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2:15

How you doing tonight Aaron? I think I'm

2:18

doing pretty good, but how are you

2:20

today? I'm doing good. The people want

2:22

to know. It's always a good day.

2:24

And as we record this, I know this

2:26

will come out much later, but as we

2:28

record this, we're seeing all the Spotify

2:30

wrapped info coming out for every

2:32

account. So many people have followed

2:34

us and listened to us all year

2:36

long, and we're getting lots of love

2:39

from the audience today. It's pretty nice.

2:41

Yeah, thank you so much. We have

2:43

some events coming up. I

2:45

myself will be at Advocacy

2:48

Con in Indianapolis, Indiana, March

2:50

28th through the 30th in

2:53

2025. Yes, we're already almost

2:55

to the next year. Go

2:58

out to their website advocacycon.com

3:00

and use code Gen Y10.

3:02

Also, Aaron and I will

3:05

be in London June 7th

3:07

through the 8th for CrimeCon

3:10

UK. user code GenY for

3:12

your ticket. And just so you're

3:14

aware, Justin, this is the new

3:16

year according to when this episode

3:19

releases in 2025. But this is

3:21

why we record ahead of time. So

3:23

we are prepared and if Justin comes

3:25

down with COVID or I don't

3:28

know, I go into a coma,

3:30

then we're good for a while

3:32

and you'll still hear our soothing

3:34

voices every week. We don't want

3:36

to miss. Also a little bit of

3:38

sad news. Alex, who had an

3:40

account on Instagram, True Crime, and

3:42

Snack Time, she was a big

3:44

podcast listener and she loved Generation

3:46

Y. We heard from her friend

3:49

T that she sadly passed away

3:51

in September of 2024, which at

3:53

this point was just a few

3:55

months ago. So a shout out

3:57

to T and to Alex and

3:59

we're sober. sorry to hear that.

4:01

So where in tonight's case is

4:03

a kind of a wild one,

4:06

suspect isn't somebody that most people

4:08

would think of, go to, this

4:10

case happened here in Columbia, Missouri,

4:12

which is just, I don't know,

4:15

an hour and a half from

4:17

where we live, and it's a

4:19

sad one that I did not

4:21

know about until this week when

4:24

we started researching and covering it.

4:26

So what are we talking about

4:28

tonight? Tonight we're talking about the

4:30

June 5th 2004 murder of 23

4:33

year old college student Jesse Valencia

4:35

in Columbia Missouri He was killed

4:37

just a block away from his

4:39

apartment Jesse Valencia was originally from

4:42

Prairieville, Kentucky at the time of

4:44

his death. He was a junior

4:46

He was a history major at

4:48

University of Missouri Columbia Jesse wanted

4:51

to be a lawyer one day,

4:53

and he had published editorial work

4:55

in local newspapers. Jesse's mother described

4:57

him as a free spirit, a

5:00

social butterfly. He talked to his

5:02

mother about everything. They had a

5:04

very close relationship, and Jesse was

5:06

openly gay. His mother Linda Valencia

5:09

told Dateline he was really outgoing

5:11

and outspoken. He was the type

5:13

of boy that would tell you

5:16

exactly what he thought, and if

5:18

you didn't like hearing it. he

5:20

would try to sugarcoat it a

5:22

little bit for you, but he

5:25

would always tell you exactly how

5:27

he felt about something. Jesse was

5:29

the first to go to college

5:31

in his family. He did well

5:34

in school and had a lot

5:36

of friends, and like most college

5:38

students, he enjoyed partying, and he

5:40

would attend these parties with friends.

5:43

There's a lot of photos out

5:45

there with him. I guess they

5:47

would dress up for a lot

5:49

of these parties. They're like kind

5:52

of masquerades or... Halloween parties and

5:54

stuff and themed parties if you

5:56

will seems like a really fun

5:58

guy Since August of 2003 Jesse

6:01

had been living in an apartment

6:03

near the campus. On June 4th

6:05

2004 Jesse's landlord spoke to him

6:07

about his overdue rent. Now Jesse

6:10

left a partial payment in

6:12

the mailbox and an apologetic

6:14

note he's trying to smooth

6:16

things over and he said he intended

6:18

to pay the rest by June 18th.

