When A Killer Doesn't Realize He's Being Filmed

when two young men suspect a member of their own Circle may be their friend's killer they collaborate with law enforcement and go undercover to capture secret recordings why did he say that why do you say he just want to talk to me oh my God beloved cheerleader Emma Walker was just a few months into her junior year at Central High School in Knoxville Tennessee when her life met a tragically abrupt end initially it seemed it was some sort of terrible accident there was no other way to explain it however investigators would soon untangle a twisted Web of Lies and uncover the horrific reality someone had wanted Emma dead growing up Emma's ultimate dream was to become a neonatal ICU nurse someday and the honors student was putting in the necessary effort to ensure she'd get there she was making the most of high school and her innate ability to excel in her Endeavors was also exhibited in her role on the cheerleading squad her third year had just gotten underway and she was loving it then the morning of Monday November 21st arrived like she'd done so many times before Jill went to her daughter's room to wake Emma for school around six o'clock right away it was apparent that something was terribly wrong he said that she's non-responsive the other thing out of her mouth okay I'll stay on the line I'm transferring you to rural metro word of the mysterious tragedy spread quickly among those hit particularly hard by the devastating news of Emma's death was her boyfriend of two years Riley Gall the two had first met in the fall of Emma's freshman year at Central High she was the only freshman to secure a spot on the cheerleading squad it was right around then that Emma caught the attention of Junior and star-wide receiver Riley gall it came as no surprise that the two were soon Inseparable a steady stream of posts with photos saturated their social media feeds documenting the fun times they shared there were collages such as the one that read look how lucky I am posted by Emma in May of 2016. by the time that fall of 2016 rolled around Emma and Riley were two years into their relationship Emma now a junior remained a dedicated member of the cheerleading squad at Central High though Riley had graduated that previous spring he stayed close to his hometown and was attending Maryville College where he quickly made a name for himself as a wide receiver on the football team then just a few months into the new school year young Emma was gone as routine procedure goes the Knox County Sheriff's office immediately began speaking with those closest to Emma Riley was brought in that evening on the outside chance that he might be able to Aid in the investigation based on a tweet from earlier that day he was very distraught and understandably so that's my beautiful Emma rest easy now sweetheart it read and it just so happens word has gotten back to law enforcement that Riley has some particularly Eerie information to share apparently Emma had been receiving threatening text messages from an unknown source during the course of the previous weekend the detectives start with brief introductions then get a technical matter out of the way the following footage has been analyzed by a qualified team including a licensed attorney a licensed clinical psychologist a former licensed professional counselor and a licensed professional counselor um [Music] because basically if you're in a position that you can't get up and leave and get out on your own they technically look at that in court as being in custody but I understand you're not interested I'd offered a handcuffs on there and I told you've been trying to think after Riley has read his rights they engage him in a bit of small talk and efforts to build rapport establish a Baseline and make him feel comfortable um while we're waiting on him tell me a little bit about yourself and I will obviously play uh football at Maryland college I'm assuming you played football in high school in support position I could see her cornerback must be pretty good well you kick calls but all over the place uh last year so I've been your senior year that was a good thing it's always painful to lose you guys um a few minutes later the detectives dive into the true reason for the meeting they asked Riley to provide a timeline of his whereabouts over the previous weekend Wednesday Friday I have an 8 AM and a 9 A.M and Tuesday Thursday I have a 6 a.m and an 11 A.M and in the other class on Monday Wednesday Friday is the 1pm wow you stood pretty busy don't you let's start with Friday and you get out of class at 1pm what happens from there Riley explains that he headed to his grandparents home that evening then went to his friend Noah's home shortly after him where he spent the night then according to Riley his seemingly normal morning took a chilling turn and it all started with a message from Emma and she was she was kind of acting frantic over the phone and she said that someone was trying to get into her house somebody who starts not black they had a face mask on she says that she's home she said she thought they were taking a walk in the neighborhood and then when she passed in the clock to her driveway they put on a pair of glasses and they started like she said they kind of like sped up so she went into the garage and shut the garage and that's went off all the stuff and drove all the way to her neighborhood do you have did you say she texted you that information she or just she texted me like she was asking if it was me at first and I told her no what's going on and then she FaceTime called me she was crying and freaking out so I said okay give me a minute I'll come down and check it out Riley raced to Emma's home and approximately 10 minutes later he arrived hi uh I went to your backyard make sure you know my mom's back there checked into the porch and everything um looked up and down the street but by that time the would-be Intruder was gone still a residential surveillance camera captured a few seconds of footage as the man walked down the street Riley returned to Noah's house somewhere around 8 pm and stayed the night once again [Music] I don't know what time I woke up but when I woke up I went back to my grandparents and then went back over to Miller's house and I got back to campus around 