and Fred jablin wasn't your average murder victim you've got a university Professor killed in a neighborhood that that's really not the norm Fred jablin was a totally involved father a super super single parent so who killed Fred jablin people said I have no idea who would want to do this to Fred but have you talked to his ex-wife I was married to Fred jablin we have three children I had a pretty nasty divorce certainly she was a suspect but a Suspect with the seemingly Rock Solid alibi [Music] bartender called me and said do you remember her and I said yeah I remember seeing her it's eating pixie haircut I know she didn't kill Frederick apple and she was devastated because of his death they're definitely two peas out of the same pod Tina and Piper police also suspected Tina it's not Fred jab ones did I kill Fred Javelin yes um and now police are about to unravel the clues that will lead to an arrest got cell phone records latex gloves makeup two wigs twists and turns in this one it's definitely not your normal standard murder two wigs a gun and a murder [Music] thank you I was looking for this guy Jerry Walters whose name this card was in we hadn't spoken to him at this point and so one of our goals was to try to locate him a couple of days after Fred jablin's murder detective Colby Kelly learned more about the round-trip airline ticket booked under the name Tina Roundtree the person who paid for the ticket was a guy named Jerry Walters we knew that a bank card in his name was used and was instrumental in making this homicide happen but we really didn't know what his role was in it if any and so we're trying to figure out who's Jerry Walters it didn't take them long to learn that Jerry Walters knew Piper Piper Roundtree and I at one time were girlfriend boyfriend Piper started dating Jerry Walters in 2003 shortly after moving to Houston we exchanged phone numbers and started talking on Telephone went out to supper a time or two and and it just went from there she was very sweet great Off the Wall sense of humor which I appreciate it cute obviously pretty much normal person even though Walters was living four hours from Houston in Baton Rouge Louisiana they made it work I was in Houston quite often on business so it was it was not difficult I mean I was there probably two days minimum a week their long-distance relationship lasted for about a year then that evolved into a continuing close relationship close friendship so close that Walters was one of the first people Piper called the night of Fred jablin's murder I came home from an LSU football game about 10 30ish 11ish in my cell phone ring and it was Piper and she said she was asking me to come to Houston and she said it's important Fred's dead and I said what happened she says well I'm not certain Fred's dead and she was not screaming but she was not far from Hysteria I would think and she was crying Walters wasn't able to go to Houston but he did his best to comfort Piper by phone she was very concerned with the kids but in my whole relationship with Piper she was very concerned but more so obviously this was to the extreme four days after the murder detective Kelly Tracked Down Jerry Walters to find out why his bank card seemed to be connected to a murder I think he asked me how well did I know Fred and I didn't know Fred at all I I never had any conversation with him in my life Walters told detective Kelly he had no idea who could have used his bank card during the weekend of the murder because he says it had been stolen before then I don't think anyone on the face of the Earth was more shock than myself to find out my card was in Richmond Virginia I did not have a clue Walter says he first found out something was wrong with his card when he tried to withdraw cash from the account I said well Mr Walters the council were drawn and I said why and I said well you've got pending ATM charges in Richmond Virginia and I said really all right so uh-huh I said okay get back to you that's when I started getting a little concerned that Jerry Walters card was floating around a murder scene in Richmond Virginia Jerry Walters called Piper immediately because if anyone was going to know about his card it was her you see the card wasn't really his although he had access to the bank account Walters had opened it at Piper's request under his name so that she could hide assets from her ex-husband I asked her what's the deal on the card how come my card was in Richmond and not with you and that's when she said well the last time I saw the card was when I went to the tennis club and apparently someone stole it there and I said well why didn't you tell me and she says well I just hadn't missed it she said if you don't go to use it you don't know what's gone it kind of made sense what didn't make sense to both Walters and detective Kelly were some of the other charges found on the card we also were able to determine that wigs were purchased during this time with that card from wigs.com I personally don't wear wigs before the murder someone had purchased two wigs one Blonde one Auburn we knew that they were sent to a location in Kingwood Texas we had an address there was a box there rented in the name of Piper Roundtree which also had Jerry Walter's name on that box and that's where the wigs have been delivered to he asked me did I think she did it and I said I just can't fathom that that she did this it would it's not something that I ever recognized in her no but it was all starting to add up for detective Kelly he was convinced that Piper Roundtree had flown to Richmond Virginia using her sister's name to kill her husband these things came to White it was apparent she did have a plan and attempted to disguise who she was and and thought she could get away with it do you think there's any connection between the murder and this very difficult divorce that she and her husband Fred jablin went through now I think she was crushed when she didn't get custody of her children we knew that several