6:20

But on June 5th 2004 23

6:23

year old Jesse Valencia was found

6:25

dead partially clothed. and lying in

6:27

the grass between two houses near

6:29

the campus of the University of

6:32

Missouri. And for those not familiar

6:34

University of Missouri, that

6:36

is Columbia, Missouri. That's where it's

6:38

at. And I've been there a

6:40

number of times. Have you been out there,

6:43

Justin? Oh yeah, I know people out there.

6:45

So Jesse was found after 2 p.m.m.

6:47

near Wilson Avenue and William Street,

6:49

which was a block west of

6:52

his apartment. MU student Matt Finnecon.

6:54

and a few friends were standing at

6:56

a parking lot, preparing to leave for

6:58

a trip when he saw Jesse's body

7:01

sprawled on his back. And this

7:03

student said he was awake until

7:05

3.30 that morning, but never heard

7:07

anything unusual outside of his bedroom

7:09

window, which was just six feet from

7:11

where Jesse was found. That's scary, right?

7:13

Normally you can hear everything going

7:16

on, especially on these apartments,

7:18

college campuses. You know, you can't get

7:20

any sleep because of the partying. But

7:22

now he's found... a body right outside

7:25

his window and he didn't hear

7:27

anything. The police discovered

7:29

that Jesse's apartment door had

7:31

been left open. It appeared he

7:33

was trying to flee. He didn't have

7:35

any clothes on. He was wearing

7:37

only his boxers, so police assumed

7:39

that he was chased down and

7:42

his assailant grabbed him and cut

7:44

his throat. Jesse's body was covered

7:46

in bruises on his back, chest,

7:48

and jaw. Jesse's neighbor told the

7:50

police he heard an argument. around

7:53

4 AM. Jesse was found wearing

7:55

only boxer shorts, but

7:57

witnesses said that he

7:59

was fully dressed when he walked

8:01

home from the party from another

8:04

building in the neighborhood between 3

8:06

and 3.30 a.m. So obviously he

8:08

was disrobed or he had gotten

8:10

home and taken his clothes off

8:12

so they're assuming that he was

8:15

running from somebody. Special prosecutor

8:17

Morley Swingle after hearing from

8:19

the medical examiner told oxygen

8:22

that the cut to Jesse's

8:24

neck was so deep the blade of

8:26

the knife nicked his spine. Now a day after

8:28

Jesse was found dead a young man

8:30

named Andy Shermerhorn was questioned by the

8:33

police because he said he knew Jesse

8:35

was having an affair with a police

8:37

officer. In her report Officer Leticia

8:40

Strower noticed that Shermerhorn was

8:42

nervous and afraid of the

8:44

officer involved in the affair.

8:46

So he obviously is saying I

8:48

know stuff but I'm afraid to speak because

8:50

he knows he's giving information to an

8:52

officer who probably is familiar with

8:55

this other officer. But of course

8:57

he's being told, look, this officer won't

8:59

know your name, they're not going

9:01

to see the report. So he went

9:03

on to identify patrolman Stephen Rios

9:05

by looking through a department yearbook,

9:08

meaning he didn't know his name,

9:10

but he could identify him if he

9:12

saw his picture, which he did. Shermerhorn

9:15

explained that on May 14, he

9:17

was at Jesse's apartment and an

9:19

officer showed up in uniform. He said

9:21

the three of them had a consensual

9:24

sexual encounter. This had to

9:26

remain a secret. Not only did

9:28

he identify him from the

9:30

department yearbook, but it said

9:32

that when he went to

9:34

the police department and was

9:36

following the officer to report

9:39

this, Rios walked by them and

9:41

he recognized him in person in

9:43

the hallway and it freaked him

9:45

out. Well, records show that

9:47

Rios checked police dispatch on June

9:49

5th. The prosecution... would later

9:52

argue this was evidence that he wanted to

9:54

see whether someone had found Jesse's body. Now

9:56

of course Rios, and we're getting a little ahead here,

9:58

but we just want to set the scene. We've

16:16

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16:18

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16:20

we even have some new designs. And we

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hope to deliver all that to you. And