11 30 11 45. naturally the college freshman had left his homework until somewhere around midnight Monday morning I got back up to my dorm and I tried logging in onto my Miracle College email but I realized I couldn't because I was logged in on my grandparents my grandmother's laptop back in Knoxville and it was late almost 12 30 12 15 or 12 30 around there so I didn't think they were waiting until I drove back to Knoxville because I need to do my homework and I love myself at a laptop at my grandparents house my grandfather was awake though he saw me log out of a laptop and from there I left it's intriguing that Riley felt the need to emphasize how his grandfather saw him log out of the laptop almost as if he's expecting that the detectives will think he's lying about why he went home when someone who's being questioned acts defensive before they have even been accused of something it can be seen by law enforcement as a possible sign of deception I ended up not doing any of my homework instead I got back to campus around 1am and just sat my car for about two hours two and a half hours and just went 4 30 I fell asleep fell asleep around noon and that's when I woke up to people calling me about what had happened well Kirsty he texted me and he was like hey man I'm sorry about what happened so I was like what are you talking about and he called me after that and he said did you not hear about that not said no what are you talking about and he said uh they found him this morning or unresponsive is what he told me and that's when I started I'm freaking out I have a breakdown for my parents or my mom and my grandmother were coming out to campus together as soon as he starts talking about being told about Emma's death Riley starts stroking his face this is a self-soothing behavior indicative of heightened anxiety this could be because the topic is distressing for him which would be understandable or a hint that may be something else about the topic makes him nervous although some dismiss nonverbal analysis is pseudoscience and whether or not the viewer agrees with it it is used by the FBI CIA and police during interrogations which is why we included when the CIA is interrogating an individual they look for clusters of three or more indicators that occur in either quick succession or all at once these indicators can be signs of discomfort or uncertainty in what the individual is stating rather than indicators of deception it's extremely important to note that you cannot detect deception through non-verbal analysis alone so and then once your grandparents got you and you went back to their house I can't got you that's where you went back all day my girlfriend's house today until yeah after a comprehensive run-through of Riley's previous weekend the detectives transitioned to the sensitive subject of his longtime girlfriend's Unexpected death perhaps Riley can provide something for law enforcement to go on a detail that may seem insignificant to him may be the very information needed to crack the case tell me tell me what you know about him [Music] speculation what have you heard I've tried to uh anything all about different things I've heard she just passing her sleep heard she Charlie I heard a stray bullet came to the wall but that made no sense to me because it's her room it's a strangle it dwells from so it has to be from the backyard because that's where her window is I don't know that one didn't make sense to me but those are the main theories who have you talked to where have you heard these rumors about um passing in her sleep and all that stuff um I've had a bunch of my other my friends visited me today he's my grandparents house and they would just tell me different stuff that they've heard from different people Riley has been fidgeting and spinning his seat throughout the interview so far but as soon as the detectives start asking about Emma's death and the rumors surrounding it he also begins picking at his fingers which is typically an anxiety response um do you remember who told you the straight bullet um yeah it was actually about an hour ago with each other his name is Jacob how do you know Jake we've been friends in the second period did he say where he heard the Cherry bullet theory he said he probably said that doesn't sound right to him either but horrifyingly so it seems that the detectives are beginning to consider that the killer could be hiding and play inside disguised as a grieving friend perhaps they even paid Riley a visit in an attempt to avoid suspicion simply playing the part of another young mourner expressing condolences to the longtime boyfriend of the deceased detectives of collected potential leads and Riley's visitors from earlier that day and with this the entire trajectory of the investigation has drastically changed can you think of anyone that would want to hurt him up because I mean she had no enemies that wouldn't hurt her I mean she has High School drama in these but like the girls came alive but do that machine she can't get along with everybody I mean I I don't know yeah she was she is very likable she didn't and she was friends with most anybody that she talked to the last time you talked to her you said was Sunday Sunday night Sunday night did she make any comments about anybody mad at her upset at her or anything harder you know but the only thing that I thought of was whoever the person was that heard uh house Saturday morning that's the first thing I thought I would believe I heard that she passed this morning then a completely unexpected Revelation is brought to light and it changes everything do you have people that are mad at you or anything either you know repeating the question can be a red flag to detectives it could mean that the person being interviewed needs time to think about their response a deceptive individual likely wants to prevent awkward silences after a question as that could seem suspicious however if they need a moment to consider what they should say they might repeat the question to fill that conversation Gap but I don't I don't know like I don't know anything about it notice the weak movement Riley makes here it's a half-hearted shrug and His Hands barely raise throughout his illustrators have been minimal we don't have anything of him before the interview to really compare to but