weeks before this Murder She had come up and taken the children camping I think that they probably had a really good time and I think that that caused her to just think this is what I'm missing I'm missing the great time watching my children grow up experiencing them as they become you know teenagers adults and so forth I think it's probably around that time she started hatching a plan in her mind of how she could change custody and the way to do that she had been through the court system that had not worked in her favor and I think she was looking for alternate plans which ultimately left to uh her decision to kill Fred with Fred jablin dead piper Roundtree wanted to win back her three kids who were staying with Fred's brother Michael and his family she asked for a custody hearing in Virginia family court she had asked whether I would go up there and testify at her custody hearing and I said yeah I wasn't sure if I was going to be up there at that time but I told her I said I will be happy to and what she was working on is trying to establish that I had eliminated her as a suspect and I certainly had not at that point detective Kelly was all for Piper attending the hearing scheduled nine days after Fred jablin's murder but not for reasons Piper thought she's thinking about trying to go to Richmond and have this custody here in the back of your mind you're saying well if she's in Richmond it would be easier for you guys to make an arrest right definitely it was not a deal breaker that she was not in Richmond but saves extradition that sort of thing nine days after the murder in a Richmond Virginia courtroom a judge made her decision knowing that Piper was Under Suspicion for murder the judge granted custody of Piper's three children Cali age 10 Paxton age 12 and Joslin age 15 to Michael jablin yeah my client has a constitutional right to have her children and she's been denied that right Piper left the custody hearing shaken and little did she know that just minutes later she would be arrested for murder they could have taken this from a scene from a gangster movie that the police just jumped out with it seemed like machine guns and dragged me off to tell me that they had they were arresting me for the murder of my my ex-husband after her arrest for murder four months ago former prosecutor Piper Roundtree is having a tough time adjusting to life Behind Bars my mom my sister's but she's anxious for her day in court and ready to stand trial for the murder of her ex-husband Fred jablin I don't think I I would be intelligent if I weren't worried or concerned but I have an incredible amount of faith all rise and I I trust God God's put me here for a reason ladies and gentlemen the jury good afternoon in opening arguments prosecutor Wade Kaiser launches right in with what he says is Piper's chilling motive it all came down to money you'll hear evidence ladies and gentlemen that pipe around tree had been ordered to pay child support to the victim Fred jablin who had custody of the children Kaiser says Piper Roundtree was tired of struggling to pay child support to her ex-husband so she killed him she was over 9 700 in her marriages in making that child support she blamed Fred and held him accountable for everything that had happened to her but listen to all the evidence over the next several days when Piper's defense attorney Murray Janus has his turn he tells Juris the state's explanation of a motive just doesn't add up but you'll hear evidence that she'd made a support payment in October of 2004. hardly some things somebody's going to do to send money if they in fact had planned to kill that person and more importantly Janice says there isn't anyone who can put Piper at the crime scene and see if one single person says we saw that defendant pipe a round tree take a gun out and shoot Fred jablin we saw her running away although Janice does admit there is a lot of evidence showing someone committed this murder you're gonna find that somebody was in Virginia somebody flew on a Southwest Airlines insists the wrong Roundtree sister is on trial there's one name You're Gonna Hear over and over and over again that's the name of Tina Roundtree and Janice says all the evidence will point to her I think you'll hear evidence that Tina had certainly at one time a gun herself a 38 caliber you won't hear any evidence that Piper Rountree owned a gun Piper is obviously aware of her attorney's defense strategy but when she spoke with us before trial she wouldn't flat out accuse her sister of murder did your sister Tina did she do this couldn't say I don't know is she capable of something like this I'm not going to answer that all arrives no matter now before the Lord shall be in the church the whole truth I do have a seat please with the trial underway prosecutors call Jerry Walters to the stand to help show that Piper hatched an elaborate plan to get away with murder using the bank account Walters had opened for her was Piper Roundtree his name on the car no it's not Piper approaches that blonde wig and prosecutors say Piper wore it the weekend of the murder so it would look like her sister Tina committed the crime did you at any time order any wigs no sir okay judge our next witness is Kathy Molly prosecutors say Piper also used Walter's card to buy that airline ticket booked in her sister's name to fly to and from the murder how is this ticket paid for my credit card right here Kathy Molly the agent remember selling a ticket to a woman using the name Roundtree and for the first time in court Smiley would you look around the courtroom and see if you can identify the person to whom you sold that ticket on October 28th that lady right there looks familiar a witness is able to identify Piper in fact Molly says the brunette checked in as a blonde but the hairs don't like that at all it's much shorter in the colors a lot darker that's not all Molly's biggest surprise she says Piper was carrying a gun what do you recall unusual about checking bags of anything