16:25

that's why we use ShipStation. Whether you're

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looking for better efficiency during a hectic

16:29

holiday season, Rios

36:51

returned to Columbia after this trip

36:53

and told his wife about the

36:55

tips that were coming in and

36:57

said he was worried people would

37:00

think he was the officer in

37:02

question that was having an affair

37:04

with Jesse Valencia and so his

37:06

wife encouraged him to talk to

37:08

detectives and he did that the

37:11

next day. On the stand Rios

37:13

explained that he threatened to kill

37:15

himself on June 10th because of

37:17

all the reporters flooding to his

37:19

door asking about the affair. Libby

37:22

Rios his wife also testified that

37:24

after her husband told her about

37:26

the affair, they attended counseling. The

37:28

prosecution eventually rests, and the defense

37:30

questioned Professor Dean Stettler, who was

37:32

a DNA expert. He did not

37:35

disagree with the findings that Rios'

37:37

DNA was found under Jesse's fingernails,

37:39

but he did say the DNA

37:41

could have come from Jesse's bedsheets

37:43

and stayed under his nails for

37:46

any length of time, and that

37:48

the hairs found on Jesse's torso

37:50

could have transferred from the sheets

37:52

as well. That's one explanation, I

37:54

guess. In closing arguments, the prosecutor

37:57

told the jury that the Harris

37:59

placed Rios at the crime scene

38:01

because the killer put Jesse in

38:03

a chokehold before using the knife.

38:05

He asked the jury. to weigh

38:08

the fact that Rios' hairs, not

38:10

those of the last sexual partner,

38:12

Ed McDevitt, were found on Jesse's

38:14

body. And I think that's a

38:16

very powerful statement there. The defense

38:18

argued the DNA evidence did not

38:21

prove murder, and the timeline didn't

38:23

work. She argued that poor evidence

38:25

handling tainted. an evidence box containing

38:27

the hair, she suggested, something suspicious

38:29

happened when a single hair with

38:32

blood on it, which was written

38:34

in the first report, changed to

38:36

eight hairs in December 2004, the

38:38

crime lab report. She's saying, oh,

38:40

they only found one, but now,

38:43

you know, months later, they have

38:45

eight hairs. Where all these extra

38:47

hairs come from? She argued the

38:49

investigators were desperate to strengthen their

38:51

case because the initial trace DNA

38:54

under Jesse's fingernails were an extremely

38:56

small amount, wasn't enough. So she's

38:58

saying they needed more evidence against

39:00

this police officer, so they found

39:02

this hair, they found all of

39:04

these other things to point to

39:07

him, but look at his alibi,

39:09

look at the timeline, you know,

39:11

his neighbors saying this argument happened

39:13

earlier in the night when he

39:15

wasn't there. There was multiple DNA

39:18

profiles under the fingernail and this

39:20

hair could have been tainted evidence.

39:22

On May 21st 2005, former officer

39:24

Stephen Rios was found guilty of

39:26

murder and armed criminal action. Jurors

39:29

had spent most of their deliberations

39:31

discussing whether Rios had enough time

39:33

to kill Jesse between leaving the

39:35

police department and arriving home and

39:37

what he did with the knife.