it's in atypical behavior for people in general to have such weak non-verbals illustrators help people make points while they speak in contrast restrained gesturing is believed to be a Telltale sign of deception um Friday this past Friday and when did that happen online I just don't I don't remember much about it from the two guys literally I was Friday night before I got two notes I went up to monster's house and I'm pulling the driveway and this band pulled over across anything he's got cool and these two guys were like walking across the street and I was didn't think anything of it because they were like in a rush and I turned around I'm about to get in my car and it's kind of one of them grabs my bag and the other one's around the corner and they just like put their hands over my face and just took me to their van or whatever finally we see Riley use larger non-verbal indicators his palms are up in a position usually indicating that he's asking to be believed or trying to be convincing but they don't fit with his words his hands just sit there for quite a long time with no words to go along with it I I don't remember much they just had me I couldn't see anything they had something over my eyes I haven't told my mom or anybody about this oh really well you care about it you're so am I do anybody you know can you get out on this do you gambled so these guys just randomly picked you out for no reason I guess Riley's account sounds a bit questionable especially because he doesn't give a clear reason as to why he can't remember much of it he's also left out any mention of his feelings during the event and only mentions being terrified to justify why he hasn't told his mom about it most people who were telling the truth about something major such as being kidnapped will Express what their emotions were at the time this is because their emotions are tied to the memory of the traumatic event when someone leaves these details out it can be a red flag for possible deception but the question is what could he be leaving out that same night Emma had attended a gathering at a friend's home after the football game it was somewhere around 11 30 PM when she began receiving alarming text messages from an unfamiliar phone number they did ask me they were like they're like who do you want to talk to for the last time freaking out and I said hey Mom text messages instructed Emma to go outside they stated that they had her loved one in their possession and if she didn't comply with their demands he'd be hurt and they made me call him she wouldn't answer my phone multiple times so they use their phone and I was just crawling and screaming she thought it was a joke she thought I was playing prank calling Riley has been fidgeting with his hands and moving in his seat this entire time this indicates that he's been letting off his excess energy which is going to be a red flag to the officers that he may be hiding something the fact that Emma thought Riley was playing a joke on her could suggest that he had done something in the past to make her doubt his sincerity a friend accompanied him outside and that was when they located Riley lying face down in a nearby ditch according to her friend Riley appeared to be disoriented I woke up wearing for after that you still know when they were loud yeah they thought it was they thought it was messing with them that's why I haven't talked to anyone about it because no one will take this year so it's interesting that Riley still hasn't asked exactly what happened to Emma most people would ask at some point while maybe not early on since they don't want to interrupt investigators they wouldn't want to sit through the entire interview without asking for some kind of information about what happened this is likely a red flag to Detectives after acquiring the information they need for the time being the detectives conclude their interview with Riley I do appreciate that it's clear that investigators know Emma didn't take her own life but instead believe something far more Sinister occurred though the information hasn't yet been made public they're aware that Emma died as a result of a single gunshot the bullet having traveled through the exterior of her house before striking Emma in the head somewhere around this time law enforcement is approached by friends of Emma who strongly suspect they know the identity of the killer they want to assist in the investigation in fact they believe they can get their hands on the very weapon that might have been used to murder Emma earlier that same morning if the rumors that she died of a gunshot wound are accurate you see the person they suspect is also a close friend of theirs in addition one of the teens has recently witnessed something quite coincidental the suspect had recently acquired a firearm in fact he'd gone so far as to show it to one of them with the friends having come forward the idea that the Killer is among them has gained even more credibility to disturbing as it is despite the potential dangers of which they're warned the amateur detectives ought to go through with the sting operation on November 22nd just one day after Emma had died a plan is constructed and the friends are wired and equipped with a hidden camera oh [Applause] and with the short briefing from detectives the precarious Mission headed by a brave couple of teens is underway the friends return to one of their homes and prepare for the suspect to arrive d okay yeah yeah that's fine okay yeah we'll go there all right I'll see you why did he say that why did he say he just wanted to talk to me no holy why does he really talk to him as well all I can think about is that he will trust you immunity which I mean yeah all right FYI guys my roommate is not home he's gonna be at work until about like one or two a.m tonight one of the friends updates law enforcement who's listening in the suspect is due to arrive in just a few minutes the hidden camera is strategically placed just before the suspect enters with his friend and both take a seat on the couch apparently the two had a short conversation outside and the suspect would lie for his friends to accompany him on an errand of sorts but before they get to that they speculate on Emma's potential manner of death we know that very little information has been made public and