nothing she just told me right away that she needed to check a firearm she just commented that it was her father's gun and she was taking it to him but that gun wasn't the state Smoking Gun they say Piper not only got on that plane to Richmond they can prove she spent the weekend there within miles of the crime scene it was Piper's own cell phone that would do her in we started looking through the cell phone records and recognized the number to uh Papa John's Pizza Henrico County detective Chuck Hannah was given the job of tracking the cell phone calls to see if anyone could place Piper in Richmond so we called Papa John's Pizza and asked if a individual with the last name around tree had ordered a pizza they stated that a person with the name around tree did and that person had it delivered to room 171 in the Homestead Suites that led detective Hannah to the manager of this hotel who remembers the guest in room 171. she said she had a reservation there her name was Tina Roundtree and it's that witness Tamiko James who was able to place Piper Roundtree in Richmond at a hotel located just miles from the crime scene would you point to and identify that individual what is the defendant here and then a second eyewitness takes the stand Raymond Seward says he saw Piper on Saturday morning just a few hours after Fred jablin's murder a medium Bill medium height and blonde hair where is she that lady right there Seward remembers Piper returning a car to his rental agency near the airport the same airport where that flight carrying a passenger named Tina Roundtree would later take off she was it's not a hard way to get to the airport and if eyewitness testimony wasn't enough to put Piper in Richmond prosecutors say they have Piper caught on tape they say the woman seen walking into a Richmond Virginia gas station is the defendant Piper Roundtree in disguise the tank will will show a white female enter the door it's a mountain of evidence that they hope will knock down any suggestion that it was Tina Roundtree in Richmond the weekend of the murder you have to concede it doesn't look good right no it doesn't look good I suck I certainly see that you know my mouth fell when I saw these things like oh my God now prosecutors take their case one step further they set out to show how Piper made sure that when she shot Fred jablin she wouldn't miss out Mac McClanahan knows both sisters he dated Tina and he worked with Piper when you went with Piper to work early in the week of October 25th to Galveston did you ride together there we did and back yes okay on one of their rides home together Mack told Piper he was going to stop at a shooting range tell the members of the jury what Piper said when you brought that up she said she wanted to go with me had you taken Piper to the gun range prior to that day no Piper shot a few rounds then decided she wanted to rent another type of gun so she went to the front desk and made an exchange she returned with a 38 caliber revolver same type of weapon used to Gun Down Fred jablin days later did she fire the 38 she did Saturday morning around 6 30. and when Matt ran into Piper a few days after the murder he found out just how nervous Piper was about their trip to the gun range I told her I was sorry to hear what had happened and she hugged me and said I love you and she said please don't say anything about the gun range it'll just complicate things with one of their last Witnesses prosecutors deal a final blow to Piper it turns out The Alibi Piper thought she had for the night before the murder had fallen through after you've had a chance to think about it have checked all of your records Kevin O'Keefe who thought he'd seen Piper at the volcano bar on Friday night now tells Juris he was mistaken were you in the volcano at all on that Friday October 29th no you sure about that positive thank you battered by dozens of witnesses against her Piper Roundtree a former prosecutor knows she's in real trouble and now she has to make one of the most important decisions of her life should she take the stand all rise after listening to the 49 Witnesses testifying against her that lady right there looks familiar yes sir she's right there with the state's case finished that lady right there Piper Roundtree is looking like a goner if you could look those jurors in the eyes how would you do it what would you say I would tell them I didn't do it be truth I believe in God Piper realizes she has only one option all right next witness take the stand called pipe around tree a little more round this Roundtree if you would [Music] but you know it's it's risky to do that to take the stand and testify you know that right yeah so on the fourth day of trial only four months after Fred jablin was shot dead in his driveway you are Piper and Roundtree is that correct I am Fred jablin's ex-wife Piper Roundtree tries to answer to a jury for defense lawyer Murray Janice Cuts straight to the chase his Round Tree did you shoot and kill Fred jablin on Saturday morning October 30th 2004. I did not when did you first learn that Fred Chaplin had been shot and killed that that evening what was your emotional condition at that time well I don't remember a whole lot of the rest of the evening did you ever learn that evening where your children were no in a soft shaky voice Piper Roundtree testifies it was impossible for her to shoot Fred jablin in Virginia because at the time of the murder she was in Texas but it isn't just Piper's whereabouts she and her defense team will use as an alibi their strategy is based on showing the jury what kind of person Piper Roundtree really is do you love your children yes very much where are they as far as priorities in your life second only to God Piper tells jurors the last thing she'd do is hurt her kids yes it was not an easy to force but I had no right to take away the children's father the children need both parents how were you getting along Fred jablin compared to during the divorce itself um it was an answer