39:40

They decided that if anyone knew

39:42

how to get rid of a

39:44

murder weapon, it would be a

39:46

police officer. After the verdict, Morley

39:48

Swingle revealed that some hearsay testimony

39:50

was not admitted. And this is

39:53

an interesting part of the case

39:55

because we find out that several

39:57

witnesses overheard Jesse referring to this

39:59

officer Rios as Anderson because that's

40:01

what Rios had told him his

40:04

name was. And there's this suspicion

40:06

that Rios went so far as

40:08

to wear a false name tag.

40:10

And so this was his way

40:12

of trying to cover up the

40:15

affair while carrying it on. And

40:17

we find out that there was

40:19

another Columbia officer named Ted Anderson

40:21

who was missing his name tag

40:23

and it was never found. So

40:25

the ex-officer Rios steal this man's

40:28

name tag, put it on his

40:30

uniform to kind of... cover his

40:32

identity while he was having this

40:34

affair with Jesse. Connect the dots.

40:36

Yeah, it seems very possible. And

40:39

by the way, for anyone who's

40:41

interested in books, Morley Swingle these

40:43

days, he's an author, he's got

40:45

a number of books out. So

40:47

if you are interested, check that

40:50

out. Swingle was not able to

40:52

call for special witnesses who were

40:54

waiting in a room in the

40:56

courthouse because... Neither Rios nor the

40:58

defense witnesses testified to the issue

41:01

of his moral character or past

41:03

incidents where he was involved with

41:05

people arrested. So you know how

41:07

it is, there's got to be

41:09

some context here. You can't just

41:11

bring in whatever witness you want.

41:14

And so if a certain subject

41:16

isn't coming up, you just don't

41:18

use these witnesses, but there were

41:20

three women who were prepared to

41:22

testify that Rios propositioned them for

41:25

sex after he arrested them. So

41:27

this shows a pattern of behavior.

41:29

A deputy was ready to testify

41:31

why Rios lost his job as

41:33

a county corrections officer in 1999

41:36

he forged a friend's name on

41:38

a storage locker rental application without

41:40

telling the friend and put his

41:42

personal property in a locker next

41:44

to it. So how did the

41:47

sentencing go? Each morning, it's a

41:49

new opportunity. A chance to start

41:51

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41:55

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42:00

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42:02

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42:04

and down the street, all in

42:06

15 minutes or less. Start your

42:08

day informed in a new with

42:11

up first by subscribing wherever you

42:13

get your podcasts. 2005, Stephen Rios

42:15

was sentenced to life in prison

42:17

plus 10 years for armed criminal

42:19

action. Now, Rios would speak to

42:22

KOMU in 2005 and said, I

42:24

think some of the sensationalized aspects

42:26

of the trial muddied the waters.

42:28

It didn't have anything to do

42:30

with fairness or the truth. It

42:32

had to do with a show.

42:35

And he's claiming that It was

42:37

all about this affair, it was

42:39

all about him being a police

42:41

officer, and just wanting to get

42:43

the clicks and the headlines. But

42:46

the arm hair is in the

42:48

blood, that wasn't important. That doesn't

42:50

matter, right? The only reason I

42:52

get a little upset about this

42:54

quote from him is the fact

42:57

that so many jurors take their

42:59

job very seriously. They listen to

43:01

all the evidence, they listen to

43:03

the testimonies, and they have to

43:05

make a tough decision. And this

43:08

just sort of tries to discount

43:10

that and I just I don't

43:12

appreciate it. But he's been maintaining

43:14

his innocence and appealing this verdict.

43:16

He's saying that the first trial

43:18

was unfair and that there was

43:21

hearsay testimony that was very prejudicial

43:23

to him and would have swayed

43:25

the jury. So he appeals this.