they only have rumors to go on well two of them at least we suspect that the third knows everything they would have automatically ruled out any kind of suicide or I mean not ruled it out but like if you got shot through the wall you don't just get shot and die instantly unless you get hit and throw her in the head yeah unless you got shot directly in the heart but still even that like you're gonna feel that wake up and be able to try and like crawl out of your bed yeah it doesn't make sense like I still don't understand how she died it's likely that no part of this discussion is medically accurate but the undercover friends play along in an attempt to get more information from the suspect and the speculation continues and she would like same picture and stuff say summer shorter and while here in the stomach she's got she's going to wake up you don't just get shot and it's way there you know I don't see how she wouldn't scream or something plugging things and she says unless it was just like a ridiculous shot if it hit her in the head and they would have saw that yeah yeah you could have walked in and seen her just before it was a it was a murder investigation from finally that morning as far as I know like they never know they always don't know anything about how she was found or when she was found because that's exactly what if they always knew whatever you hear it from could not be true they knew it was always started from the first Stadium because they put yeah and protected custody you serious yeah the suspect is clearly alarmed by this information the thought of a friend having been murdered would be quite devastating to hear however it's much more probable that the shock is from knowing that if her death was in fact a homicide then law enforcement's main focus will be to locate the killer which brings us to our next important topic of conversation but I'm trusting you guys like with my life because I mean this is 70 years in jail if I be convicted of something I didn't do yeah are you guys are you busy right now do you have to do anything um foreign so that's why I just want to eliminate that from the equation as a whole actually cover your basis I mean I feel you that's that's your decision well do you happen to go right now I'm fine let me grab some let me go ahead and started being myself after preparing a couple of Hot Pockets the teens depart in route to an area that overlooks the Tennessee River not far from the University of Tennessee campus known as The Bluffs it's possible that the suspect isn't just looking for moral support here by involving his friends in the disposal of the gun he's likely trying to protect himself if he gets them to help they'll be more likely to follow his plan of lying to the police about what they know of the gun and he'll be able to hold their involvement over them they won't want legal consequences for their part in getting rid of potential evidence so they'll feel more motivated to lie for the suspects you're not back in two minutes we'll come after you less than four nerve-wracking minutes later the suspect returns to the vehicle I think there's clubs I'll carry uh carried up the gloves on get to the top we're throwing their bullets individually it's on the clip and down the up judging by the fact that the suspect keeps repeating how he wants to get rid of the gun it seems that he's assuming that getting rid of the gun will mean that police will not have any evidence that points to him they make one more detour and stop for some gas and fast food the suspect seated in the front passenger seat hasn't allowed him as death to affect his appetite about 15 minutes later they arrive at the Bluffs and the horrifying Moment of Truth has almost arrived they don't have my fingerprints in any database thank you foreign the utter magnitude of the reality has to be overwhelming as they lay their eyes on the very weapon that they believed was used to end Emma's life then seemingly out of nowhere the teens are rudely awakened to find that they're not alone amid the chaos in just seconds the suspect will be ordered to exit the vehicle and all those present are aware that he's in the possession of the suspected murder weapon if the suspect feels like he has nothing left to lose and senses that his friends betrayed him he may choose to take revenge [Music] yes [Music] open the door all the way ask you to be here so keep your hands up hands up thankfully he's apprehended without incident where passenger do not move do you understand me yes do you understand yes do not move your hands yeah right there right there move the bag back towards the seat yep okay just not just pull that bag enough and let's just to see the serial number just to see the serial number out here if you want to look at this if you want me to start and see her do it for a hold and see if we can take care of no one because uh I'll call uh and with that the serial number was confirmed to belong to a gun that has very recently landed itself on law enforcement's radar it had been kept under the driver's seat of the owner's vehicle until on November 18th when he realized it was missing and here's where it all begins to come crashing down on November 20th James Walker reported his Glock nine millimeter pistol stolen though James and Emma's family share a surname they are of no relation James however is related to someone else who's very close to the case his grandson happens to be none other than The Grieving boyfriend Riley Gall that's right the suspect was actually Riley all along in addition to the firearm other damning evidence was recovered including the gloves we heard mention of and black clothing that would later confirm that Riley was likely the suspicious man dressed in black as it turns out there's much more to this convoluted story than initially meets the eye let's take a closer look into the events that transpired over those two years what you're about to see will paint a picture of a tumultuous roller coaster of a relationship remarkably different than what you've seen so far it all started when that freshman cheerleader caught the eye of that star-wide receiver [Music] about two years until about two weeks ago is when she really cut it off all right cut it off in the past four team cut it off the floor just kind of went back and forth it