to my prayers we were doing very good and when it comes to her Alibi about being at the volcano bar she insists she was there that Friday before the murder even though Kevin O'Keefe had told prosecutors he wasn't even there that Friday night do you know when it was that you saw the defendant in the volcano uh Saturday October 30th right but Piper stands by her story and says she even remembers floating and drinking with a stranger what was the gentleman's name that you met up with if you're not uh he said Steve initially and then he said calm Jerry have you ever seen him again since then no all right Miss guys this round tree I believe you testified the prosecutors go on the attack Piper's motive for murder is simple a vengeful woman who had lost her children you had lost custody of your three children completely not completely if it doesn't the order state that you lost physical and legal custody of your children yes to your husband yes wasn't that devastating to you yes wouldn't you do anything for your children I wouldn't kill for them no paper however is unable to explain away the physical evidence at the heart of the case starting with her Jeep parked at the Houston Airport the very weekend Fred jablin was murdered can you explain why the records from the Houston Hobby Airport show that your vehicle was in their parking lot on Thursday and Friday and Saturday no I have no explanation then prosecutors questioned Piper about her visit to the gun range where she practiced shooting just days before the murder with the same type of weapon used to kill Fred jablin you shot two different Pistols that day didn't you one was a 22 caliber revolver and the other was a 38 caliber revolver uh that's what they say well you had it in your possession I didn't know what it was it was a gun and what about that blonde wig prosecutors say Piper needed it desperately for the weekend of the murder to disguise herself as Tina you wanted the blonde wig so bad that when you've got the box with the paprika wig in it with the note saying that they didn't have it in stock and that you would have to pay an additional charge you said send it anyway I want it correct uh Tina had wanted no I'm not asking you what Tina said I'm asking you you told them yes I did I'll pay the extra money isn't that right and you had the blonde wig yes sir where is it at uh last time I saw Tina had it if Tina had the wig and Tina was on the plane then you want this jury to think that Tina committed the murder don't you I have no idea what happened you have not I don't the evidence pinpoints Piper in Richmond near the scene of Fred jablin's murder Hotel records and receipts show Piper used the bank card she said was stolen I didn't know what had happened to the card there's one more staggering piece of evidence those damning cell phone records calls made from Piper's cell phone from Richmond to Texas just after the murder what happened to the cell phone I don't know well the crimes being committed you don't know where it is that's what you're telling these people I'm telling them that I didn't have the phone from probably that I remember last time I remember it was Tuesday before that you lost the telephone on Tuesday where did you find it on Saturday I was at Tina's house because you want to you want this jury to think that Tina committed to murder you're willing to put it on her aren't you no sir thank you man you can have a seat next to your Council Piper steps down she has done all she can now it's up to this man Marty McVeigh the lone witness who can physically put her a thousand miles away from the murder and where is your office the present time in Houston Texas now sir tell us if you will jumping up to Saturday October 30th 2004. did you ever see paper Roundtree on that date I did and where was that sir in my office and could you tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury what time you saw her approximately 4 30 that afternoon give or take five minutes are you sure of that time sir yes sir McVay is Piper's very best witness because it's impossible for Piper to have been in two places at once McVeigh says she was in his Houston office at the exact same time police say she was on an airplane returning from murdering Fred jablin how many people have you talked to about the Tom Piper Roundtree was in your office on Saturday October 30th that's them yes sir oh gosh then I've talked to the prosecutors here I talked to the detectives again in Houston in the Houston Police Department I've talked to Paige Akins from the Times Dispatch local newspaper reporter Paige Aiken ends up becoming part of the very story she was covering well not mistaken if you would she takes the stand to testify about what Marty McVeigh told her and how he employed mistaken I'm a reporter at the Richmond Times Dispatch have you been assigned any heavy in fact been covering the case involving Miss Piper Roundtree I have Paige Aiken swears that McVeigh had told her that Piper had stopped by his office the day after the murder not the Afternoon Of The Murder did you ask him when prior to Sunday October 31st he had last seen Piper Roundtree yes he said it had been quite a while uh about a year I believe Marty McVeigh is put back on the stand and sticks to his story and dates had you seen pipe around tree before Sunday October 31st yes and when was that on October 30th all right we'll be at recess till tomorrow all right when it's all over Piper Roundtree seems dazed and exhausted do you think you conveyed to the jury I hope so that's all I can say is I hope so are you afraid yeah yes I'm afraid [Music] I was amazed about the evidence that police collected the documentation they did the witnesses throughout Piper roundtree's murder trial the brother of the victim Michael jablin has watched closely focused on the woman who was once part of his family any doubt in your mind that Piper round tree is guilty there's no doubt and I was very sad about the whole thing hearing it how somebody with