43:27

What happens here? While on April

43:29

27th 2007, a three-judge panel of

43:32

the Missouri Court of Appeals Western

43:34

District vacated Rios' conviction and ordered

43:36

a new trial, this is because

43:38

the first hearsay statement concerned a

43:40

statement made by Jesse that he

43:43

was going to end his relationship

43:45

if he found out Rios was

43:47

married. The second statement made by

43:49

Jesse was that if Rios did

43:51

not take care of a ticket

43:54

he issued, he had a secret

43:56

that might be of interest to

43:58

the police department. So these two

44:00

hearsay statements... that witnesses talked about

44:02

they were prejudicial according to this

44:04

court of appeals. Yeah, they're considered

44:07

hearsay because it's not Jesse. telling

44:09

the jury because obviously Jesse's not

44:11

around. So they consider it hearsay

44:13

because there's other people saying this

44:15

is what Jesse said. So I

44:18

get it, not sure if it

44:20

held enough weight to vacate a

44:22

conviction, but this three judge panel

44:24

decided, yeah, this hearsay evidence should

44:26

not have been in there and

44:29

it could have changed the outcome

44:31

of the trial. Let's give him

44:33

a new trial. Stephen Rios' retrial

44:35

began December 1, 2008. Once again,

44:37

DNA experts testified about the incriminating

44:40

evidence against Rios and similar to

44:42

the first trial, the defense argued

44:44

that the DNA could have gotten

44:46

under Jesse's nails and on his

44:48

chest from a sexual encounter days

44:50

before the murder. We're talking about

44:53

betting containing hairs and DNA and

44:55

being transferred to his body. They

44:57

also claim that Rios didn't have

44:59

this knife, but the prosecution had

45:01

an officer testify. He often saw

45:04

Rios carrying a clip knife. He

45:06

carried this knife both on and

45:08

off duty. So they really harp

45:10

on this knife because it's the

45:12

murder weapon in the case. But

45:15

it seems likely that he did

45:17

have it because they call this

45:19

EDC. It's everyday carry. And there

45:21

are certain people that happen to

45:23

carry small knives on them quite

45:25

often for various reasons. And I

45:28

don't know if you have any,

45:30

but I have some EDC knives.

45:32

And they're just kind of handy.

45:34

and it's not like you wouldn't

45:36

have them around if you had

45:39

them. So I don't know. It

45:41

just seems like they have other

45:43

officers testifying that Rios was carrying

45:45

a clip knife, whether he was

45:47

on or off duty. It makes

45:50

sense. And this next part was

45:52

something I found interesting. We know

45:54

that Jesse had this bruising across

45:56

his chest, like up by his

45:58

collarbone and bruising down his back.

46:01

And this is assumed to be

46:03

from a stranglehold technique. There was

46:05

a law enforcement trainer Todd Burke.

46:07

He did a defense tactic class.

46:09

he taught this very hold and

46:11

he demonstrated a defense tactic. Rios

46:14

was taught at this law enforcement

46:16

training institute back in 1997. An

46:18

officer approaches from behind, applies pressure

46:20

around the neck, which cuts off

46:22

the blood flow to seems like

46:25

they have other officers testifying that

46:27

Rios was carrying a clip knife,

46:29

whether he was on or off

46:31

duty. It makes sense. And this

46:33

next part was something I found

46:36

interesting. We know that Jesse had

46:38

this bruising across his chest like

46:40

up by his collarbone and bruising

46:42

down his back. And this is

46:44

assumed to be from a stranglehold

46:47

technique. There was a law enforcement

46:49

trainer Todd Burke. He did a

46:51

defense tactic class where he taught

46:53

this very hold and he... demonstrated

46:55

a defense tactic Rios was taught

46:57

at this law enforcement training institute

47:00

back in 1997. An officer approaches

47:02

from behind, applies pressure around the

47:04

neck, which cuts off the blood

47:06

flow to the brain and quickly

47:08

renders them unconscious. Now the former

47:11

Boone County ME, Valerie Rao, testified

47:13

that the bruising on Jesse's torso

47:15

was consistent with this tactic demonstrated

47:17

by Burke. So this training officer.