would be a month at a time and then we'd have a small Fallout and then we get back together it wasn't far into the relationship before Emma's friends and family began to see concerning signs Emma's friends observed Riley exhibit behavior that they could only describe as controlling possessive and clingy Riley wanted Emma to himself and according to Emma's mom Jill Riley even attempted to control what Emma wore the sort of jealousy and possessiveness is typical of abusive relationships the perpetrator essentially treats the victim like a possession rather than a human being it is common for perpetrators of abusive relationships to have anti-social personality disorder individuals with this personality disorder often have a need to dominate others and use others to fulfill their own emotional needs along with this Riley quickly became obsessed with Emma and their relationship their relationship seems to have followed the three stages of obsession the first is the absorbed stage the initial attachment is Extreme and everything becomes serious very early on the obsessive partner places the other partner in a specific role which is consistent with Riley's attempt to dictate what Emma wore next comes the agitated stage as the relationship progresses the obsessive partner increasingly attempts to control the other they text call or email numerous times a day they're jealous of anyone or anything that takes time away from the relationship and attempt to isolate their partner from friends and family the third and final stage is the aggressive stage which typically starts when either previously successful attempts at controlling the partner have failed or the partner has ended the relationship at this point the obsessive partner UPS the ante they may suddenly show up to places Uninvited they may alternate between pleas to reunite and vows of Vengeance for some desperate or disturbed individuals the behavior Can escalate to stalking threats or physical violence as it turns out in the midst of those breakups Riley referenced he'd send Emma the most vile of messages through social media among them I hate you I hate everything about you and you're the biggest [ __ ] I've ever come in contact with the messages eventually escalated to a whole new menacing level with one in particular reading you're dead to me I'll check the obituary [ __ ] you when Emma's parents caught wind of this Riley was understandably no longer allowed in their home They confiscated him as cell phone in an attempt to end communication between her and Riley but the attempt failed they advised Emma to break up with Riley and her friends did the same however Emma wasn't ready to cut ties and she was one to make her own decisions it can be incredibly difficult for someone to leave an abusive relationship those on the outside often question why someone would stay but abusers are not abusive all the time and often have a seemingly loving side to them by turning the charm on abusers are able to manipulate their partner into staying or giving the abuser another chance however the cycle of abuse will likely continue and the level of abuse can escalate over time and of course Riley's Behavior became increasingly alarming he began stalking Emma he'd wait for hours on end outside the supermarket where she worked and continued attempting to speak with her even after Emma's parents had forbidden contact between the two finally somewhere around early November of 2016. Emma ended things with Riley in fact she informed a close friend that they were done for good and for a matter of about two weeks friends and family had their Emma back it's important to note that when someone leaves an abusive relationship this is considered to be the most dangerous time once the abuser realizes that none of their usual tactics are working to get their partner back their violent Behavior May escalate because they feel so out of control shortly after Emma ended the relationship Riley allegedly attempted to take his own life campus friends took him to the local hospital for treatment effectively saving his life maybe it was then that he made the ultimate decision if he couldn't have Emma he'd see to it that no one would then a crime of convenience presented itself back in Riley's previous interrogation the question turn to the missing firearm investigators are starting to look at the means and access to the aspects of the crime which is in a sense Riley's ability to commit the crime guns yeah uh can you tell me about that either during the week last week because he he came and switched out my car with his car to go get a uh to get the oil change up back in Knoxville so he left his car on campus but he took his keys with him and he said when he got back we switched our cars again and he took off and he called me maybe 10 minutes later or five or ten minutes later and said you know how I got that I said no I haven't been in your car did you remember what time last week that was it might have been Friday then he was I'm sorry it was Thursday Friday he came to do that but he left his car on campus so he took his keys with him okay so I didn't even go to the car because it only took an hour he brought my car back we switched out again and that's when he got on the road and called me about five or ten minutes later and asked if I I don't know just so did you have a way to use this color I mean did he give you a set of keys or no and he took the keys well I mean I didn't know if you had the extra sale I mean like I've got keys in my brother's Vehicles guys he's got an extra to my car that he used I kept my keys on me because I need to keep in my door the detective has a few important questions but have you ever taken your grandfather's gun right okay and then like taking show buddy or anything bring it back or nothing Riley maintains constant eye contact here while many mistakenly believe that eye contact indicates honesty the opposite is true sustained eye contact typically indicates dishonesty as the individual is carefully watching to see if their story is being believed I understand he told you about the gun I had that gun because I was scared about what happened I know you don't believe me you probably don't either whatever I'm telling you I mean I don't believe that but I I believe you more that you didn't shoot him because