such a high level of Education could have plotted such an event Piper's mother Betty Roundtree sat in the courtroom every day she can't believe her youngest daughter is a killer do I think she's guilty no I do not she's had so much love in her life and she's such a gentle kind person I honestly cannot believe that she did this [Music] the jury deliberates for less than an hour ladies and gentlemen have you been able to reach a verdict in these matters would you hand it to the sheriff please we the jury find the defended guilty of first degree murder Frederick jablin is charged in the indictment Joanne Lawson yeah Beverly Owens is this your party yes Holly pace is this your verdict yes no one seems surprised not even Piper within an hour the jury hears more testimony and then will recommend her sentence anywhere from 20 years to life they were extremely extremely close Betty Roundtree pleads for leniency so the children who'd already lost their father won't lose their mother too her whole life was just with those children taking them different places reading to them have a seat please Michael jablin is not vindictive just sad and searching for answers how do I explain to young children that their mother killed their father they've lost both parents basically now how do I explain that to these children how does anybody explain something like that less than an hour the jury decides to recommend the harshest penalty we the jury having found the defendant guilty a first degree murder Frederick Javelin fixer punishment at life in prison foreign [Music] the five-day trial included nearly 60 Witnesses and 80 pieces of evidence who has now been sentenced to life in prison [Music] it's over how do you feel right now I think we feel good we get the result that we anticipated having in the long run but um it's nice to see the jury validate our investigation and bring a little bit of justice as close as we're going to get here anyway [Music] within minutes of the verdict we talked with Piper in a holding cell Piper a jury is spoken guilty life in prison yeah what's your reaction to that sentence I think I'm still in shock it hasn't hit you yet has it in spite of all the evidence and the jury's Swift verdict Piper Roundtree still insists she's innocent for the record you're still are saying that you did not kill your ex-husband I didn't it didn't I mean obviously it looked like I didn't you didn't do it no I didn't will you get an opportunity at all while you're serving a time to see your children would you do you know anything about that I hope so I'm gonna be happy to talk to them anything you want to say to them I just love them and miss them what kind of mother would do this I think that's a very good question I don't know what kind of mother would uh would would uh leave them without a father and without a mother I don't know it's really hard to understand that it's very sad when you have to think about that I really think that she thought she could do this and then just walk into the sunset with her three kids I think that's how she thought this was going to play out Megan McCrary Fred's neighbor and friend as no sympathy for Piper Roundtree and what was she thinking did she not understand the impact this was going to have on her children's lives I mean she extinguished four lives that day she murders her ex-husband and basically destroys the childhood of her three children I just I don't understand what she was thinking the verdict may be in but what was the jury thinking as they watched the halting testimony of Piper Roundtree wouldn't you do anything for your children I wouldn't kill for them no I think that was one of the most serious moments of the trial for me because it was the nail in the coffin it was a nail in the coffin when she took the stand yeah for me that was going from 90 to 100 guilty Joe Howe and Timothy James spoke to us about the impression Piper made the four or five words that we got out of her weren't a whole lot and they were not convincing when she took the stand I mean it almost seemed like you know she could kind of you know turn her tears on and off do you love your children yes very much and of all the evidence against her what was it that sealed Piper's fate the cell phone records you could very easily track exactly where she was and what she did cell phone tractor all the way get the whole time and what if Tina Roundtree the sister Piper pretended to be the sister many people say was Piper's best friend it's impossible to know whether or not Tina knew that Piper was going on a trip to murder her ex-husband but based on how close they were um it's hard to imagine that Tina was not knowledgeable in some sense that something very serious was going to take place she would stick up for her sister and I think she would do anything short of murder for her sister your name came up a lot during the trial it was almost as if the defense was to blame Tina Roundtree for the murder what's your reaction to that they're just trying to set a possibility of doubt in the juror's mind but you didn't mind oh I am being used I don't care about fashion doesn't matter you know I don't care it doesn't make it I mean it's I think it's a stupid defense but the jury is certain the Right Round Tree was convicted however months after the trial Tina Roundtree herself would be convicted of tampering with evidence after the murder of Fred jablin she would be sentenced to nine months probation but this jury would sentence Piper to a term we the jury fixer punishment at life in prison far more severe why life in prison we didn't ever want her to come back into her children's lives because it would have been reliving the murder [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 883,761

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, professor, murder, piper rountree, true crime, Fred Jablin, wigs, richmond virginia, Houston

Id: gEcW5rta3wU

Length: 40min 8sec (2408 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 02 2023