47:19

is looking at this bruising and

47:22

he remembers Rios doing this class

47:24

and they go back through the

47:26

records and Rios was attending this

47:28

class and Rios failed this chokehold

47:30

this stranglehold he did not pass

47:32

so it kind of adds to

47:35

the idea that he was trying

47:37

to take Jesse down and because

47:39

he didn't apply the hold properly

47:41

Jesse was struggling to get away

47:43

and that's when he pulled out

47:46

his knife to end the struggle.

47:48

Rao also testified that a wound

47:50

on Jesse's neck was caused by

47:52

a partially serrated knife, consistent with

47:54

the sample knife presented at trial,

47:57

which was one purchased by the

47:59

police during the investigation, but it's

48:01

supposed to represent the kind of

48:03

knife that would have made the

48:05

wound. The court also heard that

48:08

on the day Jesse was found,

48:10

Rios twice went to a police

48:12

substation and accessed a computer showing

48:14

police dispatches. He was assigned to

48:16

guard a basement entrance to Jesse's

48:18

apartment. testified that he got home

48:21

at 5.15 a.m. five minutes earlier

48:23

than she had testified at the

48:25

first trial. She explained that she

48:27

set up the clock near her

48:29

bed five minutes ahead to help

48:32

her get up for work on

48:34

time. She did not disclose the

48:36

actual time he returned home at

48:38

the first trial because the previous

48:40

attorney told her a five-minute difference

48:43

would not matter as much and

48:45

it would look like she was

48:47

changing her story to make the

48:49

alibi stronger. Now I actually set

48:51

my clocks ahead. So I understand

48:54

that. I don't know if that

48:56

advice was great for her to

48:58

not disclose that the time was

49:00

five minutes earlier. I think that

49:02

actually would have helped, but who

49:04

knows? At this point, we don't

49:07

know at what time the argument

49:09

happened, but we do know that

49:11

he probably had enough time from

49:13

leaving the police station to stop

49:15

by Jesse's place on his way

49:18

home. Yeah, and Libby or Elizabeth

49:20

obviously left. ex-officer Rios at some

49:22

point here, because by the retrial,

49:24

she's an ex-wife. And for his

49:26

part, Rios did not testify at

49:29

this retrial, and it kind of

49:31

makes you wonder why. And I

49:33

would guess it's probably because his

49:35

attorney said, don't. You're not going

49:37

to help your case by speaking.

49:39

It didn't help the first time.

49:42

Why bother a second time? But

49:44

this defense is saying this time

49:46

frame is just way too short

49:48

to commit this murder and arrive

49:50

home at 515 a.m. And it

49:53

is a very short time frame.

49:55

If you believe that timeline of

49:57

events. I mean if you take

49:59

all the witness statements this time

50:01

frame could be a lot longer

50:04

and that's what the prosecution argues.

50:06

They're saying there's a lot more

50:08

time here for him to do

50:10

all of this and frankly you

50:12

know as long as Jesse answers

50:15

the knock this wouldn't take long

50:17

for them to have a short

50:19

argument and then for this officer

50:21

to kill Jesse. Exactly it seemed

50:23

like it escalated very quickly and

50:25

then Jesse was trying to escape.

50:28

And he's within minutes of his

50:30

house, within minutes of the station.

50:32

Minutes. It sounds like this whole

50:34

situation probably went down within five

50:36

minutes, or less, from the knock

50:39

on the door to the time

50:41

he's killing Jesse. I doubt five

50:43

minutes had passed. December 5th 2008,

50:45

Rios was found guilty of secondary

50:47

murder and armed criminal action. The

50:50

jury recommended a life sentence plus

50:52

23 years, which is what he

50:54

received on January 16 2009. So

50:57

there's an attempt here for Rios

50:59

to get his conviction thrown out

51:01

again. On June 12th, 2012, the

51:03

Missouri Court of Appeals upheld Rios'

51:05

conviction. He had filed his appeal

51:07

in March 2011, claiming that his

51:09

2008 lawyer was ineffective. He said

51:12

Gillis Leonard refused to let him

51:14

testify at trial, failed to call

51:16

or sufficiently cross-examined witnesses, and called

51:18

an expert to testify despite knowing

51:20

her testimony. would harm the defense's

51:22

case. In his appeal, Rios pointed

51:24

out that at one point, witness

51:26

Christopher Ryan Kepner said he heard

51:29

an argument when Rios was still

51:31

on the roof after work. Now,

51:33

this again is the confusion of

51:35

the time frame we're talking about.