that's a big step though we can't be sure which scary occurrence Riley was referring to we know that the gun went missing before the weekend and all the events that came with it even arrived this simply cannot be explained away apparently before Riley actually put the stolen gun to use he made a couple of last-ditch efforts to reel Emma back in there was the staged kidnapping but Emma was wise to his scheming ways and told him to leave her alone Riley retreated to his friend Noah's home where he stayed the night and you probably recall that Noah didn't even buy Riley's story of having been abducted I mean I don't believe that but I I believe anymore that you didn't shoot him because that's a big step space on it was they thought it was nice this could be an indication that Riley's friends know that he tends to lie or make up stories lying is another key trait of individuals with anti-social personality disorder these individuals lie in order to manipulate others and get their needs met since people with antisocial personality disorder lack empathy they're often indifferent to the fact that their lies and manipulation can harm others after the stage kidnapping failed to win Emma back Riley conjured up a new plan and put it into action the following morning Saturday November 19th the infamous masked man dressed in all black Emma was so terrified she'd later tell her friend she thought she was going to die so you went to the backyard chicks if you saw anything yeah how do you get in the backyard a good question here seeing as how detectives know that a shot was fired into the house from the backyard [Music] off to the right side of her house there's a gate that has an unlocked and just open up the latches and detectives are effectively establishing Riley's familiarity with Emma's house and yard layout which supports the establishment of ability knowledge and opportunity to commit the crime Riley's knowledge of where to shoot in order to strike or frighten Emma is an important piece of evidence related to his ability to carry out the crime of course by the time Riley arrived the masked man was conveniently nowhere to be found around that very time Emma's mother returned home her parents aren't following me so she just saw me and told me to leave and I was coming up to the car I was like I'm not here to harass her I was just here because she call for help here are some more authentic displays of Riley's non-verbals we can be fairly certain this happened just as he said it and his gestures are less restrained and more spontaneous as well they easily match up with what he's saying uh because of the first time we broke up and uh I cheated on her and her parents never forget me for that even when she did and they never let us uh never let us have an actual relationship for the remainder of the time we were together after that I finally back over to Noah's house uh do you have your phone with you I did not oh man I'd like to see that text message after after that look at everything so I just don't want to think about it but clearly there was a motive behind the act it wasn't just a case of attempting to spare himself the painful memories of the love he'd once had and lost the inspiration behind it was something much more calculated he wanted to hide the contents of his conversations with Emma and didn't want to leave behind any information related to his whereabouts on the night she was killed or maybe the text messages never even happened and Riley is claiming to have deleted them to explain the absence of messages it would later be found that another one of Emma's friends had witnessed Riley roaming the neighborhood that morning dressed in all black after these most recent failed attempts to lure Emma back into his clutches Riley had come to a Crossroads Emma had drawn the Line in the Sand she was done once and for all Riley it seems was faced with two choices for one he could choose to move on with his own life just as Emma planned to do then there was the other option just two days later his decision would be reflected in an utterly horrendous Act you probably recall Riley's story of how Sunday night played out well there was more to it than he'd originally led the detectives to believe in fact he'd failed to include the most crucial details about Monday's earliest hours around and live yeah to in fact cancer she decided you guys around 11 45 called him from Maximum from Max from Riley had borrowed a phone from his friend Max Siegel also a football player at Maryville College because Emma had either blocked his number or refused to answer his calls coincidentally Mack was one of the friends who took Riley to the hospital for treatment a week or two earlier after his attempt to take his own life oftentimes people who were highly manipulative and controlling and relationships will make or fake and attempt to take their life as a means of trying to manipulate and control their partner this is truly the ultimate form of emotional manipulation this was the point where Riley realized he'd have to log out of his grandmother's computer in order to access his college email or so he said then Riley's story took a peculiar detour a poor attempt to explain away an account of a very suspicious alleged conversation that had made its way back to detectives so how do you have a conversation when you come in at 12 15. no it wasn't a conversation with him I'll walk in there and I was about to get on my laptop so I was in the information and then realized that I had to go back to work myself out of my Medical College email address and he was like Hey I have this rival or whatever he was like you know how to get smudges and stuff off like the barrel the handle the butt and all that and I'm like what do you mean somebody just he's like like your fingerprints like the oil and dirt and all that and I was like I don't know Riley has made a poor attempt to establish an alternate set of facts in order to cover up the conversation about removing fingerprints on a firearm however detectives likely believe they have established Riley's knowledge of guilt despite the fact that Riley was in a state of despair after the phone call with Emma hadn't gone well he took the time to research the question further and when I called and I was upset about that I told him on the phone I said