51:37

When was he on the roof?

51:39

When was he supposedly at Jesse's

51:41

apartment? And so Kepner's original police

51:43

statement raised the possibility of another

51:45

suspect having an altercation with Jesse

51:48

on June 5th. 2004 and of

51:50

course as we laid out earlier

51:52

there were multiple persons of interest

51:54

because there was another man's DNA

51:56

found under Jesse's fingernail and that

51:58

was the chef he had met

52:00

days before who was also someone

52:02

you know that had seen Jesse

52:05

alive just shortly before his murder.

52:07

And had been actively communicating with

52:09

him the day of by text

52:11

or phone call yeah. So obviously

52:13

we know what the evidence is

52:15

in this case. and you can

52:17

see how it would be difficult

52:19

for a court of appeals to

52:21

do something with this. Rios, for

52:24

his part, was also trying to

52:26

deal with his suicide attempts. He

52:28

said, I kind of forced their

52:30

hand. It was not tied to

52:32

Jesse's murder. It was not on

52:34

my part a consciousness of guilt

52:36

in any part. It was just

52:38

something that I dealt with personally.

52:41

It was my whole life as

52:43

I knew it. It was crumbling

52:45

because of my wife and my

52:47

whole life. Well, and here's the

52:49

thing is. We cover cases so

52:51

many times of, you know, husbands

52:53

cheating on his wife and then

52:55

he kills his wife so he

52:57

can be with his mistress and

53:00

live happily ever after. Now I

53:02

guess this just goes to show

53:04

like don't have an affair and

53:06

then if one of the people

53:08

that you're having an affair with

53:10

is murdered, yeah, you're going to

53:12

be the main suspect there. So

53:14

this is just a whole problem

53:17

with his story. He has a

53:19

pattern of behavior of conning people.

53:21

He has a pattern of behavior

53:23

of cheating on his wife and

53:25

lying, and it sounds like this

53:27

retrial just really didn't go in

53:29

his way because his new lawyer

53:31

didn't hit on all of the

53:33

points that he felt needed to

53:36

be hit on, and then he

53:38

claims he wasn't allowed to testify.

53:40

No, you're allowed to testify. And

53:42

if your lawyer says you shouldn't,

53:44

that's not disallowing you. You can

53:46

stand up and ask the judge,

53:48

hey, judge, I want to testify

53:50

here. and my lawyer is telling

53:53

me not to. And the judge

53:55

will say, okay, we're going to

53:57

do a little sidebar here and

53:59

have a discussion. You can testify

54:01

if you want. But the fact

54:03

that his lawyer told him not

54:05

to, the fact that his lawyer

54:07

didn't cross-examine witnesses, as well as

54:09

he wanted them to be cross-examined,

54:12

he's saying that I had an

54:14

effective representation, and he's trying to

54:16

appeal all this again. I mean,

54:18

the attorney works for him. So

54:20

I find these arguments to be

54:22

pretty light. They don't mean anything.

54:25

Stephen Rios is incarcerated in Sioux Falls

54:27

because he might not be safe in

54:29

a Missouri prison. His ex-wife told K-O-M-U

54:32

in their 2013 special report on the

54:34

case, there's an awful lot of people

54:36

who cheat on their spouse every day.

54:38

It doesn't mean they're capable of committing

54:40

murder. It doesn't mean they should have

54:43

their lives taken away from them. Seems

54:45

like he's got support from his ex-wife.