when I asked him that question he was like it's a really sketchy question asking I was like I know but you're the first person on the phone so I figured I would just ask you detectives had to have detected deception in that far-fetched tale of course they let that one go for the time being and continued with Riley's account of that fateful Monday morning and he went back to your grandparents yes he hides his hands in his pocket here a gesture intended to give someone a sense of comfort and safety in a situation that is clearly becoming increasingly more stressful and wet for two three hours because uh maybe she wasn't gonna come back and I've always gotten to come back and pass and I was just she bought and everything so I couldn't send her anything the only thing I could send her messages on Twitter that's why I told you I sent that message around the morning you know sorry that she didn't want what we have anymore and I hope that she was going to do great things in the future it appears that Riley is picking at his nails here which is a grooming gesture grooming behaviors alone are not a definite sign of deception but they do indicate that the person may be feeling uncomfortable and is trying to release some anxiety possibly because they're lying despite Riley saying how much he loved Emma there's no emotion in his voice to support this and he hasn't expressed any interest in finding out what happened to him but there was one more thing he had to do before he'd leave her alone [Music] I've done that before this window of time supposedly spent in his car is a convenient explanation of his whereabouts for those three hours which we know was precisely the time that Emma was killed in her room also convenient is the fact that no one saw him because he was alone in his car so a roommate for instance can't be questioned later and asked when Riley returned to the dorm that night Riley the master manipulator is using his go-to tactic his supposed emotional distress the detective then deferred to his partner and asked if he had any questions however Riley was wise to the tactic they're playing the good car back up bro like they legit like I didn't know Carlton actually did this and they do because the one that was being decent was asking me all the questions and then when he was done he'd be like do you have any questions and then the guy would just be like yeah I was just wondering why you're a little foggy on who you're with and you seem like you're kind of lying to and I was like I'm not why yeah it didn't quite unfold like Riley had described similar to Ingles did you know yeah have you ever had any uh servants or anything with her at Ingles maybe a week and a half ago I met her when she was going into work because she had done the same thing she did and she's been blocking me he told me that she was done and I went there and I told her I was trying to just just get a reason with me then the bad cop has a few more pertinent questions for Riley and every time every time I talk to somebody the gun has come up the Eagles and they go to the apartment with a gun they're saying that I might have a gun I don't want nobody else to have you or anything like that it's not there but you have you done that before then no I've never done that what why is why does people say that you might have no Gunner I don't know I mean they're your friends I mean they're they're your they're your boys they're your pigs why would they keep telling me that they had that you have a gun I mean help me understand that um so does Alex Isaac and knowledge or three is that your three best friends three of them yes you spent all weekend with no correct okay Liars are they dishonest everybody's a liar necessarily everybody lies I don't know why they would lie or why they got that common misconception if one of them have it my grandfather always kept it under his car or under the bed naturally Riley wasn't pleased that his friends had disclosed information about the gun they knew he had in his possession his displeasure is clearly reflected in a text message thread between him and his friend Alex shortly after Riley's only interview took place why did you tell him about the gun Riley asks Alex they think I shot her because of it please text me back among Alex's replies if you didn't do anything you have nothing to hide why did you tell me you were trying to get rid of the gun you lied and said you already gave it back to your grandpa then that evening Riley followed up with some questionable legal counsel for both Alex and Noah what I'm saying is is if I have to go to court in front of a grand jury or anything and you have to testify or if the cops come and talk to you again whenever you talk to them just be like you were too afraid to tell them that you were on acid because you thought you were going to get in trouble yeah that's true I would never mention that you know yeah and if anything about that gun just say I must have misunderstood or something because I was tripping balls I really don't know what was going on he was just like Riley was just complaining to me about some stuff I guess I thought I heard something about a gun and his grandfather thinking that he took it you know if you tell them you're on LLC you're drunk and you're hot your mind was altered whatever statement you give them wasn't a straightforward answer if you just tell them that you were on acid high and drunk and just you didn't really understand what I was saying you just kind of went along with it I just tell them I was the only sober person here and I'll guess I'll talk to Isaac because Isaac's gonna be sketchy about that too with telling the cops that he was on the drug but I'll talk to him another time the detectives decide it's time to confront Riley it's obvious he isn't being forthcoming with them and they definitely aren't convinced by his elaborate lies they apply more pressure as they lay it all out for him we have a gun that lost your grandfather business okay we have all your friends saying that you've been talking about this gun we have one of your friends saying that he saw he was again that you showed him the gun and that you told him you've got it from your grandfather okay okay I find that hard to believe that these guys are just making me good I don't have anything else to say I've told you the job I've told you the truth for me well if it's going to be the same question that's the same answer Riley is clearly frustrated at this point but he sticks with his original story and remains consistent in a last-ditch effort to get more from Riley the detectives divulge a bit of what they found so far we've covered um some rounds and those rounds happen to match the same type of ammunition the true grandfather uses in his gun so you do know how she thought and you can say that I said that we have recovered some rounds and those rounds are the same type of rounds that your grandfather uses look at his hand movement even while in his pocket his hands shift up to cover his stomach when he's told the bullets match his grandfather's gun when someone finds themselves in a vulnerable situation they may put their hands over their stomach to comfort themselves and feel more protected when a suspect doesn't show a level of concern that is appropriate for the situation detectives will see this as a red flag while it's true that people may handle grief and difficult news differently having a complete lack of reaction to finding out the cause of your loved one's Unexpected death would be unusual for someone who is innocent Riley's Focus throughout the interrogation has remained on himself and he hasn't expressed any interest in finding out what happened to the girl he supposedly loved of course we're now aware that he knows exactly what happened to Emma if I am able to find your grandfather's young then I can match that to the rounds that I found and determine whether or not that gun and these rounds are actually from the same point so help me [Music] but Riley sticks to a story your timeline while it's somewhat consistent still has holes in it there's one major hole in this story yeah let me ask you did you call anybody during that time any friends or family or anything like that of course Riley can't recall for sure he'd have to take a look at his cell phone which conveniently is not on him at this time but with the help of local cell towers Riley's path during those three hours is traced and the findings completely destroy his story Riley left campus slightly before 12 15 a.m just as he'd stated however he didn't return until approximately 4 20 a.m at the time Emma's death was estimated to have occurred roughly around 3 A.M Riley was clearly in the vicinity of Emma's home nowhere near the college campus this evidence is difficult to refute to say the least as the interview is coming to a close the bad cop drops one more bombshell on Riley a couple rounds all right the rounds that were found out there okay who would want to take your grandfather's gun and take it to that house and and shoot at the house do you know anybody who want to do that I don't know anyone who ever want to hurt that girl Riley's Detachment and lack of feeling for Emma is evidenced in the way he repeatedly refers to her as that girl rather than using her name this also allows him to distance himself from her Riley remains unaffected by the pressure and is very confident so much so that it almost seems as if this is something he's familiar with though Riley may appear unaffected by the pressure he's rubbing his face which is generally considered to be a self-soothing behavior then the detective proposes a potential explanation I'm not saying that that's what's that's happened over there but I'm saying that the house was shot no I don't know anyone that we want to do that the detective seems to be trying to provide Riley with a way out a possible explanation that he can use because it's likely easier for Riley to confess that he was trying to scare Emma rather than confessing to intentionally trying to shoot her the detective is probably hoping that Riley will find himself cornered and then ultimately confess to this less severe explanation of Emma's death make a mental note of the detective's explanation I'm not saying that that's what's happened over there you'll see that it will surface again shortly at this point the detectives have found themselves between a rock and a hard place they're not gaining any ground the interview is concluded Riley seems confident that he's outmaneuvered the detectives as if he already has this one in the bag they interrogate me for two and a half hours if they could they would have arrested me already Riley is likely feeling confident that as long as he gets rid of the gun the detectives won't have enough evidence to convict him he may have an inflated sense of self-esteem and believe he can outsmart the police and even get away with murder however as he sits on this very sofa before two of his closest friends and feeds them false information to relate to law enforcement there's much more going on behind the scenes than he could ever imagine The Sting operation was carried out Tuesday night just one day after Emma was murdered and Riley was questioned as you heard everything went down as planned and the operation proved to be a success when the trial rolled around in May of 2018 Riley and his attorneys adopted a creative defense you probably recall this morning I'm not saying that that's what's that's happened over there but I'm saying that the house was shot no I don't know anyone that would want to do that well according to his attorney Riley had never intended to harm Emma the two gunshots that pierce the exterior walls of her home were simply another attempt to scare Emma in hopes she'd reach out to him for help once again he never intended to shoot her they claimed in the end though the jury found no credibility in the defense Riley was found guilty of stalking theft reckless endangerment possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony and of course first degree murder and in Tennessee a first-degree murder conviction is accompanied by an automatic life sentence and keeping with her thoughtful nature March 24th will remain Emma Walker day in Knoxville it will remain a time to recall the happy memories and perform random acts of kindness in memory of a kind soul whose life was cut far too short

Channel: EXPLORE WITH US

Views: 4,258,702

Keywords: documentary, true crime documentary, psychology, law, educational, analysis

Id: ReP0y0GNE9E

Length: 62min 3sec (3723 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 13 2023