54:47

Libby's parents, John and Suzanne Sullivan also

54:49

believe in Rios's innocence. Dateline covered the

54:51

case in February of 2020 and Rios

54:54

spoke to Dateline saying, a system that

54:56

I supported and worked for, it makes

54:58

mistakes, but I still believe in it.

55:00

I have a feeling that, you know,

55:02

my life will turn out well and

55:05

then I will be able to clear

55:07

my name. It's not just, oh, I'll

55:09

do my time and get, you know,

55:11

parole. I hope someone will come forward

55:13

with information. Rios is eligible for parole

55:16

in 2049. that his ex-wife and her

55:18

family supports him, what do you think

55:20

about this? Does that weigh on you

55:22

at all that maybe somehow they've got

55:24

the wrong person? In my mind, the

55:27

only way this wouldn't be him is

55:29

if there's a whole department conspiracy where

55:31

they took his arm hairs and planted

55:33

them and claimed that these were on

55:35

Jesse the Night of. It would take

55:38

multiple people's actions to pin this on

55:40

Rios. and why would they want to

55:42

pin it on a fellow police officer

55:44

when they have one or two other

55:46

suspects? out there who had interactions with

55:49

Jesse. This is not the easiest route

55:51

for them to get a conviction and

55:53

prosecution. They probably could have gone after

55:55

one of those two other suspects with

55:58

more lighter alibis than Rios. Rios actually

56:00

has a somewhat solid alibi here. So

56:02

I would have to accept that they

56:04

want to go after one of their

56:06

own so bad and they have to

56:09

plant evidence on Jesse's body belonging to...

56:11

the perpetrator or the person they want

56:13

to pin it on. It's just, I

56:15

can't get behind that. That doesn't make

56:17

sense to me. So I understand that

56:20

there are some questions about this case,

56:22

but that arm hair is indisputable. I

56:24

can't get past that ever, unless it

56:26

was planted on Jesse, which come on.

56:28

I'm not going to go for that.

56:31

Yeah, and especially since we're talking about

56:33

a guy in Jesse who had multiple

56:35

partners, even that very weak. Why weren't

56:37

their other hairs found in the blood?

56:39

It just makes sense to me. I

56:42

would lean heavily towards Rios being the

56:44

killer just because you have this idea

56:46

that he had tried obscuring his identity,

56:48

then he was being told I'm going

56:50

to rat you out, and then he

56:53

went there to have an argument to

56:55

try and silence Jesse, the person he

56:57

was having in affair with, and things

56:59

went sideways. And I don't know. There's

57:01

no other story here that seems to

57:04

make sense. He's the one with a

57:06

motive. He's the one that... given the

57:08

timing of everything, had to go and

57:10

talk to Jesse and tell him, you're

57:12

not going to do that. And I'm

57:15

sure Jesse said, I'm not having an

57:17

affair with a married man. I'm going

57:19

to tell the department because I'm not

57:21

seeing any benefits from this. You know,

57:23

he didn't cover for his ticket. And

57:26

then he lied about who he was,

57:28

saying he was single. So the way

57:30

this adds up is Rios looks like

57:32

the guilty party and the arm hairs

57:34

in the blood just sealed the deal.

57:37

I haven't seen anything else that approaches

57:39

a strong case when it comes to

57:41

other potential suspects. It would

57:43

take a whole conspiracy

57:46

to to this on

57:48

on me to believe

57:50

that he wasn't

57:52

the guy guy. And I

57:54

I can't be on

57:57

board with that. I

57:59

I will never

58:01

accept that. His His

58:03

family, I think, much

58:05

much as they have

58:08

their issues and

58:10

their questions, they would

58:12

have to realize

58:14

that isn't isn't tainted

58:16

evidence. This would be

58:19

planted evidence And they're

58:21

in denial if they think that

58:23

happened. Well, if if you'd like to

58:25

hear more of Justin and I,

58:27

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